mbpaul

Our adult son is in a wheelchair full time and has been with us on the Mariner and on several Oceania cruises so we are quite aware of wheelchairs on ships. I think I remember seeing a few ship's wheelchairs on the Mariner and the Voyager but I am not sure. In any case, you really could not depend on having one when you needed it. You can buy a basic wheelchair for around $100 and take it with you. Not a great one (but probably better than a ship might have) and it would probably work for your situation. Airlines check them for no charge. Probably the most economically way to be sure you have one when you need it. And for somebody with mobility problems, it might come in handy at other times.

I would also warn you that even though the Regent employees does a terrific job getting a person on and off the ship in a wheelchair, it can be quite a thrill. Especially when getting into or off a tender.

We had a stop in Athens a couple of years ago and just about every mode of transportation was on strike, including taxis. However, the hop-on-hop-off bus was still running from Piraeus and connecting with other hop-on-hop-off buses in the center of Athens. It might be an option especially if things get as bad as when we were there.

Our travel agent has been working on Regent flights to Cape Town for a group of about 20 mostly from Albuquerque but a few from Phoenix. She says Regent has offered a different option for most every couple. We probably won't be flying with our friends! Most any airline you can think of--BA, Lufthansa, Delta and a few more. Our particular flights are mostly Lufthansa going to Cape Town, mostly Delta on the return. With this in mind, I think it is not easy to predict what they might do for any particular customer.

Evidently some of you never fly Southwest Airlines. There are definite advantages to checking in 24 hours before you are to fly regardless of luggage or not. Checking in early on Southwest gives you a better boarding position. You do not have to print the boarding passes, just check in. You can also do it by phone if you have phone coverage. Believe me, it is a tremendous advantage on Southwest Airlines.

Taking the train from Sorrento to Pompeii is very easy. A long trek up the hill but the train station is just a little bit more uphill past the main part of Sorrento. Get off at Pompeii Scavi and you are right at the entrance to the Pompeii ruins. Very cheap as well. The train runs quite often so if you miss one, there will be another soon so I would not worry too much about the time in getting off the ship. Be warned that the train is not luxury--a commuter train but it is probably more reliable and quicker than driving.

Funny story about Barcelona taxis. We got of the ship in Barcelona a couple of years ago and hailed a taxi to take us to our hotel. It was only a mile or less away but a taxi was absolutely necessary since our son is a wheelchair. All the way to the hotel, the driver grumbled to himself in Spanish about not having enough of a fare to make money. He wanted a fare to the airport. Little did he know that my wife speaks Spanish. You should have heard the earful he got from my wife when we got to the hotel! That's all he got. No tip, just what was on the meter and we did not want to even give him that.

How are we to know if our card will have a foreign transaction fee? The credit cards are issued in the USA, we are in the USA and Oceania is in the USA. Not our fault; Oceania's fault. The only reason for a foreign transaction fee is because Oceania uses a foreign bank to do the transaction. Uncalled for, not ethical, just not right.

We really like Roy. Always friendly, always smiling. Looking forward to seeing in starting Jan. 3.

I just did the same thing online for a Jan. 3 sailing for 5 people. As somebody already said, do not check "sharing" and have the others booking numbers. Super easy. It took less than 10 minutes for all four restaurants. There seemed to be plenty of 6:30 and 7:30 reservations. Had no trouble getting what we wanted.

As far as the time that you can make the reservations, it based on eastern time so if you are in a different time zone, reservations could open earlier. Being in the mountain time zone, I was at the Oceania website at 10 pm mst, midnight est.

Personally, I would not wait until I was on the ship. Available times are very limited then.

December 10, 2011, we had the same thing happen only we were not told of it before we arrived at the Miami port. We really did not find out what was causing the problem until after we were on the Marina. Huge mess, lines everywhere, not enough seats inside (at least it was not raining). We finally got on at maybe 3 pm and from that time on, everything was great! I think we would have boarded even later but we had our son with us in a wheelchair and I think they let us on a little early because of him.

We were told the first time a ship comes to a USA port after a long time away, the Coast Guard usually has an inspection. It seems like I remember that this was the first time ever for the Marina to be in a USA port so maybe it was a little more of a hassle because of that.