goletans

2 hours ago, MEFIowa said:

And you'll get to "enjoy" the looks of the wait staff as they obviously want you gone and them getting out of there. You'll notice it. But then there are those who enjoy the misery of others.

We have only ever had kind staff and wonderful service as is the Oceania way.

13 minutes ago, clo said:

I didn't know that Ember is one of the specialty restaurants.

It is

OK Gotta jump in here.

We're not rigid or would not have reserved our specialty restaurants at 9:01PM last night. About half of the nights there was nothing available for two. The others only had 9PM. We took them although we prefer 8PM or earlier.

I adhere to a vegetarian diet and have a problem when a fellow diner is having seafood or meat - especially red, juicy meat. This means sharing is too great a chance to try again.

Yes, we will try changing our reservations to an earlier time slot.

We will not rush our meals nor skip any course we want. If offered a 9PM time, we will stay and enjoy our meal. If we are the only ones in the restaurant, it will be quite peaceful and we will feel very special.

A word of caution on the self serve machines. On our last cruise - on Riviera - several machines were out of service quite often. There is no guarantee that any machines on your deck will be working when you need them so you must join the queue on another deck. 

2 hours ago, ORV said:

I've said this ever since the first time I stepped in one of them. But some people like them. There is nothing there that you can't get anywhere else on the ship, and I never have understood it being in an inside room. 

On our last cruise, DH lost his phone on an excursion. The concierge in the concierge lounge went way beyond over and above and was instrumental in getting that phone back. The ship's concierge refused to even try to help. The computer and printer in the lounge have also been super helpful when we had an awful experience on an O excursion when the guide and his company refused to follow the advertised itinerary even after showing him a copy of the itinerary and telling us that these certain sites were open. After printing out several copies of the itinerary with a detailed description of what had happened, and personally handing them to all the crew and staff responsible, we were refunded the total cost of the excursion. (We were not able to accomplish this at the ship's internet lounge.)

YES!!!!  Visiting Meteora is one of the best experiences we have ever had!

18 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

SWAN effect:  Sleep Well At Night!

I like this acronym! Sleep is very important to one's health 🙂

10 hours ago, Chewbecca said:

Do the R class ships have the same chair hog problem or is it mainly a Vista issue?

We haven't sailed O for quite a long time and last time was Alaska anyway!

All the ships have this problem when the weather is nice. As for the two of us, we are old enough to have decided that we will not tolerate childish behavior and will not reward it. We have no qualms with moving items from loungers that have been "left behind" for more than 15 minutes. We know some folks do not have issues about this and other concerns, but we all have every right to enjoy the cruise we have purchased. All this being said, we do not often spend much time at the pool.

WOW! Thank you SO much! This exactly the information we need!

On 4/30/2024 at 3:58 PM, wolfie11 said:

The shuttle runs continuously.  $3 per ride or $5 for the day.  Halibut and chips at Skagway Brewing is great!

Following up on the shuttle, I assume this is the SMART shuttle. I see that it runs continuously, but we are wondering if there is a separate SMART to the cemetery, and where to catch it. I asked their customer service:

"We could catch the shuttle at the dock or in town.

It should be played on the ship on Thanksgiving Day.

I hope the Sirena menu continues to have the VEGGIE grilled vegetable patty, Caribbean mango salsa. We do enjoy Waves ~~~~~

I am likely in the super tiny minority, but I'm saddened that the old veggie burger has been replaced with the Impossible burger. I find this product line impossible to eat because the offerings are too "meaty." 

DH is happy with his favorites still on the menu, though.

Gorgeous! Did you notice any signs/schedule for the SMART shuttle. It should have been available at the dock? We want to use it in August to get to the cemetery. 

We were on the waitlist for a business upgrade on AA last week. Our names were listed on the monitor near the boarding door.

We've had offers from UA and AA to upgrade as the departures approach, but we were not given a better price, so did not take the offer. We have requested the wait list for an upgrade, but never cleared the wait list.

We just finished a similar conundrum for March-April. The flight matrix didn't help much. We finally chose Delta for flights to and from. The prices were the best we found. Business return from Tokyo and Delta/ANA to Beijing with Delta Premium Select after researching the classes on many airlines. Prices for business are silly expensive and have gone up over the last month. 

We wish you a successful search; it is lots of work and a few headaches.

Take a look this this forum:

Thank you, FlyerTalker!

I did more research and we've decided against Hainan. Now the search continues for the outbound flight.

I checked Delta for the multi-city option, but it would be too silly expensive.

I know folks say, "I appreciate you" alot, but sincerely, we appreciate you on this topic and so many others.

"Hainan has long been known for phantom inventory"

I didn't know that. The rep I spoke to yesterday helped me make the reservation, but I have yet to receive confirmation when the flights we want reappeared. I am quite concerned. 

Skytrax has this: “The only 5-Star Airline in China, Hainan Airlines has in recent years developed a product and staff service level to match the best international carriers. Emphasis on delivering the highest service standards is supported by consistent and friendly cabin crew with good language skills, and the Business Class product sets some Best Practice standards for catering and amenities.”

We chose Delta for the outbound flight because the value couldn't be beat. Our overall price although expensive, saves us about $3000 each over Oceania's price.

After almost 4 hours with phone calls and emails and Hainan reps researching the issue I finally was instructed to add the III to the last name. I saw that China Air instructs to add the suffix to the first name.

It depends on the airline. You are right; I would not chance getting the name wrong because my assumption could be wrong.

Anyway, we finally got the flight all the way to the payment page only to run into another problem. Although the website showed that our payment was being processed, it never was completed. I called our CC and it was not a problem on this end. After 4 hours, the price increased just over $1000 pp AND all flights for the day we wanted were no longer available.

HUGE disappointment because the flights were as good as we found.

I will label this experience a lesson on Chinese airlines.

Greetings, oh knowledgeable ones.

I found reasonable flights for our return from Tokyo on Delta.

Our flight to Beijing is still not booked. The best we've found is on Hainan - really good reviews and best prices we've found. However, while entering my husband's name, there is no place to note his suffix - III. It is on his passport so we want the passport and reservation to match. I called Hainan and the rep said she would find an answer, but I'm still waiting.

Does anyone have experience with this issue? 

24 minutes ago, basor said:

I have sent out a bag with delicates and written cold wash and low temp dry (large black letters, circled and with stars around!) and they have come back just fine.....t

That's what we do, too, and we have been very happy with the service. You may also get 3-4 vouchers for pressing.

"Why’d you expect your spouse to get a free cruise before he has enough credits to be Platinum."

I didn't; I had asked, "My husband does not have as many sailings as I do so we will not reach our 20th cruise at the same time. We will be together on my 20th cruise. How does this enter into the free cruise deal?"

There were several responses that indicated otherwise such as

My qualification for the free cruise was not an issue. Didn’t make 20 until later. Don’t know what would if I attempted a second free one. 

and similar responses within the link to the prior topic from September 21, 2023. Here's one:

We booked what I thought what was going to be my first "Milestone Cruise" on the Vista for this December.  Our Oceania Ambassador on board my recent ATW sold it to me on board, based on my having accumulated 30 cruise credits...15 from my solo 2019 ATW, and 15 from this years, (sharing with my wife).   We had used her "Milestone Cruise", (earned prior to our wedding),  for the segment from Miami to San Francisco.   Since I was included with her on that, they now say that I had already had my first Milestone (even though I had not yet earned it at that time).   That was contrary to what the O Club Ambassador promised.   As instructed by the Ambassador, prior to the final payment date, I notified Oceania that I wished to take this as my Milestone cruise. A couple of days ago, Oceania told me I had to pay in full, as I already had my milestone cruise.  They even claimed this new one would have been my third!   My wife had one previous to us meeting, and the one we shared in December was her second.

So you see how this can be confusing.

Yes, but he is quite a few credits behind me and we're not getting any younger.

It will come down to O's math

Just in from our elite TA:

Only the person in the cabin who has reached their milestone cruise is entitled to the savings.  So what Oceania’s Oceania Club Deck will do is apply your milestone cruise to your portion of the cruise fare only.

I don't see how this is a good deal........