no fuss travel

WE disembarked at 3 am as we were heading to the International airport and it was a long ride there. If you are at the closer airport, it will not be as long as a trip.

Istanbul only. The traffic is horrible and the taxis do have a problem of getting to the terminal. It just may be that the demand will be greater than the availability. We found the private limo to be more reasonable

Do a private pickup so you know that you are being picked up. Taxis can be hit or miss even though with the new terminal it is much better than the old. Why don't you ask your guide that you have booked to arrange for your pickup, then that way you are guaranteed on being there on time.

Just remember with the free cruise you do not receive OLife Benefits, transfers between airport and ship and transfers from ship to airport, or can use Oceania's airfare. You will receive Platinum benefits though. You cannot ask for the cruise booked to be your free cruise until 6 months before embarkation. If you are on board the Oceania Ambassador or whatever they are called now can do the asking for you and you will get an answer much faster than using your TA. You cannot use an ATW as part of your free cruise.

We hung magnets on the wall where the TV was on the Insignia.. We hung coats there and did not find them in the way. We also left a suitcase under the bed that we used as extra storage space. It worked for leaving the hot weather clothes in while we were in cold climates, and leaving the cold weather clothes in when we were in hot climates. We used packing cubes in the drawers so that nothing went over the back end of the drawer and it kept things neater for us.

To be honest, I was bored on Holland America on our cruise. Different tastes for different folks. The people you meet on Oceania are well traveled and interesting to talk to. The entertainment on both lines is comparable, but I actually found Oceania's to be better with the onboard entertainers. The dance group they had on Holland America was not enjoyable, as the flashing lights and music were awful IMHO.

We were at the one much further out of town. The Japanese did not plan for the number of passengers that wanted to use the buses to get to town. They had a set timetable and would not budge an inch to ease the wait time for the bus. We ate lunch in town and then headed back for the bus to get back to make sure that we got back to the ship on time. This was the only port with poor shuttle service.

If I remember correctly, when they put in the smoking rooms, the washrooms in Horizons were eliminated on the the Regatta, Insignia and Nautica. It is a nuisance.

Buy your own ticket at the Robben Island ferry. There are plenty of openings right at the pier and the tour on the island is done by ex inmates. Well worth doing. If the water is rough, there will be no tours, or if the water gets rough listen to their announcements as they will get you back. The only problem is that a fair amount of people will get sea sick on that crossing. To us the crossing was like a bad crossing on BC Ferries, so it did not bother us.

We were off at 3am to catch our flight. No problems at all

You have 30 days I believe from the time you book them to transfer to your TA

Oceania's is way superior to HAL, Royal Caribbean, but they use days of cruising rather than Oceania's method. The one item I could do without is the spa credit. I usually don't use it as you still end up paying a hefty sum. Several of the other lines have stopped issuing pins, which appears to annoy their members. Yes, I agree they will be doing some type of reduction. We will have to wait and see. I think they now have so many President Club level members that they may be making a difference there.

They automatically sent it

There is a roll call but it is not very active. We will see you onboard.

We got ours about three weeks after the cruise ended. They mailed a cheque to us. If it is a large amount, head office usually refunds it as the ship usually does not have enough cash on hand to pay it out.