Tr1v1alCru1ser

Our TA told us to book our 20th, (so we could select the cabin we wanted) and 6 months out from the cruise date, she’d tell O that we wanted to take it as our freebie. Had no issues with them saying OK, and adjust the invoice accordingly.

We leave the pins behind, we’re never going to take them out of the box once home.

They do play middle of the road music around the pool, but I can’t say it’s at a level that I’ve found intrusive. They also have live music around the pool at times (depending on destination) just so you’re aware.

We did the Alaska cruise in May time. Unfortunately, the only thing we saw were about a million bald eagles. After the first 2, they all looked the same! 😁

You can’t necessarily see those when you approach the luggage area, whereas we can always see our cases when we’re coming down the stairs in to the luggage area 😄

2 Words - compression bags! I’ve been using them for years and people are always amazed how much I can get in my suitcase. I don’t travel light! 😆 We have hard bodied Samsonite spinners, and even the smaller ones are a bit of a struggle to fit under the bed. One word of advice, pick the brightest colour you can find, makes it so much easier to find your luggage amid the sea of black, navy, grey cases at the port (and airport). Ours are shocking pink and lime green.

We were on Vista at Christmas in 10055, and I can honestly say we didn’t hear voices or TV noise from either of the cabins next to us.

When we boarded Vista in December, we just had to go to our muster station (Martini’s bar) and get checked off their list as having been present. We always board as early as we can, and enjoy lunch aboard.

It was 12th - 22nd February 2016 @ORV Sands & Shores

@oceansandseas Just checked our previous cruise records, and you’re right. I can’t believe it was that long ago, but it was 2016 and on Riviera. We had an international flight home, so couldn’t change it, so spent 2 nights in Miami, I think it was at a Marriott. We have a theory that a lot of people stay at a hotel pre cruise, and wondered if they’d picked up Noro from the hotel. The hotel wouldn’t be aware because most people only stay 1 night, so maybe wouldn’t have symptoms until they boarded, or just after boarding.

It was on Oceania @ORV. They covered the buffet with cling wrap and there were still idiots trying to stick their hands behind to grab food. On one occasion in The Terrace, the staff had to remove a whole new tray of food, and I shouted at someone who was just about to stick his hand on the food. He was surprised, but honestly, when the ship are doing everything to stop the spread, I didn’t care if he was offended. Lots of people complaining because they had to wait 2 minutes for the tables to dry after being thoroughly cleaned and sprayed, it was just unreal that people were acting that way. That wasn’t even the worst of it, we were denied port access in to the Bahamas, so headed straight on for Miami to disembark a day early. Oceania organised hotels for everyone in Miami (or alternative flights home). Dinner was in The Terrace only, and one passenger assaulted a waitress because they didn’t get her coffee quickly enough. I don’t know what happened to the passenger but I hope they were banned from O.

We booked our 20th and our TA contacted 0 6 months out and told them we’d like to take it as our freebie. No issue with them saying yes, and she didn’t think there would be. If they’d said no, we were still intending to go on the cruise as it was over Christmas.

We’ve been on board when they had a really bad outbreak of Norovirus. People who had it wouldn’t stay in their cabins until they were over it, so the poor staff were cleaning 24/7. Eventually, they had to take their room cards away and you had to show your card to enter any of the dining venues. We even spoke to a couple who got on the ship knowing they had it, and just carried on as normal.

@Harters & @Vallesan, I’m not totally surprised they’re not sending them to the UK. Our post to the UK is really hit and miss and can take weeks and weeks to get there. However, when we went on a cruise with friends in the UK, they did get the pack and ours as well!

I’ve taken both curling iron and straighteners with no issue.

Last time we were on there (and recently on Vista), Twinning English Breakfast and Afternoon tea were available as Decaf options.

The only time we’ve ever received the hat is on our recent 20th cruise. We’ve never bothered to take the pins, and didn’t bother with the tote. The previous ones were much better.

We’ve had laundry returned in 48 hours (PH)

Don’t worry what other people wear, I always dress up! I really like Polo, the surf and turf is my favourite.

They do, but sometimes you might have to hunt around for it or just ask.

Having commented on the lack of the walk in on the mid cruise comments, we were contacted the following day, and asked if we’d be prepared to discuss this. We said yes, so were visited in our cabin and asked what we didn’t like about about the face to face wardrobes. We pointed out that it was difficult for us both to be getting clothes out at the same time, there was less hanging space, and we used to store our cases in there as sometimes they didn’t fit under the bed. Also, the hanging wasn’t enough or long enough for some of the longer dresses I’d taken. Our comments were noted, so it’ll be interesting to see if there’s been any change on Allura next year. We miss Jacques too as we weren’t impressed with Ember, although many liked it.

I’m sorry to hear of your experience, it’s always interesting to hear what other people think. I can honestly say that the only meal I really haven’t enjoyed on O was in Ember over Christmas. That’s not to say that every other meal we’ve had has been perfect, it wasn’t. I like my food piping hot, and I would say that on that cruise, food in the GDR was delivered quickly and hot. I did notice that our first cruise back after Covid, there seemed to be less wait staff in the GDR, food took longer to arrive, and was often tepid.

We preferred the decor, the seating in the theatre being tiered, the addition of Aquamar, the cabin (PH) - with the exception of the removal of the walk-in which we were asked about following mid cruise comments, the new layout in the GDR, the covered outdoor seating in the Terrace Cafe, the addition of the bakery ( the quiches are delicious). We didn’t have any issues with noise from adjoining cabins. We just felt that Vista is a big improvement on Riviera and Marina. We were on a 21 days cruise last year on Regatta, and although you have the advantage of being able to get in to smaller ports, we prefer the bigger PH on the bigger ships (especially the bathrooms), and more dining options.

Having sailed on all the ships, and now that itinerary isn’t the driving factor for us anymore, we’ll only sail on Vista and Allura in future. Vista is a big step up from Marina & Riviera (with the exception of Jacques being replaced with Ember). We’ve done all the far flung cruises we’re going to do, so the ship is now more important to us than where it’s going. But horses for courses, book what you enjoy, and everyone’s personal taste is just that.

We were in a PH on Vista over Christmas, and didn’t notice any problem with noise from adjoining cabins.