What You Need to Know About Oceania's Concierge Level | OCEANIA VISTA Concierge Veranda Cabin Tour
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- čas přidán 29. 03. 2024
- On our recent Oceania Vista cruise of the Caribbean, we stayed in a concierge level stateroom. A step up from the entry level Veranda cabin, it offered several perks and privileges. But was it worth it? Join us as we tour our cabin, 10061.
Note: we are not sponsored by Oceania Cruises, nor were we invited onboard by the cruise line or any third party. We paid for the cruise ourselves with the intention of providing an unbiased opinion.
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Just a few points. In the bathroom there is a wall socket.
We always put the fat orange life jackets under the bed. Frees up closet’s top shelf space. In the event of an emergency or you can grab them easily.
There are a couple of hooks near the door for coats, hats etc. Inside the walls there is enough metal to use magnets with hooks for additional hats etc or to pin your daily schedule sheet by the door.
A small benefit to the concierge class is the ability to reserve your specialty dining venues at 60 days while the regular verandas can at 45 before sailing.
We have done 17 Oceania Cruises with our last 2 on the Vista. Love that ship.
Thanks for the additional pointers and reminders. That’s a lot of Oceania, we should be so lucky!
Awesome video! I just can’t get over the amount of storage there was in the bathroom! Thank you and I look forward to your next video!🤗
Thank you! The storage was unbelievable - Vista did a great job figuring out how to maximize the storage in a relatively small space.
On Riviera and Marina, The Concierge Lounge is more of a lounge with snacks, and a small concierge desk in the corner. It's a nice meeting place that I usually visit everyday. On the other hand, The Concierge Lounge is on Vista is disappointing. On Vista the "lounge" is more of a concierge area with some snacks and seating on the side. I only went there twice during our 16 day Vista cruise.
The thalassotherapy pool on The Spa Terrace is our favorite concierge level perk. We also like being able to order room service for lunch and dinner from the MDR.
Our two biggest pieces of luggage do not fit under the beds on Oceania. Our room steward will always move those two pieces of luggage into a ship storage area. They bring the luggage back the day before the cruise ends.
We have been on 12 different cruise lines and, so far, Oceania is the only one where our luggage doesn't fit under the bed. Oh well, it's no big deal.
Thanks for another cool video. We are watching everything Oceania while we get ready for Marina in June.
Thank you so much for your insightful comment, some many great tips!
We have a cruise booked on Allura for 2025, so we will check out the therapy poll for sure. It looked really lovely, but somehow we couldn't find the time - a good problem I guess, as we were exploring so many areas of the ship.
Good tip about the luggage, thanks for sharing. We had a problem with one of our bags on a recent Holland America cruise, but it was a really large hardshell. We should really pack less. 😂
Where is your Marina cruise headed in June?
@@callingallportswe are going from Lisbon to Amsterdam with an overnight in Bordeaux and a visit to Mount St Michele.... Zero sea days on an 11 night cruise. It should be fun.
We thought about Allura in the Caribbean at the end of 2025, but we couldn't find anything that really fit for us. The Christmas / New Year's Cruise looked appealing for a moment, but it's almost the same as the Christmas / New Year's Cruise that we did on Riviera in 2019. Yes, this was our last cruise before COVID. The first time I heard the words Corona Virus was at the Miami Airport on disembarkment day, January 5, 2020
Where are you going in Allura?
Do you find that the spa terrace gets busy? It doesn’t look very big and with everyone in concierge and above having access to it, that sounds like it would fill up really quickly? I like peace and quiet and am not a big fan of lounging on the main sun deck.
@@ollie7875 in our experience, the Spa Terrace is very underutilized. The thalassotherapy pool feels great after a long day in port, or even during a day at sea. Sometimes there are a couple of other people that are also in the thalassotherapy pool, but quite often we have the entire pool to ourselves. YMMV.
BTW - we have done about 30 cruises and I have never been in the main pool on any cruise ship. Nor have I ever sun bathed in a lounger. That's not my jam. We don't like crowds, and I have never seen a crowd on The Spa Terrace.
@@kevincounts5662 thank you for your reply - I'm glad to hear it's not crowded 👌
Loved the Vista. Love the cruise line
Love, love, love Oceania.
Thank you very much for this detailed video of your cabin on-board the Oceania Vista. I can't wait to watch your video about all the meals you had on board this ship. It is a real shame that the soundproofing of the cabin walls is horrible. I have to pray and hope that I don't get screaming and crying children, and bickering couples for neighbours when I cruise with the Vista in June 2024.
We're working on the dining review now, will be out in a couple of weeks! 😀Hopefully you will have a quiet cabin, we lucked out. Thanks so much for your comment!
Nov 2022 booked a 2024 Mediterranean cruise. Strictly speaking about "Cabin living" we enjoyed Celebrities Silhouette in '14 and Royal Caribbean's Odyssey of the Seas in '22. Both were Veranda rooms. Due to Oct 7th the ENTIRE itinerary carefully selected in 2022 was changed…not just the Israel component! After comparing your video with "Trips for Travellers" another channel i trust, i am so THANKFUL we cancelled that trip. I heard somewhere this class of ships is really Oceania's first time creating ships as the others in fleet were inherited by a cruise line that went out of business??? Bathroom is fine, BUT did we give up precious space for this bathroom? Why make the beds so close to the floor as to NOT allow large bags to fit underneath? Why not place cabinets above the bed like numerous other cruise lines? Why make a small vanity/desk area ONLY to place a small table in the center of the room impeding walking space onto the balcony? Why is the sofa so small? Why is the phone not on one of the tables next to the beds? Why is the balcony so small, IF the cabin size is what they say it is? Throw in the poor sound proofing, and i'm left wondering about this cruise line…is something more sinister at play? By the way, if we did not like the MAJOR itinerary change we could loose our VERY early booking savings and excursion purchases made back in 2022 and switch to another cruise!
thank you for this
Thanks for watching and commenting!
Love Love
that non suite
bathroom 🤗
The bathroom is pretty stellar.
We were on the Vista in a regular veranda room last Fall for a 15 day cruise. The cruise was completely full and we never heard our neighbors. We absolutely loved the Vista and we’ve sailed on all the Oceania ships.
We loved Vista and are looking forward to Allura in 2025. It’s funny how the sound differed between cabins - we were fine, but others not so much.
Thanks for commenting!
If you go on a longer cruise on Vista, try the thallasotherapy pool on the spa deck. We spent a couple hours there and on the heated loungers every day on our 12 day cruise over Christmas and it was amazing. So relaxing!
We booked a concierge class cabin on our 2025 Allura cruise. We realized we missed out on the Vista spa, so wanted to make sure we didn’t make the same mistake twice!
I think I'll stick with Viking's Penthouse Verandas at 338 sq. ft. and more included for the price. Cruise #4 coming up soon. Other reports also mention how noisy the cabins are from neighboring staterooms... a deal breaker for me.
We didn't have any noise issues with our concierge suite. With that said, I'm sure the Penthouse Verandas are gorgeous - Scandinavian design is hard to beat. Viking's fares seem to run much higher than Oceania's, at least what we've seen for sailings we're interested in. And we're finding it hard to justify those higher costs, since we love Oceania so much. But we would love to hear a little bit about why you prefer Viking. Perhaps it could convince us.
Kind of amazing they didn’t test the soundproofing much earlier in the design process.
Will be interesting to see if they try to remedy the issues with Allura.
I’ll be in 9061, so right below this suite, Sept. 3-23 Athens to Lisbon! GREAT to see all the drawers in the bathroom and a MUCH better shower door than on Regatta, Nautica, or even Marina. Really like the layout and mirror. I think Gary heard more noise because he was working in his suite a lot. Interesting you were on the cruise with him. But yes, firewall break may have helped. Uh oh about the AC, but good they fixed it right away. Yeah; there should be more drawers and shelves outside of the bathroom. Nice lighting and electrical sockets. Why do they always use these throw pillows?😅No way to sanitize them. I think I had more storage on Nautica… Regent SS has all the menus on their TV screens, so probably decided to add them here too-could easily be done across the Oceania fleet.. Love Oceania, and look forward to seeing Vista in person. Loved the Aquamar Terrace on the Marina, but I’ll be out on excursions a lot on this cruise. No, not worth it on a 7-day cruise for Concierge level. Who was your CD? If it was Peter, hope he goes on vacation before September!😊 Very nice video.
We agree, we think we had more storage on Sirena. And you're right - the pillows. 😂. It is interesting to see how NCL is blending decor and other touches across the fleet. Even when we were on the massive Encore, we noticed decor elements that were on Splendor. It's nice to see the carryover. And yes, Peter was our Cruise Director - he was absolutely fantastic!
Thanks for watching, Cheri, we really appreciate it!
My wife and I are doing our first cruise on the Riviera. Concierge Level.
We have yet to go on Riviera, but really want to. What is your itinerary for your first cruise?
The way staterooms are constructed the vast majority have little to no sound proofing materials on all lines
Thanks for the video on the Concierge Level Statement. Room looks great. But given your comments on the cabin noise as well as the comments from Gary Bembridge and other Vista passengers, I think we will change our plan for a cruise on the Vista; looking at the Riviera now. I look forward to your videos on Sirena. Sounds like you enjoyed your cruise on that ship. I am looking forward to our B2B on Sirena in Aug.
Totally get it, everyone’s noise tolerance is different. Hopefully you’ll be up for trying Vista one day, it is a gorgeous ship.
A B2B on Sirena sounds absolutely wonderful.
We sailed on the Vista in a PH1 in November. We had 36 days scheduled for this fall and changed to the Marina which we have sailed on several times before. The noise is not a slight negative…..it is very bothersome. We always knew what was going on in both suites surrounding us. We missed Jacques and really didn’t care for Ember. Several love Ember but I have to ask if they have ever experienced Jacques. We found too many negatives there to list here. We were also on a Caribbean cruise and the entitlement and rudeness that we found from many sailing out of Florida surprised us. 12 days and we were never able to find a lounge at the pool 🤷♀️. Bottom line….the ship is beautiful but not worth the aggravation of the noise and rude passengers. We have never had this issue sailing on Oceania in other parts of the world.
@@southerncaladygolfer8651 I would love to do a survey to find out where on the ship the noise was most bothersome. Andrew and I heard very little, others heard much more. Is midship worse? Towards the aft better? Will be interested to see what happens with Allura.
I will say, however, it is truly difficult to accurately compare Jacques with Ember, as they embrace different cuisine, different decor. Personally, I could do without Toscana - I'd be happy if Oceania put Jacques in that space instead!
@@callingallports we were midship….about 4 doors down from the executive lounge. Originally we blamed the noise on the fact that there was a connecting door which we didn’t know when we booked….our bad…but then realized that the sound was also coming from the other cabin. I have to add , not inappropriate noise. Normal chatting and TV. I can’t even imagine if we had partiers or late night cruisers next to us. As for Toscana, we love our Italian but it wasn’t as good on Vista as on Marina and Riviera. We went to Ember the first night because they had a shared opening. Fellow diners were very nice but also not impressed. I had a lobster roll. I am from the northeast….a piece of dry lobster in a dry hot dog bun is definitely not a lobster roll. We were asked for our desert choice when we first ordered. When asked why before dinner the waiter told us the purpose was to get diners in and out because that is how Americans like it 🤷♀️. Those who have had the bone in ribeye or fish and chips raved about it. We didn’t have either. I had chicken that was blah and dry. I didn’t eat it and my friend had the very dry Mac and cheese. We only had the one experience because we cancelled our second reservation.
@@callingallports I want to add…good luck with your channel! You both have very “comfortable“ voices and I have subscribed. 🥰
Great video, thank you - were there any covid precautions in place on board and upon embarkation?
Thank you so much. There wasn't any sign of COVID precautions onboard. But I think their policy reflects the US guidelines. We did, however, seen quite a few passengers wearing masks.
@@callingallportsinteresting you saw that many wearing masks.
Well, this is a nice coincidence, when you mentioned cabin 10061, I thought that sounds familiar. Just checked my cruise in September 2024 on the Vista in the Med and we are in the same cabin. Sorry to hear about the sound problems, especially after hearing Gary talk about it; although it sounds like it is not that much of a problem in this cabin. Our concierge status should work well as we are doing a 20 day cruise with only one sea day and we will definitley book a lot of specialty restaurants. Once we get on board, we visit the reservation desk daily to get the restaurants we want.
Thant's a fantastic coincidence! Would love to hear your noise revew after you return from your fantastic day cruise (TBH, we're a bit jealous of all of your time onboard Vista!). If we were on a longer voyage, we definitely would have taken advantage of the concierge amenities. But a 7-day cruise is just too short....
Thanks for watching and commenting!
@@callingallports Being in the US, we always try to do at least 15 days when we go to Europe.
We sail in Spring 2025. Hope it's quiet.
We were fine, so 🤞
Again, love the background track😊 Really interesting review of the concierge class on Vista/Oceania. I have to say I don't really get the point of the concierge lounges on a smaller ship, especially when there are other venues that are just as nice/even nicer, like Baristas. Could you see much purpose to these spaces?
Thank you, Lesley! I think the lounge is a nice gesture, but you're right, we'd rather spend time in Baristas or one of the lounges. Perhaps if the lounge was on our deck, we may have popped in there for a morning coffee, but it just didn't make sense for us.
I'm an early riser, while my wife is not. In the mornings I like to throw on some clothes real quick and head to the concierge lounge. I can drink some coffees, make my favorite cruise English muffins (with butter, cream cheese, and strawberry jam), watch a little bit of morning TV, and socialize with the other morning lounge regulars.
The Concierge Lounge is open 24/7, while Barista's and the other bars and restaurant are not. We always get a room within short walking distance of the lounge, so it is easy to go to the lounge to grab coffee, sodas, and snacks anytime we want them.
Also, the concierge is usually more helpful than the concierge in this video. The concierge has helped me with some items that might require a trip to the front desk. For example, the concierge once loaned me a SIM ejector tool to help me fix the problem I was having with my phone.
No, the concierge lounge is not a cruising necessity, but it does come in handy. I have meet many interesting people in the lounge and walked away with many memories.
Thanks @kevincounts5662 - That makes sense especially if the lounge is just down the corridor from your cabin.
@@kevincounts5662 I did the same thing - up earlier than my husband - throw on comfy clothes and just down the hall to the concierge lounge for my first coffee. And they were fine with me taking the mug back to my balcony.
Gary Bembridge / Tips For Travellers mentioned that many vista guests during his time on the ship noted that they could hear their next door neighbours through the walls of their cabin. Certainly Gary could one side of his suite. Did you notice this issue during your time on the ship or hear anyone mention this issue?
We had a different experience from Gary, but we think there was a feature to a room that positively affected us. We talk about that here at 14:52.
Did you have the noise problem in your cabin that Gary Bembridge complained about?
No, we were fortunate and didn’t have the same issues Gary had.
@@callingallports That's great. I wonder if the problem is only with the suites. Rather ironic.
@@francesgill8621 We were on the same deck as Gary, but next to a firewall (which we think helped a bit, maybe?). 10061 is you need a quiet cabin! But as you suggested, it is ironic that the more expensive cabins possibly have more noise issues.
Looks like they planned the bathroom for the world cruises Vista will be doing.
The bathroom is ideal for a world cruise. Just wish they thought about ample storage for the main portion of the stateroom.
Too slow!!
Thanks for the valuable feedback!