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Exactly, you have to sign up for the wine pairing lunches and they are 99 and 169 USD. steamboats

This is a completely different menu and the restaurant is just used for those lunches. steamboats

I only have photos of the new lunches menus (see here). steamboats

Privée is used for the La Reserve Dinners Odyssey and Dom Perignon Experience. Additionally both Polo Grill and Toscana have a private dining room which can be booked for groups. There´s a new wine pairing lunch (24 people) with two menus which is available on sea days in Ember (Cellar Master´s Classic 99 USD and Sommelier´s Choice 169 USD). steamboats

There are still Concierge Level cabins with a regular, not extended veranda... You have to ask Oceania why they did this or why they don´t offer any loungers. I can only repeat what was said onboard. steamboats

Perfect! steamboats

Sounded like a strict "No". Every Concierge Level cabin gets the same furniture. steamboats

Actually the galley of Ember and Red Ginger have the same size and are next to each other. Behind those two galleys is the galley of The Grand Dining Room including room service and suite service. We had a galley tour. steamboats

Although it was Vista (Oceania Cruises) out of Civitavecchia we did get a notice that all purchases in the shops will have the Italian VAT added. And this was just three weeks ago. No VAT on drinks but that was the christening cruise with open bar. steamboats

The only consistancy is the inconsistancy with NCL ;-). It´s totally nonsense that there are "local laws" in Italy which don´t allow certain drinks to be offered in port (that´s what´s NCL is saying regarding Livorno). And I don´t know of any other cruise line which does not serve any alcoholic beverages in any UK port. MSC and AIDA are doing year round cruises out of Hamburg with interporting in Southampton and of course you can buy whatever drink you want (and they both don´t add any local tax or VAT when in port in Southampton). Actually in Europe including UK we have to have all taxes/VAT included in the price tag. That´s the law. Therefore some cruise lines do have different bar menus for different regions (plus some do have different currencies like MSC which charges in USD in the Caribbean and in Euro in Europe). steamboats

For a drink which is marked 12 USD on the bar menu it´s 1.20 USD VAT. Civitavecchia to Venice is pretty likely all EU ports (unless there´s a stop in Israel or Turkey or Egypt). steamboats

No, as it´s the same for Italy (acutally it´s an EU regulation). It´s just a different rate (reduced 10%, full rate 22% for Italy). steamboats

10% is the reduced VAT rate of Spain which applies to beverages or food. For other items like from the shops the rate is 21%. This applies to the whole cruise when it starts in a Spanish port and does not have a non EU port on the itinerary (then it´s just for the Spanish ports). It´s the same for cruises starting in Italy with no non EU port. This is not a new thing but up for years now. While all other cruise line do not charge the VAT on a single beverage when you have bought a package NCL does charge it on every single beverage even when you have a package. And yes, NCL is doing this for years too. So nothing new... steamboats

None of the Oceania ships is allowed to sail into Venice port. Anyway the embarkation will be at Stazione Marittima and you will be bussed to the ship in the industrial port area (which is Fusina). There there is no cruise ship terminal. Therefore the embarkation process is done at the Stazione Marittima. MSC is doing the same. steamboats

We had a string quartet on Mariner last year too. As this Sunday brunch was really extraordinary we did ask and were told it´s only on 14 nights or longer cruises and only on Sundays which are sea days. BTW, the "electronic thermometer" mentioned is the air condition and no thermometer (we had issues as it first didn´t work, then it worked full power, then it didn´t work... and finally they got it repaired). steamboats

Yes, we were told that they wanted to give a faster option but still three or more courses. So an average dinner at Ember should be app. 90 min. It´s more a casual dining option and can be also family style dining with sharing plates. But I think that many people still think it´s a replacement for Jaques and expect a fine dining option with a nice long dinner. steamboats

We had a forward cabin... therefore I never used the aft elevator and didn´t see that it doesn´t stop on deck 5. But actually when you check the deck plans... the elevator/stairs would end up in the galley on deck 5. So there is no place to go there for passengers. Some collegues had the large balcony and asked for loungers and were told the same. No loungers, everyone gets the same furniture. They still need to communicate that Ember is ment as a "fast dining" option. steamboats

Comparing my Vista photos with my Marina photos, yes there are two rows in the shade underneath deck 14 on Marina and - I´d say - one and half rows in the sun (half because the first row next to the pool is not a full row). On the Vista there is one row in the shade underneath deck 14 but also those "cabana" type seating along the windows. So actually it´s two rows there. The "one and half rows" in the sun next to the pool are "missing". But Vista has less passengers than Marina/Riviera and it didn´t feel crowded. There´s still plenty of space on deck 14. steamboats

Thanks, we´re doing fine! I´m on frequently but not mainly here on the Oceania board. steamboats

No walk-in closet in Veranda cabins. The PH has "sort of a" walk-in closet. It´s not a separate room with a door but a nice you can walk in and have a closet with doors on both sides. Photos can be seen here. And a Concierge Level Veranda with lots of details here. steamboats

You can see my photos here. TechnoGym is the brand for the fitness equipment onboard. steamboats

No, there is no Patio or Sanctuary area on Vista. On Vista there´s the Waves Grill and the Aquamar Kitchen covering this space. You can see my deck by deck photos here. steamboats

The stops at Bramante/Molo del Bicchiere are for disembarking/embarking passengers only as there is a parking lot there. It´s not served on a regular basis (believe me, I stood there for half an hour an no bus did stop in the afternoon). The other bus "ordinary service" is usually for ferry passengers only. And when you made it to the Fortezza already the walk to the cruise terminals (10 to 13) is not that far anymore. It doesn´t make sense to take the bus from there to Largo della Pace and then the bus goes the same route all the way back. It only makes sense when your ship is at 25. It´s a 20 min walk from the train station to Largo della Pace through the city. And there is still a public bus running there. steamboats

It depends... on the MSC Grandiosa we had an outside and some even had an inside. steamboats

Unfortunately most menus did not have any pricing due to the special event. Only bottles were priced. Just the Maritinis had prices on the menu. steamboats