pinotlover

Thanks ORV. That’s not what they did in the past, trying to wait until out of Brazilian waters to make the charges, especially if they are making other stops in Brazil.

It could also be the case that the Marina, in different formats, has been running this route yearly for at least a decade. After two Covid cancellations we finally did Buenos Aires-Lima last year. A great cruise except for missing ports. Point is, that many of we Oceania regulars have already ran that route and probably won’t repeat. Oceania therefore needs new blood to fill the ship. We unfortunately also had Peter the Shoe as our CD on that Marina voyage. 🥲😤. He is one of the few CD I’ve meet that can turn a poor situation into a bad one.

Simply More is merely a price hike. Few people enjoy paying more for any product.

The VAT is for sales made on the ship. If you have pre purchased any of the packages, then there are no taxes added. If no package, then the tax is added to your bill at purchase. A caution here, if you upgrade to the Premium Drinks Package on board, you will pay the tax on that upgrade. So for that 10 day upgrade the new cost becomes $30/day x 10 days x 1.25 VAT.

Our world, unlike some here, is not limited to Ocean cruises. That episode propelled us to different experiences and explorations. We still ocean cruise and have other Oceania cruises booked, one in a couple months. However, for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction as Albert E. would say. More unsavory games can always affect future actions.

I’m far more vindictive. Oceania wants to screw me over on $300. No problem. I’ll just cancel another Oceania $12-$13K cruise , and let them do the math. Oceania jerked us around on a cruise cancelling ports and reducing port times. We came home and had our TA cancel an Oceania cruise we had booked. That cruise didn’t sail full and I guess we’re part of the reason. If Oceania pulled this stunt, as described by the OP, with us over $300, we’d let them keep another $300 and cancel another $$$ O cruise. Can Jr do math?

On some 7 day segments, with a full ship, they will offer a 6:00 dining time. They do this to facilitate their pledge of a guaranteed reservation for each passenger in each Specialty. If one is not on a cruise with a 7 day segment, the earliest time you will find is 6:30. Rather simple actually.

If so, this represents a recent change. On our Vista cruise, a La Reserve dinner, which was held in Privee, could only be booked aboard.

😂😂. It’s barely after 11:00! Maybe the plan should be to line up for Boardamania starting at 08:00 to get that Lounger you want! 😎

No work around. Not available for my upcoming Riveria cruise either. Another thread on this topic. In essence, Oceania is slowly killing off La Reserve.

😂😂. Yep, I travelled to Italy, France, Japan, Copenhagen, Sydney, etc. for a buffet ship lunch! One that I can choose to duplicate regularly on the upcoming cruise.🙄😇

On one of the wine boards a poster was complaining about a similar rating in his community outside of Chicago. They had a Michelin 1 star restaurant in town that was always booked up, and that people drove out to the burb to visit. So what was the #1 rated restaurant there in some faux poll? Cheddars!

When we finally check in at 2:30-3:30, we typically are the entire line! 😎. Everyone there to just wait on us. Great service. 😃

It’s like 2 for 1 cruise prices and “vintage “ champagne on the wine by the glass list. Sounds so pretty, but doesn’t exist. 🙄

I believe several issues are at play here. 1. Because of multiple items, people are waiting later to book. World strife, cancelled ports, changed itineraries, and new constant sales are driving this. In today’s climate, except for that 1% that absolutely has to have a certain cabin, what are the advantages of booking two years out? I’m on an O cruise in 72 days and there is availability nearly throughout the ship. People can book now at less than I paid long ago. Read the current thread about O totally eliminating the Antarctica drive by. Makes people look stupid for early booking! 2. There are no assurances that the elimination of SM would result in a cruise price decrease. SM was merely a price increase with a few goodies of insignificant costs ( for Oceania) thrown in. I don’t see them giving up the price increase. They have too much debt. It was just a price increase! Nothing to do with booze or shorexs. We’re not getting the old prices back, SM or not.

I believe we’ve been gradually set up for this “ bait and switch “ for awhile . Look at all the ports skipped or port times reduced before the ship ever sails. Nothing new here. I’m sure this is where certain posters tell us the Jan 25 itinerary was changed because of forecasted bad weather. 🙄

Seems to be many areas where Oceania’s highly advertised YWYW seems to collide with what should be personal courtesy. This issue is just one of many. FWIW, several recent articles in the business magazines surrounding companies sending employees off to charm school. Seems everything from (once) common table manners; proper attire for business functions; and carrying on respectful conversations has been lost. Amazing the number of people that never eat at a table, outside of fast food, no less that never learned table manners. Guess it’s behind part of the demand for 2 tops? 😔

To be more exact, the OCCAPP is provided to the various large Travel Agencies Consortiums and then downward to the Agencies comprising the Consortium. Oceania rotates the perks among the Consortiums, so no Agency gets the OCCAPP perks for every cruise. For highly popular cruises requiring no incentives to fill, Oceania rarely grants them to any Consortium.

People continue to quote 1-800-dial a Clerk at Oceania help desk. 😂 Sad, but often ill trained.

A slight correction to this . It’s “ up to $250/pp.” the actual amount anyone receives depends upon the length of the cruise .

Yep, people needing help with homework abound on Oceania! 😂 Evidence being often the ship’s math Mensa questions are simple Algebra 1 questions. Mensa? Really? 😂 Back to the issue at hand, remove the afternoon nappers, and library usage aboard Oceania plunges.

We were told that it can only be booked once aboard. That was last June. Does anything said last June matter today? Logically, if you had ten (10) passengers, all wanting the same La Reserve menu in the Privee, your TA should be able to schedule it. Not sure logic applies. I don’t believe anyone here can answer your question. My recommendation would be to assemble a minimum of eight (8) passengers , preferably 10, and have your Travel Agent approach Oceania to see what they can do. All else is speculation.

Exactly. The demographics of Oceania passengers are heavily tilted towards those born before 1953ish and the end of the draft in the U. S. When the predominant demographics shift in the future to those born after 1955-1960, you’ll see the number of we veterans slowly crater.

It should be on top!

A thorough reading of opinions on not being able to book a shorex under SM