Flatbush Flyer

Depending on when exactly you got your passports, not all of the available empty pages may be for “visas.” A couple of last pages on older passports are reserved for “endorsements.”

One of the confusions is the term “pages.” The Ortega email says 10 “pages” and lists the number of “pages” for the various ports. FWIW, I know from past experience that each South Africa’s stamp only took a quarter page. I doubt that’s changed. And who knows if O is just being over generous in their consideration of the various countries visited on this cruise. In any case, O is saying 10 “pages.” So, a note for any concerned US citizens who may think they need/want a new passport NOW: You can request an “urgent travel” appointment at a U.S. Passport Agency office (not acceptance centers like the USPS), e.g., San Francisco, if you are within 14 days of travel. However, because this cruise requires foreign visas, you can request an appointment within 28 days of travel. There’s a $60 expedite fee and passport is ready same or next day. info is on state.gov

The only recent change to BoB perks has been removal of the “price drop match” guarantee on new bookings..

I always chuckle when someone posts a request for a hotel that is “reasonable” (probably meaning their idea of ideal “cost”). Barcelona is a world class city and hotel prices are reflected in line with that status. That said, you can expect to pay anywhere from $300 to $600 per night for a well respected property. In your search, take a look at the Kimpton Vivadora (an Intercontinental property near Las Ramblas).

Was the Captain’s name Giulio Ressa? Short stocky fellow?

Looking forward to hearing about your cruise since we’ll be boarding in CPT as you depart. We were on Nautica earlier this year and were very pleased with our experience. if you don’t mind, please let us know who are the Captain and General Manager. If it’s Captain Giulio Ressa and GM Claudio Melli (both have been on Nautica in recent months). you are quite fortunate. BTW, though you may not be able to change your selection, do know that the paid internet upgrade offers the same exact StarLink download speeds as the complimentary service. All the paid version does is remove the streaming block. Bon Voyage!

Given that the uncontrolled variable are always present, “odds” are useless and “probability” (with any accuracy) is very difficult to determine. The real bottom line is: either the ship is on time or it’s not. And even that is only a part of the bigger disembark challenge. That said, our fairly extensive experience is that O ships most often arrive on (or before) scheduled time (though port readiness to receive them may account for disembarkation delays). Our worst disembark was on a SYD-SYD cruise where a combination of mechanical issues underway and a ship’s customs snafu delayed our actually being able to walk off the ship by 3 hours! Fortunately, we were not flying home that day. But, you could easily determine who among the passengers were far from pleased.

It’s been a very long time since I last had to pay the required gratuities. But, even then, I would never have prepaid them. That said, I am still convinced that the onboard account will show all your prepayments (beyond the fare, whether for gratuities, tours, etc) as credit on hand. But, as usual, any CC $$$ prepaid will be the last money debited when your account is settled. Ergo, whether your perk non-refundable SBC was used pre-cruise or in-cruise, any cash you may have used for non-fare stuff will always be the last money debited in the final account balancing.

Your best bet is to collect your unspent refundable SBC on the last evening and distribute it yourself. OR, better still, just tip extra with cash you already have reserved and then reimburse yourself with the refunded SBC - either on the last night or by credit to your CC days to weeks after you return home.

You can’t use SBC for extra tips to specific people. You can request that it be donated to the “crew fund.” However, reread my prior post. If you prepaid for required gratuities, that cash is the last $ resource your onboard account will use. Your SBC will be the first debit source for your onboard expenses. In essence then, if you don’t use your acquired/uncommitted non-refundable SBC for optional purchases, it will be used to cover the required gratuities and your original prepaid $$$ for gratuities will either pay down any remaining final balance due or be refunded to you.

the required Oceania tips (if not already covered as a booking or O Club perk) will be debited on your onboard account with the priority of payment being non-refundable SBC (unrestricted for tours) followed by refundable SBC followed by $$$ you paid precruise for any purpose.

Let’s not forget what is perhaps the most important point: That published “arrival” time is actually a “target” rather than a “guarantee.”😳

There was a time (20+ years ago), when Oceania began operations and targeted a demographic consisting of accomplished adults who were well-traveled and understood the true meaning of “value and quality.” And thus, a new “premium” cruise segment (sandwiched between the “mass market” and “luxury” segments) rose to prominence in the cruise industry. At that time, only one other premium cruise line emerged as well - Azamara (interestingly, both O and A initially used the same small ships - acquired from the bankrupt Renaissance cruise line). Over many years, the two lines developed loyal followings and their individual hallmarks were Oceania for food and Azamara for port overnights. In recent years (thanks in part to the Covid era) each line looked at the future in distinctly different ways. O started introducing significantly more port overnights. But Azamara hit a snag -having been sold off (in a bargain basement deal) to a well known “takeover” company with zero cruise experience - Sycamore Partners. To the best of my knowledge, the jury is still out and how A has emerged. And, in recent years, a number of other, mostly mass market, cruise companies have tried to enter the “premium” segment by offering “wannabe” ship within a ship concepts or by buying a ton of advertising for their newly built ships and self proclaiming themselves as “premium” too (e.g., Viking Ocean, MSC’s Explora….). All that said, and with the understanding that every competitor will have some good things in its favor, the fact remains that O defined/created the “premium” (quality AND value) cruise concept and has remained the standard bearer for that industry segment.

While ships will often bend over backwards for their own tours, there’s no guarantee that ship will wait for an overdue excursion (regardless of whose it is). Read the O T&Cs and Ticket Contract. O assumes zero responsibility for its contracted services and that includes airline performance when O books your tix and tours they’ve sold you.

Let’s agree to disagree or add that the number of ships that day makes a difference. The West Side Terminal (aka Manhattan Cruise Terminal) certainly can be a zoo and you are correct that crossing 12th Avenue for a pickup is a good idea. In fact, one of the best pickup spots is on W 50th street at the Musica building. However, a lot also depends on the time of year and other factors AND Uber/Lyft are notorious for deleting a ride in favor of another nearby opportunity. So, I stand by my recommendation to prearrange your pickup.

An MD letter of exemption is nice to have. But, I strongly suggest that you get an official W.H.O. “Yellow Card” (from a qualified MD or Travel Clinic or Infectious Disease Clinic) that lists your appropriate shots as “given” or “exempt.” I carry both the W.H.O. “Yellow Card” (notated “exempt” for Yellow Fever vaccine”) and a letter from the San Francisco Department of Public Health Travel Clinic and have never been denied entry to any country (e.g., in Africa or South America) that “requires” the YF vaccine.

“Just want to grab…?” Have you ever disembarked at the West Side Cruise Terminal? It can be quite the zoo, particularly with taxis and ride share companies preferring only trips to the airport. I strongly advise prearranging your transfers, preferably via a post cruise hotel concierge or reputable transfer company like Exexucar.

Not kidding -and the “big picture” here in America’s “Plan A” location (the California Coast) is why it is so expensive for some folks who can only afford Florida. That said, there’s many varied itineraries from the major embark ports of SAN, LA, SFO and SEA. Of course, they’re not the short boat rides to the WalMart parking lot called the Caribbean. Our answer to the need for that type of “boat ride” is the Mexican Riviera. But, the real cruise draw here is longer cruises (e.g., up to Alaska, down to Central America, partial and full trans-Pacific cruises, Panama Canal (SFO-NYC is the best Canal transit ever)) and Hawaii or French Polynesia.

Thank you, Neli. FedEx just delivered the Aquamar Spa gift box with samples of all the new products. I assume these will be replacing the Bulgari amenities. FWIW: nice smell. We’ll give them a try this weekend.

BTW: Those same two States prohibit disturbing/removing natural features, which includes collecting/transporting sand/shells from beaches. Not unlike with the food, you may be able to buy commercially treated/packaged souvenirs. But, you should declare them.

Two US States where you don’t want to challenge the prohibitions against all sorts of plant and animal products being removed from a cruise ship are Hawaii and California. Both States’ on site inspectors take threats to agriculture very seriously. Commercially prepackaged (and unopened) snack foods MAY be deemed acceptable. But, do declare them if queried.

+1

In my O experience, Super Bowl and World Cup finals are the usual streamed sports on the ship. However, on one occasion (in the middle of the night), I was able to stream the Kentucky Derby on my phone on live NBC (with only the basic O internet). As for the Golf Masters, I doubt that will ever be streamed on an O ship. However, if you really need a golf TV fix, you could always head out onto the pier when the ship is docked and the crew are doing hull maintenance and watch the paint dry. 🤔😉😎

Though we (long ago) found that “it” factor on Oceania ships (primarily the smaller “R” ships), I understand that you want “really small.” We’ve recently started doing Tauck small ship land/sea combo tours. Most recently, we did Machu Picchu/Galapagos with them and the latter part of the trip was on a 40 passenger expedition ship (and we <30 total passengers had the whole ship!). Our next Tauck combo tour will be a circumnavigation of Sicily with the sea portion on a Ponant ship with less than 100 passengers. All that said, however, I still think you might want to look at Oceania. The crew ratio and space ratio on both the <700 passenger ships and the <1200 ships are excellent and the food will be far better than what you are used to.

Four of the extended balconies on deck 7 (2 each at the start of the forward and aft groups of extended balconies are open on two sides and quite large. When they were B4s, they were the best buy on the ship!