LAexNY

You should also look at Odysseys Unlimited. They have small group tours of 12-24 people. They have several in Europe. Friends took their Vietnam tour and raved about it.

Wellington is a city and there was a shuttle from the ship to downtown. Nice walkable city. I recommend the cable car up to botanical gardens.

Napier is a wonderful Art Deco town. Big earthquake in the '30s destroyed most buildings and they were re-built in the Art Deco era. More art deco buildings than any city other than L.A. They are proud of their history - lots of old cars and people in '30s costume. There was a shuttle to the town from the ship.

Hi Laraine,

We have 13 O cruises and 4 more booked. We took our first river cruise on Scenic this summer. The ship was quite nice - we had a panorama suite at the aft. However, the experience is quite different from cruising on Oceania. One major difference is the excursions. We generally do private tours and I know you do too. On Scenic, all the excursions are included. There will be up to 40 people in your group, whether there is a bus or walking. The guides were good and you do get a tablet-like device with earphones so you can hear the guide even if you are not right next to them. The device also has a GPS built in and when you are on your own [either on shore or sailing down the river], it will beep whenever you are near a sight and give you a narration. That was a nice feature. The food was good but not nearly comparable to O's food. Breakfast and lunch are buffet and everyone eats at the same time. There is a menu at those meals from which you can supplement the buffet. We found the wait staff to be not very friendly. Some of them were unable to smile and sometimes the service was begrudging. Dinner is served and there are several choices of entrees.

I'd be happy to share my experiences with you in detail.

LAexNY at ca dot rr dot com.

We will be flying from SFO in Nov. 2014 to Rio. For the return back to SFO, we will be departing Buenos Aires. I've been researching airlines and schedules and United will fly us to Houston and the to Rio; there are various flight times to choose from. However, their flights leaving Buenos Aires do not depart until around midnight. Is it possible when paying for air deviation to ask Oceania to book us on two different airlines, one outbound and a different one for the return? Many thanks.........

Yes, it is possible and we have done it.

We used O air for our Australia-New Zealand cruise. We flew United non-stop LAX-Sydney and Air N.Z. non-stop Auckland-LAX.

If you are looking at the O class ships [Marina and Riviera], Cat. C cabins are scarce - only 20 - and often are booked quickly. However, you can expect some people to cancel prior to final payment date.

 

This is what I am most interested in finding out. Can you now use your phone or ipad's wifi to send email without the internet package?

No, you cannot for free and it will cost you more than buying the package. The internet service is better and cheaper than it used to be. Still not cheap. The best deal is to buy the unlimited plan. But if you only want a few minutes here and there, you can buy minutes a la carte.

Another problem with bulk tickets is that they are often not upgradeable. I was unable to upgrade my United flights using miles plus co-pay and was unable to because they were bulk tickets.

If the Oceania air allowance/credit is, for example 800.00 for a European Cruise, how often (if ever) can O's air department NOT find a flight for $800?

 

If I am flying ATL-FCO-BCN-ATL and the air allowance/credit is 800.00, but all the flights I see (want) using itasoftware.com are 1100.00 will "O" charge me 300.00 more? Or do they have specially priced tickets/agreements with the airlines.

 

Has anyone been charged more than the allowance that is offered, and examples if so...

 

Does my question make sense????

 

Thanks

J.

No, it doesn't. The only significance of the air credit is if you decline to take O's "free air" which is included in the price of the cruise. You then get the credit and book your own air. If you take the "free air", you don't have to worry about what it costs O. And yes, they have special agreements with the airlines and buy "bulk fares." It's your choice.

We were in Kotor on the Riviera this month and we tendered.

Does any one know how far the walled in city of Kotor is from where the Oceania docks. Is it walkable? We will be there in July on the Oceania and I'm trying to make plans for independent touring. Thanks.

It's very walkable. This is a tender port and it's a very short walk from the tender to the walled city.

We were in 11024 in January and did not experience the noise problem.

Our docs for May 22 on Marina show Willie as the CD

He is also CD on Marina British Isles June 6-18.

We are leaving 6/29 on Regatta for 11 nite cruise to Alaska. The advance weather report for all ports indicates "Showers" - not "Scattered Showers." I expected rain, but this really bothers me. We've put so much thought and effort into this trip - it kinda breaks my heart. Any thoughts on how to deal with it?

Yes. Just deal with it!