Flatbush Flyer

Really a shame, particularly since she’s definitely one person who could provide the assistance needed in exactly this kind of situation.

If I remember correctly, the fine print says “up to” $300 (or something to that effect). i do know from past experience that the “book onboard bonus SBC” does not apply to all cruises.

Now I’m thirsty for a Gold Cadillac: Galliano White Creme de Cocoa Cream Blend with ice Order one next time you’re in Horizons (It’s on the regular Oceania bar menu). It tastes just like a vanilla milkshake.

LOL

Believe it or not, YES. Twenty years ago, Frank Del Rio (et al.) founded Oceania with a very specific niche market in mind: in general, adults who are well traveled, know value, are accomplished and who have worked hard for their money. That has translated into a passenger population with a better than 70% repeat rate found on pretty much every cruise. AND, many of those repeaters, who had experienced other cruise lines previously have never needed to look back after their first O cruise. Count us among them (at least so far). Of course, not everything is perfect on board. But, I am convinced that I speak for a lot of regulars who would agree that fixing your pet peeves could come at a cost of decreased attention to the things we don’t want changed (e.g., bottom line food quality, stellar service…..). Put more simply: “don’t fix what ain’t broke.”

Fly United with Star Alliance connections on Lufthansa. Though their best fares may be non-cancelable, if you book correctly, you could get at least one free schedule change and, if the cruise goes belly-up, opt for a Future Flight Credit (fly again within a year).

As others have said: O is a bad choice for you.

It may have saved you “money” but at what “cost?” Were all those flights non-stop (I.e., doable w/o a connection) on your preferred airline (including earned FF miles) and preferred routing/dates/times? AND, we’re your DIY searches truly comprehensive and followed by verifying calls to the selected airline? Finally, would all those other cruise lines have given you a fare credit if you chose to DIY the air?

see my post #6 above.

All you need to do is “find a cruise” on the O website: https://www.oceaniacruises.com/transatlantic-cruises/london-to-new-york-INS240621/?sr=%2Fcruise-finder%23port%3DREK%26sort%3Dfeatured%3Adesc%26page%3D1%26pageSize%3D10 3 days each in Iceland and Greenland.

On one of our O cruises across the North Atlantic (Southampton to NYC), we had three Iceland stops including two Reykjavik overnights and 3 stops in Greenland.

Yes. it’s obvious that many ports down under are having issues that are beyond the reasonable/historical control of the cruise lines (including the possibility of increasing gov’t enforcement of heretofore somewhat lax environmental regulation). That’s one of the anticipatory reasons why cruise lines’ T&Cs are very clear regarding their limited (if any) liability for missed ports. I’d be (and have been - even recently) just as disappointed as most folks who have missed ports. But, we all agreed to the T&Cs which clearly state that we are due no compensation - NADA! Of course, I expect that many cruisers don’t read their T&Cs (until they’re looking for something they need/want) and probably don’t read their travel insurance policy either. Is everyone aware of the provisions of “trip interruption” protection - specifically remuneration for missed cruise ports? Some cruise-specific policies (e.g., Nationwide’s cruise policies) will reimburse you if you submit evidence of the missed port (just ask Guest Services onboard for a letter). Sadly, the aggregate claim limit is usually only several hundred dollars. But, it’s something to help ease the pain. Though not meaning to defend any perceived chintziness in O not providing compensation for stuff it may not have caused or did cause because the “bigger picture” warranted it, I must remind folks here that modification of marine itineraries, particularly while underway, is no easy matter. And, let’s not forget that, in some cases, where ports are necessarily substituted, the ship may still incur many logistical expenses for the originally scheduled port. And yet, O never charges passengers extra to cover those costs. In any case, if some of the posters here continue to be “bent out of shape” over their perception that O (or any cruise line) is unfairly and continuously “screwing them over” (or even just disappointing them) they may want to take their business elsewhere. (which, of course, may net them a far worse situation). FWIW: we will soon embark on a 5 week western South Pacific cruise on Regatta. Based on our approx 100 O nights in 2022, I fully anticipate some issues that will bottom line at the incompetence of some O staff (onboard and/or in Miami). But, if some recognition of (or compensation) for a FUBAR is warranted, I (and/or a very “O influential” TA) will connect with someone who can actually address and handle the problem. Suffice to say that, when ever this situation has happened, we have often (though not always) come away satisfied with the outcome. So, for now, O remains our preferred cruise line.

Regatta (and the other R ships) all had their NEXT redo within the past several years - hardly “tired looking.”

Sound like that “someone” hasn’t been on a cruise for many years. Pretty sure fireworks stopped back around 2015(?).

Cruise Critic sometimes turns pics upside down.

Schedules usually arrive in mid-spring and mid-autumn.

we always take the air credit and DIY. Too many downsides to O air (even though we get free deviation). Bizclass quotes are on top of your “with air” fare. So, in essence you’re paying for two tix per person since the coach fare is not credited toward the bizclass tix. Someone here said they got a credit. But, hard to believe since no else one ever agreed. In any case, their contract options are limited. So, if you want non-stop on your preferred carrier, you may find the price higher than DIY. Plus many contract fare codes do not accrue FF miles. Learn to use ITA Matrix for flight search and always contact airlines for best price options.

OP: Always be wary of “one size fits all” answers like the one you got from d9704011 (particularly when they contradict themselves: “Of course, you'll have to wait until you're given direction(s) on getting off the ship; you can't just head towards the gangway until everything is ready.”. Even common sense says an “arrival” time generally refers to the ship’s arrival at a port rather than YOUR arrival on land (e.g., on the dock at a time you may have arranged for a private tour or other activity). This is particularly true if it is a tender port and the “arrival” time is the scheduled time to drop anchor. In the latter case, it could be well over 90 minutes before you step foot on land - particularly if priority is given to folks using ship’s tours. Perhaps d9704011 hasn’t had extensive time at sea, which would have had him/her occasionally subjected to not uncommon customs/other regulatory and/or logistical delays between scheduled arrival and moving of passengers. OP: For your upcoming cruise(s), do this little exercise: Look at the cruise line’s own published itinerary “arrival” times and compare them to the local port authority’s arrival/departure times for ships in their harbor (which is based on traffic control for ALL ships [cargo, cruise …..]). For many cruise lines, including our preferred line, the times will match (because they have zero to do with when you’ll be allowed to get off). You can also compare the ship’s published arrival times and compare it to the earliest start times of the ship’s own tours. Seldom will you see those times coincide or be any less than 30-60 minutes later than the published ship “arrival” time. This is somewhat not unlike the concept of “ship’s time.” There are some discount lines that, in order to not “confuse” their many first time passengers, never change their onboard clocks despite having crossed time zones. And then there are other lines that expect all passengers to follow the ship’s instructions to adhere to local time zones (even over multiple sea days on an ocean cruise). But, whatever the case with cruise line requirements/policies/practices, it’s never “one size fits all.” Check with your cruise line (e.g., “do I need a passport?”).

See my post above. We were talking about hot sauces. Besides the aforementioned Sriracha and Tabasco, all else that you’ll find in Terrace within reach of passengers is ketchup, yellow mustard and mayonnaise plus A1 (or similar) steak sauce. If you ask for any “heat” in the preparation, all they’ve got is chili flakes.

The inconsistency is more from Exec Chef to Exec Chef than it is from ship to ship. Same goes for Cruise Directors. At the top end of that spectrum is Ray Carr (who bounced back from retirement) and at the bottom is John Clelford who we had to endure on Marina throughout this past November.

The squared-off aft open extended balconies (7108 and 7111) are actually a bit larger than the two similar forward ones (which are angled on one side). Both fore and aft ones may get some windage underway. But, the aft location remains our preference for all of the obvious reasons. Here’s two pics of 7108.

We always preorder Coke Zero and small bottles of Pellegrino for the cabin fridge stocking.

There’s Tabasco, Sriracha and chili flakes available which, for something like Mexican food, would be far worse than even seeing a Brooklyn kid put ketchup on a hot dog or mayonnaise on a hamburger👀😳 Seriously though, O’s onboard authenticity for many attempts at far flung regional ethnic foods has always occasionally fallen short of the mark and not having decent condiments available just makes matters worse. (How an Oceania executive chef can allow his staff to ruin relatively simple items like poutine or aranchini is a real head shaker). That said, some of the best ethnic foods we’ve had on O has been at the Terrace Café when the cooks from a specific world region are allowed to do a special night of their home cooking. As for the Cholula (and a host of other single serving condiment items), we get it online (I think from Amazon).

On our most recent cruise - Marina mid-October to early December, the only food supply issue that we found to be unacceptable was the continuing use of the name Reuben to describe its namesake sandwich in Waves. With no corned beef (or even pastrami) in sight, the use of plain beef brisket as a replacement was nothing short of a mortal sin. Of course, there’s the other stuff that is often in short supply - even pre-Covid (e.g., Coke Zero or non-existent ethnic hot sauces like Chulula for Mexican food [we bring our own]).

Though it might be an unusual personal experience, a lot of Caribbean cruisers (new and seasoned) don’t realize that any situation necessitating a mid-cruise flight home to the US requires a passport. Whether it’s a passport and/or cruise insurance and/or CCs with reasonable $ caps, not having them is “pennywise and pound foolish.”