pinotlover

I just believe we’re all so different it’s impossible to please everyone. Some cruise for the ports, others for the ship. Some are happy with a perfectly quiet sedate ship atmosphere, others become bored by it. Some are NoNos , others definitely aren’t. We have a multitude here locally that go to Gulf Shores, Al twice per year. Only place they ever go and haven’t been South of Tallahassee. Others travel the world. My b-I-l goes to the exact same restaurant and orders the same meal every week. We love to explore the variety of restaurants, and food groups, and rarely hit any restaurants more than once a year. He’d be much happier on a cruise line than I that hasn’t changed their Specialties menu in 20 years. Others are the same. Can’t keep everyone happy. Going to Freeport, ME, Charleston, SC; or Gulf Shores doesn’t have to mean one is necessarily better, it means they’re different. Going on O, Viking; SS, or EJ, versus always sailing O isn’t a case of which is best; but doing something different. Similar to my b-i-l, some don’t like different. How does Oceania account for that in its daily operations and loyalty programs? For those of you watching, Oceania did sneak in a new policy this year. The sum of the segments can now be less than the credits awarded, but not more. If you now book a 10 day + 10 day cruise = 20 days = 1 extended journeys = 1 cruise credit. Been this way for awhile. However, if you now book a 20 day segment + 17 day segment = 37 days or oops, no longer. Now just separate back to backs and 2 cruise credits. You don’t get the 3 credits as in the past.

Here’s my view. Except on the international nights in the TC, both the TC and the GDR now offer the same dishes at dinner. If one prefers to eat their meals quickly and leave, the TC offers the best option. If one prefers to be served and have a nice leisurely dinner, the GDR is there for you. The GDR is not staff to provide diners the quick turnaround meal. Asking the staff to do so means you’re interrupting the flow for the other customers. Rather selfish, imo. Go to the TC and chomp down at your own pace, or enjoy the meal at a leisurely pace as set by the kitchen and staff in the GDR. What’s so hard about this? Just don’t expect it both ways.

Well actually the topic of change got a bit of conversation over dinner one night on my Riveria cruise. Oceania is in the process of making two very intertwined changes that may affect us all a lot. First, the end of the R ship era. The major significance here: although there are occasional exceptions ( the ATW) the cheerleaders will quickly bring up, the demographics of the R ship passengers are typically much older than on the other ships. So much so that some refuse to cruise R ships on that account. A friend we’ve sailed with in the past was talking about his extended holiday cruise. He said “I’ve never seen so many wheelchairs, scooters, and walkers on one ship in my life. 7 days of sedate and quiet can be relaxing. 14 days of sedation can be tedious. 21 days of sedate and quiet and I’m screaming at the walls. 30 something and I need a straight jacket and a padded room. There’s more human energy in a morgue than on our cruise!” What happens when a large percentage of those R ship passengers transition to an A or O ship, joining similar passengers? Perhaps 1000-1500 more integrated in. Add in the transition to SM when all those passengers feel obligated to sign up for ship tours whether they’re able to do them or not! The OP is correct, times are changing. I believe the change may become quite noticeable.

Pinotage is one of the varieties that is uniformly poor in overall quality. An excellent pinotage might rate a 91-92. Many/ most are below that. Many of other varieties blow that away.

Absolutely! I love Pinot Noir. That doesn’t mean I always want to drink PN. Sometimes I want a CdP, or a Brunello, or a Rioja, or a cab. Additionally, some PN, are excellent, some okay, and some poor. Just because I generally love PN doesn’t mean I feel obligated to pronounce every PN as being excellent in some faux cheerleader mode. I’m leading a group to Tuscany in September for two weeks of museums and wineries. Part of our adventure is going to be the various great Tuscan food. It’s not going to be Americanized Tuscan or NoNo Tuscan, but Tuscan with all the local herbs and spices. Then my DW and I are off to Bologna for their food for three days! We won’t feel compelled to eat at a Subway or Burger King the entire trip! Afterwards, we may not eat Tuscan for awhile! We’re going to Germany for the Christmas Markets in December. Looking forward to some great authentic German, not the stuff pushed off here in the States as German.

I know their Martaella PN well. Actually they are better known for their Syrah and Zin than their PN, they typically do a good job with their PN.

I also challenge your assessment of the Baby Boomers. Oldest BBers were born in 1946 so at most 78 years old. Though part of the problem, I’ve been on several O cruises where being less than 80 puts one into the minority. We’re talking considerably older than BBers leading the pack of NoNos.

Do you believe the NoNos are able to control the ingredients at those Mexican food carts? If the NoNos were able to, how popular would they be? How many of the items on those food carts would the NoNos currently touch?

One can not log in early and wait. Best to wait until 12:01 ET.

I agree with you 100%, but am afraid we’d be in the vast minority. Other lines already do this, but boarding isn’t until 2-4 pm, a time when they have all the rooms turned around and ready. That means all those flocking to the ship at 10:00-12:00 looking for that lunch would be disappointed. I just have a peaceful lunch ashore and wait there until after the cabins are ready.

We fly from BNA so always must do at least 1stop. BNA-ORD ORD-HND non stop. sweet!

Fly into Haneda not Narita. Haneda is relatively close to the Yokohama port. We took a taxi from the ship to the Yokohama Shinkansen station. Relatively inexpensive and from there, Japan is at your bequest.

A thousand meals and never a bad one ! Can I get a lottery number from you or a pick on the the Preakness? 😂

Remember the pdf is not the Bible or the 10 Commandments. It is not written in Stone. It is only valid as of the day it was sent. Shore tours may be added to, or subtracted from, those early editions. If you’re into ship tours, I’d recommend requesting a new pdf around cruise final payment date if your old one is over 60-90 days old.

I find the term “ inconsistent “ to much better describe the situation. I had an excellent meal, some ok meals, and a poor meal on my last cruise as is typically the case. People here often rant about subjectivity. Rare are the issues subjective. If a steak or fish fillet is grotesquely overcooked, then it’s overcooked. If it’s properly cooked, it’s properly ( as ordered) cooked. Not much subjectivity in that unless one loves well done or beyond food. I you get a grisly steak and I get a great one, it’s not subjective, it’s inconsistent! It’s called inconsistency in either the kitchen, wait staff, or both.

One of the things butlers do: On our last cruise, the lady next door died of a heart attack on day 5 or 6. Starting the next day, while still attending to passengers ice and water needs, the butler had the pack every thing up of what was supposed to be a 51 day cruise by the couple. Not only did everything have to be packed, but a complete inventory made of what went into each suitcase. Likewise, security had to be called and the safe opened. Everything therein was inventoried and signed off by him and security. Those items, in the safe, were combined with valuable items such as cameras, iPads, and other items to valuable to go into a suitcase. The room stewards were only available a short amount of time to assist him, as they had other duties on a full ship in their areas. This was a tedious time consuming task. She was one of 5 that I know of that left the ship unexpectedly to not return. No clue who performed those functions for the other passengers. Sometimes, even when they try, our simple concerns aren’t at the top of their bucket list.

The phone system has an easy paging system for one’s butler. I use it whenever I need him. In your case, I would have paged him concerning your needs. A nasty comment on the mid cruise survey would have likely corrected the issue also if continued. We’ve only had one poor butler. Strange thing is we’d had him once before and he’d performed wonderfully. One never knows. A question, to which I’ve never contemplated or inquired, are the ships likewise carbonating and producing their own sparkling water? In the dining venues , I often see sparkling water poured from a jar similar to the still water. Other times it comes from a commercial retail bottle. I always assumed it was done by guests requests or possibly the shortage of ship generated sparkling. The two tastes very differently. Anyone know for sure?

There is an expresso machine in both the Executive and Concierge Lounge. It is however the regular grade of coffee used in the dining venues and not the more superior quality found in Barrista. Still easy and complimentary.

I believe Gary gave a very good list of some of the possibilities. Actually they’ll attempt to achieve most any requests one has. There in lies the important part: requests. A lot of people are pure, or nearly so, DIYers. They’d rather sit on hold, and then talk to a perhaps untrained phone rep than use their TA. Except for a few perks, they never use their TA. We allow our TA to take care of any issues that might arise and never do the 1-800-thingy. There are a lot of things one’s TA can do if requested. Same goes with the butler. Some people refuse to use any services they can provide, others might do so minimally. I’ve seen some that prefer to stand in the Specialty reservations line because they prefer to DIY as opposed to asking the butler. I’m not saying our butler is always capable of getting that extra reservation when and where we want it, but a no from him is typically 85% accurate and the wait in line isn’t typically worth success the other 15%. Long story short: It is what you make it. Mostly your choice. Ask and you shall receive. Don’t ask, don’t receive. Personal choice. Happy cruising.

On my recent cruise I didn’t notice any increase in staffing of the wine stewards. What I do believe is, as they get to know the individual drinkers, they increase the size of the pour so to not have to come around as often. Those 4-5 Oz pours became 6-7 Oz ones.

Oceania, especially the CD, would rather not listen to 1-3 days of complaining . Except in the rare case of some very localized weather, all the decisions are made in Miami. Miami makes a decision and the ship’s crew bears the brunt.

I have found that the tour operators often know if a port will be missed before we passengers do. One tour operator was telling us three days in advance the ship was skipping the port while ship personnel refused to confirm it until 24 hours before scheduled arrival.

In all my experiences with Oceania, except TC and Waves obviously, we have always been escorted to our table from the hostess station; seated, hand our napkins placed; and handed a menu. Always! There was never a wait to get a menu. If Clo experienced anything other than this procedure, it was definitely out of the norms. We never received a menu from our waiter. How long we might have to wait to place an order can vary significantly, but never having a menu.

One small comment. All the above comments have been about the TA, as in the Travel Agency. Nothing has yet be said about the other TA, or Travel Agent. Not all Travel Agents working for an OCC Travel Agency are Oceania specialists. If only perks matter, I suppose getting a quote will suffice. However, if one wants a bit more from their Travel Agent, it takes more exploration than just identifying an OCC.

We were on the Riveria last month and it had been Starlink. The system worked fine, except of course in S.Korea where it was blocked.