Croooser

OK. Looking for recommendations here.

• Arriving Trieste at 8:00 AM 6/29/24 on Vista
• Booked on UAL out of Marco Polo at 6:40 AM on 6/30/24 - best available option - not likely to change
• Thinking Oceania shuttle to Marco Polo will be best price and will run 6/29 AM - good idea?
• Thinking then - Airport Bus to Piazza Roma and a hotel an easy walk form there - we have no mobility issues so can walk a few blocks with the luggage that we will have. This will give us an afternoon and evening in Venice.
• Thinking then an early land taxi (first airport bus of the day is at 4:20 AM) from Piazza Roma - say 3:30 AM - airport says arrive 3 hours before flight but it looks like airport does not open until 4:00 AM
• OR should we book one of the hotels within a few km of the airport and rely on a shuttle or taxi. Looks like a hotel shuttle early is a little iffy and it appears that the streets between the hotels and the airport are not walkable? Also would mean getting a shuttle to the hotel, then a bus into Venice (or sit in the hotel all day and skip the day in Venice) and another bus back from Venice and another hotel shuttle just to be closer to the airport? Sounds like a much worse option, but am I missing something?

Any and all thoughts from those of yoou who have any recent experience is grealy appreciated - especially with similar early flights.

Thanks

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Deleted - wrong thread

Thanks for the review. It takes a LOT of time and effort. And it was well organized. Have been waiting for some impressions of Vista and there has not been much since the first few from the launch which was probably not typical of what one can expect on an ongoing basis.

We were on Riviera in February and would have to concur with the overall sentiments that you expressed. If I can paraphrase - Oceania is still quite a bit better than the mainstream lines, but not up to it's own pre Covid standards. In reviewing the Seabourn section of CC, it appears that their regular clientele also feel this way about Seabourn. I think that it is a function of the damage done during the pandemic. The staffing issues should be about sorted out by now. But the debt load will likely force the cruise lines to raise prices while cutting back here and there.

We have two upcoming cruises booked on Vista and one on the post drydock Marina. If we experience something similar to what we had on Riviera, we will be satisfied - expectations tempered and met, but not exceeded. We would still rather be on an O ship than any alternative.

Thanks again for the review.

3 hours ago, cucruisin said:

We disembark in Trieste on October 30. We fly out early on October 31. At first, I found a transport to Venice. Then was told I also needed a water taxi to get to the hotel. After much consideration about time and cost, we have now decided to take Oceania’s transport to the airport ($69 pp) and then we will take a free hotel shuttle to our hotel which is close to the airport. There are buses and taxis that can take us to the main Venice island if we choose to do that. This seemed like the most cost efficient way for us to do it since our flight leaves the next day at 6:30 am. 

We have a similar plan for next June. Which hotel did you choose? How did you determine that their shuttle will run early enough (4:30 AM?) to get you to the airport for a 6:30 AM flight?

Thanks

It is posted on the menus on the TV in your room on the day. That does not help with advance planning, but does allow one to change plans if a theme night is either desirable or undesirable.

4 hours ago, TFree said:

I had never heard of OCAPP until yesterday.  I looked at that Virtuoso website for our November 3 Panama Canal cruise on Vista, and I found: 

Guests may also be entitled to the following complimentary benefits. Please consult your Virtuoso travel advisor for restrictions that may apply.

Prepaid Onboard Gratuities

Oceania Cruises: Virtuoso Guests will enjoy complimentary prepaid gratuities on select voyages.

Restrictions apply; please see Terms & Conditions for details.

 

So it appears to me as if this cruise is one of the "selected cruises" as to which the right kind of travel agent would be able to pass on prepaid gratuities.  So I asked our TA about this.  She responded by saying:

"I spoke to Oceania this morning. The agent did not see the OCAPP promotion with [agency name redacted] for this sailing.  He was nice enough to go to a higher level to be sure and it is not being offered to [agency name redacted]."

 

So, question for those more knowledgeable.  Is this an indirect way of saying that her agency does not participate in OCAPP?  Or are OCAPP benefits offered to some OCAPP participant agencies and not others (so that on a different cruise in the future, it is possible that we might get such benefits).  This cruise is past final payment and has been booked for a long time.  So there is no possibility to change TA.

 

Tom & Judy

 

Tom & Judy,

We are on the 11/3 Panama Canal on Vista in a category A1. Our copy of the Oceania invoice shows - US$256 Travel Leaders OCAPP Pre-Paid Gratuities (Guests 1 VIS231103 * for each of us a total of $512.

We use two different TAs, both of whom have given us OCAPP gratuities in the past on some (not all) O bookings. Both are with large on line agencies. One of the agents shows up on the Virtuoso search, but the one we are booked with on this cruise, does not. Both TAs also provide us additional incentives on all bookings.

HTH

Thanks for the responses. So then, no way for me to check online myself before making a booking. Understand that I can call my TA or maybe Seabourn but I was looking to check on my own prior to booking when comparing options with other cruise lines. Apparently that is not possible.

We are exploring the possibility of booking on Seabourn. Is there any way to check Flight Ease pricing for flights prior to booking and having a booking number?

I have tried the booking process but have not come across a flight option prior to making a deposit.

Have also tried going directly to Flight Ease web page but when I sign in using a Seabourn ID, it says (correctly) that I have no bookings.

Thanks

2 hours ago, grifdoglover said:

@Woofaactually you are only allowed to bring six bottles and it is supposed to be wine.  If you drink outside your cabin there is a $25. Corkage fee.  If you bring alcohol from ports the cruise is supposed to hold it for you.  Yes people go around these policies but it’s good to know the real deal which is in the contract.

24 minutes ago, Susagoode1 said:

That is so interesting. On other cruises, HAL and Celebrity, we could bring aboard the wine but any alcohol purchased in port they would keep till debarkation. 
Thank you all. 

I believe that there is some confusion here. O does not have the same policies as the mainstream lines with respect to alcohol brought onboard. Unless something has changed, that is still the case For the sake of those without O experience:

• O has always allowed passengers to bring spirits onboard to be consumed in cabin only with no fee or quantity restriction other than where consumed. We have done so as recently as February. It is not a violation of policy or T&Cs.

• The T&Cs do place a limit on wine brought onboard but it has never been reported here that any limit was enforced. Some of the regulars here will frequently board with wine by the case on longer voyages without any questions.
• O also permits wine or spirits or beer to be brought onboard from ports of call.
• It is not held by the cruise line.
• There is a corkage fee for wine brought onboard and consumed outside the cabin. We have sometimes had this fee waived at the discretion of the sommelier. YMMV

We are also on the Nov 3 Vista Panama Canal cruise. We plan to pick up a few bottles of wine and a bottle of spirits in San Pedro the night before we sail. Then maybe a few more bottles of wine in San Diego or other ports.

1 hour ago, Jancruz said:

On the webinar there was no cruise only and Im not sure you called the right person to confirm..as far as I know AT THIS TIME Excursion only money and wine and beer with lunch and dinner is an absolute must..

Jancruz1

Hate to hear this, as it is bad news for those who do not wish to pay for the wine and beer and shore excursions that they don't want.

IMHO, it appears to be a calculated business decision:

• The cruise lines are all in a big financial bind with the debt accumulated during the shut down
• Many different cruise execs have commented over the years that much of the cruise line profits are derived from the add on spending that occurs
• O changing to a compulsory fare that includes selected add ons will be, in theory, more profitable - especially since they know that some people will not use the drinks or excursions that are going to be embedded in the new fare structure
• If the ships continue to sail mostly full, then it is a good business decision. However, if O experiences what happened at Celebrity, then maybe not. One has to believe that they have considered this.

From a consumer perspective we think it is a pretty significant negative. It is being positioned as a classic case of win/lose despite the marketing speak of simplification. Could have been a win/win if they had simply eliminated the O Life marketing and adopted a basic fare with a list of options each priced separately or packaged at a discount. But, if the current reports are true that will not be the case.

Cruisingexpert:

Thanks for the review and impressions . Good to hear some 1st hand experience.

With respect to - "For those people booked in an extended Concierge veranda, they are not allowing you to have a lounger- I know 2 cabins that asked and were refused.  It may be that they don't have enough loungers- just a guess."

Did your 7124/7127 have 2 lounge chairs on the veranda similar to the arrangement on Riviera?

Ed,

It is confusing and the line between marketing hype and deliberately misleading is for each of us to determine for ourselves. My personal opinion is that the language used is intended to sell what really are add ons. Or maybe, just to create the illusion of added value at no extra cost - "free". I think it is compounded by the fact that many of us have experienced the pricing model of other cruise lines which is what we are used to - and that is not what O does. 

Some good info shared here. Once you take the time to understand, it is easy enough to calculate the various options. Once onboard, most are happy with the cruise experience. Hope that you enjoy it.

Well... this is all subjective and some of the comments here reflect that.

We have no experience on HAL.

We spent 10 days on Sky Princess (one of several sailings we have done on that class of ship) in December and we are pretty much done with Princess. It was that bad.

We just returned from a 15 day TA on Celebrity Apex (maybe our 15th Celebrity cruise) and it was better food and service than Sky Princess but overcrowded in all of the public spaces. We are probably Celebrity refugees at this point. We would be remiss if we did not mention that the Eden restaurant is the best food that we have ever had at sea - even better than the specialties on O which we generally think are great.

In early February we spent 10 days on Riviera (our 3rd cruise on her). We thought hat the service was outstanding with the exception of Polo which was, IMO, very poorly managed. We thought that the food in the rest of the venues was OK to excellent, if not quite up to prepandemic standards, and far better than Sky Princess and somewhat better than Apex. 

If you take a look at the archives of this board, you will find many comparisons of O vs Celebrity and some of O vs Princess. It seems to us that the broad consensus is that Food and service on O is better, that activities and entertainment are better on the mainstream lines and that O is much more laid back and less crowded. That is our take anyway, and our recent experience.

If my assessment is accurate, some people will prefer O and some Princess, HAL or Celebrity.

Time to read those tea leaves and decide.

Thread has been sidetracked.

Captain's video explaining the plan to deal with the storm is outstanding. On our previous TAs when facing stormy weather we would hear something like "don't worry, we know what we are doing and the ship can handle it." 

He walked past us in OVC yesterday at noon and with a big smile on his face said "So far, so good".

Cautionary note. We are in an SV on this TA and the lounge chairs have been removed from the balconies even the corner AQ suite next to us. Reason given is "safety". Not sure if this is specific to Apex or not. Ability to negotiate an exception is questionable.

11 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

It really depends on the ambient velocity and direction of the winds.    We have had some really windy days at 25 Knots and defiantly feel it anywhere outside.    Today when I first got up it was a bit windy but after sunrise was really still.     After dropping anchor it was so still it got quite hot out walking.   I had to move to walking the hallways for 1/2 of my walk.

Thanks, I plan to be out there before dawn on Sunday AM.🤞

Is the walking track on Apex very windy when the ship is moving?

On 4/14/2023 at 3:59 AM, JoePDX said:

Other cruise lines have not sent luggage tags for years and expect you to print them at home.   I never thought this would hold up, so I bought these as we sail Celebrity too.   They are strong and reusable.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Cruise-Luggage-Caribbean-Celebrity-Essentials/dp/B09Q94FLCC/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=cruise+luggage+tags&qid=1681458346&sr=8-5

 

For our cruise on Riviera in Sept/Oct 2022 the Blue Book never arrived and thus no luggage tags, so I made up a template for Oceania Luggage tags.   I print two per piece of luggage, cut them out and tape them to a thin piece of cardboard.  This makes it much easier to get them in and out of the sleeve.  I have attached the template below.

 

On that Riviera trip, getting tags at the pier would have been a nightmare as the whole embarkation process was just that.   The guy accepting luggage said they were the best tags he had ever seen.  😀

 

I used them on our recent Sirena cruise too, along with the ones that Oceania sent.

 

Joe

Oceania Homemade Luggage Tags Template.docx 20.44 kB · 83 downloads

Joe,

Thanks very much for the template. Much appreciated.

Your positive vibes throughout are commendable. Seems like you missed the highly contagious "Me First" syndrome which is becoming more and more pervasive these days. Kudos for an outstanding review and an excellent demeanor.

Once you go aft, you always go back.

We are card carrying baby boomers. Sounds promising to us.

Very nice review. It was much appreciated.

Very nicely done. Thanks for the time and effort that it takes.