Flatbush Flyer

Yes- far more involved/time consuming to fix “after the fact.” And, in one sense, it’s exactly the opposite for snafus pre-cruise. IMO, issues with tour packages and other optional purchases should be settled pre-cruise whenever possible. That’s one of the reasons I stress always having a copy (or two) of the prepurchased shore excursions PDF (the one with all the math) in your pack of important docs. Should there be any onboard question about tour booking issues, that PDF is the gospel for your original deal. Once onboard, it also spares you the need to involve your far distant TA (except in the rarest of circumstances).

Sorry but I’ll disagree and it has nothing to do with pretentiousness. “Cheap” wine (e.g., most of the <$15/bottle US retail stuff on cruise ship wine-by-the-glass menus) is generally mediocre at best - particularly when it comes to delivering what you expect from a varietal. That said, I have found that better wines in the US do tend to be more expensive than like foreign products (e.g., California vs Chile). But, I assume that, in part, has more to do with the various costs of production (e.g., even just the bottles/labels).

Thanks for clarifying. I’ve found that United is pretty good about changing. But, I’ve only had to do it a few times and it was for significant time changes of a couple of hours that ate up our connection buffer.

Your “hack” also draws attention to folks who don’t read what they may see as the “fine print.” When major airlines (e.g., United) change flight times, folks who have selected receiving “notifications” (online and/or via texts or the airline’s app) will get an email with the details. If you then peruse your account, you’ll see the new itinerary along with some symbol that indicates a schedule change. If you “accept” the change (by moving beyond that screen), it’s a done deal. But, if you read the “fine print” that accompanies the change info, you’ll find that you can contact the airline to secure alternative arrangements, most often at no additional charge (and for sometimes better flights).

It’s not “all” of the reservations employees who are problematic. Like any reasonably sized customer service department, there’s exemplary staff and not-so-exemplary staff. That’s why I always recommend taking the time to find a good O phone rep and then adding him/her to your support system (yes, even if you have a great TA). Remember, you can always book direct with O on the phone or onboard and then transfer to your TA within the 30 day transfer window.

O’s FF policies/practices can appear convoluted/confusing. But, they’re really not. The problem is that passengers and employees alike don’t read the rules, ask questions, blah, blah, blah. Bottom line is it’s not rocket science.

Oddly enough, as much as I have put down the Passport “flat fee” to get 40% off the tours beyond the O Life allowance. I recently was able to use it as the least expensive alternative on a multi-segment cruise. It saved a couple of thousand $ over the YWYW/O Life mix! I still believe YWYW works best in most instances. But, this latest situation has reminded me to look at all alternatives. That said, I will still mix ship and private tours. But watching private tour folks scrambling to make changes/get refunds for numerous missed/changes ports on recent O cruises makes me glad that, despite a few more expensive o tours, I haven’t had to lift a finger as regarding the change logistics. Bottom line is that you often can’t put a price tag on convenience - especially when you cruise an average of 1/3 of the year.

As I said, incomplete info. A cabin upgrade is a fare discount and they would be a “double dip.” You may want to talk with your TA about “getting things straight” (even if it means s/he talking with their O contact about relaying the correct info. All this has nothing to do with O Club benefits.

Then the picture of the QR code page should work since it has your name and flight info on the same screen. But, in the worst case scenario, can’t you take a screen shot of the emailed boarding pass and print that on the ship as I described earlier?

This can relate to my aforementioned O software glitch that blocks some items when “‘in lieu’ $250” appears on the O invoice. For example if you get O Club gratuities coverage and book a multisegment cruise where your TA covers gratuities for one segment (using O provided OCAPP $), O Club will issue the “‘in lieu’ $250” for that segment. BUT, the O software glitch will then remove the O Club gratuities coverage for that segment AND for the other segment!!!. Not to worry: you still are covered by O Club for the non-OCAPP segment’s gratuities. But, apparently, whether it gets corrected ASAP or just prior to embarkation appears to depend on who is handling it in Miami. What I do know is that it takes a manual override by O in Miami to fix it. That said, at the very least, I suggest getting verification in writing (from someone with an Oceania email address and title that you are covered for all gratuities regardless of the $250 in lieu of your TA’s OCAPP gratuities coverage. And, if this is the true situation and your TA can’t get that note from O (rather than some verbal “all is OK”), I’d be looking for a new TA.

$20 for a bottle of wine? Don’t you mean a “box ‘o wine?”😉

You don’t need to print with some airlines’ apps. Your booking in the app should have a QR Code boarding pass. For example, on United’s app, there’s a QR code for each person in your booking and when you select one of them, even the screen brightness increases so that there won’t be any lighting problem for their reader. Next time you’re boarding, look at the FF folks who board first and you’ll see them press their cell phone onto the Boarding Pass reader. Alternatively, you could take a screen shot of that airline app QR Code display (which also has the flight info - like a regular boarding pass) on your cell phone and print it as a picture from your phone. Then you’ll have a familiar paper “boarding pass.”

It’s a 3+ weeks cruise. 10 tours pp for YWYW is not unusual for longer cruises. And, 4 pp are already taken care of by O Life.

O Club level perks are a separate thing from O Life (regular or ultimate). You get them whether or not you book onboard and they do not discount your fares since, for example, the O Club SBC is non-refundable (use it or lose it for onboard purchases). The “non-combinable” item refers primarily to items in the fare itself - book onboard discounts, more than one O Life selection, etc. I still need more clarity on OP’s issue. But, with what we’ve got in this thread, I’m leaning towards the denial has zip to do with any O Club perk being a factor.

If the shore excursions.pdf first page says 10 tours required for YWYW, that’s 10 per person. Sam goes for the O Web Cart. if they’re getting 4 O Life tours/person, they count. But OP would still need 6 paid tours per person for YWYW 25% off.

For future reference: Execucar (a division of Super Shuttle).

Yes - “you get what you pay for.” OR, actually, “you don’t get what you don’t pay for.”

Forget the Dom. For $80+\-, you can get a 2018 Martin Ray Brut Rosé.

Or on the airline’s app.

Aha! Senior moment here. I have seen those- in fact I’m pretty sure I have one or two somewhere. And they are “non-combinable.” However, I would see it as very clear that the “non-combinable” is limited to “special” savings (e.g., book onboard discount, ultimate o life, etc) and not regular O Club SBC perks. That said, I stand by my earlier post, which might mean that it’s fallen into the hands of someone who’s not willing to do the extra work to make it right. Of course, the certificate also has the expected CYA statement of “other restrictions may apply.” Nonetheless, I’d press the issue if that’s the case.

A few observations and comments: Firstly, Oceania’s promotion rules are fairly straightforward - at least, those that are stated on the O website: Company Info> Legal> Promotions. With few exceptions, it all boils down to “no double dipping.” However, complicating the interpretation/application of items/rules that appear to not be “black and white” are five realities: 1) First and foremost, some passengers just don’t read and/nor comprehend the specifics of the promotion they seek. This includes the “non-combinable” statements. 2) Some TAs and Oceania phone reps are misinformed, confused and/or just don’t understand the finer points and relationships in the mix of promotional options that create savings for passengers. 3) Exacerbating the problem are glitches in O’s booking amenities software (e.g., mixing OCAPP and O Club perks in “custom cruise” bookings) that require manual overrides by O management to correct. 4) There’s good and bad news as regards O’s long-standing practice of considering exceptions to some booking policies/practices on a case-by-case basis (best examples are the Platinum Cruise specifics and Book By/Cruise By deadlines associated with Future Cruise Credits). “No” to you (or your TA) today can be “Yes” to me (or my TA) tomorrow. 5) Adjudication of differing rules interpretations are dependent on which supervisor or middle manager in Miami handles any particular promotions problem. As regards the OP’s OBC perk issue: I’m not exactly sure what OP means by a “$200 gift certificate.” Does she mean the “book onboard bonus SBC”? (The book onboard bonus SBC should not be confused with the “book onboard fare discount savings”). For example, with an O Life Ultimate onboard booking, you cannot also get the book onboard fare discount (that would be double dipping). But you can get the book onboard bonus SBC (assigned to the current cruise or a future cruise). As for an outright “gift certificate” for actual “cash” (not SBC - refundable or non-refundable), that would be a new one on me (unless it’s a TA’s providing a cash rebate). But, let’s take that at concept of an O “gift certificate” at face value. OP’s statement that it was denied because of Silver O Club $250 SBC needs clarification: Is it a regular $250 O Club perk on the booked cruise invoice or is it the $250 O Club “in lieu” perk when a TA is providing some other duplicate perk like OCAPP funds to cover gratuities (years ago, you could get the whole value of duplicate gratuities perks when both O Club and the TA we’re paying them. Now, it’s limited to $250). If the $250 SBC cited is regular O Club $, that has no relation to booking fare discounts or bonus SBC. But, if it’s “in lieu” SBC, I can see how that could be considered a “double dip” and thus refused. All that said, we’re now full circle to the other possibility: Remember my comment about the software glitch? If whoever at O at some point said “No” did so because the software auto-prevented the honoring of the “gift certificate,” s/he may have accepted that glitch block as “gospel” and just relayed the bad news. This is a real possibility. And, manually fixing that kind of glitch usually means getting O’s Special Services involved. In other words, there sometimes can be “extra work” involved in “making things right” and it will take the right TA (one with significant O clout) or a long-serving O Club Ambassador or an accommodating O reservations supervisor (or even a regional O sales rep to pursue and champion the issue.

A printer in the Oceania@Sea space is accessible for passengers. Ask the IT person for the printer name and password. For printing, you’ll have to have the doc open on your device and then sign on to the printer’s “WiFi” to print. Remember to go back to the ship WiFi afterwards.

We’ve done each of the LaReserve dinners including Dom Perignon. As others have mentioned, the food has been exceptionally excellent in each instance and the wine, for the most part, has been more than adequate in quality and quantity. That said, and with an admission that I have what may be considered a NorCal “house palate” for some varietals (and sparklers), I did/do not find Dom Perignon to be worth it’s added cost. Of course, a bottle that lights up might be worth a few extra dollars😉.

Read the T&Cs and Ticket Contract to which you agreed by paying your deposit.

Once again, you’re assuming that all cruise lines behave/manage the same way. Another nice thing about our preferred line is that there is little tolerance of aberrant behaviors like “chair hogging.” Pool staff monitor vacant chairs and, when stuff is left unattended on a chair for an unreasonable amount of time (e.g., 30+\- minutes), the stuff is removed and stored.