pinotlover

One never knows who will be aboard. We did a 17 day HK-Bangkok cruise on Nautica back in 17 I think. There were more Germans, Austrians, and Swiss combined than Americans or Brits. According to those passengers, Oceania had done a huge sale in their countries , for a few cruises, to attract more 1st time Oceania customers. The prices they quoted were very impressive and I the sale obviously worked ! We in the States never saw any offers like that. All this to say, one never knows what the passenger mix will be.

Crew has a bar in their break area. I’m guessing they’re limited on how much they can drink on any break.

No Oceania tour needed in either Oporto or Lisbon, but we did take an all day one in Portimao (sp) that was very nice. We went out to the very SW corner of Europe and the scenery and other attractions were nice. Not sure if your cruise goes there or not.

Remember the song: Hello Mutter; Hello Father; Entertaining, a searching Party You didn’t need 20 pictures of the searching party to relay you’re doing fine! 😂 Pictures devour capacity.

Part of the issues would be resolved if people would only wait until they get back home to post all those pictures. Speaking of which, what does a picture of any food tell you? Would a picture of an Oceania cookie inform another of their poor taste? “ Yep, that’s a cookie, the ship has cookies!” 🙄 Or, here’s my picture of a lobster tail! We won’t talk about how it took a chainsaw to cut it, but the pictures are pretty. Or, the person trying to upload twenty five pictures of a sunrise, and complaining about upload speed! Trust me, people will be equally entranced ( or not) by your all your sunrises photos if you wait until you’re home to post/upload them. Then just think of all the other enjoyment you can be having not wasting time trying to upload a hundred pictures! 😃. Also consider the how it might free up capacity for those poor working stiffs that might really need it! 😇

Nah! He was pumping iron, working out diligently, in the gym! 🤓

One must add jurisdiction to the mix. Just because Oceania has an office in Miami doesn’t mean lawsuits on foreign flagged vessels while at sea can be brought there. You’re not in Kansas anymore Dorothy! Of course, this closely follows people talking about the ADA while visiting the pyramids in Egypt or other such sites. 🙄

I personally believe the story by the ship’s personnel is hogwash. Exactly what court was this supposed lawsuit, for an incident at sea, brought? Too many of the incidents of valuables being left seem fake. To me, it’s all just another example of Oceania not choosing to enforce its own policies. Outlandish stories about lawsuits don’t change that.

Absolutely not. The ship yards have been struggling since Covid and their issues have been well publicized. People have been notified well in advanced. We’re booked on the September TA. We definitely won’t buy airline tickets for this cruise until at least six months before hand. In fact, it may be smarter, for this cruise, to use O Air thus eliminating that risk. At this point, an Allura September cruise is still 50-50 imo.

Some of us enjoy more flexibility on the first night. Maybe it’s a meet and greet or some other event. Maybe it’s meeting up with old cruising friends in the bar, or watching a beautiful sail away from a great harbor. On the first night aboard ship we don’t want a tied to schedule. We’ll show up to eat when we’re ready to do so. Plenty of time to eat in the Specialties.

Another variable. First, forget about the 2% in top suites, and ancedotal tales of mostly empty ships post Covid. Oceania has varied in its unpublished policies on the number of extra Specialty reservations allowed on any given cruise. There are those cruisers that only want to eat in a Specialty and will line up early at the table to attempt in getting the extra nights. The Reservation Clerk can see how often any person or group has gotten extra reservations. Cruisers have been turned down in the past, not because of space, but solely to give others an extra opportunity. This has varied in the past, along with variations on different ships, but it still comes into play.

I hope people aren’t looking for the one size fits all answer to any of this. When in a PH, we use our butler to get extra Specialty reservations. We don’t stand in the line. We never wait and ask for same day reservations . Typically, we plan a day or more in advance and our Butler is successful. However, on short segment cruises, 7-10 days) we have been told by our Butler to not even ask for additional reservations in Jacques, for example. He’d try to get us another elsewhere, if we choose, but Jacques is impossible. With ir without a butler, on long single segment cruises 20-21 days, getting an extra reservation on Day 16-20 has typically been fairly easy. However, getting it in the same cruise on day 2-10 not so. A lot of variables go into the equation, and one size definitely doesn’t fit all passengers on all cruises.

We often see meat platters masquerading as dinner plates! Take a look at the size of your older China plates which were normal servings. Now we get what was meat platters completely filled. Most of obese America has lost the concept of what a normal serving is. We asked for soup last week, in a very nice restaurant, in lieu of the salad and the soup bowl was the size of large serving bowl for a family. Oceania drastically reducing serving sizes to reasonable levels is a good thing. No one needs a doggie bag on a cruise ship.

I didn’t book until a September sailing for a reason. We’ll see if that one actually goes! 😳

Sounds like to me they used it on a different tour.

First paragraph goes to the heart of a post I just made in Reduced Ports Stays. We didn’t make the Falklands last year, we were in the majority and it got skipped/cancelled. One should NEVER use SM credits for a Falklands ship tour. You’re begging for self inflicted trouble. I have never gone hungry on any cruise. I’m not a fattening hog, and cutting portion sizes is a good thing. Amazing watching people order huge steaks or chops and then sending most to the garbage. 😒

Another strategy is to strategize your credit use, and never use SM credits to book tender ports! Use up all your credits on standard ports, then pay for tender ports tours making them reimbursable if missed or shortened. Play the odds.

Interesting. We disembark on 4/13 and won’t be back from Japan until 4/19. I wonder if we’ll even see the new Collection before we disembark? Will the OCA pre book us for on board booking discounts and OBC? Never cut a new release this close before.

Just a few personal observations from one that cruises purely for the ports and sees SM as only a price increase. 1. I believe Oceania could improve the situation by not allowing SM credits to be used until after FP. 2. People on my upcoming cruise have complained about no ship tours in certain ports being available. What they mean is: no tours they want to do. There’s a difference. When we didn’t like Vikings included tours, we booked private ones, and didn’t cry over lost funds. Seeing and doing what we wanted to do in port was far more important to us than any free/included ship tour. I realize not all feel that way. 3. Oceania has a history of missing ports and cutting port times. That’s established. Therefore, if you really cared about your SM credits, why would anyone wait until the last couple of ports to use them? Apply them early in the cruise so that if necessary they can be used later on. 4. There’s a bit of “ the early bird gets the worm” to all of this. If you are one of those that enjoy Oceania shorexs or are really emphatic about the SM credit, perhaps a strategy is to book the cruise at least a year in advance before tours are released so to get those tours you desire. This may mean; not booking aboard, or missing another of the constant sales, but only you can decide what’s more important. SM is now the order of business. The exercise now should be how to strategize on best using the new policies.

Maybe, maybe not. A group of us, doing an after tour party on Marina, shared our Travel Agency and Travel Agent names and deals/services we were provided. I was rather shocked to hear of one using a strictly online Agency that gave a rebate of 11 or 12% depending upon certain criteria. Catch was, one got billed ( actually subtracted from rebate) for for any other service provided. If you cancel a cruise, you get a bill for any past services.

Actually, the Travel Agency, for which the Travel Agent is employed, receives a commission from Oceania. Travel Agents are paid in multiple fashions, only one of which is by commission.

No. It’s a price increase overall for Oceania. Whether any individual feels they got a deal, in the long run the prices went up. If X= the retail cost of any shore excursion. I have found it mostly impossible to convince most Oceania passengers that mathematically paying 2X less a 25% discount is more than X. For many that simple math is unfathomable. Sometimes the math is even worse. Or, money just doesn’t matter to most of them. Laughing our buttocks off is defined when taking a private tour for $85 each and having people on the same van, doing the exact same tour, paying $365 each to Oceania. 😂😂😂 Maybe they booked enough overpriced tours they got $25% off! Because only old rich Oceania cruisers believe that $365 - 25%< $85. Happens regularly. Happened twice this past summer on Vista. Never pay retail says some! 😂😂 They booked enough to get 25% off! 😂👍👍! Absolutely, SM tour credits are a wonderful deal. Just book more ship tours and get a better deal. 🙄

It’s use it or lose it! there are so many permutations of the question, I don’t feel like a three page reply. But only rarely will you ever see or expect OBC for SM bookings Igor missed ports. Get over it . SM is simply a price increase. 😒

NO! Absolutely NO! It’s Oceania, not another line. There is a singular “ Wine by the Glass “ list that is applicable to all wine packages.Read All as those exact wines are available by the glass whether on any beverage package or not. NO separate wines for any package.

Shortened port stays typically = less port fees. Another huge savings.