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Thank you both for your quick responses. I really appreciate it.

Catherine

Thank you all for responding tirelessly and over many threads about beverage packages. I have read through all the prior threads, but I have two small questions regarding the basic beverage package.

On all of our prior cruises, we have brought on board our own wine, either from home or from the ports we have visited. We love that Oceania does not limit the number of bottles and I have been delighted to have the option to open good bottles at dinner and to have the wine in our stateroom.

On this last cruise we took, I noticed that I bought two glasses of champagne over the day from O at meals, no matter the wine we may have opened at meals. Must be something about the salt air and celebrations!! That totaled $40.00 per day with tip and it made me think that I might like to add the house select package on our next cruise.

Here are my questions.

1. Does it pay to pay in advance? Prior threads have been conflicting on whether one receives a discount if you pay ahead so I am hoping for specific advice on that.

2. What does it mean that the package operates "at meals?" I get that it does not apply in the lounges and I assume it does not apply to the wait staff who serve the pool, but what about walking up to the bar which is located next to Waves at lunchtime? We often sit on lounge chairs and not at specified Terrace or GD tables.

Thank you all for your advice on this very small issue.

Catherine

We were the uninitiated before this thread!

We have experienced a number of port time changes in our prior cruises, but we did not question it. I suspect it was because the late notice of shortening of times did not affect our independent touring. But we are on the same cruise next year as Sunlover through the Panama Canal. Sunlover took the words out of my mouth in reading this thread. With seven sea days already lined up, the thought of further shortened port times in cities we want to see and have independent tours set up makes me nervous.

Catherine

Love spell check! Nautica becomes Nautical. Well, that is fitting.

This is exciting news! Thanks for sharing. Great for the small ship Nautical that does not have a culinary center aboard. We have done the culinary tours and they have been excellent, and for the only time I can say about Oceania tours, well worth their cost! I can only imagine what these will be like.

Agree with Mura completely. It really depends on the cruise, something that I did not fully appreciate our first couple of O cruises. Probably rookie luck. We were very fortunate on our first two cruises because we like the specialty restaurants. Got into them as often as we liked. Sometimes I booked directly, sometimes our butler did. We ate late and were flexible on whether we ate alone or shared. We thought that was the ticket. As it turns out, not so much! This last cruise we experienced something similar to Baybear. Lucky to have snagged opening night as our extra specialty night. Otherwise we were completely out of luck for the remainder of the cruise.

I did hear during our last cruise a few weeks ago that while the answer was "no" in the morning and even at 6:00 p.m., sometimes it shook out much later. For example, cruising friends experienced shared tables that went unoccupied for two of their reservations. They started to encourage friends to approach the restaurant at 8:15 p.m. I understand it worked. But we never tried that. By that point in the evening, we had already decided whether we would do in-suite dining or head to the Terrace or Grand Dining Room.

All great food experiences, so in the end, it is all good.

Catherine

"We will be doing the full transit (LA to Miami) this coming year and I wondered whether the more experienced cruisers had any tips on "Day of" transit. Not sure what to expect, so the following questions may be naïve. But is there a time we should plan to get up? A place on the ship where we should plant ourselves? Or will our balcony be good? Or a particular time (or times) during the day where it matters most that we do not lunch, or work out, or participate in other activities indoors?"

Transit day is certainly not the day you get those 40 extra winks;)! I'm an early riser so whatever time I am up and about is not a problem. On my last transit in the direction you are going I was on deck at 4AM and I wasn't alone! While you really don't have to be on deck quite that early, but they will get more crowded as the transit begins. I think you may want to consider being up topside 5-5:30ish. For the first part of the transit that would take you up to and through Miraflores Locks, I would prefer an upper deck, forward and outside. That way you will get a good view of the start up the channel, Panama City skyline, the Bridge of Americas and ultimately Miraflores Locks. During the remainder of the transit, I really would not plant myself in any one spot. For example at some point at one of the locks go down on the lower outside decks and see the what a tight squeeze it really is. Your passage through the Gaillard Cut I would recommend being somewhere you can observe your passage and be able to go to where you see whatever that is of interest. There is usually some sort of equipment operating, passing under the Centennial Bridge, Gold Hill where you will cross the Continental Divide and even get a look a Noriega's current "home."

 

After clearing Gaillard Cut you will begin your crossing of Gatun Lake. This portion of the transit is more of the "scenic" part and not a lot of individual items to point out. That is not to say there is nothing to see as there are usually ships passing in the opposite direction and you will be able to see forestation that essentially unchanged even before the Canal was built. Please don't think that there won't be any chance to grab a bite to eat, you will just have to decide when, there will be some slack times during your transit.

 

In regards to your balcony... unless you have one of the aft facing balconies, I really would not spend a great deal of time on it. Save the balcony for other times of the cruise.

 

I am including a picture of what you could miss if you really homestead your balcony. Now if you happen to be on your balcony on the opposite side of ship, you would never get to enjoy this passing.....

This picture was taken during the Gatun Lake crossing...

 

 

Glad to answer any other questions....

BillB48

Many, many thanks for taking the time to write such a thoughtful and thorough response to my question regarding Day of Transit. I really appreciate it. Not only have you answered my questions with wonderful detail, you have made us even more excited for this trip! And the best news of all is that we are very early risers so the 4:00 a.m. appearance is very doable! :)

Thank you again

Catherine

Thank you everyone for such wonderful information on this thread! It is very helpful in planning our trip.

We will be doing the full transit (LA to Miami) this coming year and I wondered whether the more experienced cruisers had any tips on "Day of" transit. Not sure what to expect, so the following questions may be naïve. But is there a time we should plan to get up? A place on the ship where we should plant ourselves? Or will our balcony be good? Or a particular time (or times) during the day where it matters most that we do not lunch, or work out, or participate in other activities indoors?

Thanks so much

Catherine

Thank you everyone for the information. Fairness is really important, of that there is no doubt. It would not be fair for me to get a fifth reservation when others have not yet been able to make their four. However, it does appear from some responses that there may be opportunities to get in that first night if restaurants are not full, even with my four guaranteed reservations already secure. It is a little confusing because it also appears from some responses that the policy may have been enforced depending on the particular cruise. We board the Riviera on June 28 and will certainly give it the college try. ;)

Catherine

We had a Sky Suite on Celebrity a few years ago and we loved our suite - it had a very large balcony, our butler was wonderful, the 5:00 p.m. sushi was the perfect appetizer, and we met some lovely people whom we could entertain on the balcony thanks to a large table. But in general, there really is no comparison between the two lines. The food on Oceania is superior, and the treatment by the staff throughout the ship is attentive and professional.

There is no charge for the specialty restaurants, which is a big draw for us. On Celebrity we ate in the specialty restaurants many evenings because we found the main dining room food just ok, but it came with a big price tag by the end of the cruise. There is not the same kind of nickel and diming on Oceania we found on Celebrity. Every time we wanted something on Celebrity, it seemed to come with a charge. On Oceania, we are able to bring wine and liquor on board without worrying about a quota or it being confiscated, and we love the essential quiet of the ship - no non-stop announcements, no photographers everywhere to snap and charge for photos.

I understand completely the trade-off you are facing. I would also agree that if you could pinch the pennies, the Penthouse would be the way to go to get the same feeling as you experienced in the Sky Suite but even more fabulous. If that jump in cabin is not worth it, I think you will still love your Oceania trip, but the cabin part of the experience may feel a little different.

Catherine

A shout out for Mike Moore, VP of e-commerce at Prestige Holdings who has been extremely responsive to questions and concerns during the rollout of the Oceania's new website. Whether in response to postings here or in direct email responses to questions (as I had), Mike is there immediately. I have rarely seen an industry exec as responsive!

Mike, many thanks. It is appreciated. :)

Catherine

Thank you so much for the info. This is what I guessed (feared?). But at least it helps to be armed with accurate information for planning purposes.

Catherine

For those who have recently returned from a cruise, I was wondering whether you could elaborate on the "new" enforcement policies of specialty restaurant reservations. Specifically whether the reservation desk is set up the first day to take reservations for that evening for those passengers who already have their four choices.

In the past, we have used our pre-board specialty dining reservations for nights other than the first night. When we would board, we would make our way to the reservation desk that had been set up and request a reservation for the first night. We have never had a problem getting in the first night because many passengers prefer other dining options. Recent posts have suggested that this option may no longer be available to those who already have their initial four reservations.

Watermelon duck salad awaits and we are wondering.:)

Catherine

Has anyone had experience with a cooking class at 10:00 a.m.? This class on sea day looks great - a tribute to Jacques Pepin - but cooking and tasting French dinner cuisine at 10:00 a.m.? Not that I don't enjoy eating all the time....:)

Thank you Jakes47! This is very helpful for our cruise leaving in June, which does not yet have descriptions. Funny, Bundles of Love was much more literal than I thought, that is for sure.

Catherine

ok I will play :D

LOL, I also thought Bundles of Love was a cooking class about chocolate! :D I think you may be spot on with your guesses for most of them. Looks like a lot of Italian if you are correct.

For the June 28 sailing out of Barcelona, the new classes are up. But alas, no descriptions. I wonder if the site may still be "evolving." In the past, class descriptions have been detailed enough so that one has a sense of the food you would be preparing in the class.

We could start a contest to see who guesses most accurately what "Bundles of Love" means. :D

Catherine

Thank you so much for the quick response! And with a pic, no less. That is the best. :p

I realize I never have clicked "book a cruise" because my TA does the booking. I research the Oceania cruises and then tell her which itinerary and date I would like. Can I assume that I can follow through with the process long enough to see the rooms available without actually booking?

Catherine

I have learned so much from this site and am hoping to learn more! Posters report being able to search the Oceania website to determine how many cabins have been sold in a particular category. (At least I think that is what they are reporting.) I have looked through Oceania's website, but I must be missing a link somewhere. Can someone explain how to do that?

Many thanks.

Catherine

I just came off the Marina and scouted the menus for good drinkable bottles of wine that were not terrible expensive. The "least expensive" bottles of wine that I ordered were the white wines in the neighborhood of $35-40, without gratuity. The reds were slightly more expensive.

I also compared my bills from this cruise with last year's Oceania cruise. Last cruise I drank exclusively bottles of wine that I purchased on the ship, taking advantage of bottle discounts. This year I mostly bought bottles in ports and paid the corkage fee. My cost was significantly lower this year and I drank better wine. :)

I have become a convert of bringing bottles on board. I cannot wait for embarkation next year in Barcelona!

Thanks everyone for the confirming responses on the lack of wine packages and mid-cruise wine sales. I thought I missed the secret handshake!

Since beverage packages are the way Oceania seems to be going, perhaps Oceania may consider "upscale wine packages by the glass" for us who do not partake in cocktails, but like to indulge in good glasses of wine. Similar to some restaurants around the country that offer many great bottles of wine by the glass.

Now that's a beverage package I could get behind!;)

We returned this week from a fabulous trip on Marina to the Baltics!

We were surprised to learn that there were no wine packages for sale (discounts on a certain number of bottles from a preset list). No wine stewards on decks 6 and 12 selling the packages the first day. We thought perhaps the sale had gone "subtle" and we had missed it, but we were told at dinner that they were not available.

Is this a new policy? or just our cruise? Or perhaps our prior O sailings with wine packages were the experiment?

PS: It did not deter us from ordering wine at dinner! Or buying wine in port and paying corkage at dinner. But I think with the packages, they may have been able to "upsell" our choices.

We are looking into a kayaking trip while our ship is docked in Helsinki this summer on our Baltic Cruise. My worry is that the kayaking tour ends at 2:30 p.m. and the ship leaves at 4:00 p.m. We have never been to Helsinki so I have no concept of the distance between dock and where we assemble. Has anyone had experience with this? Would we make it back to the ship in time? The kayaking company says this would not be a problem. But I can see us trying to paddle to catch up with a moving ship...not so good.