grmmybtty

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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Take a Lyft or Uber. Taxis in LA are double the cost. We’ve used both to get to and from the Port of LA from our house. Very easy. Get the app and create an account before you leave home.

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Thank you Cynthia. I agree with you about the happy hour.

We also have talked with our TA and given her our preferences for booking. I didn't see the sense of doubling back to San Francisco, California coast and Mexico from Miami, so we will be starting in San Francisco for 162 days. So exciting!

Hi Cynthia,

I enjoyed following your blog on the 2016 RTW and wanted to re-read it again since we are also thinking of signing up for the SF-SF segment. I cannot find the link to it, would you mind posting it again. Thank you.

We were on the Singapore to Rome segment of the RTW last year and will be on the Beijing to Sydney segment this year. The RTW cruisers had special events and were invited more often to dine with senior staff, but it did not affect our enjoyment of the cruise. We also had opportunities to dine with staff and have good interactions with the worldies. They were a tighter knit group, but many were very friendly and welcoming. If we had felt discriminated against, we would not have booked our upcoming cruise.

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We booked an oceanview (had a stateroom number) on the Marina a while back and were given a free upgrade to B3 veranda with an extended balcony towards the front of the ship. We were quite happy with the upgrade, but would have been just as happy in the original room. We always book a room category which in we would like to stay but are also happy for an occasional upgrade or upsell at what we would consider a good price.

If you intend to get off the ship and tour on your own, you will need to get a tourist visa. If you sign up with many of the well known your providers (Alla, TJ Tours, SPB),they will take care of all the visa details. You do not need to sign up for the ship’s tours.

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You place yourself on the Miami waitlist, put in the deposit, and you should be able to move ahead on the list ahead those who have not placed any deposit. Still keep yourself on the waitlist for the New York departure and even if you get on the cruise, wait for the Miami departure, then cancel the New York one. You can then move the deposit (if you paid one) on to the Miami cruise.

If you have a credit card that reward you with airline points or cash back, without an international transaction charge, by all means use it. We are using TJ Travels for our 3 days in St. Petersburg and by using our Chase Sapphire Reserve will earn at least 700 points we would have lost by paying cash.

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They’re not on CC or the roll call. They are George and Shirley from Thousand Oaks, CA. Nice couple. Hope you meet them onboard. Hope to meet you someday. Good luck with the train to Kyoto. I’m sure it will work out.

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We were on the Singapore to Rome on the ATW last year, so we got on as you got off. Guess we remember each other from the CC roll call. We have friends on your cruise. I think you will be in Kobe before us. We have a food tour scheduled at 10am in Kyoto and have to rush off the ship to make it into Kyoto in time. I’m hoping that we will be docking at Naka since getting to the train station will be less complicated and more predictable if we can just walk to the station. We’re planning on taking a different train than you since we need to go to Nishiki Market fo the tour.

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Like debshomespun, we have cruised multiple times and usually take private tours or DIY and have never been late back to the ship. We always plan to return at least an hour before the all aboard time. We usually can see much more for a lot less money and fewer people in the group with private tours. I usually google the ports where we will be visiting to find out things of interest to see or do, then go to tripadvisor for tour operators. This gives me an opportunity to read reviews of their service and reliability. Unlike many of the European ports, some of the cities associated with the ports are not close to the cruise terminal. If you are overnighting in port, it makes sense just to make that long drive once and stay in a hotel in the city. Public transportation is not an option for the ports you will be visiting, so you will need the services of a guide or a taxi. Most the the taxi drivers will not speak English. Most, if not all, will want payment in local money since they may not know how to convert USD into local currency or if in USD, then the rate is high. For that reason, I always contact and make arrangements to form a tour group months before the cruise. It has never been difficult to fill the group with fellow cruisers if you are active on the roll call.

Has anyone ridden the free shuttle from the Naka Pier Cruise Terminal to JR Motomachi Train Station in Kobe? How long is the wait to catch the shuttle, and how long does it take to get to the station?

Thank you.

 

Tea Snob:hot-beverage::hot-beverage::hot-beverage:

Hi Tea Snob,

We may be on the same cruise, Beijing to Sydney on Oceania Insignia? Anyway I don't think that the shuttle drops us off at the JR Motomachi Train Station. We were on the Celebrity Milennium a couple of years ago and the shuttle droped passengers off in Motomachi, directly across the street from the big shopping center. It is about a 5 minute walk to Motomachi Station and a 10 minute walk to Kobe Sannomiya Station. As Bruce stated, the shuttle leaves when it is full and it takes about 15 minutes to get to the shuttle stop. It was also quite busy at the beginning and many people had to wait for another shuttle. We were fortunate to be the last ones allowed on the first one out. I am hoping that we are docked at Naka Pier, since it is about a 15 minute walk to Hanakuma Station where we can take the train to Kyoto. This way we can exit the ship as soon as it docks and just walk to the station since we are on a tight schedule. Ship to Portliner to Kobe Station is a much longer trek.

We had the same restrictions for over a week after boarding the Marina in Callao a couple of years ago and then again on the Insignia last year after a few passengers became ill after the overland trip to the Taj. Oceania takes GI symptoms seriously and does not want to spoil their passengers cruises with rampant spread of GI disorders. It is an inconvenience, but it is for our safety. We have seen many people leave the restrooms without washing their hands and going directly to the dining rooms. We have also seen impatient cruisers reaching under the glass to get the tongs to serve themselves in the Terrace or even grab thing with their bare hands. I wash my hands religiously and am mindful of disease spreading mediums such as stair rails, elevator buttons, etc. We have never (Knock on wood) gotten sick aboard our many cruises. Oceania precautions serve to remind us how easily one can get sick on the cruise and the various means of spreading viruses and bacteria.

This is something best handled by your travel agent. Surely if you are approaching 20 you use one.

I thoroughly agree. Your TA is the most important person in this process. Our TA booked our 20th cruise the day it opened for booking. She was able to get the category we wanted (since we have been in many different categories with Oceania). This was in spite of the fact that we will not reach our 20th until our next cruise in April 2018. Of course it was with the stipulation that we take our planned cruise. Otherwise we would have to pay full price on it.

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I agree with Keith. Unlike the Caribbean or Mexico, there usually are not people selling tours at the ports in Asia.

Were booked on a ‘Grand Voyage’ in Oct/Nov, from Venice to Rome/Rome to Monte Carlo — it is also being sold as two separate cruises. My question is this: on the second leg (Rome to Monte Carlo) we will become Silver Level Club Members, which will generate more OBC as well as including gratuities. But, since these two legs are also a Grand Voyage, will we receive the Silver Level benefits? If Oceania treats this as one Grand Voyage Cruise, it would technically be #9 9 for us. But if they look at it as two legs, we hit #10 on the second. Anyone have experience with this?

I believe that the number of credits you will receive is dependent on the number of days of your grand voyage. We sailed on a grand voyage from Barcelona to Venice, which was also offered as 2 separate cruises: Barcelona to Rome and Rome to Venice. We were unable to book it as a B2B, so instead of 2 credits, we received only one since the total cruise was only 15 days. Neverthless, we reached the silver level with that cruise and received all the extra amenities at the start of the cruise.

Thank you for the information Ivi. I’m so glad you are enjoying the cruise. We’ve been on several long cruises with Oceania. We deal with the similar menus by trying new dishes and mixing up the venue by having dinner in the specialties, MDR and the Terrace.

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Thank you Ivi for your wonderful descriptions and your very positive attitude. We will be doing a similar cruise on the Sirena next year around the same time, so your posts are very valuable to me. May I ask you what company you used for your tour in Manaus? I would very much like to book a similar tour.

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We found that many men on the Papeete cruises wore Hawaiian or other loose fitting shirts, which seemed very appropriate for the climate. Others wore long sleeve dress shirts without ties. We seldom saw sport jackets. Women usually dressed as if they were going to a nicer restaurant at home. I usually bring an assortment of slightly dressy tops to go with a pair of black pants or a long black skirt.

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Almond milk is also available. Just ask one of the servers.

Wow that's a new port for us!! ;)

I blame autocorrect on that. I meant Venice.

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We usually take the OLife excursion option and supplement with private excursions. Occasionally we have used some of our OBC to purchase an OS excursion when there was no other viable choice, such as the Copper Canyon train excursion during a Mexico Riviera cruise. We find that it works out well for us. We will bring a couple of bottles of wine onboard and pay the $25 corkage fee with OBC, also take advantage of happy hour drinks. This worked better for us than the mealtime wine and beer deal on port intensive cruises where we have lunch on shore.

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I think that the OP chose the included air option. It is helpful in case of unforeseen events. On a Med cruise returning from Venus, Lufthansa went on strike. The Oceania rep made all the changes for the cruise passengers. Again on another cruise, the Regatta was 5 hours late coming into San Francisco. Those passengers with Oceania flights were rebooked on later flights, those passengers who made their own bookings had to change them and then get their travel insurance company to compensate them for the changes (if they bought travel insurance or had credit card coverage).

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We flew home on Tahiti Nui after our cruise on the Marina. Oceania had chartered an extra flight since there were so many passengers flying home that day, so we were on a 10am flight. Their economy seats are standard for the Airbus 340 at 33" pitch and 18" width (which is 1" wider than some of the seats on AA and UA). Service was friendly, better than on the legacy airlines. Seats are no harder than any of the other airline seats we have flown on. Entertainment options were poor, but I had downloaded some movies and tv shows on my ipad.