grmmybtty

We took the tour that went to the Samurai houses while on Oceania. Didn’t think much of the tour. It was a long drive, we saw a few unimpressive gardens, the samurai houses were ingenious it how the shoji doors folded up to open entirely to the outside. If enough time to see Sakurajima the next time we visit Kagoshima, we’ll do that instead.

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I'm concluding then that when the happy day arrives for us to plan our 20th cruise, we should do it as a stand-alone sailing and not part of a back-to-back. Is that right?

No problem with taking it as a B2B. It was sold as a grand voyage, but our TA got Oceania to give it to us as 2 separate cruises. We got Platinum amenities for both legs since Oceania does include them with the free cruise now.

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Another platinum cruiser who didn't get any credit for the paid part of the longer than 14 day cruise.

That is the reason why we decided to pay for the longer cruise and take the shorter 14 day cruise as our free one.

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grmmybtty,

 

 

 

"Oceania took our deposit with the understanding that it would only be “free” if we completed the other cruises"

 

 

 

How long after your 19th cruise was your 20th?

Our last cruise was 35 days and counted as 18, 19, and 20. It ended in May 2018. Our next cruise started at the end of July and since we paid for it was counted as 21. Our free cruise was the 2nd leg of the B2B.

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About 2 years ago our TA helped us book a 20 day London-London via Iceland and Greenland on the Nautica as our free cruise just after completing our 15th cruise. We had 16-20th booked already. Oceania took our deposit with the understanding that it would only be “free” if we completed the other cruises. We would get 14 days free and the remaining 6 would be prorated. We would get the Platinum amenities but not OLife, even for the remaining 6 paid days. We later booked the following cruise to the Baltic as a B2B, paid for the full 20 days and got Oceania to give us the 14 day cruise as our free one. We got OLife with the 20 day cruise and Platinum amenities for both cruises. Even with the changes we made, it worked out very easily. A good TA is important since we ran across another couple who really had to struggle to get their free cruise since their TA was a friend of her sister who did not do many Oceania bookings.

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We were on the Insignia last year and docked about an hour from town. No shuttle, but plenty of taxis. Oceania also offers “Yangon on your own” which is bus transportation into town, 3-4 hours I. Town, then return to port.

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Granted the crowds will be smaller during the fall, but we've also found that the waves are generally larger after September. In tender ports such as Portofino, getting on and off of the ship may be more taxing.

 

 

 

Those who are in any way mobility challenged will want to give sailing so late in the season serious consideration. There is a reason why the fares are lower during the shoulder seasons.

We sailed on the Marina mid October to early November about 3 years ago and had a combination of a few good sunny days and several days of pouring rain. We were unable to tender in Sorrento and after a couple of hours, docked in Naples. Seas were rougher during the rainy days. Good thing was few tourists in Venice, which was great.

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We had a similar incident with Solo Expeditions as baskeytravels, except we were given no prior warning. We were a group of 8 who had booked the Madeleine Islands Penguin tour. We arrived at the office where we were asked to wait for clearance of the vessel. We wait, and waited, and waited. After 3 hours, we were told that the sea was too rough, so our excursion was cancelled. When we checked later with other passengers who took a similar excursion with another vendor, we found out that the water was calm and they had a good day. We wondered if they were waiting for more people, but when no one else showed up, decided it wasn’t worth their time and were not honest enough to tell us.

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We took a private tour to Península Valdez while in Puerto Madryn. When we arrived at one of the penguin viewing sites, there was a car full of tourists with a flat tire. Fortunately some of the drivers from the same company that we used were helping them change the tire. Considering the fact that most sights from the port are 2 to 3 hours away, we were really glad we were with a tour group. Having GPS and maps are good, but there are chances of vehicle breakdowns and flat tires to consider, especially on a lonely road.

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wish to join a private tour group to see the giants causeway and titanic museum. Would like to share with one to two couples. Anyone have availability?

You would find better results if you find the roll call for your specific ship and cruise and post there.

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E is the smallest, on 6, has a large rectangular window, view is partially obstructed by the lifeboats. D is on 3, with a large round porthole. C1, has a large rectangular window and is on 4 midship. C2 is identical to C1 except that they are located on the forward or back end of the ship.

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Just wanted to pass some information on to you, just in case. We had a tour of the Amalfi Coast scheduled for our stop in Sorrento a couple of years ago. The water was too rough to allow tendering. The Marina was diverted to Naples, with us arriving at 10. The concierge was able to reach the tour operator on his phone and made arrangements for them to meet us in Naples instead.

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Interesting comments.

What are the poor hygiene practices among Oceania PAXs that you have observed? How can Oceania PAXs with good hygience practices protect themselves from those with poor hygiene practices?

Would you call these kind of PAXs out if you observed poor hygience practices ?

I have observed women walked straight out of the bathroom without washing their hands. Unfortunately I have lacked the courage to call them out.

You can protect yourself by good hand washing, using the provided tissues to open the door, using the provided hand sanitizer before eating. I also wash my hands after touching the handrails or touching any public services after I get back to the room or begin any project.

On shore I use the hand sanitizers provided by Oceania and take my bottled water with me. We are not afraid to eat local food. We have eaten street food on many occasions in Mexico, Asia and Southeast Asia, but only food immediately cooked for us. We ate pho on a corner in Saigon while sitting in kid sized plastic chairs, satay cooked on a hibachi on the street in Indonesia, sardines freshly grilled in Turkey and Lisbon. We’ve had delicious meals in Manila, Bangkok, Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Costa Rica and many other cities in hole in the walls recommended by local guides or visitors. We have been fortunate not to have become ill with GI distress. I have also eaten at meals provided by Whole Foods in California which made me very sick for a day. So third world does not necessarily mean unsafe for eating.

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We have been on several cruises on various Oceania ships in which cases of “gastrointestinal distress” better known as gastroenteritis, have been declared, usually after ports of call known for questionable food handling practices. These cases often occur after Indian ports and land trips to the Taj Mahal, stops in Lima, China, Malaysia, Philippines and some Central American countries. It may seem that Oceania has a high occurrence of these incidents, but we cruise Oceania for these more exotic ports. These are not cases of Noro, but of people eating or drinking contaminated water or food ashore. Oceania puts out warnings at each suspect port to not drink water if not from a sealed bottle, eat only hot, cooked foods, avoid ice, etc.

Noro occurs when sick people board the ship and pass the virus along to other passengers. It usually occurs in the winter in Caribbean ports or in first world countries. It is a sign of poor hygiene among passengers, not a poorly maintained ship.

As globetrotter said above, Oceania clamps down on ways the illness is transmitted, using the same hygiene practices until no new cases occur. It may very inconvenient for us as passengers, but much harder for the crew.

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We have been in 7008 on the Marina during a transatlantic. We did not notice a lot of salt spray, but there is significant blowing and rattling on the forward dividers when the ship is sailing against the wind.

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We are currently in an A1 concierge cabin on the Insignia, upgraded from B3 veranda. We did get to add 2 more specialty restaurant reservations, but found that once onboard, we were able to add more reservations by going up to the podium in the front of the Terrace any morning we wanted to eat in the specialties. The cabin is located on the 7th floor instead of 6. There is no concierge lounge. We get a blue Oceania tote bag and the use of 2 pashmina shawls if we get cold. Laundry is press and fold, maximum of 20 per bag, so we still use the laundry room for socks and delicates. If we had to pay for it, I would not think it was worth an extra $1000 or more.

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We are booked on an Oceania cruise to Cuba in Nov 2018 and choose the O Life fare because we wanted to use it for our Shore excursions.HOWEVER when Iwent to Shore excursions I found that the OS (Oceania Select excursions are not included in the perk package.

 

 

 

 

 

Since we don’t need air fare and don’t drink a lot I am thinking we would revert back to regular fare. Any advice?

 

 

 

 

 

I think it’s important to know that the OLife fare does not include many of the Shore excursions.

If you are not interested in the lunch/dinner drink option, you can also choose the OBC option and buy the OS tour you want. That is what we are doing for our future Cuba cruise.

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Duplicate post. Question answered already

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When we were on the Marina 2 years ago, I could not find any excursions out of the port of Verdun. Private tours were expensive and far between, so we chose to take the ship’s excursion into Bordeaux with stops in the Medoc region. The Marina did not continue up the river to Bordeaux. There was talk of work to widen and depend the river to allow larger cruise ships up the river so that in the future, the Marina would be able to sail into Bordeaux, but I don’t know if that has been done yet.

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We could only find business on the 12th too. Didn’t have to think twice about it. That red-eye is a killer. Hopefully in the lie flat seats, we can get a few hours of sleep. Then taking the rest of the flight home in coach will be easier. Oceania will most probably use United, American or Delta for their flights from So. America. Same coach seats as in domestic.

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Oceania air would be for economy seats. I do not believe that any of the airlines that fly the South America to US route offer premium economy. The US airlines that fly out of GIG all leave at night and arrive in the early am at either MIA, JFK, ATL or IAH, then you would have to take another plane home. If you pay the extra $2999 to upgrade to business class, it would only be the GIG to possibly MIA, then economy for the rest of the way. Most of the airlines are charging around $4800 for one way business class from GIG to LAX. Only Avianca had a lower price, somewhere around $1299. Their flights leave in the morning and arrive in the US in the evening. We chose to use miles for business class tickets from GIG to ATL, then are flying economy to LAX.

Hi Denise,

We are on the same cruise and our booklet with the luggage tags arrived over 2 weeks ago. If you haven’t done it yet, contact your TA. The TA should be able to get Oceania to Fedex your documents to you. A few cruises ago, our documents got lost in the mail and this is how we finally received the.

You can shower in the spa area. Towels, shampoo, conditioner and robes are provided.

Your room steward will give you new shampoo and conditioner when it runs low, if not just ask.

You should plan to bring your own sea sick meds. The ship may have them but not for your whole cruise, and I know that the gift shop has them.

I don’t think you can order off the specialty or even MDR menus for room service in the lower than penthouse categories. I believe that there is a special room service menu, but the room is so small, why bother.

Have fun, don’t worry about RTW vs. newbies.

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We may be on the same cruise. Nautica 7/30-9/2? I believe that you will get a new card on the last day of the first segment. You will be able to walk off the ship as soon as it is cleared. There are not any tour providers at the port, so as another poster stated, you should make prior arrangements for whatever tour you may want to take. The ship usually provides a special lunch for continuing cruisers, but we will probably not take advantage of that. We have not made any plans for our day in Southampton yet. If it is a nice day, we may take the train to Stonehenge.

When we docked at Porto on the Marina, we were able to walk off the ship within minutes of docking. Since it is not a tender port, there is no preference for ship’s tours. In fact, those on tours are usually waiting in the lounge for their tour tickets when those of us on our own walked off the ship. If the ship docks on time and you take a taxi, you would easily make the 10am tour meeting time.

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I was very surprised when I received a FaceTime call from our grand daughter when we were on the Riviera on a Med cruise. Didn’t realize that it would work, but I was logged into the ship WiFi then.

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