ORV

On the same cruise as Wendy and I thought he did an excellent job. Just goes to show you, we all see things differently. It doesn't make any one opinion right or wrong, just different people liking different things.

You can fly in the day or more before without incurring the deviation fee ...but you need to book their hotel pacakage ;)

 

What cruise lines allow you to fly in the day before the cruise with no added fee??

 

Lyn

Celebrity, Azamara & Royal Caribbean with Choice Air.

We live in California so it is very hard to get points. Their are hardly any Celebrity ships out of California. We were select and stayed select. I think a lot of it is in my head to become elite. We had 7 points. The reason why I want elite is for the drinks other than that not much different. What happen now is it will be very hard to get points if you cruise inside cabin. We usually go window if the difference of money is big for a veranda. For me what matter is when will Celebrity or Royal Caribbean bring a ship to California????? Thank I can become elite much easier.

Truly, you're not going to get much sympathy from those of us in the Midwest.

For what it's worth, Celebrity has ships leaving from Seattle and Vancouver all summer long.

I thought some people (such as Host Andy) confirmed that the drink package upgrade was NOT extra on board? There was some confusion/ conflicting posts on this.

 

Sorry I'm confused but can someone confirm which it is? I'd like to wait til we get on board to upgrade (we have OBC) but not if its 50% more. TIA!!

My understanding is that the UPGRADE is not extra on board. It's when you wait to purchase the package that it is extra.

But, I don't think anyone else had mentioned upgrade on this post, just purchasing.

The 10% discount on the Beverage package is not needed for Zenith as they get it included, which you showed later.

If you BUY the package, it will show up on your reservation.....if it is a freebie, it will not show up on your reservation, but you WILL get it onboard. If noting else, the package should show up on your invoice.

 

We've sailed several times with the Classic Package as a perk and it has never shown up on our reservation. Remember, X's website is awful. Don't treat anything you see on there as gospel! :eek:

Carole, don't want to burst your bubble but we just added the promo to our existing booking last week and it already shows on line just like Alberta Cruisers below. It was definitely a freebie. But as you say don't treat anything on their website as gospel.

 

My Offers

Your travel group includes someone who:

Has coupon BEV123GO.

Today we were told by a Captain's Club rep that it is within a catergory and only from the lowest level. We've booked three A1 cabins this weekend moving from A2 to A1 at no charge. You can move from a C3 to a C2 but not a C2 to a C1.

 

Regarding S2 to S1, we did not discuss.

 

Hope this helps.

So let me make sure I understand correctly on what you were told. On an M class ship the OV category goes from Cat 8 to Cat 4. According to the rep you could only go from 8 to 7? Or am I misunderstanding this?

If this is correct then it has changed from the old CC program as I booked a cat 6 but paid for a 7 for a couple of trips we booked a few months ago. .

When the scooter is delivered to the room, I am sure the table and chairs have to go. I am not concerned about it. I'm sure this has been done before.

I thought perhaps you had done it before. On one of the newer ships they will definitely have to go.

We love the PH for the extra room, larger closets and the butler. On our Sun Splashed Isles cruise this upcoming week, my husband will be recovering from an illness and we will use the butler to pack and unpack his belongs and make life for him a bit easier. We also ordered a scooter and the PH will give us plenty of room to store it. Regardless, we've been traveling in a PH for the past 7 out of 10 years on Oceania and love the perks it provides.

Do you take out the table and chairs at the foot of the bed for the scooter? Otherwise I don't see how you can get it between the chair and the wall. Only about a foot or so there.

but I just have to call it like I see it. The main reason that X keeps the formal nights is to sell $22.95 pictures.

Howard

Whoosssh,

Seems like only one or two here got this point you were making.

We have sailed in a concierge level veranda and a penthouse suite on Marina and Riviera. Although veranda cabins are large enough, our next cruise is again in a penthouse. We liked the extra closet space, but we also enjoyed hot breakfast served in our cabin on mornings we had to rise early (e.g. when we had an appointment with a car rental company). The butler always delivered it exactly at the time we asked. The afternoon canapés are also a nice little extra, as is the access to the executive lounge for tea, coffee, finger sandwiches and cookies. We dined in our cabin only once, and ordered from Toscana and Polo Grill menus. The food was not hot enough, so we won't try that again. In lower categories, you can order something from the 24hr room service menu, but choices are rather limited.

 

 

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Doesn't the Concierge level include the hot breakfast items? I thought that was one of the selling points between veranda & Concierge.

You also have a lounge with Concierge class. Seems to be about the same deal set up.

I personally could do without the tub in the Penthouse, although many including my wife really like it. I would prefer the space in the living area. I would also shave off about 8-12 inches of the closet length and add it to the room. The chair & table set up at the end of the bed, while nice, tend to crowd the room. Overall I think the room has a bit of a crowded feeling due to all the extra furniture in there. I'd be all for pulling the chair by the veranda and the little coffee table by the couch out.

Of course our perspective was skewed as on our recent B2B we did the first half in an Oceania Suite then the second in a Penthouse. No wonder it felt crowded to us.

A word in your ear, if I may-

 

Your original question asked about the Prestige Package versus the House Select Package, and as far as that goes the major difference is that the Prestige is virtually run of the house, whereas House Select includes beer and wine only during mealtimes.

 

You should also be aware that while the staff may allow Passengers a few days to get settled in, they are not supposed to sell the Packages for PART of a cruise, so if you think that you will want to buy in, don't wait too long!

 

By the way, this Post is sure to be followed by all kinds of people who DID buy into the Package after more than a few days, but you (and they) should be aware that an exception was being made when they did so.

 

As they say on Wall Street, "Anecdotes are often rich, but you cannot take them to the Bank"

On our recent 14 night TA it was advertised in the little daily paper through about day 8 or so. Sometime policies change, even from ship to ship. No exceptions going on if they are promoting it.

If I remember correctly from last Feb. the only single malt you could get on the Classic package was Glenfiddich. Better than nothing, some people even like it.

Glenlevit, Highland Park, Laphroaig, Macallan and maybe a couple more are on the Premium. There are some the premium doesn't cover.

Can't tell you on the blends.

I consider myself quite empathetic, go out of my way not to burden the server, and my normal tip is 20%. That said, "trying to make a living the best way they can" doesn't have to mean that when I am eating out with my wife, the server first approaches the table with the greeting "How are you GUYS tonight?" She doesn't appreciate being called that, nor the feeling of being rushed.

Or the "What are we having tonight?" I want to answer with, "I don't know what you're having but I'll have............"

 

There is nothing elegant or enjoyable about long lines forming 1/2 hour before the SKY lounge opens each evening and passengers running and elbowing their way to seating when the doors opened at 5 PM. Celebrity should absolutely take this opportunity to return the evening SKY lounge cocktail hours to its original design capacity and intent.

Do people really do that for a couple of free drinks? Life is too short for that, I'll just buy them at a convenient location.

It depends on when you purchased it. Prior to Aug 1 2013, it does not combine, after it should, unless you already have another promo with it. You can get the 123 by giving up the Open Passages perks, which I just did on 2 sailings I had booked.

Please forgive the really dumb question…

 

…as I'm trying to pack, I'm trying to figure out where the suitcases get stored. (We're going to be on the Riveria.)

 

Can anyone shed some light on this?

 

Thank you so much!!

Stephanie

Under the bed, plenty of room.

I was another of the repeaters on the Riviera crossing. Other than a couple of days the weather was fairly lousy, this sometimes colors people's enjoyment of a cruise. Also the seas were medium rough for much of the trip. This could also factor in.

While I had plenty to do, or not to do everyday, I can see where some people would like a few more events. I actually mentioned on my comment card that a few more activities would have been nice with that many sea days. If you didn't care for bridge, or scarf tying, or baggo among others then you were out of luck. Personally I was okay just sitting and reading, but many days the weather would make this an inside pursuit.

My biggest complaint on events would be with the casino. 14 day TA cruise and we had 2 Texas Hold em tourneys, that's it, no lessons, no BJ tourneys, no slot tourneys. I've never seen this before on any cruise line, including the Oceania cruises I've been on before.

I did have a "glorious" time though. Was it great? Yes. Could it have been better? In some aspects yes, but we each have personal likes or dislikes that would affect the answer to that.

I certainly agree with those that advise to not let the minority that for some reason or another didn't enjoy themselves, or found quite a few things wrong, or not as good as A, B, X, etc put you off your enjoyment of your future cruise. I always go with an open mind looking forward to our enjoyment. I never go to see what I can find wrong.

The less things other people touch, especially around food, the happier I am.

Re the surveys/evaluations. I always mark them according to what I experienced. I had no problems marking the butler excellent and the casino poor, because that was my experience on our recent cruise.

14. Where, oh where, do they come up with that concoction that they call iced tea? Please see those of us in the deep south for a quality reference for fresh brewed iced tea. If one cannot see the ice cubes in the glass, you have gone way past iced tea that is drinkable.

 

I finally solved the iced tea issue on Oceania. Just get a couple of Ceylon Orange Pekoe tea bags, or one of them and one Green tea bag, put in a tea pot, fill with water from the machine, let steep for a while. Get a couple of glasses of ice and keep requesting ice each time the servers come around the table. Best iced tea we've ever had on a cruise ship. The biggest issue is to convince the waiters to let you do it yourself, because they just don't get the iced tea concept.

Also easily done with Butler service in the room, but they'll keep bringing the tea cups, even after they've seen you not use them for days and you tell them it's for iced tea. Getting a tall glass from them takes a bit more doing.

Thanks for your observations on our shared cruise. With over 800 repeat guests on this trip it appears Oceania is doing quite a few things right. On the other hand from observing the age groups on board it seems that Oceania's largest challenge will be building a new core group of loyal customers in a younger demographic as their current client base will be aging out on them in the next 10 -15 years.

I guess it is a good thing for Riviera that today is the last day to earn the Big O points. This morning Roy made a plea on his TV show for people to bring in their "small change" and exchange it for the newly acquired 10s & 20s as the Oceania bank is running out of money (big O points)! :)

I wonder what they would have done if they hadn't just gotten the 10s & 20s?

Maybe issue IOUs? :D

With this many points floating around I wonder what the redemption rates will be.

All good things must come to an end and tomorrow is our last day and that alao means our packing day. :(

It has been a wonderful cruise all around - pretty much what we have come to expect from Oceania and we were not disappointed.

See you on our next cruise (when and wherever it may be) :)

Have you noticed that the large denominations says Riviera on them, as well as some of the smaller ones? There may be more than just "the bank is running low" going on with the plea to change them in. A lot of people tend to stock them up for future cruises.

Unlike most people I find the Sea bass in Red Ginger to be a little heavy on the Miso glaze, resulting in too sweet of a flavor. It's still good, just not great for me. I've enjoyed everything else I had in there immensely. We are eating there for the 5th time tonight since Nov 6th, so we obviously like it.

Currently on board and we've found the temps to be all over the board. Cold in one room while hot in another.