MEFIowa

For Waitlisted, think "I'm on a waiting list for a particular type cabin". You can PAY a deposit and get on a "real" waitlist, where you'll have a number showing your place in the queue. Or not, and take your chances, as it will clear those who paid a deposit first. There is NO guarantee that you'll cruise from a Waitlist. Whether you paid a deposit or not. If your cabin type doesn't come available, you won't cruise. Then for Guaranteed, think "I've paid a deposit and O guarantees that "I'll get on that cabin level or higher". BUT you may find out a week or two in advance and you have little or no choice on the cabin type or location. You'll be cruising, and your price will be at the Guaranteed cabin rate, but you took your chances as to where on the ship and in what type cabin.

Just remember that you can bring on ALL the beer, hard liquor and wine you want at embarkation and at any ports. Have some fun trying to find something interesting in a local grocery store, liquor store or wine ship. I had a blast finding wonderful inexpensive Greek, Serbian and Spanish brandy in the Med on Riviera 10-11/2023. And all the different inexpensive beers! (Just drink you own beer and hard liquor in your cabin/on your veranda. Though you can pay a $25 corkage fee to drink your own wine in their restaurants.) And make sure to take advantage of the Captain's Party and, if there is one, any Newbies Party. That is up to two nights of free booze!

Pulled out my CURRENTS for our recent 2023 B2B on Riviera in the Med: 10/30-11/9 1:45-4 pm Social Bridge & Mah-Jongg Play / non-hosted Polo Grill (14) 11/9-11/19 1:45-4 pm Social Bridge & Mah-Jongg Play / non-hosted Polo Grill (14) Looks this way for every day except embarkation.

Have you gone to O's web site and checked out the DECK PLANS for Vista and the CABIN DESCRIPTIONS with photographs/layout? Vista Cruise Ship Deck Plans | Oceania Cruises Luxury Cruise Suites & Staterooms Aboard Vista | Oceania Cruises

Our recent Triest to Athens and Athens to Barcelona B2B cruises on Riviera (10/30-11/19, 2023) were VERY port intensive. We had 5 lectures from the archeologist on each 10-night cruise. Also had 5 lectures on the E. Caribbean cruise on Sirena 11/2022.

That's a different topic, one involving generalities. I'm discussing specifics. BUT, yes IF (1) I like an itinerary and (2) I like the PRICE, I'll book. BUT we KNOW that the price changes all the time. I prefer to spend less, rather than more, for the same itinerary. Only a foolish or a rich person ignores O's constant and constantly changing sales.

And my pile of O brochures I've collected since 2021 is well over a foot high. Grower slower than it used to. But, for example, I have ALL of the 2023 brochures O sent us. Both pre- and post-SM. And all the sales pre- and post-SM. IIRC from a previous OP and thread I created abut sales in 2023, O had 6 "major" sales and 2 "minor" sales in 2023. The Extraordinary Saving Sale pre-SM was the truly BIG ONE of 2023. IIRC that was May. Before SM.

We are discussing O and SM. Nothing to do with SS or Crystal. What happened in the summer of 2023 when SM was introduced. A snapshot in time about prices as they went from pre-SM to SM as introduced. This is literally a look at prices at DAY SM -1 to Day SM. Two days.

I tracked 4 cruises we had booked in 2022 across the various sales and introduction of SM. AND I went looking at various other cruises I was interested in. So, what I saw THEN, when SM was introduced in the summer of 2023, was seemingly an $800 PP increase. (Now if memory serves me, hasn't O since cut back on the excursion credit under SM?)

We've been on 4 O cruises: 1. Riviera, W. Caribbean, 12/2021: NO lecturer. But could watch old lectures from their video library on our TV. 2. Sirena, E. Caribbean, 11/2021: One lecturer. Her focus on music & culture, her family from there. 3. Riviera, C-E Med, 10/2023: One lecturer. Archeologist. Nice presentations the day before of what you might see the next day in the various ruins and excursions. 4. Riviera, E-W Med, 11/2023: One lecturer. Archeologist. Nice presentations the day before of what you might see the next day in the various ruins and excursions. I attended every lecture except one on #4. The lectures for #2 were in the morning, while the lectures for #3-4 were at 5 pm.

First, when you book a Sept 2024 cruise in May 2022 you get to WATCH every sale and every promotion. I'm STILL watching to see if the cruise will go on sale again (rebooked it once in Oct 2022 on sale). The downside to SM is exactly that: THE PRICE. Which essentially rose by $800 PP. As many have said, in general, SM worked as a global price increase for the O brand. We haven't booked anything in 2025. Not seeing the "value" given the increased price. BUT we still watch all the sales. IF the right cruise involving E. Africa and Madagascar & surrounding area in the Indian Ocean went on a great sale....

We can compare these prices because O released 2024 cruises early in 2022. I booked a Sept 9, 2024 Sirena cruise in the Baltic on May 7, 2022. Then you can watch all the sales, SM, etc. I'm STILL HOPING there might be another sale for this cruise. (In Oct 2022 rebooked it on sale from the original G to a big C1 on Deck 7.)

It was fascinating that O allowed 2024 bookings in early 2022. They didn't make that mistake for 2025 or 2026. So I could literally watch and compare a September 2024 booking made in early 2022 over time. We booked it cruise-only. Watched prices change due to sales and general price increases. As well as the impact of SM. We stayed cruise only under the 2022 booking.

Having made cruise-only bookings pre-SM and post-SM, and comparing my two upcoming cruises, one SM & the other not, the "difference" for the same cruise & cabin made pre-versus post-SM was about an $800 price increase. That's a "lot of difference". Cash up front increase.

What A, PH and above cabins can get and do, their success rate, has NOTHING to do with the failure rate for G-B cabins. The cabin level makes a huge difference, since the majority of cruisers are G-B.

Looks like this is the Apr-May 2024 "sale": "This valuable offer is available on 33 destination-immersive sailings... The offer is available for reservations made between April 1, 2024, and May 31, 2024" Not much of a sale. Certainly not when compared to the Extraordinary Savings Sale that was going on last year during this time.

Though I think the reality for so many G-B cabin cruisers is that many don't even eat in the specialty restaurants if they want a 2-top before 8 pm. O makes it impossible to set up the reservations in advance. Saw this on our 20-night B2B in Oct-Nov on Riviera. First 10 nights in an A3. No problem getting "decent time" for 2 top. BUT when we tried for our B3, all we could get were mainly 8:30 or 9 pm times. Weirdly, they asked us to change the 9 pm time to 8:30. I quickly saw why, just at the 8:30 time. We and about 2 other couples were the only people who showed up at 8:30 or after. We rushed our dinner to get out by 9:30 since it was emptying fast between 8:30 and 9 and mostly empty after 9 pm. We learned to tell the server upfront: "We're ready to order, we do NOT want any bread and NO dessert." We'd sailed on Riviera 12/2021 (A4) and Sirena 11/2022 (B2) so we "knew" the menus and what we wanted.

First, under SM you get their approved beer and/or wine at LUNCH or DINNER. Second, you get FREE coffee, tea, juice, soda pop, still & sparkling water, smoothies, milk shakes/malts, etc. The usual traditional non-alcoholic daily beverages. Third, you can BRING your own BEER, HARD LIQUOR and WINE on board at embarkation and in ports. You can drink your own beer and hard liquor in your cabin. And pay a $25 corkage fee to drink your own win in their restaurants. (We sailed 10 nights on Sirena 11/2022 and loved it. B2 cabin. We've got 22 more nights on Sirena booked for Aug-Sept, F and C cabins.)

You have to monitor each and every O sale. The "cabin-upgrade" sales can be amazing for C-B-A cabins, and rarer for the PHs. In 2023 around Apr-May there was the absolutely rock-bottom low price Extraordinary Savings Sale. All depends on knowing the sales and being flexible to cruise on one that is offered.

See the Cruise Director or Assistant CD. I set up a Veterans' Meet & Greet with CD Dottie on Sirena 11/2022. When I boarded Riviera 10/30/23 I asked the Asst CD if there was going to be one and he said there would. Already set up. On both legs of our B2B.

Yet time isn't fungible like money... So when you get say 8 hours in a port, your time is limited. For us, we're doing excursions and walking ports extensively. So, when we ported in Kotor, we're off the ship first thing and climbing the narrow steps up to the top to see the view from the St. John's Fortress. And when we came back down we walked the walled city and then hit some local stores to buy local beer, hard liquor and wine. I think we had to be back at 2:30 PM for a 3 pm departure. We only had a partial day to get to and from Rome off of Riviera. We met the driver at the gangplank as the first two off the ship in November. And we were back by 4:30 pm (drivers have to worry about rush hour traffic). We SKIPPED the lunch they wanted us to have, so that we could explore the Pyramid of Cestius and the Protestant Cemetary that were near the restaurant. I won't forget that Pyramid or the graves. I'd struggle today to even remember what I ate, if we had had lunch, but the pictures I took at the cemetery are priceless: "The English poets John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley are buried there." [And we toured the Colosseum, Vatican, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, and Pantheon!]

Pulled out my last 3 currents for Day 1 (Embarkation): Athens 11/9/23: All aboard: 4:30 pm. Departure: 5 pm (Riviera) Trieste 10/30/23: All aboard: 6:30 pm. Departure: 7 pm (Riviera) Miami 11/18/22: All aboard: 4:30 pm. Departure: 5 pm (Sirena) This is the same 30 minutes I've seen on every O cruise in every port since our first on Riviera 12/2021.

I've found that sitting down for a meal hardly compares to actually walking around and engaging locals in the neighborhood. In Istanbul last Nov for 15TL (about 55 cents) we took the #38 bus 4 miles to the old walls of Constantinople. Then we walked back about 2.5 miles along a wonderful neighborhood route in Rick Steves' guide. We were the only tourists out. As we saw sights and stopped into shops. In Puerto Plata in Nov 2022 I walked about a mile deep into the barrior. Into shops and along neighborhood streets. A young girl popped her head out of a house as I walked by. I don't Spanish but she started counting in English. So I counted back in Spanish. We both could count to 8. Her grandmother came out and invited me in. I shook the girl's hand. And we laughed. In Paraguay in Apr-May 2022 I would get up at 0445 and go walking around the cities I was staying at. Met a young man herding cattle on his motorcycle in Humaita. And in very broken Spanish I'd ask to take pictures of families sitting outside drinking their morning mate. In Asuncion walked out to the Paraguay River and sat amongst some fishermen watching them cast. Listened to a drunk sleep it off in Plaza Italia at 0515 under the Italian flag-colored lights.

On that we'll have to mostly disagree. The food is already paid for on the ship and we all know we paid for it. And I explore the places I visit. I don't have time for much food. Maybe a small bite or drink of something unique. I'm busy going places and seeing things and meeting people. (I bring back my fav hard liquor in my checked bag. To drink later.)

We'll be on Sirena in the Baltic Aug-Sept 2024. Expect to do such shopping in port or at a stop on an excursion. Off the ship. But avoid the obvious tourist trap shops right near the cruise terminals. That's part of the joy of cruising, get off the ship, walk around, and meet the locals where they shop. Of course, a key is what exactly are you looking to buy? Find the store that sells that.