welshfamily

No direct flights to Venice other than Jet2 from Manchester and they do not fly everyday. We have travelled with KLM, Lufthansa and British Airways always via a hub, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Heathrow. Nothing to choose between them in my opinion. This is an issue we have every time we fly to Europe. We now fly a few days before hand and explore. This cuts away the stress and we have had some interesting times in European airports. It is amazing how much fun you can have in an airport when you have all day to travel. Now if only we didn’t have to go through passport control again and again thanks to Brexit😁😁

CDG can be a nightmare particularly as flights from Manchester are often delayed. Is the overnight accommodation needed in Venice ? If so we always stay in Mestre across from the train station. Mestre is a suburb of Venice on the mainline straight into Venice itself .There are plenty of reasonable hotels. I would research both other flights and accommodation and give your TA a choice making it clear you have researched prices. That way everyone knows the expectations.

None of these offers seem to be available in the UK. or am I wrong? Thanks

Oh Thank you. Will ring TA in morning to confirm. We would be quite happy with Trieste. To be honest we would be quite happy to embark at any port as long as we know where it is. Hi

Thanks all. Decided to rule both cruises out as we had no desire to book a cruise not knowing where we actually need to book flights/ hotels etc to. There are no roll calls for either of these cruises. I know someone will come in with…..not every cruiser reads cruise critic however I believe a lot of people read these boards without logging in. I certainly read reviews on trip advisor etc when researching hotels etc. Slim pickings for next years Uk summer holidays. Both Marina and Rivera are doing Norway/Iceland. The Insigna is travelling between New York and Reykjavik. Assume this is down to Russian conflict and COVID ( ports which would agree in advance to let cruises in). Vista almost fully booked. I know it is our choice to only book a year out ( unless it is a special itinerary) but we usually see quite a lot of things opening up as cruises are cancelled.

Just researching cruises for next summer. The Sirena is advertising two cruises in July. One Istanbul to Venice ( 17-27) and Venice to Monte Carlo (27-6th august) Does anyone know where the ship will dock ? We do not want to be bussed around the Italian countryside. We also want to make our own travel arrangements and stay for a few days before or after. Can anyone tell us when Oceania told them where their cruises (advertised as Venice ) would be docking. Even though Sirena is a smaller ship not sure she will dock in Venice itself. We sailed from Venice in 2019 down the grand Canal and no this no longer happens.

Food is very subjective. Having just returned from The Rivera in our opinion the food was good overall. The speciality restaurant excluding Toscana were excellent. The terrace particularly at night plus special evening eg French night very good. Breakfast , excellent, if you could think of a breakfast food it was available, The terrace at lunch was good however not quite as good as before Covid simply because dishes were repeated quite often. The let down for us was the main dinning room. The choice here has declined. Main courses were just not exciting. Appetisers repeated too often and there was too much reliance on the ‘always available’. I will agree some staff were new however all were willing and pleasant. We would recommend Oceania.

Oceania flatly refused to let us prepay our Gratuities. Our TA copied us into the emails as we have paid them in advance before. My daughter even rang Oceania personally and asked why Oceania would not let us pay in advance. The member of staff said the rules had changed several years ago. Indeed your thoughtfully supplied link is dated 2018. Oceania’s rep. suggested we add onboard credit to cover them and my daughter did this.

Thanks all. Lovely to cruise with you and your family again first timer. You will a real added bonus. Drinks……We love cocktails and Champagne….package well worth it. Wine is only an add on for us. Flights We did deviate, spent a great 4 days in Barcelona. The trouble with Oceania flights for us were two fold. 1. Oceania only use schedule flights via hubs. Long layovers. So much so we could have got there quicker by train. In fact we meet a couple who did just that and are were delighted with their experience. Low cost carrier could have got us to Barcelona 5 hrs quicker. Oceania don’t book seats or upgrade seats reasonably. 2. No control when things go wrong. We did choose our flight from their list. Our flight was cancelled a few weeks before we cruised. This was the airline However, Too late to get a private transfer or trip. No Oceania excursions into Rome for late flight passengers. Oceania would not let us fly home the next day even when we offered to pay the difference. As the carrier offered a same day flight Oceania would not alter it. Private customers could have chosen a complete refund , an alternative flight and compensation. This left us with 7 hrs in Rome airport after leaving the ship. Not the ideal end to the cruise but we ended up ok. ( We are good at making the best of things …..however I did whinge on the last day …I am only human) Gratuities. We meet people who boasted about removing the Gratuities …. Horrid Oceania add them on the last day of the cruise. This seemed to surprise some cruisers who thought Oceania had forgotten about them……. As for Negative passengers ….unfortunately some people are just dreadful human beings.

We have just returned from our first Oceania cruise since COVID. First. Thanks to all the great people we meet, Old and new friends, who made our cruise exceptional. Sometimes the best thing about travelling is meeting people from different countries and enjoying their company. The Riviera, Stateroom She is a bit worn in the staterooms but is due for a refit very soon so other than a comment about the shower I will not comment unless asked a question. I love to bathe however the shower, though powerful enough, is simply too small and I think Oceania are making a good decision to put in larger showers by removing the tub. We had an extended balcony …….great. HOWEVER……..we were over the “ things that allow the ship to manoeuvre “ every time the ship docked we were shaken so badly I could swear it loosened a couple of fillings in my teeth and at 4.30 -6.30 am every morning it was a bit of a shock. Since we are early risers and had lots of tours booked we never needed the alarm and enjoyed far more leisurely breakfasts then on any previous cruise so not all bad. Just be aware the extended balcony on the Riviera and the two PH cabins next to them come with an added extra!! Public Rooms, Excellent condition. The staff. Lots of new staff. Not perfect but polite, smiling , eager to help and on the whole simply great. Shout out to Oceania ……. Include the gratuities in the price ……don’t allow guests to opt out. We don’t want to make a big thing on these boards about this but ……….. Fellow Guests, Meet many wonderful people. To all those who don’t know how to say please and thank you to any member of staff helping you …..try hardened please. The Food. Gosh where to start. The terrace. Good choices, lots of variety, mostly excellent quality. In the Evening The terrace excelled e.g. French night. The Grand Dinning room, Choice far more repetitive than before Covid. Specialities. All great except Toscana ………What has happened here? 2 of our meals had high lights 2 of our meals completely bombed. On the evening we went Chef was out apologising for the lasagne…..like a brick!!!, The mushroom Risotto….almost a soup however the lobster Risotto was superb. At least 4 tables were offered another night …..to let Toscana shine and a few people walked out. We felt sorry for the servers. This was the only place where we had a sommelier who was simply in the wrong job. We had the full package, had onboard credit to spare, but to be told the wines by the glass were ( curled lip…..masks went for staff towards end of cruise ) limited to basis wines and many choices were not available didn’t get the meal off on the right note. Now we are not wine buffs so are happy with most of the included wines, we were not asking for a recommendation and knew what we were getting but to have the wine bottle menu brought so we could selected better was ……rude. Fortunately we had been to the Martini bar before hand and were sufficiently ‘ relaxed ‘ to insist on our request being served with a smile. As my husband said …..She isn’t going to last on Oceania long. Excursions. One was disgraceful, two excellent but all were free so we were happy enough. Now I know someone will tell me Olife costs but we like to believe these are free, this makes us happy so please don’t burst our bubble unless you just can’t help yourself. Our advice ….check onboard exactly what your tour consists of, ask questions and if not sure ask more …don’t assume a leisurely drive isn’t a 1.45hr trek which will mean you hardly get off the bus and that approximately means …..depends on traffic and may well be a optimistic view or an unrealistic expectation. Nothing in life is perfect but after two years of COVID our cruise certainly did its best to give us a great holiday. last note Oceania ‘s flights ….SUCK …..but that’s another story. Questions We will answer them if we can

Thank you ORV, The poor man swears it was not there yesterday, We have new friends as he rushed to tell them he knew where the ship would be. To be fair I looked before we left home and it had not been allocated. Barcelona is a beautiful city, 4 days just isn’t enough time to do everything we wanted to do simply because we have had long lunches , too many coffee breaks and excellent evening meals. practising for our cruise

Oceania have emailed us today strongly recommended everyone in the party travels with a smart phone or tablet. We all have both , however, not everyone does. This seems a bit strange. Has anyone else had this email. Also we have been sent the Safety video to watch 3 times now. Again this seems strange. We have had 3 copies of the vaccination requirements and other general emails BUT do not know where the ship is docking Terminal A,B,C or D in Barcelona is still showing. We are in Barcelona and our concierge has been trying to find out all day Let’s hope the taxi driver knows how to find a large Oceania ship.

We are cruising this week and going to Amalfi (second time ,last time on Serena ) and we have no anchor symbol. Funnily enough my husband and I have had this same conversation. I will post re Dock/tender.

Has anyone had a reply from Oceania re PCR /lateral flow tests? 1st of August today and the requirement for COVID testing is still on the online check in for 18th August. We will be in Barcelona 5 days before our cruise and we will need to book tests if Oceania has changed the rules. Our TA has not managed to find out however Oceania did email us directly to say a test was not needed. thanks

Read the above. Makes no sense at all. says from 1st of August mandatory testing no longer in place except Canada and Greece. Then goes on to say PORTS US…. must test before boarding Canada ……must test before boarding EU …….must test before boarding Nowhere else mentioned Is it safe to assume if you embark in the Uk or Say Iceland you will not need one ? Oceania need to give a clear concise message to their quest ….please.

Have Oceania updated their sail safe policy. We have got the documents dated the 1st of March. This was sent when we booked. Thanks

Any news yet?

I think it was quite a walk into town from port but we were on Celebrity and the ship was huge. Not sure if this makes a difference. This was approx 7 years ago. We took a taxi to the town and walked around from there. Just returned to the taxi rank and got a taxi back to ship. However we always cruise in school holidays and it can be very warm hence the use of taxi’s

Taxis are plentiful and cost’s regulated in the official yellow and black taxi’s. Problem will be large enough taxi for 4 adults plus luggage. If you can fit into a normal taxi there is a line at the airport controlled by men in high vis jackets. This also happens at port…..or did before Covid. You need time to wait in line as can be very busy. We have always paid in advance for private hire . We have done this all over the world. Transfers were booked with a company who have ceased to trade and other companies have no availablity. Hopefully this will not be an issue re posts above. We can always split into two’s a pay for two taxi’s.

Thanks. Never had an occasion where TA hasn’t managed to book our transfers. TA has refunded our money and is picking up the cost of transfer. Was worried this would be an issue.

We are arriving 4 days before our cruise in August. Our TA has just informed me that the transfer from our hotel to the port is no longer available. We had booked a Mini van. Does anyone know if it is easy to get a taxi for 4adults plus luggage in Barcelona ? Wondering if we should pre book with a private firm. Thanks

Thank you for your suggestions All comments true, However Flights were bought by Oceania but difference paid by us as opposed to their ‘ “offered” flights. Thought this would protect us from their bulk buy flights. As I stated we have never had flights included before. We always arrange our own flights but due to COVID went with Oceania. lesson learnt. If we had booked our own we would be entitled to our money back plus compensation under EU law which we could have put towards new flights of our choice. Its the lack of control and the take it or leave it attitude of Oceania which is frustrating.

Oh thank you. perhaps we are worrying about nothing. Not good at relinquishing control and having no choice.

Thank you, We have 50mins I believe. It’s the last flight to Manchester of the day. Again not something we would have chosen. Have you been on a city hopper? What are they like? At the moment cannot upgrade to business.

Totally agree DIY flights. Due to COVID and cancellation issues with several other cruises we broke the rule of a life time and took Oceania’s flights. Waiting to hear what credit they may give us at this late stage. For Short hops in Europe Business class is the same with the middle seat empty.Width not length. Best Choice was Economy comfort with 5inches extra leg room. This is only our 4 Oceania cruise so had to pay deviation