Tag: cruise review

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Cruise Review – Oceania Vista

I am back from my latest venture and reflecting on how it went. First up was my cruise on the Oceania Vista. The Vista is a newer ship, it just launched in May 2023, and only holds 1,200 passengers (with double occupancy). It was nice to sail on a newer ship, although you could already see areas where a few small pool tiles needed to be replaced and edges were frayed, but they were very minor and rarely seen.

The ship sailed from Miami and was scheduled to stop in Cozumel, Harvest Caye (Belize), Roatan (Honduras), and Costa Maya (Mexico). You might notice I say “scheduled”. Unfortunately the wind conditions prevented a stop in Costa Maya, so there was a last minute decision to reroute and we had an extra day at sea. The cruise went from March 9th to March 16th. This was my birthday treat to myself, as my birthday was on March 15th!

So what did I decide? YES, I would do it again just with another itinerary (maybe 4.5 stars out of 5?). I loved the ship, the crew were amazing and the food was very good. I had a nice balcony and spacious veranda cabin all to myself. It was beautiful. I did sit out on the balcony almost every day, but I couldn’t really leave the door open as it whistled like crazy when I did.

I remembered to bring some magnets and used them to post my tickets and boarding pass in front of the door lock so I didn’t forget them. I also posted the daily schedules and other information above my desk. I was very glad I had the magnets for another reason too, there was an annoying blue light above the door that didn’t turn off, I used two magnets and some paper to cover it up at night! I didn’t need it, the nightlight in the bathroom was more than enough light at night.

Sail away
One room in the library
Pool relaxation
Happy Hour
Our amazing historian
Amazing spa pool, sitting in front of the jets is like getting a massage.

One of my favorite spots was the library, the scope of reading materials available was very broad. I even found a book I have been wanting to read and brought that to my room. I also loved the bakery, they always had little treasures to try every day. The good thing was I avoided the elevators often and walked everywhere so even though I ate very well I didn’t gain an ounce! I was sad to leave and head out on the next parts of my vacation in Florida.

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River Cruise Review

My dream trip of a lifetime, did it meet my expectations? Yes and no.

River Cruising

So, what was it? Where did we go?

The trip started out as a river cruise in Europe with my daughter. We chose the Rhine Castles & Swiss Alps cruise on Ama Waterways. Tanya chose September as working the best with her work schedule. We started in Amsterdam and ended in Basel, Switzerland with a 3-day add-on in Como, Italy.

Ama Waterways

Don’t get me wrong, I love cruising! But river cruises are definitely different. Not a lot of on-board activities and what they do have doesn’t always have a lot of room available if the weather isn’t great and you can’t use the top deck. But, you are here for the food and tours more than activities, so not a big deal! Food was good and they always had some good options if you didn’t want the main entrees. Tours were generally great, except for Sundays and holidays when you head into town and most everything is closed! I did the “slow motion” groups once to see how that worked for tours and it was more personal as the groups were smaller and you saw most everything the main group saw. Also, being a small boat if someone brings on a cold (and laughed over how it wasn’t Covid so no big deal) it leaves over half the boat sick by the time of disembarkation.