Solas36

Thank you, they never told us that when we booked.

I see you are from UK. It may be different for you. Check with your travel agent.

We asked for refund of flights to port as we wanted to travel in previous day. The money they gave us back covered our flights and hotel and transfers. Gave us peace of mind getting there day before and we had an extra day in sun! We took their flights coming home as nothing better available.

We don't drink that much so it doesn't work for us. We took OBC and it covered our gratuities and cocktails before dinner, wine with dinner and occasional drink after show at Horizons. We were on a port intensive cruise. If on ship more, we could have possibly had a drink at lunch but often we had that drink ashore, as we like to explore a bit.

Also, consider if you will drink what you plan to each and every day for full 26 days of cruise. Package is for every day. If you took OBC you could buy it on board anytime I think. Though I tend to drink most at start of a holiday then slow down a bit towards end!

Each to his own!

Goodness me British Betty you only asked a simple question in the first place but this thread has turned a bit. Have you found the US online agent yet?

 

I have just searched 'stateroom availability on Riviera' on my ipad and the site I use has come up near the top of the list. It does cover all cruise lines so you have to put in a fair bit of information before you find what you want. Good luck!

Yes, it's just too bad when folk can't accept a genuine enquiry at face value and have to put their own interpretation (usually negative, unfortunately) onto what is an innocent remark. Not very helpful.

Betty, Elizabeth, Lilly Bette, darling-

 

Cruise Critic very wisely prohibits posting Travel Agency links here because if they didn't, ambitious entrepreneurs would fill these threads with nothing else but. Some of the rules do chafe at first, but if you stick with us for a time, you will come to see their logic.

 

Secondarily, with your being fairly new to our ranks, none of us has the moral authority to impugn your character.

 

I apologize if I came across that way.

StanandJim, JimandStan, Stan and Jim, darling- how WOULD you describe how you came across?

 

I'm am dead set on Santorini as a port of call. It has been on my bucket list for a good while.

Santorini is lovely but can be very busy. We were there on Riviera last month - with 3 other cruise ships! Queues for coming down on cable car were 2 hours by afternoon. If you do make it, get there and back early! Maybe worth checking if other ships will be in too.

Also, it is always possible that the ports might change/be cancelled due to weather. Santorini is a tender port so always risky. Riviera didn't go into Sorrento on our cruise and instead docked in Naples. A disappointment for us, ( hoping to return to a place we spent happy holidays with our kids!) but we were aware this could happen with any port.

A) Oceania is still a small enough entity that passengers could conceivably "play" the pricing system IF the Revenue Department permitted full occupancy disclosure; therefore, they don't.

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B) The Travel Agent to passenger relationship outside of North America is completely different from the rest of the World.

 

C) Oceania pricing, fares and perquisite offerings are geographically determined, and are dependent upon where the passenger resides and holds a passport.

 

C2) A small, determined group continually search for a way around the geographic restrictions, but those Agents which buck the system are risking their credentials to sell Oceania product, so if any malfeasance is discovered, the passenger will undoubtedly be left "on their own". :eek:

The gain is simply not worth the risk

 

For these reasons as well as many others, what is considered "standard practice" to obtain a great deal on the Mass Market lines would be so difficult as to be almost impossible on Oceania.

 

Just wondering if you can clarify B) please. As UK resident it seems much of what folk post here re booking/prices is not relevant to me.

What do you mean by "outside of North America" and "rest of world"?

Thanks.

I am not sure if things work differently here in UK. All I can say is what happened to us.

We were given flights to and from port with BA and both ways involved change at Heathrow. The one going out involved an overnight in Heathrow and a very early flight on sailing day. We weren't happy as we like to go at least day before, even when it's just from UK to the Med.

We found a direct flight with a budget airline the day before but nothing better than what was offered for the return and asked if we could remove air going and keep air coming back.

They did this gave us a discount which covered our new flights, hotel and transfer. Bonus was a nice relaxed evening and dinner outside by the sea! And a good sleep knowing we were in the port.

Just another option if it works for you.

"Yes, yes and the width of the diagonal cabinet!

However the TV is apparently ex Princess and the remote doesn't work completely with it - the only way to access anything above channel 12 is to enter 12 and then go up and up. We were told brusquely that nothing will be done about it.

Going back to the DVD it's not easy to work out how to get the input into the TV."

Post #2 was asked on another thread and this was the reply. A bit different to the reply here.

I rest my case.

How hard can it be to convert Euros to dollars. You can do it directly in Google w/o even a conversion program. Takes about 10 seconds max.

 

DON

I may be wrong, but perhaps the OP is suggesting the price quoted in euros in Europe may be quite different (when converted to dollars ) from the dollars price quoted when actually in North America. It seems the deals can vary too. Others will be able to correct me.

do they do the north part of Russia ??

I do not believe this cruise goes to SPB

Sorry, I saw Russia and jumped the gun! You are right, they don't do the northern part.

This looks like an amazing itinerary.

Would highly recommend DenRus. You can see them on Tripadviser. We used them for 2 days in StPetersburg on a Baltic cruise a few years ago.

Sometimes you just have to ignore certain posters here

for those that still want to read the thread maybe just skip the posts by specific people ;)

 

CC has a great feature to help you do this

check under USER CP top left look for the IGNORE list

Thanks for this tip! There are some posters you just know are going to be less than helpful and purely want a platform for their rants!

I noticed some earlier posts have been removed from this thread. Strikes me that I am not the only one who can see through the misinformed and illogical arguments which are far from helpful. I also notice that they are often written with so many errors and typos that one can be forgiven for doubting their factual accuracy.

Might be an idea to proof read and check facts before you post! So much excellent information appears here from helpful fellow travellers. Others seem to see it as a soapbox!

Nautica sailed to Skagen, at the very tip of Denmark over night, but couldn't make it into port due to high winds, so we're now heading to Copenhagen for an overnight stay. Sea was very lumpy but is looking a little calmer now.

 

Was keen to visit Skagen but better to keep safe and at least we gain an evening in the city.

Love Copenhagen! One of my favourite ports of call. Have visited twice around this time of year and guess we were lucky with weather as no disruption on cruises to Baltic and Norwegian fiords. Enjoy!

Very windy here in Central Scotland. Sorry you will miss Edinburgh, especially during the Festival. Hope you and rest of passengers can come back another time. It is a wonderful city at any time!

Thank you!

Never noticed the term "closed" until I saw it recently. Had a hunch about what they all meant but thanks for confirmation.

We have booked a cabin in a category which earlier showed guarantee and now shows it is closed. Doubt it will make any difference to us.

What do terms CLOSED, WAIT LIST AND GUARANTEE mean in regard to different cabin categories?

Just off Riviera in the Med and agree with dasi11 that most folks dressed smartly for dinner. I didn't see any "distressed" jeans anywhere in the GDR or specialty restaurants, but saw both men and women in smart dark jeans, navy or black, there at dinner. (BTW the jeans I saw were worn with smart shoes at dinner, not with trainers.) They looked absolutely fine in my opinion and I honestly didn't see anyone looking aghast at them either. If the jeans just look like monotone fabric, then what does it matter if the fabric is denim? I have a feeling this is better understood and accepted in Europe than the USA, as denim is worn everywhere in the top restaurants or hotels in Mediterranean resorts, yes, even at dinner.

 

I wore my smart jeans several times, with dressy evening tops and my husband wore his with long-sleeved shirts. We never felt in the least bit out of place doing so and no-one else made us feel it was inappropriate. The dress code allows it and, as another poster has rightly said, the sky doesn't fall in if you do, precisely because most of us seem to have a healthy perspective on such superficial things.

 

I did however see diners wearing outfits that I think would raise eyebrows for many on this thread, way more than wearing jeans seems to do. One family group of 7, 6 of them women from age 20 to 50s, was particularly memorable. All of the women turned up in spandex, spangly ultra-short minidresses that barely covered where they touched. The kind of thing called "clubwear" on ebay, that teenage girls buy when their parents aren't paying attention. Elaborate hair and make-up. Stripper heels. Very Kar-trash-ian. Heads turned. Some folk laughed. Actually, quite a few laughed. I saw this group twice more at dinner looking just the same, although perhaps they swapped the frocks around as "One size fits all". :D

 

Did it put me off my dinner or offend me in some way? Goodness no. It was briefly amusing. No more, no less. I am sure they thought they looked fabulous and had certainly put some effort into their ensembles, even if their choice was somewhat unusual on Riviera!

 

What was important for me was the fact that once seated, they were not in the least loud at the table, so their presence didn't affect any other person's dining - other than to raise a quick smile (or eyebrow) as they initially walked by. Loud, shouty, ill-mannered diners (whether adults or children) who impose their loudness or bad behaviour on others in the restaurant -now that IS something to take issue with and something that happened several times on our cruise. So let's not forget to judge the book by its content, not its cover. And enjoy your cruising dinners everyone, which I hope you find relaxing, happy and in well behaved company :)

Totally agree! Especially re European and North American view of jeans. But even more so on behaviour. I remember being told if the folks at the next table can hear you, you are too loud. Good to remember! At the table, at the pool, in the lounge, in fact anywhere! Don't know what makes some folk speak so loud with no regard for the intrusion their conversation is on others.

The term is ambiguous. The point I am trying to make is that I did not see anyone in any type of denim in any restaurant for dinner. Lighten up!

That may be true. But the term "jeans" doesn't always mean denim. They come in many fabrics and colours and some are pretty stylish and smart!

This subject has been discussed over and over. FWIW, I only wanted to mention that I just got off a Regatta 16-day cruise and did not see anyone in the GDR or specialty restaurants for dinner in any type of jeans. Including non-casual, whatever that is. Lunch and breakfast are more casual in the GDR and shorts and jeans are fine in the Terrace Cafe and Waves Grill.

If you don't know what non casual jeans are, how do you know people weren't wearing them? Lol!

I understand that some folk have not actually come across non casual/smart jeans. If so, why comment?

My understanding of what signifies jeans is the styling, the way they are put together and the stitching. Some are blue denim (which some may say resemble workwear) but many are made of other fabrics of different colours.

I think many jeans can be smart. Could it be the blue denim that Oceania objects to?

An added point: when folks compare the O Life OBC to the excursions, remember that, if you take the OBC, it can be used to purchase the discounted O excursion groupings. I mention this because some folks might only look at the retail prices of the excursions in making the dollar comparison.

What are the "discounted O excursion groupings" mentioned?

Thanks for all the helpful information re Olife. Decided on OBC as gives us most flexibility. Now investigating ports of call and alternative ways to explore.

Thank you for this information.

Sorry if this has been asked before but a search for O life was not fruitful.

We are looking at a cruise with O life options of 3 free excursions or house beverage package or OCB.

Question is - ANY 3 excursions? Or is there a price limit to what is on offer?

We are not big drinkers but would have wine with meals.

Decisions, decisions!

Thanks for any info.