LSuzQ

On 4/29/2024 at 11:17 AM, Hlitner said:

 

 

We continue to accept some other posts that with the O restaurants, it is helpful to have a good idea of what to order.  In the GDR, where we have a reliable waiter who gives us great advice, things are mostly terrific.  In the alternate restaurants, one does not generally know the waiters and advice is not always reliable.

 

For our remaining 2 nights on Vista, we will be dining in the GDR which has been consistently good,  

 

Hank

Hank, how is it that you are seated in your preferred waiter’s section in the GDR? Once connected, do you request that section/table when you dine there? TIA

4 hours ago, JYDCruise said:

 

Black Sesame - good, but not my favorite. 6/10 and not worth the calories

Secret Breakfast - YOWZA! 10/10 and worth risking a heart attack. Note that they make a similar flavor without the bourbon (identical, maybe?).

Please elaborate on Secret Breakfast. Bourbon good, but what are the other ingredients?

So sorry for your experience! Is anyone else shocked that Oceania/NCL Holdings (or THEIR insurer) would pay this bill in the first place?

The tipping point for me would be which of these categories might have an extended balcony available.  Important to us, but may or may not be a perk for you.

If making your way to Rome is daunting, taking the shuttle into Civitavecchia itself may be an option. There is helpful information on the site WhatsInPort.com. Lovely itinerary!
 

“Stingray” Gary,  please remind me why your deck furniture s tied down overnight. Continue to enjoy your trip! Enjoying your reports.

Sthrngary,

I enjoy your posts, and look forward to hearing about your cruise experience! Something you may find amusing:  every time I see your “nom de plume” my brain reads “Stingray.”  I don’t know why that is, but In my view it seems somewhat appropriate!

Thanks for sharing with us!

Susie

4 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

Better shops in Hamilton. The Dockyard is a tourist trap geared to cruise passengers and there will be 6000 so there. 

There is, however, a lovely local coffee shop tucked in there, and a marvelous potter. We visit both every time we’re there.

11 minutes ago, LSuzQ said:

I made several payments to Oceania between the time I paid a deposit and final payment. None were earmarked specifically for insurance—just general payments. Insurance was listed as a line item on the Oceania documentation from the beginning. And as we added things such as pre-cruise hotel and air, the insurance line increased accordingly.

Ah….I did find this. And will take the advice of getting in touch with those in the know for my specific policy.

“all you need to do is pay the plan cost with your final cruise payment. PLEASE NOTE: Trip Cancellation provision takes effect only upon receipt of full payment of the protection plan cost.”

2 hours ago, Babr said:

The effective date is usually 12:01 AM on the day after your premium is received. It is determined by the actual date the insurance company receives the payment. Did you pay for the insurance at the time of booking?

I made several payments to Oceania between the time I paid a deposit and final payment. None were earmarked specifically for insurance—just general payments. Insurance was listed as a line item on the Oceania documentation from the beginning. And as we added things such as pre-cruise hotel and air, the insurance line increased accordingly.

What is the effective date of a policy, if it is the case that the insurance is part of the original cruise package (such as with Aon) and thus is one line item on the invoice from booking until final payment? Trying to determine in this situation when a 60 day look-back period would begin. TIA

21 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

Sorry you had to cancel.

We've had to do that a couple of times for medical emergencies, on very short notice.  Once for DH, and once for very elderly MIL.  Several other claims were for assorted expenses along the way, including almost a week in a luxury hotel when we should have been visiting dear friends, alas), plus some smaller claims.

 

We had third party travel insurance, and each time, we received a check within about 2-3 weeks.

 

As mentioned above, for any claim involving medical issues, make *sure* you have a physician's statement about the medical problem as well as any travel restrictions, etc.

And receipts for all claimed expenses, whether they are for pre-paid non-refundable costs, or extra costs incurred due to <event>.

 

You might also want to browse (or post questions) on the CC travel insurance sub-forum:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/499-cruisetravel-insurance/

 

Hope your husband is feeling better soon!

 

GC

Good suggestion! Will search the Boards for sure. Thanks for the good wishes.

32 minutes ago, ORV said:

Sorry to hear about this. Make sure that he has seen a Dr, unless you have cancel for any reason insurance. 

Thanks, ORV. Letter from orthopedist obtained during today’s visit.

Happy anniversary! On this cruise next fall, so will be interested to hear about your adventure.

Well, our first O cruise on Marina from Tarragona to Trieste will have to wait.  My husband’s back decided now was not a good time to go. Will dive into the process of cancellation insurance claims tomorrow, and happy to share the experience if there is interest.
 

I don’t consider my months of pouring over the (mostly) relevant, informative, and often amusing boards and sort of getting to know many of you a wasted effort. I have appreciated the insight. We do have an Insignia Bermuda cruise scheduled next fall, and hopefully will replace the just cancelled cruise with another O adventure, so I’ll continue to lurk in the background.

Happy cruises to all of you!

1 hour ago, pinotlover said:

Not necessarily accurate. Check the port authorities. I’ve been on cruises where once newly checked in, we couldn’t leave the ship. B2Bers were in a different situation. 
 

If you don’t want to necessarily be stuck on a ship, don’t check in. Why risk it? My hotels have always held my luggage until I came to get it.

In our case, the hotel is in Barcelona, and the port is Tarragona—so I will check with Oceania to see if we can check in, leave our luggage, and pop out to Tarragona. 

8 hours ago, QuestionEverything said:

I suspect so. Check out the Celebrity site, one thread about an executive resigning and major announcement today is disturbing. 

I feel bad for Celebrity, in 1992 it was the Oceania of the day. Very sad what has happened to that once classy cruiseline.

Agree. I fondly recall the small Celebrity ships of the early 2000’s—sailed to Bermuda several times on the Horizon. The ship size (1200 passengers), excellent service and food quality (before specialty restaurants were a thing) are sorely missed, and it’s that comparison with Oceania that draws me to O ships.

So, I’m a newbie yet to sail (this fall) without the experience long time O patrons enjoy, but would it be oversimplifying things to suggest that it’s way to soon to judge the future vis-a-vis SM until the nature of future sales is also known?

Yes, a week or so ago we received the Blue Book for our September 29 cruise. Mostly cooker-cutter generic info, but a nice touch. No information included about our 3 Shore Excursion bookings. And, our pre cruise hotel (part of an O package) was not among those listed for Barcelona.

2 hours ago, BrakeawayTakeaway said:

I am on your cruise as well! Glad your reservations went well, hope you got good days too.  Can’t believe it’s only 45 days out!

2 hours ago, BrakeawayTakeaway said:

I am on your cruise as well! Glad your reservations went well, hope you got good days too.  Can’t believe it’s only 45 days out!

Thanks! Getting excited. Enjoy your cruise! Some new ports for us, and some old favorites. Great combination.

2 hours ago, Lastdance said:

LSUZQ:

Oh my; I had no idea that it would be this difficult, especially at 12:01 AM.  Is that Eastern Time?  I am also a newbie with a DH that has stomach issues if he has to eat late.  I booked a PH1, hoping that the earliest times would be available.  If not, I would definitely have to think about canceling ahead of the 6 months before the cruise.  I hate all these tiny little details, especially having to stay up late just to book dinner reservations on a cruise, but nothing is ever simple. 

Eastern time for us! Good luck with yours…

2 hours ago, maadimom said:

I think we are on the same cruise.  This is also our first time with Oceania.  It was indeed a frenzy.  My husband is a type 1 diabetic and needs to eat earlier than 8:30-9:00.  That was pretty much all that was available for 2.  I chose the sharing as I’m not opposed to it.  We will have three nights at 7-7:30 sharing and one night at 7 for two.  I know it will be fine.  Some of my best friends have been made back in the day where everyone shared.  I will take the above advice and keep checking however.

 

We are also in a B3 extended balcony.  

Hope to catch up with you! Perhaps we’ll share a meal if we successfully change our table option on some evenings!

8 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

We  barely got  res for before 8pm  a lot were only 9pm

booked 3 out of 4 restaurants

 

Call Oceania & see if they have any 2 tops  for your anniversary night  at least

 

Once onboard go to the restaurant reservations desk (deck 5) & see if they can  help 

They do leave some tables open  for those that do not book online

Enjoy

Thanks, LHT28. We actually did secure a two-top for each reservation. My writing is never as clear as I think it is!

We are booked on Marina late September, in a B3 extended balcony. So, I dove into my first specialty restaurant booking event at 12:01 a.m. (following the good advice found on these boards). And it was, indeed, the predicted feeding frenzy. Luckily we are late-ish diners and managed 8:00 bookings, which is fine. I wonder if a couple of things, beyond our cabin category, further limited our options to 2 to 3 dining times per venue (one of which was always 9:00 pm).

- Our cruise appears to be the middle leg of a three part journey.  I wonder if those who book multiple legs are able to book reservations for their entire trip at the beginning of their journey. 
 

- I was hoping for private dining (a two-top) for our anniversary dinner, but would have happily shared on other nights. However, while in frenzy-mode, it appeared that I could select only one option across all venues—so quickly gave up and chose private dining. Have others experienced the same? I should probably be pleased to have the additional coveted two-tops in any event.

Feeling accomplished nonetheless.

3 hours ago, SonuvaBeach said:

Hi..my wife and I are on the Marina with you in October.We have to agree..RCL  ships...especially the new ships..are just TOO.... TOO BIG, TOO MANY PASSENGERS, TOO MANY KIDS, TOO MUCH LIKE AN AMUSEMENT PARK! We had a similar experience on the Voyager of the Seas back in February...we spent a good deal of our ship time in the elite/concierge lounges. When getting off the ship to catch a cab back to the airport in San Juan, my wife asked.."Where did all these people come from?" Probably our last RCL cruise. We will be on the Insignia to Bermuda in a couple weeks...our first O cruise...only 640 to 680 passengers...CAN'T HARDLY WAIT!! See you in a couple months on the Marina!

Please report back on your Bermuda cruise! Doing the same in ‘24 and looking forward to hearing about your experience.