soccermom4

We were waitlisted for one on a cruise in South America next Feb. The other day I went in and pulled up the excursion on the website and it had availability - so I went ahead and booked it. Got myself off the waitlist, I guess. Anyways, pays to check once in a while, especially if you suspect that they are going to add more capacity to the tour.

We stayed at Mine Hotel Boutique in Palermo last year. Small, very friendly, lovely included breakfast and we really enjoyed the area. More "hip" than "swank" but felt safe. We are vegan, so appreciated the fact that the hotel bought vegan breakfast items just for us when we alerted them in advance to our dietary preferences.

We spent 3 days in BA before a cruise last spring. What a great city! I have an Argentinian friend so went with her recommendations. Recoleta - bigger, fancier hotels. Palermo - small boutique hotels with more "character". We stayed in Palermo and took taxis or walked everywhere. Never felt unsafe. Just never put your phone on a restaurant table - or it may be snatched (happened to someone on our cruise). We plan to return next Spring and are looking forward to it.

I will check. Haven’t booked yet but they are one of the big cruise agencies that I’m not allowed to name and I believe their X% back on cruise fare is non-refundable. In the past, never a problem to spend it because not the inclusions that Oceania SM gives..thus my question about swapping and applying it to excursions once on board ship.

Hmmm - in the past, our TA OBC has been non-refundable. I guess we could chance it, and wait to book some shore excursions when we get aboard. Not sure how else I would spend $1000 onboard with all that is included on Oceania. Has anyone ever tried to get excursions converted to OBC after they have been paid for?

First time Oceania (possibly) cruiser - the TA I plan to use pays gratuities and gives SBC. I heard that booking excursions in advance to use SM excursion credit is important - and that a certain number booked can give you a discount. We're looking at 18 nights to SA and Antarctica. If I book excursions in advance and go over the SM limit, can TA SBC be used? I know on HAL, TA SBC doesn't show up until you are actually on board. Therefore, people pay for excursions with a credit card and then have the Shore Excursions desk switch it to SBC when they arrive on board, in order to use it up. Is that how it works on Oceania?

Fish I could do - but no beef, chicken etc. We only flex so far…😁

Wow. Thanks for the blog. Those menus look great - and the plant based options every night are so interesting. I was glad to read that Marina is getting the Aquamar restaurant added. I could eat almost everything there.

Possible new Oceania cruiser looking at a Feb 2025 cruise on Marina to Antarctica. I've heard that Oceania treats vegans well but would love to hear some recent experiences, or at least feedback on what you've seen. Is it a separate vegan/vegetarian menu in the MDR etc? Have cruised on RCCL, CCL and HAL. Each line handles it differently. Ordering in advance is always an option, but sometimes it's nice to be spontaneous and just pick from available selections. My husband and I "flex" when cruising. No meat, but we will eat fish and a bit of eggs/dairy if it's hidden in a yummy dessert or something.

I also appreciate this thread. Considering cruising on Princess (have done RCCL, CCL and HAL) and was curious about vegan options. We eat vegan at home but flex a bit - including fish - when cruising. It is tough to get a variety of vegan food when cruising. Each cruise line varies so much with the way they handle it. Ordering in advance is a bit of a pain - especially if you want to decide last minute whether or not to eat in the dining room. I've heard that Oceania is by the far the best - but haven't tried them yet.

Loved being in 8005 - same level as the bridge. Waved to the bridge officers every morning and saw the Captain quite a few times because the door to the officer's quarters and the bridge was across the hall. Very quiet location.

Thanks - big change from when we were on the Carnival Pride in Europe this summer. Had to pre-order and have stuff veganized. A little weird that some nights they had vegan menu and some nights they didn't (?).

Thanks so much for posting the vegan menus. Thinking of trying Princess for the first time for a TA next year, this time. We're generally vegan but have had mixed results cruising on RCCL, CCL and HAL in keeping vegan. End up flexing vegetarian or pescatarian to get a good meal. How are things in the buffet? Are vegan options marked in any way?

Thank you. Considering this cruise in October of next year - and have never been on a river cruise before. Definitely gives me a better idea of "the flow".

I remember seeing that from CCL too. Just wanted to use all this Cruise Cash from the TA....which can't be used to prepay. HAL deducts gratuities daily. Don't remember what CCL does.