Snaefell3

There's cancelling, and then there's cancelling: American Queen's whole company.

I'd look for a browser setting or an automated cookie-maintenance tool you've forgotten about (or is more "helpful" than you realized). Beyond that... ::shrugs:: 😞 Sympathies -- way too many possibilities to diagnose from afar.

Deck crew, yes. But if she deadheads, no hotel staff.

Understand that the extra-fee service has always only unblocked "streaming" -- without any extra helping of bandwidth for your account. Sound like (repeat: sounds like) Starlink has increased it's rates and O isn't buying as much bandwidth.

Vista launched with Starlink and it's polar-orbit satellites, so ship's latitude isn't the problem everyone is used to with equatorial-orbit satellite relay. That leaves just how much bandwidth O chooses to buy per pax vs how much the average pax decides to use. Last year, Starlink was offering break-into-the-market rates. Dunno 'bout this year.

Realize that Zoom is likely tagged as "streaming". If so, it will be blocked on the bundled tier of Vista's internet.

Check first, lunch second. Reservations are handed out 1st come, 1st serve.

What a waste of a cruise for them. 😢 Thank you for the reminder to wash yer hands, many a time and oft.

Offhand, are you flushing all cookies (including CC's "I've set my preferences" cookie) after every session?

The heck with it... "Paging Lt O'Bannon! Paging Lt Presley O'Bannon!"

Without getting too political, it could also be that O clung to hope that someone, anyone, would clean up the mess in the Bab al-Mandab.

Could be the staff was plain wrong, but it sounds more likely that circumstances changed after you got your answer and plans changed.

You had to go an do that. I'll add another bit of Scottish wisdom: "An Englishman laughs at a joke three times: When it's told, when it's explained, and then when he gets it".

In a Concierge, you are going to get 1 guaranteed reservation in each specialty restaurant per cruise or segment. You can get more on a space-available basis when on board by asking each day at the "Dining Reservations" desk. Folks in suites can have their butlers do that for them -- and I suspect the butlers know enough about the daily timing to get better odds. The other important thing to know about reservations is that the top suites have had a head-start on choosing day, time and private/shared table. Then the Penthouse suites get their ...2 weeks? Then you get your choices from what's left. Then the poor folks in "steerage". You make your pre-cruise reservations, first-come-first-serve, on O's website starting at 12:01am ET on the day reservations open for you.

The Terrace Cafe and GDR are sized with the assumption that many more folks will be dining in specialties than is normal on other cruise lines. When that doesn't happen (most frequently on an embarkation day) the crew will actively seek specialty volunteers to balance the load. On the other hand, a 7-day cruise on a 4-specialty ship means they've guaranteed pax more days in specialties (4) than in TC/GDR (3), so there are few unclaimed specialty slots to hand out, even after they've made extra slots by starting service at 6pm instead of 6:30pm. On a sold-out 7-day cruise on the 2-specialty Regatta, we had a choice of restaurants when snagging an extra specialty visit on Day #1, and no chance, no how, of anything after that.

Yep. But then, you have more recourse if itineraries get a major change, no?

The best way to describe O's pricing is "opaque". • "Hidden sales" that TAs simply don't have access to. • A program [OCAPP] that give perks available only thru certain TA consortiums. • Some TAs will rebate part of their commission, but I believe it's frowned upon. • "Combinablility" restrictions on stacking deals. On my first O cruise, the in-house agent offered a deal not available to TAs, but when I transferred the booking, my normal TA was confused because it was "not combinable" with the OCAAP perks they normally provide.

More like the sound when you push The Button in your cabin's bathroom? ::runs and hides::

Uhmmm. How to say this? It's a matter of width, not length. 😉

...and that's before a dose of Drake Shake? 🙄

Yum! Which did you choose?

O has tossed us both a curve ball... The Polo Grill menu changes by ship! Marina: https://www.oceaniacruises.com/Documents/Menus/81604521654/Polo-Grill-Main-Menu.pdf Vista: https://www.oceaniacruises.com/sites/default/files/2023-04/polo-grill-dinner-sample.pdf

Except when you're having trouble walking the hallways or keeping your plates on the table (and how often is that?) the risk of getting in or out of a cabin tub is similar to that on dry land. (I've survived a tub bath in Force 12 weather, though it was on a 3000 pax ship, not a 648 pax 🙂 )

Our thoughts from sailing on Regatta (applicable to Insignia, Sirena, and Nautica) • Non-suite, non-solo cabins are all the same size, but big enough for us. • The shower is *just*barely* big enough for us. • The commode is tucked into a corner *almost* big enough for us. • The food is better than Princess/Holland America/etc, and as good as RSSC. • Entertainment is primarily conversation with your fellow pax. • We had fun with the "scavenger hunt" - here's a chunk of a painting, go find it. • Concierge gave better chance of 6:30 2tops in the specialties, and that was it. • Dealing with 600 fellow pax on (dis)embarkation beats dealing with 6000.

If the airport has flights to places that allow more liquids on board, they may feel they have to allow liquids beyond the TSA limit into the secure zone, leaving the jetway the first place they can impose the restriction. I'll believe it's a Chilean requirement and perhaps ORV's crew decided to avoid the fuss or weren't normally on the route and missed the memo.