pinotlover

While I certainly agree with Kate’s approach, perhaps she should likewise tell us at what capacity the ship was sailing. I’ve had groups of merely 10-12 on a full Marina and had to wait an hour + to be allowed on a tender. This can be an iffy situation. Your 8 hour shore tour might be cut by an hour because Oceania gives priority to its 3-5 hour tours.

I’ll give one example of something they could easily do on a sudden developed sea day. Have a Wine Tasting/Class in their hip pocket. The R ships don’t have real Sommeliers, but Miami could have it all pre staged. Do a special tasting not in the normal repetitive rotation . Miss a port, advertise the Wine Class. Chances are high they sell out. Win-Win. Oceania makes money while entertaining their guests. I could pull it all together in less than 30 minutes cold Turkey. Sell out the tasting before lunch. This isn’t rocket science, it’s merely overcoming inertia. Win-Win and making money should appeal to Oceania. Shoot, I’d do it for them for the price of free admission for my DW and have fun doing so!

Tahiti was particularly bizarre. People came to the pier at 07:00 thinking they could get on board, have breakfast, and lay by the pool! 😂 We left the ship at 08:45 and caught a taxi to our hotel. 200+ people lined up down the street waiting to board and the charter flight hadn’t landed yet., which would bring more people in. It’s overwhelmingly obvious some people love waiting in long lines . 😳

It is a long established fact that many of Oceania’s passengers totally ignore their assigned boarding times and show up early at the port. By facilitating those passenger practices, the issues are magnified during times such as now. Our next cruise embarks in Bilboa. The ship is currently waitlisted full. We will enjoy the multiple sights of the city and show up at the latest possible scheduled boarding time. We feel fighting the early onslaught is foolish. The ship’s food may be good, but it’s not that good! Certainly not good enough to stand in long lines for.

There are very few Oceania cruises listed as Back to Back. A few exceptions exist . Typically most of the longer voyages are listed as separate individual cruises . Review the cruise definition carefully.

Perhaps, but you also have the issue with all the PHers and Concierge Class passengers that , in the past, had higher boarding priority. They can’t all have secretly reserved 11:00 slots. 🥴

They aren’t far apart at all, with Portsmouth being a bit further out. My larger question would be the reason of the switch. Berthing rights are normally established on seniority basis with the lines. Oceania is still a relatively young cruise line, and I’ve been on cruises where this has happened before. The question becomes then, which and more importantly what size ships are you being bounced for? If a few behemoths are coming in with 000s each, you had better work out transportation early. A check of the Southampton port schedule should give you the information.

Thank you All. With completely full ships coming, it’s interesting that Oceania has opted to not give its upper cabins first choice on boarding times. That is after all what every sales catalog they send out lists as a benefit of paying for higher cabin classes. If one was in a Vista suite, and other wise en disposed, and couldn’t check in immediately, even those with inside cabins would have first choice ahead of you. Hmmm?

This question is for those that are just now doing their pre board check in documents. What happened months ago doesn’t matter. Is Oceania still utilizing a first come first reservations system for obtaining Embarkment times; or are Embarkment times once again set by cabin class?

Your cruise is 10 months away. Oceania will figure it out well before sailing.

We never stay aboard ship in ports of call. However, for those that do, I remember the laughter and delight being expressed by some about an obstacle putt putt course the entertainment crew set up in Horizons. People putting under, around, and through a varied assortment of obstructions for O points. It did sound like a blast. I think a few enjoyed watching more than participating!! 😂 I believe a lot of activities, besides darn and gossip, occur that many aren’t aware of. By general observation, I doubt more than 50% , if that, even read the daily Currents to know what’s going on.

I’m surprised the site algorithms allow the exact same title heading to be used over and over. It would be interesting to see how many threads are titled identical to this one on the Oceania forum. 😂

Most all of the 5 cruises we’re booked on in the next 19 months are either fully waitlisted or have a couple lower cabin categories open. An available upgrade would be a C3 to a C1. I’ll have to peruse the sales list to find where the deals are.

Yep, on the Nautica for the 2018 Winter Olympics. Perhaps the deal was the cruise was Hong Kong - Bangkok and the Olympics were held in S.Korea. We were getting the games live.

Oceania did an excellent job carrying the Winter Olympics a few years back. That’s only once every four years though.

I’ve found that allowing someone with even “ MCI” to free wander the ship is often a poor decision. Love ones with them daily are often in denial of how far that “ mild” has progressed. IMO, if one chooses to bring such a companion aboard ship, they should be prepared to stay with them when they leave their cabin.

Mura; I believe you are misreading the statement. I believe it says there will be no La Reserve on the new ships. For those booking Privee ( currently at $300) the La Reserve menus , including Dom Perignon, will be available in addition to the regular PG/Toscana menus. What is implicit in this that those La Reserve menus will come with an additional fee. Therefore, if you have a party of ten, the cost of the LaReserve meal just increased by $30. For a $100 menu, that’s a 30% price hike. For the $300+ Dom Perignon dinner, it’s a 10% hike. Likewise guessing that everyone in the Party would probably have to do the LR dinner.

We never take so much stuff that we need magnets! Taking our flippers and snorkels to FP was a stuffy as we ever get. Worst case, stuff can go in a suitcase under the bed.

Different countries, different rules.

Far too many variables in all the episodes. 1. seven(7) day cruises are problematic on full ships. Every one is guaranteed at least one reservation in each of the Specialties. Even 10 dayers are nowhere near as bad as 7 day cruises in this regard. 2. on the short seven day cruises, one hasn’t a clue as to the number of reservations already made from b2b ers starting on earlier cruises. 3. Extra reservations are never guaranteed on any cruise, even with a butler. This is especially the case if the party is larger than two and unwilling to share. 4. the top suites pay a top price. If they want a Specialty every night they get. They outrank PHers. We were on a cruise pre Covid where our butler couldn’t get us an extra night in Jacques. He told us that some of the top suites were eating there every single night! 5. There are only a limited number of two tops. They go quickly because many people don’t seem to like company at dinner. Those willing to share can often find available tables at the earlier hours.

Boarding with you! 🥂 Payment in Full date was in May and our cruise has been fully waitlisted for a year. In these times it will be interesting to learn if fully waitlisted still means the ship will be full.

I have my TA do it for me. Can’t be done online.

Do not try to log in early and wait. You must log in after 12:00 Eastern Time. I’ve found waiting until 12:01 as working better actually. The midnight surge is sometimes too much for their system.

Sad news indeed!

Big loss indeed. Thanks for the information! 🙏