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Heading into a storm may have been the best of not a good choice of alternatives. Different than the mentality of skipping ports for seemingly dubious reasons.

Nor are they available in any rooms that have a sleeper couch on Explora 1. Have 3 grandsons we want to share a room but will not share a double/queen bed. We cannot go on Explora 1 unless we book an extra room for one of them. That problem was corrected on Explora 2 where there are at least a handful of twin bed rooms which also have a sleeper couch.

It is well established that the noise between cabins problem is pervasive throughout Vista. If you did not experience it is only because you were lucky enough to have quiet neighbors. Structurally the soundproofing (or lack thereof) is the same throughout the ship. This was confirmed to me by senior leadership at Oceania who also told me that the plan is to make sure the problem does not repeat on Allura.

Totally irrelevant what category your cabin is. Its all about who your neighbors are. Found this out the hard way during 30 nights on Vista. Really a problem for us.

I have been in Retreat multiple times and know that Luminae menu is fairly limited as to number of dinner menu items. For the first time we are considering bringing teenage grandchildren along. Wondered if Luminae is flexible with dinner menu items such that they will serve burgers (which is a standard lunch item), pasta or other more basic food items which would be more appealing to teen agers on request. Thanks.

Oh my, you seem sure of yourself for someone who has not even sampled the product.

Am currently on Explora II. Full ship and some kids. No problems or issues and the ship feels almost as empty as Regent Explorer class ships which have several hundred fewer passengers. Buffet, which is designed more like food hall gets busy at times but, unlike Oceania, never have trouble finding tables. Explora is becoming our cruise line of choice.

On Explora II now. We had stickers on all of our clothing when it came back from the laundry.

We had a couple of situations where staff has gone out of their way to fix issues. They have been super responsive to my wife's special diet needs including having special food items she orders available for her every day for lunch in the buffet. Lack of a chair in entry level cabin is unacceptable to me. Not comfortable to sit on the too low couch. I asked and received a very comfortable chair without a problem.

Have you cruised on Explora? I am on Explora 2 now and disagree strongly that it is anywhere near as low as the upper premium class like Oceania. I believe it comes closer to the luxury class, although not as all inclusive as Silversea or Regent. Food is equal to or better than Regent and appreciate that they do not charge ridiculously high prices to get streaming quality internet, everyone gets three connections to good streaming quality internet. Enrichment and entertainment is good. Where they are not as good is lack of a main dining room such that you need to make reservations for the 2 dining rooms that act in the role of main dining..that is no advance reservations prior to boarding like specialty restaurants but you need to make reservations upon boarding in order to avoid waits for seating. Supposedly capacity of these restaurants is being increased on Explora 3 and subsequent ships to remove this problem. Also they offer only two laundry rooms with 3 sets of machines each, so sometimes hard to get a machine plus they charge outrageous pricing for laundry service. Crew is friendly and very very responsive. Buffet is run more like a food hall concept with fantastic quality and service, Much better than Regent and Oceania. Specialty restaurants...a steak and also an Asian restaurant are about equal with Regent and Oceania. Also, ship is full but never ever feels crowded...so many quiet places to relax. Feels even quieter than Regent Explorer class ships despite the higher number of passengers.

We embark on Explora II on Monday with many days worth of laundry due to land travel prior to the cruise. Is it possible to get a head start on doing our laundry the minute we get on the ship in late morning or are hallways blocked off until cabins are ready to be occupied in early afternoon, such that laundry rooms are not accessible until cabins are ready?

We experienced same, but not sure it was a shocker. Many countries do extra security checks at the gate usually on a pop up basis for flights to the U.S.

We were on a Regent TA cruise in March of 2023. Bermuda was skipped and Nassau was substituted due to weather. IME the corporate culture of Oceania/Regent is to skip ports if there is even a decent chance of bad weather. Some say their style of operation is a good thing for safety and passenger comfort. Others think they are too conservative, especially about tender ports, but the tendering issue should not affect you if your Bermuda port is Hamilton or Royal Navy Dockyards.

I see that the new Regent Prestige has a walking track that is very tiny. On the deck plan it appears smaller than the one on Oceania's R ships, although hard to tell for sure. Very disappointing and I hope that Oceania does not replicate that poor design.

Jason Montegue is the luxury officer over Regent and O. He lost me when he declared that "both" Regent and Oceania are "luxury" cruise lines. Oceania continues to do the opposite of the customer service tenet "under promise and over deliver" with all of their damn hype and over exaggerated marketing. Its a shame, because they set many up for disappointment. On the other hand, their product overall remains a fine one and generally a pretty good value.

We really disliked blocked aisle access for rows around the sides such that you can only enter or exit a row from one side. Thus, lots of folks having to stand to let others in or out of the rows. Plus very little legroom in those rows. Also, the sight lines are poor, with not enough sloping so that it is very hard to see over the rows ahead of you when looking at the stage.

Yes, luck of the draw. We spent 28 nights on Vista in two different A2 cabins and had bad noise experiences in both cabins. Friends recently returned from a Med cruise on Vista. They had zero noise issues.

The extension of dining times by a little bit happens all the time when shore excursions flood the restaurants around 2 p.m. Waves alone cannot handle all of the traffic.

Ah, but she does not have Aquamor restaurant and Marina does! They will finish the upgrade of Marina soon hopefully. It is my favorite ship. If you want the really full blown larger T pool and enhanced spa deck, need to go to Allura or Vista. But then (at least on Vista) you have to deal with paper thin walls between the cabins, and other aspects of extremely poor ship design, especially in the theatre.

No. Read the whole document. Viking coverage says that the clause where the exclusion is mentioned does NOT apply if policy is purchased by a certain date. Within 14 days of deposit in some states and by final payment date in others.

Most charge cards do not insure at a high enough level to cover most Viking trips AND charge card coverages exclude pre existing conditions AND most charge card coverage has too a low limit for decent medical and evacuation coverage if you are traveling anywhere but maybe the Caribbean or in North America.

Not even close to cheaper than Viking for folks over 70. Thats why a combination of Viking insurance with a low level of coverage to supplement it bought from Steve is what he recommends for older cruisers.

I was told by Viking agent that you need to buy 2 weeks from booking in order to have pre existing coverage. But when I read the policy language for my state (NY) itsays that pre existing coverage applies even if policy is purchased up to final payment. Confusing.

Questions as we finish our cabin comparison for our first Viking cruise. 1. Do PH junior suites have more hanging closet space than Penthouse Verandas or is it about the same? 2. Are bathrooms in Penthouse Verandahs bigger than those in Deluxe Verandas, or the same? Thanks.

Do not need a TA. It can be done with an independent insurance broker like tripinsurancesstore.com. I did that for many years with them at their suggestion until my age made buying most of my coverage from non age rated cruise line policies a smarter choice.