ak1004

We started traveling with carry on only. One less thing to worry about.. Highly recommended.

We are on the same cruise and got it too. I guess not all changes are necessarily negative.

Well, for a cruise in September that leaves from Montreal, snowstorms are not really likely. The reason I'm asking is that we cannot take longer cruises because my wife has a elderly father and she cannot leave him for too long. I convinced her to take this cruise in September which is longer than we usually take, because we will be flying the same day. And we have been in Montreal several times. But now I'm starting to have serious doubts, and I need a case to convince her that it's too much risk..

You are absolutely right, it's not different. I mentioned "cruisers from Europe" just because this specific cruise leaves from Barcelona, this would be the most relevant experience. For years we used to fly from Toronto to Miami the same day. Leaving around 8am, arriving at 11am.. I mean, what could go wrong? Especially in December.. maybe some "unexpected" snow storm for starters? For years we were lucky. Always made it on time. If you don't know the risk, you don't worry, right? We don't do it anymore. Always a day before. But this makes me re consider flights for another cruise we have that leaves from Montreal next September. It's only an hour flight, domestic, and there are flights every hour. Probably similar to NY to Washington, or LA to San Francisco. What can go wrong? I take a 10am flight, worst case they rebook me for 11am, or 12am, or 1pm etc.

Wow! 6 months in advance? I'm wondering what happens to cruises that embark or disembark in Istanbul? Are they being changed too? This could be a real mess if you booked your flights independently.

Yes, this is an option, but not ideal, since we would have to book 2 hotels etc. But I'm wondering about cruisers from Europe - do they fly the day prior? Say someone from UK or Spain who has a cruise that starts in Greece or Italy. Those are 2-3 hour flights, not TA, how likely are they to be late?

We have a cruise from Barcelona next November. We are considering flying early and spending few days in Warsaw. The flight from Warsaw to Barcelona on the embarkation day leaves at 9:20am and arrives to Barcelona at 12:35. I believe this leaves us more than enough time to arrive to the port, even if the flight is delayed for couple hours? My concern is what happens if the flight is delayed for 4-5 hours or cancelled? Will O allow us to board the ship the next day in Alicante? Not ideal of course, but as a backup plan?

Agree with you 100% about activities. We would never do TA on Oceania, and probably not Caribbean as well. Our cruise on Crystal in 2019 Caldera to San Diego was fabulous in terms of entertainment and activities, and we both agreed that it's a different league and Crystal is the line to go for the Caribbean. In fact, we booked 3 more cruises on Crystal before Covid because we found a lot of value, considering what we get. But since we found food and service on C comparable to O, and on port intensive cruises entertainment and activities are less important, we just don't find value in C at the current prices.

I looked at Windstar. The ships look nice, good itineraries, but the prices are comparable to O, and they don't include WiFi, drinks or excursions. Even if you like private tours, the O credit can still be used to book OE tours and save some money. So if the price is the main factor to look for another line, not sure if Windstar is really a solution.

D2D = Door to Door. Includes flights in economy with option to upgrade to business, plus all transfers. P2P = Port to Port. No flights or transfers, but significantly cheaper, with 15% non refundable deposit. P2P can be a great value if you don't mind to provide a non refundable deposit (ours is insured automatically by our credit card cancellation policy). Their pricing is a lot more complicated than O actually, but we take some time to learn the pricing of every cruise line and make the best of it.

Even considering we don't drink and prefer private tours over ship excursions, we are booked on two SS cruises for the next 12 months. Why? Because the combination of the itinerary, the price and the overall value made sense. And we are also booked on SB for the exactly the same reason. We will continue going on case by case basis. Never say never. When someone says "this was my last one", my first question would be - what's your alternative?

What really matters is not what’s included or not, but the overall value. All premium lines include now drinks, and some include excursions. We checked all premium and luxury companies for 2025, and O still provides the best value to us. A small correction - excursions are not included only credit. So with say $400 credit, you can take two small group excursions from O that are supposed to be pretty good, and still book the rest with private operators. And taking air credit is always a good option, this is what we always do. Nothing changed here.

I’m sure 99% of the world population would be very happy to be in a prison like this. But some people are never happy. Just remember how fortunate we are to be able to cruise on those wonderful ships.

But blaming the cruise line for trying to screw you is easier, isn't it? Everyone seems to know better than the captain about weather, terror, political risks etc.

They are but they also have river cruises. You can do a combination of river cruise and land tour. We did land tours with them twice. Not luxury, but very decent. Good guides, decent hotels etc.

Well, I cannot speak for all lines, but here is my experience with couple recent bookings. I asked SB for the extra 5% club discount. Their response was: "you currently have a promotion of 15 percent off and is not combinable with the club discount of 5 percent". SS provides 5% on board discount, but only if you book D2D, not P2P. Furthermore, to get your nights counted towards status, you have to book D2D. If you book P2P, it's like you never took that cruise for the status purpose. Furthermore, some D2D sailings don't include flights (so why you even call them D2D?) Every line has its own nuances and "shticks". No line is truly transparent in its pricing.

I believe all lines do it. There are published rates, and some partners can give you some discounts or rebates. really depends on your TA.

I don't see different prices for the same cabin on the website. They have SM with air or SM without air. That's it. Every line has loyalty perks or other perks, but they are not on the website. For years people called oLife pricing opaque. Now they simplified the pricing with only 2 options, but people still call it opaque.. Unreal.

By put them all in at once you mean the same day? Same session?

If everyone has access, why the have locks?

Yes, minority, but there will be 4 of them by 2025. Plenty of choices. Everything is Self-imposed limitations. Not to sail on big ship is a Self-imposed limitation. Not willing to pay more than xxx is a Self-imposed limitation. So I'm not sure what's your point. The opposite is true as well - some people would sail only on Crystal even if it means 2 ships only, both over 25 years old, with tiny cabins and overpriced by at least 40%. Self-imposed limitation.

Maybe, I have no idea really what they meant because they just disappeared after posting.. I can comment about 2025 prices because we just booked 2 cruises on Vista for 2025. Before SM typical price for B5 for around $500 CAD per night. We booked 2 cruises on Vista one at $450 and one at $490 per night (first one was a bit off season, end of October, but the second one in June). So some of the prices are actually very similar to prices before SM, but include now drinks and excursion credit.

I see the same. I have no idea where OP sees those prices. Maybe they meant the price to two people? But even this is higher than what I see on the website. btw, we did a similar cruise in Sep.2022 and paid $4,349 CAD for PH3. The 2024 cruise is $4,899 CAD in PH3, so $450 CAD increase, but now it includes SM. Got to love those ridiculous topic titles that have nothing common with reality!

I agree. But Azamara has older ships and tiny cabins and showers, one of the reasons we prefer O newer ships. Explora is way to expensive, cannot justify their prices. Same for Crystal and Regent. SS and SB has some occasional good priced sailings, 10-15% higher than O. For people like us who tried 12 different lines and won't go back to large ships, but also won't pay more than $400-450 USD per night, the options are limited. Have yet to try Windstar.

Well, again, in my case, I don't know the whole picture and don't have the full information. Maybe the decision wasn't final in April? Maybe they tried to negotiate some kind of solution? A lot of pieces of the puzzle are missing. And the fact is that at least one more cruise line (Azamara) did the same, I think Regent did the same not sure. So if people think that O is screwing them, at least O is not alone, all lines do it. So to me, there are two options: 1. Stop sailing on the line that you think is screwing you (but then you probably should stop cruising at all because they all do the same). 2. Accept the fact that there are things that you don't know and give them the benefit of the doubt. Exactly. Getting a refund or be able to switch cruises is a form of compensation I would say?