ORV

13 hours ago, PhD-iva said:

Frankfurt airport $ucks! I have connected 2 or 3 times since COVID and it was terrible. Your airplane will likely park VERY FAR from the terminal, therefore you must walk down the plane’s stairs (no ramps) carrying all of your bulky carryon bags. I can’t believe more people don’t trip and fall while juggling heavy bags in a crush of people jostling to board the large buses with mostly standing room only. 
Then when your bus has passed by an extraordinary number of other planes parked out on the tarmac and finally gets to the terminal, it seems like they hide the elevator/escalator. It’s probably a “eco-green” thing to carry all your heavy bags up the stairs. 
Then, guess what! You get to do the whole thing in reverse when you’re boarding your connecting flight.
YUCH! AVOID!

Great, I'm there in less than a month, but I'm on vacation, so it'd be alright. 

21 hours ago, 1985rz1 said:

We leave in a week for a Norway cruise that begins on August 10 out of Oslo with SM.  We have been planning to upgrade the beverage package onboard after few days, but we're wondering if we will be hit by Norwegian VAT as it's port intensive up the coast to North Cape.  We can't determine if we will be international waters anywhere along the way to avoid any tax on the package is Norway levies it.  Has anyone had experience with Norway's taxes and should we buy in advance to avoid them?

We were on a Norway cruise in 2018 and I don't remember a special tax, but I could have forgotten, and of course things could have changed since then. 

The 2 fer 1 usually doesn't apply to Single Malt Scotch, Cognacs, etc. 

35 minutes ago, lorimay said:

This is the craziest cruise I have ever been on. We just had a code Oscar- man overboard as we left Limassol. We could see the flare in the water and the lifeboat being deployed. About 30 minutes later the captain just announced they rescued the guest alive. 

Definitely not a typical Oceania cruise. 

2 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

 

Very disturbing to hear that about unruly kids, we have had very bad experiences on other lines with kids and were hoping that we have escaped that on O, but it doesnt seem like it. 

There's always Viking, unlike Oceania they actually don't allow kids. I think Virgin is adults only also. 

2 hours ago, mlmdaisy said:

Thank you.  There was no such message when I was trying.  Towards the end of the day, my booking totally disappeared and things look even wonkier today.

 

Clearly, the website is a mess.  I was going to call today with my excursion choices, but now I can't even see the options.

 

If this is related to website maintenance, I will suggest to the representative that some of us are still working and the week-ends are when we deal with travel planning.

Unfortunately it's been this way for years. Regulars pretty much know that the weekend will be a crapshoot as to whether it will work or not. I do agree that not everyone has time during the week. 

36 minutes ago, dock said:

We got back onboard , chilled at the pool.

Mexican Lunch at Terrace Cafe which imo looks impressive but lacked flavour. 
Mexican should be bold, vibrant flavours .

The fajitas were meh!

Guac - mushy.

Salsa had no oomph and the churros cold, doughy and  a watery caramel sauce. I will not call it Dulce de Leche.
Disappointing across the board. 

Absolutely agree. It's sad that Royal Caribbean has better Mexican food than Oceania. Maybe they just don't have the right chefs(cooks) for good Mexican. Any number of our local Mexican restaurants do a much better job. And I'm in the middle of the USA, but I see authentic Mexican restaurants in pretty much every place I go in the US. It's almost like they all have the same menu. 

24 minutes ago, mlmdaisy said:

Does the survey mean that improvements are being planned?  Is there any hope for an app for when we're onboard?   

No and No. 

5 hours ago, terrydtx said:

To upgrade to the Prestige Select you will have to contact Oceania or your travel agent and have them upgrade you, cannot be done online. The cost is $30 USD pp per day if your have the Simply More bev package. No discount for doing it ahead of time and can be done anytime after you board. I just added it to our Marina cruise next March and had my TA do it for me this last week. I looked at the current bar pricing for drinks on the Marina and most of the brands and drinks we prefer are in the $14-$16 range so 2 drinks a day, other than wine, pays for the drink package. My understanding is the $30pp includes gratuities in the price, but does not include and locally imposed port taxes.

 

The Marina cruise next year is our first Oceania cruise too and I have learned a lot from CC about the cruise line. 

Ok, 3 points.

1.There used to be a 10% discount for Oceania Club members at a certain level if you upgraded or purchased the package in advance. I'm not sure of the status of this anymore since SM has started. I know this doesn't apply to those that are new to Oceania, but historically there has been a discount for some when upgrading in advance. 

2. With a package there are NO additional taxes or vats charged. Those are only charged when you're buying by the drink. 

3. My experience and those of others that like to have a few is to wait a couple of days in to the cruise to purchase it. Don't forget that most of the time day 2 of a cruise has the Captain's Welcome with free drinks for about 3 hours. This is not watered down juice drinks and cheap wine, (although they do offer those to you on a tray) but usually most drinks within reason at multiple bar locations on the ship. Does not include restaurants or Waves Bar. On day one you have the beer & wine in the restaurants, then we have one in the room while unpacking and then maybe a 2-4-1 at Happy Hour. No way we spend $60 between the two of us on day one, but of course a person could. 

There is something to be said for having the full drink package from the get-go and just not worrying about it though. 

40 minutes ago, SATaxman said:

Are you saying that the Oceania Suite on Marina was not redone? Just removal of outside jacuzzi?

 

I believe they said they were in a Vista Suite. 

1 hour ago, ronrick1943 said:

We stay at the hotel above the JW Marriott in Miami.  Nice property and location was great.

I'm a little confused, is it part of the JW or something else?

2 minutes ago, mnocket said:

Love it!  Can I steal this line?

Sure, it's probably not original with me, I saw it somewhere else. 

1 minute ago, Harters said:

But why would you expect them to know the sizes of shoes in a country on the other side of the world? Beats me. 

Here in the USA most shoe stores list the sizes in European and American. 

I think my wife wears a size 8.5 & 39. She's bought more than a few shoes on cruises. 

But that seems to be beside the point, it's more about their surly non customer friendly attitude. If you don't want to deal with the public then don't work that type of job, or own a business that does. 

2 hours ago, Woofbite said:

What are the concierges for?  Can't they handle such requests?

 

That's usually not in their wheelhouse. You want to either ask your butler if you have one, and if not, talk to the person at the reservations desk. You really want to be nice to these folks. 

Concierges do have many other functions though. I personally have never had to use them. 

1 hour ago, gailellen12 said:

Actual airline miles. Thanks for the suggestion of moving the post

It might also help with advice to know where you are leaving from and where you are going. Also which airline miles you're using. 

7 hours ago, lorimay said:

I tried to buy a pair of shoes from one of the many shops, but apparently I offended the shopkeeper because I didn't know my European shoe size and she couldn't convert it. After telling me they didn't have a pair in my size, she didn't want to sell me anything and turned her back on me

Ain't that crazy, we've ran into this attitude a couple of times in Europe, you'd think if they have a store they'd want to do business. I've also ran into price of water or soda being jacked up for tourists in some stores. 

Thanks for your reports, been enjoying it. 

8 minutes ago, Syd58 said:

Am aware that higher levels get more specialty restaurant reservations pre-cruise. Also, am well aware of the perks for concierge level.  Whether the extra amenities justify the extra cost likely is individual specific. For us, not sure it does, especially on lengthy cruises where pre-cruise specialty restaurant reservations are limited to 1 reservation per restaurant..

We all have to look at what the guidelines are and the cost and then decide what works for us. 

1 hour ago, Syd58 said:

Yes, I'm aware of this, but to only be able to make 4 total pre-cruise reservations for specialty restaurants for a 22 or 24 day cruise doesn't seem right..

The link was posted in an earlier post, I'll put the pertinent information below, but it's been this way for years, and was that way when you booked your cruise. There are a considerable number of perks you get for Concierge level, so it's not all about the number of reservations. But if you wanted more you could have spent more and gone for the PH level, which would double your reservations. 

Guests are permitted to make the following reservations in our specialty restaurants - which vary by ship, category, and length of cruise: 

Marina, Riviera, Vista and Allura
Owner’s Suite, Vista Suite, and Oceania Suite 
Cruises 7 days or less: 1 reservation at each restaurant 
Cruises 8-17 days: 2 reservations at each restaurant 
Cruises 18 days or more: 3 reservations at each restaurant 

Penthouse Suite 
Cruises 17 days or less: 1 reservation at each restaurant 
Cruises 18 days or more: 2 reservations at each restaurant 

Concierge Level Veranda, Veranda, Ocean View, and Inside Stateroom 
All cruises: 1 reservation at each restaurant 

Lots of options, the two mentioned are good choices. The last time we were in Miami we stayed at the Gabriel Hilton. Great view of the port, especially if you have a room with a bayside view. We’ve also stayed at the Intercontinental and throughly enjoyed it. 

I can pretty much stay busy doing nothing all day, and I usually don’t get it all done, so I generally try to finish it up the next day, and the one after that. 

1 hour ago, ak1004 said:

Personally I find O crowd very sophisticated and intelligent.

Apparently, we haven't met. 🤡

Leslie Jon has also retired. 

19 minutes ago, Twiga said:

We were at Heathrow in June and gate numbers were not posted until 50 minutes or so before the flight.  However, the American Airlines app notified me of our gate in terminal 3 at 11:46 a.m. for our 2:45 p.m. departure. The gate was not posted on the departure board until 1:35 p.m.  The gate number that American Airlines told me was correct.  Of course this may not always be correct, but we were at the gate early, before the crowd.

It's been a few years since I've been there but if I remember right, I couldn't check my luggage until 2 hours (maybe 3) before the flight. Not much chance to go to a lounge or have time to sit down and have lunch. By the time you went through security and then to your gate it was time to board. 

4 hours ago, osandomir said:

I can’t imagine my husband checking my charges on our cruise ship’s account or elsewhere, if it’s matter. But probably for someone who is much more financially concerned it sounds normal.

We only have one account, ours. We used to have separate checking etc. but somewhere along the line that just didn't matter anymore. Now it's just us.

Let me edit this to say that we have multiple credit cards, some in my name, some in hers, but that's only to work the system, not to keep anything separate. 

4 hours ago, MEFIowa said:

Really, so you don't look at the same TV monitor when you check your individual accounts during the cruise? You tell him to turn his back or leave the room? And please STOP pretending that you have one joint account. You don't. You get your own separate statements! So, couples can do what they want. (You might study the statistics on couples and finances. Those who have shared accounts, those who have individual accounts, those who have a mix of both. This is 2024. Not 1954. So wide variety of practices in regard to finances and financial activities.)

Oh my. 

How many times do we have to do this?

It's what the founder of the company said it is.