chloemonkey

Just dawned on me that we have not dealt with foreign currency for a few years now....and should know where to get some before and during out trip. I would want some at least for tipping as we have transfers in Rome from the airport to our hotel and then from the hotel to the port.... I would imagine that we could obtain them once onboard the ship? But do they need for you to exchange US dollars? Or are they able to put them on your accont? I know that I sound stupid....but again, it has been a while....the logistics of this trip are really telling me that we are getting a bit "old" to keep doing this! lol.... Thanks for any input.....I will also check with our local banks......and might even be able to purchase some foreign currency at the airport? At least enugh to get us to the ship....

Well, we DO have additional travel insurance....so maybe I should relax? It's just hard as I like to "understand" what the policies are.....and do not feel as though Oceania is helping to make that possible.

But if you get the flu, you are not forced to quarantine.....as most of us would agree, we have been next to WAY too many fellow cruisers coughing and hacking away onboard and on shore excursions.....

Still SO confused.....as we sail on August 28th out of Rome......stay onboard for the next voyage which begins September 4th.....so TWO different set of criteria to deal with. I feel as though I am going to have to ask some of the lawyer kids to read all of the "stuff" as I hate to think it....but feel as though we have lost a LOT of rights and reimbursement possibilities.....and the new docs are written in a way to not actually say that? Just my humble opinion......But I am a bit niffed that all of this is happening after final payment, thousands more spent on beverage packages, airfare, extras.......It just begins to get overwhelming trying to understand it all.....

We have cruised three times with departures being in Barcelona.....and from the first time on, my husband has been bugging me to buy a place and retire there! He loved it! I "liked it" a lot? Just not sure I like it enough to buy an apartment there...... But we spent two days before each cruise doing lots of sight seeing, etc......and agreed - 6 days is nothing! Next time I want to go further down the coast for a couple of days...

For those of us that ARE fully vaccinated - do we still need a negative PCR(lab) test to be done within 72 hours of embarkation SHOULD we become positive at some point? I ask as I really need to do everything possible to assure reimbursement/quarantine assistance, in the case of catching Covid sometime during our 21 day journey....

I agree with the Smart Phone e mail. Which was just one of about 6-7 that I have dealt with today. Yet as you inferred, the "real" things that you need to know have not been communicated? Same with us as we are dealing with two b2b cruises which have different testing criteria....and I am STILL not sure whether or not self testing before boarding will help us out at all IF we should fall victim to Covid.....

I was just overwhelmed as I believe this is the 6th e mail from them that I have received today regarding an upcoming cruise. As far as I can tell, our stateroom has just been "updated"......with no real changes.... But with the amount of reading that I am having to do with regards to this trip....I could be wrong! lol.....Seriously feel that this has been the MOST stressful cruise in terms of planning EVER.....First world problems to be certain. But bathrooms? Maybe I am missing something....

You are amazing for relaying all of this information to us! And I promise....I will do everything in my power to keep the Riviera PRISTEEN and ready for you! Thank you so much for your lighthearted response and attitude! We could use more of it these days.....

I have tried various sites as I want to know what the weather/temperatures are likely to be on our upcoming cruise. But the sites that I used and then input each and every port on our itinerary.....all had very DIFFERENT prospective temperatures. So any of you have a reliable site where I can look up temperatures to expect on our upcoming trip? Thanks!

Agree with you about Southwest.....as we have been Frequent Flyers for many years now.....enough that I fly free with my hubby who has tons of miles. BUT we have also watched the endless abuse of the free carryon luggage procedures as some of the bags that passengers come hauling down the aisles are just outrageous! The process of getting all of this carryon luggage up into the overhead bins takes forever....and the process is repeated upon arrival at the destination. NO one is monitoring the size of the carryons! And it sucks as others of us are doing our part to make the process streamlined and free of both charges and hassle.

I am particularly moved by your post - as I was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer 3 1/2 years ago. thanks go great doctors, lots of chemo therapy and removal of one lung - I am currently cancer free and SO happy to be able to travel again. But although I am so grateful to be healthy enough to continue to travel.....the loss of my luggage would be a terrific blow to me if it were to happen. It may seem "shallow" to many of you....but there ARE those who can pivot and do with a few basic items of clothing....change a scarf here or there......but try as I might, I am NOT one of these people. It just bothers me as of course clothes and the number of choices you have mean more to some cruisers.....and I just happen to be one of them. Others are totally equipped to roll with the punches....and do well with whatever they carried on. It is just NOT fair to judge those of us who would NOT be able to enjoy a long awaited cruise...if their also long awaited wardrove planning was disrupted due to lost luggage.

Wow.....as if I wasn't already confused about the Covid test requirements reimbursement etc...We are leaving August 28th on a 17 day trip from Rome to Istanbul. BUT this is also TWO separate cruises....although ours "seems" to be booked as one. But now I wonder if they will treat this as TWO different cruises and the terms will be different for each of the portions of the trip? And I am confused as to whether or not we will be reimbursed if we have to be quarantined? Or has this been taken off of the table as well? To make matters MORE confusing.....we WILL of course be in both Turkey AND Greece...which seem to have more stringent protocols.... Wish I had cancelled this a long time ago.......

I too have recently inquired and in addition to the high price quote that I rec'd - it appears that I would have to have the luggage shipped 8 days ahead of our ship's departure? I am a pretty good packer....but even I would probably have a hard time avoiding wrinkles in clothes that have been in a suitcase for over a week...... But I am still debating...as it would be LOVELY to not have to lug anything other than our carry ons through these airports. So would also love to hear from people who have used the service. Our trip is Los Angeles to Rome (through Heathrow) and return is Istanbul to Los Angeles (again thru Heathrow). Looking forward to hearing from the experienced cruisers out there!

Depends on the day and time of day. Also what time you have reasonable certainty that you would be able to leave the ship. Our L.A. traffic has become more and more of a nightmare of late........ If it were a Sunday morning? and you were among the first couple of groups off of the ship? I would say that you would be fine. Anything else? you would have to provide more info....

This is precisely why I did not want to fill the survey out while still onboard.....as I was uncomfortable thinking that anyone that I complained about would know about it! Silly I know.....but it also takes too much time although I did manage to finally do it.....just was not quite as "honest" as I would have been if I had been able to complete it after returning home.

We already have the first two.....but are scheduled to fly to Rome to board a cruise in August.....flight via London/Heathrow. Return trip involves departing from Istanbul via Heathrow once again.....back to Los Angeles. So....we have only traveled through Europe three times and it has been a few years. Just wondering if we should go the extra "mile" to have Global Entry? And would it make our airport treks/experiences any shorter or more enjoyable? We DO fly First Class......so that may serve to hasten some of the bottlenecks? Please chime in....as I understand that for Global Entry we will have to get on it and make appointments for this service.

Last day and getting ready to write thank you notes and add gratuities….any guidelines for but,Er and cabin stewards? And should we also do the assistant cabin steward separately? Or do they share…… this is our first time on this line and just wanted some of your thoughts and how you is issue.