llarsen

We just returned from Med too, our first time there and with iphone.

When we left the states I went into Settings and turned my Cellular Data Off, and Airplane Mode On.

When we were in port, we came across some free wifi in cafes. I then turned my Wifi On and connected to their internet to check email. I had to take it out of Airplane Mode to use a couple apps, and was worried I would have charges on my bill. But I did not have any additional charges doing this. When I was done I put it back in Airplane Mode.

There is also an app called Viber that allows free text and calls through Wifi. I use it here at home with my daughter who has limited text and minutes on her phone. In Italy and France I did not use Viber with the free wifi cafes because of the time differnce, I was already back on ship when they were just getting up in the morning.

Thanks everyone!

We called Oceania air dept and she found us a nice flight on Lufthansa using LAX. Since we wanted the earlier flight getting into Venice, there was 100.00 pp upcharge plus the 150.00 air deviation.

I have to say I was impressed with the way they worked with us, especially since we had so many requests : Early into Venice, Early back into LAX with enough time (2 hr layover) to get through customs and security on return flight, and minimal upcharge.

Done deal!

I am still considering getting Global Entry. The cost seems well worth it, but we would have to go for our interview at LAX, not sure if they could schedule all four of us for same date?

Okay, I left it to the professionals (thanks JimandStan) and they came up with a pretty good flight as far as time goes. This flight will run us 100.00 more per person for the outgoing flight, which is fine.

My only hesitation is our return flight is on Alitalia. I just looked them up and read horrible reviews.

Anyone here care to give their opinion on Alitalia?

SUN 08JUN14 8OWL6E LH 0457 LOS ANGELES, CA 03:00P

MON 09JUN14 FRANKFURT, GERMANY 10:50A

MON 09JUN14 8OWL6E LH 0326 FRANKFURT, GERMANY 12:20P

MON 09JUN14 VENICE, ITALY 01:40P

FRI 20JUN14 F7OBBO DL 6658 ROME, ITALY 10:20A Alitalia C.A. I S.P.A.

FRI 20JUN14 LOS ANGELES, CA 02:25

Thank you Paul for the Global advice, I will look into it.

Hypercafe- the credit is 850.00. It would cost more to take their credit and get our own air.

Thanks for your input!

Hello,

We put in a request for air deviation with Oceania. The first offer was no additional charge, just the 150.00pp deviation.

But we just returned Rome to San Diego through Philly and barely had enough time with a 2 hour layover. We had to claim our bags and go back through security in Philly.

The flight Oceania is offering is Rome to Chicago to San Diego. But it only has 1.30min layover in Chicago. Do you think we can make it through customs and security in that amount of time? It would be nice to not have to pay additional.

We found a US air flight with a 2.30min layover in Charolette but Oceania wants additional 600.00 for that itinerary.

This is the one Oceania sent us:

UA SAN DIEGO, 11:20AM SAN FRANCISCO, CA 12:45PM SKYWEST DBA UNITED EXPRESS

UA SAN FRANCISCO, 02:10PM FRANKFURT, GERMANY 09:55AM

UA FRANKFURT, GERMANY 12:20PM VENICE, ITALY 01:40PM LUFTHANSA

AA 0111N ROME, ITALY 20JUN 11:15AM CHICAGO, IL 20JUN 03:00PM

AA 1531N CHICAGO, IL 20JUN 04:35PM SAN DIEGO, 06:45PM

Thanks for any input

We were on the Marina two weeks ago, Oct 9-19 2013

I didn't have time to read through all the pages of this thread, but wanted to give our experience with tendering on our cruise.

We had no problem getting off the ship as independants in any of the ports. The ports in which we tendered, we arrived early to the Marina Lounge, asked for 4 tender tickets and were told on all but one occasion that we could get on the waiting tender.

Only one time we had to wait a few minutes. We never saw any mass confusion. We had cars reserved in three ports and independant arrangements in others. We never had to wait for the Oceania tours to disembark first.

Also, we did not tender in La Spezia but docked instead! Our itinerary indicated that we would tender, but La Spezia has a new dock. Not sure if Oceania uses it everytime...but they did two weeks ago.

We just used them for our Amalfi tour October 16th. Our ship was supposed to tender in Amalfi, but due to sea conditions we had to dock in Naples and stayed overnight there instead.

Our driver was a nice looking young man named Victor, he was waiting as we got off the ship in Naples holding an iPad with our name in large bold letters.

Victor lives in Sorrento, so it was a long way to pick us up in Naples. He drove us to Ravello, gave us free time there, drove along the Amalfi coast stopping for photos and then to Positano where we wanted to spend most of our time. Before sunset he brought us to a hilltop restaurant for dinner, which was lovely. He waited for us while we had dinner, then drove us 1.5 hrs back to the ship. We felt so bad he had to drive all the way back to Sorrento to go home. But he was very polite and sweet the entire day.

We have already booked JoeBanana for our next cruise in June 2014. We highly recommend them!

FSU85- Thank you for recommending Viber. I (and my kids) installed it and it works beautifully!

I made an appointment with the Genius Bar at our local Apple Store. I was told that iMessages, Facetime and Viber will all be free of charge at places we have wifi.

He said to put my iphone on Airplane Mode, turn on Wifi and I will not have any roaming charges. (Hope he's correct)

Viber will allow us to make free phone calls along with text messaging. He said you can also make calls from iMessage? Haven't tried that, but Viber does work very well.

Thanks for your help!

One other question....if anyone knows:

I'm thinking of getting the ships per minute package or the 100mins. How many minutes does it generally take to send a photo or post one to FaceBook? We will be on Marina.

Wow thank you! So much good information!

I will call Mobal and ask them about the text feature. It could be that it is not activated, or because I failed to put the + in front of the number stored in my phone.

I will also look into that app, my daughter also has an iphone, so if it works that would be wonderful too.

Thanks again!

Wow, so much information!

Well after reading all this, I'm afraid I will forget to turn something off and end up with a huge bill using my iphone.

Boy do I miss when you could send an email for 1.00 using Oceania's email at sea address (and receive for free!)

I have my world phone for the kids to reach us in case of emergency, and created a "vacation" email address to use in case I decide to buy Oceania's internet package or have time to stop at a internet cafe in port. I can always call them from the world phone for something like 2.49 minute (I talk fast, lol)

My international phone is supposed to be able to text, but no one I've ever texted from it has recieved the text, nor have I received theirs to that phone :-(

Thank you everyone for all the information!

Thanks Terry&Mike,

If I get the Verizon Global Data which is 25.00 for 100MB, will I still need the ships internet package? I don't have a clue what 100MB is, but hopefully it will allow me to send a few emails and texts. I have an international world phone for emergency calls if needed.

Okay, I understand now. I was so excited after reading that, thinking I could just use the wifi on my iPad to email. Oh well.

Thank you everyone for your help.

Then what do they mean: You can make and receive phone calls, send and receive text messages and "use other data services" onboard anytime.

What are "other data services"? I'm confused, I thought that might mean email?

Yes, a few years ago on Regatta we were at sea in the middle of nowhere and my cell phone rang. (always kept it with me in case of emergency with my elderly parents)

The call was from a friend who didn't know I was on vacation, it was billed at something like 2.95 roaming.

I assume this still stands, but in the past we could not use our ipad to email without buying Oceania's internet package.

This is what I am most interested in finding out. Can you now use your phone or ipad's wifi to send email without the internet package?

Hi,

We are sailing on the Marina this October to the Med. We have sailed on the Regatta three times, but this is the first time on one of the newer ships.

We just received our cruise guide with documents. In the "Communications" section is says:

"Oceania Cruises offers Wireless Maritime Services (WMS) voice and data services for all GSM mobile phones and GPRS devices such as Blackberry when the ship is at sea.

You can make and receive phone calls, send and receive text messages and us other data services onboard anytime.

You will be billed by your mobile phone provider and calls or messages will appear as roaming charges on you bill. Please consult your wireless service provider for detailed rates and service zones."

I like to send the kids an email every couple days telling them all the exciting things we did and saw in port. I used to use the $1.00 outgoing and free incoming email address Oceania assigned until they recently discontinued that service.

Do the above paragraphs mean that I can use my iphone's wifi to send text messages, without being charged for connecting to Oceania's tower?

More important, does it mean I can use my ipad to send email wireless without Oceania's internet package?

It would be nice to know I could email or text the kids without it costing me $$$. (I do have an international phone for emergencies if I need to call, but texting is a pain on it)

Thanks for any info

Yes, we are only in Sorrento until 6pm, so I'm hoping to be able to see a little of Sorrento.

We are traveling with friends and they would like to go back to Capri (we've never been), but to be honest...I'm hoping it's a lot better than the internet photos I've pulled up, lol

It must be, since everyone seems to rave about it.

Thanks for the Sorrento suggestion.

Great! That makes it easy!

Thanks for the replies!

Hi,

We will be on Marina this October and tender in Sorrento 8am-6pm. We would like to catch the hydrofoil or ferry as soon as we can get off the ship, and head over to Capri for the day.

I read that the ferry and hydrofoil departs from Marina Piccola, how do we get there from where the ship tenders in?

Is it walkable, or do we need a taxi to save time?

Thanks so much!

(btw, I'm asking on Oceania thread because most others dock in Naples)

Thank you Marazul, I will put that in my notes.

Hank, thanks for the St Paul reply. I asked you another question in that post that maybe you can answer :-)

Hi,

Thanks for your replies.

Now we are considering renting a car and visiting Grimaud, Ramatuelle and Cogolin.

Cshgrand, I think I read somewhere that the water taxies stop running in October. We will be there on the 11th of October, but we will check them out if we don't get the car, thanks!

Hlitner, I bet you can tell me if these are worth the car rental, or if you recommend any other nearby places?

We love the cobblestone streets and pretty little villages.

Hi,

I had a feeling this port was going to be a flop. I can't really find much tourist type information on it.

For us, Saint Tropez is our second port. We are doing a pre-stay in Barcelona so looks like we will use St Tropez as our day to rest up.

I was hoping public transportion was an option to head over to some other villages since we are there til midnight, but doesn't seem that they have those options.

Thank you for your reply!

Hi,

We will be visiting Saint Tropez this October on Oceania. We are in port til midnight and wondering if anyone could give some suggestions for things to do. (Besides window shop and eat)

We are wondering if there is public transportation to get us to a few of the nearby towns?

Are there any must see and do's in Saint Tropez?

Thanks!

I just got my chip and pin card from Bank of America.