vlthom

Unfortunately, we will also miss Hubbard glacier, too. We made it to Ketchikan today, a day later than originally scheduled but it coincided with Norwegian Bliss’ visit.  Shuttle service to/from the port and town meant standing in very long lines since we were sharing with the Bliss’ passengers.  It wasn’t the best situation.  We look tiny by comparison.

3 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

Any update ?

We are still in Vancouver but will supposedly depart in the next hour.  Our itinerary had to be adjusted, obviously.  We arrive in Ketchikan a day later than originally planned and we will miss Sitka entirely.  We’ll see how it goes.  The captain announced that the issue had been repaired, but as we are heading into a more remote area, they have brought onboard two spare chillers, “just in case”.  

Onboard Regatta now for the 77-day itinerary to Sydney.  We are currently in Vancouver where it is Thanksgiving and everything is closed.  The captain came on the PA system and said we will not be departing tonight as planned and he hopes that we will be able to do so tomorrow night.  The reason was not given; however, I inquired and learned that there is a problem with the ship’s refrigeration that they need to fix before we can depart.  No telling yet how this delay will impact our itinerary.  I’m thankful that we are in port and safe but hoping that this delay will only be for one day.

12 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

It’s not disabled. See my post above about how to turn it on with the Remote.

I had already made this discovery and posted about it.  Thx

2 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

maybe if people want the CC option there is  a way for  it to be enabled 

Has anyone asked  reception if it is possible ?

See my post directly above.

2 hours ago, DrKoob said:

We are in an A-category stateroom on Vista and we can hear the TV next door so we assume they can hear ours. 

 

The real key here is not giving access to the Closed Captions. That needs to be done. They don't HAVE to do it because they are not US registered and under the laws of the United States where they would be forced to. Sadly, it's not an easy thing to give you the ability to access the Closed Caption commands on the remote without giving you access to other television menu items. And they don't want to do that.

After discussing this here yesterday, when we turned on the tv last night, I played around with the remote.  There is an unlabeled button on the remote that toggles cc on/off.  The button looks like a triangle.  It is located to the left of the zero.  We’re now watching things with closed captioning.  My husband is thrilled.

36 minutes ago, 1985rz1 said:

I think most of the noise complaints have been about the new Vista.  Except for connecting rooms, there have been few complaints about the R ships or the O ships.

We have typically sailed in A category staterooms.  Noise from others has not been especially bad however there have always been a lot of slamming doors which I found disturbing.  For our current sailing, we are in a PH and there is almost no noise whatsoever.  It’s amazingly quiet.  I am not sure how to account for this.

1 hour ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

All easily fixed if folks who need hearing aids would use them.

It might actually be considered discriminatory to disable closed captioning as deaf people would require it.

2 minutes ago, PhD-iva said:

Good thing I leave honey at home when I cruise. He “forgets” to use his hearing aids, and when I walk in the door, TV is blasting! No neighbors close by us …….

DH likes the TV louder than I choose to have it.  He suffers from some hearing loss but won’t get hearing aids.  At home, we use the closed captioning.  He doesn’t mind reading the dialog.  Unfortunately, we’ve been unable to turn that feature on the tv when sailing.  It seems as if the O demographic might benefit from having it be available to use.

We boarded Regatta yesterday.  Today in the Terrace, I decided to try the cookies to see if they had improved.  They looked different…flatter and less attractive, so that was not an improvement.  And I am sorry to say that the flavor was not good.  They still taste oddly dry despite not being actually dry.  It’s a dry flavor - like dust.  And I am fairly certain that these were not made with butter.  DH tried them with me.  We tried peanut butter and also chocolate chip.  Neither of us finished them as they were a waste of calories.  I’m okay not having cookies, but I am baffled as to why they cannot get this right.  Good cookies are not difficult to make.

On 9/8/2023 at 2:54 PM, HilsTas said:

We changed cabins in Athens on a B2B on Vista.  And had a full day tour in Athens.  We liaised with our first cruise cabin staff about how to best manage it.  

What ended up happening was that the hanging things were taken to the new cabin on the same hangers for us.  Everything else we just put in the suitcases - pulled stuff out of drawers and plopped it in the suitcases as it came out.   (We had plenty of room to pack this way as the hanging things were out).  The bathroom we did similarly.

When we returned from the tour the suitcases were in the room, hanging things in the wardrobe & we just returned everything to the new drawers.

We also asked friends to keep a bag of things in their safe for the day.

Packing and unpacking turned out to be relatively quick and simple. 

 

We also did a B2B this past June/July, aboard Marina.  We changed cabins and it worked similarly as described above; however, it was not especially well organized nor did we get much in the way of instructions ahead of time.  We inquired about the process with our cabin steward.  We were told that they would clean our new cabin first and then our move would occur.  We could leave hanging clothing as-is and they'd move it.  Everything else needed to be packed up in our suitcases, which they'd also move if we were not present.  But in our case, the keycards were an issue as they did not and could not create the new cards until noon on turnaround day.  I was told that it's usually done a bit earlier than that; however, their equipment wasn't working so they were unable to issue the new cards.  This made our turnaround day a bit awkward to say the least.  But hopefully, it will go more smoothly for you.

No masks were provided on our June/July Marina cruises.  We were not sick before, during or after the cruise either.  There supposedly is an uptick in new COVID cases around the world so perhaps this has led to the distribution of the masks.  I'm glad to hear that they are being provided again, though not required.

6 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

Since the ships won’t magically run out of wine inventory on 10/1, we know they’ll be pouring what they have on hand, which is likely to be identical to the wine list on 9/30.

 

If you look at vintages, some of the wines poured this past year were acquired pre Covid.

Good point.  When I was aboard Marina in June/July, it was clear that they were reducing old stock on hand and not replenishing things that had been on the wine list previously -- at least not at that time.  I guess that my point was that it remains to be seen what wines will be part of the "included list" on the Simply More plan.  And surely, it will change over time.  And telling someone what's part of a beverage package now, doesn't mean that it will be part of the plan a few months from now.  

6 minutes ago, AMHuntFerry said:

From the T&Cs https://www.oceaniacruises.com/legal/promotion-terms

"simply MORE Champagne, Wine, and More amenity is the House Select beverage package..."

The House Select beverage package is tried and true (until it's not 😉 )

Edit: unless you meant the specific individual wines are not known...then, never mind

Indeed, I think that you figured out what I meant -- we don't know the exact wines that will be poured once the Simply More plan is enacted.  They may be the same as the ones currently in the House Select beverage package, but they might not be the same.  We can only wait and see.  I will be aboard Regatta beginning October 4, so I will have an answer at that time.

Since the Simply More plan doesn't begin until October 1st, I'm not sure that anyone can definitively say what wines will be included and poured as part of that plan.

5 hours ago, Sthrngary said:

I got a call from the Oceania Riviera--Guest Desk a few months ago.  They asked is I had any food allergies or needs so they could pre-order if needed due to supply chain issues.  I had NONE.  

Interesting.  We've never received any calls similar to what you've described.  And on the one occasion when we made a special request in advance (pre-COVID), they said that they could not fulfill it without a payment from us.  We were asking for ginger beer (non-alcoholic).  They wanted $5 per item so we said, "no thank-you".

27 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

 

based on the posts here that follow, guess it is not that "fairly clear".

So it seems.  But using the link provided in post #66, one arrives at the general page describing internet aboard the ships where it states that beginning October 1, 2 log-ins are provided for each cabin.  And just as it has been prior to the launch of SM, it appears that internet is not linked to OLife nor Simply More.  It's a general amenity aboard all the ships.  

1 minute ago, basor said:

I do not have the link - I shared what was sent to me as I thought that would help with asking if there were going to be 2 accounts after 01OCT for those with OLife.  apparently it is not enough .  Please ask your TA for clarification as it doesn't matter to us.

It was helpful -- thanks for the info.  

2 minutes ago, EJL2023 said:

I’m not sure, but I’m thinking they were asking what if they had booked a cruise with NO OLife choice, which was an option prior to Simply More. 

Ah....maybe so!

1 minute ago, basor said:

I am going on how Oceania handled the 1 account login and so using that for what Oceania will do with 2 log ins....

Yes, but do you have the link that was shown in your post from your TA which supposedly provides additional information?  Can it be shared?  I'm guessing not, since you haven't done so.  

11 minutes ago, basor said:

I guess we will find out after the 01OCT......I read it as there will be 2 log ins per cabin and so you can decide if one person uses both logins for their 2 devices at the same time or each person uses one of the logins for their own device.   We never had a problem with 1 log in since neither of us "had" to use our WIFI device at the same time..

I interpret it similarly.  But we sailed on another line where one specifically registered one's devices and the first one that logged in was the registered device and you did NOT have internet access on another one unless you paid for it.  In other words, there were 2 devices allowed per cabin but those two registered devices were THE ONES for the duration.  This is why I posed the question.  

19 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

Whether you have olife or not?

Given that the info states "whether or not your clients have made a reservation with OLife Choice or Simply More...", the answer to your question is fairly clear. 

2 minutes ago, basor said:

True but after 01OCT it will no longer be an issue

So it seems....and I'm glad of that.  I'd like to read the details in the link that was provided to you by your TA, though.  As usual, what's written in the blurb is a bit sketchy and open to interpretation.....is it really the "first 2 devices" logged into the account, meaning if my DH logs in with his laptop and then his iPhone are those the two devices allotted to our cabin for the duration of the cruise?  Or will it behave as it currently does, and we can simply use any of our devices as long as we don't attempt to have more than two logged in simultaneously?

On 7/23/2023 at 10:55 AM, msn123 said:

You know, it really is not that difficult to log off one device if you want to use a second one and only have one account.  At least for us this is not a big deal.

But sharing one account between two people in the same cabin can be challenging at times -- especially when one of those individuals is trying to do some necessary work.

On 7/21/2023 at 9:44 AM, basor said:

Sent to me by TA - so it is confirmed

 

 

Is the link to the "Click to Read More" available?  For me, this is potentially good news as I was hoping that the 2nd wifi log-in that had been advertised was independent of "Simply More" benefits.  I'd like to see what else they have to say on the subject, though.