Flatbush Flyer

Of course, “knowledgeable” is the operative word. Sadly, many folks looking for a good TA have to endure some bad experience(s) before connecting with one. And, that said, the more a TA client understands O’s idiosyncrasies, the quicker they’ll be able to identify that good TA (not to mention also being able to deal first hand with certain emergent issues once onboard.

Welcome. In all honesty, the best time/topics to ask for/about “insider tips” is the actual booking of an O cruise, the idiosyncrasies of O Life and the importance of having an O savvy TA.

Another option is do Disney’s Aulani Hotel on Oahu pre/post a Hawaiian Island cruise on Pride of America?

Have you also looked at a crewed yacht charter? It’s not as expensive as you may think and, not unlike the cruise industry, there are different segment qualities to fit most budgets. With 6 of you, one choice possibility could be a 60’ catamaran. And you would be able to develop an itinerary beforehand, along with menus, activities, etc. IMO, it’s worth contacting a well respected yacht broker who handles these charters. In the past, we’ve used Ed Hamilton & Co. First class operation that will not disappoint you. Google them for starters

Not even two weeks - since returning from 47 days on Oceania Marina on December 4. Overall, it was good to get back to, at least, a more normal schedule of cruising in 2022 (this year, we did about 100 nights over a total of 7 cruise segment).

O Life and YWYW can seem confusing. FWIW, you may want to search again her on CC - I’ve posted numerous detailed instructions on how best to use both together. In any case, DO NOT USE THE ONLINE CART FOR EXCURSIONS. I suggest that you first do a mock purchase with your own pencil or spreadsheet. If nothing else, you’ll get some practice at better understanding the idiosyncrasies (like, the O Life tour credits are assigned automatically starting with the most expensive of the allowable ones). Next do the mock booking using the online cart. Make sure you check the O Life YWYW option (it will tell you if you have enough O Life and extra tour buys to get the YWYW 25% discount on the paid ones. Disregard what you see as the prices next to each tour (the cart is very glitchy there. However, the bottom line total cost should match your own math. Even if all matches, call O and book the tours with an agent who agrees to send you the “prepurchased shore excursions and onboard options” PDF. It has all the math and that document is important should there be any disagreement/confusion once you are onboard and the ship cancels tours and $$$ are modified. FWIW: There are many new/clueless Destination Services staff right now. BTW: Even though we use a TA, we have a long time relationship with a senior O phone rep with whom we do these bookings- a valuable ally pre-cruise when many O changes to tours are possible. That said, know that, if you want to book two tours (per person) in the same day (e.g., AM and PM), the cart will show a conflict even if there’s more than 90 minutes between them. You’ve got to call for that as well as if you want to cancel a tour before you board. Finally, if you have any balance due after your O Life selections have been automatically credited and you still have YWYW discounted tours to pay for, any O Club SBC you’ve been given will be debited to pay for them. Still a balance after that? Your credit card will be charged. (If you want, you can also tell the O rep not to use your O Club SBC and put the remaining balance on your CC (so you have SBC for onboard purchases). Note: some here on CC will say “We have a TA and know how to use her/him.” Sure, you can have your TA do the tour booking for you. But just realize that not all TAs fully understand O Life and YWYW and, even if they do, involving them in any problem solving once you are onboard can be a challenge for all of the obvious reasons.

I stand corrected. That said: When I was zeroing in on my now-long-serving short list of preferred TAs, all I know is that they were/are very choosy about the type of bookings they’ll do when it involves certain mass market lines, especially what might be described as the “discount” one(s). Of course, “poor” commission does not necessarily refer only to the percentage. It also has to do with the amount of work that might be involved for the commission associated with a 3 figure cruise fare. In any case, and I trust that you’ll agree: When it comes to some of the premium/luxury cruise lines with various idiosyncrasies (e.g., O Life), the last thing I’d want in a TA is someone who knows less than I do about their policies and practices.

Not how to do it. Everyone’s circumstances are different. Contact a travel insurance broker (no fee to you). We use InsureMyTrip.com. They’ll interview you and help you make the right decision. Pay attention- a lot of folks have no clue about what they need or what to buy.

You are in the 100% penalty phase. Without insurance, your question about medical emergencies refunds (immediate family in your household or otherwise) has only one answer. You are SOL.

If you use the CC “search” feature, you can find several of my very detailed posts about how to identify and best use a really good TA. There are plenty of the good ones but even far more really terrible ones. As for your question, a lot depends on which cruise lines. In general, you’ll find that some of the premium/luxury lines pay TA commissions on a sliding scale related to the business generated by the TA. Likewise, you’ll find that the commissions from many mass market lines, particularly for their one week “boat rides” is so poor that those “better” TAs won’t even do those bookings. That said, know that a TA should be able to provide any deal currently offered by the cruise line to the general public AND add additional perks (assembled from commission sharing, pass-through incentive funding from the cruise line, TA consortium funds, etc.) Sadly, some unscrupulous TAs will make it sound like they are giving you the cruise line’s perks (passing them off as their own). However, if you do your homework and focus on TAs that handle a lot of your “preferred” line bookings (N.B.: really do consider moving up from mass market lines like Celebrity), you should be able to eventually identify TAs that will add commission sharing at 5-10% of the commissionable fare paid as refundable SBC or a cash rebate. On the right cruise, you’re talking about a “chunk of change.”

Really depends on the source reference. Shellback definitely is traditionally the equator. But, there are IDL ceremonies (e.g., Order if the Golden Dragon [or Golden Shellback], et al.) and Prime Meridian/Equator (at the same time) ceremonies (can’t remember what that one is called other than a “reason for a party.”).

Sea day events for Equator and IDL crossings (including certificates) is the norm.

Actually deposited $100 or “pending?” Sometimes those credits appear than disappear. Also, do you have a future cruise booked for which you pre-purchased tours? If so, and if any port changes eliminated a tour, you might get a refund without any notice (though $100 is too even a number unless the cancelled tour was an O Life one and you had no additionally purchased tours at under $200 to replace it [i.e., O Life allotment is base value $100 regardless of tour list price].

Contact REI for clothing recommendations and purchase.

The “cruise planner” (a.k.a., the “Blue Book” because, pre-pandemic, the cover was all blue) is a long-standing O tradition that will not end anytime soon. What’s not “logical” (at least, for folks concerned with unnecessarily expensive price tags), is O’s hotel programs. We occasionally stay at O’s named hotel for a cruise. But, we book it ourselves at approx. the same (or better) per room cost as O charges per person! And, the hotel concierge can arrange for airport pickup and cruise terminal transfer at a total package price far far below the O cost. Perhaps that insane profit is how O pays for the Blue Book.

For future reference: You can get a PDF of all shore excursions on your cruise long before the “planner” (aka the “Blue Book”) arrives in the mail. Just call O (note that the PDF is updated periodically as tours are added/deleted).

My premise of a newly introduced $18 “flat rate booze tips option” is for folks who do NOT want the traditional booze packages but who do consume enough booze to warrant consideration of the new tips only option. Think about it: If I buy the “prestige package” at $60/day (or $20 with O Life upgrade), gratuities are included - but only for booze allowed in the package (I.e., most [but not all] spirits and only the mostly mediocre items on the “wine-by-the-glass menu”). I still would pay 18% tip on bottled wine, “top shelf” scotch/cognac, wine/spirit tastings, many “wine bar” selections, etc. If my premise is correct, the $18/day flat rate “booze tips” option would be a consideration for those of us who don’t do the O booze packages but who do any/all of the items mentioned above plus “happy hours,” occasional other cocktails and multiple hosted events/dinners plus corkage fees. For example: We often do longer cruises exceeding a month and have found that the booze packages have less value for us for varied reasons. Yet having an opportunity to do the math on anticipated booze related purchases (listed above) and finding that booze tips alone would exceed $18/day might peak our interest on the booze “tips only” package - particularly on shorter cruises. It’s just a third option that may entice some folks to buy more non-package booze because they know/think it’s a good deal for their imbibing habits. Unless it’s truly an IT/web FUBAR, there is no other plausible explanation.

At least for B cabins, the gratuity is still $16 pp/day. And someone would had to have gone out of their way to misplace that gratuity on the booze package web page.

I just can’t fathom any other explanation other than a flat rate $18 daily tips deal. But, I’m thinking more along the lines of using it for a plan with better wines-by-the-bottle at $150 +\- along with the tasting events and even the new evening wine bar (on the O ships). Nonetheless, I agree that, just like the Prestige Package, you’d need to keep up a good pace to make it worthwhile.

The only thing that would make sense from a passenger point of view would be an $18 pp/day flat rate gratuity charge for folks w/o booze packages covering ANY purchase related to booze: wine by-the-glass AND/OR by-the-bottle, a la carte cocktails, wine tasting and other bar events, corkage fee (then discounted?), etc. The break even point would be daily purchased items averaging more than $100 pp.

Though the NEXT interior redo was new to Riviera (and eventually to Marina), remember that the 4 R ships have all already had this work done over the past several years - including a lot of pix, videos, press releases etc. which are now basically “old news.” The materials and finishes used on the O ships are basically the same as what was done on the R ships. What available design PR $ are being allocated are focusing on the new A class.

I too prefer the old paper way or, better still, post cruise opportunity to respond in detail. FWIW: your O club ID # is on the bottom of your cruise key card. And the survey address uses intranet (though that can be non-functional too).

And that’s the benefit of having A): Direct contact info for the trusted long-serving O phone rep (who I already know is still there). No “on hold” BS needed. AND B): Having a (actually two) top-O-selling TAs with the (still existing) regional sales rep (et al.) as a speed dial on their cell phone. Backup redundancy in the management of intercontinental travel (work or play) is a good thing. That said, I use my resources in the most efficacious way. Bottom line: we each do what we find works best for our situation. FWIW: I’ve always been a big fan of Robert Pirsig’s “Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.” It’s a worthy read.

We’ve done full and partial TransPacific cruises (with Hawaii in the mix) during winter months. You could certainly look at historical NOAA data but see my post #3. This sounds like a Princess cruise(?). If so, your biggest potential issue will be their food.

Multiple weather apps incl NOAA.