grmmybtty

Does anyone know if there is a shutte in San Sebastian, Spain (Not San Sebastian de Gomera) to the old town? It is a tender port and it looks to be quite far to old town.

The concierge and veranda cabins are exactly alike. The difference is in the location on the ship (higher floor or more central location). The difference there is the Concierge Lounge which offers a dedicated concierge, coffee and snacks (which you can also get by going up to Horizons) and newspapers. You also have access to a special area in the spa. You also may make more specialty restaurant reservations. In addition to those benefits, the penthouse cabins are larger and recently renovated and you have a butler.
 

It all depends on the amount of amenities you want. No matter which cabin category you booked, you are treated respectfully like everyone else. The ship is never crowded. Lines are never long. The passengers are mostly well traveled and friendly. You can have afternoon tea everyday accompanied with a string quartet. 
 

whatever category room you choose, you will have a great experience.

On 5/27/2024 at 6:34 AM, Redtravel said:

On Marina now. I am disappointed that our cabin hasn’t been updated.  Still have the tub and small shower. However, the ship is still good.  Having a great time. 

Do they have any USB ports next to the bed? And are there European sockets in the same area? We'll be on the Marina at the end of July and want to plan what kind of plug adaptors to bring.

15 hours ago, PhD-iva said:

Methinks O should treat good customers like you better than you have been!

Thank you. I think that's a reason they allowed us to split the 25 day Copenhagen to Reyjkavik cruise into two segments. We had originally booked the longer voyage as one of our free cruises. Later our TA informed us that we could split it into 2 segments so that we could have the second (15 day) segment as our free cruise and get the SM benefits on the first segment, plus the Oceania Club amenities twice. Litle gesture, but much appreciated.

1 hour ago, ORV said:

SM started less than a year ago. Were you on a ATW cruise? I'd love to know the details of how you can go on two free cruises in less than 10 months. 

We were on the 2022 ATW when we hit number 40, so our free cruise would have been the next cruise. It should have been on the Vista maiden cruise. When that was delayed, we changed the booking to a Riviera Med Cruise. Oceania and our TA were aware of that, but somehow we were billed and paid for the cruise. Oceania would not refund or give us credit, but said that our next cruise would count. It was a 77 day Grand Voyage and we refused to take that as our free cruise and lose the OLife excursions and the 7 cruise credits. We booked a 15day Singapore to Bangko cruise as our 40th and the second segment of our upcoming Copenhagen to Tromso to Reykjavik cruise later this month will be our 60th. That’s how we got 2 free cruises in 2024!

Another option is to take the Norway in a Nutshell tour offered by Flam. You can make it a land trip and tour the various fjords that way. We have booked cruises in 2024 and 2025 visiting various parts of Norway, including Svalsbard just because of the upcoming ban. 

We've taken 2 free cruises under SM. No SM excursion credit. No airfare. We still get all the Oceania Club level benefits. I don't know about the free wine/beer during meals since we get included Prestige Package with our Oceania Club level.

1 hour ago, Stockjock said:

Just went through the entire by the glass list.  Mostly pretty average stuff.  Some below average.  A few slightly above average.

Simply More only offers the wines on the menu during meals. If you had no package the wine usually sells for $15-20 a glass with gratuities included, most of the wines offered in the SM package do not sell for more than that per bottle on shore. 

Before Simply More, we always took the cruise only option and brought wine onboard with us and paid the $25 corkage fee. We usually didn't finish the bottle and Oceania would store it for us until we needed it again. We also went to the 5pm-6pm Happy Hour for cocktails or wine and would often bring the second of the 2 for 1 glasses of wine to dinner. 

On 6/22/2024 at 12:48 PM, gaeltrav said:

That is because nobody actually gets to land. The catamaran pulls up to the ship to load passengers and then takes them  on a scenic cruise in the lagoon and past the glacier(s) and then directly back to the ship. There is no landing area.

That is exactly what we did on an Insignia cruise a few years ago. It's a sea day or an expensive OS tour.

Just a word of warning for those who visit ports that have very limited tourist infrastructure or want one of the expensive culinary excursions that excursions will book up very fast. An excursion I was looking at for the port of Cork filled up within a week of excursions opening. 

We took the Laguna San Rafael excursion. It was a beautiful sunny day cruise to a stunning glacier. Lots of small icebergs. Comfortable ship.

On 1/12/2024 at 12:26 PM, CountessP said:

Does anyone know anything about the venue?  I  hear it's a great show but I also hear that unless you are in the 1st few rows, it's hard to see.

I am under 5 ft tall.  I cannot compete with the average European/American with regard to height. I don't want to pay $150 for a ticket and then not be able to see the show.  Hoping someone has info.  Thanks!

I am under 5ft tall too. I couldn’t see a thing from my seat so got up and stood in the back in the aisle and got a decent view. Of course it meant standing up for most of the show.

We have disembarked off an Oceania cruise the day before the official disembarkation. You will have to handle your luggage yourself. You may be able to have an Oceania crew member help you, but you will have to wait until that person is available. Let’s say you were fortunate to get off the ship before 9am, will you have a car waiting for your or do you plan to take the train? Making an 11am tour will be difficult either way. Dr Hemlock’s suggestion of just taking the tour and then returning to the ship for the night sounds more workable, the airport is closer to Civitavecchia than Rome,

45 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

Would magnets stick to the walls on Insignia or just the ceiling?

No, magnets only stick to the front and bathroom doors and ceiling.

5 hours ago, Daniel A said:

We have used this:

 

Amazon.com: MAX Houser 6 Tier Shelf Hanging Closet Organizer, Closet Hanging Shelf with 2 Sturdy Hooks for Storage, Foldable (Grey) : Home & Kitchen

 

We attach the hooks to two very strong magnetic hooks stuck to the ceiling.  It will fold up and fit inside your luggage.

 

We used the same thing for the ATW on Insignia where storage for 6 months was a premium. We also used heavy duty magnets to hold our jackets on hangers from the ceiling over the back of the couch.

1 hour ago, Waltershipman said:

You will be happy thanks

1 hour ago, Waltershipman said:

You will be happy thanks

We’ve been to Chinois both in Venice and Beverly Hills. Both are great.

I spoke with chef Mario once during a cruise and asked him why the international foods being served was so bland and lacking in the traditional tastes and spices. He replied that it was in response to meet the majority of the passengers’ preferences and that we can add additional spices to taste. I told him that I cook and I know that many spices need to be added in the cooking process, not afterwards and that I was referring to taste, not level of heat aka spiciness. Perhaps we need to note in our comments for the need for more authentic tasting food, i.e. Indian food that tastes like Indian food, but maybe not as hot/spicy, or Mexican food that doesn’t taste like Taco Bell or Asian food from Panda Express. Just a thought.

1 hour ago, Hambagahle said:

They might not have known.  In Italy most strikes are announced ahead of time - but far from all.  And even when there are strikes - some trains run.  If you are willing to show up and go with whatever is running.  Fine.  Problem is coming back to a ship and discovering the train you planned to take from Termini is not running...   Taxis are expensive and take a little longer  - from Termini - than a train...

We were in Rome Termini waiting for the train to take us to Trieste for our cruise, the agents were not aware of an impending strike until an hour before the strike was called. We struggled to find another way from Rome to Trieste. We ended up renting a car and making the long drive through Italy.

2 hours ago, koolforkatz said:

We are also on this cruise and yes, Founders bar drinks are included in prestige package. We are a group of six and between us have tried most of them 😁

Thank you. I’m looking forward to trying the new offerings too.

Does anyone know if the drinks in the Founders Bar are included with the Prestige drink package?

Just now, Junk man said:

 

Thanks for your reply. I am wondering if you noticed other cruise guests taking the same bus as yours. How full was your bus? I am trying to find a reliable transfer service avoiding expensive service from the cruise company.

I'm sorry that I cannot answer your question as we have not taken our cruise yet. We were in Reykjavic in 2019 and there were at least 3 ships in port. We were on a London-London cruise and did not disembark then, but took that into consideration when I booked the transfers. At €68 for two of us, the cost is only a small fraction of what the cruise ship is charging.

On 2/11/2024 at 11:34 AM, Junk man said:

 

Thanks for your reply.

 

I know Flybus transfer between BSI terminal and KEF airport. My specific question is about picking up from the cruise terminal.

 

Did you take this transfer before? Does it always require advanced booking or the route from the cruise terminal to KEF is a regular scheduled service?

I pre-booked the Flybus transfer from Skarfabakki to BSI To KEF for our cruise this summer for a  630am pickup for our 1030am flight. I didn't want to chance the bus being fulland missing our flight.

Thanks. I didn’t see it on those amenities on the top of each cruise offering one the itinerary and price page. Glad they didn’t cut those amenities out. I expected it to be more expensive since it was on Vista instead of Insignia.

No mention of free laundry, free luggage pickup and delivery, no free medical. All benefits from the previous world cruises and at a mark up.

If the ship arrives in port before 7am and if it is cleared for disembarkment anf you personally carry off your own luggage without crew help, and if your pre-arranged ride is there, you may make an 11am flight. it may work out, but there are a lot of ifs.

i think so too.