Flatbush Flyer

Actually, one of O’s strengths is to consider and pursue all possible avenues to maintain an original itinerary before making a change and also to not inform passengers prematurely with incomplete information that may change numerous times before all is finalized.

What exactly do you mean by “really long cruise?” For us, anything less than 4 weeks is a “boat ride.” That said, if you want a month+\- multisegment (minimum repeat ports) cruise, look to lines that specialize in that type of trip. We prefer Oceania particularly for the great crew and space ratios AND the excellent food/service. In addition, we’ve done numerous bottom line comparisons of O with both mass market and luxury lines and found that the net daily rate of required and optionally desired added costs above the fare is far better on O.

Regardless of who pays them (you, O Club, TA, OCAPP), the debit and credit for gratuities appears on your shipboard account.

Call it whatever you want- gratuity, tip, service charge. The gratuity charges for the cabin et al. are not posted daily to your account. Rather, they appear as a single total amount. For booze, it’s 20% on all non-package booze purchases and each of those purchases appears as a separate charge on your account.

You may want to look up the definition of “gratuity.”😳

Hawaii (all counties) is a trip best done by land. This is not the Caribbean with mostly scrubby reef islands and third world cultures once you turn left off the Main Street. And, if you can swing it time/money wise (e.g., at least 7-10 days each trip), I suggest you focus on a single island each time - starting with Kauai, the Garden Isle. But, if you’ve got your heart set on doing a cruise, my suggestion would be a partial or full transpacific (full between SYD and any west coast port (SFO, LAX) or partial between PPT and California with 4-5 days criss-crossing the Hawaiian Islands along the way. And for either of those options, I’d recommend Oceania since you could put together a variety of multi-segment itineraries that would introduce you to both Polynesia and Hawaii. And if you start or end in PPT, you could add a great extra few days in Polynesia. Of course, there’s one major caveat: Once you do Polynesia and/or Hawaii and/or the Western Pacific (incl Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu, New Caledonia et al), you’ll say goodbye to the Caribbean.

I’ve been gone since my mid-twenties but have never really left.

Oceania used to have a search section for TAs (listed by zipcode. They may have been Connoisseurs Club members but not necessarily the “preferred partners” and/or “elite” ones (I assume this later group is some specific number of the top sellers of O cruises. I know that our primary TA is the top seller of Tauck in North America (and probably the world) and is also one of the O “Elite” group as well. And that kind of “status” does get rewarded in ways that benefit their own regular clients. As for finding these TAs, I suggest doing what we did for several years (as we went through several different TAs to arrive at a “short list” of folks I respect and use (and who takes good care of us). Once onboard an O ship, work “what TA do you use” into every possible conversation. Do it on every cruise until you start hearing the same handful of Agencies over and over again. Contact all of them and interview them to see just how knowledgeable they are AND which ones are a good fit for your own interpersonal style. That seems like a lot of work. But, it will payoff.

Don’t be “pennywise and pound foolish.”ALWAYS pay by credit card so that you have a built-in mechanism for disputes.Getting FF points is a bonus. And included trip insurance (albeit, most often, not as robust as it should/could be for truly comprehensive/flexible coverage) is another perk.

If you have one of O’s top performing “preferred partner” TAs (look for “Elite” on their O Connoisseurs Club logo icon), a quick call to their Regional Sales Rep may get your TA access to the ”quiet sale” price even it’s not your TA’s time in the rotation. In any case, like so many other O policies, a lot depends on the interpretation of the policy by whoever answered the phone. That can mean that a “No” needs to be escalated to get Miami on the “same page” that you want to be. My experience with O regarding rules exceptions is “you win some- you lose some.” Fortunately for us, it’s more often “thoughtful win/win negotiation that gets the “Yes.”

Most importantly, do not fly in on day of departure. Flight cancellation or delay, missed connection and rebooks on next flight out unavailable, misplaced/lost checked bags all can find the ship leaving without you. And, NO, the ship is under no obligation to wait for you if you buy your air through the cruise line. Read your Ticket Contract and T&Cs. NCL Holding (and other cruise line consortia) is not liable for performance issues related to their contracted services. That said, always book air on your own. It’s not just a price issue. When you book anyway other than directly with an airline, you must go through the ticket issuer (e.g., cruise line, TA, et al.) to make any changes. And while you’re trying to do that, DIYers will be contacting the airline direct (phone or airport rep) to grab those last available seats on the next plane out. So, learn to master the air routing web search engine ITA Matrix and DIY.

I’ve used the onetime switch of a BoB and not lost the bonus SBC for the original booking.

A number of folks here on CC have reported that they were told by someone (or read somewhere) that you could do the BoB deal for a month after the cruise (as well as during the month prior to embark) only to find that it was/is not true. Extension of the BoB deal has long been pre-cruise only (and limited to 30 days.

True - I should’ve been more clear. OP can swap a BoB once w/o penalty. That might change the booking number, though I’m not sure because I’d want any “new” booking to also have the BoB notation in the invoice math.

This is the wrong place to ask that question. Contact the consulate or embassy for each visited country after reviewing the visa info on their websites. If that info is confirmed, follow the instructions to obtain any required visa. BTW, do not rely on info you may have obtained at an earlier time.

Excellent summary!!!

Wrong- if you booked onboard, you have a price drop match guarantee. No rebook required. - just a price match on your current booking.

Nowhere does any O literature say SM includes spirits (e.g., cocktails). It says things to the effect of “wine, beer and “other’” (most likely referring to sparkling wine).

Would’ve been helpful for OP to define what they mean by “within the US.

They may think they have “medical taken care of.” But I advise that they double check. As we all know, Medicare itself is useless outside of the USA. And, while some Medicare supplements (like ours) converts to the company’s basic coverage when you leave the US, that basic coverage may be onl for emergency care and not all in-patient hospitalization. Likewise, while ur regular health insurance (Medicare plus Supplement) will cover air ambulance when needed for immediate care/treatment, that is a very different item than is MedEvac (from wherever you are treated abroad to home or a U.S. Hospital. All that said, there’s another little challenge for folks who are looking solely for trip cancel/interrupt protection: very few travel insurers sell only that coverage. In most cases, it is bundled with the medical policy (for not much more cost than travel medical alone. And, finally, one more caution: If you can find a stand alone trip cancel/interrupt policy (separately purchased or a perk with your credit card), know that it most often excludes coverage due to causation by an insurance-defined pre-existing condition (which is not the same as a medically defined pre-existing condition).

Very good point.

Oceania - Excellent perks (including SBC, product/service discounts and complimentary cruises with no status/credits expiration.

Ah yes, the cost of convenience can be pricey though often priceless when “the poop hits the fan.” As for “adamant pushing,” please be reminded as to who here on CC constantly bemoans those true O tour screwups perpetrated by the several incompetent DS managers who really need to be fired.

And i just previously posted one example of that happening where we had to move late in the day (of an overnight) to accommodate another cruise ship’s late afternoon arrival. And, on yet another occasion, we arrived in a port AM, deposited passengers for tours (including us) and left for most of the day while another ship took the berth for a half day port stop. Our O ship returned to the berth later that day (in time for the full day tour returnees). Unusual? Absolutely. But, times have changed. A sidebar story for our mariner readers - not a cruise ship (nor a commercial ship). Bound (years ago) for St Petersberg (on an itinerary arranged years in advance), California’s TS Golden Bear was informed by a less-than-politically-sensitive Port Captain that there was “no room at the inn.” Quick call to the US State Department (including an explanation that the PC said he might find space for whiskey and cigarettes) and the Port Capt. magically found a spot. But, he needed to get even for having been reprimanded by Moscow. So, his offer was only for a “stern tie.” Not to worry: He didn’t realize that the ship carried a faculty/student complement ;and the equipment needed to modify (overnight) the fantail for easy egress. Imagine his surprise at the trouble/free disembarkation (not to mention his surprise at the informal gift given him by some of the students (a box within which was a sign that said “Wet Paint”).😎

Odd. Many of our O tours have been in those 16 passenger mini-busses (though we too have had the occasional bigger bus with 30+\- folks).