the more ports the better

Are there any pics of the new suites and common areas. I figured there would some up on CC by now.

If anyone is curious, Google maps shows the Norwegian Prima in port at Marghera for those nerds of us wondering where exactly the docks will be. It looks pretty close to the Marghera Porto train station. Would be nice if there was a port shuttle to the train.

Thanks, we’ll be in Singapore in May this year too. Sailing Singapore to Dubai on Nautica. After many trips there for work seeing absolutely nothing but clients, we spent one day there pre cruise in 2015 and went sightseeing. This year we have three days at Marina Sands. I know it’s touristy but I’m kind of excited! Any suggestions? We went to the waterfront, Chinatown and Gardens by the Bay. That’s all we had time for.

Paul, do you know if can you access outlook with your VPN? I hosted my domain with Microsoft. Typically, I run surfshark on my devices. I won’t harp on internet as I whine about it enough already, but NCLH did install 11 Starlink dishes on Breakaway. Hopefully good news for the future.

netpj, I’m glad to help. CC has always been great help for me in travel planning. It’s good to know I contribute too. We are on Regatta in Feb 2025 Auckland to Singapore so you all will have to let us know what to see in AU and NZ once you sail! Our experience is, fly in, go to meetings, fly home that evening. Not at all exciting. Caperherlopen, any pointers for Darwin, Komodo, and the North Coast would be great too. Never too early to start a trip folder.

Sure, I’m kind of a vacation email packrat so I saved the emails. This is assuming you are going to Society Islands and Marquesas as I don’t think O goes to Cook islands except occasionally on trans Pacifics. Fakarava, Ato Lissant. fakaravaexplorer@hotmail.com. We went to the Blue Lagoon and snorkeling. Rangaroa, http://www.yakaplongeerangiroa.com/. Snorkeling, watch the tides, if you go when the tide is coming in, you can snorkel tiputa pass. If the tide is going out, it is impossible as it is a very strong tide and you would end up way out at sea. It is really something. The number one shark photography spot in the world. We also rented bicycles in the morning as we snorkeled in the afternoon to catch the tide. Bikes were near the pier on the left. Nuku Hiva. Richard Deanne. Excellent Island tour. I organized the tour so road in the car with Richard. Many of the drivers do not speak English. temarama.tour@hotmail.fr Moorea, Alberts transport., we rented a car and drove around the island went to the lagoonarium to snorkel. gvaitiare@albert-transport.net. Alberts also has an island tour that is really good, the pineapple plantation is stunning, all terraced up the mountains, the lookouts are spectacular too. If you have two days do both or….. Also in Moorea, we used Moorea expedition for whale swim, just ok but can’t compare to Aitutaki, but they have snorkel tours too. The owner/guide is from Moorea but lived in Idaho for awhile. Great guy. mooreaexpedition@gmail.com www.mooreaexpedition.com In Bora Bora, we did Patrick’s tour last time which was fun. Full day snorkeling and Motu picnic. We booked it through the PG as he has a contract with PG and cannot book their passengers independently. The Motu Picnic is right new to the Four Seasons https://maohinuiborabora.com/aboutus/ There are many options in Bora Bora. We had our own boat and driver a few times but we stay in Bora Bora pre or post cruise and the hotel books it for us so I don’t know the name of the company. Their pricing was comparable to what I was seeing online. There are many options online. If you go with another couple, your own boat is not more than Patrick’s tour. Also on Bora Bora, there is an Avis by the dock and some great hikes if you want to drive around the island. Huahine, Marc’s tour was great. reservation@huahine-nautique.com Our guides were two hysterical sisters. We laughed all day. One was named Vera, I’m not sure of the other. Another group booked Bruno’s tour and they were a no show. We did snorkeling and an island tour.. On Tahiti, we rented a car from Hertz, once you get out of town, Tahiti is beautiful. Tahiti Iti has a great lookout and teapuhoo is worth a visit. We circumvented the Island. The first time we were there, we stayed on Bora Bora precruise and our O flight was late night, this was before United flew there so limited flight options, much better now. After we rented the car and drove around the island, we checked into a cheap hotel room in Papeete to shower and change then had dinner at the food trucks at the pier before our flight. They are great. Sorry for the long post but I hope it helps planning. Oh wait, the new Hilton is nice, not the St Regis or anything like that, but 5 min from town, the pier and a good pre or post stay in Papeete.

We have been on Marina once and Paul Gauguin twice. On Marina, we sailed to both Fakarava and Nuku Hiva (overnight). We loved the trip on Oceania, however, Marina was sailing less than capacity, maybe 850ish passengers and it really did overwhelm the smaller ports. The R ships are sailing there now with 650 full so still a lot of people for places like Fakarava Rangaroa and Nuku Hiva where there is little tourist infrastructure. PG and Windstar are so much smaller that even the small islands have capacity for everyone. On the other hand, having all the O facilities was fantastic and nice to come back to at the end of the day. (PG does include 5 items of laundry pp every day which is handy when doing water activities and everything is covered in salt spray) We booked our excursions independently on both lines and all of them were great. I would do either line again in a heartbeat as it is a fantastic vacation. We sail then spend a week on island. The age range on O was a bit younger than usual but not by much, I would say most were in 50’s and 60’s. The vast majority were snorkeling with many diving so a fairly active crowd. The only reason we sailed PG last time (this past September) was that we wanted to go to the Cook Islands during whale season. That only happens in the fall when O is not sailing in that region. Swimming next to humpback whales is a pretty amazing experience, however, the occasional tiger shark hanging around in the deep blue eyeing you up is a little unnerving. Hope this helps!!

Thanks, I will and I appreciate it.

Thanks, It is offered and I did book it. That was kind of the reason we chose a sailing with a stop in Myanmar. I’m glad to get the positive feed back. Thx again!

Jancruz, is there a way to get info on whether the Myanmar stops are still on for next year? We are scheduled there in May. All next year, there are only 3 O ships, one Regent, and one Viking scheduled to stop in Myanmar. Between sanctions and the coup, I’m wondering if O still plans to visit the port.

Chad Kate, TA typically gives $250 OBC when offering PPG to O club silver and above. Anyone know if O offers this for the promo?

We are on Marina June 1-24 2024. I’m guessing it will be either before or after the summer Europe season. I’m crossing my fingers for before. We booked Riveria for a quicky 7 day in Jan to check out new refurb. I’ll take plenty of picks.

There is no TV in the living room on Riveria. We were there in May. It was kind of silly. Big windows, great views but if you want to check your account or the weather, etc, we had to go into the small media room with no windows. I do hope they change it.

SusieSan I have used these guys to process a visa to Brazil with no issue. They also expedite passports. They may be worth a call. https://www.forbes.com/sites/irenelevine/2019/07/11/a-new-way-to-get-a-passport-in-a-hurry/?sh=a8e432122ec7 The article is from 2019 and the soonest to get one now is 5 business days with all the new COVID policies but still very doable for you. In May, my son lost his passport and told me the Sat before he, myself, my mom and my daughter, were leaving for a Riveria cruise out of Venice. (My son is autistic hence the lack of communication) Our flight was Monday, needless to say, he didn’t make the flight but he did fly to Venice on Thursday, with his new passport in hand, and he made the Sat sailing thanks to my wonderful sister who kept him for me after we left, took him to the passport office then to the airport. We ended up going directly through the US state dept passport office as we needed one sooner than the expeditor could process it. We went to the passport office and begged to no avail Monday morning. The security guard was super helpful and told us all to call the 800 number as they always have cancellations. He said hang up and call back until you get an appointment that works. It took about a dozen calls but we finally got an appointment that Thursday and he was on a flight Thursday evening. It took about three hours at the passport office. You can get an appointment in Miami the day or two before your cruise and have your passport in hand the next day. If travel is on the same day as the appointment, you will get it that same day. An expeditor service would be easier but it is also possible at the passport office in Miami. Don't be discouraged, there is almost always a path forward! Good luck!!!

Thanks so much for the info. That sounds really encouraging in Israel. I’ll go ahead and book the O tour!

I hope they don’t cancel but I’m afraid you are probably correct. It looks like the 2024 sailing makes an additional stop in Indonesia then a stop in Sri Lanka and skips Myanmar. The Bagan temples were one of the main reasons we booked this 2023 sailing. I’m fairly convinced that soon a large portion of Asia is going to be off limits for the rest of my life time so I’m trying to get in as much as possible. We are starting this trip in Delhi, which I believe will be safe for travel for sometime but our next stop is Kathmandu and I think the days are numbered there, the Chinese are encroaching and moving the border further into Nepal regularly. We then board Nautica in Singapore and sail through Malaysia Thailand Myanmar and Southern India then to the UAE which should both be ok for some time. In 24 we sail from Bangkok thru Vietnam to Hong Kong which will most likely be substituted with Taipei, if China has not invaded yet. If it has, the China sea will be off limits. If we can pull any of this off, come spring 2024, we’ll stick to Europe, South America and Oceania. only time will tell……

Any opinions on overland tours and if O ever cancels for lack of participation. If they do, how much advanced notice do they give you. My TA is having surgery so she is out for 2 months and I’d like to get this situated before she gets back. Her assistant is fairly new so he does not really have any answers. We will be in Yangon in May. We plan to visit Bagan but not sure if we should risk it and go with a private tour or overland with O. Bus tours have always been a hard no for us. We have never booked one. 6 people is our preferred max group size. Plus, I’ve read of tourists having encountered cobras in the corners of the temples on occasion and having just the two of us and our own local guide might be beneficial if this situation arises as opposed to a big group. (Unless, maybe the O rep carries cobra anti-venom). 🙂 We are in Yangon for three days and Bagan requires a flight and overnight stay. We can get there in the afternoon on day 1 and go back to the ship late evening on day 2. After day three in Yangon there are three sea days. Flights in Myanmar seem to be dependable but politically it is unstable. The leaders are in jail and the military is in control right now. This is probably the only time we will go to Myanmar. Because of the situation I am leaning towards booking O overland to see Bagan but do they ever cancel overland tours last minute if there is not enough participation. I’ve seen them do this with shore excursions last minute many times. If they do cancel, how much advance notice will we receive. We may try an independent tour with shore x Asia or one of the larger tour companies but this really is an unusual situation that may require an O excursion.

Thx!

Does anyone know who the suite concierges are on Wonder.

Not speculating at all. That why I said “hoping”. Obviously, they are testing it on Breakaway. Would be nice if NCLH would implement it in all their brands. Not holding my breath though.

Holy Cow, Just maybe this is true and O will upgrade to starlink. Kind of a wonky webpage in the link below but I searched a few others and it looks like NCL is testing Starlink on the Breakaway. I hope they upgrade O as well. Celebrity is rolling it our fleet wide as is RCCL, and Hurtigruten already completed their entire fleet. https://driveteslacanada.ca/spacex/norwegian-cruise-line-adds-spacex-starlink-to-one-of-its-ships/

Does anyone know if O plans to upgrade their internet to today’s standards. People have been complaining about this for years and now they are probably last in the bandwidth department of any cruise line. It really is unacceptable. Every other line, even with the COVID shutdowns and cut backs, has continued to update internet speeds as technology improves. O just ignores the entire situation. I was on Symphony of the Seas with a few of my kids and 5000 people can all stream Netflix at the same time. Honestly, the technology is everywhere. Even on the Paul Gauguin, the middle of the Pacific on our way to the Cook Islands, in one of the most remote parts of the world, the internet speeds put O to shame. Infuriating!!!

There are two Four Seasons. I’ve never stayed on the one on the Bosporus but it does look nice. I have stayed at the one in Sultanahmet, right on Sultanahmet Square adjacent to the Hagia Sofia. It is very convenient. It is usually more reasonable than the Bosporus property. Also, for us Americans, for the time being, the dollar is a good value compared to the Euro. For the JW, top floors have Bosporus view, quite a bit pricier but worth it. Also, they have great point availability and nice upgrades for Marriott Bonvoy members.

The new JW Marriott is across the street and a few blocks from the port. It’s flat and even new pavers so an easy walk with luggage. The Four Seasons in Sultanahmet is really nice and in the middle of all the ancient sights. It was once a prison. with the taxi, negotiate price up front, be firm, and pay in exact change, we had friends receive counterfeit euros as change once.

We sailed on Marina in FP a few years ago and stayed at the airport hotel, barely passable, would never stay there again. We just sailed on Paul Gauguin a few weeks ago in Sept. We stayed at the new hilton 2 days pre cruise. It is a perfect precruise choice. Close and easy, both for the airport and the cruise port. It was completely gutted and redone, they did a great job. Many of the passengers on our sailing were there too. A lot of fun! Flying in the day of the cruise is risky, if any flight is delayed or cancelled, it’s not like there are a lot of alternatives to get you there, you have to wait until the next day at which point you miss the ship. Air Tahiti is very prompt though for inter island flights in case you miss the sailing. We stayed a week post cruise at the SR Bora Bora, heaven!