samiam0403

We've absolutely loved the Country Fairs O does on transatlantic crossings, so I'm curious as to whether or not they're only on transatlantics, or also on longer cruises. We're sailing on a Cape Town to Paris (Le Havre) 34-day cruise on Nautica later this month, and was wondering if anyone knows - will we have a Country Fair or no?

Instead of hoping the Africa sailing has safari-like excursions, you could always fly in a few days early (or stay a few extra days depending on where Cape Town is in the order of ports) and do your own! We leave next week for our Cape Town sailing, and are booked for 5 days at Sanbona Wildlife Reserve a few hours north of Cape Town. They're also providing transportation so we don't have to rent a car. Like you, if this is my only trip to sub-Saharan Africa, I want to do ALL THE THINGS! (We're also going cage diving with sharks!)

As a retired MI individual, we prefer 'quirky.' 🤣

We just received ours today in France for our cruise next month! What a lovely surprise! The document holder is much better than the old paper version, and the luggage tags are a nice touch.

They'll let you apply it to cruises you already have booked. That's how I usually do it!

Yes. My husband and I get a discount after every O cruise. They range from $1500 to $2000 (total) off of whatever booking we have them apply it to.

Schitt's Creek fan, I'm guessing? And if so, thanks for putting that song in my head! 🤣🤣🤣 And thanks for the trip report - glad to hear your mom's (mostly) ok!

I took my first O cruise in 2019 as a solo cruiser at 45. When I dropped off my luggage, the porter chuckled and said, "you're going to be the life of the party!" Apparently I was the youngest person he'd seen all day. I was a little apprehensive, but had a great time! Even went to a few solo cruiser meetups. But I'm a happy camper with good food, a comfy room with a balcony, a book, and a glass of wine. I met a lot of lovely people and promptly booked another O cruise. They're now my cruise line of choice. The cruises you're looking at are pretty port intensive - I would imagine the party won't be going late on any of them. Lots of folks will be getting up early, going all day on shore, and going to bed early. (We did a Carnival sailing around Iceland last summer, and the ship was dead after 10:30 or 11:00!) O won't have huge production shows, late night parties, or a lot of younger folks - but it's relaxing. We quite enjoy the slower pace, smaller crowds, no photographers, and little to no wait to get on/off the ship. Long story short, I don't know that O has exactly what you're looking for - but I also think it might surprise you on a port heavy itinerary. Good luck with your choice, OP! I think you'll have a great time no matter what you choose.

And Oceania Nautica in June 2024!

I feel bad for not saying this earlier, but I'm glad the MEDEVAC had a good outcome - health-wise! I was on the Marina when it happened and definitely sent up some prayers for y'all! I've been reading as much as I can to try to figure out the legality of them sending a bill - everything I'm seeing says that a signatory to the IMO Conventions (and Portugal is one) won't charge for a rescue. Sadly, since I'm no longer at the job, I don't have access to some of the UN documents that would spell that out. I've put in a request with some contacts at my old unit for the exact document and phrasing - will pass it along if/when I hear anything back.

I'm still reading through this thread, and I too am SHOCKED that OP received a bill for a military MEDEVAC. Up until 2022, I spent 8 years, as active duty and then civilian, coordinating exactly this type of rescue (quite a few on cruise ships, fishing vessels, tankers etc), and the objectives are never billed for these rescues. I'm half tempted to start digging into the UN documentation that I've trained on, because I am stunned.

Not all of us! I'm Gen X, and retired from the Air Force after 26 years. I go to the onboard veteran gatherings mainly to remind people that all vets on O (and everywhere else!) aren't all a) men, or b) over 70.

I think anything reasonable from a major airport is fine. We took an Elite out of Southampton earlier this year, and they provided pickup from our hotel in London. It was an 80+ mile drive, and took almost 2 hours.

We're apparently in the minority - we tip anywhere from $5-$10 per delivery depending on what cash we have on hand. That's in a non-suite. When in a suite, we tip if someone other than our butler delivers, and obviously tip our butler extra at the end. Barring any bad service, of course (which has yet to happen on O).

Just saw this on another site - people are making jokes about how it's no big deal since it's shallow warm water in the middle of the day, and ignoring the fact that a woman died. People are awful.