Harry Lake

I'll tack this on here. We have a labeled, cardboard "travel box." In that goes only things that we use for ANY kind of travel. Been doing that for probably 20 years. Works great for us.

Since they seem to play fast and loose with ethics I wonder if the staff - all of them - will be briefed on what's been going on.

You're our kinda folks.

Just WOW!!! You gave me a ton of info and I appreciate it. Let me tack on one more question not completely related. If I were to cancel outside that 181 day deadline we would get back $150 per person. Our deposit was $1000 for the two of us, so we'd get back $700? Also if we cancel the trip insurance do we get all of that back? And I understand that we have different insurers.... Any further info is great.

And here I thought Daddy made that up 🙂 Thanks for the anecdote 🙂

On the second line of my "Guest Statement" underneath "balance due" is the language "By using your credit card to make a payment you are agreeing to the terms and conditions and this shall constitute your written acknowledgment thereof."

Yep. And we have the right to either not cruise at all, look for a line that doesn't operate like this or to put ourselves at their mercy. I won't be choosing the last one. And am considering the one cruise (with O) that we do have booked. We're not 'hooked' on cruising. Plenty of other ways to see the world. And @Hlitnerthanks; good presentation. This has been an interesting few days.

Well done. And I think doing the credit card 'thing' is a great way to go. And as they said this will likely wind up in court.

I hope I can explain this so it's understandable. I booked our July '24 O cruise in late Sept. And bought trip insurance (through USAA if that matters) in early Oct. The final payment is due early Feb. '24. Through a medical exam that had nothing to do with this, a test was done to see if a particular 'disease' had one of its side effects of a nodule in the lung. This isn't a cancerous nodule. But then they decided to do a little more testing - due to my age and family history. Now they're going to remove the nodule just to be on the safer side. But due to backups in scheduling, it's unlikely that it will be wrapped up until some time in January...or even after the final payment is due. So is my insurance already in effect or only after we fly out? If my doctors think I'll have to have chemo/radiaton/??? I'm guessing I either can't or wouldn't want to go on the trip. Where would I stand? Can I cancel the trip insurance (approx. $1700) and then 'eat' the cruise deposit of $1000? I will definitely be talking to the insurance company and Oceania but thought I'd pick the brains of you oh-so-smart-and-wise people. Does what I write even make sense? Ask for more info if you want. Of just tell me to contact the companies involved. I'll understand. Thank you so very much.

As Daddy used to say, "I wish I'd been born rich instead of so doggone good looking!" Then we could have our own ship, eh? Keep paying that lottery 🙂

I think their math is saying that they will lose fewer customers than they will gain.

As much as O has angered people with that Middle East debacle, I've no doubt that they did the numbers before putting thi Simply More feature into effect.

I used that in France earlier this year. Mainly for making reservations at restaurants 🙂

We were wisely advised to expect the Drake Shake or the Drake Lake. Very nice lake 🙂

This was part of a trip that Gate 1 isn't doing now. We started in Buenos Aires, then did a coach tour of the Argentinian and Chilean Patagonia. Then got on our ship and sailed the Chilean fjords, Antarctica, Falkland Islands and finished up in Santiago. For US it was expensive but we planned it a year in advance and the whole thing was incredible.

Oh, okay, then I guess that's what we were on. I'm having trouble with my photos but we absolutely took zodiak-type boats and went ashore.

I don't know what an expedition cruise is.

I don't know what an expedition cruise is.

I'm sure it was a super substitute.

When we were there there was at least one big cruise ship...WAY out there. What "wildlife" or "scenery" did you see? Here's just a sample of how we traveled for several days. Plus getting within touching difference of wildlife - which of course we didn't do. I understand that it's probably a lot more expensive.

And we chose for the itinerary. Didn't know about those bathrooms til I read it here

Oh, I certainly don't. We were on a Hurtigruten ship, Midnatsol ?sp with about 400 pax. And we liked Hurtigruten so much that we did a Norwegian coastal cruise on a REALLY small ship -100 pax! I could go on and on about that. And talk about a small bathroom 🙂

And that can be the real death knell.

And, of course, that will be just a "sail by." Even the O ships are too big to allow passengers to leave the ship.

Could I safely say that you're a ship person and not a port person? When I see Mediterranean cruises I can pretty much tick off almost every port as having visited, by land or by sea. Or have you already visited pretty much everything on your A-list?