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clairol

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  • Posts

    254
  • Joined

About Me

  • Location
    Massachusetts
  • Interests
    Good food, Travel, History
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    Oceania
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    The Med

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clairol's Achievements

Cool Cruiser

Cool Cruiser (2/15)

  1. We celebrated our 10th anniversary on a Riviera cruise - this was right after the pandemic so we scored a once in a lifetime Oceania suite at a once in a lifetime price. Unfortunately, our butler asked my husband what, if anything, we/he wanted to celebrate our anniversary. He couldn't come up with anything... so that's what we got.. 🤭
  2. 100% agree - 2 for 1 doesn't even make sense and causes more confusion than needed. As much as I did enjoy the your world, your way approach, and it was in fact what initially attracted us to Oceania, I am looking forward to giving SM a chance. And the added savings from our original booking from the Summer Sale made it the perfect opportunity to give it a whirl next June!
  3. Sorry, my response was confusing. Lost in translation. I know you can because, well, we did. 😉 I was just noting it is not really "marketing" like the free air because you can opt out of the air whereas you cannot (or will not be able to) opt out of SM.
  4. But you can opt out of the "free air" by getting a air credit, right?
  5. Julian, Here is a comparison - top shows what was previously given. Bottom shows what was given this time. hope this helps! I’m sure you’ll have a fabulous time on your trip in March. Feel free to ask any questions you may have. Mauibabes, I would agree that lanyards around the neck with cards are typically not seen on Oceania. But I have to say on this cruise. They were absolutely everywhere. Very different crowd. When I have more time - busy readjusting to reality and playing catch up after being away - to compose my thoughts and I’ll shoot some out.
  6. Hi! No idea. No evidence of any cases. No testing. Nothing reported. Sparse mask wearing. We are wearing masks on buses and other crowded areas. Not everyone schooled to do so. But again no cases shared, reported or evident. Sorry not to have more information to share.
  7. @WESTEAST As has already been shared, if disclosed they will definitely take into consideration any of your allergies or restrictions. In fact, we have none however, they called our suite two days in advance of the dinner to triple confirm. I’m sure if you share restrictions, preferences, and/or allergies, they will be more than accommodating. They aim to please. I definitely encourage you to go in with an open mind. We typically bring wine on board, but we do love to experience wines that we may find in port or they are recommended on board. Yes, there’s always some hit and misses but, for us, it’s part of the adventure. Plus for $114 or whatever we paid for the dinner, you get to try some wines and some extraordinary food pairings. Seems pretty good deal to us… especially as one bottle of “nice” wine ordered off the menu is at least that. But that’s us. Choose your own adventure!
  8. I must admit we were pretty much oblivious to our surroundings as we sat in the industrial port in Casablanca, moving from dock to dock, waiting for the mechanical issue to be resolved so we could leave… why? Because we were enjoying our first La Reserve wine dinner experience. Let me just say… it will not be our last! From food to wine, from company to waitstaff, the ENTIRE experience was, in one word, exquisite. We could not have asked for better. It far exceeded our expectations and they were already high. If you are even considering a dinner at La Reserve… Don’t hesitate - book it immediately! It helped that we were fortuitously seated with two lovely couples. Couple of things to think about if you take the plunge… Go early, they seat you outside and serve you a champagne cocktail with canapés. It’s a great opportunity to meet some of your dining companions. If you’re in a penthouse or above, your butler will happily escort you down. We didn’t realize that and he was searching all over for us. I think it’s a lovely touch. No need for a big lunch and or pregame cocktails as it’s a lot of food and a lot of wine. Pace yourself. You don’t necessarily need to eat and drink everything… But then again, you’re on holiday might as well! They were very liberal with follow up pours. Also, we all took pictures throughout. They will line up all of the bottles for you to take a picture at the end, which I found very helpful! In addition to appreciating the food and the wine you can’t help but appreciate the staff - waitstaff and chefs. They’re hard-working, fun, talented, knowledgeable, accommodating and incredibly personable - they really make you feel like a VIP. If you have any questions about the experience, and have not done it before, feel free to ask! As a newbie, I had a few...
  9. Yesterday stop was Casablanca. If you have images of exotic morocco, you may be disappointed. As one new friend on board summed up “it made me appreciate where I live”. Casablanca is very urban and a mixture of new buildings, new construction and structures that you can’t tell whether are being built or have stopped being built. You will see an apartment building with laundry, and obvious signs of occupancy in a building that otherwise, let’s completely abandon. There’s a lot of garbage. Our wonderful tour guide told us that about 5 million people live in Casablanca. it was most definitely eye-opening. The port was incredibly industrial, and the only signs of life were the many officials and police. Other than that it was derelict and almost appeared abandoned. Suffice to say, they definitely don’t put a show on for incoming tourists. If you are going to be stopping at Casablanca, I definitely recommend you join an excursion or a tour. Also be forewarned, but it’s a very long walk from the ship to where you load onto the buses. I felt bad for some people with mobility issues or for whom long walk like that is a bit of a struggle. At one point my husband and I helped someone in a wheelchair get over obstructing curbs. ADA is not a thing here. Once again, Marina and Riviera were in port at the same time. But it wasn’t as noticeable as it was in Cadiz - except at our lunch spot - everyone scattered to different places. We chose an excursion through the boat to tour Hassan II mosque, then drive drive to El Jadida to tour the old town and the cisterns with a final stop back in Casablanca to visit a bazaar. Lunch included. The mosque was exquisite. We really lucked out with our tour guide as he was knowledgeable, easy to understand, very funny and made everything incredible accessible. He was a delight! The drive to El Jadida was interesting. A real insight to the true Morocco of this area. Prosperity next to poverty, seemingly drought affected yet fully functioning farmland, spots of lush greenery and stretches of beach or rocky landscape. Our lunch stop, was anti-climactic. Many other tours descended upon the same venue at the same time. The food was… Not great. and more disappointing, not “Moroccan”. The tour of the old town, and the Ramparts was interesting, but the true highlight, the cisterns, were closed for renovation. This was disappointing and had been communicated, if you read the excursion list that they gave you in your room upon embarking. There was no special notification. But, unfortunately, it came as a surprise to most people who found out once on the tour. This was billed as a 7 1/2 hour tour but, due to traffic, we didn’t get back to the city until 5:30 (ship scheduled to leave at 6 and we were told we would not have time to visit the bazaar. Again, without the incredible tour guide yesterday would not have been a success. I spoke to some others last night and they too were far from overwhelmed with their tours. I did speak to new friends who had chosen the tour to Rabat. It seemed the way to go. As was previously shared, we have an unexpected sea day. We were supposed to leave Casablanca at 6 PM. We did not leave till 2 PM. This means we have to miss out on Gibraltar today is appointing. But again we have to be prepared for itinerary changes. I seem unable to upload any of the photos… I’ll try again later.
  10. You might be able to make some money on the black market…😉
  11. @tigerfan75 You are most welcome. Bon voyage! I hope you have a wonderful adventures. Enjoy!
  12. As always, housekeeping goes above above and beyond beyond. Everything in place and replaced, neatened and cleaned. They work so hard that it makes me work harder at staying tidy and organized as a sign of respect. Wish they would come home with me - and with it my attitude! And our fabulous butler was able to wrangle up canapés even though we put our card out too late. He’s a magic man. We just talked about our preferences and he swapped out a few things from our fridge. Very accommodating! We lucked out this time. Terrace breakfast is always a treat. There are some noticeable changes since last year… The sausages are completely different, which is kind of a shame because we really loved the previous ones. Croissants still delicious. No more cling film/saran wrapped fronts to the buffet. They had that up last October, but in the “before times” they only had it up when it was a “norovirus cruise”. I keep reaching up and they keep handing out below. But I’ll figure out the choreography in time, I’m sure. Other than, that the selections were plentiful, fresh and yummy. Table service for drinks was attentive and quick. All in all - no complaints only full and thankful tummies readied for the day ahead. Barista coffees are delicious. Espresso after serious touring is very welcome. Captain’s welcome party tonight is replaced by complimentary cocktails from 6 to 8 PM in Horizons, the Grand Bar and Martinis. Interestingly, both Riviera and Marina were in Cadiz today. So everywhere you looked were little groups of Oceana folks roaming about. It’s a beautiful city full of lush parks, monuments and statues plus gigantic, fully utilized beaches. We took in the sites on our own. First on the hop on hop off bus and then just wandering the streets, heading to Mercado Central, hitting the Museo de Cadiz, walking the city walls with a final stop and your ancient tree in a small little park enjoying some tortilla Espanola and a cervecza. We were welcome back to the boat with cool towels, which was very nice in a hot day. Speaking of a hot day… The metal water bottles were new to us. We used one and another one we brought from home. Filled up with water from our cabin and from the dispensers. Couldn’t have been easier!
  13. Dinner last night at Jacques was exquisite. Service friendly and attentive. Table by the window. Food delicious! Three quick shots of our amuse bouche, my stater and my main. The dessert was gone before I had a chance! (for some reason, shown in reverse of how I posted) One “supply issue” or cutting corners thing I forgot to mention - surprising because I was shocked - is the classic faux leather card holders are gone and in their place a flimsy, super cheap, plastic folder over. So if you have a trip ahead and happened to have saved an old wallet, I encourage you to bring it.
  14. We were with you for a portion on Riviera - Athens to Trieste.
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