Nashna

1 minute ago, Hanoj said:

I think cruising is not what it used to be. We’re on Vista now for our first Oceania sailing and first cruise since 2019. We have enjoyed the cruise, especially the Scotland (3 made, 1 missed ports) and Belfast ports. Liverpool not so much. 

I agree; we are still experiencing the fallout from Covid throughout the hospitality industry.  I'm glad you are enjoying Vista, as we will sail on her in January.

Hi Sthrngary,

     I anticipate the voice of reason when I read one of your posts.  Since we are both trying O. for the first time after disappointing sailings on our former favorite lines, we truly appreciate the advice we have received from O. passengers.  I do not expect perfection.  When I expected perfection, it never materialized.  For years, I wanted to sail on Seabourn.  When I finally got the opportunity, I was greatly disappointed.  It was a pleasant sailing, but it did not live up to my expectations.  We met frequent Seabourn guests on that sailing who were unhappy with the sailing, so it wasn't just me.  Interestingly, I had high expectations for our Regency cruise, and they were all met.  Unfortunately, their pricing in the last few years has put them out of our consideration.   I'm confident we will enjoy our O. Vista cruise; I booked us on an O. Reykjavik to Copenhagen cruise next summer. 

For twenty-five years, I managed a mid-sized travel agency specializing in luxury tours and cruises.  I have been retired for eight years. The agency I worked for was sold to another company, no longer in business.  I use a travel agency.  I research, book, watch for price decreases, and plan my airline travel.  I opted to go with a Virtuoso Agency as they have tremendous clout in the travel industry.  When I was interviewing agencies, I was upfront about looking for perks.  The current changes in the travel industry have made travel agents more valuable than ever.  

I am surprised there is so little information on spending the day in St. Bart's.  We visited St. Bart's on a Windstar Cruise about eight years ago.  We rented a car, drove around the island, had lunch in a lovely seaside restaurant, and sat on the beach.  We are visiting St. Bart's again this January.  We were excited to sign up for an Oceania ship excursion for a catamaran sail to a beach.  Just found out that the age limit for the tour is 70, and we are too old to go...which is rubbish as we are active adults.  Looking to do a day sail excursion and have found absolutely nothing that isn't in the thousands of dollars.  On other islands, we have been able to rent chairs and umbrellas and spend the day on the beach.  On another site, they mentioned that beach chairs were $100.00 per person and required food and drink purchases.   Has anyone done this?

I have not had much luck finding boat operators in St. Bart's.  A few years ago, when We sailed to St. Bart's, we rented a car for the day and explored.  We enjoyed the day but have no interest in doing that again.  I will see if there is any interest in chartering a boat for the day on our roll call.  It is frustrating to have age restrictions on such a non-physically challenging excursion.   

We booked a catamaran shore excursion in St. Bart's with O. months ago.  I read the description when I made the reservation and did not notice the age restriction of 70 years.  (Perhaps, this is a new restriction?) I realize that this is a local vendor's restriction.  However, similar companies in St. Bart's do not have that restriction.  I had counted on that shore excursion to use up some of our SM excursion credits.  We will need to forgo the SM credits and make our reservations.    

15 hours ago, bespin said:

Take the rain pants. I thought I’d be fine in merino leggings over thermals; while wet wool might still be warm, it’s still wet, so I’d rather not risk it again. Even if it doesn’t rain, the pants will block the wind, which makes it worthwhile for me. Also, I wore a 32 Degrees fleece hoodie just about every day, over merino tops and under a rain shell, and I was comfortably warm without overheating. 

Thank you, we will!  I don't want to spend the day miserable and not enjoying the tour.  Rain pants might also be handy as we sail to the Faroe & Shetland Islands, Norway, and Denmark.    This is our first time sailing in the Arctic Circle, and this information is truly helpful.  

The temperature in Reykjavik is currently 62 degrees.  I would go outside and find a nice spot to stay.  Perhaps, the Terrace Cafe might have shelter and heaters in place that would give you cooler temperatures.  I can't imagine they can sail with this issue.  I am on the same cruise next year on the Insignia so am very interested in how this is resolved.  Take care!

Thank you all for your suggestions.  We just booked an O. Iceland to Copenhagen cruise for next July.  We both have puffers and sleeveless puffer vests so we are good to go.  I had not considered waterproof pants to wear.  Do you think they are essential?  We are arriving in Iceland a few days before the start of the cruise.  We expect to spend the first day at the Blue Lagoon prior to check-in and then the next day will be spent doing a day trip.   This post has caused me to rethink my wardrobe.

19 hours ago, oskidunker said:

$20 each way?

Yes.

They were wonderful. They even made sure we had ponchos as we were leaving for an excursion in case it rained...it did!

We have choices of a water taxi at $5.00 per trip, a taxi at $20.00, or a van that fills up passengers at the pier.  The cost for two chairs and one umbrella is $25.00.  I understand that there are restaurants and facilities at Grand Anse. I've learned that the access to the water taxi is via a steep decline, and the water taxis are small.  I think we will take a cab.  

On 7/25/2023 at 1:47 PM, oskidunker said:

We booked three tours provided by the cruise line in other ports. I have been to Grenada before and did a nice tour with Mandoo of the island but don't want to do that again. I looked at the port board but didn't see much. Don't enjoy sitting on a Catamaran all day with no back rest. 

We did a family tour for 9 with Mandoo years ago.  He did a fantastic job.  We will go to Grand Anse Beach on our next trip as we felt we had already seen the highlights.  

I did see that they had the World bookings from April until August.  MSC is late getting out their itineraries...especially for the Holiday cruises in 2024.  I wonder why they are delaying.  They are missing out on early bookings. 

I was attempting to reserve a January or February 2025 Caribbean cruise and found that from December 2024 to April 2025 and discovered that there are no MSC Caribbean/Bahamas cruises.  I also checked with a few online TA sites and they aren't showing anything either.  Is MSC pulling out of the Caribbean from Florida during peak season?  

45 minutes ago, calicakes said:

Ok, so I found it and it shows available( b2), but then I get a message that all rooms are being booked.  The initial quote is 8198 without going through the entire process.  We're paying 6398 with the 600 OBC from O and 450 OBC from our TA.  We don't drink alcohol so this simply might not work for us on future bookings. 

It sounds like that price includes airfare.  The system is set up so that two people can't book the same category simultaneously to avoid issues.  You might want to try it again in a few minutes.  I'm sure lots of us are double-checking the rates today.

That is weird.  Is the sailing not showing or is it the Simply More fare?

Just go on the O website and make a booking using the same stateroom category and put in if you want air or not.  It will give you Simply More pricing. 

It's nice to have the option to change or stay with the original package. 

19 minutes ago, grifdoglover said:

@Nashnayou are happy your cruise went up or that you booked before it went up?  I have a cruise booked for December that went up $300. Pp a few weeks ago for new bookings.  Waiting to see what the new simply more cost will be, especially for those booking with the already increased fares.

I booked in February 2023.  I had opted for the cruise only with the O'Life Excursion option. We can get the basic drink package for 11 days for just $100.00 per person is a deal. I have $796.00 in excursions already booked with my original reservation, so I will have them covered. Our fare has stayed the same since February.   

It's working now.  Wow!  My pricing went up by $200.00 for 2.  I had the cruise with O'Life.  Was $9598.00 now $9798.00.  I am happy! 

That might mean they are updating the site...or it crashed.

O's website is not showing the new Simply More program.  

Wow.  I had no idea that there was a ship that would allow 14 people in a room.  That's amazing.