thebsinmiss

We are on the Riviera in June and they had some major changes such as canceling the last 3 ports including Istanbul which was supposed to be our disembarkation port. All our flights and hotels were booked and had to be changed I got the email direct from Oceania and our TA forwarded the same email the next morning which is pretty good turn around given all her clients and the fact she shouldn't be checking email 24/7 for work Our shore excursion credits (Simply More) were back on our account within 5 days due to our TA's efforts. It took O over a month to list excursions for the new ports (Kotor/Dubrovnik/Ravenna and disembark in Trieste) We are very happy with the new ports but most of the excursions are way over priced and none have hit the "we have to do this" button for us. I have used up the SM excursion credits on two ports early on in the sailing so there is a chance to use them if further changes are made. Mainly doing self directed city walking tours except for pre/post cruise in Rome and Venice.

Small ships are great but they do not offer the things you seem to value. No big shows/production numbers Average age of the cruisers is definitely higher than yours Can't really comment on solo passenger ratio but bet it is very low. Most of the bars shut down by midnight Our last cruise had a string quartet playing at various times, afternoon/early evening Pianist in the main bar shut it down by 10 or 11 pm By the way Oceania is owned by NCL Supposedly they are run independently but I have to think a lot of the issues being blamed on NCL head office could leak over to O.

Concierge is nice to have and if you are coming from another line that had butler service then it is likely something you want. -no difference in the room size unless you go with a suite -get a bottle of champagne in your room -higher priority in boarding and better restaurant booking access. - full access to the spa mineral pool and private spa area (can apparently buy a pass for 25/person/day) -access to the concierge lounge -believe you get a free bag of laundry service We have gone with standard balcony / no concierge.as we didn't see the value for our particular needs If you go with concierge its worth going thru Oceania posts to understand how to get the maximum benefit of the level. Hope you enjoy your cruise.

Don't forget Oceania allows you to bring wine/beer (spirits?) on to the ship for consumption in your own cabin only. Based on several other posts it appears numerous cruisers pick up an interesting bottle or two in various ports which allows them sample some nice wines not on the O list !

Our travel agent strongly recommended booking our flights ourselves (did not use the TA either which was fine with her). Reasons - No guarantee you will have a direct flight. You may end up with multiple airports and flights - No real control over seat assignment. If you book yourself you pay a fee but you can immediately select your seats which is especially important if you want exit row, premium economy etc... - Typically you can do all the above at a lower cost vs the airfare cost quoted by O but it requires some extra time on the computer looking for the right deal. Enjoy your cruise (and flights)

Just heard back from our travel agent regarding the sale price on our cruise. O gave us a decent on board credit to offset a large portion of the price difference. We were not able to upgrade to Concierge but appreciate they did something given the terms of sale conditions and fact our final payment was already made. Spa day and or more cooking classes or a couple of really nice bottles of wine/champagne if my DW gets a hold of the credits before me

Its consistent actions like this on the part of several (most?) cruise lines that are putting off a lot of cruisers. I can understand canceling ports due to legitimate safety concerns (ex: middle east) or legitimate weather issues (as opposed to citing weather when its dead calm seas and sunny ) The NCL fiasco is just the latest example. We are looking forward to our June cruise and will enjoy it even if changes get made on the fly but the cost and apparent disdain for customers will likely make this our last cruise. For the money we can book extremely nice all inclusive resorts in interesting places or even do a multi city rail vacation. We will be voting with our feet and our money.

I have been watching the back and forth on this topic and now it applies to us. Booked a June cruise on Riviera last year via a TA. Spotted a sale before our final payment due (per the 150 day requirement) and the TA had the fare adjusted to the new lower price. Just looked at the O sales yesterday and the way I read it the same cruise/ship/cabin class is about 700.00 dollars (cdn) per person lower than the adjusted price. On the website it shows the cabins as available for that price point. I have asked our TA to ask O for an adjustment. Given all the posts about O's management practices and attitudes I am guessing they will say no changes as payment is final. Does anyone have prior experience with this scenario? I would hope the TA might get a cabin upgrade (From B2 to concierge?) Thoughts? Guidance ?

NCL, Oceania and various other cruise lines all canceled Turkish ports citing safety concerns. Likely related to the current Gaza war along with other issues. I read somewhere that certain lines have canceled them thru 2025.

I have been following (Lurking?) this form for a while and found the various opinions interesting in advance of our June 2024 Riviera Cruise. Low an behold we get an email one minute ago advising that "due to Port congestion" our ports have been "changed". These are ports added after the original itinerary was adjusted in light of the cancelation of Turkish ports. 1) Kotor is moved from June 24 to June 25 . Time in Kotor is changed from 10am - 6PM to 7 am - 4 pm. Not a major issue as we have not booked any excursions 2) Dubrovnik is moved from June 25 to June 24 (ie: swapped Kotor and Dubrovnik) Time in Dubrovnik changed from 7 am -3 pm to 8 am - 6 pm (again not a big deal as nothing booked and it represents a net gain in port of 2 hrs) 3) Ravenna Time in port changed from 9 am - 8pm to 11 am - 9pm (net loss of 1hour) What is interesting is I had confirmed the other ships in all our scheduled ports and the passenger numbers when the original change was made. On the 24th Kotor only had L'Austral (264 passengers) scheduled in port . Dubrovnik had Royal Clipper (227) Serenade of Seas (2578) and Vista (1469) in port with us. I imagine Dubrovnik was the sticking point with the city/port authorities. I will have to see what the latest port schedules show as of today. Communicated well in advance and none of the changes really impact our plans so we are not upset I guess we will have to see what the next few months bring.

I was also wondering about spa access as the wording seems a bit unclear. I take it to mean all passengers can use the steam room/sauna/showers and lockers at no charge. I also believe the thermal beds/loungers are also available on a first come first served basis (They were on Carnival several years ago) I think the only things that requires a a higher level fare or extra payment is possibly a spa relaxation area (if they have one). Obviously any treatment (massage/facial etc..) that involves an attendant is at extra charge and needs to be booked. Hopefully someone can update us from recent experience on the Riviera.

We are on the Riviera in June and I hope the internet is better by then. It is a port intensive 10 day cruise so there will be opportunities to use local port based WIFI to connect (potentially riskier) and we will purchase regional esym cards for data only so we can use google maps, self directed tours etc.. It is definitely not just cruises where Internet access can be extremely problematic. I recall being at a five star Caribbean resort and the "premium" wifi was horrible. Had problems sleeping and got up and wandered around at 3 am and found multiple people sitting in the lobby working away in order to get good service. One couple had 3 laptops and 2 cell phones going at the same time. I asked them what was up and they were investment bankers and apparently they couldn't "disconnect" Didn't ask if they had kids with them "enjoying their vacation" ! Internet/WiFi is considered as essential by most people now a days and it is a huge potential sticking point for all cruise lines (or resorts). If you pay for "premium" internet and your expectations are not met it is one of the bigger negatives that end up on all the post boards.

All kinds of options. 1) Hired car which you can find via a google search using terms Trieste/Venice/Transfer service - if you used a travel agent they should be able to provide you some options - with 4 of you the cost would not be that bad (found costs to be 400-500 range for the car) 2) Cruise transfer bus - have not seen one being offered by Oceania. Most go from the cruise port to airport near Venice. If so you still need to hop a cab/bus to venice or catch the water taxi from the airport to venice to a dock close to your hotel ($$$) I thought I saw a post on another cruise line saying its about 60-65/person. 3) ItaliaRail Trieste centrale to Venice San Lucia - Hop a cab from cruise port to trieste station (or 15 minute walk with bags). Be careful as there are two stations for Venice. San Lucia is the one on the island, Mestre is on the mainland closer to the airport. Catch an express which takes about 2 hours and costs about 24 $ canadian per person Train times don't necessarily sync with the disembarkation times. For us we disembark at 8 am in Trieste and the direct/non stop to San Lucia is at 9:15. Doubt we can make it as we plan to walk to the station. Next direct non stop is about 12:15 so we will likely stow our bags at the locker service in the station and wander around the town and have an early bite. 4) Regional bus service. By far the cheapest but also the longest way to get to Venice. Strikes me more as a back packer/hostel staying option. Be a bit of a shock after an O cruise for 10 days. The hired car/limo is smoothest easiest. Post on your roll call if you want to find some others to split a larger van but then you have to coordinate destinations in Venice (airport?/Hotel near airport or on island etc...)

Alternate solution that may work for you. If in a port with the city really close to the ship use the internet and find a local registered masseuse. Walk the city prior to your appointment, get the massage and then back on to the boat for an afternoon cocktail ! Helping the local economy and finding another option to some of the uninteresting shore excursions. I found the cruise ship spa's to be way over priced and focused on pumping up the bill to ridiculous levels. A full one hour Swedish massage in Toronto costs 100-120 Cdn plus tip. Yes they don't have the outrageous overhead and a cruise line taking an extra xx% off any bill but I guess you pay for the convenience on board.

Thank you ! Oceania comes out ahead with me as far as the drink package but I might make it back on the deserts !

My DW has upgraded on the drink package although I really doubt she will consume enough to get the value out of it especially if we utilize the ability to bring some wine on board for consumption in our cabin. I don't drink alcohol so the SMore package doesn't really benefit me. My questions for a recent O cruiser are: 1) is Non-Alcoholic beer (ie: Heineken 0.0%) considered as a charged "drink" or is it available at no charge at meals or even any time 2) Am I correct in my belief that soft drinks/bottled water is available free at any time from a bar/restaurant 3) Is the water/soft drinks (and non-alcoholic beer) in the cabin fridge part of the no charge beverages? Appreciate any current info we can get.

Perfect and thanks for the information and quick response. Another reason to convince my DW to pack less stuff.

Can anyone confirm if the guest Laundry rooms supply detergent? I usually bring a few "pods" and some fabric sheets in a Ziploc bag for a mid cruise load or two on longer vacations. Some cruise lines don't want you using your own detergent to prevent causing the washers to "over suds". We are sailing on the Riviera this June and have booked 3 days pre cruise and 3 post cruise so a little laundry will help reduce the need for more clothes....... If I can convince the DW to pack light 🙂

We disembark in Trieste from Riviera on June 27 at 8 am. Has anyone walked with the bags to the train station? The distance is showing at 1 km but I don't know how easy that would be with the luggage. Any experience/comments? Option is to catch a cab, just hope the taxi drivers aren't like at the Toronto airport where they get upset/rude if its a "short fare" trip. Also I'm estimating the disembarkation will take an hour which makes it unlikely we can catch the 9:15 train direct to Venice Santa Lucia. Next express/direct is 12:16 so we are planning to use the short term luggage lockers at the Trieste station and then walk around Trieste for a few hours and grab an early lunch. Any recent experiences would be appreciated.

Interesting discussions that seem to narrow down to expectations and how they are met/not met. Reading the original post I was surprised to hear that some of the gym equipment and the lockers were already in need of repair. Didn't the boat just come out of refit in late 2023? We are on the ten day June 2024 Rome to Venice cruise and this will be our second on Oceania. We also sailed on Silver Seas the year following our first O cruise. The group we traveled with agreed that they preferred the O cruise vs Silver Seas when considering cost/expectations. Hopefully the upcoming trip will be as enjoyable as our last (Especially Red Ginger !)