LB_NJ

4 hours ago, MEFIowa said:

 

And the made-to-order omelets could be vegan. All the various veggies.

 

 

Not sure how an omelet could be vegan.  Vegetarian yes. Eggs aren't vegan. 

FYI, it has been a while since I cruised on Oceania however from memory if you are OK with vegetarian options in the general dining areas than you should find reasonable items to keep you from going hungry.  Since the food in the Terrace and the GDR can be different I would look at the offerings in each before selecting where to dine for that particular meal.

I would try to get menus from the specialty restaurants before booking them to see if there are any good options.

FYI, of the mainstream cruise lines, Celebrity (if you book Aqua and dine in Blu) has a good set vegetarian set of options.

You will not find the selection of vegetarian options like you will find in big cities where it is not uncommon to find 1 or 2 Michelin starred vegan/vegetarian restaurants.

On 5/16/2025 at 12:14 PM, DrHemlock said:

Also bottled beer -- they don't have draft -- and wine-by-the-glass.  All 2-for-1.  Pretty generous, IMHO.  (Just don't ask me about the generosity of the pours themselves.  Two-for-one is more like one-for-one in your favorite bar, but hey...who's complaining?)

I never realized that wine by the glass might be 2 for 1 during happy hour.

Is this true on all cruises on all the Oceania ships?

I have never taken children on a Celebrity cruise however I have talked to parents on M class ships with children and they said the children loved the kid's club.

I think it does depend on the staff and the number of children on the particular cruise.

Oh well, will have to really start looking at Windstar.

If you want to return the day you get back try for a later flight.  Delays due to fog are a very real possibility however the delays don't always push you to the next day.

I have cruised out of Tampa twice and only one of the cruises was delayed by fog so I am at the 50% mark for delays.

I cruised out of Tampa twice.

Once we were delayed several hours by fog. Always a very real possibility for Tampa.

On another cruise we did recently we were delayed a full day by medical emergency on the ship (not us but the ship had to make a detour). Much less likely but always possible.

Looking at a Friday 1:30 PM departure out of MIA, ship schedule says 7AM arrival.

Thinking of a Taxi from the port.  Would this be relatively stress free?  Might be United or AA.

14 minutes ago, clskinsfan said:

Agree with the Sole. It is amazing. Funny story. Last time we were there the waiter pulled the bones and said if you find a bone I will comp your meal. I did find one single bone and joked with him about it.  I didnt take the free meal as we had a package anyways. And tipped him well. The service in Murano is always fantastic. 

I love sole if it isn’t too salty.

I know this really isn’t a fair question but between the ole and the Chateaubriand which one?

3 hours ago, mrgabriel said:

100% subjective. My husband especially likes the lamb. The only thing I like is the Chateaubriand. Sometimes DH will share with me, other times I ask for it for one.

 

The menu says the Chateaubriand is for 2.  Will they generally do it for one if you ask or does it take some effort to get them to agree?

We sail on Silhouette and booked Murano a la carte.

I realize it’s very subjective however looking to get an idea of the best entrees.

I looked at the US Customs webpage and it  looks like you can't bring back nutmeg.

Am I missing something?

We have a cruise booked for December and will be booking our own airfare.

Starting to think about post cruise transfer to the airport.

Is Oceania transfer the best option?

About how much?

Should I book in advance or just wait until onboard?

18 hours ago, hcat said:

 

We have our routine set for Port Ev..but are also trying a cruise out of Tampa..hoping it will be  easier from our place on w coast, . and we  may just book car service. 

Warning: While I like sailing out of Tampa, it occasionally fogs in and embarkation and disembarkation can be delayed hours and hours.

Question about pre-cruise hotels for Miami.  We have a cruise booked for this December.  Last time I sailed out of Miami we booked a hotel at Miami Beach. 

Any reason NOT to look at hotels on Miami Beach again? 

We will use Taxi/Uber.

8 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

Are you talking about BOAcredit card points?

The Celebrity Credit Card points.

How far in advance if the cruise should we redeem points for OBC?

Also, is this regular OBC (eg, use for gratuity) or are there additional restrictions?

When I did Hubbard Glacier I was on a Cunard ship however the experience would be similar to Summit. We did not do an excursion and just stayed on the ship.

I believe that this part of Alaska is in a temperate rainforest.  When I took the cruise Hubbard was almost completely fogged in and raining.  My friend sailed a week later and weather was perfect. Completely unpredictable.

If the weather is good I might spend the money and go on the excursion.

11 hours ago, jelayne said:

 

You can get the everyday items on the MDR menu anytime in Blu:shrimp cocktail, Caesar salad, salmon, chicken or sirloin 

I don’t understand the difference.  Why the everyday items but not the other MDR items?

I know it’s different for different ships.

On Silhouette can I order off the MDR menu when dinning in Blu?

I am sure this has been asked many times before and I apologize in advance for asking again.

I can't find the answer on Oceania's website.

We are booked in one of the cheaper cabins on Insignia.

How far in advance can we make specialty restaurant dinner reservations?

The ship I am looking at is Insignia.  This is the ship we sailed on in 2019.

On 1/4/2025 at 1:31 PM, 2fromONCA said:

We just got off the Celebrity Eclipse from an 11 day holiday cruise.  This was our first time cruising as Elite members without an alcohol package and I thought I would share the experience because it worked out far better than I imagined.

 

Our next cruise on Celebrity will be our first in Elite.  Is the Happy Hour only in one place or can we go to any bar and just get what is available on the Elite Happy hour drink menu?

Can we walk out with a glass of wine in hand (ie, take our glass of wine to dinner)?

We are not big drinkers so a cocktail or glass of wine during happy hour is enough.

Also, I read somewhere that espresso drinks are included at Elite Breakfasts?

We really liked Oceania when we sailed back in 2019.  And I realize most cruise lines have gone downhill post Covid.

The question for us is how far downhill has Oceania gone.  On the cruises we are thinking about Oceania has a better itinerary for us then Windstar and Windstar is almost twice the price.

Only sailed once on Oceania (Insignia in 2019 to Bermuda).

Recently mostly smaller Royal and Celebrity ships.

Thinking of booking a cruise on either Oceania or Windstar to the Carribean.

Looking at some of the recent reviews Oceania seems to have fallen significantly in quality.   Should I instead book on Windstar?

Really not happy reading that cafe is now self serve.

On 2/4/2025 at 5:52 PM, Liao said:

Think European style breakfast, cold cuts, fruit, yogurt, coffee, juice.

We will be on Silhouette in Aqua class and first time sailing as Elite.  Generally we prefer sit-down breakfast in Blu however we don't buy the drink package. Is it possible to just stop in at the Elite breakfast grab a cappuccino and continue into Blu or is the Elite breakfast a full sitdown event?

On 1/18/2025 at 7:19 AM, chengkp75 said:

First off, stabilizers have absolutely no effect on vibrations, so everyone can take that out of their minds.

 

The major (and I mean 98%) cause of vibrations is propeller speed.  Think of the ship as a guitar.  The hollow hull is the soundbox, the hull plating directly above the propellers is the sound board (the flat top of the guitar), and the propeller blades are your fingers strumming the strings.  As the propeller blades swing across the top of their rotation arc, they send a pressure wave through the water to the hull above.  This causes the sound board (that hull above the propeller) to vibrate, and this causes the air inside the hull to vibrate, causing the rest of the structure to vibrate.  Now, at certain frequencies (how often a propeller blade sends one of these pressure waves to the hull), the vibrations of the hull are low, and quickly dissipate their energy trying to get the rest of the hull to vibrate.  But, when the frequency of the propeller blades starts to reach the natural frequency of the hull (the frequency of vibration that the hull wants to vibrate at), the resistance of the hull structure to the vibration energy is lessened, so the vibrations continue further through the hull.  When the propeller speed equals the natural frequency, resonance happens, and the vibrations in the hull will increase in intensity by many times, perhaps as much as 15-20 times the energy put into the hull by the propellers.

 

So, if you don't want to read that whole paragraph, the simple solution is to keep the propeller blade speed (4 or 5 times the rpm, depending on how many blades the propeller has) away from the hull's natural frequency.  This can be complicated by the fact that how the ship is loaded on a particular day, compared to a different day, can change the natural frequency of the hull, and wave frequency, direction, and size can input vibration energy that amplifies resonance as well.  But, it can be as simple as slowing the propeller rpm 1 or 2 revolutions, or speeding up by the same amount.  Sometimes it takes more speed change to get out of a resonant zone than the itinerary allows, so you just have to suffer with the vibrations.

Ok, so like the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.  So it is under the Captain's control but because of costs (eg, going faster uses more fuel so more expensive) or needing to be at a certain place at a certain time he isn't allowed to make the change.