ORV

4 hours ago, fenton04 said:

Maybe a high end cigar, and bourbon/whiskey lounge?

Unfortunately, that ship sailed for Celebrity years ago. Royal is also converting or has converted all their Cigars bars into libraries or other venues. 

Definitely the cigar lounge on Silversea was one of the best I've seen. 

I miss cigars. 

1 minute ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

I see your point in that someone whose president’s level should know what they’re talking about😳. 
nonetheless, there’s no way the head butler was seeking out a silver level O Club member and whisking him/her through the tour waiting line. 

Exactly! Hence My question asking them if it's about being on the General Manager's VIP List. 

I was on a couple of cruises with some folks years ago that were at that level before it even existed, I think they were one of the first to get there. They got all kinds of stuff including many free excursions, very special treatment etc. They gave my wife and I a couple of excursion tickets they were not going to take as well as some bottles of wine they were not going to drink or take home. 

3 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

I still think you are misunderstanding something.

The VIP “tour check in” that supposedly starts at Silver (or any other level for that matter) was a failed experiment of a few years ago.

O would set up a marked off lane with a sign in the lounge. It was supposed to be limited access. The only problem was both the general line and the VIP line were going to the same table and the differentiation quickly disappeared when the crowd surged forward. 
 

The VIP deal lasted less than a year and I’ve not seen it again on six cruises over the past 24 months.

No, I got that, let me explain it once more to you. Below where they say "it", I would think that pronoun they used is referring to the title of this thread, Silver status VIP Shore Excursions Check in. 

They said,

6 hours ago, slw207693 said:

As someone who achieved President’s level earlier this year, it does exist. 

I said,

1 hour ago, ORV said:

Maybe it's because you're on the General Managers VIP list. 

Thus, my question if they've been getting the perk for their past 50 cruises. If they have then it does exist, if they haven't been getting it then it's because of their current level, not some perk that was a failure that should be removed from the list. 

51 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Perhaps you misunderstood. s/he said “president’s circle.” It’s the highest O Club level.

No, I didn't misunderstand at all. The VIP shore excursion perk is supposed to kick in at Silver, 10 credits. 

They have  at least 60 credits which makes them President's Circle. 50 +10 = 60 

The General Managers VIP list perk kicks in at President's Circle. 

This is why I asked them if they have been getting this perk for their past 50 cruises. 

Understand now? Perhaps I wasn't clear in my post. 

You have as many or more credits than I do, have you had this perk offered?

2 hours ago, slw207693 said:

We were the first on an empty tender, then other guests joined.   

So this is supposed to happen at 10 cruises. Have you been getting this for your past 50 cruises? 

I've got Silver tripled and never had the service offered. Maybe it's because you're on the General Managers VIP list. 

Have you googled the distance between the Gardens and the port? It's a ways out there. I've read somewhere that it's doable by bus, but that's more trouble than I care to go to. We took the ship's tour. Once on Oceania and once on Celebrity. 

16 hours ago, bbqoug said:

Thank you for your thoughts on your cruise.

We are on a Regatta cruise in September, and I'm trying to decide whether we should take the ship's tour to Butchart Gardens or grab a taxi or ride share.

Did you notice if taxis were prevalent at the port in Victoria?

If you've never been to Butchart I highly recommend it. We've been twice, once on our own and again with friends that was on an Alaska cruise with us. Loved it. Of course it helps if you like flowers. 

1. Just to be clear, you get soft drinks or any other non alcohol drink all day. You also have your mini frig stocked with sodas of your choice. 

1 hour ago, EJL2023 said:

If you booked the cruise on or after 7/1/2023 you would have booked under Simply More, which includes the wine and beer during lunch and dinner. 

I was thinking it was 9/1/23?

At any rate we need to know if Mlmdaisy booked with Olife, SM, or nothing at all. In all those instances the 25% off excursions would apply with a minimum number. 

Daisy, did you get a certain amount of On Board Credit for excursions, or just a certain number of excursions? 

2 hours ago, Cruise Gopher said:

They had an Oceania one about a month ago for the 40th Amex Birthday offers. I sure wish we had an Oceania cruise to book because that’s a lot of points!
 

Yeah, I think that was on the Platinum, I only have the no annual fee Everyday. I've got Celebrity and Oceania offers on it multiple times. 

On 6/18/2024 at 11:00 AM, chadwickx16 said:

FYI...Amex Offers can only list 100 at a time.  If you don't see the offer you have to add other offers to your card and then logout and log back in for a new batch of offers. I had to add 90 other offers to my card before I was able to see the Celebrity one.

Just to get back to this concept. I have 3 cards that I see when I log in to my online acct. I kept putting offers on my card that would have this type of offer on it. After the first 100 I got another 100, after the second 100 I got another hundred, after the third 100 it stopped, this was about a week ago. Then it started dribbling and drabbing 3 or 4 a day. This is for all three of my cards. At this point the added offers are around 20 or so. The card I'm trying to get the offer on shows 309 offers added to card. 

My point is that it doesn't appear to be limitless on adding another 100 each time. Seems like around 300 they throttle you back. FWIW, I do have the Celebrity offer but was looking for an Oceania offer. 

I do have an offer I used on my Hilton card for my Youtube TV- $20 off when you 57.99 or more. Up to 3 times. Just posted today. It always pays to keep track of these things. Since I'm old and retired this is one of my hobbies, but it only takes about 10 minutes a day. Free money is good. 

8 minutes ago, MEFIowa said:

What's that about "every restaurant on board...offers open seating"?

Yes, it's obviously marketing spin. Why I posted it and what I find interesting is;

A. Their description of Ember, probably an answer to the erroneous early perceptions of it on Social media, probably as inaccurate in the other direction. 

B. No mention of Polo at all. By the same token no mention of Terrace or Waves either. 

I also noticed what you mentioned and was like......What?

8 minutes ago, clo said:

I regularly refer FB posters to this site for accurate info. 

Heavens knows they need it. What a mess. I don't have a page there, but I do see your posts there. 

45 minutes ago, clo said:

@Liao ??? I sincerely have no idea. I know TAs are taboo but not anything else.

Do you not read other people's posts at all? It's not a state secret. Let's try this, what is about the biggest social media site most people use? Here's a hint. Not X. 

It is called Oceania Cruises Insights Panel,

My problem with the survey is that there was no option for neither or none of the above. You were forced to choose between one of two. Many of them I had already done, and the other choice I wasn't really interested in. Also given the choice of a 35 day cruise or a 7 day cruise I'm going to choose 35 days, although I probably wouldn't go on one that long. Our longest cruise was 32 days and it was longer than I prefer. I find 18 to 25 days about right. 

7 minutes ago, IDL said:

I charge everything on land and on the ship tip with US dollars

So you never tip anyone off the ship?

For those that don’t get the Oceania magazine this is interesting. This is not in a story about just Vista or Allura, but their cuisine in general. 

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

We just finished booking our SM shore excursions for our cruise next March and the website is very confusing about the 25% discount. After we each booked our 6 excursions which we put all together in our cart and went to the payment screen there was a box to check that said Apply SM 25% discount. When we checked that box the $800 SM credit was deducted from the total showed the 25% discount. The screen then showed us the cash balance to pay over the $800 SM credit. If we had not checked that box the whole amount of the tours shows without a discount less the SM credit and due payable in cash.

So what you're saying is it requires paying attention to detail? I notice many people have trouble with that. But do agree their website leaves somewhat to be desired. But, it doesn't hold a light to being anywhere as bad as Celebrity's website. 

40 minutes ago, SATaxman said:

I used the Amex benefit on my booking before I transferred to a TA. Can I use it again before final payment? Through Amex travel or my TA? Thanks

8 minutes ago, EJL2023 said:

It has to be two separate and distinct offers from Amex. Not sure if that is what you are noting or just use the original offer twice?? If the latter, no.  With regard to who. Since we had a TA.  We just called them and requested they apply the amount needed  to get the offer to our outstanding balance. 

I think you guys are talking about two different things. 

2 minutes ago, seapointer said:

I should have been specific that I was referring to the shower stall, Overall the bathroom was small but well designed.

As has been discussed in the last day or so here that is definitely valid, but also the shower in the tub is an option. It is unfortunate that Marina didn't get the same room updates as Riviera. Probably even more unfortunate is that they didn't go that route back in 2008 or 09 when these ships were being designed and built. 

11 minutes ago, mauibabes said:

No, wish we did though. DW thinks we are on our way to Diamond/40, I think she’s a bit delusional or maybe she has a different check book. I guess we all need goals in life 😇🙏👍🛳️🥂

Mauibabes

Well we have 8 more after what we have booked and paid for after next week, so if I win the lottery it's possible. 

41 minutes ago, ronrick1943 said:

I don't believe a person paying for a "O" tour has paid a premium for getting off the ship before someone that has other plans.  They may have paid a premium for a tour-but that shouldn't have any to do with the price you paid for your cruise.

And the price you paid for your cruise should have nothing to do with them changing their procedures to suit each of our opinions or perceptions of the way tendering should operate. 

Personally I see it exactly opposite as you, there are myriad reasons for management allowing those that book tours to have first tenders. 

1 hour ago, mauibabes said:

Ask anyway and let them tell you when to apply. I was put off too but it all worked out. Have a fabulous trip. All our TA’s have been at the end of the season so we were coming home/US and it made it easier and much shorter with the flights. I know it will be fabulous no matter what. 
We are traveling with Houston cousins and friends in November on Riviera, CANNOT WAIT!

😇🤞👍🛳️🥂

Mauibabes

When you did your free cruise plus extra days you had to pay for did you get a cruise credit for the additional part?

1 minute ago, EJL2023 said:

We only get it to show if we have the TA send their own copy of the invoice. It then shows under Gift Orders. 

Our TA only sends the Oceania invoice. 

9 hours ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Not sure if this was addressed to me or not.  But yes, my OBC shows up, along with the Oceania Club amount, and everything is correct.  The TA OBC is also reflected in the "Your Purchases" summary I got this morning from the "My Account/Reservation" section of website.  It's also reflected on the  "Pre-Purchased Shore Excursions & Onboard Experiences" document that O emailed me this afternoon after I used the Chat feature.  (And yes, you can call Oceania directly about excursions even if you use a TA.  I just had Oceania adjust the cost of what I owe for my excursions.  My spouse will do that eventually.........)

 

I notice that somewhere on the "Pre-Purchased" document is a note that excursion packages must be selected no later than 14 days prior to sailing, which is more specific that what was posted on my invoice. Obviously, we have plenty of time to select excursions (or not!), but just thought I'd mention this in case some people were planning to do it a lot later. 

 

I also notice there are 4 or 5 cooking classses under the "Other Options" tab.  You can't use your SM shore excursion credit for those, but you CAN use OBC.

 

 

Yes, since I quoted you I was addressing it to you. Interesting that your TA OBC shows up there, mine never has, perhaps it's the way the TA handles it. I always get a card in my room showing it and then it shows up on the TV in a day or two into the cruise. I'll double check in case Oceania has changed this recently.