Hambagahle

I would go to Baristas for my tea...and make it some sort of coffee. On Vista they bake things there as well. (Can't wait to smell that!)

We are - so to speak - in the same boat. Cruise ends in Trieste. Yes we could spend a couple of nights in Trieste but it still leaves us a long long day to get home. (Train Trieste/Milano C/Brig/Martigny - almost 9 hours). I do not want to do that. I DO want to have lunch at the Locanda Cipriani on Torcello. So - we have set up a private transfer via our TA and Oceania to the Piazzale Roma in Venice. Water taxi to the hotel (Hyatt on Murano). Yes expensive but I do not want to take an Allilaguna bus from the airport with 2 suitcases and 2 carry ons... No grazie! Hyatt apparently has a boat from the airport several times a day but I also do not want to wait an hour for a boat. I know - First world problems! It is what it is and we will enjoy the ride and the watertaxi too. What I don't understand is why Oceania has to end the cruise in Trieste ? Why not Mestre ? Or somewhere nearer to Venice? Trieste is over 2 hours by car... and we dock on May 1 which is a huge public holiday so limited (Sunday service) trains etc...

depends what you are looking for I suppose. In my case - it happened to be market day. I love markets and especially Italian ones for the colourful fruit and veg. We also really liked the town. But we weren't looking for the Colosseum or the Vatican. "Been there, done that" sort of thing.

We were in a tender port on Riviera in the Caribbean (can't remember which one). We hadn't planned to go ashore so hadn't booked any excursion (O or otherwise). Our butler (the unforgettable Churchill) told us that the port was worth seeing, could be explored on foot and we had to go. Those who have had the fortune to have Churchill as their butler will know when he says go - you go! So we went. But had no tender ticket. So went back to the suite. Churchill asked what we were doing there. We said - no tender ticket. He said - show them your key card and that will work. We did. it did. All of which to say is that I think if you are in a suite you can "jump the line". And just get on a tender. Otherwise you wait until all tours are gone.

Still Ember or s doesn't sound like a place I want to eat in. I hate noise. And I love Jacques. Bring back Jacques!! (et pourquoi pas ? )

We had a Vista Suite on Riviera and I agree - that mini gym is a waste of space. So it is great it has been eliminated. Our steward used it to store cushions from outside when it was going to rain or be windy. Best use of space I could see! we have had an Oceania Suite, Owners Suite as well as the Vista - all on Riviera. Owners was great for a trans-Atlantic crossing and the Vista was great with the port-intensive cruise. I liked the Oceania suite but found the balcony way too narrow.

My husband loves food but has never been seen in a kitchen (if I didn't have an electric kettle he couldn't boil water...or won't?). Anyway he is happy for me to toddle off to a cooking class as long as he can have his cocktails and dinner on time! So I have to leave. Chef Noëlle Barillo (I think that is her name) was very decent about this and when the "witching hour" was about to sound - I left.

"English muffins" are definitely an American invention. The English have "muffins" but they are very different. Corn beef hash is absolutely delicious and normally served with a poached egg on top. And ketchup. In fact it is the only thing I use ketchup with! It is a breakfast dish...like the English muffins. We cannot get either here and importing meat is illegal. I can (and do) import Thomas' English muffins but it costs me a lot !!

I think they care - a lot - that you pay for the class. and show up. But I have never been told I could not leave...

I hope you are right. I lived in the US for a long time (20+ years) - unfortunately not in your part of the country which I like a lot! And I do know that there are some excellent restaurants etc there. It is just that here we can't get English muffins and corned beef hash and I love them both! "Swiss" food - ours is a country of four linguistic and cultural regions with four very different cuisines and lots - hundreds - of regional dishes. Like all countries some things are better than others! the Italian speaking region (and the north of Italy) has far better food than what we experienced in Toscana. And one evening there we were with the GM so presumably they did their best. Portions were far too big (though we asked for small) and the tastes just weren't there either. So we crossed it off the list. We make the reservations and then tell the butler they are his. (Which usually makes him happy!). We love Red Ginger and Polo and have had some excellent meals in the MDR. So I am crossing fingers that in another 9 months Vista's chefs will have "found their way" !!

I am very concerned to read that Toscana was the best of the restaurants. We really dislike Toscana - portions are too large and food too "Italian American" for us. Hopefully the overall standards will improve as time goes on. If not - well as long as they have English muffins and corned beef hash for breakfast I will survive. (Those two things are my favourite American foods and we can't get them in Europe!).

What I normally do is to tell the teacher I am not going to eat what I cook and that I will leave once the cooking instruction is over. I don't eat dinner before 1930 at the earliest and I don't eat between meals as a rule. Plus husband is not at all interested in cooking. IF there is a course in Greek or Turkish cooking I will sign up for it but so far - nothing.

Of course. if they don't have it on board they can't supply it... At least not on that cruise.

I just looked at the opening hours for Waves Grill (Pool grill). They are 0700/1100, 1130/1600, 1830/2100. So since they do say "Lunch 1130/1600" I think you will be in luck! Santé.

They are quite specific - "at lunch or dinner" means when seated in one of the restaurants and being served lunch or dinner. Unfortunately it doesn't work if you are in one of the bars. It would work at the Pool self service restaurant though but has to be lunch time. I don't think 1500 is lunch time. Perhaps that is stretching things too much? Anyway why not get the full drinks package? if you are on the "Simply More" programme you can upgrade from the wine etc at meals to the complete package for something like $30/pp/day. Since a Bloody Mary costs about $18 PLUS 20% service each two drinks in one day and you are home free so to speak!

You can always ask the butler or steward when you arrive on the ship.

Many thanks for these hints. I have taken cooking classes on prior O. cruises but since we haven't cruised since 2020 I had forgotten the details! Will look under "other options" and see if they are there.

I thought the "six bottles" was a reference to the 6 bottles that people in the suites can choose from the list...

Does anyone know how far in advance of sailing I can expect to see a list of possible cooking classes ? We sail 21 April 2024. Many thanks!

It has never occurred to me to take wine with me when I board - Maybe I should bring some white or rosé (we no longer drink red) when we board in Malta and then just order 3 bottles of Tanqueray and 3 bottles of Johnny Walker! Was there no problem in getting the case on board?

we had one of the Owners Suites on Riviera for a trans-Atlantic in (I think) 2015. Loved it but a lot of your comments ring true with us. especially the bed shaking you to bits when docking or I suppose whenever the stern thrusters were used. We did have a jacussi on the starboard side so maybe they removed it? We never used it. Piano - we could play it but since I don't really play the piano - I didn't! Bar- no problems. But I never considered getting another fridge - for what ? No problems either with the curtains. In fact I have some nice photos taken during a dinner we gave with the great aft view as a backdrop. The main thing we hated - HATED ! I have to say - was the over-furnishing of the two balconies. It was so hard (as you said) to move on those and since they are relatively narrow (why? On Vista the balcony looks wider) you need more space. The furniture was nice, heavy teak. Just what we have at home. But hard to move... For the rest we really liked the suite and it would be our no. 1 choice (we have had Oceania and Vista suites) IF we did another trans-atlantic. Which, given the fact we don't like long flights, we are unlikely to do. Next cruise we have a Vista suite on Vista. And are happy about that.

No - I wasn't there. All I can say is I think they are a waste of time and money. (!) The bath in the master bathroom of our suite on Riviera had a jacuzzi. I never used it because I can't get in and out of a bathtub due to a back problem and my husband doesn't take baths anyway. (No! he isn't dirty. he grew up in America and took showers...). On the other hand we love the bathroom(s) in the Vista suite. His and hers. (you can guess which "hers" is!!)

We book suites and so get 6 bottles of whatever we want in the suite. In spite of that we buy the full drinks package. Why? because we don't like being "nickled and dimed" to use an American saying. we like to be able to have what we want when we want it and not think "oh no - that is another $20 on the bill at the end of the cruise". A cocktail - ordinary sort - is $18 per drink plus 20% service. Wine is less. I suppose we buy convenience. We like it that way. We are on holiday!

I don't think so. I do not think there is one on the balcony on the Vista. Frankly I personally am just as glad - we had one on the balcony of the Owners Suite and the Vista suite and never used either one.

I totally get what you are saying but I like to help my butler out if I can. And I can book 2 dinners at each of the speciality restaurants for the two of us per 10 day segment of the cruise. In "return" if you like our butler normally is able to get us a couple of additional reservations at Red Ginger and Polo...