Flatbush Flyer

Who ends a cruise in Reykjavik and doesn’t spend a few land days exploring? Kind of a waste of airfare.

Though there’s an occasionally decent wine on the by-the-glass list in the booze packages, most are mediocre $10+\- per bottle retail items. The occasional exceptions like Schramsberg Mirabelle and Arboleda Carménère or a DonnaFugata blanco disappear quickly.

RCCL doesn’t always make sound decisions (e.g., selling the Azamara fleet for a mere $200 million). On the other hand, this newer floating amusement park was designed for the Asia Market. I wouldn’t put it past some Chinese outfit making an offer that could not be refused.

Sold?

Do a search here regarding your question and you’ll find that cruising with an infant is not considered by many to be a good idea. And, most importantly, Covid will not have disappeared by then.

You are still wrong and illogical. Out of courtesy, I won’t ask where you were taught about logic. Let’s just leave it at “agreeing to disagree” and move on with a focus on this Oceania “Do & Don’t” topic. What have your many O experiences taught you?

FWIW: if you plan to do a lot of cruises starting/ending in major cosmopolitan ports, know that you’ll find an intercontinental hotel in most of them (and they have an excellent “frequent guest” program).

You keep missing the point. Personally, I have no “opinion” about (nor interest in) Azamara. What I initially stated in this thread was a summary statement about what my, your (or anyone’s) search on CC (particularly regarding first hand experiences about the two lines’ food posted over many years) would find. And then I provided you with Azamara’s former CEO’s conclusion on the issue. Still not enough for you? Just do your own search here (for first hand opinions, albeit sans any academic rigor) and add to that some research on what food publications and major metro news food writers have had to say about their conclusions regarding the best in cruise line food. Or, you could just try the “new” Azamara for yourself.

This is the usual practice.

Even better… I was once at a meeting almost a decade ago attended by the then CEO of Azamara, Larry Pimentel, and I had the opportunity to ask him how HE compared the two lines - Oceania and Azamara - since they were considered by many in maritime circles to be the poster children for “premium” cruising. His answer was simple with words to the effect: “Oceania is for food. Azamara is for overnights in ports.” I’ve always been fine with that truthful answer (and glad that, in recent years, O has added so many port overnights to its longer itineraries). Most importantly, however: Since the food issue is so high on my cruise requirement list, I’ve never felt the need to prove Mr Pimentel wrong about his line’s priorities.

Re-read my post. I offered no opinion on the “new” Azamara other than (from what reviews I’ve seen plus common sense) it’s too early to know how the purchase by Sycamore in spring 2021 has affected Azamara’s previously fine reputation. Ergo, “the jury’s still out.”

Old Azamara? Perhaps yes - except for the far better O food. New Azamara (after the Sycamore Partners purchase)? The jury’s still out.

Whatever numbers you use for comparison, just remember that, when you walk out of the Celebrity cabin, you’re still on Celebrity.

If you value your good clothing, I’d think twice.

Intercontinental - excellent hotel - minutes to the port.

Yes but many family trusts will have your last name in the title.

You could try to prove that with documentation. But, I expect the answer will be “no” since it’s not the company going on the cruise.

This list is a good start to which I would add a clarification/addition (more as DO vs DON’T DO): When the timing of a current cruise coincides with the “roll out” of new future cruises that interest you, DO “book onboard” for the significant perks which start with some SBC (for current or future cruise), a fare discount and, perhaps most importantly, the “price drop match” guarantee (up to the embarkation date as long as there is cabin availability). If nothing interests you at that time, and you know you’ll be back on an O ship sooner than later, consider buying a Future Cruise Certificate - with the same perks. (BTW, know that you can get the Book Onboard deal for some distant cruise within 30 days of embarkation on your next cruise.) Of course, you should then transfer the cruise to one of your preferred TAs within the 30 day transfer window to garner the TA’s added perks of coverage for paid cruise items (e.g., gratuities, items not provided by OCAPP or OClub) and/or commission sharing in the form of refundable SBC or a rebate check (usually ranging from 5-10% of the commissionable fare). Note that, if you book onboard, the purchased cruise will be auto-assigned to the TA used for the current cruise unless you confirm that you want it assigned to yourself (with the allowance for the 30 day transfer window. This “self-assignment” is important in that it provides one with IMO necessary flexibility given the uncertainty of the travel industry. WHY? We have a preferred Travel Agency that is among the very top volume sellers of Oceania cruises. For our usually long cruises (most exceeding a month) with a sizable “bottom line,” we use that TA for the combination of significant rebate, dedicated customer service team, and a ton of “connection” with O folks who can make things happen quickly should the “poop hit the fan.” But, we also have a preferred TA for the short quick cruises (e.g., California coastal) where the TA perks may be considerably less but the relationship is priceless. We also keep a backup short list of TAs “just in case.” Over the years, we’ve had favored long-serving TA agents “leave” the profession unexpectedly (e.g., job change, death, whatever…). And, as a rule, we will almost always ask each of our preferred TAs what they can add to a specific O booking (initially done on board or via a long-serving preferred O sales rep who is good to have in the mix for a number of reasons - particularly when O policy exceptions like FCC deadline extensions are in play). Understand that this strategy does not pit one TA against another. Rather, a variety of circumstances ranging from O’s rotating quiet sales to time limited TA consortium deals to a TA’s group deal on a specific cruise may occasionally mean a four figure price “bottom line” difference between/among TAs. That said, what we never do is ask any TA for a “price match/beat.” And, doing multiple cruises per year often means that our cruise purchases are distributed among them. But, with very few exceptions, each cruise purchase starts with an O onboard ambassador or our trusted O phone rep (followed by the most appropriate TA transfer). This strategy may not be best for the occasional O cruiser who does 1-2 annual shorter cruises with relatively lower $ in play. But, if all it takes for a “big ticket” cruise is a single email following up on an initial direct O booking (no, you don’t have to wait “on hold” at the O 800 number), you will find that you have an important O policy resource at O, a happy TA who only needs to accept your transfer AND cash in your pocket.

Historically, the O airfare inclusion was originally not optional. The cruise price included the air whether you used it or not. In essence then, the price was the price. The difference today (started years ago) is that you have a choice to get a credit off the cruise fare if you do not want the “free” (I.e., “included” airfare).

FWIW: Trip Insurance Store gets many fine recommendations (as does InsureMyTrip). What has always (so far) had me choosing InsureMyTrip is that there search engine is far more sophisticated. Before I call the broker, I plug what are my initial preferences into the search engine to see if I’m in the same ball park as will be the brokerage agent.

One other item: if you’ve used any ship tours (O Life and/or otherwise), get your ShipBoard account print out at Destination Services since their version has the most detail about cancelled/replaced tour items. They can also provide a specific doc with all the math regarding your tours.

Yes - how old a ship is doesn’t mean much since, if nothing else, there are far more “ports” visited today than there were 25+ years ago.

Your post bolsters my caution above to always review your ShipBoard account prior to disembarkation.

Hardly weird. The O transfer is an incentive for booking the “expensive” (per person charge) O hotel via O’s “package” - not the other way around. Booking that hotel on your own (at a far less expensive price) still wouldn’t get you the O transfer Stay where you want and find a good transfer company for London to Southampton. We use Silver Fleet.