ORV

Yet to be seen, no one at Destination Services until 5. It 3:15 here now, at 5 I have other things to do, then they’ll be closed all day tomorrow. They should make it right without having to deal with them. I don’t go on vacation to have to deal with problems that shouldn’t exist. To say I’m disappointed is an understatement. Besides that, if they don’t see it my way then I might start speaking too loud, and some people might think I’m mad. Then my wife gets embarrassed and no one is happy.

It looks like it will be a moot point in a couple of weeks.

We’ll this tour was a complete bust, here is what we booked. Price was 169 US dollars. A Taste of Scottish Whisky (ING-006) Port: Invergordon Tour Length: Half-Day (Approximately 3 1/4 hours) Tour Description Cruises Visiting This Port Travel by coach across the Highlands to visit a site dear to every Scottish whisky-drinker’s heart. Enjoy a personally guided tour of the historic Glenmorangie Distillery, with a wee dram to taste. Learn about the “Men of Tain” who make the delicious spirits here, and see their copper swan-neck stills and the oak casks Glenmorangie ages in. Spend awhile at the admiring the exhibits at the Visitor Center or shopping the tempting wares at the distillery store. Savor a personally guided tour of a Scottish Highlands venue that every whisky connoisseur has a soft spot for: Glenmorangie Distillery (or equivalent). These folks have been crafting their range of fine single malt whiskies for over 170 years, using methods as unchanging as the Dornoch Firth terrain that surrounds this scenic locale. Pure, mineral-rich water is still drawn from springs, the best malted barley brought in from local growers. And, most importantly, the “Sixteen Men of Tain” – the distiller’s entire workforce – maintain a commitment to the art of whisky creation that has continued across generations of families and through wars, fire, drought and whatever else life might throw at them. Your distillery tour begins with an introduction to the natural ingredients and time-honored skills that make Glenmorangie so distinct. You’ll see gleaming swan-neck copper stills – tallest in the Highlands – and casks of American oak. And, about 45 minutes into the experience, you’ll be rewarded with a “wee dram” of whisky to sample. Later, at the historic Visitor Center, you can see a magnificent old working steam engine, artifacts from the distillery’s past and a model still. Then, of course, there’s the distillery shop to visit – most dangerous of the sights. HELPFUL HINTS Wear weather-appropriate clothing; include a light raincoat or umbrella. Flat, comfortable walking shoes are recommended. Bring a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen as needed. PLEASE NOTE This tour includes about 1.5 hours of walking, along with a significant number of steps to negotiate. The tour is not considered suitable for wheelchair guests and those with mobility concerns are cautioned to evaluate their personal level of stamina before participating. The order of sites visited may vary. Here is what we got, a bus ride to Glenmorangie distillery, guide told us to wait by visitors center while she coordinates the tour. She comes back and says we don’t have a tour, you only have a tasting. We’re sent to the gift shop and a clerk comes out with a tray of little shots of their baseline 10 year old that you can buy anywhere in the US for $30-$40 a 750 bottle. No descriptions, no information. No offers of any of their other lines. Not even a proper tasting, much less a distillery tour. The clerk checks into things and says we were supposed to be at the Glen Ord distillery, which would have been ok, but it’s too late to go there now, so we get to go wander around a lovey little village called Dornoch for an hour with very little stores or anything to do other enjoy the weather and scenery. Who wants to take odds on Oceania making this right without being pressed? I’ll update as we have info.

For those interested in such things, there was no shuttle in South Queensferry to Edinburgh. Our friends took a taxi back after a tour yesterday. 32 £(look at what I learned). Also no shuttle in Invergordon, but there is not much here. I’m going to Glenmorangie distillery. On the other hand, this is a seldom offered itinerary. The weather this cruise has been absolutely beautiful. Today is no exception, sunny and mid 70’s, it’s supposed to stay nice as we go north. Relatively so. The food has been pretty much standard for Oceania, really good to excellent with a couple of exceptions. The service everywhere including room stewards has also been great. I’ll update if I see anything to the contrary. I do believe we have quite a few Oceania first timers, but have no facts to back that up. There has been quite a few wine tasting offers, craft cocktails and craft Gin offers, all at a pretty good premium. No scotch tasting though, go figure. Got to go, we just arrived at the distillery.

For some reason I had thought it was at 5:30-6:30 in the past, but these things run together.

Quick question for O regulars. What time is early Happy Hour usually?

On my 14 I can push the 123 button , then push the #+= button and it will bring up the choice of € or £ or ¥. Your method sounds like less steps, let’s see if it works on mine. £. Yep, that works too, with more options. ₽¢₩

Most people only see things from their perspective, and what works for them. Businesses don’t really see it from our perspective, they offer a product, if you like the product at the price they offer then you’re a customer, if not we find something that suits us. It’s never bothered me to subsidize things I don’t care about. I understand it’s part of the package. Going forward many people may have to adopt this philosophy with Oceania. PS, it appears there might be a few new posters here who really don’t understand what the Oceania product is about. No offense to them.

I don’t use the gym, sauna, play pickle ball, use the pool or hot tubs, go to the shows or lectures and don’t want to subsidize those that do. See how that can work? It’s a slippery slope.

Thanks for the lesson, I know the difference, just didn’t worry with finding the symbol on my phone. I think if I referred to UK money, we would refer to as 8 pounds. I wasn’t aware that using the abbreviation for pound wasn’t allowed. Here we go, it cost £8. It was a heavy glass.

Plenty of taxis at dock.

We are in South QueensFerry today. No shuttle to Edinburgh nor any mention of it in Currents. Only mention of Edinburgh is in the excursions. FYI, as I’ve mentioned before, shuttles are usually provided by the local ports and towns. Not Oceania.

Have I mentioned what wonderful weather we’re having? 70 and sunshine or so every day so far, with the same expected for Queensferry tomorrow. I’m sure it won’t hold the further north we go.

Some tavern, Aberlour 12 yr old, good price, small pour. Supposed to be a double, but only about 8lbs.

We’re in Newcastle today, we have a later tour and have been on the ship this morning. There have been multiple travel agent groups on board.

There has been a never ending line at DestinationServices since the cruise started. I would guess it has to do with Holyhead being cancelled a couple of weeks before the cruise. They posted new tours for the replacement port of Killybegs but the cart wasn’t working. I guess not everyone has a TA that could take care of it for them.

I’ve found out from someone that the Alumni groups are coordinated through GoNext, and there are approximately 19 schools represented. About those cookies, I’ve decided to make the sacrifice and do a little research on them. So far I’ve found a cookie in Barristas that was great. It was a dark chocolate with macadamia nuts. A tan one with nuts and what looks like white chocolate chunks was very blah. Grudgingly I’ll continue the research. Elvis the fat years ice cream was excellent for dessert today at lunch.

Greetings from onboard Riviera. If my title doesn’t make any sense it’s because it’s a little joke, those that know me will get it. Anyway, we’re off to a good start. I don’t do typical live from posts, more just random thoughts and observations. So don’t expect many pictures, especially of food, as I’m usually too busy eating it. First, I broke one of the cardinal rules you see posted so many times on all of the boards here. I flew in on the day of the cruise, or at least the night before. I had reasons why, I don’t need to go into, but it all worked fine, which I feel is the rule, rather than the exception. We flew from DFW to LHR by way of Toronto. This was my first time in YYZ and if I can help it my last. The complainers about it are right. But, other than an hour and half delay out of DFW everything was fine. We had premium economy on AC and it was ok. We used the Oceania air for this. Upon arrival at LHR at 6:30 am we were greeted by Oceania reps and taken to the Sofitel hotel at the airport and had an excellent breakfast. After that we waited a bit in a lounge and then bused to the port. We got there around 11 or so and had the smoothest check in of any Oceania cruise ever. They had 20 seated reps(yes I counted them) and various others walking around. We were on the ship in 5 to 10 minutes. We were directed to the obligatory check in at your muster station and then off for fun. After lunch we killed a little time, got specialty rez readjusted, then were able to go to our room. So far this doesn’t seem like a normal Oceania makeup. There are at least 4 alumni groups onboard. I noticed many folks in the 40-60 age range, which is what Oceania needs for their future. I’ve also noticed quite a few multi generational families. We had dinner in Toscana and it was excellent, as usual one of my favorites. I had the lasagna app and Osso Bucco main. The biggest downside to coming in the day of is lack of sleep. After the big meal we hit the bed and slept in till about 7:30, which is real rare for us. We have a sea day in front of us, which the Captain didn’t skip. My only complaint is that team trivia is at 10:30am in Martinis. I usually have a drink at trivia, but this is a tad early. At 11 is the future cruise presentation, which I like to go to, but may have to skip. Tonight is Captain’s Welcome, which I definitely won’t skip. For those that keep up with such things, the CD is John Clelford, and the GM is Emma Smith, I’ve never been on a cruise with either. So for a libation, yesterday I had a glass of wine with dinner, today I plan on increasing that consumption. For an insight, which is a stupid one and many won’t care, nor apply to. Who designed and installed the urinals in the mens public restrooms? I’m almost 6’2” and they are too high for me. What were they thinking? Any questions please ask, I may or may not know the answer, but I’ll try to find out. FYI, I’m not a cheerleader, I just call it the way I see it. I’m just happy to be here, enjoying a vacation. Ps the Riviera still looks great, we were just on it in March. We have an inside room, our second ever in 25 years of cruising. I’ll talk more about it later. So far it’s extremely smooth sailing.

What was this thread about?

I haven't been able to get it to work for weeks. Pretty sure it's an Oceania issue and not anyone's computer issue. I had to get our TA to do bookings and some changes.

I hate to hear about this, if this is the future of Oceania service then it's definitely a change for the worse. I've been cruising them for almost 15 years for almost 30 cruises, and never had anything like this happen. Boarding Sunday, will update with my impressions. If it's going downhill I'll be the first to admit it.

Have you met Johthomas?

Ya think, I'm not a big wine drinker but I can usually only find one or two that I can tolerate. I'll see what I think this time next week, oh wait, I didn't get the drink package, I went for excursions this time.

We'll wave at you as you're getting off next Sunday and we're getting on. Thanks for your review. Who are the CD and General Manager? Thanks.

Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor, whatever the h that means.