Skyrose

And there is no one actually making you get off the ship all day every day. We quite often have a sea day or two on the port intensive O cruises in the Med. Or just have an hour or two amble round town to stretch your legs. It is very pleasant having the ship to yourself :-)

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We did have trip cancellation insurance via our credit card, but found out that it covers only $1,000 per person. My fault, I know. Will be smarter next time.

 

But this was not my point. We did not ask for a refund - we asked to reschedule. After all, I'm sure they are going to re-sell our cabin very easily with 5 weeks left. But they prefer to make double charge on this cabin.

I send my wishes for your wife's speedy and complete recovery; I know how upsetting sudden illness can be. I hope you do choose to sail on Oceania once your wife has recovered; it is a wonderful cruise line. Riviera and Marina are my favorite ships at sea.

Pre-Christmas December cruises are hard to fill. That's why the pricing for that time-frame tends to run lower than the pricing for the same itinerary during and after the holidays. Also, there is a lot of competition in the Caribbean market. And this year's market has been further impacted by hurricane damage.

So I suspect that Oceania may not easily resell your cabin before sail date. In fact the Oceania web site is presently showing availability in 11 of the 17 cabin categories for your cruise.

We're on the October 16th Barcelona to Athens. As of a few days ago every category was wait listed with the exception of VS which had one suite left.

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I believe I saw a video of the deck 10 suite on YouTube Don't recall if it was Riviera or Marina. If I remember correctly, the bar area is smaller, and the piano is an upright instead of a baby grand. I also think the bedroom is a bit smaller. I, too am waiting for Jim and Stan to chime in; they never cease to amaze me with their knowledge of these ships!

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Good point, Pinotlover. I guess we'll make our decision once we're on board. Thanks.

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This is very helpful. "No reds from France " means the package is a no-go for us. Thank you!

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We are on the Marina now and were very surprised over the New by the glass wine list. We normally bring our wines on board at ports and did bring some this time as well. But have been able to find nice whites and reds on this new list... changed about 90 percent since our Nov. 2016 cruise. Still the same price points at retail in the US, $10 - $15 per bottle, but a better quality selection than the previous selection, good basic everyday, but full range, wine by the glass menu. For the special occasion I would still bring your own wine on board.

Hi, if it's not an imposition, would you post pix of the new by the glass list? We're debating whether or not to buy a package and knowing the current btg choices will help us decide. Thank you!

I saved a possible itinerary yesterday on O's web site and 30 minutes later one of their reps called me. I asked him the same question and he said October 20th. I like your rep better. :D

[emoji4]

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The $64,000 Question is when will the 2019 itineraries be released.

I have been told by an Oceania sales rep that more 2019 itineraries will be released in September.

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I love the O ships—the decor, the spaciousness, the variety of venues--and I wouldn’t really change much about them.

I agree with earlier posters that it would be great to have more outdoor tables and chairs for drinks and dining; perhaps enlarge the outside section of the Terrace café—and provide bar service between meals. Perhaps make the windows and part of the ceiling in the seating section of Waves retractable.

The one thing I would change, is what boerneDQ mentioned—the location of the closet in the veranda cabins is awkward, and I’d love to see it moved across from the bathroom.

And the one thing I would NOT subtract is the bathtub in the veranda cabins! I’ve read a lot of posts in various threads by folks who would rather have a larger shower and no tub. I am not of that ilk. For me, one of the luxuries of being on vacation is having the time most days to take a bath, and another luxury is never having to clean the tub when I’m done!

So, is this thread idle pipe dreaming, or is Oceania planning a 3rd O ship?

This is actually reiteration of a travel alert that's been in place for more than a year. It didn't stop us from traveling in Europe for more than a month last year, and won't stop us from taking our Med cruise this autumn.

My husband and I are booked on a 12 day Marina cruise in October. We booked the a.m. sea day cooking class as soon as it became available online. I looked just last week and noticed that it is already full-- and that's six months away! The other classes on that cruise do appear to have space available, but I wouldn't be surprised if they fill before we embark. I too would have preferred using OBC to pay for the class, but I'd hate to miss out on the class we wanted. I took one on our last Marina cruise, and had a lot of fun. My advice is If you know you really want to take the class, bite the bullet and sign up now.

Thank you everyone. I think we will stick to Oceania.

Does Marina go through the Archipelago? Hope it isn't too big.

We were on a Marina Baltic cruise August 2015 and just happened to wake up early to see the sun rise over the Stockholm archipelago. What a treat that was! (photo attached)

Not sure which web site you're referring to, but here's the link to Old Town Trolleys https://www.trolleytours.com/boston/map

I live in the Boston area and that's the only HOHO type transport I ever see around town. Looks like you can purchase tickets in advance from the web site. Black Falcon is the only cruise terminal in the Boston area, and we have seen O ships docked there. It used to be pretty isolated in that part of town, but in the past few years the new Convention Center opened nearby, and there are a good number of hotels, restaurants and the Institute of Contemporary Art as well. So I think the HOHO trolley does actually stop at the cruise terminal.

As someone else already mentioned, the city has a lot of tourists, and traffic can be slow at times, particularly during the summer months, autumn weekends, rush hours, and any time the Red Sox are playing a home game. But it is a wonderful city and I hope you have a great time in the "land of the bean and the cod." If you have questions about the city, please let me know.

We used Alla in SPB in 2015. The tour, and tour guide were excellent, although I suspect that would be true of all the tour companies there. What I believe was unique about Alla was that they priced per person, and they took responsibility for putting a group together. They guaranteed the tour would happen even if there were only the two of us. If I recall correctly, they limit tour size to 12. As it happened there were only six of us on the tour. They have a Web site, and you can send them email. They were prompt and thorough in answering all our questions. Ask for the Cruise Critic discount. In Stockholm and Helsinki we used the HOHO bus. We did Talinn on our own by foot. The Rick Steves Baltic Cruise Port book was great in helping us figure out what we wanted to see and do. We used Google maps on my phone to help navigate. (Thanks T-mobile for free international data! ). That was our first Oceania cruise; we loved the itinerary and loved Marina.

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I second the Negresco. Ask your TA for the deal that includes sea view room and breakfast.

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OP here with belated thanks for your comments. We do like Martini’s the best of all the bars, however we were usually by the pool/Waves Bar when we craved the fruitier drinks. I like the idea of providing an exact recipe for them to follow, and will make sure I bring some along on our next cruise. Also, thanks for the reminder to ask for real ingredients in place of the pre-fab mixers.

We loved our first cruise on Marina, and have booked another one for 2017. The one thing I wish had been better was the quality of some of the cocktails we drank. If we stayed with a classic extra-dry martini, or a scotch & soda, it was fine, but fruitier concoctions such as daiquiris, sours and such were disappointing.

So, I have a two-part question:

1) Which are your favorite mixed drinks on Marina, and which bar served it? (okay, that question is really a double ;) )

2) If we bring our own alcohol for consumption in our suite, can our butler rustle up the other fresh ingredients to mix a good daiquiri or sour for us?

thanks!

We like Basso56. It's just a couple of blocks to the west of the Meridian. Small low-key Italian. You would probably need to have a reservation at 7pm.

I’ve been quite dilatory in reporting back on my 2015 Perseid shower experience. The “show”’ actually peaked a few days before we boarded our cruise, but luck was on my side: Our hotel room in Copenhagen had a skylight, and much to my amazement, it was situated such that I had a prime view--even through the ambient city light! So my incentive to look for shooting stars while at sea was lessened by this and the fact that the shower was past peak, and I was too tired to stay up till/get up at 2 a.m. and venture to the top deck. However, the skies were dark enough and clear enough for us to see stars even earlier in the night from our veranda. So, my bottom line is this: if you are at-sea (or anywhere away from bright light) on a clear night in the northern hemisphere around mid-August (10th -13th is usually peak), it’s worth taking a few minutes to look up and to see what you can. Some years the Perseid shower doesn’t have that many shooting stars, but some years, it puts on a pretty spectacular show. If you’re interested in learning more, this article is pretty good.

http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-perseid-meteor-shower

BTY-- that was our first cruise on Marina and we loved it! We have booked one for the Mediterranean.

You asked for subjective, so here's my breakdown. Hubby and I were in Marina veranda for a one week cruise. Although it was more spacious than other verandas we've experienced, we found the closet placement a bit awkward when we were dressing at the same time. Friends had a PH and it felt MUCH roomier. Our next O cruise, also on Marina, is 12 days and we have booked a PH.

Prices have dropped on our 2017 sailing (all of the stateroom categories are still available.)

Does anyone know whether this lower price will hold, or is it an unadvertised short term holiday special? I don't want to lose out on it if it is short-term, but I don't want me-- or my agent-- to spend precious holiday time on it if it will be available for a while.

thanks!

The 80 minute hot stone massage is heavenly!!!!

Oh, I'm so happy to hear that!!! :cool: Thanks for your prompt reply. If you have a quick moment to provide a bit more info: Have you had one on Marina? Is there any particular masseur/masseuse you'd recommend?

We’re thinking of using some OBC on Marina in the spa. Would love to hear which spa services you’ve liked—or not. I’m particularly interested in experiences with the stone massage or stone pedicure. Thanks.

If you look at other cc boards, you'll see that other lines invluding HAL, RC, Princess, and Fred Olsen all have ships with Noro.