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dszrew

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  1. is there car rental at the pier or farther away (walk, bus, Uber to the rental)?
  2. We have only done HAL once this spring. We thought the MDR food was good. We also cruised with relatives so if it took a while to eat we didn't even notice. Buffet area was unimpressive--often we'd roam and shrug our shoulders. Most everything we got there was cold (if it was supposed to be hot). Terrace cafe is far above HAL buffet, and the options for fresh grilled lobster or steak can't be beat.
  3. Weather. "Gale force swells" was common. In one port, we delayed leaving by 3 hrs or so because of weather. It didn't seem that bad, but I guess they didn't want a rogue wind to blow us back into the dock. There was a break in the rain and we took off. Once we got into the fjord it was calm. Someone said the captain seems cautious. I think the Nuuk cancellation was justified. I wonder too if they cancel a port not because the weather is bad right now but because the weather might get bad before they leave port?
  4. Only one shared connection. Ph1-ph3 I think. If you go higher you might get 2?
  5. 30 day cruise, about 22 ports? 2 ports were canceled one morning with the replacement the following day. North Cape canceled as we got there in the morning. Nuuk canceled the afternoon before.
  6. It's been a few weeks now since our 30 days on Riviera through Scandinavia and Greenland/Iceland. We had cruised mostly Celebrity in the past, and upgraded to O pre-pandemic to try a bit more upscale and potentially better food and service. We do three things on a ship: sleep, eat, and get off to see ports. We've had a version of this cruise booked for 4 years, and finally was able to get onboard. Positives: I was immediately impressed with the crew. Well trained to greet you in the hallway, as you got off and on the ship, and it seemed many genuinely wanted to be there and were happy with their work (not so much on our HAL cruise a few months back). I thought the ship in good repair and pleasant . PH2 was a nice size. Comfortable beds, liked the room for table and chairs. We didn't know what to do with a butler so much, but his main job was to keep our fridge stocked with sugar-free soda. He excelled in this. Very good cabin stewards, again very friendly. We started to really take advantage of having the butler bring us what we wanted from the specialty restaraunts (see more below). Ordered from the room service menu a few times. Limited selection but we liked the quality of the food that arrived. Kind of odd you have to talk to a butler for room service. I really liked the cheese plate, that became my preference as a warm up to dinner. (their pre-dinner canapes weren't really that good and often cold) We had OLife shore excursions (8 of them each). They were all as expected, even though a few were a pretty basic city tour. I'm starting to dislike the hassle (and worry) of planning my own things for every port, and also to the point where I can't be as adventuresome as I used to be (although I still try). Most of the bus tours had enough open seats my wife and I could take our own rows. We ended up taking 7 shore excursions through O (more on that below). All our O excursions were on the first half of the trip mostly in Norway. I probably had a Reuben sandwich about 8 times in the 30 days--lots of meat, especially when you ask for extra! Service in specialty restaraunts was great. Best items: lobster mac & cheese in Polo, my wife liked the tempura sole in Ginger. Jacques was a bit too French for us, but did like the mushroom lobster. Overall food quality was above average. Nice quality rib eye (not prime, but still good). Yes, lobster is frozen as I've seen them dump many still stuck together out of a bag. Still, had no problem with it. Ice cream was good. Henry Slocombe ice cream mostly wasn't our thing except fudge fernet and peanut butter. Although often they'd be out of both when they were on the menu! Terrace often did not serve the flavor they said they would. Mostly had chocolate ice cream, but dulce de leche and a few other flavors were good (not really a sorbet person). Below expectations: Missed 4 ports with 1 substitution. I won't comment on whether this was justified or not, just disappointing, especially missing our ATV trip at the North Cape--one of the main reasons for booking this cruise. Limited and unpredictable meal times. Often we'd get back onboard after 2pm in port. Only thing open then is Waves (until 4) or room service. Terrace cafe hours were 12-2, although sometimes they'd open at 11:30 and other times stay open past 2. We didn't know how to predict it. Great when they had the extended hours (unless you just got on when 3 other O tours ended at the same time). Service in the main dining room was mostly sloooooow. We often skip appetizer and might only do main + dessert = still an experience over 90 minutes (well over 90 minutes for a lunch!). Gave up after our third try. As we gave up on MDR, we spent more time in Terrace cafe for dinner. I like that most things on the MDR menu are also served there, albiet under heat lamps. However, Terrace became a very frustrating part of our cruise, and I vacation to avoid frustrations. People would line up at 11:45 for lunch. There would soon be no open tables. If you came in later, it would be impossible to tell if a table were empty. Often they would clear off the tables or leave a few dishes and not reset the service. Wait staff were just as confused as we were. A few times had to specifically push aside the dirty dishes (not mine!) or the dirty tablecloth that wasn't changed. I would eat rib eye every night as it looks better than many things they serve, but there was often a long line to order and a large group of people waiting for their orders. Wish they would give you a number and bring out your food like Waves did. Terrace seemed understaffed, and sometimes it took patience to get someone's attention, and then remind the server who really was next. Some nights Terrace would almost be empty, and others it would be packed. Seems the staff couldn't predict it any better than I could. Sometimes it seemed as if the managers were doing more clearing of plates than the staff, and other times they were absent (and maybe that's when service dropped?). If you get the OLife excursions (or whatever they call it now), if a port is skipped and your excursion is canceled, all you can do is book something else. Our first skipped port day I scrambled to cancel a private tour and replace it with an O tour just to use the excursion. Later in the day they did decide to give $100 credit for each missed excursion. However, later in the cruise they went back to the old policy, unless perhaps you were lucky enough to talk to one specific person at the destination desk. In the end we did get one credit for one missed excursion. That should just be O policy--if the excursion is canceled, you get $100 room credit. AND, why not let us apply that $100 to a more expensive excursion? On the second half of the cruise we were in small ports with few excursions available. I overheard many complain that they got the "included" excursions, but then there was nothing available, or mostly nothing that was interesting that the credit could be used for. There seemed to be many first-time O travelers, and they didn't understand how the excursions worked. In the end, O began running as many as 5 or more of some excursions in these ports. That also meant the experience for some was poor. Heard many comments that their guides told them nothing, or they left halfway through, etc. These were mostly in Greenland ports where there were not established tour companies. While the food quality was good, we ended up having a hard time finding something we wanted (except for ice cream and any chocolate dessert). I overheard one person describe it as "bland". Menus mostly repeated after 15 days (not unexpected). While we originally cruised O for better food, we've now determined that cruising for food is a poor choice for us. Part of it is trying to eat healthier (even on vacation), part is the food wasn't overly exciting. Asia, Mexican, ethnic, and even Pizza were pretty bland. Towards the end of the cruise we warned our butler we were going to order more from the specialty restaraunts in our cabin. I didn't necessarily ever feel comfortable doing that, but at least we could find something we liked and avoid the frustration of the possible crowds and the long waits. Internet was the worst. In port, you might as well just turn your phone on. 2am in the morning seemed to be the best time, although that was still painfully slow. Overheard one gentleman tell me he had paid for 2 connections, which just gave them 2 connections that neither of them could use (btw, suites should automatically come with 2 connections, not just 1). Much of the internet problem was the location at the top of the world--either in the open sea with no satellite overhead or in port with the fjords blocking the line of sight to the signal?). I did still manage to buy a car from the middle of the ocean--a first for me! Overall, we enjoyed the cruise, especially the destinations and having 30 full days to relax and enjoy being together. While frustrating, the "crowding" we experienced at times would not prevent us from sailing O again. However, we chose O and paid a premium for the food, which we are finding is less important to us. We have one more O cruise coming up, but in the future we will probably choose more on price than on reputation of food (destination is always the first choice of who we sail with). Our opinions, for what they're worth.
  7. Had a 30 day grand cruise booked, past final payment. Both legs of the 30 day cruise worked out to half of what I paid. I suggested that an upgrade from B3 to PH2 would be acceptable to me, or if not, some obc. Through my TA, O originally said No. Possibly because the grand cruise is not considered the same as the two segments b2b. I called O directly and asked for an upgrade, and got "I'll ask the revenue department for you as a courtesy." My TA pushed some more and finally got us the upgrade to the PH2. I know some have been getting full credit for the far difference, but how do you spend $12k in obc? I also think just the room upgrade is a good compromise, even though I still paid about $6k more than if I could have booked today. I'm satisfied.
  8. checking with my TA after a week of requesting, and despite what I booked being $12,500 less now, nothing is forthcoming from O. I even suggested just upgrading me to a PH or something, which would still leave me paying $6000 more than current pricing. TA isn't done yet, but no positive outcome for me (yet).
  9. I have a 30 day cruise currently priced at half of what I paid, but post final payment. My TA suggested this, and after getting the quotes for new pricing, I sent that information back to him, but they have yet to check (I'm certain). This gave me a bit of something I can push back with to see if they'll put in the effort to make the call.
  10. Have a 30 day grand cruise booked. both legs on the sale. IF I could rebook it would save $12,000, but we are past final payment date. TA told me they wouldn't match, but they'd see if we could get an upgrade or some other perk. not holding my breath at all, either on O or the TA putting much effort into it...
  11. I would assume if you do B2B cruises you will get either the 4 category upgrade or a discount, but not both?
  12. If you have NCL stock, is there a bigger benefit for a grand cruise, like 2 months, compared to just what you normally get for over 14 nights?
  13. I believe that would work, although the terms also stated that if shares were held jointly there would only be one credit per sailing.
  14. black falcon a few years back. buses into town for free.
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