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MarkWiltonM

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About Me

  • Location
    Wilton Manors, Florida
  • Interests
    Tennis, dogs, cooking, reading
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    HAL and Celebrity
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Caribbean

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  1. There is decaf. If you don't see it on one side of the Terrace Cafe try the other side. They also keep extra tea in the cupboard below. Or ask a server for help. They should also have it by the coffee machine in Horizons, and at Baristas.
  2. Pizza is pretty good at Waves. Some love it, some don't. We have so many great pizzerias where we live that we usually don't eat much pizza on cruise ships. But whereas we will actually eat the pizza at Waves, we have found the pizza on most other cruise lines to be just plain bad (Celebrity, HAL, Virgin Voyages). I haven't eaten at Applebee's since I was a teenager, but I find the comparisons to Ember to be ridiculous. In terms of quality, I would compare Jacques to Applebee's. I think it's the French words and air of pretension and formality that make people think it must be good. Certainly compared to actual restaurants in France (Paris, Lyon, etc.), the menu is extremely dated and mediocre.
  3. I'm sure that's true, but people who are hard of hearing tend to speak loudly as well. I'm not saying that is necessarily the case on Oceania, but we have lived in a very well-built condo for 14 years and have never had noise pollution from our next-door neighbors until the most recent owner moved in, who is hard of hearing. We hear his TV, we hear him shouting into his phone, etc. And to top if off he turned one of his bedrooms--the one that our bedroom shares a wall with--into a media room!!! But he's a nice guy and agreed not to play the TV loud after 9:00 pm.
  4. The cruise lines are not your friend. I have found they are rarely accommodating when it comes to money if they don't have to be. And it's certainly not just Oceania. I am so sorry you are likely out a significant sum of money, but now you know that important requests such as cancellations should be made in writing. it's ultimately your money and therefore your responsibility (I know it hurts!) Even if there was a phone call first, it should be followed up in writing. Then, make a note to yourself on whatever calendar system you use to make sure you receive a confirmation of the cancellation and, if not, contact the TA or cruise line (depending on who you're working with) again. Until you see it in writing, don't be satisfied, whatever you are told.
  5. Although Marina's veranda staterooms and bathrooms won't be redone as they were on Riviera (and very nicely done on Riviera), there will be an Aquamar Kitchen on Marina, which Riviera didn't get. Like most restaurants, some like Aquamar Kitchen and some don't, but we thought the food was quite good there, with lots of healthy options for breakfast and lunch (closed at dinner).
  6. I wonder if some of this is just down to people blasting their TVs because they are hard of hearing. Oceania obviously caters to seniors (myself included). When my mom's hearing went, I would go to her condo and she would have the TV volume on 99.
  7. I'm so glad so many people don't care for Ember. We were able to get seated at a prime time (7 pm) table for two without a reservation.
  8. We did Woodwind snorkeling in Bonaire. They know what they're doing. There's also a donkey sanctuary there that I missed last time but will be visiting next year. If you are walking around historic Willemstad in Curacao, make sure you venture far enough to enjoy the charming Pietermaai district. Just ask for directions or look at a map. It's just a few blocks beyond the dingier central part of Willemstad and has a number of small hotels, shops, and cafes, many on the water.
  9. We thought Ember was a great replacement for Jacques. We also enjoyed the food at Aquamar Kitchen. The service could be slow at peak lunch hours, though.
  10. We were in 8015, pretty far forward on the starboard side. We could not hear our guests on either side of us, and we have very good hearing.
  11. I get daily emails from Celebrity touting their "semi-annual sale." I imagine that means the first six months of the year, to be replaced by the other "semi-annual sale" which will run for the last six months of the year. Not literally, but sort of. If it's always a sale it's never a sale, of course. And yet, prices do change. I suppose this is based on changes in the "full fare" so that the amount of the discount is consistent. We have found that in some cases, it's much less expensive to book when new itineraries are first released. We usually do this as a refundable-deposit fare because the sail dates are so far out. But usually within six to mine months the current fares for a non-refundable deposit are often more than our refundable-deposit fare. However, in some cases we have seen very high fares as soon as itineraries were released, so it all depends. And it doesn't seem to matter if it's a new ship or not. For example, we got a very reasonable fare on Ascent when fares first opened up for the brand new ship. We got a refundable-deposit Sunset Veranda for $178.50 per person with a $200 OBC per stateroom. We recently booked another SV on Ascent for April 2026 and the refundable-deposit fare is $226.50 per person. This was, again, when the itineraries were first released.
  12. Having been on all three classes of Oceania's ships, I think anyone who crosses off the Vista (and/or Allura) because of reports of thin walls will miss a wonderful cruise ship experience. These ships are a real step up for Oceania, in my opinion. We had such a good time on Vista in December and we will greatly favor booking Vista and Allura in the future depending, of course, on itinerary. Even if the walls were thin and noise was a big factor, I'd still prefer those ships, with earplugs for sleeping if necessary. We are on Marina in November and Allura in 2025 (with 2 Celebrity cruises in between). I'm delighted that Marina will have the Aquamar Cafe by the time we board. It was a real treat to have breakfast and lunch there on Vista.
  13. Perhaps we got lucky, but our B3 veranda stateroom was so quiet on Vista in December that I suspected we didn't have guests on either side of us. It took me a week to realize we did have guests on both sides. But it was because we saw them (coming out of the stateroom and once on the veranda). Never heard a peep on either side.
  14. We agree. Vista is a beautiful ship that will be very familiar in layout to those who have sailed on Riviera and Marina, but we would prefer to book only Vista and Marina if possible (and we love the casualness of Ember and never cared for the old-style Jacques; to each his/her own, of course). That said, we are on Marina this November and then Allura in 2025. We got a super deal on Marina quite a while back while on another cruise, and our Marina cruise is going to Guadeloupe, which is one of the few Caribbean islands that accept cruise ships that we haven't been to.
  15. I worked as a magazine editor for 20 years. The article is an advertorial. The magazine's marketing department typically writes or hires someone not on the editorial staff to write the article to the specifications of the client (in this case, Celebrity). The reason advertisers love these is that many readers fail to notice they are reading sponsored and intentionally biased material.
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