Vineyard View

Is the Colonnade the only venue for French press? I didn’t know this either so I add my thank you!

Based on deck plans, there would be a cabin on each side of the door. And available cabin is right up against it. It initially attracted me because it may have meant no one next to it.

Thank you for this. I appreciate it ORV. So I wonder how often that door gets used during the night. I could care less during the day. I just am thinking that if your cabin was directly adjacent to that door, how much one might hear it (particularly based on all the dialogue around thin walls in TBD areas on Vista). Not trying to change the subject of this thread, please, but I would wonder on any ship, on any line.

That is sad. Maybe with enough time, people will be able to identify the locations on the ship where the soundproofing is not adequate. It seems to be a predominant issue. However, it appears that there are areas where this does not occur. It would be a great benefit to know where not to book for those who are sound sensitive. I am one of those people. It all Truly makes no sense that a build would have different insulation in different areas, but I have zero knowledge on what comprises the building of a ship. There is no point in arguing if it is happening, because clearly there are areas where it is. The fact that the crew is receiving high volumes of complaints makes it difficult to dismiss. I am sorry you had such a disruptive sleep situation on your trip. That would be extremely frustrating to have to put up with.

AK1004, I don’t know how to respond. I, and many others, have been reading the same. O cancels more and changes more. Is it reported more because of the insufficient manner in which O seems to handle these disruptions? IDK. It might contribute some, but I think that if it were such an apparent pattern on other lines, it would be a point of contention on those lines as well.

Therein lies a very good question. Why? Don’t know, but I do know what I read, and I read posts of changed itineraries and shortened ports WAY more on Oceania than on other lines. Defending that it doesn’t happen is not convincing. Defending that it doesn’t make sense doesn’t change that it is happening….and I agree with you on that….it doesn’t make sense. But it doesn’t change what is occurring.

Thank you Snaefell3 for your response. I believe that Edgee was able to discern what this is on their recent Vista sailing - crew quarters. That surprised me. Maybe their ceiling is what you are describing above. I would think that if it was an area for passengers, it would be called out on the deck plans schematics/plans.

Makes sense. I was looking at Apr/May and Vista would no longer be in the Northern landscape in November.

Thanks Edgee. Those are the cabins I was wondering about. I would think crew would be cognizant of the door impacts.

I was hoping she would stay as Marina is the only option other than small. Vista is staying North of the Mediterranean. Bitmi get what you are saying if you cruise Alaska every year.

Thank you. I have known that to be in various deck locations on ships, but the entire bow is different. Thank you for responding.

Wow. No words.

I sure hope that you were compensated in some manner. That is a HUGELY different itinerary than you paid for.

I too wish that there was this data available. It would put all this to rest. That said, I cannot imagine that the audience on these various cruise lines on CC are that drastically different in their review styles. I have to think that those who post on HAL, Viking, SB, Oceania, Azamara, etc are not so very different in their review styles. So when I follow these boards, and one that repeatedly discusses skipped ports or reduced port times, that does say something to me. I honestly read of these two issues way more on Oceania than I do on the other cruise line threads that I follow.

I am looking at an itinerary on the Vista next year. In looking at available cabins, there is one forward on deck 7. There is a large space in front of these cabins showing the bow of the ship on the deck plans. It is blank and does not show anything in this area. Does anyone know what this area is? Is it accessible to passengers or a protected area? Thank you

Agree with you! When I added in the gratuities on Oceania, and the upgraded drink package (I realize that package is optional), it narrows down that range. It does allow me to look at both lines and make a decision with more options of itineraries.

Maybe, but maybe not. I expected SB to be a lot more expensive than O, so originally I did not consider them. Maybe that is part of the reason. Maybe part is because of ship size. SB is 450-650 pax (excluding expedition ships). I can only say that when it comes to Europe balcony cabins, the two lines are often quite competitive. Europe is where I am looking for 2025. Maybe that is not the case for other regions in our world.

Hank, I genuinely look forward to your review of your upcoming voyage with Oceania. Your reviews are all ways well balanced. I also agree that, as there are with most brands, Oceania has their cheerleaders that will never find anything but excellent with that brand. For me, that dilutes credibility, as there is no perfection with any line. To the OP, I understand what you are saying with regard to the concern. I follow a few lines on CC. In doing so, yes they all have some sleep than positive reviews. Of the lines that I do follow, Oceania does seem to have more negative reviews than others, so yes, that is concerning. It is yet another reason why I look forward to Hank’s review.

I would agree that SS and Regent cost significantly more. They include more, including excursions. However, I will continue to dispute that SB always costs significantly more. I know that you prefer OV cabins, and that SB has these on only two of their ships. I haven’t compared OV pricing between the two, because we sail in balcony. Comparing balcony cabins on multiple itineraries between SB and O, I have found cases where O is more expensive per day, and I have found where they are very close. So with that being the case, itinerary becomes a bigger driver in the decision.

Seabourn is not always more expensive than Oceania. I am comparing the two on some itineraries for next year. With Viking’s included excursion in each port, post Covid, they are more expensive than Oceania and Azamara, even Seabourn, by a significant amount if you do not do ship excursions. Thank you for your review. It was well balanced and I appreciated your feedback. I believe we would want to stay away from the smaller ships on either Oceania or Azamara unless we bumped up to entry level suites for cabin sizes. Once you do that, the pricing is up there with luxury lines, so we would stay with Oceania’s larger ships.

We had no problem ordering caviar where and when we wonted to enjoy it with our champagne. DH ordered our fresh coffees every morning via the Seabourn app. He went to the square, where they were ready or close to, bringing them back to our cabin. It worked very well.

Just an FYI. They do not offer any itineraries on this promotion past 2024. last year there were a lot of sales promotions. It will be interesting to see if that is a repeat pattern this year.

Quest and Sojourn have OV with 450 passengers. Yes, older ships but we were impressed last year with the condition. If newer, larger (650 pax) is important then yes, only Verandah on those ships. Either way, you are correct, it is a difference if you are only sailing in OV and are looking at specific ships. It is really nice to have so many choices with just these two cruise lines. They provide something for such a wide range of travelers who do not want to sail on large ships.

I have a shellfish allergy. The times we sailed with Viking, I notified Chefs Table in advance (as I did with Viking pre-cruise) and they had substitutions for me. Maybe that has changed since Covid, but Viking was always cognizant of my allergies.

I am finding that British Isles itineraries are generally higher than some regions. That is why I also compared a Mediterranean cruise. I did not see a 20% difference in entry balcony cabins between the two. I did not compare OV as I am not looking to book one. The one I looked at was 8.6% higher on SB. It was just an example. I am sure there are variances out there of ranges in differences, but these are the only two out of those we are looking at on the two lines that were most comparable to one another. I will look forward to hearing your impression of SB. I did this exercise based on OP remarks on the large price increase on her booked cruise. It made me curious how that was penciling out on the ones we looked at for 2025. I do know one thing. If I was offered an upgrade by Oceania as OP was, I would jump on it! I am glad it worked out so well for them, and I hope they have a fabulous time.