hawkesbaynz

Great prices. I believe the issue is with passengers having to change once or twice to get there. From the UK I would need to change in New York. However the cruise is more port-rich than the FLL departures. Something for the future! We were in San Juan on an Oceania cruise in November and really enjoyed our day there. We are in a SV on the Millenium in 2024 in Japan😀

https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/travel/travelling-to-hong-kong-heres-what-you-need-to-know https://www.discoverhongkong.com/uk/latest-travel-advisories.html Things are slowly improving. We have a cruise which ends in Hong Kong next November. I have booked flights with points and will need to pay with real money if they change to Taiwan😐 This time last year I had to cancel a ski trip to France as Geneva Airport changed their rules the day before I travelled (PCR rather than Lat Flow). Rebooked the next day with £150 same day PCR test and flight changes. Had to complete forms to travel into France. Tests before returning to UK etc.... Showed Covid app to get on lifts etc. Today I can go to France via Geneva with just my vaccine certificate that no one will look at. Basically things can change alot in a year. Crossed fingers!

The Apex ex-Southampton cruises are ridiculous in 2024. However yesterday I booked a 12 night ex-Barcelona SV on the Ascent for £2500 ($3090). All included. Cheaper day rate than a Beyond Med. Cruise last September. Happy with that. Some patchy pricing out there. @LGW59 the Oceania product is great but if you like shows and bands it is lacking. Older clientele too. Food is great. Fabulous itineraries.

On our recent Sirena cruise we only tipped our room steward directly other than the included gratuities. Because of the included speciality dining and never being sat in a specific area in GDR, we never built a relationship with waiters/sommeliers thus did not tip any. I did feel bad for them! On Celebrity we tend to tip extra all these staff members. I often tip the pool guy and the chap keeping the toilets spotless in the evenings (Sirena loos were often dirty by mid-evening). On a different point found Miami to be in a tipping whirlwind. Included gratuities then demands for tips on top for generally mediocre service for mediocre food. Everyone wanted a tip! Even received emails from hotel booking sites asking me to tip the hotel staff (I do leave $$ for the cleaner).

We went for the Ascent Spain/France/Italy September 2024 in a SV all included for 12 nights for £2500 with military discount ($3093) each. Good itinerary with an overnight in La Spezia Actually better daily rate than the 9 nighter we had booked on the Beyond in September but cancelled as our friends got Covid a few days before. I was going to give the NCL Prima a whirl as an alternative but all the talk of small venues, booking for shows, racetracks turned me off. I like to relax on holiday not book meal times & queue.

I was looking at an Israel cruise on the Silhouette in September 2024. Available but pricey. Interestingly the Ascent cruises that month are better value IMO although shame not Israel and Egypt.

We are staying at the NH Collection Buenos Aires Historico Hotel for two nights at the end of a cruise end February. Choose it as good reviews, they responded to me about an early book in, and walking distance to a Tango Show we booked, a bike tour and a foodie tour. Eg central location. Tours by locals is good advice. There are lots of tours on Viator too.

We were at Puerta Plata a fortnight ago on the Oceania Sirena. Only 600 onboard.. We were the only ship in the port where the shopping/restaurant/pool resort complex was. A large NCL ship was further down the coast (?at private beach). We did the canyonning with hopping off waterfalls into pools and sliding down rocks which was fantastic fun. Pleasant beach stop too with food laid on that mildly effected my b...ls. Interested in your comparison with the OOS. We were supposed to sail on the Beyond in September but cancelled due to illness. The OOS maybe a good option for a TA or trip outside school holidays. Decent of you to arrange your holidays with us CC members in mind😁!

Can you get cans of club soda or sparkling water to keep in the cabin fridge. Wife drinks it like a fish!

I live in Southampton and give myself 4.5 hours prior to a US flight (3 hours at LHR). The exit at Southampton port is efficient. We exited from Miami at 10am with massive queues last week on a 600 person ship. Just a saunter at Southampton. The train is fine for London but not LHR. Hopefully the strikes will be over by the New Year. Get a car.

Purchased the Premium Internet Upgrade for a 13/7 Solstice sailing for £16 for 2 devices. For a Millenium sailing 4/24 X wanted to charge me £626😬 Had a Sold Out excursion to Hamoi overnight for £678. Saw that it was £608. Called to revise the charges but advised he would need to cancel the trip and may not be able to rebook!

For this Sirena cruise in a Concierge Verandah we had two nights each in the speciality restaurants. We actually really enjoyed eating outside in the Terrace Cafe in the warm Caribbean air. Need to put the alarm on Friday to book the speciality restaurants on the Marina for February! 60 days pre-departure. Will be early doors in the UK

Just been to St Vincent. Small group tour of eight of us. Scenic tour, waterfalls, Pirates Caribbean, beach for about $100 for two. www.Fraser taxi tours.com

We had a cruise to Israel cancelled due to the Pandemic. Keen to return. Hoping to move a 'booked on board' cruise to this itinerary. Likely not until late Summer/Fall 2024. Interestingly the Infinity cruises are in February & March. @dani negreanu would you cruise the Med then? I think if I was cruising out of Southampton then it would only be the Canaries or possibly Norway (anticipating cold weather). Preferably not Tendered ports either.

Yep heard it too on Sirena😀. The music around the pool was pretty reasonable. DW was chuffed that Ed Sheeran was played. Preferred the pool ambiance to other lines. They must have listened to @pinotlover The music in the lounge was more what my elderly mother may have enjoyed.

@MEFIowa did not get to meet you onboard. Enjoyed the cruise. Shame DW and I got Covid and have had to cancel a weeks skiing in France on Saturday. We are just suffering cold symptoms. Lots of coughing onboard. One thing that I noticed about Oceania was that there was little emphasis on alcohol gel prior to meals. Few people seemed to use it. Glad that it was a no touch buffet!

I have been advised by Celebrity of some minor timing modifications to our Celebrity Millenium 9th April 2024 cruise. Would they have done this if planning to cancel. According to www.cruisedig.com website the ship is due that day too. Still not available for booking Millenium though. I can book excursions on Cruise Planner though. Hope this is reassuring.

@ToxM you should be fine. Saw a chap dine 3 nights in the same white shirt and casual jeans. I sometimes take smart jeans to match a smart shirt/polo on Celebrity cruises and I think I would likely been smarter than most diners in the GDR. If a warm cruise sitting Aft in the terrace can be very nice in smart shorts too. Did see more jackets in the Specialities.

Really enjoyed the cruise. Service could be a bit frenetic at times but we were very happy with the food and client centred staff. There are plenty of classes including yoga & spinning. I was in the gym most late PMs and there was often something on with 2-3 involved. Dominica & St Vincent were great ports but I would recommend a tour. Very poor islands and not much to walk to. We recommend Fraser Taxis Tours in St Vincent.

I probably tip the same. About $20 a tour for a couple. Euro has parity with the dollar at moment.. I ski a lot in France and we often get a guide for off-piste skiing. Usual guy is adamant that the French do not tip as their salary covers living costs etc unlike in USA. Thus no tips in mountain restaurants etc. Oddly we paid for his meals and tipped him at the end of the week. In the UK I only tip waitresses, hairdressers and taxi drivers. Never baristas, bar men etc. Noticed in Miami last week that service at 20% was included on all restaurant meals and then they asked for a tip on top….

I am fortunate that I can get get 10% off as either ex-military, current NHS. Every time we book a cruise I look at UK TAs and also US TAs and they can never beat the prices. I have booked direct with the Celebrity US site when I saw a fabulous deal, and ticked the ex-military box too. Hopefully someone is reading this that has not used this discount who will in the future. Met a nurse on a tour in Miami pre-cruise last week who was not aware. She was sailing NCL but will be sailing X next time now. I have used different TAs for Oceania cruises and had only a few percent off and no support or info. Do not reply to emails. Off hand when wanted to change a cruise which we knew was to be cancelled and charged an admin fee. Tried to use a TA for a Princess cruise next year. Discounts were minimal and I eventually booked direct via QUIDCO the cash back site. The cash back was the same but I am no longer using an unnecessary middle man. All my flights are booked using BA Avios. Fully refundable for a minimal cancellation fee. Hotels.com for refundable hotels and gain an extra night for ten booked. @the penguins is great advice too. If I had to pay cash for a flight I would do the BA + Hotel thing and there are often extra Avios deals too. I like to look at the packages that TAs sometimes do. However I spoke to a couple tonight oddly who booked an Orient express/La Como/Silversea cruise/flight home package which was cancelled by TA 3 weeks prior blaming Orient Express! Prefer to be master of my own destiny.

A dead budgie😮. I thought it was a Norwegian Blue😀. I fretted about Country Casual before current cruise. Bought some new Paul Smith polos and shirts. But anything seems to go for the men. Certainly below smart casual as average. Seen a few jeans, walking trousers and even tracksuit bottoms (but the poor wife probably had issues dressing the poor frail 20 stone guy). Ladies look smarter. We even had a drunk wearing shorts marched out of GDR.

We are on the cruise too. Food great as anticipated. Staff very good and eager to please. Officers keep a lower profile than other cruise lines we have been on. Pool deck excellent. Been to see the comedians but not really been to many social events/performances. Dottie the Cruise Director omnipresent. The Happy Hour about an hour too early for our usual cruise day (gym & showering then dinner 7.30-8). In a CV which is very well decorated. The shower is small but I can manage at 6’3” and just over 15 stone. However there are quite a lot of overweight and/or elderly frail looking folk on board so I hope they are in PHs. Is this normal for an Oceania cruise? I really felt sorry for the tender boat guys getting the elderly/frail folk onto the tender with a bit of swell. Fortunately not witnessed any bigots/racism. Couple of rude people perhaps. Looking forward to sailing the Marina next year in South America. Am told by many people it is a different experience. Would I book more Oceania cruises? Perhaps. We have cruised six cruise lines but there a several more to try first.

As a non-drinker I would be happy with cruise only rate. However DW enjoys the healthy smoothies at the Aqua Cafe for breakfast, a constant supply of sparkling water, a diet red bull a day, and enjoys a premium gin or two pre-dinner, wine at dinner and a nightcap. Fortunately not a coffee drinker. We eat late and are often in the gym 5-6. Perhaps I can get away with a water package, the bottles of wine to carryon, and the tail end of happy hour. Can buy some drinks too. The RCL scheme would probably be perfect but…

We were looking forward to enjoying the Beyond but then our travelling companions got Covid and we cancelled. Shame as we had a good price in SV. The prices have now sky rocketed. The Apex out of Southampton is sooo much more expensive that the Silhouette. I could not bear not having a balcony cabin. Currently sat on a balcony on an Oceania ship watching the twilight come in with the noises of Kingstown St Vincent in the background. O a great line and food amazing but will be returning when I hit 70. If X think IV verandahs are so special why do they not put their suite guests in them? We have usually booked Aqua but been in all classes. The X price for Aqua now ridiculous particularly for a non-drinker. The 4 dining room MDR option would be great, but the prices…