Queen of DaNile

This past February we requested permission to disembark the evening of our overnight in Laem Chabang to stay in a hotel because of our early morning flight. The affirmative response took a few days because my TA said they actually had to get the answer from the ship.

Also keep in mind that once it's on record that you're disembarking early, they will close your account (and internet access) early as well. If you have refundable OBC coming back to you, make sure the accounting is correct a few days before you plan on disembarking and get the cash if you don't want them to send a check.

Because they cut off our internet service early we were not able to use Whatsapp to contact our driver to let him know we were boarding the shuttle to get to the pick up area. Luckily the front desk let us use a house phone to message him.

Thanks for all the info. May just take the plunge for 2025.

On 2/21/2024 at 9:04 PM, nancygp said:

Pricing for the December 25 itineraries and early 26 are now on the website

 

nancy

Based on past history, when might they release the balance of 2026?  Seabourn will give us an a10% discount if we rebook a cruise by May 1 for the one we canceled yesterday. Would like to get something in the Arctic, if possible.

We are on the original CT to Las Palmas segment so losing four ports is a deal breaker for me.

On 3/8/2024 at 8:23 AM, Lenron said:

My cruise ends in Doha and I will need to get to my hotel. Are taxis easy to get? Would you need local currency? I also note that Uber operates in Doha.

Very easy taxi stand at the airport and they take credit cards. At the present time they are allowing Uber to drop off but NOT pick up passengers at the airport. We used Uber all around the city the rest of our stay and then back to the airport.

Check your booked cruise on line and click view credits. It may appear as Complimentary Shipboard Credit. Mine appeared the evening I submitted the request.

We recently booked this cruise because the last itinerary change created a lot of availability and they started offering cabins at 40% off to fill the space. When I saw the overnight in Istanbul, I knew that could be changed at any time. Been there before and would like to see more but if it doesn't happen, it won't be a surprise. We're getting to Europe on our own but letting Oceania handle the return, just as Mauibabes said.

Go ahead and make your plans with a reputable company that has a liberal cancellation policy.

Join the Roll Call for this sailing and we can share information more directly.

See you on board.

Yes, there is a clothes line in the shower on the R ships.

3 minutes ago, basor said:

Guess they just put them on for our 3 cruises but no matter, it wouldn't affect our enjoyment of our meals there.  Glad others are not going due too negative remarks so we can go more often!

Didn't matter to us. We enjoyed the food.

1 hour ago, basor said:

Certainly understand....we ate there 4 times during our 32 day Vista cruise last November and had tablecloths every time.  Perhaps they have changed.....I will check with some friends that recently sailed on Vista to see if they found the same.  Food is subjective but mushy asparagus is not subjective.

No table cloths on two nights on our TA in September 

Lovely Mike. Sorry we didn't get to meet you and Cathy on this one. Maybe next time...

Definitely opened at 7 AM on Riviera and sometimes a queue to get in. The dryers take 2x as long as the washers and are harder to claim. Sometimes if I did things later in the day and couldn't get a dryer, I'd either hang things on the line in our shower or come back at 7AM and be the first to grab a dryer.

Another question, Concierge says complimentary pressing of garments upon embarkation** but do they still use the Complimentary pressing cards to have things done after embarkation? Thanks.

23 hours ago, tree.critter said:

I begrudgingly set up Stockperks a few months ago and just now used it for the first time for my September cruise, it was surprisingly easy. Maybe I’m not so mad at this change anymore and happy for this update

 

I stopped when they asked for my brokerage account number and password. Freaked me out about giving out that information.

6 hours ago, Vallesan said:

I have similar concerns for our September/ October cruise which also has an overnight in Istanbul. For us it’s the middle of a B2B so it is an embarkation/debarkation port.

 

As Mareblu says we can only ‘go with the flow’!

My guess is if they drop Turkiye from the itinerary, we'll disembark in Athens. Works for me. Got a good cabin at a good price so floating around the eastern Med won't be a hardship :).

47 minutes ago, Mareblu said:

 ",,,and lately, a switch on our April 24 (next month) Med cruise on Vista.  Santorini, Crete and Kotor have been substituted for Kusadasi and an overnight in Istanbul.   Oceania has stated this is due to Middle East unrest."  

Thanks for sharing this. This is what I fear may happen to our July cruise where we have an overnight in Istanbul at the end...and why I chose to have Oceania make our return air arrangements. Not sure where the cruise may end so we'll let them figure it out.

We are literally doing a Seabourn/Oceania back to back this summer so our comparisons will be very fresh. We had no intention of revisiting Riviera so soon but due to itinerary changes caused by conflicts in the Middle East, this particular sailing came in at a very attractive price. 

The Seabourn leg is definitely more expensive but includes unique ports that we're willing to pay for. Upgrading to Concierge on Oceania was a bargain by comparison and gives us the option to stay on the ship and enjoy the spa deck should there be changes to the ports.

My focus will be on comparing the food and quality of our time in port. We know what to expect from both lines so the question is how they deliver in virtually real time.

18 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

I sure hope that you were compensated in some manner. That is a HUGELY different itinerary than you paid for. 

Absolutely not! And no response to my mid and post cruise comments.

We have been sailing Oceania for more than 19 years and have never experienced anything like what happened on our last Riviera cruise. As we stated on another thread, we lost a total of 15 hours of port time out of 11 ports. Only one port remained unchanged. Some ship excursions were either canceled or drastically altered and those with private excursions were left scrambling to contact their operators. The most dramatic change was reducing the time in Manila by 4 hours which was where many of the crew hoped to spend some time with their families.

A letter stating " technical issue" was offered as the explanation.

I would be very wary about booking an itinerary that contained ports you couldn't bear to miss.

Not exactly sure what you're trying to say but the food on our recent cruise was very good.

The accounting on Riviera recently was a nightmare. I checked our statement several times during the cruise and told Reception repeatedly that they were using refundable credit rather than the unrefundable. Because we disembarked a day early, they closed our account before I realized I would not be able to get our refundable OBC in cash and get a final statement. 10 days later we received a check in an incorrect amount. After several emails and a lengthy phone call with an Administrator in Guest Services, we finally agreed upon a future cruise credit that was slightly in our favor.

55 minutes ago, 1985rz1 said:

Doesn't it automatically go back on your credit card is you don't cash out at the end of the cruise?  I thought that was true, but I never never seem have any credit balance at the end.

Only know of them giving cash or sending a check for refundable credit. 

5 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I thought of wearing White Tie/Tails on our upcoming SS cruise but, after following their dress code thread, figured the message would be lost on some of their fans.  

 

Hank

If you have white tie and tails, then go for it!

46 minutes ago, ssawjo said:

Otherwise, the cruise was nice.  We had not been to many of ports before, so there's that.  However, my opinion of O has changed from excellent to ?.  I don't think I can trust them to fulfill their commitment to the passengers.  

I explicitly voiced my feelings about the lack of transparency on both the mid cruise and final cruise comment surveys. Will it make a difference? Probably not. Even though it took a lot of time, made me feel better. I know, know, know not to book a cruise if visiting a particular port is of special interest but this experience made it crystal clear who not to trust. 

End of my rant - LOL

We enjoyed Riviera for the two weeks we were on her in SE Asia a few weeks ago. Ship, service, food were all very good. The remodeled bathrooms are lovely.

As long as you're flexible about the times you are in ports, you should be OK. There were major changes to times in all but one port due to a mechanical issue that was never revealed. Don't count on "upper" management to be transparent about changes to your itinerary. If you're comfortable with that, you'll love your cruise.

1 hour ago, osandomir said:

Great. But it’s also a lot more to see sailing in the Antarctica.

Very true. We did see lots more during time there. Just trying to show Elephant Island since that was mentioned. Usually the seas are too rough and haze too thick to to even see it