Flatbush Flyer

If you’re at any O Club level that already receives gratuities coverage, the best you can hope for is the “in lieu” $250/cabin SBC. And, since they’re not reducing the fares as an adjustment for the eliminated Simply More perks, O regulars who could/would have continued enjoying the basic booze and tours SBC are getting screwed. Gut reaction to that press release: Time to start looking at other options for a “vacation home.”

Once you get onboard, go to Destinatiin Services and ask for the current prepurchased shore ex pdf. There’s will look a bit different but it should be correct (“should” being the operative term).

You were sent the most recent ShoreExcursions.pdf. The most updated version should accompany every official Oceania original and updated invoice each time there’s a change to your booking (financial or otherwise). Except for the actual invoice which, if you use a TA, must come from the TA, any O customer can call and get the big ShoreExcursions.pdf and, if you buy the tours from an O phone rep (which you should always do because the website cart is so glitchy and often full of erroneous info (like availability on multisegment cruises)), s/he can send you the full math version of the “prepurchased” shore excursions PDF which displays all the math involved in that purchase - VERY important to have if there’s shore ex booking issue on the ship. Your TA can also get that PDF.

Not really. Now that you booked online, it can be very difficult to get the “prepurchased shore excursions PDF” (the one with all the math that you can request when you book tours with the O phone rep). You may get the “preselected” PDF which is useless.

As you’ve now realized, it’s a bit late for booking February 2025 tours. But, you can call O and ask to be waitlisted (like canceling tours, there’s no way to do it online).

Either you are new to the CC Oceania Forum or you’ve passed over my zillion posts regarding the O website cart. We spend about 75-100 days annually on O ships and, although we also do private tours, we purchase about 75+\- O tours per year between us. Please believe me when I say for the umpteenth time: NEVER use O’s web cart to buy your tours. It’s extremely glitchy, particularly when it comes to important things like tour availability on multi-segment cruises and display of pricing in the cart. Instead make a few calls to O phone reps (or get a recommendation from an O regular) until you identify a veteran O rep that knows their stuff. Of course, you can use your TA to book your tours but, even if they are savvy about the tours system, they can be victimized by the glitches. Ergo, DIY the tours with the O Phone Rep that works best for you (get their email and direct phone line so you’ll never have a long wait. Still do your preliminary research by cross referencing the regularly updated Shore Excursions PDF with the O web tour listings. Do a first run at the math and then have your O rep check their company accounting system for the tours (the most accurate list at any given time) FWIW, on more than one occasion, our trusted O phone rep found a technically availability issue and fot it fixed with a phone call. Also, you can search here on CC for other threads where I have discussed the finer points of the O your process and experience.

It’s an Oceania staple.

Depends entirely on the regulations of the Port in question.

Waves usually does have a daily special. In the past, they’ve tried (and murdered) a Philly CheeseSteak sandwich. The only big difference from the GDR or other venue dining is the casualness of the dress, which (depending on what/where you were doing prior to sitting down) can occasionally get out of hand with some folks not wearing (but definitely needing) a swimsuit coverup. Remember, too, that Waves becomes a pizza place in the evenings. How’s the pizza? It depends on your frame of reference. If this picture looks at all familiar, then Waves (like so many pizzerias across the U.S.) will be a disappointment. That said, however, it’s passable.

And his message was incorrect (if your cruise is one way). I’ve already showed one piece of the T&Cs. So, anyone wanting confirmation will have to also go check the fine print. All that O “guarantees” (e.g., provides compensation for) is basically the mechanical operation of the ship necessary to get you from the contracted start port to the contracted end port. For example, if O changes the start or end port, it is liable for reasonable expenses to transport you from the original port to the new port. If you booked your air via O, it’s simply a matter of changing your air tix (at their discretion) at no cost to you. As for DIYers, from personal experience, I can tell you that O will, at least, offer you coverage of incurred airline change fees (in our case, a max of $500). What happens when the changed tix cost more than $500? I hope never having to test that premise.

I don’t see us ever using Luggage Forward because it just adds another “can go wrong” element to a trip. That said, I doubt you’ll ever find contract or invoice language that differentiates the specific contractor names. Once you mention one, you’d need to mention them all (though I’m not an attorney so what do I know). FWIW, as a younger man, I had some significant involvement in the alpine ski industry including acceptance as an expert witness in ski school operations. One of the common lawsuits I saw involved “unmarked hazards” which often brought into question the legal wisdom of marking individual ones on a slope vs. just having a blanket “no liability” statement in the T&Cs. Don’t ask me about the current situation. That was many “turns” ago. 😎

The key phrase here is “ ….won’t cost a fortune?“ Do you want $ or value? if it’s value, find a shared private transfer service. We used to use Silver Fleet in London. But, I think they’re gone due to Covid. Check with your precruise hotel concierge.

Isn’t it amazing what a little basic math demonstrates?😎

Read it and weep…

Not exactly. Traditionally, each ship has two versions of the scavenger hunt. Those are often “rotated” by cruise segments. Just to be clear, the art itself (as well as other items among the scavenger pieces pictured) doesn’t move.

There is a significant world of difference between Princess and Oceania. On all sorts of quantitative/qualitative measures (including crew and space ratios, food $/passenger, service, sleep/cabin amenities and experiences…), you will find O to be a far superior cruise. And, if (instead of just cabin fare) you compare “net daily rate” of all required and optionally available costs (e.g. WiFi, beverages, specialty restaurants, some booze/excursions, airfare or air credit, et al.), you’ll find that O’s fare inclusions mean not much difference in bottom line cost of comparable cruise itineraries. FYI: one of O’s four smaller Regatta Class ships,”Sirena,” was purchased from Princess (the former Ocean Princess) several years prior to the Covid startup. It took a $40 million renovation to bring the ship up to O standards.

And some of the ship’s have updated versions where the original state of some items have changed or are gone.

O’s blanket statements in its Ticket Contract and T&Cs clearly states that it has zero responsibility for the performance of its contracted services.

I assume you don’t do a single suitcase for both people on a flight. If you do, you may want to rethink that and use the two most airlines allow so that you can cross pack. In that way, if at least one bag gets to where your headed, you’ll both have some of your stuff.

Per Medicare: When does Medicare cover health care services in a foreign hospital? There are 3 situations when Medicare may pay for certain types of health care services you get in a foreign hospital (a hospital outside the U.S.): • You’re in the U.S. when you have a medical emergency, and the foreign hospital is closer than the nearest U.S. hospital that can treat you. • You’re traveling through Canada without unreasonable delay by the most direct route between Alaska and another state when a medical emergency occurs, and the Canadian hospital is closer than the nearest U.S. hospital that can treat you. Medicare determines on a case-by-case basis what qualifies as “without unreasonable delay.” • You live in the U.S. and the foreign hospital is closer to your home than the nearest U.S. hospital that can treat you, regardless of whether you have a medical emergency. Remember, in these situations, Medicare will pay only for the Medicare-covered services you get in a foreign hospital. We have a Medicare supplement that converts to basic coverage for emergencies outside of the U.S.. Nonetheless, we still get travel insurance to cover Trip Cancel/Delay and inpatient medical. And we have an annual MedEvac policy.

And I’m almost 80. Yet some of our cruises will have both snorkeling and a need for cold weather hiking gear. While we’re at it: For folks who annually travel by air a lot and have a preferred airline/air consortium, it may be worthwhile to get one of your preferred carrier’s credit cards. We use United primarily and when we don’t fly bizclass we still get 70 lb checked baggage limits plus some United Club passes. As long as we buy the United or Star Alliance consortium tix from United, our CC gets the 70 lb allowance on all flights.

I need to look at it (now with simply more). Unlimited used to be the “passport collection” where you paid a set fee upfront (dependent on itinerary) and all O Life qualified tours (e.g., <$200) were included and non-O Life got 40% discount instead of YWYW 25% off the paid ones.

Sort of agree unless you’re an active outdoors person on a cruise where your tours may included snorkeling, hiking, etc on an itinerary that crosses climates. The snorkel gear alone can take up a lot of space.

Most importantly, NEVER use the O web cart to buy your tours. The site is very glitchy including sometimes telling you tours are not available (that actually are available). ALWAYS cross reference the most current shore excursions PDF (they update occasionally) with the current web listings and make a list of what you want. Add the math that figures in the tour SBC and the 25% YWYW discount if you meet your cruise’s minimum tours purchase number. Then call O (best to identify a good O rep beforehand) and let the rep put together your purchase since his/her accounting system will have what is closest to the most accurate info. The problem with the inconsistency is lack of communication between the involved O departments. And it particularly plagues multi-segment cruises where someone “turns on” the booking mechanism for segment 1 or segment 2 but then forgets to do it for segment 1 and/or segment 2 of multisegment bookings. Also, always get an emailed copy of the full math document that is generated by the sale (prepurchased shore excursions PDF - not the “preselected PDF). It’s important to have if there are any FUBAR situations once you are onboard. Now, someone else will post that they’ve never had a problem with the O Cart. That may be true if you only do single segments once every few years. But, trust me: we often buy as many as 75+\- O tours annually (mostly on multi-segment cruises) and the glitch is for real!!! Also, others will post to let your TA do it. Sadly, they may experience the same glitch and trust that there is no availability. And while the TA tries to straighten the problem out (if they even realize “no availability” might be incorrect), that O phone rep can contact the right colleague to turn on the “availability” while you’re still on the phone. FWIW- just experienced this on a multisegment booking CPT-BCN next May. No availability for many desired tours on both segments. Called our trusted O rep and he messaged someone. Ten minutes later, availability turned on when we logged back in.

Really depends on the bag itself: dimensions, weight, # wheels, quality construction….. You’ve heard here about two great brands Briggs & Riley and Travel Pro. What brand do you have? How has it behaved in the past?