WESTEAST

36 minutes ago, lorimay said:

I'm not quite sure why the return of this documentation deserves big applause. I have my blue envelope right in front of me for our July sailing. We received it about two weeks ago. It contains the "personalized" letter (has my name at the top and the name of the journey at the bottom) which is a generic letter with no useful information. There are four "do it yourself" paper luggage tags, which might be useful but they changed our stateroom without telling us so the number on the tags is wrong. These go inside the four plastic colorful luggage tag holders. Then there is the completely generic booklet with deck plans for the ship. One thing missing - no copy of the itinerary. I'm still going to have to print that out myself.

 

I would rather they save money on this and the multitude of sales brochures I receive weekly and lower the prices. 

Wish we could get away from calling the booklet a 'blue envelope' as it has not been the old blue version for some time.  Our cruise booklet differs from what you have stated which is interesting. We've sailed many times since Covid (most recent in March), and our booklets have had a themed cover to the cruise destination e.g., bagpipes for UK, shrine for Japan, etc. The cruise itinerary was on an inner page with the map. Luggage tags that were included in the booklet (with minimal personalization and no shore excursion document) were plasticized paper with our names and stateroom - there were no colourful tag holders. A downsized booklet but still a nice memento. Noteworthy is that we have received a significant decrease in advertising brochures this year - maybe one every month if that!  

Read that Regent is changing their fare structure. Starting July 1, 2024 there are two fare choices: Ultimate All Inclusive includes air (with choice of First, Business or PE - you pay more for Business or First) and then All Inclusive Cruise fare only (no air). This is looking more like the Oceania fare structure. Regent's marketing as "The Most Inclusive Luxury Experience™ is now a bit of a stretch IMO or, as they state just offering more flexibility (good if you have airline points though believe previously, you could always remove air and obtain an air credit). Probably won't change loyal Regent passengers from cruising as believe there are many loyal just as with Oceania. Our personal opinion is that with new Oceania SM program, the difference is closing except that all Regent's Staterooms are larger than most Oceania staterooms (except PH and above) and we never used butlers to justify spending extra for their services. As well, Regent includes a shore excursion in each port though each time we have considered a Regent itinerary, the included excursions were mostly panoramic (didn't interest us) and one must pay extra for the others which changes the price comparison. Plus, we like to take a combination of cruise excursions and independent tours.

https://www.rssc.com/ultimate-all-inclusive-luxury 

On 6/1/2024 at 9:40 AM, Robjame said:

Not sure if this is a bit of an answer but there are certain excursions which are culinary classes - for instance “Cooking with Spices” (an example). You visit a spice farm with the O chef and return to the ship to do a culinary class. This allows you to you to use your SM excursion allowance for what is essentially an enhanced cooking class.

Great suggestion. Will remember for future cruises as an option.

Glad that you enjoyed your cruise overall. Food is always subjective however, 'institutional' description is a bit harsh IMO. With respect to the age of the passengers, we have also observed in the past two years, that most passengers are in the upper senior age and this is probably due to the many repeaters. Oceania has many loyal passengers and if they started cruising when in their late 50-60's, they are now in 70's to 80+ age group.  It is not unusual to have more than 50% of repeaters on recent cruises we have taken. Many posters have complained about how casual the 'country casual attire' has become as well (including us!).  That said, we continue to sail Oceania for the itineraries, service and yes, food.

9 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

First, some housekeeping. Oceania's slogan has never been "The Best Cuisine at Sea", it's "The Finest Cuisine at Sea". While "best" and "finest" may be synonyms in general, I think in this case there is a subtle difference in connotation, with "finest" being a bit softer assertion...but you may not agree.

 

Regardless, it's a registered trademark used for the purposes of advertising, and puffery in advertising is quite legal and extremely common. It doesn't have to be "factual" because "finest" is a statement of opinion. You may think it's the "finest" and I may not . There's no objective measure of "finest". Lots of posters here have raved for years about the miso coated sea bass in Red Ginger. I disliked it. To me Oceania took a potentially good piece of fish and ruined it with a cloying, oppressively sweet sauce.

 

BMW has used the trademarked slogan "The Ultimate Driving Machine" for decades. Are BMWs factually the ultimate driving machine ? Have they ever been?

 

The real issue isn't whether Oceania has "The Finest Cuisine at Sea" , if it ever did. The issue is whether Oceania's food is overall the same quality as it was, of higher quality than it was, or of lesser quality than it was. The answer will vary by individual. If Oceania eliminates or modifies a dish that you really like you'll say the quality has declined. I may not have cared for the dish and to my taste it either doesn't matter or perhaps I even like a replacement dish better.

Well said though we are some of those passengers that continue to enjoy Miso Sea Bass😋 

1 hour ago, Cruisegal5 said:

Thanks for all your kind replies. My invoice does show pre-paid gratuities, but I like to see it on the cruise line website. I don't want to get on the ship and be pointing to a piece of paper. The $660 is for the up graded beverage package. 

I have seen postings for free to town shuttles but most of them are for the Med.

As stated, it will not show on the website. Our TA sends us an invoice from her company as well which identifies all 'gifts' e.g., prepaid gratuities and in your case should show upgraded beverage package. Would ask your TA for one and also why Oceania's invoice does not display the beverage package. You will receive a Final Oceania Invoice once final payment is made and you must take a copy with you.  Understand you don't want any surprises but in the past, a paper copy is mandatory e.g., some of our OBC was not on the cards that will be in your Stateroom and once we provided our Final O invoice to the purser's (Reception) office, it was resolved quickly.  If you have particular British Isles, please identify and we can state if there was a shuttle though did find many British shuttle information on the provided link. 

1 minute ago, EJL2023 said:

The reference was to the paper version of your invoice. 

Yes only on the Oceania Invoice that your TA should have sent you by email or, maybe provide you a paper copy. 

On 5/21/2024 at 11:23 AM, CCJack said:

The SCAVI tour under St. Peters is very interesting (this is different than papal tombs).  However, it may be too late for you to book, as it is a very limited due to the close quarters.  I think less than 12 people in the group when we went.

 

Based on other threads the response from the SCAVI office has not been prompt either.  However, they are nice folks and good tour guides just slow to respond it seems.  - it is completely different staff than the Vatican Museum.  

 

Another vote for SCAVI tour as well as the Galleria Borghese.

21 minutes ago, Cruisegal5 said:

After paying my  deposit, I was given a booking number and I could see trip info under Manage My Cruise. My travel agent booked this cruise and the perk they gave was upgraded beverage package and pre-paid gratuities. The beverage package is there by not pre-paid gratuities. Anyone know where to look?

Also, on the cruise around the British Isles, does anyone know which cities have a free shuttle into town?

Your Oceania Invoice shows your TA pre-paid gratuities on page 3 under Amenities and Gifts and perhaps the upgraded beverage package (never had upgraded package so not sure). Take a look at this thread:                      

as very informative about shuttles (we've done the British Isles twice and used this listing).  Once onboard, you will find out by going to Destination Services and in the Currents paper delivered to your stateroom the night before.

7 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

We sail mostly (98%) on Viking and we just call Viking reservation line.  We have tried to keep in touch with one person but when we call back they are gone.  Turnover.  We have just never found a long term person with Viking.

 

We do all our research and find the cruise we want and then call to book.  We have even booked online on the Viking site and not used the call centre at all.

 

Then we transfer.

 

Yes, our agent is making a commission without having to do this initial part of the booking but we prefer to do this ourselves and then there is no back and forth.

 

We then must use the TA for other additions or deletions as we move to sailing date.

 

There may be better deals out there but this one we are good with.

 

We get:

1) $200.00 pp OBC and this is applied at the point of booking.  We can use this in advance for shore excursions or onboard if we don't purchase before sailing.  It is NOT refundable.  (This is actually applied to our invoice before we have made final payment with this TA.)

2) $100.00 pp by cheque once a year, and several other coupons for other services.

 

Essentially we get $400 per cruise, and the the $200 once annually.

 

If we can/could find a better deal, we would move to that.

 

There is one large agency in Canada that books Uniworld that you can get a lot of benefit from but they don't book Viking so we are out of luck.

1.  

Believe the one large agency in Canada also offers Regent Seven Seas, NCL and many more 😉 We sail Oceania so we too are out of luck. Have read some posters use this company all the time and never had any issues but we have not tried to date.

@MeanIt451 Suggest you take at look at your roll call and this site for port specific questions/answers re independent tours: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/116-northern-europe-baltic-sea/?_fromLogin=1 

11 minutes ago, howiefrommd said:

Somehow people are under the delusion that the post cruise surveys (Oceania and Regent) mean anything.  I have frequently completed these (including highlighting exemplary employees)  and are met with deafening silence.  I will say that surveys I completed mid cruise were acknowledged.  I find this with both of these lines.  Their onboard product is a good one.  Their before and after product needs much improvement.  Maybe they should stop contracting things out and take some ownership. 

Concur about the post cruise surveys and like you we have found the mid cruise feedback is acknowledged and when negative, a phone call to our stateroom has been received. 

50 minutes ago, SilvertoGold said:

Twice to Australia/ NZ in two years and no one had the slightest interest in what we were carrying through customs. We declared a couple of things (one med, one bag of OTC cough drops which contained the restricted  honey) and the customs guy looked totally uninterested. He wasn't even interested in looking at my list of meds. Just fill out the form and don't look like smugglers or drug dealers!

It is always up to the individual Customs personnel and you were lucky not to be questioned as were we.  Best policy is to be prepared!

Do believe the Canadian Government site is accurate in the wording - see screen shots below. We went online for AU & NZ ETAs and it was very easy process and received our confirmation minutes later.  FYI, advice we received for entering AU was to ensure that prescribed medications are in original bottles/packages and we had our Dr. provide paper listing meds with signature just in case - no one ever asked but best to be prepared.  NZ is very rigid about carrying fruit, vegetables etc. into their country (even visiting ports of call) and departing NZ for Canada, very strict on questions if you travelled to a farm, etc.  We found reading this CC AU & NZ site very useful: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/48-australia-amp-new-zealand/ We really enjoyed both countries.

On 5/7/2024 at 1:35 PM, gdlamberth said:

I've also read Canadians talking about "Hell's Corner."  I think I'd like to take family there also.

Don't think anyone responded to your mention about "Hell's Corner" - it it a memorial to the soldiers of the 9th Canadian Brigade. Dubbed “Hell’s Corner” by the Canadians who resisted heavy shelling and German counter attacks for a month.  We stopped briefly on a land tour and all sites are worth a visit. Highly recommend visiting Juno Beach Centre.  As you may know, this June is the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day on June 6th, 1944 which marks the day 132,000 troops landed on the beaches of Normandy to begin the liberation of Europe.  

1 hour ago, GeezerCouple said:

We just received an email, and it looks to be legitimate (not obviously from some bad actor), asking for "feedback":

 

"

We're sorry that you have decided to cancel your reservation with Oceania Cruises. We understand that your time is valuable and would greatly appreciate it if you would take less than two minutes to complete this two-question survey questions regarding your reason for cancellation. START NOW   THE FINEST CUISINE AT SEA®. CURATED TRAVEL EXPERIENCES. SMALL SHIP LUXURY.

"

Except... we haven't had a reservation with Oceania for several years.  We haven't had any cruise reservation since our last cruise in Nov/Dec, 2019.

We haven't re-started our globetrotting; we've barely made it to the supermarket!

[I was critically ill, carried off our flight home in Dec, 2019. Not Covid; that wasn't a well known thing then. But it turned out to be a BAD case of RSV, and I am still (!!) recovering.]

 

Is this perhaps an email with some malware (I did NOT click to "start now", obviously.

Or are their records soooo screwed up?

 

Inquiring minds, etc...

 

Thanks.

 

GC

Sorry to hear that you have been unwell and hope you are on the mend soon.

We also received email for survey about booking experience and the same 404 error? Received surveys in the past and never had issue with clicking on survey.  Believe the last one was about Oceania Club rewards. 

There is an itinerary that is part of the Flash Sale that interests us however, checking business airfare and yikes that is what may be the deciding factor to pass.

3 hours ago, avw said:

I just returned from 30 days on Azamara in Asia... 18 days in Japan and the rest going south to Singapore. It was absolutely fabulous! They took "Destination Immersion" to a whole new level. The shore excursions were excellent. Then, every day at 5pm, they brought a local group onto the ship to show some aspect of the Japanese culture... geishas, how to wear a kimono, Japanese music, taekwondo, tea ceremony, calligraphy, etc. Sometimes they were local school groups. It was wonderful! And every day when we left the port (often at night because Azamara stays in port late), there was a special send off performance on the dock ( baton twirlers, drummers, dancers, fireworks, etc), followed by many locals waving us off and wishing us a good journey and thanking us for coming to their town. It as just magical! Of course, there were also food specialties and drinks for each area we visited. I would gladly do it again and I highly recommend it to you. Can't imagine how this wonderful Azamara experience could be topped. P.S. I was traveling solo. 

 

Next week, I am leaving for 21 nights on Oceania, including the Norwegian Fjords. This will be my first time on Oceania's small ships. They have a hard act to follow. Hope they live up to the challenge!

This past March, we sailed onboard the Riviera for 12 days in Japan and South Korea. At each port of call, there were locals upon arrival drumming and waving flags, etc. and then when departing.  Hence, this is probably customary for ships arriving/departing Japan which is indeed very special and enjoyable. We've had lovely send-offs in other countries as well, bagpipers, marching bands, etc. There were themed Japan menus on our cruise at the Terrace and Oceania brought onboard Japanese drummers one evening. It was a wonderful itinerary, great service and food and we thoroughly enjoyed Japan. 

1 hour ago, edgee said:

Creperie will be not be near the Terrace. It will be around the corner from Baristas on Deck 14 where gorgeous large library is on Vista. Moving library to forward area near computer classroom and Horizons means it will be much smaller than Vista's. So for folks who love the library all the press release puffery about its location on Allura is probably putting lipstick on a comparative pig 🐖  💄 .

Thanks for update and too bad about O shrinking the library size.  

With Allura having "A luxurious new library, featuring walls of floor-to-ceiling glass..." hope there are walls for the books 🤣.  More choices with a Crêperie being added and expect it will be located as part of the Terrace buffet to enable made to order? Article focuses on food: "...culinary developments underway for Allura, including more than 300 new recipes in active development for The Grand Dining Room, across all three meal services. I am excited to reveal more in the coming months." We will have to stay tuned for details of new recipes and hopefully they will be shared across all GDRs. 

We will be in Porto next year and doing research on CC, another poster recommended GPSMYCITY app:  https://www.gpsmycity.com/gps-tour-guides/porto-3570.html.  Found it very helpful and informative in planning DIY days in Porto and other cities.  You download on your phone and use offline which means you don't have to worry about a data plan. 

Interesting topic however, things happen when flying.  Another example of disruption at gate: we were delayed in YUL for 8 1/2 hours due to no AC pilot (!) - yes, that was the reason they gave - they tried to find a pilot (presumably the original one fell sick).  Finally, we had a pilot and once plane was fully boarded heading to YVR, sitting in our seats, a passenger runs up to the attendants stating that he will not fly on this plane sitting beside a crying infant and demanded to get off.  He deplaned and then, we waited for his luggage to be retrieved from the plane!  Once the door was closed but still at the gate, a woman runs up to the attendants stating that her mother may be at the start of an anxiety attack and wants to get off the plane.  After some discussion including having the co-pilot come out to talk to the woman and her mother, they announced that a passenger was having a potential medical event and they have called paramedics for a medical assessment.  Took over 30+ minutes for the assessment to take place and then announced that the passengers would be exiting our flight!  Of course, baggage had to be retrieved.  We finally departed to YVR.  Story continues... we had a connecting AC flight which we were advised was delayed due to delay in arrival of flight attendants.  After another 1 1/2 hour wait, we finally had wheels up and were on our way.  Epic for us - we did received compensation from AC once we filed online for the prolonged delay. 

3 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

Canadians have a ton of options.  Not if you want non-stops from Toronto, or just want to fly Air Canada.  But to say you have few options is, IMO, to say that your searches tend to start and stop with AC.

Agree that Canadians have many options with non-stops or one-stops and not just with AC or through Pearson - we never fly to US to connect. We use Google Flights (https://www.google.com/travel/flights) as find it quicker/easier to navigate than the updated ITA Matrix, gives just as many routes/prices and is our go to source to find the routing we want. We compare air prices: O upgrade to Business Class fare (factoring in the included air fare) to our TA Consolidator rates to DIY rates for our routing of choice. Surprisingly once or twice, the O fare was a good rate with the transfers included.  Always best to compare.

12 hours ago, edinburgher said:

We have also used this in other locations with some success.

 

If it helps you decide, St Emilion can be very very crowded.

 

I have no knowledge of the "lumiere" attraction you mention.

We have downloaded the gpsmycity app and do plan to use for one day in Bordeaux and perhaps in other ports of call. Agree about crowds as most medieval villages and UNESCO World Heritage sites such as Saint-Émilion attract crowds.  Bassins des Lumières is the largest digital art centre in the world and is located in an old WWII German submarine base so sounds very interesting per our research.  Looking forward to Bordeaux and surroundings.