Kate-AHF

On 10/4/2021 at 6:58 PM, ORV said:

Well, people come here asking for advice about Oceania, using a good connected TA is one of the best things a person can do when booking with Oceania. It's your money, your choice. If you want to leave money on the table, someone who can really go to bat for you if things go south, get you discounted upgrades, invaluable advice on air and other procedures with Oceania that is definitely your choice. Those of us that have experienced it just have a hard time understanding those that won't take advantage of it. On one of my cruises with my TA when we were having dinner with the GM he asked me how I happened to get connected with my TA, I told him it was my lucky day. 

 

Just an FYI, not just for you, but others, the big agencies are not the ones you really want. You don't get real travel agents with most of them, just customer service reps. Many people have had bad experiences with them, including myself. 

 

Whatever works for you. 

I see these lectures on "using a good TA" every single solitary week here on this board.  So why does finding one have to be like hen's teeth?  It's just not that easy Orv.  Had a good TA, used once with great huzzahs on our part, then she retired during the pandemic.  Still using one we've used for 15 years, that TA is nothing like you describe.  Minutia (like... what documents do we need to travel for this cruise?) is not his thing and telling me to call O to find out is not helpful.

I've talked to a couple of the Connoisseur's club agents I found on the web.  So far? Not impressed by the two i talked to enough to even try booking a cruise with them. 

So how many cruises do I have to suffer through a bad agent to find a good one?  How many cruises do we take in a year?  It could literally take 5 years trying agents to get a good one.  You say the day you found your agent was "your lucky day".  I'm not so lucky, and I'm getting tired of getting lectured on this.  You all with great TA's should just count yourselves VERY VERY lucky and not talk to the rest of us that are not so lucky as being negligent, lazy, or stubborn.  You all seem to think it's easy.  It's just NOT that easy.

I'm not picking on you per se Orv, I like you and see eye to eye with you on so many things and love your sane, reasonable worldview.  But this thread sent me over the edge, and your post got picked to respond.

27 minutes ago, mauibabes said:

Kate,

I agree, the “$ticker $hock” is hard to comprehend but…while we have never used the O hotel a friend who valued being cared for vs. planning and booking and rebooking changes decided to try it.  There are definitely benefits as it INCLUDED the Air Deviation Fee so $350 was covered, a meet and greet by a driver, transfer to the very nice 5 Star hotel, and transfer to the ship/port. Your transfers from Flumencio and to Civitavechia to the port and Air Deviation can reduce your hotel cost significantly, especially in very expensive cities. 
Travel  safe, Mauibabes 

That's very good information - and thank you very much for posting this.  And those included fees should be widely advertised by O.

 Doesn't apply to us, as we will never use O air until they get real about bus. class, and we are arriving via train from another part of Italy.  BUT!!! the included air deviation makes up for the overall cost, and the one night price commensurate with the inclusions.

11 hours ago, WESTEAST said:

We mostly never use O air unless it is a short distance air trip. However, with Covid we've decided to use O air on the inbound flight with the promotional upgrade to Premium Economy for our flight in 2022 and 2023. We will pay deviation fee as we like to arrive a day (or more) prior to embarking. For our outbound flight, we will book ourselves a Business class ticket or, with our TA.  At this time, we feel better to have Oceania take care of our air for our return flight in the event of a Covid event.

We have booked a pre-cruise land tour with Oceania for 2022 which includes transfers (the detail write-up states this). In the past, we have stayed at an Oceania hotel pre-Cruise which included transfers (private car at airport to hotel and a bus for group from ship to airport) - everything went very smoothly.

Pre and post cruise land tours are a much better value than the pre-cruise hotel, it seems. 

We did a post-cruise land tour and included transfers (obviously) and felt it offered very good value.  Quite simply, the post-cruise tour was a great experience. 

For this fall, I asked my TA to book us for a one night pre-cruise hotel stay, because the hotel was great, it shaved off some of the planning with transfers and i could just.... veg.  Until my TA informed me that one night pre-cruise in Rome with transfer was.... wait for it.... $840.  Um, no. 

We will stay in an exciting new boutique hotel in the Jewish quarter, easy walking to many great restaurants, and the hotel will arrange for xfer to the pier.  Massively less than $840.  I don't mind paying a premium for convenience, but that price was just beyond what is reasonable.

25 minutes ago, Robjame said:

I am now able to access my Vista bookings through the Oceania site. As has been pointed out, there is not a lot to do yet.

It still appears to be a work in progress as Specialty Dining Room reservations only List Polo and Toscana. Red Ginger and Ember have not been added on mine.

I am looking forward to La Reserve offerings to be listed as these will be done in the new Culinary Center Dining Room.

We are so excited about experiencing Vista - 18 months away.

I'm quite relieved that La Reserve will be kept. I had not understood this before your post.  It has been the highlight of our cruises, and might have kept us off of Vista if they had not found a home for the venue.

4 hours ago, TrulyBlonde said:

Kotor is lovely, however, one of my bucket list items is a visit to the Trulli huts which can be accomplished from Bari.  One would hope O could arrange a tour there. 

The O shorex for Bari is now available to purchase in my account.  For sure, there is a trip listed to see the Trulli.  But what I am gravitating to is a listed trip to Matera.  Never heard of this town before today, but after reading a Harper's Bazaar article about the history and it's amazing revival I am more than just intrigued.  They believe that Matera is the third oldest city in history, after Aleppo and Jericho. While I'm sorry we (once again) won't get to visit Perast in Montenegro, this would more than make up for it.

I normally say we are itin-driven.  And that is true to a point.  We cancelled our Regent cruise from Athens to Istanbul this month because we were pretty sure it wouldn't happen, and Istanbul and the post-cruise was crucial. 

But.... this O cruise from Rome to Miami is floating around the Med.  Whatever the changes to the itin, we will STILL be floating around the Med which is just ducky with us.  There is always something we haven't seen or done when we cruise there....even if it's O shorex.  Eventually Marina will sail down to Miami and we will  be on her.

1 hour ago, mexicobob said:

That would be a major disappointment for me as Kotor is one of the main reasons I was considering a similar cruise next year. Hopefully, Bari will turn out to be acceptable. 

Though O doesn't have Bari tours posted yet, you can get an idea of what may be offered by visiting this page on a Marina cruise next year. There is also a nice Youtube walking tour here, which I'm pretty sure is covered in one of the tours on offer above.  It sure would be neat to see the "Bari ladies" make orichette by hand on tables outside their home as in the video, but as it will be November I'm not sure that will still happen.

8 hours ago, BarbaraM said:

...So far, they have not had the minimum sign up to hold La Reserve for several of  the nights it is offered...

Oh dear.  Well, we'll try to do our part when we board.

Serious question here... have pax that have been thwarted in their attempt to get a La reserve reservation even been able to get the ship to add another night?

2 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

And right after that, you’ll head to Terrace Café to grab the “bin end” list and add some wine buys to the case you brought with you.

I'm kinda in awe of how well you know me just through my posting on this board.  Though the Bin End list should be in our cabin when we get there.

8 minutes ago, basor said:

Correct - cruises in 2022 are able to sign up but cruises in 2021 are not.....

Which is why in 45 days -  the instant I step off the gangway onto Marina I will head to the dining reservations desk.

On 9/14/2021 at 12:47 AM, cruisemom42 said:

 

For a private water taxi, many hotels have their own "landing", you just need to read the hotel description. 

 

If you're talking about using Alilaguna from the airport, I loved the location of the Sina Palazzo Sant'Angelo. Literally steps from both a vaporetto stop (for getting around Venice) and an alilaguna stop (for getting to/from the airport). The hotel itself is a nicely restored palazzo, on the Grand Canal and well located between Rialto and San Marco areas. It's not inexpensive, but we found a very good deal off-season.

 

https://www.sinahotels.com/en/h/sina-palazzo-santangelo-venice/

This is a great location.  We stayed several times next door at what used to be NH Manin hotel until they re-named it Palazzo Barocci remodeled it and stripped it of all its charm. 

We now stay in the San Croce area at the Al Ponte Mocenigo - just steps away from the San Stae vaporetto stop, and also a stop on the Alilaguna orange line from the airport (no bridges with your luggage!!).  Not as polished as the Palazzo Sant'Angelo and kind of Italian shabby-chic, but there is also a small garden for a very good breakfast and for Venice this hotel is very affordable.  It's owner-operated and these guys have been at it for a while.  And it's also just steps away from a small restaurant Osteria Mocenigo.  Very, very authentic Venetian cuisine, and you probably will only hear Italian being spoken around you at dinner.  Service can be great or a little, um, "casual".

If our current flights don't get cancelled (again) we will be there in 42 days (not counting the hours yet, but close to it)

2 hours ago, PhD-iva said:

Mauibabies, when I reserved my specialty restaurant reservations for our November transatlantic cruise, I did not see where I could indicate that we (party of 3) wanted to share a large table. And my TA was not able to resolve it either. She said I should wait until I am on board. Were you able to indicate that you wanted to sit at a large table to share?

I'm wondering if the inability request a large table might have something to do with onboard social distancing.

14 minutes ago, aaaaa said:

The French balconies will be a hot item -- new ship and new cabin type and least expensive.

I'm not so sure.... if I wanted a French balcony, I'd book on the Windstar triplets in a heartbeat over O.

2 hours ago, pinotlover said:

Water and soda available everywhere, most of the time. Seems to me the wine bottles fit in at an angle. The won’t stand straight up, nor lie down. You can fit a couple at a time in.

The top tray in the mini-fridge is removeable.  Remove it, and the bottles stand upright.  I'm not sure what this says about me that I know this. 😳

Oh Lordy.... dress code.  Please, please, no fighting.

O is more casual than other lines I've been on (Silversea/Seabourn).  And I like that.  I'm doing some pre-packing planning for our month on Marina this fall, and for me it's nearly effortless.  I can pack my silky travel knits for dinner, in mix and match - a few scarves, a couple of chunky necklaces and I will feel appropriate and put-together no matter the venue.  We throw in a sportcoat for Don for dinners in La Reserve - though this is not necessary.  

I adhere to the more formal dress codes when on the other two lines, but I resent it every inch of the way.  Though we cancelled our first Regent for this fall, I was prepared to pack for a Silversea/Seabourn wardrobe.

33 minutes ago, Robjame said:

That is so interesting. Thanks for sharing. 

This year, 2021, might be a good year for Christmas on Oceania as, at this point in time, no unvaccinated persons are being accepted as guests. This would seem to exclude children under 12 as I know of no children being vaccinated in this age group.  

FWIW, Dec 2019 on Marina.... there were very, very few children on board.  So much so, I don't remember a single child other than the Santa visitation in the atrium.  Which was fun.

9 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

That said: Over the years, I’ve done at least a dozen O vs Regent “apples to apples” comps and not once did Regent come close to O’s value. But, it doesn’t stop me from continuing my comparisons on cruises I am considering.

That's been my experience as well.  Even when taking into account the difference we will accept in cabins (PH only on O vs verandah acceptable on Regent).  Regent is always much higher.

It doesn't always come down to $ though, as I'm sure you know.  We were booked on Regent in Oct of this year, with a subsequent land trip that was so exciting.  We were very sorry to cancel it.

7 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

We recently priced United Polaris multi-city fares to go SFO to CPT (Lufthansa for the connection from Frankfurt) next May with return from NYC - also United bizclass. Initially, the searched fare was more than $9000 pp.

 

So, using ITA Matrix, I started looking at different ways to do the same itinerary and same hardware. Then I called United to book what could not be done online (no booking fee in that case and they can sell the Lufthansa tix at Lufthansa sale prices that do not show on the United search engine).

Final outcome: one way to Frankfurt on United Polaris connecting to Lufthansa bizclass to CapeTown. Tix were <$2500 pp. Will soon add the NYC-SFO one way return United bizclass for $750 - $1000 pp. 

Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

For the last few months, TAP has been (A321 Neo) has been oh-so-reasonable for bizclass.  That's what I booked for IAD to VCE OCt 2021.  3 hour layover in Lisbon.  Would have been even less expensive if we spent a night in Lisbon.  Air Lingus has also had good bizclass pricing, but not with the good connections once in Europe.  United, even though I've got a shocking about of future fly credits at the moment- we can't even touch the cost.  Hoping to use them for next spring or fall, and prices become more.... "doable".  I didn't want to say "realistic", because I'm hoping this is not the new normal.

I'll let you know if we love it or hate it.  Never taken a narrow-body over the Atlantic before.  We really could care less about anything but the actual lie-flat seat in business.

42 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

(I also think you get a discount on LaReserve with Prestige).
 

As someone who books every La Reserve night available on our sailings, I SO wish this was applicable to us.  This discount is not available if you upgrade from House Select (as your Olife perk) to Prestige.  Those La Reserve discounts only apply to those folks paying the actual $60 per day per person. (Boo, hiss, throw rocks)

Now, that said, before the Covid restart - La Reserve would offer "wine tastings and tapas" evenings in addition to the scheduled La Reserve dinners.  The wines available by the glass were quite nice, different than what was available as standard, and most pours were with the Prestige package.  The tapas were also substantial and quite tasty, so if they are still offered post-covid cruising, don't expect to be able to do dinner too.  We really liked these tastings.... as you know the venue is super for that activity and the bar staff more than sufficient.

52 minutes ago, TFree said:

We will be on a land tour in Italy prior to our cruise. As a result, we have ordered and received Abbott BinaxNow Ag Card tests (the proctored test, as opposed to the self test) to take with us.  For the reason you state. $30 or $35 for a test per person is a small cost compared to having Oceania turn us away with no assistance.  This seemed easier than searching for a test site in Venice. 
 

Tom & Judy

We were just planning to stop by the Venice train station one morning for a free test two days before sailing.  Our hotel owner said that there are free tests there every morning.  I watched a youtuber take one of those proctored tests this morning.  While I'm not a Luddite, I'm just not tech savvy enough with my smartphone to get those proctored tests done.

56 minutes ago, Flharleygirl said:

 Hi - can you please elaborate on the "day trip fee" they are charging at the train station? I'm on the Riviera at the end of October and am flying into Venice for a few days pre-cruise and was planning to take the train to Trieste. Thanks for your help!

The "day trip fee" is not yet priced or in effect.  Nor have they decided many tourists per day to allow.  The projected date to begin the fee is between summer of 2022 and sometime in 2023.  They have stated that turnstiles will be installed ahead of that to gauge traffic flow.

According to the O website for excursion for Marina Nov 2 - Nov 19th 2021, no excursions are mentioned for Venice.  Lots to do, but Venice is not on the list.

1 hour ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

...So, bottom line: Travel for the foreseeable future is uncertain at best. But, as a geezer with “clock ticking,” staying home indefinitely is not acceptable.

Exactly.  That clock is ticking very loudly for us, and consequently we are willing to contort and jump through more hoops to travel than I ever thought.  

New Year's eve.

19 minutes ago, patty1955 said:

I thought I might ask them when we get there but maybe I should contact them now.

I would contact them.  I've found that the hotel we have for this fall very motivated to help us get what we need to repatriate.  That could be because we already have a relationship, or it could be just good business practice.