Hambagahle

Thank you so much. So cocktails are about $12. To which I assume a service charge is added ? I think in the US now that is around 18-20%?.

Could anyone currently on board please put a copy of the Bar menu with mixed drink prices - Margarita etc - here on the site? We are debating whether to get the basic "Wine with meals" package or the full one - will have a bar set up in our suite but we love going to Martinis etc in the evenings and having the occasional Bloody Mary at lunch. Many thanks!!

Hank - I have to confess that I was a lurker on your recent thread on HAL about your Westerdam cruise. And enjoyed reading what you had to say very much! Thank you. Interestingly some old friends of ours who were on the two segments around Japan with you just returned and said "Never again" to HAL. They said the food was terrible, inedible at times and certainly not suited to European tastes. They are also now looking at Oceania and the Vista. We have sailed several times on Oceania but not following Covid. However the reviews I am reading on CC from people who have been on Oceania recently are very positive. My TA was on Vista for the Christening cruise and she (with many years of experience of "high end" cruising) loved every bit of it. Any ship that has not been renovated for some time (Marina for example) is bound to be showing wear and tear. And I think all the lines have had food/supply problems following Covid. But it isn't the fact that these problems exist that bother me. It is how they are dealt with. HAL was obviously lacking in that but it seems that Oceania is managing quite well. We are now booked on Vista for a Mediterranean cruise next April and very much looking forward to it. Thank you again for all the very interesting posts, photos etc from your recent Japan/Alaska cruise!!

Why ever not ?We (Switzerland) are members of Schengen and Schengen keeps us safe. I can't imagine having to dig out my passport to go to France when my ID card will do. Not that there are border checks - there are not - only for customs - but in France everyone has to carry an ID on them. So do we here for that matter... I am Swiss and don't see this as a problem. Just because the UK isn't a Schengen member doesn't mean Schengen is bad. It isn't! It is wonderful and I do not want to go back to pre Schengen days when we were questioned at the border if we wer going to Chamonix for lunch or to buy butter!! or play golf.

Not always true - within Schengen you travel without having to show your passport or ID card... For starters there is no Immigration at borders unless you are coming from outside Schengen...

Loved Steamboats comments and photos. She is great. Will follow up on the La Réserve clone... we love la Réserve. thanks!! Merci! Danke Schön, Grazie!!

Too bad bout la Reserve - we really liked that. and we can’t sit on those stools so Aquamare won’t do for us. I am not fussed about it though since almost everything else on Oceania WILL do very well.

And with the O-Life package that came with our suite I just booked 4 excursions. Total bill after the O-Life package was counted was $138 which is not much at all. We will buy the full "Beverage package" to cover our drinks, be they wine/spirits or whatever, before we sail. Frankly I think that excusions to Ephesus, two in Istanbul and one to Delos are worth far more than the "credit" I was given. And I am a "happy camper" as you say in american.

We have cruised both - currently booked on Vista in a Vista Suite next April. On Oceania you will probably get the "limited" drinks package included in your fare. This gives you wine and beer at meal times (as many glasses as you like). You can upgrade to the full package which then gives you all spirits wine and beer any time on board. Cost if you upgrade ON BOARD is $30/day. So we have a 10 day cruise and the upgrade is $300 per person. We (on vacation only!) drink a Bloody Mary or Margarita before lunch and have a martini or similar in the evening before dinner. So for the the $30 pp/day makes sense. If you then add this to the basic Oceania fare you have all drinks etc included. (Soft drinks, espressos etc are all free anyway). Then on O. you pay for your excursions. We tend not to take many because generally we have been to the place concerned already and just want to do our own thing. I "guestimate" for our cruise we will do 3 excursions. And I will organise those myself. On Regent you pay an not inconsequential amount of money up front and then if you don't use all that is included - tant pis! You pay anyway. Plus in our experience the food on Oceania is a lot better than Regent. (Though since O. bought R. the R. food has been upgraded). So that's why we choose Oceania over Regent and perhaps gives you something to mull over..

Vielen Dank für diese tollen Fotos und eure Kommentare. Wir sind so froh, eine Vista-Kreuzfahrt gebucht zu haben.