Tranquility Base

10 hours ago, Redtravel said:

 Those were the good old days. 

7 hours ago, ORV said:

Thank goodness they’re gone. 

Nostalgia is not what it used to be.😇 

Air New Zealand are introducing Skynest later this year.

6 lie flat sleep pods which will be available for purchase for 4 hours.

Starting on selected services to / from a couple of US cities. 

5 hours ago, tigerfan75 said:

And of course, you are eligible for a one-time change of sailing before final payment.

I am reasonably sure that feature to shift without penalty is only available up to 6 months prior, not final payment.

19 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

 

Why isn't the ferry port used for some of the tender returns to the ship as well as the existing options from Fira?

 

6 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

That wouldn't be much better.  Even if you are dropped off at the ferry port (Thira), you still have to make your way up the winding switchback road by vehicle. 4,000 people at 40 people per bus would mean 100 busloads of people going up that road at 5 mph with buses passing one another in opposite directions. 

{Note: I have edited parts of your post for simplicity}

Thanks your for your reply.

My post specifically mentioned some of the tender returns to the ship.

Why do ship's excursions finish at Fira ?

Why don't they finish at the port where they started from ?

If time in Fira is deemed desirable as part of an excursion, that can be programmed for a set amount of time and then people reboard the bus for the trip back to the original port.

2 hours ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

Yeah, it’s totally because of the cable cars.

2 hours ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

 

Not a cruise friendly port. 

Why isn't the ferry port used for some of the tender returns to the ship as well as the existing options from Fira?

1 hour ago, TRLD said:

That leave a gap in the small ship premium price point where we had hoped Oceania would provide another option with some unique itineraries such as Singapore to Capetown.

Looking at the website, Capetown to Singapore or vice versa segments are showing on Insignia, Nautica, Sirena and Riviera.

2 hours ago, TRLD said:

In many ways a waste of live music  They could use canned music for background on some days and then have a concert type show with the freed up time where they could be more interactive with the audience on both type of music and maybe even requests.

On Riviera last year, there were 45 - 50 min sets on various sea days where one of the production singers would individually highlight songs of their own choice.

They would also include a bit of chat about their background.

This was in Horizons, timed for happy hour at 5:30.

These were popular and were well received.

2 hours ago, DeanoNorthPerth said:

Which port are we talking about?

Deano.

You're from WA.....you should have known that.

2 hours ago, pinotlover said:

Funny story, one of the Diamonds on this cruise one night asked for garlic, oregano, and thyme to season his dish. He told the waiter “ if we can season to our own tastes, I want to add the seasonings that should be in the dish!” He got none of the above.

I wonder if, much as with a BYO bottle of wine, BYO herbs & spices to the table will be charged an unpacking fee ? 😇

5 hours ago, Vallesan said:

Oceania do refund port taxes if you cancel a cruise.

@Vallesan

Were you in the % penalty period when you cancelled ?

3 minutes ago, 1985rz1 said:

The fees and port taxes are bundled in the total fare, so they are not separated out at any level of cancellation.

OK, thanks @1985rz1

1 hour ago, Vallesan said:

Oceania do refund port taxes if you cancel a cruise.

Thanks.

So, just to clarify.

If you cancel whilst in the % penalty phase (ie: 25%), the fees & taxes will be refunded 100% and the 25% penalty will be applied to the remainder of the fare ? 

4 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

With the understanding that O’s mantra is “no double dipping,” the technically correct answer is that your multisegment fare cannot be disaggregated for the purpose of a sale on one segment. It’s one of the perceived downsides of booking a published multi-segment cruise.

Of course, you could rebook under the right circumstances. But, that would be at the current prices and perks (as well as loss of the base discount you had on the multi-segment cruise you had originally booked). But, that’s seldom a better deal than the cost of an original booking done 1 year +\- prior.

Sure, I understand.

(Even though I had to google one of your big words 👨‍🎓)

However in my case the two single segments were both heavily discounted on sale, whereas the combined multi segment never was.

I only wanted to do one segment so it was never a consideration, however if I had wanted to do both I certainly would have booked separately.

The cruise was one year away. 

3 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

The only $ benefit to individual adjacent bookings is multiples of  O Club perks (which usually requires that you are at least platinum to see substantial extra SBC).

What if the individual cruises are on sale but the Grand Voyage cruise is not ?

6 hours ago, Hlitner said:

A true "10" day, So, DW and I decided to follow a plan of hiking to the Villa Eprussi de Rothchild, which is located near Cap Ferrat. 

6 hours ago, Hlitner said:

  It is about a 2 mile walk from the tender pier and the stroll took as about 50 minutes.  

We were there last year.

We had planned to walk along the seafront to the steps up towards Cap Ferrat.

However we found that way was at that time inaccessible due to works.

We were wandering up towards the road when a kind local offered us a lift.

Is the seafront walk towards  Cap Ferrat available now ?

We also had a pleasant day there, although it was very windy on the Eastern side of Cap Ferrat.

4 days ago Princess announced a re-route of the June 2025 World Cruise to proceed via Cape Town.

In '25 or '26 the Grand, Royal & Discovery are doing cruises which begin or end in Honolulu.

If you live in the U.S. I agree with LACruiser to head East to avoid the long haul flight home.

Otherwise I personally prefer West for the 25 hr days as Arizona Wildcat mentioned.

9 minutes ago, SweetSoCalGal said:

Anyone else know where we might find info on the upcoming dry dock?

Coral leaves this month on the World Cruise.

I have no doubt the Captain will do a couple of Q & A presentations in the theatre.

You could ask on their roll call if someone would ask the question and report back. 

It will be interesting to hear about what they plan to use regarding power plants.

Next decade we will see an increasing number of ports / regions in the world placing restrictions on both cruise ship size and emissions.

Possible port restrictions ?

 'R' ships are preferred by some because of port availability over the 'O' & 'A';

eg: Saigon (Nah Rong), Bangkok (Klong Toey).

What ports / cruising areas are the current larger ships able to use now, but are close to their size limit ???

Just interested in what future port selection decisions may look like once the 'R' leave the fleet.

According to the internet.....

"Verige Strait.

Name comes from old slavonic word veriga, "chain".

The legend says, in 1381, defenders of the Bay held a massive chain here to prevent the passage of Venetian ships to Kotor."

1 hour ago, Charles4515 said:

But certainly if an attraction is far away I will book the cruise line tour.

I'll actually support your initial preference for private tours on occassion where the attraction is distant.

EG: Petra. Been 3 times; the 2nd & 3rd time on private tours.

I headed straight out on my own to walk a different trail as soon as we arrived at the site on the 2nd/3rd visit.

I was confident the tour company could arrange alternative transport if the bus broke down on the way back.  

Sail away was not till 10pm.

EG: Luxor. Private tour with an overnight .

Once again I had confidence in alternative transport arrangements.

The smartest decision we made was to do this tour with just the 2 of us.

It was 40 degrees, no need to worry about anyone else's stamina.

Of course we had cash and multiple credit cards with us for contingencies.

We were back onboard about 5 hours before sailaway.

2 hours ago, lackcreativity said:

If I am happy with my cruise experience, if it saves me the time and effort of independently booking when I still go to work every day, then shouldn't we both be satisfied?

This I agree with.

We often cruise for 30 - 70 days at a time, occasionally longer.

Sometimes multiple times a year.

We have reached the stage where we utilise a combination of:

Ship's tours,

Joining private tours,

Organising private tours for ourselves or perhaps one other couple maximum,

Simply wandering DIY.

This combination is desirable, ...... for us.

It allows us to manage the large number of ports we are visiting, plus the amount of time and effort we wish to spent at home in the planning stage.

We have also found, once onboard with a large number of ports in a row, we have more flexibility with being able to take an easy day if desired, instead of being committed to a lengthy tour somewhere.

2 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

I sometimes do a ship tour but usually regret it while independently booked tours have mostly been top notch. Do research and don’t end up on a bus with 20 to 60 others. If for example I can be lazy and go to the let’s say the Acropolis with 50 people or in a van with 10 people. Same place but the experience is going to be different.

Last year we had 4 overnights in Istanbul on 3 back to back cruises on Riviera.

We did one ship's tour.

We had approx 25 people on our small bus. It was a full day tour.

Our guide was absolutely brilliant.

This tour was paid for using non refundable SBC.

Excellent value.....for us.

Last year on Riviera at Valletta we were docked on the other side of the harbour (Boilers Wharf) due to the main dock being occupied.

DIY passengers had to take a ferry across to town.

Ship's tours were picked up ship side, but dropped off at the town dock and had to take a ferry back across to the ship.

This was neither an overnight nor an embarkation port however.

4 hours ago, pinotlover said:

Since the start of our cruise, we had a day of 58 degrees F and rain, 60 F and cloudy, and 61F and cloudy. Today is similar. Although slightly cooler than normal, it’s Spring time in Japan and this weather should be expected. Pack accordingly. As far as the ship goes, no one is eating outside on the Terrace, and rarely more than 4-6 outside at Waves, with those eating coats. Those temperatures are daytime highs, not breakfast or dinner temperatures. One might guess the impact this has on seating in the Terrace.

This is why when I looked at the 2025 Riviera cruises I just said....nope not for me.

China, Japan and South Korea in the first week of February....brrr.