mauibabes

Oh well, we tried. Happy wife, happy life. Enjoy four future cruises. Mauibabes

We just had some friends do some price shopping on a Fall cruise. O insurance $800, Travel Guard over $900, Insuremytrip, over $1150, all per person. No matter what you do it is a challenge .Mauibabes

@MEFIowa Your DW doesn’t like Asian, mine does not either and RG is her #3, my #1 however. She still loves her dinners there. You should absolutely give it a try and enjoy the experience. Have her try the Teriyaki Beef (Filet Mignon) or the Rack of Lamb, best on any ship. Absolutely loves the Watermelon Duck Salad and she does not like duck but …😇👍 There are far too many delicious items on the menu, especially the Miso Glazed Chilean Sea Bass, to blow off an AWESOME restaurant and the wait staff make it that much more special. Try it, she might like it. Mauibabes

Redtravel, While the “Blue Book” is not necessary, I call it a “Touch of Class” and another of the little things that we have come to enjoy and expect from Oceania. We know we are paying for it, as we are ultimately paying for all this mailed brochures we often receive, but they are all amazing remembrances of trips past and maybe flips future. I really enjoy reading the many postings of all the “First timers” and meeting the first timers on an Oceania cruise who are amazed at the experience. Let’s just call it “A Million Little Things”, to steal a phrase/title from a TV program, that makes us know our Oceania cruise with our Oceania family is SPECIAL. We know we are blessed to have the privilege of sailing with you all. Yes, we ❤️🛳️ Oceania Mauibabes

I know you mentioned the Reception Desk and Cash. I was referring to ordering the flowers in advance via the Bon Voyage Gifts and then the cost would have been included in your Oceania statement. My mistake, if your DH tried to order the flowers while on the ship, totally different ball game. Yes I bet they would have been expensive but you have to give the guy a breat because it was for you for Valentines Day. Remember, you are SPECIAL. 😇👍 OK, Out and on to a new topic. Mauibabes

Joel, By all means call your TA or Oceania. If you can benefit, why not ask. There are lots of reasons there could be availability, like a big Group cancelling and getting close to sailing date on a hard to sell cruise, etc. Good Luck Mauibabes

MEF, you are such a shopper 🤪, if it was my DW, it would be ME hanging in the basement. Good thing we don’t have a basement. Cruzin, define Outrageous. An occasion like Valentines Day and a DW, nothing could be too good❤️ When I have wanted flowers delivered on board, I just order from O and the cost is buried in my Statement that DW never looks at. 😇 Another great place to spend SBC. Besides, the flower arrangements have been beautiful. OK, I am done. Mauibabes

I received the same notice yesterday as our May 18 reservation was cancelled. I made the reservation a couple months ago. I am not even going to guess why,”out of my pay grade”, because this has to be a decision from well up the food chain. I will address it with the F&B Director or GM at the Meet and Greet with FDR. 🙏😇 Definitely ready to Check In for the Founder’s Cruise. Mauibabes

Ros, Then all I can say is THANK YOU it was wonderful. Mauibabes

@TwoGoForward We made this exact trip in January 2023 and it was outstanding, my DW’s #1 cruise of over 20 Oceania cruises. Yes, we missed the Falklands due to weather. Yes we had to alter course a time or two in the Antarctic bays due to ice flows but we just went elsewhere. Yes there were high winds and big waves in Drake’s Passage but it was much less than we have experienced in the North Sea by the Shetland Islands. Do not miss this cruise and disregard any negativity so you can make your own decision. Feel free to email me and ask any questions because this is not an itinerary to be missed, GerryEsker at gmail dot com Mauibabes

We have anchored off both in the past. It probably shows both because they will have tours going in both locations as there are great sights to be seen. Loved the scene from up in Ravello of the coastline from the amphitheater, spectacular. Once we’re were anchoring in Positano and ended up docked in Naples due to winds and waves. Be flexible 🙏👍🤙 Mauibabes

Yes the Check in Requires you to provide a face shot and they will also take another photo when you are boarding. Maybe just in case we old timers had a face lift in between photos, 🤪. Mauibabes

Amazon was my DW’s favorite cruise. April 2013 I think it was. Loved the stops along the way. Manaus was fun, did private tours set up by an Aussie guest for about 30 of us. Up and down the tributaries, into side channels and saw the gigantic lily pads, A HIGHLIGHT. walked the bridges in the tree tops above the expanded river. Awesome. Yes there are bugs so keep lights off at night and as said, keep drapes drawn at night. No big deal really. Had no issues with getting shots, malaria and all that. In fact I forgot my meds at home and a Dr. Friend on board said not to worry, we did not head into the rain Forrest on long hikes. Friends who were there in January on Marina said there were some docking issues in Manaus. Our recent trip to South America and Antarctica on Marina took over her #1 but is a solid #2. Go and Enjoy and make your own decisions Mauibabes

And if you need Clamato in your personal refrigerator, have your TA request it for you. If no TA, call O and ask for it to be included in your Profile request. Mauibabes

Nothing official yet that I have seen from Oceania. Lots of folks are guessing and trying to make educated guesses. Try your TA or other contacts but I am sure when it is officially released, the CC crowd will be “in the know”. There are plenty of connected posters on this Board. Mauibabes

Every ship has been refit, with the exception of Marina. I would expect Marina to look like Riviera after she completed her retrofit. Mauibabes

Terrace Cafe is the Oceania Buffet and it is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. It opens at 6:30 p.m. like all the restaurants, even the Specialties. Vista has announced dinners beginning at 6:00 p.m. Every day in the Currents you will see the breakfast time shown, it can be adjusted based on port and tour times but normally about 7:00 a.m. The Terrace Cafe is an excellent buffet, and it is not the same menu’s every day. It is meant for quicker meals based on how long you want to sit and visit with guests. You were also asking about booking Specialty reservations. Your date for booking is shown on your Booking Statement, about page 3 if I recall correctly. If your date is May 22, what is means is you don’t have to wait until 8:00 a.m. to book, it can be done after 12:00 a.m. EST on May 22. Depending on where you are located in the US, you could go on line before 12:00 a.m. I am in California so after 9:00 p.m. on the 21st works for me. When I was booking from Hawaii one time I was able to go on line at 6:00 p.m. OK, Solo, it would seem you might just be booking a two top and not share. If you are interested, the Social Hostess organizes many dinners and get togethers for singles and they are great ways to get to meet other Solo travelers. We have talked with the Social Hostess and many other Singles and the activities are great. Remember, you are on Oceania and not some other booze cruises. I would expect you will hear from many others on this Board who travel as singles now and then. Enjoy your cruise, it will be great. Mauibabes

Ditto MEFIowa, That one brochure allowed them to peak your interest, even when there was none. It is like fishing and they set the “hook”. We found O over 16 years ago via a mailing from them and a Travel Agency. In both cases we had never traveled with and had no expectation of using them. OOPS, That was long ago and we are now Oceania Platinum cruisers so all that pile of brochures breeds some success. It is a great source of discussion among our many friends who receive the various O mailings. We all chat about the most recent brochure, who got what and some interesting offers. Yes, many have booked cruises because of them so it does work. Is it too much, probably but it does keep us all talking Oceania and cruising 👍🤪🙏🛳️ Enjoy, Mauibabes

My guess is the $1100 is the O contract air price and anything you accept over that amount for the flights available, you get to pay for. Not sure if it is a R/T credit amount or one way. It could even be a combination of the Contract Carrier amount and a Premium Economy Upgrade if that was offered. Still not enough info to give anything definitive, just a lot of suppositions. Good luck, Mauibabes

Oceania is very good about making extra Specialty reservations available based on the evenings availability. We have often spent 9 of 10 nights of a cruise dining in a Specialty restaurant. DW LOVES Jacques Chicken in GDR. Even on a 35 or 46 day trip, it is common to dine in one 65-70% of the time because there was availability. Sailing on Riviera or Marina seemed like there was more opportunity but even on an R ship, we still had excellent access to the Specialties. Whether you are stopping by the Reservation Desk or just dropping by the specific restaurants you want to dine in that evening, if you check after the rush, like 8:00, my guess is you will be seated if there are vacant tables. Yes, the Maitre d’s do know you have been there multiple times and where you have dined but they are very accommodating. We had one Maitre d who offered us a table for 6 Every Night so be kind and ask nicely and you never know what benefits await you. Mauibabes

If I may share, in #15, Basor was right on, 13 Oceania Cruise Credits were earned and the total number of days sailed does not come into play in the overall Oceania Loyalty Program. Other lines do use days sailed and/or cruises, even Regent does, BUT O DOES NOT. I fought this battle with O over a dozen years ago. It is their program and they will run it their way, thank you very much. Basor was also right on related to the B2B issue of the 24 day and 11 day cruises totaling 35 days. Run the numbers and work with Oceania and/or a TA to see what the bottom line is. If the two cruises are offered as a Grand Voyage, you can expect that bottom line will be the BEST Value. Still, run the numbers. A couple years back we booked the Miami to Santiago, 51 day cruise in 2023. It was sold as 2 or 3 segments or as a Grand Voyage or a 21, 10 and 20 day cruises. Only received 3 cruise credits BUT run the numbers. Contrary to what was expected, booking the trips as 31 day and 20 day cruises with two separate booking numbers cost less than the B2B2B or even the 51 day Grand Voyage by over $2k. We booked the trips immediately after they were announced and we ran it by the TA, ran it by the O Rep, and reran the numbers. It was a case that the early Oceania brochure and Website numbers and the timing of the booking really worked in our favor. The Only bummer, we received 3 cruise credits but still saved $2,000. Moral of the story, RUN THE NUMBERS 👍😇. Mauibabes

Tracy, I have no idea how to answer your question but we arranged several tours in Reykjavik and did them all through Tours By Locals. Our Guide was Stefan Valsson. If you can connect with him for a day or multiple day tours while you are there, you will be the luckiest tourist on the ship. He is OUTSTANDING and will give you a real glimpse of Iceland. The only O tour we did was the Blue Lagoon, all others were private with our friends. Good Luck and I hope you can connect with Stefan. Enjoy your cruise, Mauibabes

@ChadnKate I think you were on Marina to South America in Dec/Jan with our friends and travel buddies Doug and Karen. We joined them in Buenos Aires around Antarctica to Santiago. It looks like you are on Vista October 16 when we will all be aboard again. Looking forward to cruising on Vista with you and Doug and Karen. Mauibabes

@SonuvaBeach The first answer to your reservation question is what stateroom category did you book as various levels have different booking reservations dates. ie. PH is 75 days out, Veranda 60 days and others at 45 days. Also if PH and above, your Room Service dinners can be from a Specialty restaurant and your Butler can assist you with additional reservations, dates and times. Welcome to Oceania and enjoy your experience. While you may want a Two top, sometimes sharing a table can be the way to get that desired reservation time and restaurant. Enjoy, Mauibabes

We had not heard about this change. Any chance it is specific to Australia? Our Vacation Guide for the Vista Founder’s Cruise arrived a couple days ago and it looks great. No Excursion info as in the past but it is a very nice keepsake. I am sure others preparing to sail will keep us updated regarding the issue of the Guides. Mauibabes