bob brown

Got the answer later today from the O Club Ambassador… On the free cruise, one cannot receive O Life, or even Simply More perks, even though the latter is now included for full fare paying passengers…

Interesting…I am in the same situation. My milestone cruise is already booked for this December, and wonder if It would make any difference in the total cost if I changed it from “cruise only” to “simply more” (if that’s even allowable on a free cruise)? The difference might be in the not included port taxes and fees, if those went up along with the fare increase.🤔

So…they’ve known this since at least March 28th, and still (July 1st), they have not officially notified me… Doesn’t instil much confidence in the viability of this company…🤔🙄.

Granted that Oceania holds a unique niche that measures “just right”, on most things for most of the people on this board. But if it is just food you are comparing, the lower fares would allow you to select a specialty restaurant on the lower priced lines every night. IMHO, NCL’s “Cagney’s Steakhouse” is at least as good as Polo…🤷‍♂️

Or, you can switch to a cruise line with lower fares, and “a la carte” pricing, paying extra only for those things of value to you, and not “subsidising” those that are not…

Bon Voyage!🙂

We have had two different CD’s on our ATW cruise, and both (with humour), emphasise that using electronic devices will not be tolerated. So far, it has not been a problem, and all of the players (as many as 21 teams of up to 8!), seem to really enjoy it…

What I am disappointed in, is that after promptly answering your inquiry, I have heard nothing further from you. Further, my travel agent reached out to your office, and after almost a week, also has not received a reply to his inquiry…🙁

I can’t fairly judge, as I haven’t been on Regent yet. I can only compare the online brochures where the lowest to highest cabins on each line are shown. Regent doesn’t have anything less than a large balcony (no insides or ocean views), and their largest and most lavish suites are simply “over the top”. It puzzles me that that their service doesn’t seem to measure up to your expectations…but again, I haven’t been aboard Regent, and do have to agree with you that Oceania’s stewards are excellent.🙂

Ray did most of the ceremony, but the Captain made the final official pronouncement.🙂

There’s no need for that…Oceania’s grilled hot dogs are just fine, as they are…😉

On the Vista Dec 18 - 30? Betsy and I are on that one…hope you join us! Betsy says, hi!

Hi Jan! Betsy says, hi!, too.🙂🙂

Favorite memory on Oceania? Easily this…July 9, 2019 Betsy and me on our wedding day aboard the Insignia…

We also had one for Don on our 2019 ATW cruise…

Well, it happened! As promised in a previous post, @zz19 delivered a package of Costco Chocolate Chunk cookies to me after he joined our ATW cruise in Tokyo (thanks again, Steve!). Yesterday, during our brunch in the Grand Dining Room, I had the opportunity to give some to our Executive Chef, Farid, and he liked them. He said he would share with our pastry chef. For dessert last night, I requested chocolate chip cookies, and the ones served were the best I have ever had on Oceania. If they were just a little moister, they would have been the equals of the Costco ones. On our cruise, the quality has been up and down, but I am hoping against hope that they will continue to be better. If they remain as good as last night’s, I will be very pleased.😋

I doubt that…Regent’s staterooms are at a higher level across the board than Oceania’s, from what I’ve read. And I agree with@Flatbush Flyer…why would NCLH want to exit a “niche” in the broad cruise market spectrum?

Our shorex price lists have a column for “supplemental” charge to be added to those already having O Life credit, for any tour priced over $199. The supplemental fee is not the full price for the more expensive tour, but it is more than the difference between $199. and the full price. For example, if a tour charge is $209., the supplemental fee may be $69., not just $10. I never could understand Oceania’s logic for that, and am glad that will disappear with Simply More.

Could be more complicated, based on past charges…under 0 Life, if an excursion price exceeded your $199. per excursion allowance, you had to pay much more than the difference between that and the price, in order to “upgrade” to the higher priced excursion. Under the new plan, that is no longer the case under Simply More, your excursion credit is applied to whatever the price is.

Our Oceania Club Ambassador, Cella, gave us aboard the Insignia on Monday, our future cruise presentation, and details (except fares, other than they would be rising), on the new Simply More program. For those booked prior to July 1st, for cruises starting October 1st, we would have the option to change from current program, either cruise only or O Life, to the new program Simply More, at the price in effect when the change is made. Or we could keep what we have. Further, if we currently have O Life booked, we could change it to cruise only, but would have to do that quickly, before July 1st…

Unless things have changed, I believe most of the passengers and crew on their voyages are German-speaking…I suppose they make bi-lingual or tri-lingual announcements on these voyages…

Thanks, I am aware of the other’s. None of them offer exactly what AQV currently does, nor at their fares.

Our Oceania Club Ambassador, Cella, did our Future Cruise presentation yesterday, and went over the new program, highlighting the differences. She confirmed that the included shipboard credit could only be applied for shorex, but could be applied to any excursion offered, regardless of price. They cannot be applied for pre or post cruise hotel stays, nor any enroute “overland” tours…

Yes. I zoomed in so you can see it better…

After flying in a trio of “techies” from Miami to work aboard the Insignia while were in Japan on various mechanical issues, including working on the frequently malfunctioning coffee machine in Horizons that I pictured in a previous post, they gave up on it and installed this new one…