Sthrngary

@dwr777 The Haven-Lite Strategy. Good call. The Vibe on an NCL ship is the bomb. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@pinotlover It seems that complaining about one aspect of a cruise or another is the order of business. Not being happy about something is every consumers right. You have an expectation, it was not filled. I totally get it. However, when one claims to be an educated consumer, purchases a Guarantee Stateroom followed by not getting the stateroom they want, Chooses to use the Cruise Lines Air followed by not being happy with the arrangement, Purchases cruise line transfers followed by being upset waiting at the airport for the bus to fill up, has butler which they ask for nothing then complain the butler did nothing for them. Each one of these decisions are self inflicted. Either you know the pro/cons of the decisions you make or you don't. I just find it funny sometimes, reading and attempting to be empathetic to guest upset at their results. Guest that rate a cruise on not getting a fork with their room service order, claiming several dirty spoons when ordering ice cream, not getting Amenities Kits or tote bags. These third world problems/items are disappointing for sure however making it the focus on online complaints with no reference to what went as planned seems selective. When MOST of those decisions were theirs to make and they new the rules to the game upfront. The complaints on Social Media is because they can't complain to the brand because they brand was clear on their policy prior to choosing them. Sorry for the rant, to much coffee this morning. "Consumer beware or at least read the fine print." Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@LHT28 My earlier example was to show the approach other brands use on GTY is much different then Oceania. It was initially confusing to me and then I got clear. I want to support what you are saying on one very important point. There is no financial benefit to do a GTY with Oceania. If one does do a GTY, they should have a very good reason to do so. Many have been discussed their reasons. However, ALL that choose this approach need to know they gave their rights away to choosing the stateroom, location, deck. What you are assigned is at the sole discretion of Oceania. You will most likely get the category you are GTY in like PH3 Guarantee. If it is your strategy to do this GTY to gain a complementary upgrade, careful what you wish for. You might get it and regret it. So when any of us, myself included do a GTY, that means in my book, NO complaining. You knew the rules to the game and you selected to go down this path. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@ltp579 The Haven is a wonderful place however to manage a guest expectations, there are some things to know. One is about the drink program. As you may or may not know, there is the drink program that comes with the "Free At Sea". It is call the Premium Drink Program. If you want some more benefits, you can upgrade to the Premium PLUS Drink Program. Regardless of the program you have, all drinks brought to your suite from room service or butlers "Are Not Included". Now if you go to a bar, or lounge is it included in your drink program, just not deliver to your suite. I hope that answers your question. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@RD64 Thank you but you are giving me way to much credit. Everything I said, the order in which I said it. All of it was learned on this board. Part of the reason I try new brands like Oceania is to educate myself on what they do differently. This has been a real EDUCATION. More then I expected. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

I started to do Guarantee's decades ago. But every cruise brand is different. For some, the Guarantee WAS a big saving. Years ago, when I used to cruise HAL, I would find a deal on what I think was called an "SS" suite. I could have those letters off. It was one of their bigger suites with a huge balcony. My wife and I loved them especially if we were traveling with family. When the suite cleared, usually a week or so before the cruise left, we were always happy because most of the time, we got a nice suite better then the price we paid. That was then and now is NOW. Oceania approaches a Guarantee much differently. Our friends ( we had the same suite but upgraded with a paid client upgrade) have a PH3 Guarantee. How we got there was the promotion was a four category upgrade at the time. So a PH3 Guarantee was the lowest cost Penthouse maximizing the fare with the Four Category Upgrade. If the PH3 Category would have been available, I would have chosen a specific suite. The key is the PH3 Guarantee and a specific PH3 suite cost the same. No price benefit. Now your question was, could you have simply stayed in the "Inside Cabin" and not taken the "Ocean View" upgrade. No idea. Logic tells me Oceania likes to put the Guarantees where they have space and be done with it. Having Guarantees for Oceania is like over booking a flight. The guest has no control other then the class of service the Guarantee is in. In my case PH3 for my friends. If you go back on this thread, many very wise frequent Oceania Cruises explained what has happened in the past. A very interesting read. To paraphrase using my situation for my friends of a PH3 Guarantee. If all the PH categories are completely sold out, Oceania provides offers for folks to give up their PH suite so they can fill in their guarantees. That is why so many past Oceania guest have suggested, if you want an Paid Client Upgrade, tell your Travel Agent to tell Oceania. That is what I did on my reservation. The harder it is for Oceania to fill their guarantees, the longer it takes to find out what your cabin number will be. Again, for my simple mind, it is like there is one seat leave in coach, you can have it but that is your only choice. I am over simplifying it I am sure. The bottom line, when you do a Guarantee, you get what you get and you need to know that is what you get. You will get what your Guarantee was based on or in a VERY RARE occasion, you might be offered something else like a category upgrade but DON'T COUNT ON IT. The complementary upgrade Fairy is on vacation most of the time. So want flexibility and choices, DON'T DO A Guarantee. That is what I have learned on this board from the Oceania Faithful. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@McGarrett5oh This is why I keep saying butlers are hit or miss. You did everything you could do to control the situation. I hate you get a less then great butler. For $500.00 he should have been over the top. Next time, I will cruise with you and be your butler, just kidding but not about the $500.00. My answer to your question, "NO". You paid more then enough and maybe to much. Reading is the letter would have told the butler you needs, times and asks. Again, I hope the rest of the trip has been pleasing. Cruise well and enjoy every moment. .

@shepherd really My wife is afraid to drive the M Class. She claims she will watch. I am simply not buy it. If it is not your car, floor it. Cruise well and stay in the speed limit MAYBE!

Way to go CruiseCritic.com board. But until I taste them, daily, for 10 days straight, I reserve the right to challenge this comment. I trust NO ONE with my cookies. PERIOD. Cruise well and at least we have Cookies.

@jonthomas I believe if I remember correctly, your guarantee was because that is what was left for the cruise you wanted. You got what some would consider an upgrade with a ocean view. I fully understand you will not do a guarantee again. However, if any of us had a choose, it would be an assigned stateroom unless it was not available. Cost the same because Oceania does not discount to do a guarantee. I am quite sure you will have a grand time. You previous post clearly show you love cruising. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@dock Thank you. 42 days away and counting. Our only challenge now is to keep the weight we lost off and maybe even lose an extra pound or two. However, Murphy's Law is against us. My wife and I are going to a Three Day Driving Event at the S.C. BMW Driving School on Sunday. They have a restaurant dine-a-round, buffet breakfast/lunch. CHEAT. My friends 70th birthday party is right after. CHEAT and dare I say it, Halloween candy. CHEAT, CHEAT, CHEAT. Wish us luck. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

Thank you to everyone on the kind feedback on this post. I always attempt to be balanced and fair with my posts. Give the good, acknowledge the not so good from a personal perspective. Blogs like this one tend to point out the bad parts of cruising, a brand, a ship or some aspect of the industry. Human nature when a guest is upset/frustrated with some aspect of their very expensive vacation. I remember communicating with a NCL supervisor to gain permission to upgrade my wife and my Drink package without doing the same for my two adult children. It was confirmed, it showed online, when I got on the NCL Joy in the Haven, we went to lunch at the "American Diner". My kids ordered a drink. When I got back to my Suite, I check and sure enough, they were charged. I went to the Haven Desk and was told they did not have the standard drink program. I took out the email, documentation and handed it to them. I was "UPSET". I did my due diligence, saved my documentation and still the cruise line could not get it right. It was about to really negatively effect my entire cruise, THEN!!!! My wife said, "Gary, they will handle the issue if you just give them some time. Be upset if they don't handle it. Right now, you are on a vacation that took 3 years to sail. Don't mess it up on day one." 15 minutes later, it was all fixed. I have a wise wife. Being straight up with opinions and comments is so very important. Some guest feel, sharing only bad stuff or only good stuff is the way to go. This approach is helpful to a point by giving future guest a heads up on what to avoid or diffuse. To be truly helpful, the same comments have to have happened on other streams unsolicited, with lots of people to make it a true concern. One person with a complaint does not make a cruise brand. One person with glowing reviews does not make a cruise brand. Lots of guests showing a trend towards a cruise topic whether positive or negatives is much more credible. Just my two cents, and I am sticking with it. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@LSuzQ I grew up on Long Island, NY. As a child, I remember a neighbors around the corner had a "RED" Stingray. It was the bomb. I asked my mother for one of those little metal stingray cars that used be be sold by a UK company. This little toy car was my favorite toy until my mom got me the Aston Martin DB from James Bond. So "Stingray" sounds good to me. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@WildWanderers Thank you for your kind words. I believe that every cruise brand had their pros/cons. They attempt to complicate things to make it look better then it might seem. It is clear, Oceania is no different. Much of the issues for all cruise brands is the leadership do not empower the team member to make guest friendly decisions. Instead, the guest feel in many ways disappointed. They might get the issue resolved but it took way to much time, aggravation and effort to do so. My M.O. is to learn how many folks like you, who are brand loyal, get disappointed on some aspects of the brand. Then I attempt to avoid it like the plague. That is why I don't do excursions with cruise brands. Why I did the full fare Prestige Drink Package pre-cruise is instead of upgrading on the ship. Why I did my own air fare and my own hotel bookings. Because of that, I controlled what I could control and it reduced my stress and disappointment level. In my own and very personal experience, every time I did something thinking if I did this quantify, I would get a % off, I got disappointed. So I stop. I am not good when I am angry, not good at all. I am NOT saying I am right. What I am saying is I know what has detracted from my past cruise experience and I do my best to avoid it in the future. To highlight my point, if I were on the NCL Encore, in the Haven VIP suites, I could NOT order a drink to my suite without paying for it in full even though I had the upgraded Premium PLUS Drink Package. I hated that but I knew the rules so I never had to see that fee on my stateroom accounting. One of the first things I asked over a year ago on this blog was, "If I had the Prestige Drink Package, could I order drink to my suite at no charge?" That answer was YES. For me based my my past experience, that was a value. Not to everyone, but to me. On my upcoming Oceania Cruise, something WILL go wrong. I have no clue what that will be and it most likely won't be in my control. Maybe it will be: A port or more will be cancelled The Oceania cookies will be tasteless or bad They won't have a Bulgari Gift Set In My suite The Oceania Beach Bag will not be provided The meat at the polo grill will be over cooked, under cooked so god forbid, to small or large I will not be able to get more sandwiches' from the rolling cart, during the afternoon tea The lobster will be to chewy, over cooked of stringy No one will be refilling our drinks in a timely manner Room service will not provide a folk to me My spoons for ice cream will be dirty My Hot Tub on my Balcony will not work The exercise equipment in the wasted exercise room in my suite will be broken The list of third world problems will go on and on. It will happen and I will be disappointed just like everyone else. With all the planning, research hours, days, weeks and months of planning I have done; something will go wrong, it always does. All I hope with all my heart is less will go wrong then has gone wrong for me in the past. That would be an enhancement to my cruise vacation experience. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

I fully agree. Thank you

I rate luxury on a vacation as ANY enhancement to what I felt or received on previous experiences. So far, pre-cruise, Oceania is doing pretty well. My wife asked me to do the grocery shopping a common accordance post retirement and when I came home, I had a large envelope waiting from Oceania Cruises. In it was the "Oceania Cruise Vacation Guide." Most unexpected based on my past experiences even in the VIP sections of Mainstream cruise brands. I had heard something about this document but it was not clear if they were still being sent out. In it is a Cover Letter that is somewhat generic, luggage tags, and a large booklet customized with my wife and my name. All of this was a nice touch if only to build excitement for my upcoming vacation. I have gotten luggage tags in the past from cruise brands but usually about 15 days before my cruise. My approach is to print my own luggage tags, put them into heavy duty luggage tag plastic holders and put these fancy tags on the luggage at the port side. I have had these kinds of luggage tag ripped off during transport and almost lost my luggage due to that on more then one occasion. All that said, nice touch if not a bit generic, on Oceania's part with the packet of information. On to other impressions. Specialty Restaurant Online Reservations: This was a much easier process then I expected. When I made my reservations, I included my friend booking number so they were in the same table, day, time and Restaurant. My wife and I upgraded ourselves to a "Vista Suite" so we have an additional pre-cruise reservation for each of the specialty restaurants. I am hoping to add our friends joining us to our additional reservations once on the ship. The point is, the online experience was simple and seamless on this topic. Booking Cooking Classes: This is a new activity for my wife and me on a cruise ship. I knew from past experiences, the spa always sold out on sea days. I figured the cooking class on the Sea Day would sell out as well. I was right. Two days after I booked it for the only sea day, it was waitlisted. The online booking process was again, seamless and easy. I would book another class if I knew which of the ports was going to be cancelled in advance. Sorry, I am being a little sarcastic. Pre-Cruise Communication: I booked with a cruise travel agent, therefore NOT directly with Oceania. Yet, to my surprise and delight, I received a phone call from a Riviera Ship Pre-Cruise Concierge. The general questions were on food allergies or requirements so the ship could be stocked if we had special needs before our cruise. This call was a surprise especially when it happened so far in advance of the cruise. I have come to find out, this is NOT normal and I have no idea why it was done for me. Not complaining, just impressed. I would got a letter from other brands 30 days out with a phone number or email address. Never a call. Issue Resolution: I had an issue which does not have to be rehashed now. When my travel agent could not resolve the issue, I wrote a letter and was contacted no later than 48 hours after the correspondence was received. My issue was resolved to my satisfaction within a day from it being acknowledged. Mistakes happen. When they do, it is how the mistake is handled. If done, quickly to the guest satisfaction, the guest rates the brand better then if an issue never happened. If it is drawn out, the guest increasable loses faith in the brands value proposition. Pre-Cruise/Post Cruise Hotel and Airfare: I had Oceania initially do my Pre-Cruise Hotel and airfare. Within a month, I booked both directly with the Hotel and Airline respectively. Taking it off my booking was quick and easy. I read to many things online that gave me the feeling I was better off doing it myself. The hotels especially were much more affordable when I booked them on my own. Drink Package Selection: Please remember, I booked this cruise over a year ago. At the time, there was no "SimplyMore" program. The program then was choose one of three perks. I choose the onboard Credit Offered at the time for $600.00. Learning about the ins/outs of the Oceania Beverage Packages was NOT the easiest thing I did. With the help of the members here on CruiseCritic.com on the Oceania Board, I learned. My decision was to purchase the Prestige Drink Package for both my wife and myself. I applied the $600.00 of On-Board-Credit and paid upfront another $600.00 to fully pay for the package. For me and my previous experiences, this was not an outrageous amount. When I upgraded my drink package with NCL to the Premium Plus Drink Package, just the upgrade would by $300 for a seven day cruise. So, $600.00 per guest for a 10 day cruise was in my opinion fair. Free would have been better but as we have all found out, free does not exist, your fare goes up. Mobile App: There seems not to be one. That is a bit disappointing however even when I had one in the past, it was never very stable so not a deal breaker. Still, this needs to be on the Oceania Things-To-Do-List. Just please do it right wo don't do it at all. Gaining Detailed Information On ALL Amenities: This was not the easiest thing in my planning. I like to know what all the rules are to the game. Brand marketing department deal in broad stokes that seem more important then they really are. I hate that and wanted the real scope. This took the longest time to gather and sometime the information was very inconsistant. I wish cruise brands would learn we the guest want to know the rules to the game and so make them easy to find out. Also, marketing department need to learn to "Under promise and over deliver" in order to create guest delight. It is my intension to take all I learned, verify it while on the cruise, and post it after I return. My way of saying thank you to every one on this great CruiseCritic.com board. Those are some impressions and observations based on my decades of cruising over 30 + cruises on many brands. No company is perfect, I was not expecting an Ultra-Luxury Experience because I did not book a n Ultra-Luxury brand. What I did receive so far has exceeded my expectations. On to the the cruise which is the real test. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@Brad1185 Thank you for responding. I have a lot on the line as well. I also have totally read every single post on this and other boards about Oceania. The truth is, if what I wanted was a close to perfect as possible, I would have booked the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection or Regent Seven Seas Cruises. It would have cost me three times as much. Yet I studied those brands also. The brand boards are less then complementary at times, just like this board. Instead of focusing on hearsay from those posting, take their comments under advisement. Control what you can control just like what you would have done with Viking. My wife also said, if this cruise does not go well, that is it for cruises. So I feel your pain. I am confident that what will go wrong, will indeed go wrong. Roll with the punches and stay flexibly. It is a cruise, in a floating hotel, on the water, with weather as a constant issue, things will go wrong. All brands. My unsolicited advice is, go on Friday looking for the positive instead of the negatives, report back here so we can all learn from you. I am a betting man. I BET you will be pleasantly surprise if you go into it as a new adventurer. PS: I have cruise most brands. NCL is no better or worse for me than any other. I tend to go in the NCL Haven, Celebrity Retreat and MSC Yacht Club to manage my expectations. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@Brad1185 Not that I am an expert or anything on Oceania, I am NOT!! I would like to know why you think you might have made a mistake? My gut tells me you are reading posts by folks that have 98% things that are wrong, and 2% things that are right. Unless this is your first cruise, which I doubt, this Oceania Blog is no different then NCL, Celebrity, MSC, or any other brand. Some folks talk about how everything is perfect. Other talk about who everything is a issue of one thing or another. Both groups of people in my humble opinion are being sincere. Yet they are the top and bottom 10%. It is the 80% in the middle that I focus on. The more you read, the more you learn to manage your expectations. My experience comes from other brands. The more I read, the more I could approach things that might be less then perfect in a way that it did not negatively impact my vacation. An example for flying internationally as only an example is, the seats and area around the seat have been less then clean. I bring disposable cleaning clothes now just in case. Usually I don't have to use them which exceeds my expectations. On cruises, (NOT Oceania, YET), my first day I notices my bathroom cleanliness was not to my liking. I use the same disposable cleaning clothes for the cruise as for the flight. The alternative was to get upset every time and it started my vacation out on the wrong foot. As it relates to the cruisecritic.com Oceania Board, the folks here seem to be much more realistic about managing their expectations and having realistic expectations. For me a great example is a trend of Oceania missing ports. Since I have not cruised Oceania yet, my expectation is in my upcoming cruise, I might miss a port (or two). I have educated my wife and guests of the possibility to manage their expectations. If it happens, we will be disappointed but not shocked. If it does not, it will exceed our expectations. Back to my original question? Why do you think like you made a mistake? Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@SaltyPawz NCL is consistently, inconsistant. The letter comes sometimes and not other times. If you have some items you want to ask for, tag me back and I will give you an email address. The things I ask for are rather basic. Often, many are not done when I get onboard and I simply ask my butler and Bingo, done. So, really not that important. What I would consider important are Specialty restaurant reservations and changes. If I did not get those done on 130 days prior to cruise, I handle them pre-cruise with the Haven Desk. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

As someone that is NEW to Oceania, knowing the good, bad and ugly helps us. We can set expectations. On the other hand, I rate improvement in my cruise experience as better than what I have had before. For me, improvement is my definition of luxury. To someone that has done Premium-Plus, Luxury and Ultra Luxury cruise, they rate on their experience. The cleanliness is simply sloppy. Missing utensils are lack of detail. I personally would have expected better. On those items, yours was the first I have ever heard of these items. On the food being good but not great, with hit or misses, that seems to be the trend and consensus. What part of your cruise have you enjoy the most and why? Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

So my flight leaves early in the morning on November 7, 2023. I am a five million mile Delta Airlines life time Platinum Elite member. That is a lot of miles. What do I do differently then some? Cleaning Clothes: I bring prepackaged cleaning clothes for my seat and area around me. I used to see the seat was not clean and just shake my head. Then I started bring my own cloth. On the cruise, I do the same thing especially for the bathroom. Same reason. Now I am usually in a suite, penthouse or above. It does not matter. I manage my expectation and simply expect to do some cleaning. Sometimes, I am pleasantly surprises. Candy Man: I purchase several boxes of See's Candy. The good stuff. I give it to the check-in Agents, and flight attendants in both cabins on each flight. Many people bring mini milkyways then ask for an upgrade. I give the box, I am already in first class or business class. The flight attendant seem to be taken back that I ask for nothing. Why, I need nothing. However, they cater to me and my wife the entire trip. Our glasses never go empty. Pre-Order Meals: When you are in first class or business class international, the airlines give you the opportunity to order meals not on the menu. When you are in coach, you can order special meals that are much better food then what is normally serviced. Make a not of that. Night Cap: When traveling international, I learned to have a Night Cap. I define that as a Vodka and 1/2 of an Ambien. Got to have a plan. I also tell the flight attendant to wake me when it is time for breakfast. Noise Reduction Head Phones: If they are not provided, I bring mine which are Bose over the ear headphones. Some times you need a special adapter for airlines so have them handy. After a while, the noise from the engine used to get to me. Water and Walk: On long flights force yourself to drink water and stay hydrated. Drinking I know does not help that so have more water. Walk up and down the isles often to stretch your legs. You will thank me for this advice. Charger Cables: Most seats now have USB plugs to charge your devices. You need your own cables. Bring them. Preparation H: Sorry but you want the truth. Long flight can create, well, you know. Be "Prepared" not a pun. Also have Tumms, Tylenol and gum. This is kind of basic however you would be surprise how much of this is missed by so many. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@Gray Eagle02 I very carefully worded my comment on luxury and Ultra-Luxury. It depends on so much. But when I did a comparison of Haven, Retreat, Yacht Club, Regent, Oceania, Viking, Silver Seas, Crystal and Seabourn; the Haven/Retreat were more then some and less then other. The comparison was hard because each brand offers different amenities. Now on the DOS, I stayed in one for a 7-Day Caribbean Cruise with my family and it was lovely. We were on the NCL Joy, Haven. What a great trip. The DOS is one of the few Haven Suites where the soda's/mixers and three bottles of spirits are provided. I did a YouTube Video on this and I will put the link below. You can ask my anything you want but I will assure you, you will have a great time. I completely agree with you on Regent pricing. Hard to justify but like Haven, some folk prefer it. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@X-elite I have never seen that Bulgari Gift Set for Penthouses in my past research. See picture below: I have seen it offered the the upper leave suites like Oceania, Vista and Owners Suite. See picture below. Seems the Marketing department has happened again. One day, marketing departments will focus on Under promise and over deliver. Cruise brands seem to have a hard time with this one. I am sure you are disappointed so may I suggest you share this with the Oceania Corporate Office. On the other items of missing folk and dirty spoon's. Unacceptable however, there should be some set ups in your cabinet if I am not mistaken. Still kind of gross so sorry that happened. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

hsommer@ncl.com Feel free to ask. He is the CEO of all NCL Entities now that Frank D senior has retired. A little history, if you email is positive, he will return with a sentence of two. If it is negative, he will pass it along and you will gain a basic response form email in 2-4 weeks from someone at the bottom of the food chain. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@Treasure Hunter You tell them all Hunter. My daughter destroyed her carpet when we purchased our home many years ago. When I got a bonus check, I bought brand new expensive carpet in her room. I created the rule, "No liquid, food, markers, pens or anything else that can leave a stain or burn the carpet." My lovely bride said, "NO". She can have water, that does not stain. I said, "NO". Water becomes soda, soda becomes, Kool-Aid, Kool-Aid becomes RED Kool-Aid. I put my foot down, "NO ACCEPTION". One week later, my wife was in my daughters room and screamed at the top of her lungs, "Gary, come up here!!" There was a red Kool-Aid stain one foot by another foot on the new expensive carpet. I bring this up because many streams have parents that say, "My child is well mannered." "My child looks 16 and will full the rules." These parents are probably correct about their kids. HOWEVER, Water transitions to Kool-Aid if the rules are not followed. This is simply just one example. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.