tigerfan75

2 hours ago, MV21 said:

We are just off our transatlantic on Vista and I must say I was disappointed to discover that none of the films on board had subtitles. Indeed there doesn't even appear to be a way to view subtitles on the TV.  I am hearing impaired, or as my kids say, "a deaf git", so I wear hearing aids. When watching TV at home the need for subtitles to assist me is very important.  When on the Vista I was careful not to turn the TV up too loud (especially after reading about all the problems with noise between cabins) but it effectively meant that I couldn't really make out the dialogue.

It just seems a pretty large oversight on a new ship not to have included this facility, especially when virtually every film available on our flight to Miami had Close captions/subtitles in English. And a fair few in other languages as well.

I suspect this omission is making the soundproof issue worse! 

 

Interesting.  When I sailed the Vista last year, the triangle button on the TV remote activated the captions.

6 hours ago, AmateurGO said:

Oh, and cayman09, we were also briefly on Sirena in January.  We were on our favorite island, Bonaire, when some good friends on Sirena stopped there.  We gave them a tour of Bonaire and they gave us a tour of Sirena and their Vista suite.  It is purely a coincidence that we are now about to board Sirena for our own cruise.

I am curious as to how you boarded an O ship without being a passenger.  We have Family in several ports, and have been unable to have them come aboard.  THANKS for your help.  Happy cruising.

1 hour ago, jonthomas said:

is anyone booking anything today...

 

strange to only see tropics and exotics with so many more categories to go....

 

we also wanted to know if there is a prem econ for the TAs....

 

the O rep said, the info for that is not loaded yet....

 

in Canada we dont have the options for prem econ with the airlines that you do in the states...

 

we are very limited in our choices...

Yes, booked a 31-day Buenos Aires to Miami, for March 2026.  Coordinated last week with my usual O Rep, and all went smoothly this morning when the booking window opened.  Will evaluate the amenities from my Travel Agent, and transfer the booking within 14 days.  Since I DIY my air, I cannot comment about any current O Air offers.  Happy cruising…

9 hours ago, the more ports the better said:

Bora Bora and all of the FP ports are overwhelmed by both O and R ships.  Those tiny towns cater to Paul Gauguin and Windstar.  I cruise O regularly but have done FP on both O and PG.  No comparison, is a mob scene on O and perfectly pleasant on PG.  Can’t imagine something even larger.

A different opinion here.  Experienced no “mob scene” on Insignia in FP in February.  Well managed.  No sense of overwhelming.

Yes, O does not communicate detailed shore excursions changes except through the ticket/info packet in your room.  Soon after arrival to the stateroom, one should review the envelope of tickets and the listing of available shore excursions to compare times and tour descriptions to prior expectations.  ALWAYS changes…

1 hour ago, ORV said:

Where are these brands of bottled water available? All I've seen are the Vero Water available in still or sparkling. 

We ask for them at each meal, in every venue.  And the room attendant will stock our fridge, too.

All non alcohol beverages are complimentary.  The complimentary bottled waters are Perrier and Pelligrino.  If asking for OJ, ask for “fresh squeezed”, otherwise one will receive the juice from concentrate.  Enjoy your cruise!

“Ballistic trousers” is a poor choice of words.  Looked at Mr.Google, and they are certainly not bullet proof.  LOL.  Probably better described as as “cargo pants”, made from high tech fabric.  🤔

I would appreciate any and all comments regarding proper dressing for a QM2 QG dining for Breakfast and Lunch when in port.  It will be our first QG experience, and we will be in Norway in November.  The shore excursions in cold climates often require layered "outdoor wear" being worn at Breakfast prior to early shore excursion disembarkation.  Likewise, an early afternoon shore excursion return to the ship may not allow a change of clothes before Lunch closes.  We will typically wear denim jeans, or ballistic trousers, with heavy sweaters, etc.  What are the generally accepted norms?  Thanks.

We always have the beds separated.  Usually abutting each other, but with separate linens.  On one occasion, the room attendant placed a night stand between the beds, but it created more of a space issue, and we had the arrangement changed to our usual configuration.  Just let your room attendant know your preference, and he/she will happily oblige.  Happy cruising!

1 minute ago, TouchstoneFeste said:

It's called "London England Syndrome". According to TVTropes.com: "The name was coined by Bill Bryson. He discussed it in an essay in which he suggested that the stereotypically lower intelligence of Americans compared to people of other nationalities is not down to some sort of racial defect, but a result of Americans being regularly freed from any need to think, ever. This trope, he argued, is one way in which American newspaper-readers are not required to cognitively exert themselves in the same way that British newspaper-readers are."

 

As others have pointed out, there are a lot of US cities named after foreign ones. In my home state of Ohio, you can do an extensive tour of world capitals in one day: London, Berlin (and Bonn), Paris, Lima, Canton, Cairo, Athens, Dublin, Amsterdam, Lisbon (twice), Moscow. Plus many provincial capitals (Medina, Calcutta, etc.)

 

Most are ferociously mispronounced, of course. My favorite is Mantua (pronounced "man tuh way")

What is a newspaper?

8 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

 

Please do not stop posting things that interest you or puzzle you.

 

If we all did that, there would be no posts at all.

 

Ignore those that come across as nasty, most of them do not mean to be and those that do probably wish they hadnt been. 

 

Ive had my share here with nastiness, but still persevere with topics that interest me.

 

and will ask a question here that is not exactly on topic but I dont want to start a topic for it...

 

here goes...

 

in the past if you got included gratuities from your TA and you were silver or higher loyalty  level with O, O would give you an additional 250 non refundable OBCs.

 

Is that still true?

Yes.  Being silver, on my January cruise I received the $250 "in lieu of Oceania Club Prepaid Gratuities".  But having read Flatbush Flyer's advice, I asked for it through my TA, rather than assume it would have been "automatic" from O.  It eventually appeared as a line item under Amenities and Gifts on my O Invoice, i.e. Guest Statement.

24 minutes ago, IDL said:

We were on the Vista last year and couldn’t dock at a port due to the weather.  As stated, we were credited $100 for the missed excursion which was not the stated price of the excursion but I was satisfied and we had a great cruise. 

Yes, as you say, O-Life had a recovery option.  Too bad SM does not have something similar.

Everyone gets a Wi-Fi account, just as all nonalcoholic beverages (sodas, waters, etc.) are included. One can upgrade to a package that allows streaming.

3 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Many cruise lines have a laundry option where there is a bulk price "by the bag."  On these lines you might pay $30 for an entire laundry bag (you stuff in as much possible).  Does O ever have this kind of deal?

 

I also use a CPAP, and will be sailing QM2 in QG this autumn from NYC.  Was told by US Cunard phone rep of the new policy that I must bring my own distilled water onboard.  Obviously I will be working with the hotel concierge to locate a purchase location before embarkation.  Disappointed, as other cruise lines furnish it.  

10 hours ago, the more ports the better said:

I booked two sailings on Marina, June 1 and June 13, both in an OC.   Called my TA in December and let her know that our Grandson was getting married June 1 so we could only do the second sailing and to cancel the first.  Last week, final payment was due and she called me, when I was driving in the car, so I told her to pay the balance to the card on file.  
 

Yesterday, she sent an email and asked if I wanted to put the second leg on the same card.  I emailed her back and said, I already paid for the sailing, didn’t you cancelled the June 1 sailing back in December?  I didn’t hear back from her so I called a few hours later and she said I needed to pay in full for the June 13 sailing and she is working with her manager to cancel the June 1 sailing, however, I will have to pay a 25% penalty.  The sailing is over $18,000 so the penalty is more than $4500.  I said no, I am not paying another $18,000 when O already has $18,000 of my money applied to a sailing that was supposed to be cancelled months ago.  They can just transfer to the correct sailing, we just paid for it six days ago and it was her mistake.

 

My TA retired last year and this TA took over for her.  This is entirely the TA’s fault and Oceania is not budging on the 25% penalty.  Oceania already has my $18,000 and they are not willing to move it to the correct sailing unless they can deduct the $4500 penalty. I am just so disgusted with this TA, Oceania, and all the rules that go along with cruising, penalties, shortened port times, lack of flexibility, etc.  I’m ready to throw in the towel on cruising all together.  Things like this never happen on land trips and if I am enjoying myself somewhere, I never have to worry about leaving early to get back to the ship before sail away.

 

I have annual travel insurance but weddings and travel agent screw ups obviously are not covered.

 

Any suggestions on how I can resolve the situation without having to pay another $4500???

Yes, the issue is between you and the TA.  O is not responsible.  If I were in this situation, I would speak and email the Owner/Sr. Mgr. of the Agency.  That person is the decision maker of the Agency’s action.  Simultaneously, make contact within the Agency’s consortium explaining the ethics involved.  Likewise, if the Agency lists a travel agency certification, ie.ASTA, make contact with them on the issue.

Probably, after all the angst and wrangling, don’t plan on this Agency taking you as a customer in the future, although I would not know why you would prefer to utilize them.  Good Luck.  Please let us know how it turns out.

1 hour ago, Mareblu said:

This is actually incorrect.  When reservations open for higher level suites or staterooms, those guests may also make  reservations for guests in other categories, providing they are sharing a table. We have just done this very thing for our forthcoming Vista cruise.  We are in PH1, and our friends are in Concierge level.  Each reservation we made for them used one of their allocated allowed bookings.

Very interesting.  So, to make sure that I understand, you were able to add the Concierge room to your PH Specialty reservations before the Concierge booking window opening date?

Did you do this online, or via directly with O, or through your TA?

Thanks!

6 hours ago, mamaclark said:

I continue to struggle with posting anything negative about a cruise line I have touted and loved for so long. We had an absolutely hideous Alaska cruise last summer on Regatta and I did not publicly post, only complained to my TA. We have tried to book the Tokyo to Singapore cruise since before Covid, no one's fault for sure. We are waitlisted for the Oct. 29 cruise. Since booking I continue to monitor reviews for Oceania and I am staggered by the number of mediocre and downright bad reviews on the food. On Oceania! I had three inedible meals and one that never arrived. So understaffed, too! Does anyone read the reviews or pay attention?  I know, this is heresy.

It’s unfortunate that you had such a poor experience, and that recent reviews are making you doubt your choice of O for future cruises.  Only you can make that call.

So, I can only pass along another R-ship experience.  Currently on the Insignia from LA to Bali, 55-days.  It is the best cruise experience we have ever had.  Sure, some things were not up to par, and we reported them, or wrote them into the surveys.  O quickly acted on most of them.  Still, an overall great experience and value for our dollar, so we have booked a 50th Wedding Anniversary trip to Alaska with multiple staterooms for Family in 2025.

Best of luck in whatever you choose to do.

2 minutes ago, Sdancer said:

Before I started this thread, I have contacted fdacs.gov, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, to confirm that the port taxes for skipped ports expected to be refunded. 

 

The agency advised me to submit a complaint and sent me a link to file a complaint.

Cozumel was not substituted for another port - Oceania made it another sea day.

 

I will leave this thread for now :).

Please let us know how things turn out…

4 hours ago, MacMadame said:

Don't most of these World Cruises happen on smaller ships -- like the Island Princess and Serenade of the Sea?

I have not seen facts validating your statement, but I believe it’s true that mega ships do not do a WC.  Oceania Cruises has traditionally used a 650 passenger ship for the WC, but beginning in 2026 will use a ship capable of 1200 passengers.  Cunard’s Queens have approximately 2,200 passengers.  Others?..

3 hours ago, FeelingCruisy said:

Thank you so much, and no penalties right?

I have not experienced any penalties with canceling, if done within the stated time frame (up to 3 days before boarding?).  Be aware of canceling excursions that may drop you below the minimum required quantity for your volume discount; sometimes a required quantity by segment if sailing a B2B.

1 minute ago, Vallesan said:

We have never eaten at the TC in the evening but you make it sound really enticing. Can you have waiter service from the buffet?

No waiter service for food items from the buffet.  However, if one has difficulty carrying their plates of food due to mobility issues or the motion of the ship, a Waiter will come to help you with the items to return to your table.  Beverages are served by Waiters.  Sommeliers handle the wine and spirits.

3 hours ago, Cruise Junky said:

Ugh. We wouldn’t consider that ship. We’re leaning towards Oceania Vista.  

Yes, the 3 ATW itineraries show online today.  IIRC, one can choose from 196, 180, or 120-day sailings on the new (2023) Vista.

15 minutes ago, grmmybtty said:

No mention of free laundry, free luggage pickup and delivery, no free medical. All benefits from the previous world cruises and at a mark up.

Sorry, but I see on the website those amenities as being included as before…