Whiteowl

37 minutes ago, Kate-AHF said:

Oh, you just made this hard.  I was thinking Winchester (which i have not seen since I was 13, and it's a little fuzzy) or Beauliex or New Forest.  But.... Bath!  Why didn't I think of that - we haven't been there before.  

 

So MUCH to see in this life, so little time in which to see it. 🙂

How about going to see the Queen at Windsor Castle.  It's about an hour from Southampton.

With regard to UK protection, there are several organisations.  ABTA - Association of British Travel Agents.  ATOL - Air Tour Operators Licence.  CAA - Civil Aviation Authority.  They all have different roles to play.

ABTA membership gives consumers some rights when in dispute with the agent/tour operator.

ATOL protection only applies if the booking is a 'packaged' product such as cruise and air booked together by the same registered agent at the same time.  It provides the consumer with a refund if the tour operator fails or the package is cancelled.  If say a cruise only booking then ATOL does not apply.  However, in the current climate Tour Operators are refusing refunds and offering future credits, much like the cruise industry to protect cashflow.  

CAA protection gives consumers some rights against airlines for refunds etc.   It will also provide rescue cover for repatriation if an airline fails, such as what happened with Thomas Cook.

Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act makes a credit card company jointly liable with a retailer for purchases between £100 and £30,000.  If the consumer has a dispute with the retailer and is getting nowhere they can request a refund from the card issuer.

EU regulation 261 relates to refunds from airlines for delayed or cancelled flights.  It gives very good protection for the consumer with compensation for a significantly delayed flight.

However it's not all good news.  As someone noted earlier, it is very unusual to get a refund if you change your mind once a deposit has been made.  

Princess has followed suit- all cruise cancelled from 12 March to 11 May.

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

might be different for UK  pax    I would ask your TA  or Oceania UK

JMO

 

We are in the UK and received the same email from Bob Binder so it must apply worldwide.  I cannot imagine in the current circumstances Oceania wanting to alienate any cruiser or country.  Every single one will be vital in the short/medium term.

If you are docking in Naples, I would recommend getting the ferry across to Capri.  It is a wonderful place to visit.  Alternately if you want to see the Amalfi coast, get the ferry to Sorrento.  There is a good bus service all along the coast road which is very scenic.

15 hours ago, LHT28 said:

 

DH goes to tea daily  & has never seen them  on the daily afternoon tea

Just curious

 

Oh dear. 

Even my wife (who is always right. LOL) says there aren't any hot items.  I must have been fantasizing but I'm sure there used to be those silver lift-up lid buffet containers. Anyway, even if not, the standard was definitely lower in March than previous years. 

Let's hope the bean counters at  NCL aren't taking over.  It would be such a shame as I'm sure Oceania doesn't want to lose its USP for food quality.

1 minute ago, LHT28 said:

what hot items were at afternoon tea ?

I have only seen warm scones  ..what have I been missing??

There used to be small hot pastries and other bite size savouries

I have to agree with the OP regarding the food in the GDR.  WE have been on Marina once and Riviera 4 times.  The last was in March when we experienced the new menu for the first time.  It is now very limited and dishes are often repeated every few days with a somewhat limited choice. 

We also felt that the afternoon tea had declined since our last cruise.  There wasn't a central area with help yourself hot and cold items any more.  The sandwiches were very ordinary and the cakes nowhere near as nice as previous.

Clearly Oceania IS cutting back on spending per head on food.

We are not big drinkers so didn't experience problems with getting served at Martinis.

On Riviera a couple of weeks ago all plastic straws gone.  You either get no straw at all or you can have a cardboard straw which is thicker than a paper straw and does not collapse.

Just had an email to advise Riviera will be departing from Terminal E rather than Terminal J on Saturday.

On our upcoming cruise we have quite a bit of OBC.  We already have prepaid grats, beverage package and a number of tours.  I was looking to invest/waste some of the OBC in the casino but aren't sure how to do this.  Any good suggestions please.

This ship isn't going to London. It disembarks at Southampton which is nowhere near London.

We are flying from Atlanta on British air. It departs at 10:15 pm to London arriving at 11 am connecting to a flight to Stockholm where we pick up the ship leaving at 2:30. Arriving Stockholm at around 5pm.

With a 3hr layover at LHR why would you miss lunch anyway?

Monaco is a very easy day out from Antibes. The railway station is about 10 min walk then about 40 mins on train to Monaco. I believe the cost is around Euro 8-10.

Since they have been giving away all this OBC, the draught beer size has gone down from 500ml (17oz) to 330ml (12oz) as has the size of bottles. Grolsch used to be 500ml (17oz) bottle but is now 330ml. Some of the bottles are as small as 275ml (10oz) but the prices have not reduced. On our last cruise we found the beers to be very expensive.

Due to expected high winds, Riviera will dock at pier E tomorrow instead of pier J. Just announced onboard.

The first picture shows the ship is in Barcelona.

I couldn't agree more with Jim and Stan.

We decided to try HAL this summer to experience a more dressy cruise for a change. However, post booking, HAL changed the formal dress code to optional and defeated the object of the cruise. The cost was equal to Oceania for a med cruise but there was no comparison in terms of quality of food, service, staff, cleanliness and the level of nickle and dining.

One such example was the pathetic attempt at Afternoon Tea. It consisted of several tables in a corner of the dining room where around 20 people attended to have one quick round of open sandwiches followed 2 mins later by a poor selection of pastries. The whole experience was over in 10 mins. This is in stark contrast to the excellent Oceania Afternoon Tea.

Happily we have returned to Oceania with a good deal for Riviera in January. We are very much looking forward to the excellent food and service once again.

We tried afternoon tea on Eurodam in June. It was pathetic. It consisted of 6 tables in a corner of the MDR. No atmosphere at all. They made one pass with small open sandwiches, scones and small cakes. You had to take the whole lot at once as otherwise you would miss out. There was a selection of packet teas but it was impossible to get a second cup. the whole experience lasted no more than 10-15 mins.

They need to see how Oceania do afternoon tea. It is fabulous with a mouthwatering selection of savouries, proper sandwiches, scones, jam, clotted cream and various cakes cut to order from the sweet trolley. they also have the string quartet providing background music. You can have as much as you like. The whole experience in the Horizon lounge is very elegant.

HAL is just playing at it and getting it very wrong.

Don't automatically assume you will be tendering in Kotor. We were on Eurodam last week and the ship was supposed to tender but we were moored up at the quay. It is extremely tight but the ship made it ok. A RCCL ship was tendering.

As Eurodam doesn't leave Venice until 9.00 pm does anyone have recent experience of what time the lifeboat drill is held. We are looing to go into Venice once checked in but clearly need to be back onboard for the drill.

We booked our cruise on Eurodam before the change formal to Gala was announced as we were looking for a more formal setting than our more recent cruises on Oceania. We were therefore disappointed to hear of the new dress code late last year. As others have indicated, people tend to dress up more in Europe than the Caribbean and we will still be wearing our Tuxes next month and the ladies will be wearing their long dresses.

It seems that HAL is still trying to cater for all but with the current changes to policy. It will leave some people in a difficult position having booked in the more recent past when the dress code did not require a jacket and tie. It is even more confusing when the websites are showing different policies. How can the MDR staff enforce either code when they are both still valid.

This further change needs some serious publicity on HAL's part to avoid the above situation arising.

I have been quoted a saving of £500 ($750) per person to not take explore 4. It increases the deposit by £120 but is still worth it. I don't think we would benefit from the beverage package which only covers drinks less than $8 including tax and tip. Does anyone have an idea of beer/wine/soft drink prices to compare.

I am looking at booking one of the cabanas but my wife is worried about privacy on the lanai in front. Does any one know if access to the lanai outside the cabanas will be restricted to Havana club members only during the day. I rang Carnival and was told it was open access all the time, so I am not sure what to think.

We have stayed in 10020 and 10030 on Riviera and there is definitely more noise in the one nearer the elevator. We noticed more people talking than further down the corridor. If I had a choice, I would definitely move to a quieter part of the ship, especially bearing in mind the OP is not going until Nov 15.