Just booked our first Oceania cruise on Vista

[WonderMan3]

Took the leap and booked our first Oceania cruise today. Doing an 11 night Spain/Portugal/Morocco cruise in Sep 2025 on Vista. We had been loyal Celebrity suite cruisers from 2013 to 2019. Since Covid we have been reluctant to go back to Celebrity due to massive price increases and removal of included features. Had been reading reports here on CC of a number of Celebrity cruisers switching to Oceania so decided to give them a try. We have booked a Penthouse on Deck 7 aft in the larger balcony section. I had a few questions though:

 

*I saw information here that said we can upgrade our included beverage package (which is just the beer/wine at lunch and dinner) to a premium beverage package for around $39 a day. I don't see the option to upgrade within my reservation though, just to purchase a full package. Is this something I have to wait to do onboard?

 

*What do the butlers do for you?

 

*Is all food onboard truly included or are there extras somewhere like upgraded cuts of meat or a charge for a second entree?

 

*I saw a video on YouTube that said that in the suites you can have any food delivered to your cabin from any of the restaurants. Is this true? Are there limits or restrictions?

 

*I read that even the premium beverage package has a $$ limit. What is that limit amount or where can I see menus showing beverage prices onboard?

 

*Is there a source somewhere for menus for the main dining room and the specialty restaurants on Vista?

 

*Do they offer any flavored waters onboard specifically any Vitamin Zero water?

 

*I see that reservations are needed for the specialty restaurants but what about the Main Dining Room? I did not see us assigned a specific dining time so I assume we can dine at whatever time we want? If we want to have a table for two how do we go about requesting that or is it just first come first served?

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

[basor]

At this time you must wait until your onboard to upgrade ( and it is $30.00 pp per day) and both people in a cabin do not have to upgrade.  It is a quick process once onboard, just go to guest services and they will add the cost to your onboard account and issue a new card indicating your new beverage package.

There is no $$ limit on drinks - there are some high end malts, etc. and some of the high end specialty drinks in the Founders Bar that are not included .

All food onboard is included and there are no "extra charges" for anything - have as many lobster or steaks you can eat every night,  They do have a few "special dinners" called La Reserve that are served in a special dining room (La Privee) and there is an extra charge for those,

You butler can deliver/serve you food from any of the dining areas (including the specialty restaurants) as often as you want.  It is always recommended that you discuss with your butler, hopefully, the day ahead, so they can plan their evening as they take care of several cabins,  We always ask if they already have several in suite dining request for the evening.  The butler can serve your dinner course by course or bring everything at once,

The menus for each dining venue are available on the O website - https://www.oceaniacruises.com/culinary

Scroll down and click on each restaurant and you will see the menus to click on

The GDR is open seating and you just arrive when you would like to eat.

 

Can't answer about zero water...

[1985rz1]

1 hour ago, WonderMan3 said:

I see that reservations are needed for the specialty restaurants

 

Yes

 

1 hour ago, WonderMan3 said:

but what about the Main Dining Room?

 

No

 

1 hour ago, WonderMan3 said:

I assume we can dine at whatever time we want?

 

Yes, but in the

 

1 hour ago, WonderMan3 said:

we want to have a table for two how do we go about requesting that

,

Where you need to reserve, the time are, for example,  6:30, 7:00, 7:30, etc, but for the MDR anytime.

 

Depending on your cabin level, you can reserve a specific number of reservations online in advance.  You can reserve 2 tops, or shared tables at that time you make those reservations, depending on availability.  Additional reservations are space available and your butler make the arrangements.  In this case, two tops may not be available, but you can ask, usually on the days you would like them.

 

Edited December 16, 2023 by 1985rz1

[Snaefell3]

1 hour ago, WonderMan3 said:

*Do they offer any flavored waters onboard specifically any Vitamin Zero water?

O will stock anyone's cabin fridge with sodas, etc, of their choice (not really familiar with Vitamin Zero, but sounds like it qualifies) even if it is not normally stocked in the ship's bars and lounges.

 

The only gotchas are they have to have enough notice and that the stuff has to be actually available at your departure port.

[WonderMan3]

2 minutes ago, Snaefell3 said:

O will stock anyone's cabin fridge with sodas, etc, of their choice (not really familiar with Vitamin Zero, but sounds like it qualifies) even if it is not normally stocked in the ship's bars and lounges.

 

The only gotchas are they have to have enough notice and that the stuff has to be actually available at your departure port.

How would that be communicated to them in advance? Celebrity has a shore side concierge for Retreat guests that reach out to you prior to sailing to confirm any special requests, does Oceania have something similar?

[Snaefell3]

1 hour ago, WonderMan3 said:

*Is there a source somewhere for menus for the main dining room and the specialty restaurants on Vista?

The menus in the specialty restaurants and breakfast in the GDR are fixed and O posts "sample" copies on their website:  https://www.oceaniacruises.com/culinary

 

Lunch in the GDR is (some?) sea days only, and dinner in the GDR is a set of 14(?) menus which rotate, nevermind if a cruise starts or ends.  https://www.thepreismans.com/index.html blogs about their cruises and includes menus and food pictures on O and  other lines.

 

And, of course, all the menus are subject to whether the ship can actually get the needed ingredients each supply day.

[Snaefell3]

11 minutes ago, WonderMan3 said:

How would that be communicated to them in advance? Celebrity has a shore side concierge for Retreat guests that reach out to you prior to sailing to confirm any special requests, does Oceania have something similar?

If you have a TA, ask them to ask O  (it's only polite, no?  😉 )  Without a TA, call O direct.  ...and sooner is better.

[shepherd really]

11 hours ago, Snaefell3 said:

If you have a TA, ask them to ask O  (it's only polite, no?  😉 )  Without a TA, call O direct.  ...and sooner is better.

And if you are sailing in less than 60 days, it's too late for anything that isn't normally stocked.

[Gracie115]

We upgraded our beverage package to the “Premier” one through our TA the day after we made our reservation. It was added to the overall fare and has worked well for us. We are currently on Vista and having a great time.

 

We just booked another cruise on board and will have our TA add the package when we get home.

[DENIE]

Welcome to Oceania!  We had done 3 cruises on Celebrity and thought we had a "home".  Then we tried Oceania based on the recommendation of friends.  We are going on our 2nd cruise (Vista) in about 3 weeks, and just booked another Vista (Trans-Atlantic 2025).

 

We love the all-inclusive specialty dining and no nickel/diming, especially with dining.  Very casual, no photographers, probably no kids, As someone else said, you do have some choices with higher end food/wine/champagne pairings, but that is your choice.

Edited December 17, 2023 by DENIE
Clarity

[zteamtwo]

Wonderman3.  Very important. The penthouse suites are among the first groups able (75 days prior to sailing--I believe) to make reservations at the specialty restaurants. This is important if you want dinner for 2 people. Many people go to the Oceania website at midnight plus a couple of minutes ( Eastern time)on that first day of reservations. Of course your Butler can help getting into restaurants at any time.

 

[Gracie115]

25 minutes ago, zteamtwo said:

Wonderman3.  Very important. The penthouse suites are among the first groups able (75 days prior to sailing--I believe) to make reservations at the specialty restaurants. This is important if you want dinner for 2 people. Many people go to the Oceania website at midnight plus a couple of minutes ( Eastern time)on that first day of reservations. Of course your Butler can help getting into restaurants at any time.

 

I gather that it becomes more difficult the closer to sail date. We are in a PH and booked our Specialty reservations the morning after they came open at 75 days out. We had no problem securing all 4 reservations. I think when it drops to next level which I think is at 60 days it gets tougher to get exact times you may want.  
 

We return home tomorrow, completely happy that we tried O and looking forward to our next O cruise.

[LHT28]

we had minimal issue in the 45 day  slot

 2 with 2 tops  2 sharing  went back in a week or so later & got  the other  2  changed to 2 tops all for 6:30 pm

 YMMV

[Snaefell3]

10 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

we had minimal issue in the 45 day  slot

 2 with 2 tops  2 sharing  went back in a week or so later & got  the other  2  changed to 2 tops all for 6:30 pm

 YMMV

To state the obvious, it's tougher to find slots for everybody on a ship with four specialty restaurants sailing for 7 days than on a ship with two specialty restaurants sailing for 16 days.

[Gracie115]

50 minutes ago, Snaefell3 said:

To state the obvious, it's tougher to find slots for everybody on a ship with four specialty restaurants sailing for 7 days than on a ship with two specialty restaurants sailing for 16 days.

On a ship with only 2 spec restaurants are there different guidelines for how many you can book than on the ones with 4?

[AMHuntFerry]

22 minutes ago, Gracie115 said:

On a ship with only 2 spec restaurants are there different guidelines for how many you can book than on the ones with 4?

Yes, here they are:

https://oceaniacruises.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360005477653-How-many-dining-reservations-am-I-allowed-in-each-specialty-restaurant-

 

[Gracie115]

5 minutes ago, AMHuntFerry said:

Yes, here they are:

https://oceaniacruises.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360005477653-How-many-dining-reservations-am-I-allowed-in-each-specialty-restaurant-

 

Thank you

[BarbaraM]

*Do they offer any flavored waters onboard specifically any Vitamin Zero water?

 

well, we always request this in advance as they have had it -- but rarely is it available -unfortunately.  There are other sports drinks available -- if you ask your stateroom attendant - or pick up some from the gym/spa area.  Last cruise it was rarely stocked -- 

[Waltershipman]

5 hours ago, LHT28 said:

we had minimal issue in the 45 day  slot

 2 with 2 tops  2 sharing  went back in a week or so later & got  the other  2  changed to 2 tops all for 6:30 pm

 YMMV

Wow good info i got all shared at 45 days so i will check back thank you as we prefer 2 top

[mantadiver]

On 12/15/2023 at 9:41 PM, basor said:

At this time you must wait until your onboard to upgrade ( and it is $30.00 pp per day) and both people in a cabin do not have to upgrade.  It is a quick process once onboard, just go to guest services and they will add the cost to your onboard account and issue a new card indicating your new beverage package.

 

I was able to call Oceania and upgrade to the premium beverage package before the sailing.   We had a large onboard credit and didn't want it to go to waste. 

[basor]

1 hour ago, mantadiver said:

I was able to call Oceania and upgrade to the premium beverage package before the sailing.   We had a large onboard credit and didn't want it to go to waste. 

Good to know - must be new...we used our OBC when we upgraded onboard so not a big deal

[MEFIowa]

Dining reservation issues highly CRUISE specific. Thus, how many passengers are on board, for example.

 

When we had just 719 passengers on Riviera 12/2021 it was no problem. BUT on our recent Riviera B2B in the Med with both 10-night segments "full" at around 1230+ passengers, we LEARNED:

 

1. Our A3 cabin that gave us an earlier booking date for the specialty restaurants allowed us to book 3 of our 4 at 6:30 or 7 PM table for 2.

 

2. Our B3 cabin that gave us a later booking date for the specialty restaurants only allowed us to book at 8:30 or 9 pm table for 2. The one 9 pm did turn into an 8:30 at their request. (Seemingly no one enters after 8:30, at least on this cruise.)

 

We had better "luck" off the B2 10 nights on Sirena in 11/2022 in the E. Caribbean. She was almost full but has just the 2 specialty restaurants. 

[cswhistler]

Once on board the menus are posted daily on your room TV so you can look to see if you want to go to the main dining room or Terraces for lunch or dinner.

Chances are better if you share a table at the specialties and we have met wonderful people from all over the world that way. Some have even chosen later to visit us, what a bonus!

Menu are posted outside each specialty restaurant but as mentioned they remain the same.

TV also gives you an update on your account. That way we can see as we work down our cruise credit.

Enjoy your trip.

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

Just this past month, we also booked our first Oceania cruise on the Vista in September 2025. It’s the September 4 sailing from Bilbao. I believe it is the same cruise. We are looking forward to trying Oceania.