watercruise

On 7/3/2023 at 12:42 AM, AMHuntFerry said:

Did you book with a sale fare? Every cruise I've checked only went up in price the difference between what the OLife (no air) OBC was and the SM (no air) OBC (e.g., if OLife OBC was $1200, SM OBC is $1400, then the total price went up $200/cabin). This does not apply if you are comparing to a sale fare; so yes, it probably makes no sense for people with sale fares to switch to SM. People who booked OLife with a regular fare may find SM attractive.

Does anyone know if the list of wines and champagnes are different than the previous by the glass wines and champagnes?  

On 10/16/2022 at 5:20 PM, John Bull said:

 

"Open" safari trucks belong to the local National Park or adjacent private parks. They're surprisingly safe (as long as you stay in the vehicle) because the animals see the vehicle and its occupants as a single large noisy animal.

 

 

The closed-in ones (usually with elevating roof) are privately-owned or belong to operators touring for several days from park to park, spending a lot of time on the roads (which aren't as safe 😉), and carrying their clients' luggage.

 

 

JB 🙂

(unsubtle plug for Lion King Adventure Tours, Tanzania, who gave us a great safari in the Serengeti and nearby parks.👍)

Any idea what to wear on game drives? Thank you 

On 1/5/2022 at 1:02 AM, Rainbow3fe said:

Hi,

    We are on Oceania Jan 2023 and are docking in some of the same ports.

   Has anyone been to these places and booked game drives?  Most of these tours aren't what I am trying to find.

Thanks 

 

 

Does anyone know what to wear on the game drives ?

9 hours ago, DeepFreeze63 said:

Yesterday was another interesting day!  We entered Lome, Togo ("the pearl of Africa") which is a small, French speaking country sandwiched between Ghana and Benin. Rainy season had not yet arrived so day was hot and dusty. Port is large and prosperous as it supplies several land-locked African countries. We were met by drums, dancers and stilt-walkers - great fun! Area looks to be on the upswing as many cinder-block building in progress (but far from completion).

We took the "Traditional Togo" excursion, in a convoy of about 6 nice buses (thankfully ours was airconditioned). had 3 stops. A fetish market (think voodoo) - not for the squeamish - serving the locals who are mostly animists, as a religion/culture. Second stop was a primary school (compulsory and free) where the children sang; we visited a classroom; and we could peruse the children's workbooks - I was impressed by the quality of the students work. The third stop was at an ethnic village where the village leader (the "King") and his entourage paraded accompanied by music, drums, chants and dancing. Long day but very interesting port of call

A

On 11/25/2022 at 4:06 AM, Boatmans Lady said:

 

Really hope we get to experience a County Fair on our Voyager cruise as we have 7 sea days and these look a fun thing to attend. 

Hi. A few questions -

What is a county fair day.
We are Taking our first RSSC cruise CapeTown to CapeTown December 6-21. We too have many sea days. Is there a limit to how many days you can dine in each specialty restaurant?  
And what’s the typical evening dress code?

On 11/23/2022 at 2:23 PM, 2SeaAll said:

Food allergies, preferences, + dietary restrictions are stored in the passenger profile and accessible to wait staff and kitchen via Cabin #. Also, owned wine bottles are stored by cabin # in the wine cellar, so Sommelier needs your cabin # to access opened bottles (whether purchased onboard or brought onboard with corkage fee paid). Also helps catch potential missed reservations (or reservation not being kept). 

22 hours ago, NCCruzQueen said:

Yes. @Techno123,  for me it was my full name!!

We will be on our first RSSC cruise. Is there a maximum number of times you can dine in each restaurant ?  We’re in the seven seas suite 

On 10/16/2022 at 11:56 AM, Boatmans Lady said:

 

This is the information that the UK is obviously working from as they say there is no requirement to have it, so have refused someone the vaccination and a waiver as they aren't coming from any of the listed countries requiring it. 

Regent are stating we have to have the vaccination to leave the ship and waivers may or may not be accepted but we can sail but may need to remain on the ship when at the two stops in Namibia. 

I am going to print all the emails off and take them to our appointment and see what they say. 

There appears to be a fair bit of confusion over it all. 

My husband and I had the vaccine three weeks ago with no side effects. 

I am a first time RSSC cruiser going to South Africa in December. Couple of questions:
-how do the dining reservations work ( I’ve always cruised on Oceania)?

- is there a certain number of reservations you can make in specialty restaurants?

- what is the dress code for dinner?

thank you very much

Thanks for all the replies. Will look into now. Amex platinum also provides medical evacuation. 

16 hours ago, pinotlover said:

Provides for lots of wine tasting opportunities from Montevideo. I have also heard that the town across the River from BA, but in Uruguay , is a great visit. It’s typically done from Montevideo because of traffic and border patrols.

I have booked three private wine and food tours in Montevideo, Punta del Este and Santiago. More people would be fun. 
if interested email me bweiner153@gmail.com and I will provide all the details. I have done the Punta del Este tour around 10 years ago and it was great. 
barbara weiner

We are required to have Covid medical insurance to enter Chile. Any recommendations?  Thank you

My travel agent just contacted 0ceania and they indicated they hope to have it resolved by end of the day. 

8 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

I agree, but we are discussing the original letter about the change where they did offer FCC and not refund, and did not offer any help to arrange the transfers (except for $300 to cover any air changes, which is far from the real cost of extra flight from Peru to Santiago).

 

But yes, lets wait and give them a chance to make things right.

Assuming we go back to the original or even a revised itinerary- does anyone know the Covid protocols going from one country to another?  Do we need to be tested before entering each country? 
thanks…

On 11/3/2021 at 7:59 PM, Hlitner said:

Thank you Paul :).  If you read my recent "too wordy" post I am actually having less problem with the airlines then with "O."  I am appalled that "O" would make these kind of last minute changes (and they are major changes) and then try to dump the responsibility onto the already overworked and understaffed cruise agencies.  When I asked the "O" folks for a refund option (of the paid cruise fare) the comment was "ask your cruise agent to write a letter to somebody in senior management at "O."  FDR should be ashamed!  

 

That process (of dealing with senior management) would likely take weeks or even months which is time we do not have given that this cruise is less than 30 days from now!  It appears that "O" is using an all too common strategy of running out the clock and giving their customers few good options.  Shame on them and FDR.  

 

Hank

When I spoke with customer service on the phone yesterday and asked if there would be additional compensation for all the changes and waste of time they also said ask your agent. I commented “the agency had nothing to do with this” why should they bear the expense when this is clearly an Oceania responsibility. 

On 11/3/2021 at 7:50 PM, Hlitner said:

Am well aware :(.  When we booked this cruise it was done through what had previously been a decent cruise agency.  But it appears that COVID has taken its toll and this particular agency got rid of a few folks and now wants several business days to even return calls.  I guess the good news is that they are still in business :).  Those of us who have done travel during COVID are getting very used to dealing with "challenges."   But "O" laid out two options today, which is within a month of the cruise.  Option 1 is to keep the booking in which case we must rearrange our air.  No problem dealing with Delta as they quickly refunded all of our miles plus the taxes.  But getting air home from Santiago is a pain (but doable) although not as good a deal as we had from Lima.  

 

But the question here is that "O" not only eliminated two countries (and 4 ports) but then changed the final port.  This actually will be a bigger problem for those on that cruise that intended to go to Machu Picu either post cruise or those who made their own plans to go to Machu Picu before the cruise departing from Lima.  So with less then an month's notice "O" has really messed up the plans of many folks.    As to us, we could still take the cruise and book air from Santigo.  or....we could cancel the cruise in which case "O" is saying we would only get a FCC with no additional compensation.  

 

But the plot thickens.  Compared to many we are in pretty good shape because we have a few options.  Those with plans to Machu Pico are royally screwed.  And since "O" has made so many darn changes I guess we could simply file a "charge back" request with our credit card company  claiming we are not getting the cruise for which we paid  (this would be our last resort).  

 

The issue we have with "O" is that they waited until today (less then one month before the cruise) to notify their customers of all these changes.  And "O" is not offering a full refund to folks who want to cancel.  So here is my dilemma.  I could book air from Santiago tonight...but should I have any faith in "O" that they will not completely change this cruise itinerary tomorrow, next week, or even cancel!  When I talked to "O" 4 days ago (I called about another issue) they assured me that there were no indications of any changes (which now appears to be a big laugh).  

 

In our cruise experience (with 16 cruise other cruise lines) we have never dealt with such a situation and awful customer service.  In "O's" e-mail about the changes they clearly said if we had questions to contact either your cruise agent or Oceania's Customer Service.  Since O is a "Premium Line" (or so some say) we expected that customer service to be helpful.  They were not!  In fact, even MSC's Customer Service is a lot more responsive and they are considered one of the worst.  

 

My issue with "O" is quite simple.  Since they have made such a massive change to this cruise itinerary (including changing the final disembarkation country!) they should offer a refund of the cruise fare.  Offering a FCC that is limited by time (only one year to book another cruise) on a line where many of their future cruises are sold out...is not a particularly good option.  Perhaps O is a Premium Cruise Line but their policies and customer service are bush league.  I would be remiss in not giving a real complement to Delta and their customer service.  When we called them about the problem with our return air from Lima the Delta folks could not have been nicer and more helpful (unlike O).  Delta tried to find a way to change our Lima booking to a Santiago booking but could not come up with any reasonable option.  Unlike "O" Delta quickly agreed to refund all our miles and taxes.  These days few folks have anything good to say about our airlines but now I must admit that Delta's Customer Service makes O look very bad.

 

Hank

I’m sure you’ve all read the email that came yesterday saying do nothing til Monday. Easy to say harder to implement. I too rearranged my tix to fly to Santiago from Lima at a hefty price. 

plus rearranging all private wine excursions only to have to “wait and see” til Monday what the news is. 
I didn’t leave my home yesterday - on hold for hours on end with disconnects to cancel Lima to Santiago flight - had to post message for latam air on Facebook, Instagram and emails til I finally got through last night. 
now waiting to see what needs to be canceled or rescheduled Monday after the next email. 
 

Do guests get more dressed up on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve?

A friend recently told me a great new cafe called Anassa opened in Chania. 
Fabulous spot to stop for artisan cocktails and small plates. Or even just a coffee. Great views

On 2/21/2020 at 11:55 AM, konatyme said:

Sounds like maybe we'll just go into town and wander around. Thanks!

Does anyone know who the restaurant manager is currently on Sirena, I see Boris name on one of the menus, however he used to be on Riviera

thanks so much

barbara

It is worth talking to the Oceania Club people on board. We are from the UK, we got the future cruise certificate onboard and got the $100 OBC on the cruise we were on, and savings on the cruise we booked through our TA when we got home and decided what we wanted to do.

 

Thanks for taking the time to report back on your cruise and to Bodobodog for posting your lovely photos.

can you tell me the name of the restaurant manager on Sirena please

thanks

think we are on same ship.. i posted few months ago that my husband and I are considering hiring a guide to take us to some wineries

if interested let me know

bweiner153@gmail.com

I have quotes from 2 similar sounding companies

did you use smile tourist or smile tours. thanks very much

On our upcoming cruise, we had planned to just take a quick walk around the port in Caligiari, but the company I booked my other Italian port tours offered up a tour here and I can't wait!

 

Please keep in mind that I have not taken this tour yet, as my cruise is still 280+ days away, but I think (perhaps because it is a new port) the cruise ships do not do a good job fo detailing what sites are available, so I am offering up what we plan to do.

 

 

 

As I said, we haven't been, so I can't comment specificly on how enjoyable the sites are. However, the tour sounds fascinating enough to me that I think I'll be crushed if we have problems with storms and don't land here.

can you please share the name of the tour company.. we are stopping in cagliari and having difficult time finding private tour guides bweiner153@gmail.com thanks

can you recommend car service or taxi service to reserve in advance?

thank you

should we use taxi at stockholm port to go to hotel or hire car in advance

thank you

\

barbara

has anyone travelled with moustafa egypt tours? thanks

trying to choose private tour for cairo and alexandria..

would love opinions

thanks