Woodrowst

On our Oceania Middle East cruise last year the statement was made at the end of the evening’s entertainment and in Currents in ports with a lot of early shore excursions that, due to congestion, those going ashore on their own should wait until the initial wave of shore excursions left. Sure, there were some on their own passengers who disregarded this. But they then got caught up in the clog of shore excursion passengers going down the stairs and it took them a while to get off the ship anyway.

Be aware that there are ports where the earliest time off the ship is reserved for those with shore excursions and that those not taking shore excursions are allowed to leave only after the first shore excursion wave (the specific time will be noted in Currents). For this reason, scheduling a private tour for 30 minutes after docking can be dicey, especially since it can take a while to get to the tour guides in many ports. The longest lag time is for those ports that require you to take a bus to the gate. If time allows, I would recommend rescheduling for an hour after docking at the earliest to accommodate these issues as well as an unexpectedly late docking or delayed immigration approval.

I am not an accountant, but the response was in keeping with my understanding of generally accepted accounting principles. Other than tips and at cash registers, employees of a company are never supposed to handle (pass-through) cash. It needs to go directly to the accounting department. This rule minimizes the chance and temptation of an employee to embezzle part or all of the cash amount. The accounting department staff are typically bonded in order for them to accept cash. Just my two cents from when I worked in senior management and we were repeatedly reminded never to handle cash.

While I can think of exceptions to this statement (e.g. Sagrada Familia in Barcelona) it does bring up memories of Aussies referring to a Danube river trip I was on as an “ABC cruise” - Another Bloody Cathedral 😀

Different situations can have different outcomes. I do not doubt your experience with pricing. But in our case, the business class airfare obtained through Oceania was less than anything we could find ourself.

Absolute qualifiers such as “never” (whether in caps or not) are typically not helpful because they do not allow any flexibility. In the current environment of cruises changing embarkation/debarkation ports close to the sailing date it can be an advantage to book through a cruise line. The line will adjust the flight schedule to the new location and you don’t have to go through the angst and change fees. We had this happen to us and were so very glad we booked our air through Oceania.

After being flattered I have to fully agree with H…. ( the long title must be derived from Welsh). The difference from premium to luxury is a matter of degrees. Which means you can certainly have a wonderful time on a premium line. If that were not true I would not have signed on for five Oceania cruises to date.

Our experience in Antarctica was that the penguins ignored the strange two legged creatures gawking at them. There were just as many penguins working the penguin highways and nesting within a yard or so of the people path when we were on the late groups. And we did not have a single day where the weather kept late groups from following early groups.

Responding to this broad general statement: I was on a Seabourn Venture expedition cruise to Antarctica and it was wonderful. They got it right.

I do not know what type of dancing you are looking for. If ballroom-style: our Oceania cruises have been primarily on the smaller R ships and there has been precious little if any ballroom dancing. Crystal does a much better job and they even have dance hosts for single ladies or ladies whose partners are not into dancing.

I am getting the feeling that you are not a go with the flow and adapt kind of person…..

You are assuming that the change was under Oceania’s control. It may well have been the decision of the harbourmaster and Oceania had no say in the matter.

It seems to me that the issue is not so much the change from Leith to Rosyth (it only adds 15 minutes or so to the drive) but that Oceania is not providing direct transportation into Edinburgh. If the cruise is during one of the festivals you mentioned perhaps it is because the heavy traffic prevents that from happening. We were in Edinburgh during the Military Tatoo and it was wall to wall people. Perhaps providing you a shuttle to Drumferline is the best they can do. I certainly understand your frustration - so near and yet so far from one of the iconic cities of the world.

I was on the Silver Endeavour four months ago and remember seeing bottles of high end water (I think it was Pellegrino) sitting in the buffet area of the Grill for lunch. So I assume it would also be available for dinner in the various venues.

I have used the website InsureMyTrip (www.insuremytrip.com) for decades and have been very pleased with the range of options that come up. I have found that virtually every policy I have purchased that waved pre-existing conditions required purchase within 14 days of making the deposit with the cruise line.

I am a bit confused. I was on an Antarctica cruise on the Venture in January and do not remember any special dinners. Actually they were all special, but none were labeled as such and had most people dressing up. What type of special dinners are you referring to?

Yes.

Fever Tree has types of tonic, as well as other mixers such as ginger beer, that you cannot find in mainstream brands. An example is their Elderflower tonic. It is delicious by itself as well as making a unique gin and tonic.

On a luxury line you do not have to go to that bother.

For those who ask for examples of the difference between premium lines (e.g. Oceania) and luxury lines (e.g. Crystal, Seabourn) this is one. Luxury lines have Fever Tree. Many might say that this is a small upgrade. But it is the (many) small upgrades that differentiate luxury from premium lines.

It is important to have layers due to variable temperatures within the ship. I take a couple of sweaters instead of a sports coat to save packing space.

I brought lightweight performance fabrics made for hot weather and was glad I did. You will sweat a lot as the Amazon has high heat and humidity no matter what month or time of day or night. The performance fabrics are made to keep you as cool as possible and to wick sweat away from your body. They also dry fast - if you wash them in the evening in the sink and hang them they are dry the next morning. This is importantly as you only get one use before washing due to the sweat. It sounds counterintuitive, but bring long sleeved shirts and long pants. You don’t want the sun shining directly on your arms or legs - it makes them even hotter and you then have to go through a ton of sunscreen. My hot weather performance shirts are the Silver Ridge Lite by Columbia. My hot weather performance pants are the Stretch Zion Pants by PrAna. If you want natural fabric you can bring linen. But it doesn’t dry as fast. And whatever you do, do not wear cotton (including jeans). Cotton fabric hold moisture and you will soon feel that you are drowning in sweat.

We had the exact same experience as Kiwi Afloat when we took the Venture to Antarctica this past January. There was a session where you could exchange the parka you pre-ordered and there were tons of extra parkas in all sizes. All of the guides were there to give you individual attention and help get you a perfect fit. They will also make sure the boots you pre-ordered fit well. My wife has extra wide calves and could not get into any of the boots. They made this a priority and ended up splitting a gap in the top of a pair (which meant they had to throw the boots away after we were finished with them). The cut they made did the trick and we were very happy. We loved this cruise. You are in for a spectacular experiences.

We just stayed pre-cruise in Edinburgh in two hotels and I can highly recommend both. They are both within easy walking distance of the castle. * The Eden Locke is on the New Town (north) side of the castle. It is a boutique hotel with wonderful service - they made us complementary coffee drinks (I had a cappuccino) when we arrived from our international flight. There are a ton of great restaurants and shops nearby (the famous Rose street is one block away). *The Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa is a great choice if you want a large Americanized hotel. It is on the university (south) side of the castle. There are fewer restaurants and shops in the immediate blocks but the castle and the start of the Royal mile are only a 10 minute walk. It is a quieter location than staying in the city center. There is a really interesting open air farmers market across the street from the Sheraton on Saturdays.