DavisFLSt8

Thanks for sharing that info. I will keep an eye out for a SS Hospitality Desk. I am sure DW and I will be up very early with the 4 hour time change from the east coast.

On 5/6/2024 at 10:58 AM, Sketty1616 said:

We have a PtoP booking starting next week. We are staying at the Hilton Anchorage, which we booked on our own.  Our electronic ticket we received states transfer is from hotel to pier. Will we actually be picked up at our hotel or do we need to catch the coach at the Egan Convention Center as we previously thought?

We are staying at Hilton too. We are reserved for the train transfer. As I understand, we need to make our way back to airport to catch charter train from there since we did book hotel through Silversea.

My wife and I will be on the same cruise celebrating or 20th anniversary. Unfortunately, Silver Note has been totally booked since we had access. I look at it as a first world problem. Maybe we will be able to get in onboard. We are hoping to get into one of the Chef's Table dinners. See ya in a few weeks!

I notice our May Nova trip is now much more $$$ than when we booked, but is part of the "promotion" on the site. My guess is they jacked up the price to cover the upgrade and OBC. When we booked our Superior Verands there was $1k off pp and our TA got us $250 pp OBC.

Curious if they are rotating craft beers as they change countries. We are doing Nova in MAY for an Alaska cruise. 

7 hours ago, twangster said:

The public train anyone can book use a downtown station in Anchorage and Seward which is a 15 minute walk to the ship.  
 

I recommend GoldStar service.  I’ve done the trip twice.  Great way to start or end a cruise.  

Unfortunately, GoldStar tickets are sold out the date of departure for the cruise we are looking at.

I apologize if this is repetitive. I tried to search but did not find clear answer. We are booking P2P. For Silversea train charter to Seward, where does the train depart? I have the impression if not D2D, would have to take transportation back to airport terminal to catch the Silversea train. Is this accurate?

We are looking at booking similar dates for a trip from ATL. Wondering if it would just be easier to do D2D. Have friend/agent checking on cost to upgrade to business class for flight since leg more than 5 hours.

Just booked our excursions. The site was not adjusting pricing once 5 excursions were selected. As said in a prior post, we called O directly and had the excursions booked in 5 minutes. All 5 booked received the 25% discount and we still have a small credit balance left from the $800 SM excursion credit to be used.

22 hours ago, Sthrngary said:

@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: 

 

1. A port or more will be cancelled
2. The Oceania cookies will be tasteless or bad
3. They won't have a Bulgari Gift Set In My suite
4. The Oceania Beach Bag will not be provided
5. The meat at the polo grill will be over cooked, under cooked so god forbid, to small or large
6. I will not be able to get more sandwiches' from the rolling cart, during the afternoon tea
7. The lobster will be to chewy, over cooked of stringy
8. No one will be refilling our drinks in a timely manner
9. Room service will not provide a folk to me
10. My spoons for ice cream will be dirty
11. My Hot Tub on my Balcony will not work
12. 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 have enjoyed your posts. DW and I are looking forward to our first cruise since 2004. I, too, know something will go wrong. I base this on the fact I have been on the hotel industry for my 25+ year professional career. As you say, it will be how the team on ship reacts that will make the difference.

Cruise well.

Thank you for the detailed reviews. We will be doing our first O cruise (only our 2nd cruise in 19 years) departing from Barbados on Insignia. I appreciate the time and detail provide. We are looking forward to our trip.