thebsinmiss

Feel free to use one if you want but there isn't really a need.

With all the dining options being included results in most passengers not needing their cards to order a drink or pay for food. If you do not have the premium drink package that covers alcoholic drinks ordered outside of lunch and dinner you will need the card but the ship is small enough that the bar staff seems to quickly learn who is required to pay for drinks.  Non alcoholic beverages are included at no charge at all times.

From recent experience on our upcoming Riviera Cruise (June 17)  We are in a standard balcony room (not concierge).

Had friends on the same cruise who are concierge book when their reservation window came open (sooner than ours) We were included/invited as "guests" under their reservations and they made them at 12:01 AM eastern standard time.  Managed to book everything with no problems

I did not go on until 8 am EST the day our window opened (as opposed to 12:01 AM) to make our last booking as we wanted a table for 2 at Jacques. At 8 am nothing was available for just 2.  I looked at doing a "shared table" and was unable to even book that.  I am not to worried as I will try to get something at Jacques while on the ship (walk by entrance when open and ask). 

If we don't get anything we definitely won't starve with the options of the grand dining room, Terrace Cafe (buffet) and Waves (dinner pizza !).  All of these are no reservation dining options. Don't forget Room Service is also available 

I would try and book it myself if you can stay up (or set an alarm), that is if it is that important to you.

We were not able to use SM shore excursion credits to book an on board cooking class on our upcoming Riviera sailing.   I called O directly and was told shore excursion credits did not apply to the classes. To bad, we would have booked a class every day and booked private excursions or just walked the ports

You will find many posts stating that O does maintenance on their computer system on weekends and it can be very "glitchy" during this time.   Wait until Monday and check to see if the cart is updated then. If not give it another try on line and if that fails call O directly.

I'm surprised your TA wasn't able to help you more.

interesting....wonder if Oceania will do a security review and/or issue a warning. (doubt it !)

Based on the posts there are 3 or 4 "subject lines" being used in these fishing attacks. Cancelation/Help/Website etc...  

Bottom line is the are all phishing/spam 

The give away is the "explore" in the email address.  That identifies it as not coming from oceania (their emails are typically "oceaniacruises.com) 

The larger question is how did a scammer or AI spam system apparently get numerous individuals email addresses to target Oceania cruisers specifically as noted by the large number of people who got them.  I have no proof of anything but I'm guessing its related to the cruise critic forum.

The wording/timing is pretty shrewd given all the press the one family got when scammers canceled their cruise 3 days prior to sailing (DONT SHOW YOUR INFO IN POSTS!).  Putting the word "cancellation" in the subject line likely causes more people to open the email out of fear of being subject to that well publicized incident

As someone else said, just delete them without opening and you are fine.  Generally if it is actually a valid communication the business will send a follow up if they don't get a response.

The address doesn't look quite right but don't know why. Obviously I got one regarding our upcoming cruise and doing a quick survey on their service. I don't think this is legit and simply a glitch with Oceania's system. 

Either cruise critic or oceania web site appears to have been hacked as someone has gained access to email addresses in order to target all the individuals posting here.

Might be interesting to see if other cruise line patrons have received similar emails today. If thats the case with Carnival etc (non-NCL related lines) then it is likely cruise critic is being used to source the targeting info. If its just NCL and or Oceania patrons then I would bet thats where the email info breach is coming from.

There seems to be a lot of issue/anger with regards to SM shore excursion credits and not being able to use them if a port gets canceled and there are no suitable/available excursions in the next ports (assuming you aren't all fully booked or at the last port of call).  Some say this is just another way of O raising the price 

My question, If I don't see any excursions to reuse canceled port credits on and don't want to just "gift" O with the unused credits, if I book a tour of no interest but choose not to go on it doesn't O still have to pay the vendor for that trip ?   Just saying (would be a bit petty!)

We prefer smaller private tours or self touring.  Booked our O trip based on the price we saw and assuming none/few of the excursions would meet our needs.  The price was acceptable. If we can use some/all of the shore X credits thats a bonus.

In the end we found 2 excursions that are of interest and used up almost all of our SM credits. If the port gets canceled so be it.

No, 1 per restaurant.  You can try and get extra reservations while on board, especially for later sittings. Its not unusual for people to cancel same day after tours (to tired to sit for a big dinner)

Agreed that O seems to be over aggressive in their marketing once they identify you as a potential client.

With the O agent, simply tell them you are currently working with a travel agent (even if you are not) and state you do not want any follow up calls from them.

As for the brochures I agree the the cost of their extremely fancy/glossy brochures which they seem to mail multiple times every week must be significant.  I just went on line and requested I be removed from all communications.

I would recommend trying a cruise and determine if Oceania is providing a product that you want to purchase.

If all the cruise critic folks thing O is "big brother" (posts on sales calls from O after going on site) then wait until the figure out what info Goggle has on them !

Yes, there is another thread discussing the "blue envelopes" reappearance.

No, there isn't anything else based on what three other couples and ourselves received for our June Riviera sailing.  Nice luggage tags and the nice glossy PR piece on the Riviera. Nothing else

Search under luggage storage+miami on the internet.

I see usebounce advertising 115 locations in miami at 8.00 per day (starting price)

Also luggage hero is another option with locations all over the world (found on in Trieste italy)

There is storage at the airport but I doubt you want to go there to drop luggage and then taxi back to where ever you plan on site seeing.

I'm guessing you might be looking at catching the 9:15 non stop train from Trieste to Venice.  We are not going to roll the dice so we will take our time disembarking and then check our bags in a locker at the train station (or use one of the luggage storage services offered in Trieste)  Catching the 1:30 direct train. Lots of extra time so we don't have to stress/rush combined with getting in to Venice mid afternoon and we can check in to our hotel right away.

Enjoy your cruise

We looked at all the excursions and very few really appealed to us and most of the ports are easily self toured (dock very close to the city center, walkable and lots to see as we are first timers).

We have about 150.00 pperson in SM shore excursion credits remaining. My DW is interested in an excursion I have no desire to go on. Has anyone used their SM credits to pay for an excursion for someone else on the same cruise. Our friends are on the cruise and one of them is actually interested in the excursion but they don't have any credits left.

We'd like to "treat" her to a free cruise using my remaining shore excursion credits from SM.

 I don't see a way to do it on line since the credits are linked to the individual.  I do recall seeing a post about the shore excursions not checking "tickets" but the friend definitely won't pass for a 60+ year old man !

I'm guessing O won't allow it (more money in their pockets from unused credits)  I will ask once we are on board or perhaps give our travel agent or O a call

Comments ?

Set your phone up for wifi calling (look in settings)   

Alternately you could buy an esim like Airlo who sell local and regional data sim cards. They are easy to install if your phone is set up for esim's and the Europe regional card is $13.00 US for 3 GB good for 30 days and covers all your countries.  You have to use wifi/computer calling as its strictly data.  If you have Whats App on your phone that is VOIP and you would be good to go. 

The advantage of the data plan is you can use google maps/Waze etc in real time to navigate while walking cities

 Do NOT turn your cellular (regular voice calling ) connection on at sea as it might connect to the Satellite systems and there are posts about huge cellular bills if that happens.

Sorry to hear about the issues with the cruise but glad you enjoyed it overall.

We are on the Riviera in June and I really hope they address any issue of unseasoned/under seasoned food before then.

The reason we booked on Oceania again (and why our friends are joining us) is the food.

If we wanted uninspired tasteless food aimed at catering to the lowest common denominator then we would have booked on one of the mega ships at a far lower price.

I'm very concerned about this and hoping it is a one off and not a corporate mandated on going issue.  Time will tell I guess

I know we can use shipboard credits for shore excursions and the FAQ says we can use it to book services at the spa once we are on board and underway (ie can't book before cruise) .  We had an adjustment to our account due to a sale price shortly after booking and we have large shipboard credits on our account.  We have already paid in full for our upgraded beverage package and prepaid our gratuities. 
 

My question is what else can we use it for

1) excursions - It clearly says we can use SBC for excursions but none of the remaining excursions appeal to us

2) premium bottles of wine ?   DW might get a bottle or two at best

3) Under way spa treatments (read another post saying the spa attendants fought the use of ship board credits for a massage)

4) Casino credit ?  the question was asked in another post but never answered. 

5) merchandise at the various shops on board ? I believe they can be used in the shops but we really don't need any more jewelry, overpriced clothing etc..If it comes down to it we will spend it on gifts as they are non refundable at the end of the trip.

6) Future cruise booked on board ?

We booked via a travel agent and when I asked about retroactively applying the shipboard credit to the paid for gratuities & drink package they did not think that was possible and recommended I ask once we are on board. Note that these are not shore excursion credits which we still have some remaining. 

Any help would be appreciated.

Perhaps someone else can comment with current experience on the specific ships as I can't do that. 

Both SS and O deliver very good/excellent products and services. We are looking forward to our June cruise on Riviera and I am going to try and avoid "looking" for how things may or may not have changed. Each trip is unique and thats the way we want it.

I really hope it doesn't become the norm like on the mega ships where some cruisers take it as a personal challenge to "beat the system" and drink their body weight in booze every day so they can justify in their minds what they paid for the drink package.  

The license in the elevators does not mean you can legally drink there !

Several years ago we did a silver seas cruise shortly after a cruise on the Marina.  Our personal observations were

- ship.  Preferred Oceania as it was slightly larger but felt less crowded even though the passenger count was higher on O

- staff  Call it a wash. One thing we found is the butler service on SS was of little value to us and we rarely saw them/used them. Saw her on embarkation day and then the night before getting off. 

- food  - definite win for O.  More options and food seemed fresher for some reason

- Entertainment - neither offered mega ship level entertainment (not expected to) but there seemed to be a bit more on O

- Ports - seemed way easier/faster to get on/off SS vs O (driven by passenger numbers ?)

If ports are basically the same and costs are similar I would pick Oceania

The butler is a nice add on but make sure that you will actually use their services on your cruise.  We had a butler on our Silver Seas cruise and did not use the service very much which was our fault/omission. 

Use the forums to determine everything the butler can do for you and confirm in your mind that you will actually use those benefits and services. 

If the room size/bigger shower and hopefully a few more specialty dining reservations are worth the extra cost (in base fare and higher gratuities) then go for it and fill your "bucket"

Enjoy the trip no matter which you choose.

No idea, best to ask Oceania directly.  My "guess" is that if you booked it as a designated balcony suite that was NOT part of concierge then you would not benefit from the concierge designation.  Cynically if they can't get more dollars from you they aren't going give you the concierge perks !

Either way enjoy your cruise