anonymousegirl

Our first cruise was on Celebrity back in 2000. We loved the activities and entertainment, but my husband wasn't a fan of the main dining room fare and we both dislike buffets. Did some cruises with Crystal (pre-bankruptcy) and he liked the food and service much more, but we both agreed the activity level was a little too low-key for us. Have sailed with Windstar (too few dining options), Princess (too mass market and so-so food), Azamara (great itineraries but too few activities and dining venues), and I've done Royal Caribbean (but he hasn't). Overall, we have yet to find the perfect cruise line for us. Oceania has our business right now for the itineraries and food, and we suck it up about the lack of strong entertainment in the evening--we fell like the whole ship is in bed by 10pm.

Former TA here. I just retired in 2022. I charged fees for many components of my clients' vacations. Commissions paid to us by our travel suppliers is pretty much a joke. Hotels might give us 10% but they often delayed payouts and we'd have to chase them down, Cruises were very good about commissions, but airlines were bad unless the client is flying business or better and international. I charged fees for flights, train tickets, and custom itineraries, which were my specialty. I did not charge for pre-organized land tours, cruises, or cancelations. I understand that some people vow never to use a TA that charges fees. No worries, that's your choice, but how do you think I earned a living? Not from those meagre commissions. And all these travel plans take time. When I did air for a client, I have to search multiple airlines, routings and schedules, get pricing, talk to my client, giving them some choices, then hoping the airfare didn't go up in the time it took to get an acceptance. Similarly, booking a cruise, I have to search availability, price it, and price insurance, transfers, and pre-cruise hotels. Then the client calls me for advice on which excursions they should book, the dress code, drinks packages, etc. It's easy enough when you're doing it for yourself, but multiple that by 20 couples. Travels agents are not in the business for the money. You won't make much unless you book corporate air. Those clients travel a lot, travel business or First, and often book last minute fares which are stupidly expensive. I have a friend who makes 6 figures because she's been doing this for 30 years, and has big name clients. Many of us are barely making it. I made more during Covid thanks to unemployment than I did working. So try to see that fees are for the TA's time, and more importantly, their expertise, and their industry contacts.

We're booked on Nautica in 8052 for our June cruise, and I suspect we're going to be bothered by noise. We often don't hit the sheets until midnight, but I do object to 6am noise. I normally avoid being under buffets, bars, casinos, and the pool deck, but IIRC, all the Penthouses on R class ships, are on this deck. I guess we're going to find out if this was a bad decision.

We're on the Nautica in June, our first R class ship and I've been spoiled by the multiple laundry rooms on Riviera. Now I have to plan to bring enough clothes to hold me over the 3 days it takes to get laundry back. Plus, we're spending a week in London first. We get 3 bags, though, as we're in a PH2. I just really hate having my laundry done--I much prefer doing it myself. I hang dry lots of my clothes, and if I send it out, they machine-dry my linen pants, silk blouses, etc. I once had a super luxury hotel ruin (beyond wearing) a pair of linen/silk trousers. Completely unwearable, so a huge dent in my clothing allotment. Losing a pair of trousers when you only brought 5 "bottoms" is a tragedy.

For our Singapore to Bangkok cruise on Riviera this coming January, they're recommending Malaria precautions. I won't do it. We have taken the anti-Malaria pills for Africa and India. Both times, our appetites were gone, we were lethargic, and just felt off. We can't take an alternative due to our medical histories, so we'r going to forego the malaria pills. I want to enjoy my cruise and the food--can you imagine sailing with Red Ginger, Jacques, Toscana, et al and never wanting to eat?

Thanks, Everyone! I appreciate the fast replies as I am packing for a Monday departure to UK to board the ship on July 9.

Hi all, First time on O and first time trying to bring a hair straightening iron on board. The O FAQ is ambiguous, saying flat irons are prohibited, which could refer to clothing irons, or hair straightening irons. So, I'm going to chance it and bring my hair iron in my carry-on next week. I won't cry buckets if it is confiscated, but I would like it back after the cruise. Anyone have any experience getting a confiscated item returned? Thanks, Lori

On our first cruise (Celebrity Galaxy April 2000) we played daily (14 day cruise) and won every item they had. Key Ring? Check. Visor? Yep. Water wallet, note pad, lanyards, tee shirts, a gazillion pens? Yes, yes, and yes. Finally, on the last night I brought all the stuff to give back (we play for the honor and the glory, not the prizes) and one of the entertainment staff looked it over, and said, "I have a prize you don't seem to have--I'll trade you all that stuff for it. and he brought out the Celebrity travel alarm clock! Which, back then, was a handy thing to have.

Hi all, Husband and I are doing our first O cruise on the Riviera on July 9, Southampton to Reykjavik. We're in a PH3 (with the old bathroom design). We have booked all three La Reserves, and have our four specialty dining booked as well. We've done the online check-in. We're staying in nearby Winchester and will Uber over to the terminal. What tips do you have that you think I should know, do, download, or whatever? Thanks!!! Lori

Speaking with O now. Apparently, the three excursions were canceled by the supplier. We now have nothing available for the first day, and waitlisted on the panoramic bus tour for the second day.

Our excursion in Eskifjordur was canceled by the supplier, that’s two of our 6 free excursions. Our four excursions in the two day stop in the Faroe Islands were paid for but our names were not put on the excursion list. Those excursions (indeed, all excursions for those two days) are sold out. We had originally 10 excursions booked each. Now we have 7 each. Also, there is nothing to switch too. Everything is sold out.

To compound this comedy of errors, one of the "missing" excursions was a free one for me, and two others (of the 6) were canceled by the supplier. So, now I have 3 free of the 6 free to us, and the others we're signed up for don't qualify (OS or OE). SIGH.

I do have the PDF and the original email from August 2022. At the time of booking, I was a TA and booked myself. But I worked for an agency in a respected consortium and have a few resources on which to draw. It is my first O cruise, so not elite by any stretch of the imagination. But I am good at being respectfully firm about what I am due, so we’ll see what happens

Unfortunately, it is so late that any private touring is full.

Hello everyone, My husband and I are booked on the July 9th sailing Southampton to Reykjavik. Back in August 2022, I booked shore excursions including the Faroe Islands. I got a confirmation of our bookings. June of this this year, O refunded a mystery $529.50. When I called, they said we had been doubled charged for our Reykjavik excursion. This has now proven to be completely false. I discovered last week that we had no confirmed Faroe Islands bookings and now everything is sold out. Today, I pulled up every email from O and found the confirmations, and my husband ran all the numbers. We discovered that O took our money but failed to add our names to the shore excursion list. When they discovered their error, they refunded the money (the mysterious $529.50)--which is not the outcome I want. I want the excursions I bought almost a year ago. I'm not going to be coming back to the Faroes and the excursions are not ones we can just cobble together on our own. I am going to be calling O tomorrow, and try to work with the Shorex desk, but realistically, what can they do? I fear we are out of luck through no fault of our own, and I'm wondering what O is going to do. They had our money for a year, and then shafted us. Any advice? Lori