the more ports the better

Thanks Diva!  My TA has a service center with reps 24/7 so I can call their number.  I’m not sure if they can add it themselves or they have to call O.  
 

On one site it states that the Olife ultimate lasts through Wednesday so I’d rather call sooner than later if the change is possible without a fare increase.  O’s offices are closed on weekends though.

9 hours ago, ORV said:

If you had gone the Ollfe route first, all that would happen is that your TA would add it to your existing reservation at no additional cost. But when you have cruise only that's not an option for you. Carry on. 

Hi Orv, 

I have O life booked, without air, on the May 10 Nautica, Singapore to Dubai.  The rate has gone up significantly.  Am I understanding correctly that OLife ultimate can be added without the increase in cruise fare since I booked OLife at the get go?  
 

My TA is out getting a knee replacement so I’ll call the service center and put up with the hold as long as I know they will make the change.

Thanks!

Just got off Riveria last week, stayed in refurbished PH.  Hubby is 6’ 4” hair barely touched shower ceiling.  At 6’ 6” you’ll have to crouch just a bit.

On 2/9/2023 at 6:43 AM, shepherd really said:

$836 is nearly what I spent on my first car, but I drove that for several years not 90 minutes.  Pricing like that makes me happy to continue my 60+ year streak of not getting a professional massage.    

Me too, $1200 for a 71 cherry red dodge charger 440 six pack.  Wish I held on to that one!  Would pay for a lot of spa treatments…… and a few of my grandkids college tuition!

On 2/7/2023 at 1:45 PM, shepherd really said:

I keep reading these stories of overpriced spa treatments hoping at least one will have a happy ending, but no.

Sorry Shep, no happy news here either…. here is an abbreviated version of my post on the other spa thread.

On my sailing last week, while usually excellent, I had the first mediocre massage I’ve ever had on O.  My husband, however, said his was the best he ever had.  My therapist complained about the rest of the crew throughout the entire massage.

I knew prices were raised but this new pricing is over the top, an hour and a half massage with included gratuity was $418.00, $836.00 for the two of us.

Afterwards, I kind of felt like and idiot for spending that amount of money on a massage and didn’t book another one. 

Does anyone have experience with O biz class to Asia?  Bangkok, HK, and Tokyo.  We booked three segments segments on Riveria but won’t know if we can sail one, two or three until we get a bit closer.  Flights open next month but flexibility with O would be helpful.

I have two European trips booked this year with miles.  Biz flights are reasonable to Europe so I’m thinking of purchasing all the tickets with cash and banking the miles for Asia as those flights are so much more expensive.  If O has any somewhat competitive biz flights to Asia though, I’ll keep the flights I have to Europe.  

19 minutes ago, Spurschick said:

Agreed, we booked our Regent for 10 nights for around what we paid for Star Class, and we had lifted and shifted that so definitely cheaper than booking Star Class now. Will be interesting to see how it goes to compare.

You will be blown away!!!  It is 100% understated elegance.  No crowds, no loud people…..  Fairly quiet overall but they port most every day, all day and always have something going on in the evening, music trivia, comedy show during the day, speakers, art classes, cooking classes, etc….  I’ve tried Seabourn, Celebrity, Paul Gauguin and Azamara too but settled on the NCLH luxury products, Regent and Oceania.  I prefer Oceania as we are allergic to group tours and typically hire our own guides, R includes all shore excursions and drinks where O does not, but both lines are lovely.  Most repeat clients jump back and forth between the two  regularly. We have not tried Silver Seas or Crystal (starting up again soon under new owners) but we are happy with O and R so I doubt we will.  Enjoy, it’s a treat.

I have sailed on Royal, predominantly in an OS sometimes in a GS, maybe 30 times or so.  I have found that recently, the suites on Royal for 7 days have been so expensive that I can sail on a premium line in a comparable suite for 10 days for the same price, or even less.  Oceania or Azamara, for example, are not great for young kids but the food and service are far far superior, not even in the same universe.  Even 10-12 day sailings on Regent, Silver Seas and Seabourn price out less than Royal’s 7 day Star Class sailings many times.

I once sailed in the med for 12 days on Oceania with my husband, then he flew home from Venice and I flew to Barcelona where I met my kids for a TA on Symphony which was a blast!  During the TA, I ended up losing the weight that I gained on Oceania and wanted to cry a little thinking about the food on Oceania every time I had a meal on Symphony.  The Symphony TA sailing cost about the same as the Oceania sailing which was in port every day.

I enjoy Royal, we are on Wonder in a few weeks with 20 kids and grandkids but for an OS or higher category, they are now pricier and are a giant step down from the far superior premium and luxury lines.  Just food for thought……

I use the spa frequently on O and typically treatments are usually excellent but extraordinarily expensive. On my sailing last week, I had the first mediocre massage I’ve ever had on O.  My husband, however, said his was the best he ever had.  His therapist was a woman from the Philippines and mine was from somewhere else.  Maybe a difference in training as the therapists from the Philippines are always far above average. My therapist complained about the rest of the crew throughout the entire massage.

I was surprised to find that pricing increased to ridiculous levels.  I knew prices were raised but this new pricing is over the top, an hour and a half massage with included gratuity was $418.00, $836.00 for the two of us.

Afterwards, I kind of felt like and idiot for spending that amount of money on a massage and didn’t have another one.  I could have had one on land in any port for a small fraction of the price.

The facilities are more than adequate, sauna, steam and nice workout facility.

Thx!!

5 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Correction:

 

Open jaw pricing is a function of the round trip pricing on each segment.

 

Flying A to B and then C to A, an open jaw would be:

 

Take the roundtrip price from A to B and divide by two.

 

Take the roundtip price from C to A and divide by two.

 

Add those together.

 

It is NOT "the same pricing".

 

And there are other specific rules applicable to open-jaws.

 

 

Hey, flyertalker.  Obviously, it’s the price of the individual RT’s divided by two.   I was pointing out that you don’t have to purchase two overpriced one ways.

Do you know if any airlines are still offering a complementary intermediary flight between European cities when purchasing an open jaw?  I typically use miles unless flying for business.  A few times, when I booked the inter EU flight in the middle of the trip, no miles were deducted.

The OP was specifically asking about biz class.  O is rarely competitive in that arena.

Most airlines permit multi stop fares which are the same pricing as RT as long as you stick to one region, for example, the EU or Asia.  Unless doing a TA and need a one way, O typically is not competitive when booking biz class.

Thanks Jan, I should have specified that O life without air is also an option.

Biz class almost always works out to be much cheaper on your own when you take the cruise only fare.  To Europe, O life with air is typically is $1500-1700 more.  On top of this, they usually charge nearly the full business fare to upgrade.  Not always but most of the time.

Also, booking directly with the airline affords much more flexibility to change flights if something goes haywire with delays cancellations etc.

You may want to have your TA double check with O.  They may move your flight.

Ljubljana is a really pretty pedestrian only city.  Lake Bled is beautiful and well worth a trip if you spend a few days in Ljubljana.

Last year, a water taxi from Marco Polo to center city Venice was $120 for 2 to 6 people.  I just looked at the taxi website and it is still the same.  O’s $599 for four is a bit out of line.

I have stayed in 10035 several times.  No noise from the elevator.  Sometimes you can hear people talking in the hall when shows end but that’s any room.  10035 and 10037 are our preferred rooms on Riveria and Marina and we request them while booking.
 

Being close to the elevator and stairs makes the cruise much simpler as you are not running up and down the hall every time you need to go to your room.  (Frequently, one of us forgets something when going ashore) The pool, spa, gym and Horizons are just up the stairs or elevator.  Lectures, shows, and embarkation, debarkation plus guest services are down.

Plus, there is a big router between 10035 and 10037 so internet is a bit better there.

The updated schedule shows a sailing ending on April 29 in Venice and the next one boards on June 1 in Rome.  I guess that answers the question.

Oh jezzzz, we are booked on her June 1-24.  Hopefully, the refurb goes smoothly!

Hi there, Vista and Marina are basically the same size along with Riveria so no worries regarding sailing on a smaller ship than Vista.  We have been on Marina for extended sailings and enjoyed her immensely, but that was a few years ago.  Others who have sailed more recently may have more insight.

I am just off Riveria this morning and I booked a sailing and also purchased a few future cruise certificates onboard yesterday for the upcoming April itinerary release.  The O booking advisor said that the new Marina refurbishment date is set for April 2024.  I did not ask anyone else but she was fairly adamant that it was a done deal.

Has anyone else heard from an O rep that the refurb is scheduled???

Jan, I wouldn’t count on the police.  A bit disconcerting but we were in a papyrus shop with a Polish group on a bus tour.  We left before them with our guide and driver when the police followed us to the car and thought they had kidnapped us from the group.  I thought, that’s nice, they are protecting tourists, but no, the police were demanding money to not report him authorities. Once our guys showed their  guide credentials and threatened to report them, the police were out of there very quickly.

That was our experience in Jan 2020 a year or so after Islamic State was defeated so things were really calm in Egypt and the entire region when we planned the trip.  Our military, I’m in the US, killed that Iranian general Solimani while we were staying in Giza so that was a bit worrisome.  It turned out, they really disliked him in Egypt and were celebrating the operation so it ended up being ok and calmed things down even more.

Now, I would be more cautious and probably wait and see what happens.  The Sunni Shia conflict is heating up again as is Islamic State.  I do think the large companies like Memphis and Emo are really cautious about protecting their clients and take security seriously.  We had our guide and driver on either side of us most everywhere we went, especially in crowded areas. We were fairly inconspicuous.  On a bus tour, I think you stand out as a group of tourists.  After, the attacks on the tour bus in Giza in 2018, I prefer to be under the radar.  Also, if, god forbid, you need to leave quickly, it is easier when it’s just the two of us, our driver and guide.

Unfortunately, it appears the Valley of the Kings may be closing permanently to tourists so waiting may not be an option if that is on the bucket list.  That is the most impressive site I have seen in the world thus far.

just my experiences but everyone should 100% plan what is going to make them most comfortable.  Some prefer “security in numbers”

4 hours ago, Dougolly said:

What ship?

Riveria after refurb

Also, Egypt is very inexpensive.  I think our total cost was around $1500 to have a driver and guide for just short of three weeks, including airport transfers and we flew inter country so several airport pick up drop offs..  I think they charged $150ish for a single day.  Both companies have websites with pricing.

We have used both Emo and Memphis tours in Egypt, Cairo, Luxor, Aswan and even in the small villages further south up the Nile.  We were very happy with both companies.  We had private tours in each area.  Reasonably priced with well educated guides.  I would use either company again.

Here is the new set up on both sides of the bed in a PH.  One EU 220, one US 110, one USB C and one USB A.  Plus two banks of outlets on the desk area.