WESTEAST

You beat us by a minute to post about Leslie Jon😄

Gee first Leslie Jon retires and now Ray Carr moves to another cruise line (which many ex-Oceania have gone). Two outstanding CDs to replace in less than one year and not sure it will be easy to fill either one of these men's shoes!

We watched the original post on Dining and then looked at their recent one on the their Full Experience. Have never watched nor read their reviews prior. They seem to compare Oceania with Luxury lines like Regent etc. which is unfair IMO. On this O cruise they were on Deck 4 in an Ocean View stateroom and interesting that they didn't book a higher level stateroom if comparing to luxury lines where staterooms are larger and additional services are offered e.g., complimentary laundry which seemed to bother them (Concierge and above have complimentary laundry). They did use the free laundry room and no surprise it was crowded on a sea day as there is only one launderette onboard the R ships. That said, they seem to enjoy the ship and the two Speciality restaurants especially Red Ginger. With respect to their comments of the GDR and Waves, we too have had some meals that were not the best. As to the service and waiting to be served wine, we haven't had this issue pre-SM and now with SM and overall excellent service all round. Glass of wine in our neck of the woods is at least $12.00 upwards. Use of the word 'Finest' is subjective as we are all well aware of.

This is wonderful - thank you for taking the time to do this and hope that new additions can be added!

We always check whatsinport.com though usually only once when we are researching our trip. Thanks to your suggestion will now look at more frequently and particularly close to embarkation date to see what other ships are on the schedule and the related number of passengers.

Our observation is that the overall demographic is changing no doubt to the increasing number of loyal Oceania passengers who are all aging. Even when in Japan this year, most were in the 70 plus category which surprised us as it was a port intensive itinerary and many had mobility issues. However, with Covid delays and then Japan opening up later than other countries, both could be a factor in having more older passengers who had Japan on their bucket lists and were going regardless of age/mobility.

Thank you clarifying that if passengers went to cruise terminal they would have to leave/go to the hotel. Never heard of such a mess and hope Port Authority improves process by the time we depart next year. Thanks to these posts, we will make sure we check our email daily as we arrive in Lisbon a few days prior.

Thank you for your reply and must say that giving all passengers notice the day prior very short notice as many do fly in on the day of and don't check email as soon as they land. Some passengers probably went directly to the terminal info on their final document! It does sound like chaos and if any consolation our embarkation in Yokohama, Japan this past March was also chaotic as Port Authority had everyone waiting in the cold weather (outside canopy) with no respect to time frames or stateroom category and not one Oceania staff in sight. Complained to Concierge and did receive an apology saying they could have done better and looking to improve. Perhaps another anomaly but our worst embarkation to date.

Other passengers arriving at Narita did not have this issue and all Haneda counters were fully staffed; it wasn't just that the queues were long (no longer than waiting at other airports) but mostly having to do this check-in three times that was surprising to us.

@mb777 and @Pearl64 Interesting to read the embarkation experience you encountered as we will be embarking in Lisbon next year. We have disembarked in Lisbon but never embarked. Were you staying at a pre-cruise Oceania hotel or, did you receive notification that all embarkation must take place at a designated hotel, then be transferred by bus to ship or, opt to take your own transportation to ship e.g., Uber? Thank you.

Hope your experience is better than what we had onboard Oceania in March/April this year: Japanese authorities boarded when we returned from South Korea, it was a very long queue with no preference/priority to passengers for shore excursions, etc. Of note, when we departed Japan for South Korea, it was same process (plus, Japanese officials had problems with their equipment which resulted in a longer queue). Pack your patience - in Japan at each port of call you carry your passport with you which is checked by Japanese authorities when you depart the ship and repeated when you return to the ship after your excursion/tour. That said, we loved our visit to Japan.

Our experience was that despite having pre-registered on the Visit Japan Web app and with our QR codes in hand, we still had long queues upon arrival in Haneda. We had to line up three times and scan our QR codes, complete finger printing scan, facial recognition and passport review. In addition in one queue, the machine would not read one of our QR codes - we presented the hard copy of the yellow forms and was passed through quickly. Hence, wise to complete the manual forms as a back-up!

First must say that we loved Japan and the only negative was with the Japanese customs/immigration upon arriving at Haneda airport and subsequently onboard Riviera departing to South Korea and then returning: facial recognition, fingerprinting and passport control! Each Japanese port of call, we also had to present passports disembarking and embarking to the ship hence, you carry your passports with you. Found the Japanese people to be very polite, courteous and helpful; also, very strict on debris and even Tokyo was the cleanest big city we've visited. To your question, we decided to have a lazy day in Beppu and merely walked around the dock area and returned to a lovely lunch in the Terrace Cafe as we were busy every other day. There was a complimentary shuttle to town though observed long queue and not too frequent. Enjoy Oceania and Japan.

Good question. We have always had WiFi while sailing - when ashore, one would need to use public WiFi. We have never had a need/requirement to use public WiFi and using the ship's WiFi while sailing has worked out for us. In the event of an emergency to connect with family/friends while in port with no O Wifi, we would go ashore and use public (usually free) WiFi which seems to be easily available.

Glad that you enjoyed your inaugural cruise and enjoyed reading your post. We've sailed many times with Oceania and to date, it still ticks all the boxes for our preferences. Though, we still frown at one another when we see stated dress code not being enforced and there has been the odd meal we didn't enjoy or encountered very bad weather which prevented the ship from getting into a port. Overall all of our cruises have been memorable for the destinations and the Oceania ship's crew and amiable service.

As mentioned by others, we too turn our iPhone on airplane mode and then, WiFi to connect to the ship's free WiFi. We don't have an international calling plan and don't require one as we use WhatsApp. It is free app and provides for free international and domestic LD calls and texts. As posted, the receiver does need to be on WhatsApp. Our important contacts use WhatsApp as well. Never encountered an issue and it is easy to download and use.

Custom air has not changed you would call O directly or via your TA - Custom air requests for specific airlines, routings, flights, etc can be requested once payment has been made on the booking and no earlier than 270 days prior to sailing. The cost to request custom air is $199 USD / $299 CAD per guest per request plus any applicable air differential. The $199 USD / $299 CAD service fee is non-refundable once the custom air is accepted. https://oceaniacruises.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360005308274-How-do-you-handle-custom-air-requests Online you can select air class like before on the drop-down: Economy (now an add-on with a rate - previously was included in Cruise plus Air fare) or PE or BC (if offered).

Allura was floated from the dry-dock and moved to the fitting-out berth to begin outfitting the interiors. Looks like Allura will officially enter service from Trieste, Italy, on July 18, 2025. https://www.oceaniacruises.com/media/2024/Oceania+Cruises+Floats+Out+New+Ship+Allura+at+Fincantieri+Shipyard+In+Genoa%2c+Italy/

As expected, the July 1st updated site includes the new air program (excluded from SM program), a summer sale as well as regular July 1st fare increases. Comparison tables for value and culinary are new to the updated site. Re air program, one can do a mock booking and include air by class that will display the airfare regardless how far in advance the cruise date is e.g. prior to airlines publishing their schedules/fares. O's site states: Yes, airfare is available for purchase on a booking even if airlines have not published schedules yet. (Airlines typically release schedules 364 days in advance). Custom air requests are available 270 days prior to departure but airfare can be added at any time. Link to Air FAQ: https://oceaniacruises.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/sections/360001108894-Air The updated Ultimate Value page has two comparison tables of Oceania to 5 cruise lines for Cruise Value and Culinary Comparison. (https://www.oceaniacruises.com/value).

Not only is The Empress stunning but if time permits, it is famous for their Afternoon Tea in the Lobby Lounge which has been served since the hotel opened probably about 100 years ago. Other stunning former CP Rail hotels (now Fairmont) and our favourites are in Alberta (Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper Park). We order our Empress Tea online at the Fairmont Store: https://canada.fairmontstore.com/collections/tea-at-the-empress.

Thank you for your posts and will save these excursion recommendations for future reference as we have yet to take an Alaskan cruise.

Received a recent survey from Oceania with 10 sets of multiple-choice questions wherein you had a choice of two itineraries. Disappointed in that one could not leave any comments/feedback on what itineraries we wish were included more of Asia, South Africa, Australia and too many itineraries were long voyages - 42 days which we would never consider. Hence, some choices were by number of cruise days versus the actual itinerary.

We always have currency in the countries we are visiting though do bring some US dollars for tipping crew onboard e.g., room service as it is the currency of the ship. You may find the Ports of Call page of interest for this area (https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/116-northern-europe-baltic-sea/) as this is the source we use for most country-specific questions and this thread in particular:

@janelledocb Thank you for posting and enjoyed reading your review from someone with fresh eyes. We've sailed many times with Oceania and great to read a post that has an even perspective on our favourite cruise line.

No thank you - maybe on a river cruise in Germany, Switzerland or in Hungary but not for us. To each his/her own 😀