IWantToLiveOverTheSea

Good luck! That 7 PM slot is rarely seen when I reserve. But it's ok, food tastes the same as it does at 7!

Wasn't on my January cruise. So far, not for my December cruise.

Reservations for all 50 days? I AM curious (and jealous)!

So I have to ask (mostly Lisa): What about Arch's didn't impress you, if you don't mind saying? I imagine it's basically just a tourist attraction with a large number of iguanas around to look at (or offer a banana leaf). But my spouse specifically wants to see iguanas, and while there are some places where they apparently can be seen, Arch's looks like the easiest in terms of only a little bit of walking/looking, time involved, etc. and that could make a difference for him. But if the care of the iguanas or something like that is bad, I'm not sure I want to go there. I've contacted Rony and his tour does sound interesting, but I need to ask if I can customize it a little. Also, when did you go - morning, afternoon, noon? I've read that going at feeding time (noon?) is good, but I'm not sure if that's accurate/current information.

I think you're right. Viking even opens their excursions in tiers (guests in suites get to book before other groups, etc.) That policy is causing some grief, as excursions don't seem to be in as big supply (for all cruise lines) compared to maybe 5 or 10 years ago.

I'd probably book now, assuming you can cancel later if you change your mind. If you book as part of a SM Excursion Package, you'll need to make changes online by 2 weeks prior to embarkation day. If you're paying full price (or using shipboard credit) without the package, you'll need to CX 36 hours pre-excursion departure. (CX policies are outlined in the Guest Statement you received when you made first payment on cruise.) I'm a thrifty cruiser, and more interested in sightseeing than cooking when it comes to excursions, so I can't tell you whether the excursion is worthwhile or not. But from the limited info I've heard over the years, people seem to really like this kind of excursion. So I'd do it, and probably quickly!

Wish I knew. But I'm not there yet! I'd call Oceania.

I agree that the best way to ask about more reservations is to go to the "Dining Reservations" desk. It's a desk that isn't labeled as such on the deck plans but that's occupied most afternoons by a member of the dining staff/crew. On Sirena last year, one of the servers in Polo staffed it. This year on Riviera we didn't even inquire about extra reservations so I don't know anything about where or when the desk was staffed.

I FB messaged Jack Kosol, asking if I could share his contact info. He replied: My number is +66 89 223 9792, Whatsapp is also the same number. My email is oat789@gmail.com. Thank you very much for your kindness to recommend me to some friends. Best regards to you and your family.

Sure. I made arrangements with someone (Jack Kosol) who was recommended on a Facebook group that I browsed to get information on Bangkok. This was done a couple months before our early Feb.cruise. I told him (by Facebook private messaging) we would need to be taken from Laem Chabang cruise port to a hotel in central Bangkok. I looked for something along the route that might interest me and break up the drive a little, as I had heard the traffic could be quite bad. I didn't find much right along the route, but Jack suggested the Sanctuary of Truth. I debated, as it wasn't really on the way, but in the end asked to go there. I have photos here, along with the ones I took in Bangkok: https://pbase.com/roothy123/bangkok_thailand&page=all I don't remember how much we paid Jack for the ride, but think it was around $125, and I gave him a fairly good tip. He said he'd meet us at a particular time, but if immigration took longer and we got out later, that would be fine. He said he'd remind me of our arrangements a few days prior. He gave me his whatsapp number and said we could either pay in USD or Thai bhat. I made sure we brought newish USD (no markings, tears, etc), as I had read that people in SE Asia often request that to avoid problems with exchange. We liked Jack a lot, and he seemed very responsible and reliable. We asked him if he could pick us up quite early the next morning to take us to the airport. He said yes, and showed up as promised. I made the arrangements via Facebook private messaging. I didn't get his email, but could probably look for his whatsapp phone number if you'd like to text or call him. I've used whatsapp a little and it's easy. As for his car, it was a van type or maybe large SUV, with airconditioning and I think he had wifi. He was personable but fairly quiet (which was fine for us). I did like the Sanctuary of Truth, but had I known it would take so long to get to Bangkok, I think I would have just decided to skip it, as our time in BK was quite limited - with or without any stops. And Bangkok, while pretty crowded with tourists, had more than enough things to keep me busy trying to see what I could in basically less than a day. He was willing to take us around Bangkok a little once we got there, and basically gave us the whole day with him if we wanted it. But we passed on doing that, checked into the hotel, and went out a little on our own. We didn't visit the other places you mentioned.

I'm sorry you could only get 1 extra reservation. I think some people make it sound like it's easy to get additional reservations no matter which ship it is, how full it is, etc. But it does depend upon a number of things and isn't guaranteed.

We were scheduled to dock at Laem Chabang in February, and we did. But it was not at the regular, larger port area I expected, but at the "Sriracha Harbour Deep Seaport" with an address of 31/4 Moo 4 Surasak, Sriracha, Chonburi 20110. It's a little north of the usual Laem Chabang docks and a little closer to Bangkok, but docks are not connected. We were on a 1250 passenger Oceania ship and a slightly smaller Regent ship was there as well. It was NOT disembarkation day; that was the following day. I didn't realize where we were and got off with our luggage to go meet our driver so he could take us to Pattaya and then to Bangkok to our hotel. But there were no taxis in sight, and no drivers with signs - just a lot of coaches signed up to take people on excursions. I finally asked someone (port employee, I think) and was told that no drivers or taxis were allowed in, and that twe would need to go over a very long causeway to meet a driver. Thankfully she offered to take us there, with our luggage, and when we got there, our driver (Jack Kosol, on Facebook) was there waiting. But he had already been to the main Laem Chabang port only to find out we were somewhere else. I tell you all this just as a precautionary tale. The situation may have been totally different the next day, but since we were long gone by then, I have no idea. But we did go to Pattaya, which was worthwhile but possibly not totally worthwhile compared to what we could have done in Bangkok. But we did get to Bangkok, although with not geting to port until 10, waiting for the ship, and us, to be cleared, plus figuring out we were not where I had expected to be, we left Pattaya maybe 1 or 2 PM, and the traffic was astoundingly terrible. I live in a big city with bad traffic, but this was a nightmare. So my advice would be to stay aware, be flexible, and don't plan too much for one day.

I guess you're doing a number of cruises back to back. I've only done one of those, and I forget how reservations were handled. But I'm sure someone else will know. In any case, I just thought I'd mention that you may only be able to make reservations for one cruise at a time. In my opinion, it's fairer that way, but of course some people may disagree.

I'm not sure how "geriatric" is interpreted or defined. All I know is that I'm fine with a "Box of Chocolates" cruise. The destinations/itinerary are much more important to me in choosing a cruise or cruise line than who I'll be cruising with. As long as there's room for differing ages, likes, etc. I'll be fine.

To open earlier, Oceania might have to juggle some assignments, as some of the crew members who work in the specialties work somewhere else before or after their job there. Of course, then there may be hardly anyone eating after 8, unless a particular cruise has an unusually high number of European guests.

We've never had a problem getting good reservations even at 45 days out, and we've never eaten at 8:30 or later. But we're fine sharing OR non-sharing, which definitely makes a difference. So does having experience with Oceania procedures. Many of the newbies don't know to book early and/or don't realize that flexibility goes a long way in getting their number one choices. Is the system fair? I think so.

Not sure if this was addressed to me or not. But yes, my OBC shows up, along with the Oceania Club amount, and everything is correct. The TA OBC is also reflected in the "Your Purchases" summary I got this morning from the "My Account/Reservation" section of website. It's also reflected on the "Pre-Purchased Shore Excursions & Onboard Experiences" document that O emailed me this afternoon after I used the Chat feature. (And yes, you can call Oceania directly about excursions even if you use a TA. I just had Oceania adjust the cost of what I owe for my excursions. My spouse will do that eventually.........) I notice that somewhere on the "Pre-Purchased" document is a note that excursion packages must be selected no later than 14 days prior to sailing, which is more specific that what was posted on my invoice. Obviously, we have plenty of time to select excursions (or not!), but just thought I'd mention this in case some people were planning to do it a lot later. I also notice there are 4 or 5 cooking classses under the "Other Options" tab. You can't use your SM shore excursion credit for those, but you CAN use OBC.

It just depends upon a number of factors - probably sharing or non-sharing requests most often, plus booking category (suite or lower, etc.), how full ship is, how many Europeans are on board, whether people care about sailaways, whether they might go to Tea at 4, or whether they want to stay off the ship one night for dinner, etc. But overall, I've been on quite a few Oceania cruises and I've always gotten good nights and times.

I didn't see any discount box to check. But I'm just going to figure out what I want, and let my spouse do the same, and then call Oceania to have them book them for me. I have almost used up the SM excursion credit and the shipboard credit I have from O's loyalty program plus my TA's gift. So if I book anything else on the website, I'm assuming I'll be charged for the overage, which I'd rather avoid, at least until I'm sure I know what I want.

Once you book a cruise, you can also see how many reservations you get in your "My Account/Reservation" section. Here's what mine shows (larger ship, oceanview room category, 14 day cruise).

Just a quick question: Simply More is new to us (two people in same stateroom). I love excursions but my travel partner does not. To get the 25% Simply More shore excursion package discount of 25%, do each of us need to book the required number of excursions, or can I get 25% off for mine without worrying how many excursions my travel partner books?

We used Efendi Travel from the airport to a hotel in Sultanahmet, and a taxi from the hotel to port. Both were OK (except for the port complication I described elsewhere) athough Istanbul traffic can be very slow, especially around Sultanahmet. But the port shouldn't be bad if you're coming from the airport. With Efendi you pay for the ride up front (by credit card) so at least you know you're getting what you agreed to get.

Our cab driver knew how to get into Galataport, but once he was directed into the cavernous underground parking area, he had a lot of trouble finding where people embark. We struggled with our luggage to find someone we could ask, and then struggled up an escalator to an elevator. Unfortunately I'm not sure how to described what the right place is. But just to be sure, I would not let a taxi driver go before making sure you are at the correct location for embarking with luggage. Hopefully signage is better now. We were there in May 2022, and there hadn't been many cruise ship visits to Galataport at that point. It was not an easy embarkation, though the Turkish officials at least did a good job of checking us in once we found the right place.

As a P.S., I would think that a cruise in March would fill up quite a bit by that time. My cruise is 5 or 6 months out and still before final payment. There are no suites available. They're all wait listed. And the oceanviews, insides and the lowest veranda category are all wait listed. The lowest-priced concierge level veranda also just flipped over to Guarantee from Available.