the more ports the better

Your TA is wrong wrong wrong. The Santorini govt runs the tenders. They bring you to the ferry dock where the busses are in the morning. This is the dock where people come in from other islands. They do NOT run tenders and pick up passengers from the ferry dock back to the ships. They only run tenders from the tender dock back to the ships. O has zero control over this. The only way to get to the tender dock is via the cable car or the donkey trail.

Yes, I have taken the ferry from Sorrento to Positano several times. Not off of a ship though. We stay at the Excelsior on top of the cliff above the ferry dock. They have an elevator that goes down the cliff to the dock so really easy. The ferry is about 45 min and there are two around 9:00 and one later in the morning. They are seasonal. There are several returns between 2:00 and 5:00. Positano is fantastic. Honestly, the ferry ride itself is beautiful. Much prettier than the ferry going to Capri. Make sure you sit on the land side (left). The views of Positano from the water are almost better than being in town. You would have time to take the ferry to Amalfi, stop in Amalfi for an hour or so, then ferry to Positano, stay there for 2-3 hours then back to Sorrento. The Positano to Amalfi ferry is equally spectacular. NLG sells a day ticket with this route, 9:00-10:20 Sorrento to Amalfi, 11:30ish Amalfi to Positano (20 minutes) then appx 2:30 or 4:00 depending on your preference back to Sorrento. FYI, the most spectacular hike I have done is going from Bomerano to Positano. Stop at LaTagliata for lunch on the way down to Positano. It’s another beautiful option.

There is no way to get to the ship other than cable car or the donkey trail unless on a boat tour. We took an O catermaran tour in Santorini. It was fabulous. Back at the dock at 2:00. Decided to go up to shop. Big mistake. Cable car had a 2.5 hour line at 5:30. Large Celebrity ship in port until 8:00. We walked down the donkey trail. Several injuries. My husband is having a knee replacement in July, partly because of that donkey trail!

On your own for sure!!! We spend time on land in Sorrento every year plus we have stopped many times on cruises. Do not waste your time wandering this lovely area following a guide. The tenders come in right at the ferry dock. Ferries run several an hour and are appx a half hour long. The ferry schedule is naplesbayferry.com. It lists all ferry companies. You can purchase tickets online too, highly recommended, but please note, as of this past October, you still must pick up your tickets at the ticket office of your particular ferry company. All the ticket offices are in a row at the ferry docks. Purchase a round trip and you can pick up your return ticket at the same time. Tickets do sell out for the most popular times when ships are in port so do purchase in advance. In Capri, do not miss the gardens of Augustus, they have some of the best views on Capri. Regarding the Blue Grotto, you will be bombarded with people selling tours to the Blue Grotto as soon as you get off the ferry. You can also rent any size of a boat to take you around the island including a stop at the grotto and a stop or two for swimming. Enjoy, Sorrento is our happy place…..

In Feb on Riveria, we were a few minutes late for a sharing table. When we sat down I asked the husband how his day was. He said it was good until he had to wait for us. I looked at my watch and it was 6:33. The doors opened at 6:30 and they had to check in and walk to the table at the rear of Toscana. I figured the most they had to wait was 90 seconds. Later in the meal, we learned he was a retired mathematician, maybe a bit on the spectrum. He told us of his terrible divorce and how he made sure that did not happen again by purchasing his current wife of 20 plus years from China. He said he knew she was of “good stock” as he had worked on a project with her cousin, mind you, she was sitting right next to him during the entire conversation. We almost always meet wonderful people with sharing tables. That time, it was an adventure……

For me, R ships seem much more crowded than O ships. Have not been on vista so I can’t comment there. I am all for more space per person but agree with everyone here, there needs to be an additional restaurant, Jacques gets my vote!!!

Bora Bora and all of the FP ports are overwhelmed by both O and R ships. Those tiny towns cater to Paul Gauguin and Windstar. I cruise O regularly but have done FP on both O and PG. No comparison, is a mob scene on O and perfectly pleasant on PG. Can’t imagine something even larger.

Thanks edgee and Pinot!!

Can you post the PDF of the itineraries on the social media site. No social media here.

I went through the first few pages of the O thread and didn’t find the date that the new itineraries will be available. I know it’s in there somewhere but may take a while to scroll through to find the topic. Will someone post the date that they will be available for viewing?

Does anyone know if there is a shuttle in Lorient France?

I am the OP I have to say, O came through as did my TA. O gave a FCC for the penalty which was $5600 not $4500, I calculated wrong. They applied it to the correct sailing are refunding the balance. Final payment on the June 13 sailing was much less that I anticipated. While my TA was working with the O rep, the O rep said she had worked on my account several times with my old TA and that I had a $3900 pp FCC. That was a surprise to me. I had so many sailing booked and cancelled during COVID that it was hard to keep everything straight. I had so much going on financially at work as I was in the middle of a private equity deal that I had to hire a CFO, keeping track of my FCC was kind of not on the top of my priority list. I have to say, my TA stepped up to the plate and said she should have cancelled and O stepped up to the plate and applied the penalty to the correct sailing. I use the largest TA company in the U.S. They have a luxury division who really goes to bat for their clients and they do a ton of business with O. Plus the suite has a long waitlist so O will sell the suite for much more than I paid plus penalties so….. everyone makes out in the end. YAY!!!

That was the price when I booked early on. The TA had nothing to do with it. O is going to make out big time at my expense. Whoever ends up in the suite that I booked will pay considerably more than I paid. Plus they plan to keep my $4500. Triple win for them, huge loss for me.

The deposit was supposed to be moved to the June 13 sailing. Clearly that did not happen either.

I doubt I would win a credit card challenge. If my TA doesn’t do the right thing, it will be they said and I said. I do wonder if they record calls though. I will ask. I always communicate via email predominantly because I really dislike being stuck on the phone but my TA happened to call shortly after I found out about the wedding so I told her over the phone. I should have had her send a confirmation that she cancelled the sailing but my old TA always took care of everything so I was not too worried about it. If it were a few hundred dollars it would be one thing but $4500 is a huge penalty. The entire sailing is sold out and on waitlist. Also, there are always long waitlists for Oceania Suites, including this sailing, so O will not have any problem booking the suite. They really make out on the deal, they get a fare much higher than the one I have as I booked early, plus they get an additional $4500 for my penalty.