roothy123

30 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

if it’s on the excursions PDF and online cart excursions choices, it’s an excursion.

Well, that's what I assumed.  But there seemed to be a little confusion over it.  

I'm curious.  I never really considered taking cooking classes before.  But with Simply More and some nice loyalty/TA credit, I might consider one. My cruise isn't until December, so the only thing listed in the "Other" section of My Reservation is something that's apparently not actually a cooking class.  It's a 2 hour session called "Floribbean: Florida Meets Caribbean."  Oceania will be sharing recipies from favorite chefs, restaurants and home kitchens of Oceania Headquarters employees.  It says to join in for cool drinks, delicious food and lots of dancing & singing.  Have you ever attended one of these?  Might be fun.

We have several excursions called "Chef Led....Cooking Class" on our cruise. It looks to be bookable, but I didn't try doing it.  But I have a question about another excursion so maybe tomorrow I'll ask Oceania about booking one of the Chef Led excursions - whether pay full price, use my SM Shorex credit or shipboard credit, get 25% off if I pre-purchase a package, etc. 

I was going to mention shuttles and on board tourism reps.  But those have been covered.  So the only thing I can suggest is that you look in the Ports of Call section of the CC boards if you're looking for more info on Antalya.  

It's been a while. But I believe our cruise line did offer excursions.  But Santos is a huge city, and a bit of a distance from where ships dock.  i remember walking out tof the port, but I forget if I actually walked or if there was a shuttle to the outside of the port.  I do remember that there were a lot of taxis lined up willing to take people wherever they wanted to go.  I don't know if they were willing to do tours or just transportation.   But it was a little intimidating to me, especially as one person allow, and without having done any research on Santos.  So I just stayed on the ship.  I'm not a big fan of large cities anyway, so it wa OK.

23 hours ago, pinotlover said:

It has been my experience that most of those wearing the lanyards are in a defined group such as a GoNext group or a F&WT group. The lanyard is there to identify you, allow entrance into group only events, and eliminate the need to make name tags for every event. 
 

It’s a rarity for an independent traveler to wear a lanyard.

Yes, they're definitely a rarity on Oceania, just like ducks.  But for people who don't carry their phone (or crossbody bag) around on the ship all the time, don't have pockets in their clothing, and go in and out of their rooms a lot, a lanyard is helpful. And Etsy has some nice ones. So I'll probably continue to use mine.

Vallesan, thanks for being available to answer questions.  I think this was partially covered above, but in case it wasn't, and you see this and can answer: 

Did you eat in Aquamar Kitchen?  I saw the pictures, and I looked at the sample menu on the website in the Ships/Marina section.  But I was curious if you ate there and what you thought.  I'm not a big healthy food fan, though I know many people ARE).  But I'm looking forward to another breakfast/lunch option, since we have more than the usual number of sea days on our next cruise.  And if there's table service there and (now) at Waves, can I order something to take to the Terrace or Waves to eat? It's hard to get my spouse away from the Terrace at lunch time. I wasn't sure how that would work with a full ship and table service. 

Thanks, and have a great rest of trip, and trip home!

Maybe they have to wait for Corporate to make an adjustment, as Oceania's stated policy is that a package cancelled after embarkation incurs a 100% cancellation fee.  

On 5/29/2024 at 8:27 AM, Vallesan said:

Coming towards the end of this cruise now.

 

Overall it has been really enjoyable. The food, in all the restaurants we have tried has been 96% ok. Picked one or two items that were not to my taste but that doesn’t make them ‘bad’. For instance last night I thought I would try the miso glazed seabass in Red Ginger, only because the waitress poo pooed the red snapper. Anyway, the fish came. It was perfectly cooked but just a little too sweet for me, which I knew from my last encounter with ‘miso glazed seabass’! I think on our next cruise I will ask for an unglazed piece of fish the day before we eat in Red Ginger!
 

We have a sea day today and whilst it’s ‘busy’ it’s not really ‘overcrowded’ anywhere. 
 

There seem to be a lot of ‘lanyards’ around peoples necks and I’m guessing, maybe wrongly, that they  might be some of the ‘new to Oceania’ cruisers as cards aren’t used on Oceania in the same way as they are on ‘mainstream’ lines.
 

Really wanted to book a cruise for autumn but everything seems to be ‘waitlisted’ so that has to be a good sign, even though it’s not for us!

 

We’ve enjoyed our trip despite the promised upgrade not happening. Definitely won’t stop us sailing on the Marina again but given the choice we would take the Riviera first then maybe the Vista, with the Marina being our third choice.

 

The one really strong constant are the staff. In every venue the staff have been marvellous. Really couldn’t ask for anymore. They deserve high praise in every department.

I'm laughing.  People seem to love that sea bass.  I don't (but love RG in general.)  People seem to also love the string quartet.  I don't.  Most people dislike lanyards.  I don't.  Oh well, it's your world, your way, and I love the diversity.  One person on a FB post mentioned he or she found the white towels in the room "scratchy."  A trip to the pool followed, and the blue towels were found to be better.  I'm waiting to hear what the person thought of the Bulgari toiletries....crazy stuff....

Well, it sounds like I won't likely see Azamara, but maybe somewhere else before or after Panama.  So are all those ice cream shops and whatnot on Perico Island open at night?  Is there a shuttle over to them from where the ship docks? Are we likely to be allowed off the ship if we arrive at 8 PM?  And does Panama come on the ship to clear all the passengers, or how does that work?  Anybody know?  I may be quite content to just have a nice meal on the ship after the canal transit entertainment/activity, but I'm still curious.

On 5/18/2024 at 12:54 PM, QuestionEverything said:

SM, connect, saving port fees, reducing time in port, not able to re-book an excursion due to lack of availability, not return of forced payment of SM due to port cancellation - NOT a flattering profile of Oceania as being posted on Cunard, Celebrity sites.

But there have been some improvements recently too.  Here are new things  I've noticed so far, at least for Marina:  ability to fly out to embark city 3 or fewer days earlier without paying a fee (same true for going home), new Aquamar Kitchen for Breakfast & Lunch with table service, new procedure for Waves to replace procedure that newbies seemed to not understand at first, new or extended hours for pizzaria, new 24 hour ice cream bar poolside, Starlink with free wifi for 2 devices, and solo rooms/pricing. And while some complain about the absence of an app, I'm grateful that Oceania has not replaced its daily paper, and ability to book specialty dining reservations plus excursions via paper or in person on the ship. 

16 hours ago, EJL2023 said:

It will qualify. Most likely either 5 or 6 will be required for the 25% discount. 

Our cruise is 14 days/nights, and we need 5.  So for a 12 day cruise, I doubt it will be 6.

I wrote a somewhat long-winded response and then lost it.  Maybe you're all lucky.  But the previous poster has posted some very good thoughts that I agree with.  As to what line to choose, obviously it's great we have so many choices.  I've not liked some of the recent changes by O, but I know all the cruise lines are trying to recoup lost money, so I understand.  As for Simply More and the shorter port hours (which I think is a lot due to O's new green initiative) I don't particularly like those changes. But Simply More is new, so I think there may be some rough periods as O works through things and finds more vendors.  And new itineraries are probably being posted with shortened hours so surprises will be fewer.  I go off the ship a lot, but it seems many people hate shorters hours when in reality they may not even need them. 

When I think of all the things I don't use on a particular ship or individual cruise, I sometimes feel the "cruise only" price that I paid on Oceania (pre-SM) as well as on Viking resulted in lots of money spent on liquor, casino, spa, "free" excursions that I didn't use.  A highly customizable cruise would be great, but I know it's not workable.  So I can only decide which cruise line gives me the most of the other things I love -- unusual ports, port-intensive itineraries, great food/service, good price, easy-going, flexible cruisers on board, etc. 

Incidentally, I felt Viking missed ports more often than O.  But missed ports can be due to weather, port overcrowding, terrorist attacks, sea conditions, country imposed regulations, etc. So it's really hard to compare one cruise line to another in that regard. 

Here's a screenshot of Aquamar Kitchen on Marina, taken by a cruiser yesterday in Barcelona.

I'm on a Facebook page for people cruising  or interested in Marina.  Someone posted a picture of Aquamar Kitchen and said he/she went there for lunch yesterday after embarkation. I'm hoping to hear what the food is like.  I love what they did with it.  Given the small space they had, I figured they'd just make it another Waves with different food.  But it looks a lot different. I'll try to find and screenshot a picture of the picture.

27 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

I am sincerely interested in what lines you are considering.
I have also looked, which is how we ended up booking O (medical forced cancellation)

We always book a balcony, so in looking myself at lines in the same or similar category as O, as well as the next level up, what I have seen is - 

Viking is now very pricey for the same product we sailed multiple times

Azamara you need to book a suite to have a decent size shower.

Windstar - no balconies

Seabourn - we loved and is actually less expensive than Viking is now

Regent/SS - paying for included excursions

Explora - limited itineraries and a special kids area to attract families 

Atlas - limited itineraries  

Oceania - skipped ports not uncommon 

 

We remain torn between sailing, full land trip, or combo next Spring. 
 

Regarding cooking classes: The language on the pdf excursion list I received a couple months ago from Oceania states pretty clearly Simply More shore excursion credit can only be used for shore excursions. 

But occasionally Oceania offers excursions that are basically cooking classes, so maybe that's what's being talked about here.  We have one such excursion on our next cruise - go to a market with a local chef, learn about local food and how it's cooked, go to cooking class venue, cook it, eat it! 

49 minutes ago, QuestionEverything said:

Thank you for sharing your experience.

SM is the reason I have no Oceania voyages booked nor contemplated.

As I have posted before, the Ports Are the reason I cruise.

Without a reasonable assurance of being at every port, less "true" weather conditions, a mechanical failure or port incident, I will no longer cruise O.

Regent and NCL posters are also noting more port incidents, so I am wary of Regent - it appears to be a happening in the NCL family of lines.

So many posters here have reported having excursions cancelled, with no replacement available and you lose your own $. Not acceptable.

To each their own, but I do not spend big $ and hassle to fly to get on a ship that I am not confident will deliver the itinerary.

 

I'm hearing a lot of complaints about a competing cruise line.  Missed ports seem to be very upsetting to many people, plus often they report that excursions have sold out very quickly, resulting in many people asking how to arrange their own non-ship offered excursions.  Some even report that they are unable to book one of the line's free excursions, at least before they get on the ship and are able to talk to someone about it. Things are a little rough out there right now.

2 hours ago, clo said:

That's what I understand also.

Yes, the Simply More excursion credit is basically use or lose.  But I was addressing an instance if your canceled excursion was paid in part by you, and "paid" in part with SM excursion credit. I've been told that you can get the money you paid back.   

I've been trying to determine where the "ferry" owned by NCL drops passengers in Placencia, and how walkable it is over to the main village part of Placencia and/or the "Sidewalk."  Does anyone know?  And what about where it starts on Harvest Caye, and price?

On 5/14/2024 at 5:21 PM, MEFIowa said:

Off that B2B we did major private tours for Ephesus and Rome, and had one scheduled for Pisa from Livorno. But we missed it due to change in port to La Spezia and a transportation strike that Friday morning. Wife contacted the private tour group and they refunded us the payment, no questions asked. They knew what was going on. And we knew the night before. We contacted them immediately.

 

BUT we also had travel insurance, just in case.

But are you sure your travel insurance covers this situation?  From what I've seen, very few do, at least in the U.S.  And the few policies that do cover it cost too much for my liking.

11 hours ago, mbiggers said:

We have always been reimbursed for excursions purchased through Oceania. Not sure how the Simply More excursions would be handled.

From what I've been told, whatever money you paid (whether as part of an excursion in which you used both SM excursion credit and your own money OR an excursion which you paid for in full) would be turned into a refundable shipboard credit (to be used on anything - excursions, spa, drinks, store purchases, etc.)  If you haven't used this credit by the end of the cruise, you can ask that what you paid be refunded to you.  But this is from what I was told by another cruiser.  I haven't yet cruised with SM shore excursion credit, so can't verify whether it's correct.  

Hi.  I've been debating between visiting the two sloth/monkey places on the island (Bodden's and Johnson's).  I'm hoping you get see this post and can let me know if you visited the latter one.  If so, what did you think?  I would like to see a bit around the island, but no ATV rides or watersports/beach, so mainly I'm interested in seeing animals, any nice scenery or views, and try to have fun but not be surrounded by tons of people.  There seems to be so many places to see on the island, but I'd love more info on how worthwhile they are - Arch's Iguana place, French Caye area, Oak Ridge if not too terribly far, Gumbalina, Mayan Eden Echo Park, and more. But for starters, I think I need to decide where I (and spouse) should go to see sloths and monkeys!

OK, one or two more little questions:  I use a travel agent.  Once I determine what excursions I want, can I call Oceania myself and ask them to book the excursions, or must my travel agent do that?  

And I read (perhaps mentioned by Flatbush Flyer in another thread) that if O misses a port, and you paid for an excursion (in part, with SM excursion credit), you get refundable OBC rather than $$ back for the part you paid after using up your excursion credit. If you don't want to use the refundable credit, do you then ask for a $$ credit or how does that work?

On 5/11/2024 at 9:55 AM, Harters said:

When we did our first cruise with O, in 2017, the crew's name badges also included their nationality. I think I counted over 20 - including one fellow Briton. 

Yes, I remember that.  But now at least there's usually an announcement at the cocktail party for past passengers about how many nationalities are represented by the crew members.  And then of course we get to hear which countries are represented by the passengers - usually Americans first, Canadians second, and a varying European country third!😄