thebsinmiss

Techno123..... Perfect and thanks. I actually remember going to this web page when it was originally posted but obviously got confused and thought I saw the menu on an actual CC topic post rather than the much more in depth website. That was exactly what I was after. Gives us a great understanding of what is likely to be offered on our sailing.

ORV, what I am asking is can someone currently on a cruise post a quick picture of what the actual wine list currently is (ie: specific wine offerings)

I thought I saw a previous post showing the current drink menu but I can't find it anywhere. Could someone on Vista post a picture of the current wine selections/menu. We are on the Riviera this June and friends who are joining us wanted to know what red/whites are available as part of the upgraded drink package. I've seen comments that the offerings are "quite good" but nothing specific on the wines thanks in advance

I totally agree that the SM Excursion issue seems to be simply generating customer ill will rather than being perceived as an additional benefit of sailing with O. We looked at the cruise price and considered the "free" excursions as a sunk cost. Not interested in going on overpriced (vs similar tours purchased via internet), large group tours. Found 2 excursions that were of some interest that used up our points and have booked private options or plan on doing self directed excursions for the balance of the cruise. We would have preferred a lower priced / no excursion package but if they get canceled so be it.

I believe what the issue is that O will credit your shore tour account for the value of any canceled tour BUT it can only be used to book another shore excursion at a subsequent port on the same sailing. The issue becomes one of there being any available excursions of interest to you at the remaining ports of call. That is why others are recommending using the SM credits for excursions early in the sailing, to give yourself more time and options to use the SM credits on another port. If you have a SM excursion canceled due to weather etc. on the second last day of your cruise then there would be little or no chance to book a new excursion using the SM shore tour credits. They basically are lost to you. (If its an excursion paid for on your credit card then they would refund that cost back to your credit card.)

We booked the June 17-27 cruise in October. Itinerary was changed Nov/7/23 so well in advance. Only thing that confuses me (and i started a post/chat) was the fact that Oceania kept other sailings with stops in Istanbul and subsequent cruises have now included Istanbul) Tough call on cancelling or not. Given the number of ships reorganizing ports with the red sea and suez canal now off limits it appears that a lot of alternate ports in the Med are getting overbooked so the options might not be attractive to you. Enjoy your cruises no matter what you chose to do.

We are on the Riviera June 17 2024 sailing . Originally booked as Rome to Istanbul but then Oceania deleted all the Turkish ports due to safety concerns in the region. We had booked flights out of Istanbul and several shore excursions. New ports were added and the disembarkation port is now Trieste. We are fine with the new ports. Yes we had to change an O booked excursion (no issues) along with a private one (no issues). Post cruise hotel was booked with a generous cancelation window so that was no problem. Also had to rebook our flights which ended up costing us 150.00 each as I had booked the cheapest fare class available at the time. Next time I will likely purchase seats with changes allowed at no cost. I'd definitely book hotels and private tours for Istanbul now but ensure you have the ability to cancel at no additional cost. We would still love to go to Istanbul but the new ports/itinerary are also great so no harm.

When we were on a few years ago they did NOT provide drinks. You had to get your preferred beverage from the Casino bar. The only staff in the casino (which I was told is run by a private company much like the ship spa) were the dealers and a teller in the cash cage. They definitely did not like you putting any drinks on the table. One gambler did and spilled his drink which shut the table down for the night.

Welcome ! They definitely are not "free" as the cost is baked in to the total package that Simply More provides (Basic drink package etc...) You use the credits which show up on your account to "purchase" the shore excursion(s) that interest you. They offer two prices. Standard price and "volume" discount price (25% off?) if you purchase a specific number of O excursions as defined in your booking. Note the credits under simply more are only valid for O shore excursions. Hope that helps

No calculations - simple way to lay out all the information and plan options for each port. More a calendar and one page visual summary.

As pointed out previously we went through the port schedules (whatsinport) and built a spread sheet of ships/passenger counts/scheduled hours and we are planning our excursions based in part on that information. Some O excursions for busy ports, private guided for really busy, self directed town walking for non crowded and some we may not even get off the boat ! Pre covid we did a Caribbean cruise and encountered a whole fleet of mega ships all in port. I believe the combined capacity was over 20,000 passengers. Had been there before so we stayed on board and absolutely relaxed in the spa area all day. Best single day on a cruise I have ever had

Having to flash your card, which i will have with me at all times, would not be a deal breaker for me. In fact I don't drink alcohol or pop at all so SM is costing me for something I will never use but I factored that in to my decision to cruise on O. I benefit from the fact that my spouse is opting for the prestige package so not having to have everyone in the cabin opt for the prestige is a win for us (sort of!) We also really appreciate the fact that O allows us to bring alcohol/wine on board at the various ports for consumption in our cabin. It allows them to try different wines not stocked on O while we sit on the balcony. For us the SM beverage package strikes a happy median and showing the card is a minor inconvenience. I'm pretty sure the waiters and bar staff will know who's prestige package after 1-2 days on board

The specialty dining is tied to each cabin/guest. You can make a reservation for all three of you but you would have to use your room/ID number for the third seat. I also understand that the higher level cabins get access to the reservation system slightly earlier and cannot book a lower level cabin guest to join them until that cabins reservation time opens. We are in the same situation but I'm sure it will all work out especially if you are not opposed to later dining times. Lots of posts about availability for later sittings (and getting calls to see if you want to move up your reservation if they are slow that evening)

Can anyone that has been on the Riviera recently have information or a list of the on board entertainment? I know it will be what ever it will be for our upcoming cruise but I was wondering what they typically have for entertainment on a 10 day cruise. In past cruises I recall pianists in Martinis, a Broadway type production in the Lounge/ theater, a four string quartet in the grand bar (?). I believe I have seen posts about a comedian on one cruise (Cruise directors husband?) I also have seen posts about "hotly contested" trivia sessions which I assume are held in the lounge either once or twice per day. We would appreciate any insight anyone can provide

If you have a cell phone you have a clock (and an alarm clock too !) The latest iphone update turns the screen in to a very visible clock which stays visible when the phone is turned sideways. Makes a great bedside clock when its charging over night. I also bought a cheap old school analog timex watch for the cruise. Its waterproof and I plan on setting it for ships time when we embark so I never have to worry about missing any all aboard times in ports. Don't have to worry about it getting broken/stolen and I don't have to carry my phone around with me.

I agree they should be refunded. I would bet O will say they immediately forwarded the funds to the appropriate government/authority/port when the cruise was paid in full so they don't "benefit". As they canceled the port visit for valid/invalid/questionable reasons it would be effective customer service to refund the funds even if they don't have the money. I realize forums/boards tend to get a large percentage of dissatisfied customers (silent majority are the happy/satisficed customers) but it seems like NCL's corporate culture is influencing O and it is not for the better.

yes it has hours (no idea how rigidly its enforce if at all) With your suite door closed and the laundry closed I doubt you will even notice it at any point. Most passengers won't bother using it on a shorter trip. I like doing a small load or two just to allow me to pack a bit lighter.

One of the advantages of the smaller ship are there are so many dining options. The specialty restaurants can be counted on taking a good number of passengers every night. For arguments sake say : Polo Grill 50 people (bet it sits more) x 2 seatings = 100 passengers Toscana 50 x 2 seatings = 100 passengers Jacques 50 x 2 (?) = 100 Red Ginger 50 x 2 = 100 Terrace Cafe (open seating) - no idea but bet they can get several hundred through on a busy night Waves Grill ( with new Pizza option) = 100 ? Grand Dining room - has to seat 200 plus easy. Assume average of 2 sittings Does not even consider room service orders, passengers that eat in port and passengers that just don't feel like diner after a full day of hiking . Book your reservations at the specialty restaurants as soon as the system lets you and go with the flow on the other nights. We've NEVER gone hungry on Oceania

It is worth reading some of the other shore excursion threads as there are countless strategies about booking the "right" tours. One thought is to use your SM excursion credits for tours earlier in the trip as if there are changes such as port cancelations you have the opportunity to use the credits on another excursion later in the trip. My understanding is that if they cancel your excursion and you paid for it on your credit card you get the full refund on to the card. If you use SM credits and there is nothing of interest (or available) its to bad for you as there is no "refund". The other thing to keep in mind is you can book non Oceania excursions via the internet. Some even offer guarantees to have you back to the port before the all on board time or they will pay to get you to the next port to re-board. Booking your own excursions on line is often half the cost of Oceania and in some cases the tour operator is the one providing O with the shore services and guides.

When you buy a ticket you have the option of paying a premium for the ability to get a full refund. In effect you are buying "cancel for any reason" insurance from the airline. They sell you a ticket to travel on a specific date and at a specific time (yeah right !). They are willing to full fill the contract it is the traveler that decides (for good reasons that may have been at no fault of the traveler) to cancel. We got snookered by O changing our debarkation port and I had to pay the airline 150.00 per passenger to change the flights to the new port city. My bad, I bought the "cheapest" type of ticket which unfortunately for us is now not the cheapest ticket. Its unfortunate but I rolled the dice and lost.

Dear Valued Guests and Travel Advisors, As the safety and security of our guests and crew are our top priorities, we have taken the decision to amend our published 2024 itineraries that were scheduled to sail in the Holy Land region. The itinerary changes reflect a thoughtful realignment of our sailings with a focus on the peace of mind of our guests and crew as well as presenting an amazing and enriching guest destination experience. On your sailing, we are replacing calls in the Holy Land region as listed below with the new ports highlighted in bold. Your reservation number and accommodations remain unchanged and there is no action required on your part. The updated itinerary now features an additional selection of historically significant and culturally rich destinations in Croatia and Italy. A few featured highlights, emblematic of the destinations on the voyage, are below. This is the wording in the Oceania email dated Nov/07/23 signed by Carlos Ortega The ports removed were izmir Turkey and Istanbul Turkey which apparently are part of Holy Land region.

That's why I'm confused. I can buy canceling Istanbul for our June cruise but how is it "safe" for other O ships to stop at Turkish ports before and after our scheduled overnight and disembarkation on June 27. Something doesn't add up but we like the new ports so its all good. Just makes me think O is full of .... and safety is the new "weather conditions" in terms of corporate excuses.

Have to account for the time changes but the other couple we are on the cruise with regularly eat dinner after 8 or 9 pm. Booking specialty restaurants at those time should not pose an issue, now getting them up and off the ship at 8 am might be another issue ! Either way we are really looking forward to the upcoming cruise.

I have seen various posts about specialty restaurants not being busy later in the evening (last sitting) or even people being asked by Oceania staff if they would like to eat in a specialty restaurant tonight (ie not busy and offering sittings to get people in) If we book/use our 4 specialty restaurants and we ask if they have any openings on another night can you get another sitting if its not busy ? Based on past cruises I could see eating at Red Ginger on multiple occasions. If they are slow it would seem to be a win win but who knows what management would say about that. Anyone managed to get more specialty dinners ?

We booked the June Rome - Istanbul cruise late last year. When the Gaza war started Oceania canceled the two ports in Turkey citing passenger safety as the primary reason. Several other cruise lines did the same thing. I thought it was a bit strange given the location of Istanbul relative to the areas of conflict but it made sense even if it was our disembarkation port. We really like the new selection of ports so it was actually a better itinerary for us Now I see Oceania scheduling ships to dock in Istanbul again. I am confused as to why Istanbul is back on O's sailings. Anyone have information or ideas on this ?