cancruisers

37 minutes ago, AtomicCruiser said:

Cruised on Vista 9/9-9/16/2023.  Shows in the Theater were generally at 7pm or 7:30 for early show, and 9pm or 9:30 for late show.

We were on Vista for those same dates (last week) - we never had 7pm or 7:30 shows. Only one per night, with one matinee due to missed ports.

20 hours ago, Cruisin 999 said:

I just booked our first Oceania cruise, but I'm confused about the discounts. Our cruise showed three discounts: 1) Extraordinary Savings, 2)O-Life Choice, and 3) O-Life Ultimate. When my TA provided me with the price, I was told that I could get the Extraordinary Savings and O-Life choice discounts OR I could get the O-Life Ultimate package, but not all three. Is that correct? Has anyone been able to get both the Extraordinary Savings discount and the O-Life Ultimate package for their cruise?

We got both ESS and O'life Ultimate. Even our TA was shocked.

2 hours ago, jonthomas said:

The agents I know all have someone else look after their stuff if they are not able to. Is this agent a sole practitioner?

We used our TA's buddy and the cruise is now resolved. We were upgraded to PH1 with oodles of OBC but NO cash back which didn't surprise me since why would they give anything back once they get it.

This was one of 3 options presented  - the other 2 being keep existing cabin and take the savings (almost $8000) in an OBC or FCC. We took option 1 as a bird in the hand is always better.

Thanks everyone, Steve

50 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

I am sure your TA  has some way to contact O   but maybe someone in the agency where they work can assist

Have you called their office?

I've sent an email to her but will probably call the office by end of day if I haven't heard anything. 

Thanks 

I've tried to read most of the comments here so I know there's lots of savings to be had on this promotion, sale or whatever they want to call it. We always work through a TA who is now in the middle of the Pacific and of course won't be able to get in touch right away and she definitely will NOT be able to phone O. 

Here's the lowdown. We paid $7,699/pp for a B3 on Riviera for July. I called O to get their ESS quote and they said a B3 would be $3,399/pp (without O'Life Ultimate). That's a saving of $8,600 which sure buys a lot of booze and excursions (we're silver so grats are irrelevant.) When I mentioned to the O agent that we had a booking he went cold and basically won't touch us with a barge pole.

Any suggestions?

Steve

We have 2 cruises booked on the Journey that we shifted from 2020 to late 2021 and mid 2022. Not at all sure what we'll do now as we weren't convinced that they would go so the uncertainty is even greater, We'll likely hold on til final payment in July and make a final decision then.

9 hours ago, Jayayeff said:

If it were me I think I would opt to stay in a location with easy access to the Metro red line somewhere midway between the city and the Expo site for the full length of the stay.  As I said in my earlier post I understand the Metro via the new link line will be the preferred transportation option to get out to the Expo site.   Any of the hotels along Sh. Zayed Road, within Downtown (Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall) and Business Bay all the way out to Mall of the Emirates have access to red line stations and would be good bases for a combined Expo/Dubai sites stay as they also have access to other RTA transport ( taxis, water taxis) and the HoHo buses....

 

Anne...

Fantastic - thanks so much for your help.

Steve

On 11/13/2019 at 2:03 AM, Jayayeff said:

 

Steve,

 

This is not such an easy one as all the infrastructure for Expor2020 is not in place yet so it's difficult so say how good the transportation links, etc. to the site will be.  The site itself is on the very outskirts of the city - very close to the second airport (Dubai World Central) and the Metro link out to those areas is still a work in progress.  If you wanted to look at hotels as a guide, the closest areas with Metro access would be Dubai Marina, Jumeirah Lake Towers or any location working backwards towards the city from there along the Metro Red Line Route - I believe the Expo Metro line will be a link from the Red Line from somewhere out towards Jebel Ali.   As I said the Expo site is a long way out of town so you would need to dedicate a day or two to explore that rather than Dubai itself as time and distance would make combining both a challenge.   As an example, I live quite close to the airport (DXB) and to drive from my house to the Expo site would take me over an hour, via a direct highway and without traffic.  If you wanted to combine Expo2020 with New and/or Old Dubai sites I'd recommend staying at least 3 or 4 nights and selecting a location midway between the two - anywhere along the Red Line route between Dubai World Trade Centre and Emirates Golf Club (Nakheel station) as I believe the Metro will be the preferred transportation route out to the site... 

 

Anne...

Thanks so much for the quick reply - I know it's a long way out time wise but we like to get things organized early! We are planning to spend 4 or 5 days in Dubai ahead of our cruise with 2 or 3 of those days dedicated to Expo. Would you recommend staying at a hotel near the expo site for a couple of days then moving to a more central location for the last 3 or 4 days, although I hate the thought of moving hotels in the middle of the stay. Perhaps a hotel near the Burj Khalifa as a centre of operations? Your thoughts are appreciated.

Steve

Looks like you're the expert on Dubai hotels, Anne!

We're planning a trip to Dubai in November/20 to take a cruise as well as visit the World's Fair for a few days beforehand. Would like any recommendations on hotels that would easily access the Expo site as well as being well positioned to serve as a base to explore Dubai as well. Also your thoughts on what the prices will be like about a year from now. Price is important but shouldn't be an obstacle to picking a great property. Accessibility to good transportation options also important.

Appreciate any and all info you can provide.

Steve

3 hours ago, Baynanno1 said:

 

Looks like you need to go back to the drawing board, or at least contact your TA who may have better luck than I have had doing a search of October, November & December 2019 & 2020.

In 2019 Quest does Singapore to Dubai on 12 November, Dubai to Dubai on 29 November, disappears between 9 & 17 November when it reappears for Dubai to Mumbai.

In 2020 there is a blank space between 17 October in Europe and 21 December in Australia for Pursuit . . . . . . .

Sent a brief note to TA - Azamara wasn’t open today but her system shows our cruise as sold out. Highly unlikely so they’re probably preventing agents from booking any new cruises. 

So what's happened to the cruises after November 1? We're booked on the November 1 10 days Dubai to Dubai, visiting Qatar, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi among others. We were actively looking at booking the following cruise as well that ends up in Singapore on November 30. We were looking at taking in the World's Fair before embarking November 1. So it looks like we start looking for a Plan B??

Just noticed on my latest app update that Constellation, Equinox and Reflection are now on the app. Anybody know when Silhouette will be added?

Cheers, Steve

I have read numerous reviews regarding how expensive it was to explore Bermuda via taxi. Bermuda has a very efficient public transportation system, which is very inexpensive. The links below will help you navigate places of interest you may want to visit on your own. Also, there is an app called Hitch Bermuda, their version of Uber/Lyft

 

General Info

 

https://www.gotobermuda.com/

 

Ferry Schedule

 

http://www.marineandports.bm/Documen...ule%202018.pdf

 

Bus Schedule

 

https://www.gov.bm/bus-routes-and-maps

Great information - thanks!

Steve

any news on the transatlantic itineraries?

Us too!!

Hi Steve,

The room is perfectly fine! Honestly, we had so much rain and the Baltic is rather cool temperature wise anyway we didn't really use the balcony a whole lot. I would have booked an inside cabin for this cruise, and that's what the plan was, until my aunt decided to join us...and she just couldn't/wouldn't/refused to stay in an inside cabin. Too bad though, I had an inside on the Royal last January that was on my favorite cabins of all time. Actually had more usable storage space than this balcony did.

 

The one day I would have liked to have been out there was when we were sailing from Stockholm but my aunt was napping, so no dice. Go figure...that was pretty much my luck for this cruise.

 

The obstruction is looking down, not out. The lifeboat is right below the balcony so you can't look straight down. But the view straight out is just fine.

 

All of our cabins were E6 something so I don't believe we were close to where you will be located.

 

But you will LOVE Regal...she's such a beautiful ship...one of my favorites and I can't wait to sail her again, and again, and again....

 

Thanks so much!

Thanks for the quick response - I think I misread your cabin numbers but it doesn't really matter. We've been on Royal and I know we'll love Regal.

Enjoyed your trip report and happy cruising!

Steve & Wendy

Thank YOU so much for following along and all of your nice comments! Yes, traveling with teens can be an experience!

 

We actually did Alaska with my parents two years ago when they took all of us for their 50th anniversary. A LOT less stressful than Europe that's for sure!

 

Most definitely do the Baltic. It's an amazing cruise and the sites are just spectacular. It's a once in a lifetime experience!

 

Happy sailing!

Enjoyed reading your trip account immensely. You will always look back on this trip as one 0f a kind. We're on Regal Sept 10 for the T/A. I may have missed it, but what did you think of the obstructed veranda staterooms on Emerald deck? We're booked in E326 which, I believe, is beside one of your rooms.

Appreciate your comments, Steve

Is this cruise really waitlisted in all categories already? I'm flabbergasted. Regent never sold out the entire ship for their shorter WC's. If so, I wonder how many people booking will become no-shows at some point.

 

Organizing all those private tours to keep the excursion budget down is going to be a real task for lots of folks. Spreadsheets will be required!

Seems to be a lot of availability online this morning.

Let's ask Frank!

YES, I'm serious.

30 days and no Burma.

The 35 day Bangkok to Istanbul on Nautica does include Burma.

FDR

Thanks Frank - this means a lot to many of us faithful Oceania cruisers - the fact that you take the time to look at what your customers want, read their comments and then act on them is an unusual but welcome step for a cruise company executive. I don't believe I've ever seen that done by any of the bigger companies.

Kudos to you and Oceania.

Steve & Wendy

Perhaps we could start a petition, a twitter campaign, Facebook page - whatever it takes!!

WE WANT CAPE TOWN TO SINGAPORE 2015!!

Anything for you Laraine.

FDR

We're there too!!

(P.S. - Laraine - it's handy to have inside connections, I see)

Technical question - what is the difference between "waitlist' and "sold out"?

Checked the O website this morning and they're showing 4 categories open. The others are either waitlisted or sold out.

Thanks.

We want that same segment.

It's been a staple on Nautica and a sell out in the past. I am hopeful it will be offered again. Hope to see you on that roll call!

We'll be there!

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

We all remember that one time! :)

 

 

How hard could it be to get 684 people from the entire universe to take a 180 day cruise? It's an infinitesimal percentage of the cruising population, much less the population at large.

 

I am waiting for Nautica itineraries. I am convinced that booking a segment will be almost impossible in a PH and that I would not want to be one of a handful of interlopers in the World Cruise crowd.

Yes based on today's activity, I think our hopes of booking a segment (e.g. Ct - Singapore) have dimmed. Will wait and see but we too will anxiously await the Nautica itineraries. Just hope they aren't lending her out after December 22, 2014.

Maybe this is one of those special cases where the Cancellation penalty should be higher & kick in earlier Eg 270 days out :confused:

 

Some people may just book the cruise to get the cabin they want then cancel part of the cruise when the segments open up in Sept

Just guessing on that scenario

 

Congratulations to those that have the time, money & inclination to do the cruise :)

 

Lyn

We thought about doing that on one of our recent bookings on Oceania.

We had booked back-to-back cruises and got a significant discount for doing so. We booked a B2 veranda on Nautica (same room for both legs), got prepaid gratuities, reduced deposit etc. Our schedule changed and we asked if we could cancel the second leg and retain our room on the first - they said no dice. They viewed it as a single booking - we would have to cancel the entire itinerary and rebook. Unfortunately, the only option available was a C2 Outside so we cancelled the whole thing. They're very inflexible.

Steve