BarbaraM

Most of us are making final payment with the understanding of 100% vaccination -- not anything less.   

Oceania just delayed their final payment and penalty 2 months -- 

58 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

As much as I'd love to join you and have given it serious thought, unfortunately, it's simply too port intensive to end the cruise.  I don't have that much stamina anymore and need a sea day here and there.  Would consider combining the same cruises in the opposite direction, though,  so I'll be watching for Fall 2023.

There is no "rule" that says you have to get off the ship on a port day.  We often take a port day as a "sea" day, and we are not alone.  Enjoying the view, eating on the Terrace outside deck, drinking a glass of wine on our balcony -- can be very enjoyable regardless of stamina.

We have done 2 Oceania 180day world cruises.  They are not an all inclusive line-- alcoholic drinks and shore excursions are extra. Internet is free, 1 account per cabin.  They do include all non alcoholic drinks - including smoothies, specialty coffees and non alcoholic mixed drinks.   As with most other lines there are perks for the full world passengers -- including free laundry, luggage delivery,  visa services and medical care onboard. They also have a liberal policy regarding bringing wine and spirits on board for consumption in your cabin, or take the wine to a dining room for $25 corkage. 

For an idea of costs -- you can do a dummy booking (and quit before that paying part!) on the Oceania website and you will find tabs that give description and pricing for the various overlands and shore excursions.  

Oceania tours are expensive, IMO.  We either join someone's private group tour or arrange our own.  I have arranged 2 overland tours to China and one in South Africa - and took private tours to the Taj and Ayers Rock.   Oceania has many overland tours that are well run, but find I can mirror them for a more private experience, and in almost all cases at half the price.   The same is tour of shore excursions.  The handful of Oceania tours I have taken are well run -- I have never heard a complaint from those who take ship excursions.  I would say the private tours average between $80- $150 pp.  This would be for an all day tour. Lunches are often included.  

On our first ATW (thinking it would be our last) -- we had a private excursion in almost every port.  On the second we decided to relax more -- and took advantage of Oceania's free shuttles when available.  Because of the small Insignia, they also docked closer into the town centers where walking was easy.  Not rebooking so many tours also gave us the ability to arrange something with new friends on board.  Many ports have tour operators at the ports -- so last minute tours are possible.  We have also just hired a driver/guide for the day and made our personal itinerary-- $50-$100 for the driver for the day.  

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

Have you taken your bottle of rum or whatever  spirit you drink to the dining room?

I made a mistake,  thought the conversation was paying the corkage for a bottle of wine— Never have taken a glass of anything from my cabin!  

36 minutes ago, basor said:

So the $25.00 corkage fee applies to liquor besides wine?    Would love to have a bottle of port in storage to enjoy a glass after dinner or with dessert....

 

No, wine only— I didn’t see the posts before I responded, IGNORE what I said about corkage.  my bad—must have misunderstood— but, wait, port is wine, right?

17 minutes ago, SSCAF001 said:

Why? Am I going to pay more? I thought that I would pay 25$ once and then they would keep my bottle and I can empty it over several days. 

That’s right. 

So, being booked on an Around the World cruise that beings in January, we are thinking daily about itinerary changes and final payments. I wonder if any of the other 2022 world cruisers have heard from your cruise lines — especially if you have planned stops in Australia/ New Zealand and Japan.  

I believe all the deck 6 balconies port and starboard are open, not sure about aft. We stayed in 6006 -- way forward, and has full rails. 

8 hours ago, susiesan said:

I have been going back and forth with emails all week with  a gal named Miriam, O Club coordinator. She can't seem to understand what I am asking about. She says we each have 2 accounts that need to be merged. I have no idea how that happened. She keeps asking me for information, I keep giving it to her, and still nothing is done. There seems to be incompetent people working in the Oceania Club office. It should not be that difficult to retire an account to what it was before.

 

I will call again next week and ask to speak to one of the cruise specialists. maybe they can take care of a customer wit ha problem. Miriam is just not getting anything done and does not get back to me.

Miriam has a very important job.  I'm sure if she read this she wouldn't appreciate being called "gal".  I've communicated with her in the past and have never had an issue.  These days, with so many cancellations and re-bookings I don't envy her job.  This is something your TA should handle.  Calling an employee out on this board is not likely to be helpful. 

Interesting, possible good news to come?

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/24696-cdc-to-shortly-issue-new-guidelines-to-restart-cruising.html

I know on Oceania there have been solo travelers who had other solos join them in their cabin several times during the 6 months.  Since they have to pay 200% for the cabin,  not sure if their friend/family reimburse them or not.  I’m not positive, but pretty sure the cabin fare was paid in full by the original passenger,  but Oceania had to approve the pax for the segments in advance. 

2 hours ago, ToxM said:

I do wonder if there will even be self service laundry facilities available in the future, for a while anyway, that’s a potentially lot of people in a small space and a lot of fingers touching equipment. 

They have been closed to a code red Noro outbreak before, in my experience.

yes

On 10/1/2020 at 8:32 PM, Smokeyham said:

Thanks for the suggestion.  I like the idea of having a debit card that is separate from my main checking account.   I googled and came up with the CapitalOne 360 account, which offers no-fee international transactions.  Is that the one you are referring to?   I also like that they offer the contactless card.

That's the one -- 

i"m not sure how people do it, but i've heard people just insure the deposit amount, and increase the insured amount as they make payments.  

We are also taking the 2022 ATW cruise for 6 months.  I purchased insurance a week after booking using insuremytrip.com.

At that time there was only 1 company offering a policy-- buying within 2 weeks of deposit allowed for pre-existing conditions and insolvency of the cruise line.  In the past, we have had several policies to choose from.  We will also take out a medical evacuation policy closer to the date of travel.  

After reading advice on this board a few years ago, I took out a second ATM card , not linked to my bank account , only used on my foreign travels. My choice was Capital One— No foreign transaction fees, and I could add funds online whenever needed.  
 

for the OBC question— we received statements after every segment— and, as we also had a sizable OBC— we never needed to consider payments, and struggled to spend the non refundable credit by the end of the cruise.  I believe it’s personal choice— but in our cruises, the final bill is settled at the end of the world cruise.

https://www.royalcaribbeangroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Healthy-Sail-Panel_Full-Recommendations_9.21.20_FINAL.pdf

For those interested in reading the expert panel report.

Someone has posted on our ATW forum that they have successfully shipped cases of wine to the port agent, and the boxes were delivered to their cabin and waiting before they arrived.  I had no idea that this would work --  I would also like to try this.

It's a free 14 day cruise -- but agree with your strategy.   

On 7/7/2020 at 4:19 PM, Jennpate said:

Will be headed there hopefully 10/2020. Any tips on what to see for a couple (no kids) just wanting to enjoy the local area? 

 

We were scheduled to be there in November and again in January— Oceania cancelled the stop, saying there was still construction and wouldn’t be open due to the delay.

I prefer to do the research myself and book through a travel agent.  I never use the TA or Oceania for my air, and prefer to book myself.  I have tried a few agents, and currently very happy with my agent who is part of a Connoisseur Club for Oceania travel agents.  You might search for an agent in this group, I received her name from a friend.  I would book myself if there was no added value to booking through the agent, but I think you would kick yourself if you booked without one and happened to hear of the added perks(gratuities, cash back, OBC,  or Insurance, etc) that some might offer.  Oceania seems to not offer discounts on cabins, so the TA perk on a cruise of length can be substantial.

A world cruise requires a lot of work on your part, has potential for problems, and also has paperwork that must be completed in a timely manner.  I went through an agency who didn't notify me of problems, didn't answer my emails, and basically were absent once the cruise was booked.   Having an agent with a special relationship with Oceania and responds to you quickly is important, IMO.

On 7/24/2020 at 6:59 PM, Smokeyham said:

Question..... I am planning to do a world cruise solo.  However, I would like to have the opportunity to have different friends join me (sharing my cabin) for portions of the adventure.  Has anyone heard of this happening?  I called Oceania today, and the call taker talked with her supervisor who said this is not possible on their line.   

 

Has anyone heard/experienced any line where this is possible?  I can understand that there may not be complete flexibility for someone to join/leave at ports of their complete choosing, but given that they also sell Round The World Cruises in segments, you would think there would be some way this could be accomplished.

 

Thanks in advance for any thoughts or suggestions. 

 

 

We've been on 2 ATW cruises on Oceania, and I know of multiple passengers who did this on both cruises.  It takes some coordination, and a good TA can help you.  If you have no TA, there is a person at Oceania that might be able to help you -- ask for their email.  AFAIK, the friend joined a segment or 2, not some random date of their choosing.