My First Time on a Luxury Cruise - Oceania Vista Review 

The spa being no-access for cabins below a certain level is INSANE. Genuinely, what an awful idea.

cant belive they made a Hatsune Miku- style Whitney Houston show

A running theme I've noticed with these videos is that you should start ordering whatever Emmy does. It seems like you're always getting the short end of the stick with food selection lol.

I see Jake is experiencing the “ship within a ship” era of cruising where they just cordon off sections for people to pay more. Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity along with others are doing this

that bathroom was absolutely stunning for a cruise ship!

Don't pull your punches, BST. A steak isn't cooked perfectly if it's also chewy and bland. Also, that's an OUTRAGEOUS price for what you received. I was cruise hunting over the weekend and found a 23-day transatlantic cruise from London to Boston for the same amount.

When I was on Ocania I was the youngest passenger at 42

I've never even been near a ship before, yet I still can't stop watching your reviews of them. So nice of you to gift a trip to your mom! edit: having a casino on board at that price is absolutely wild lmao, really gotta get money from those older people I guess

Always a good day when a Bright Sun Travels video drops.

That Whitney Houston event is so embarrassing, I cannot see why they would EVER greenlight something like that. Puppeteering around a dead singer's likeness is just ghoulish. Clearly they have people hired as entertainers, so...why?? Couldn't they just have had their actual singers do covers of her songs if they really wanted a Whitney Houston concert? There's just no ethically sound justification for grafting on a real person's face to a dancer's body imo. This is exactly why hologram based performers like Hatsune Miku are characters. Hatsune Miku is literally just the name for the synthetic voice program -- she's basically like if the concept of guitars had an anime character figurehead. Keeping it character only means that they can't, y'know, die, and so it never crosses into that exploitive/uncanny threshold.

I'm actually baffled to hear there's NO food served at certain times. I just got back from my 5th Royal Caribbean cruise a few weeks ago and there is ALWAYS food somewhere. Especially pizza overnight, lol.

Now that I'm almost 40, the lectures are the most appealing part of the cruise

Well done Jake... Putting the cruise experience aside, you can't put a price on helping your mom achieve one of her dreams 👏

Love these brutally honest cruise videos.❤

I was fully expecting your segment about the internet transitioning to a VPN ad 😂

I understand that if the cruise itinerary has many port days, and with the older folks, they are going to be light on entertainments and shows as the older folks sleep early and are exhausted from the port activities. A library and art space and even a casino is more of their taste. Some old folks love their slot’s machine.

2:07 is it just me or am I the only person who thinks that staircase looks quite nice and at least not ugly

that Blurred Lines shot was SOOO real- i audibly laughed 🤣

Watched this last night on Nebula with my gf, neither of us are interested in going on cruises but you do a great job presenting then and we hope you keep doing these videos!

I thought you were being a bit harsh with this review, then you revealed the price! 😮 I can see why you weren’t that impressed when they are charging 11k for 2 people!

Can’t believe they named a bar after one of your abandoned Videos: Horizons

Just got off the Vista sailing the mediterranean. my wife and I are in our early40s and we were certainly the youngest on board but we didn’t mind that. I think where you went wrong was getting one of those little rooms. we had an enormous suite which was not that much more money. We also had a 24 hour Butler on-call that would bring us food anytime of day.

Fantastic video! I too have just got off an Oceania cruise and drew a lot of the same conclusions. Which cruise line next?

There are 3 brands under the Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings umbrella. Norwegian Cruise Line - the mainstream cruise line Oceania Cruises - the luxury cruise line Regent Seven Seas - the ultra luxury cruise line

instead of deepfaked whitney houston they should just have straight up vocaloid concerts on board lmao

As someone who works in the hospitality industry, VERO water machines are insanely expensive. Those glass bottles alone cost extra and usually aren't included with the machine. If each room had two of those glass bottles, that's hundreds of dollars just in bottles. Most companies end up leasing the water filtration machines, so they never own it. I have a feeling they got a discount with those promotional water bottles. The water is amazing, don't get me wrong. It's very interesting to see on a crewship.

I mean, as someone in their 50s, the fact that there were few young people on board would be a major selling point for me.

i live near a cruise terminal (literally like two blocks away), but i've never been inside or on one! i love these videos as kind of a peek behind the curtain as to what it can be like to go on a cruise

Gifting mom a vacation to use as a tax write off :P

Very comprehensive and honest review. Thank you!

Well Done! We just got off the Marina after a 14 day Med cruise (May 2024) where the entertainment including a violinist/Spanish dancer, a singer like Frank Sinatra; a singer who specialized in opera, and a highly professional sing and dance troupe repeatedly got - standing ovations! After completing 10 cruises so far - 3 with Oceania (2 Marina and Riviera) I would generally agree with your overall assessments. Yet given our 7 other cruises including: RCL Wonder of the Seas, Celebrity Solstice, Princess, and Silversea - we keep coming back to compare Oceania - to everything else. As for age, I won’t hold your age against you only to say - your generation will get older too - eventually - so that these various cruise lines will never run out of aging customers - including You!! 😂🙃 Although I would agree that Oceania has a lot of competition. I think at one time in the past Oceania raised the bar particularly with its food that other cruise lines have been chasing to catch-up ever since. On our Feb. 2024 trip on RCL Wonder of the Seas, I got to experience a totally unique food experience involving Indian continent and Jamaican cuisine. The food was very unique and quite surprising, and for the most part, I really enjoyed it! Overall, with so many cruise lines building so many new ships, the competition is fierce! Also, cruise lines are dealing with the huge borrowing costs incurred as a result of the pandemic just to stay in business. I can’t help but think this is skewing their operating standards somewhat? (Just a guess on my part.) Anyway, enjoyed your presentation style and wish you continued success. Keep up the good work!

I have no interest in cruises whatsoever for a number of reasons but I love listening to your reviews of them.

Have to say as a long time cruiser we prefer the smaller ships,it just gets exhausting getting lost all the time

This was fascinating and a very good insight into NCL's luxury line. Thank you so much for spending the money that I never could on this cruise! I've been on a few NCL cruises and to see that Oceania is almost identical in so many ways is crazy to me. For the amount of money you pay I was expecting it to be very different but the cabins, ship design (including the segmenting of guest areas by room type) and even the food doesn't seem that much different. Really the only differences seem to be the price, activities (aimed at older people) and some minor luxury perks.

Video ideas: - Bankrupt: Renaissance Cruises - Bankrupt: 99¢ Stores

I did a double take on that Disney price….”presented without comment” is the correct way to frame that 22:47

Few months ago I had never been on a cruise in my nearly 30 years on earth, nor had I any interests in going on a cruise. Since finding this channel its been abdicating watching cruise reviews. I got so excited to see this video pop up

I love your travel reviews. They are so relaxing to watch

The celebrity ascent was the first cruise I ever took, and it was absolutely fantastic. The entire party was over the moon with the food quality, "Eden" being the favorite

I need this guy to go on more cruises i love these videos

I would've just closed the crew door myself. Worst thing is they just open it again.

My parents just went on this ship 2 months ago around the Carribean and the Eastern US for my mom's 60th. They're avid cruisers and wanted to try something new. According to them, this was the worst cruise they've been on in 20 years. This surprised me because they NEVER complain, until now of course. To them, if you aren't 75+ then don't sail this line.

No midnight buffet would upset me. On various ships we sailed on, it could be a mix of leftovers redone, or as one night on RCCL, it was the biggest dessert buffet I had ever seen. I would have taken anything that would save back to my cabin for later in the night.

I think it's very disrespectful to use today's technology to try and replicate superstar performers who have died. Let them rest in peace. It's extremely distasteful by the cruise line and I hope they got enough feedback to cancel the entire idea.

I’ve never seen your videos. I’ve never been on a cruise nor likely ever will. But I’ve spent the past 2 and a half hours of my Saturday night watching cruise ship reviews for some reason. I find your reviews to be very relaxing. You do a great job of explaining your experience and I especially like how you go into detail on the ship designs. Keep it up! 👍🏼

woof! I will NEVER go on this one! I definitely believe you were being "nice" with your scores. Thanks for another honest, informative review.

Just an FYI- you and your wife/gfs full names are on your itiinerary- not sure if you wanted those online!

My jaw hit the FLOOR at the cost. When you said "premium" in a fairly standard room I was thinking like..... $2k per person. OVER $8000 DOLLARS FOR 2 PEOPLE! Honestly, Princess cruises seem like 95% of the experience of this for 1/4 of the cost.

My teenage daughter would love the artist gallery…. But that’s about it. I think you nailed this review 100%

I’ve sailed Norwegian twice and in many ways I liked the Carnival food better. Carnival had more many options and had food available for more hours, including a late night pizza place. I also had difficulty getting into or walking in to the Norwegian restaurants. Sounds like Oceania is very similar.

Our experience and opinion almost identical to yours, spot on!

I just rewatched a bunch of videos on this channel. What a pleasant surprise.

Doug score: nah Jake score: hell yeah

The limited food hours would be a HUGE deal-breaker for me!

Best part of my day when this channel uploads!!!

Yikes Jake. That was harsh. A ship, and it's review differ, I know, between the many different "Cruise Ship Reviewers" out there. Of the many different reviews I have seen of Vista, yours was the most harsh. For sure, you are the youngest reviewer of this ship, that I have seen yet so far. Other folks I follow, Cruise reviewers, like you said, early in this video, raved about the ship and the food, but what was lacking, I think was your no nonsense approach, and your ability to cross reference other ships against Vista, in a rapid fire style. Using blanket statements like "The Finest Cuisine, or the Best Ship afloat or the Best Cruise for your pocket book," just open everyone up to some pretty harsh reviews, from cruisers who expect those statements to be proven correct. You know what you like and dislike. You see, on Vista, what is wasteful and odd. Most cruise lines today are using the "Ship within a Ship" concept. I agree that Explora Journeys is a cut above everyone else in this market. Viking for me was pricey, because I wanted a Northern Lights cruise. I should have gone with HX or Hurtigruten, or Havila. Your voice is important because these lines are trying to attract younger clientele and if they aren't hitting the mark, so to speak, those younger demographics need to know, right ?? Well Done.

Yeah, I have experienced the annoyance of the studio app only working on a cruise ships upper level internet package a couple times.

You should review non premium lines too. I’d love to see your take on the big 3: Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian (the non premium brand). My family took an NCL 9 night cruise to Europe last year and paid less for 4 people than you paid for 2.

Loved the "unseasoned chicken" comparison! Ps that Po Boy shrimp roll looked real Po-or!😅

i really like this video!! i like that you added more shots of yourself! i LOVED. the silly one of the bright ass outdoor screen😂 they just keep getting better snd better please go on more trips and spend more money.🙏🙏🙏

I have to ask, how were the excursion itineraries? I would hope that at the price point, that is where they offer their competitive value. On the cruises I've done, sometimes the ships don't give you a ton of time in port or many excursions from the concierge. It sounds like that may be something.

Great review. Never been on a cruise and wonder what it would be like so this helps a lot.

very detailed feedback and they have a lot to learn

The ship looks gorgeous but the cons are so strange. I would expect more for the price point! Would love to see you review one of the new princess ships - I was really impressed!

Not to be nitpicking but, isn’t Celebrity considered to be a “luxury” cruise line? So, I’m not sure (at least personally) if I’d consider this your first luxury cruise on the channel

Nicely done. I jump when I see you have uploaded a video. I have never taken a cruise but to visit Europe again would be nice. I don’t think your mind wanted to travel to Europe with you her whole life. LOL.

Babe wake up, new Bright Sun just dropped

Recently traveled to South America cruise on Oceania’s Marina and while the cruise experience was good (so much gourmet food!) and the ship itself ok, their customer service left a lot to be desired. Oceania provides complimentary air travel to a from the port, unfortunately they booked us to fly with a very small window between connecting flights (JFK to MIA to LIM). Air travel being what it is, we missed the connecting flight to the port city, (Delta mechanical issue) WE had to buy our own tickets to Lima where the ship was docked otherwise we were never making it there on time. Of course, Oceania washed their hands and would not reimburse us for the air fare which we felt they absolutely should have.

Excellent video! On a random separate positive note - just finished sailing on Celebrity Reflection - the sister ship to Celebrity Solstice you reviewed. The line really stepped up its main dining room food as well as the entertainment since two years ago. I was throughly impressed.

Azamara has 4 of the Renaissance Cruises ships and they have been remodeled quite nicely.

been pumped for this! been fallowing the IG posts

i swear if this man had to option to have shrimp on a cruise or create world peace, he would choose the shrimp every time

I was confused by the limited dining hours on the ship, given my own (limited) cruise experience. I was on board a Norwegian cruise and food was available nearly 24x7. But then you mentioned that their seeming demographic skews older, and the dining times make sense. They line up with dining habits of an older crowd.

I’m not sure I see the value over premium lines like Holland Celebrity and Princess.

My favorite line: "If it was a food- it would be unseasoned chicken". hahaha! I love it! I'm stealing that one. Great video, as always. :D

Loved the inclusion of your Mom's reaction! Despite any faults, a vacation with family is always a treat. Loved the review as always!

Very accurate review!

“The Owner’s Suite” isn’t a little on the nose, it’s a mallet calling me poor 😂

I just came back from Italy! I cannot go to Olive Garden for Italian food in good faith anymore, the food in Italy was beyond amazing!

Back in January we went on the Marilla Explorer 2 for $2,000 CDN per person including airfare from Toronto to Jamaica. It is an all-inclusive ship, although you can buy the premium drink package if wanted. We actually really enjoyed pretty much the whole trip, so you might want to check them out and they can be booked through Sunwing but won't update that until about September.

I appreciate this review, I’ve been trying to pick between Ocenia and Explora Journeys and I chose Explora and I think I’ll be pleased.

Fair & qualified review - Ty ! I just had this discussion w/ Princess. We would not go with ultra luxury anything , due to my perception. The extra cost not worth the experience in order lay out so much more cash. Premium does the trick just fine for us . 😀

Thanks for another great video, Jake.

16:39 Gotta love the rusted, post-apocalyptic metal style seat cushions!

Always great to see your new stuff, Jake. Do you have a Bankrupt episode coming up soon? Between all of this and BSF you're a busy man! Stay awesome!

I watch every single review of a Cruise ship of your channel, so I can be more conscious on the desicions for my future Cruise trip, but anyways been looking forward for this video from the previews on Instagram. And it was worth the wait.

That room was beautiful. My in-laws are hard core Royal cruisers and they spend every evening in the casino. I hate cruising but the ship you were on looks way more enjoyable than a royal ship imo.

I found similar on Viking, lovely ships and great facilities but food overall was overhyped, the times for when food was open and available just didn’t match the way we eat again with 10am-12pm having basically no food meaning no late breakfasts.

I expected an ad for a VPN app when you said RU-vid was blocked haha it's one of the few use cases for a VPN 🌈

Sweet, love this channel!!!

Oh, my excitement when I see there's a new Bright Sun cruise review video!!!

Wonderful review Jake & I agree with your opinions. For my money, it's Viking Ocean all the way. Ship design & onboard atmosphere far surpass Oceania, IMHO. I can't understand Oceania not building a new ship with a fully encircling promenade deck & the lack of interior public rooms looking out to sea. The atrium lobby is a complete fail with a decidedly uninviting lack of seating. Again, Viking blows it out of the water(bad pun!) with their Living Room that feels like a combination of a real living room & small town square. The fact that although Oceania is an upper premium line, there's annoyingly too many revenue production offerings. Lack of free access to the spa & forward facing outer decks is another deal breaker. Also great for Viking is the growing number of younger cruisers discovering the joys of the line. Eight Viking Ocean cruises sailed, with two more booked.

that AI whitney houston event gives me the ick...

My mom and I heard great things about Oceania so decided to give it a try. Was on a small ship, which we usually love on other lines. Great itinerary but the worst cabin we have ever been in. It was “valet” veranda. Ha never saw or heard from a valet. All we got was two free laundries. Cabin was tiny with the smallest bathroom we have ever seen. You could sit on the toilet, brush your teeth, and wash your feet in the shower all at the same time. Food was good but not fantastic. We won’t be sailing with them again.

Not to be nitpicking but, isn’t Celebrity considered to be a “luxury” cruise line? So, I’m not sure (at least personally) if I’d consider this your first luxury cruise on the channel.

YOOO new Bright Sun Travels cruise video!!!

Got addicted to abandoned, now loving the cruises.

Would love to see your take on a Royal Caribbean Cruise ship like Icon class or Oasis class. With cruise prices on the rise and value seeming to dwindle I’d love to watch your take on your score board

That’s insane that nothing is available after 9 PM. Really catering to their older crowds who are asleep by 9 😅

that whitney concert looks awful