Newbie to Oceania/Questions

[Sweeterpea]

Hi Everyone!

I have been lurking here now for a few weeks, and gathering tons of information. We are first-time cruisers, in our early 40's, and very excited about booking an Oceania cruise, aiming for either Rome to Venice or Venice to Rome in April/May of 2007. I have a few questions, (and please be gentle, thanks) before we make our final decision:

1) The age-old seasickness question: How do you find the the size of the Oceania cruise ships v. larger ships like Celebrity seasickness wise? Would booking a mid-ship suite help?

2) Is the concierge level worth the extra money?

3) Booking excursions on your own -- I hope this isn't too dumb a question, but I can see that people group up to share drivers, etc. How do you all end up paying the person who books? Do you mail each other payment or settle it on board? I'm all for saving money, but a bit leery of booking with people I've never met; does it work out well? any horror stories where you meet them, and it's "uh oh...."

4) Is Oceania good for a first-time cruise? We are not into a party life-style and enjoy the finer things in life, but are very down-to-earth people. Plus, my husband loves the fact that there are no formal nights.

Thanks for your patience and taking the time to answer my questions! We hope to book our cruise very soon. :D

[exgeordie]

1) The age-old seasickness question: How do you find the the size of the Oceania cruise ships v. larger ships like Celebrity seasickness wise? Would booking a mid-ship suite help?
We have been on the Med 4 times now and very rarely have we seen seas bigger than 6'. Not a problem - Medication is available in case of!!!!

2) Is the concierge level worth the extra money?
It gives you the choice of 2 reservations at speciality restaurants but I do not see much else. The rooms do have balconies and we would not sail without one. For that they are worth more than just seaview or inside.

3) Booking excursions on your own -- I hope this isn't too dumb a question, but I can see that people group up to share drivers, etc. How do you all end up paying the person who books? Do you mail each other payment or settle it on board? I'm all for saving money, but a bit leery of booking with people I've never met; does it work out well? any horror stories where you meet them, and it's "uh oh...."

The "O" excusions are rather overpriced, IMHO. It is soo easy to arrange tie-ups with others on this board or through sources available on-line. Unless the line has a tour that you cannot do yourself either team up with an experienced group on CC or just take a cab (check the driver out for language skills and agree on a price before stepping in to the vehicle.)

4) Is Oceania good for a first-time cruise? Absolutely perfect!We are not into a party life-style and enjoy the finer things in life, but are very down-to-earth people. Plus, my husband loves the fact that there are no formal nights. Just right attitude for "O" or "Regent" cruise. "R" is a lot more expensive.

Thanks for your patience and taking the time to answer my questions! We hope to book our cruise very soon. :D [/quote]
Check those prices, they are very "competitive" when you book on line.

[PA Nana]

Even with a pretty severe balance/vertigo problem, we booked a cabin mid-ship and had no problem on Oceania. The ship's size is absolutely perfect. Never lines or waiting which we often found on the larger ships.

The concierge level also gives you a small fridge in your stateroom. And you get to embark a few hours earlier than other passengers, although we did not get to the port as early as we could have and so everyone was onboard by the time we arrived. Obviously there was not much wait for anyone as we were still 2 hours earlier than the posted boarding time for all passengers.

As exgeordie said, the balcony, which always makes the trip a little nicer.
We did go to Toscana 2 times but to be honest by the end of our trip we cancelled our 2nd night at Polo, just did not think we could possibly eat that much again....ordered a burger in our room. The food is fantastic in all venues. My husband liked not having to drag a tux with him, too. The country club casual is just way nice! We're doing this trip in May. Great ports.

[PurpleCow]

Just to be clear to the OP, B level cabins also have balconies, so it's not necessary to book an A level just for the balcony. The cabins are identical except for the fridge and other amenities.

[mike35]

I don't see how you couldn't love Oceania! Most of your concerns/questions have been addressed, but I'll add a couple of other differences between concierge and non-concierge levels.

1. DVD players in concierge-class, with a rather extensive library of free DVD rentals available.

2. Robes, slippers, a cashmere blanket, a canvas Oceania tote bag, and different toiletries (note - many are unhappy with the "upgraded" toiletries in concierge - not because of quality, but because their bottles are round and hard to handle).

3. An extra hand-held hair dryer.

The fridge makes it a "no-brainer" for us, as DW has to have her nightly stash of Diet Coke.

We're sold on Oceania - have been on 3, and have 2 more booked into '07.

Hope to meet you on board...

Mike

[Sweeterpea]

Thanks to everyone, for your replies so far, and esp. Pa Nana, just what I wanted to hear about the seasickness thing! I was worried because it's not a large ship. The concierge level sounds tempting ...

The one thing people haven't addressed yet is the private group excursions that you book on your own, getting other cruisers to join in. How do you settle up the bill? Do you just do it when you get on board? No offense to anyone, I'm a bit leery of booking with strangers and they maybe not showing up, or not being compatible/agreeable during the excursion or something else happening. If anyone could address that, that would be great.

Also, where did people get the best deal? Right now, there is an offer for 2 for 1, with free airfare. I know now to take the air credit instead of booking the free airfare, but where did you find the best deal on your cruise? has anyone used Vacations to go.com? My husband's cousin recommended them, but we haven't dealt with them before.:rolleyes:

[dougiefresh]

I know many on this site will disagree with me, but just to give "newbie" another perspective regarding booking excursions on your own. Some seem to have had positive experiences with particular guides and want to re-book with a particular individual, that's great. However, consider experiences some passengers have had hopping into a "cab" for a "tour" in a foreign city that have been hair raising. I want an uneventful vacation in this regard. We see all the "private tour" people at the same venues as the cruise ship booked people anyway. We have seen cabs a couple times screeching up to a ship 6 feet away from the dock, and guess what the ship won't stop for 2 or four people who took a cab on their own, but will know if a ship booked tour is running late because of constant communication and will wait. We by and large have had positive experiences on over a dozen cruises using the excursions booked by various cruise lines. It is probably 10% or so more expensive (someone has to get a commission) but you know exactly what you're getting. For us it's generally worth it. Just another viewpoint, hope it helps!!

[ClaudiaF]

Re: private tour booking...
Many of us have favorite companies that we have dealt with so if you give us specific ports we can give you their websites.
Some of them have so many people from Oceania that they can help you get with a group if you don't find anyone before your cruise from these boards. ( unlikely ;-) just ask in a post and you will find new friends).
If you have concerns that some who want to share may not be able to "keep up" with you or want to visit the same things you just need to ask the questions upfront.
You can always book a car/driver for just the 2 of you..but ofcourse with the prices it is nice to share and cut the costs down.
As far as the money, most of the tour drivers we use will collect cash at end of tour when they get you back to ship..everyone can be responsible of their own fare plus a tip. If any company asks for deposits in advance-find another company.
Most of the ones most of us use and have used will not ask for any money upfront. A few may ask for a credit card number only to guarantee your reservation..but that is a very small few.
If you have concerns ask on these boards about the company.
Have fun!

[PA Nana]

Sweeterpea -

We really aren't supposed to discuss travel agents on here I don't think.
If you would like, send me your email address and I'll be happy to share some info with you privately.

There are several folks who post on here a lot who can tell you what excursions are good in the Med ports and who to hire for private tours...
If they have joined with others, I'm sure they can tell you how they settled up the bill as well.

You will love Oceania. It's a wonderful cruise line.

[PA Nana]

This is so funny...By the time I posted the last note, I see Claudia had responded to you. She's a WEALTH of knowledge. She was one of the persons I meant.

[exgeordie]

I picked up a site from a CC board which really opened my eyes. Take a look at www.*************.com. This is not an agency and you must register, n/c but it is most interesting!!!:):)

[nparmelee]

We only have two cruises under our belt with our third, our first on Oceania, in three weeks. As far as excursions go, you have to go with your comfort level. Research your ports, some of them are do-things-on-your-own ports, some are ship or private tour type places. We have two private tours booked and two ship tours booked for our upcoming cruise. The rest of the ports we'll be doing our own thing. I looked at what the ship offered in different ports vs. what I wanted to do and what my comfort level was with those ports (some are a long distance to what you really want to get to). Now, my wonderful DH is useless in this area, he says he doesn't care what we do as long as he has a good time. Luckily (or not) for him, I'm majorly detail oriented and love the planning stuff. Our two ship tours on our Rome to Istanbul itinerary are Florence on your own and Bosphorous cruise in Istanbul. My reasoning, I don't want to stress about a train strike in Italy, don't really care enough to go to Pisa but do want to spend time in Florence. I made our reservations for the Uffizi and the Accademia in Florence and we'll just to whatever else strikes us between the two. For Istanbul, I know I could get us a Bosphorous cruise for cheaper than the ship tour, but, it's a good intro to Istanbul and was something we wanted to do anyway. Just makes it easier for us. Our two private tours are at Amalfi with Salvatore going to Pompeii and the Amalfi drive, the ship didn't offer this option, and at Kusadasi to Ephesus, the ship does have a similar trip but I really wanted somebody REALLY knowledgeable to show us around there. We found people on these boards to join us in both which reduced the cost a lot.

Go and enjoy! We are doing concierge, mostly because we want to pick up local cheeses and wines in ports and enjoy them on our balcony before dinner, so for us the mini-fridge is a necessity.

[mike35]

Re private vs. ship tours. DW and I have never taken an Oceania ship tour, primnarily because of both the price and the idea of traveling with a large group of people, thus having to pace the tour to the slowest of the group (or those who somehow get lost in the bathroom, a gift shop, etc.).

We've had wonderful luck with private tour guides whom we've researched several weeks in advance. We've also met wonderful touring companions on Cruise Critic - couples who have become lifelong friends. Again, through these boards and private e-mails and telephone calls between them and us, we've been able to mutually discover those with similar interests, tastes, itinerary desires, etc. I'm confident that our luck will hold out in the future as well.

We have never been "stiffed" by those we've counted on to accompany us, nor do we anticipate this happening in the future. We've found "O" passengers to be well-traveled, sophisticated, and reliable.

Hope this helps - private tours are not for everyone, especially those who have basic fears of exploring on one's own.

Mike

[Sweeterpea]

Thanks again everyone for the great info.

However, I think maybe I'm not expressing myself clearly. I'm not worried about tours from port, as we've travelled fairly extensively, and have booked private tour guides before. I have found some great websites here and am planning to book our own private tours at various ports.

I'm referring to (and again, I wish to offend no one) about your FELLOW CRUISERS. The people that go with you on your booked private tours. Has everyone had overall good experiences with the people that end up sharing your tour that you booked yourself privately?

[Sweeterpea]

oops, didn't see you there Mike. Thanks for your thoughts.

[azkitty]

Sweeterpea: I always look and book online. I have used Vacations To Go several times and was very satisfied. Now, I also use www.*************.com (http://www.*************.com) to get comparisons and have booked our Feb. cruise with one of their responders, Vacation outlet, I believe. They had a better price than VTG on the cruise we wanted.

[sfgoguy]

I am part of an 8-10 person group sailing on the October 2007 Nautica voyage from Venice to Istanbul. Ports-of-call include: Dubrovnik, Kotor, Messina, Amalfi/Positano, Athens, Santorini, Delos, Mykonos, Rhodes, and Kusadasi. Any suggestions for tour companies in any/all of those sites? Many thanks. To be sure I get your response, please send to my e-mail address: sfgoguy@sbcglobal.net SFGOGUY, San Francisco, CA




Re: private tour booking...
Many of us have favorite companies that we have dealt with so if you give us specific ports we can give you their websites.
Some of them have so many people from Oceania that they can help you get with a group if you don't find anyone before your cruise from these boards. ( unlikely ;-) just ask in a post and you will find new friends).
If you have concerns that some who want to share may not be able to "keep up" with you or want to visit the same things you just need to ask the questions upfront.
You can always book a car/driver for just the 2 of you..but ofcourse with the prices it is nice to share and cut the costs down.
As far as the money, most of the tour drivers we use will collect cash at end of tour when they get you back to ship..everyone can be responsible of their own fare plus a tip. If any company asks for deposits in advance-find another company.
Most of the ones most of us use and have used will not ask for any money upfront. A few may ask for a credit card number only to guarantee your reservation..but that is a very small few.
If you have concerns ask on these boards about the company.
Have fun!

[firsttimeeurope]

We just got home from the Insignia's Rome to Greece cruise- so maybe I can help.


1) The age-old seasickness question: How do you find the the size of the Oceania cruise ships v. larger ships like Celebrity seasickness wise? Would booking a mid-ship suite help? There were 2 nights when we were rocking & rolling-- but, we did not get sick. I have heard that the lower you are on the ship- the better.

2) Is the concierge level worth the extra money? Not in my opinion. We sailed with another couple-- we were on deck 4 & they were in the Concierge level. Our rooms were the SAME (absent the balcony-which was nice--but, it was small & they were never in their room to enjoy it). As people have stated, you do get a tote bag (which you will see is just a cheap bag that says "Oceania") and a DVD player. However, all the rooms have multiple movie channels & the movies change everyday. You do get a mini-fridge--but it is not free- a diet coke will run you $2- whether you get it from your mini fridge or from the bar (and you get ice at the bar). You also get a blow dryer. Trust me, if you have long or thick hair- bring your own-the blow dryers provided are not very powerful & I was sorry that I did not bring mine So, all in all, if the price difference is big (as it was when we went) I would not recommend the concierge level. If you want a balcony, you can go down one category & still have a balcony. Plus, on our cruise, there was no special boarding or special luggage delivery. Everyone was treated the same. As far as the speciality restaurants, there were ample openings during the cruise & we ate at Tuscano's several times.

3) Booking excursions on your own -- I hope this isn't too dumb a question, but I can see that people group up to share drivers, etc. How do you all end up paying the person who books? Do you mail each other payment or settle it on board? I'm all for saving money, but a bit leery of booking with people I've never met; does it work out well? any horror stories where you meet them, and it's "uh oh...." If you go with people you don't know (which is what we did-but it worked out great)- why not at the beginning of the tour or immediately prior to the tour have one person gather all of the money-so you ensure that you are not cheated. However, Oceania is not Carnival and the quality of people on board will impress you and I don't think you will have any problems. We shared tours with 2 other couples that we meet on this web-site & encountered no problems. Definately, settle payment on a tour by tour basis-that way, worst case senario-you may be out $200- nothing more.


4) Is Oceania good for a first-time cruise? We are not into a party life-style and enjoy the finer things in life, but are very down-to-earth people. Plus, my husband loves the fact that there are no formal nights.
This was our second cruise. It is not a party-life ship. In fact, evey night there is a show at 9 or 9:30 & really nothing after that (sure, they will have a lounge open for those who want to drink or dance). Most nights, we would enjoy dinner and then go to bed. The food is so good that we enjoyed pre-dinner drinks, appetizers, main course & always dessert--so dinner usually took 2-3 hours--which is so great!

Thanks for your patience and taking the time to answer my questions! We hope to book our cruise very soon. :D [/quote] Since we just got back- feel free to ask me anything. I found a ton of useful information on this site before we went & it made things really easy.

[tgg]

Sweeterpea,

When you book with strangers you take your chances, with no guarantee that you will like the people. However, you might not like the people in a large group any better.

We've booked numerous private tours with people we've met on these boards. Most were fantastic. Cruise Critic people, I think, tend to be low-key and flexible. And if you're not crazy about the other people, what have you lost?

Once you get used to having a private guide and being able to see what you want to see on your own timetable, you'll know that it's the way to go. Sure, it's more work to arrange, but you really get to know other people and enjoy their company rather than moving in a herd of 40 people on and off a bus.

[ClaudiaF]

I am part of an 8-10 person group sailing on the October 2007 Nautica voyage from Venice to Istanbul. Ports-of-call include: Dubrovnik, Kotor, Messina, Amalfi/Positano, Athens, Santorini, Delos, Mykonos, Rhodes, and Kusadasi. Any suggestions for tour companies in any/all of those sites? Many thanks. To be sure I get your response, please send to my e-mail address: sfgoguy@sbcglobal.net SFGOGUY, San Francisco, CA

Check your email :D I sent you names..

[Andee]

We booked a private all day tour with a couple we "met" on this board, but had never actually met before sailing. We emailed back and forth quite a few times (privately--didn't want to clog up the boards) to increase our chances that we were compatible in terms of personality and interests.

We had decided that we would try to find another couple aboard ship that the four of us all liked and ask them to join us to lower the per person price. That also worked very well, and we spent a lot of time with each other throughout the cruise.

At the end of our tour day, each couple gave the guide/driver one-third of the price, plus a tip.

I'd try the same thing again, without hesitation.

[Sweeterpea]

Wow, I didn't know that I would get this many replies on my first post! Thanks again to everyone for some great information. Just got our Oceania brochure and DVD in the mail today. Oceania looks more and more the type of cruiseline we want to be on. We've been thinking about springing for a penthouse suite, it looks very tempting, though the butler service does seem a little over the top, lol. Getting a few quotes and we should be booking very soon. Hope to meet some of you on board one day!;)

[Rickey 88]

If you're going to be on board for two weeks, are travelling with extra changes of clothes and like to have extra room to relax, then I would definitely recommend the Penthouse suites, if that fits in with your budget. The butler service, which is included, it totally up to you as to what, if any, services he can assist you with. It is nice to have him appear each afternoon with little tasty nibbles (which you can select in advance) - or coffee, tea and toast in the morning.....

We know you will enjoy your cruise, no matter what your choice..... ;)