sbsmutoni

On 2/1/2024 at 4:34 PM, GenerationX said:

Well, that’s it, it’s official. Winter 2024 is the absolute, complete, WORST.  

 

As I was finishing my (delicious) pre-spa breakfast at the Four Seasons this morning, I got a text message.  Since we booked this trip so last minute, our usual house sitter who we LOVE wasn’t available.  So we went with someone we know but haven’t used before but had glowing references from a couple of our friends.  Unfortunately he was texting to cancel on us due to a serious illness in the family.

 

Especially given the December we had, we have total sympathy for what he and his family are going through.  

 

But as you can imagine, the following half hour of texts and phone calls with Jeremy was not our finest half hour of keep calm and carry on.  

 

To give some context, we have 4 dogs and 4 cats.  Boarding them for 10 days would cost more than the cruise and put some of them through horrific stress (they’re rescues and have residual kennel trauma).  We also have hens, rabbits, parakeets and a bearded dragon all of whom require daily care by someone who is experienced with handling them.  In other words, animal care at our house is a full time job.

 

Because we live in a rural area, we also aren’t comfortable leaving our house unattended for days at a time.

 

In other words, finding someone to just stop by a couple of times a day isn’t really an option.  Nor is hiring a complete stranger on 24 hours notice to live in our home with our babies for a week.

 

After racking our brains on who among our friends and family might be able, skilled enough and willing to drop everything tomorrow and run our farm for a week and coming up with blanks, I said the words I’ve always feared having to say “I guess we’ll have to cancel the cruise.”

 

I started to pull up our annual travel insurance policy on my phone and scan through it but I was already pretty sure that “house sitter fell through” is not a covered reason for cancellation.

 

Then Jeremy said absolutely not, that I’ve been in worse shape and need this time away more than he does and that he is staying home to take care of things and I am to go to the ocean and start healing my heart and mind…I really wish it wasn’t too late to go back and edit the part of my intro post where I called this Incredible man a tyrant. 😭

 

Of course then I started panicking about whether with Celebrity’s crazy recent solo pricing scheme, I’m going to end up getting charged like 2K more for the cruise when I show up Saturday without Jeremy.  But I did a dummy booking for our cruise (BTW apparently there’s a couple of inside staterooms and a sky suite that have opened up if anyone in the FLL area wants to come sail with me last minute!) and it looks like the solo pricing for our cruise does NOT have the over 200% charge.  So we’re not saving any money by him not being there.

 

I’m just finishing up at the spa then I’m going to go take Jeremy out for a nice big steak and a big glass of good bourbon to thank him for being the most amazing husband in the world.

 

If anyone has suggestions on what to buy in the ABC islands for a man who sacrificed his vacation for his wife, please share!

 

I just can’t believe this, this cruise is going to be so different from everything I planned. I love a good solo cruise, but I’m struggling a bit to handle getting one by surprise.

 

I feel you on the house sitting situation.  We too have a small farm.....dogs, cats, goats, donkeys and chickens.....mostly rescues.  And like you, only certain people are qualified to manage the house and the animals, so if their schedule does not work for us, it's very stressful to find alternates!

On 1/31/2024 at 8:59 AM, GenerationX said:

Hi CC!  

 

Well, it’s been a little under 4 months since my husband Jeremy and I wrapped up our incredible 2 week Mediterranean adventure on Beyond, but with everything we’ve gone through in life since then, it feels more like 4 years.

 

After surviving a hectic end of year for both of us at work and a tragic loss in our family over the holidays, we found ourselves in a deep funk that we’ve been struggling to shake.  We decided what maybe what we need to reset is to get away asap for a week of sun and sea!

 

Quick Intro:  I’m Charla and the tyrant who changed the password on our Amazon prime account to try and stop me from buying any new cruise outfits (well played sir) is my husband Jeremy.

 

We’re in our early 40’s and live on a hobby farm an hour outside of St. Louis, Missouri. 

 

We have an 11-year old daughter who I’m pretty sure is even more addicted to cruising than I am (and is in the throes of indecision between Celebrity and MSC as we start to make plans for our summer mommy-daughter cruise) but she will be spending our week away on land getting spoiled rotten by her Nana.  My mother has already let me know that as we’re preparing to board Reflection, they’ll be celebrating National Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day (I ask you, is that even really a thing????)

 

Since this is a somewhat last minute vacay and we already had a land spring break resort trip booked in March, we didn’t want to break the bank.  For our budget and dates, the choice came down to either a basic veranda on this Reflection sailing (Aqua and concierge were already sold out) or a Yacht Club suite on MSC Divina.  

 

We also got a very good quote from a TA for an Ascent sailing, but I did quite a bit of cruising on E-class last year and decided that if we were going Celebrity, I really wanted to get some S-class time in. I’ve been experiencing symptoms of Murano lobster withdrawal.

 

For the MSC vs Celebrity decision, I much prefer the overall ship experience on Reflection over Divina and Jeremy wasn’t excited about spending most of the week only in suite areas.  Plus the itinerary for Reflection was much more appealing.

 

For about a week, we did have some moveup bids in for the handful of suites left available on Reflection when we booked, but we ended up cancelling them. We decided that with all the Retreat and Aqua cruising we’ve done the past few years, this is a good time to go back to our roots so to speak and see if we still enjoy the simple onboard life that first made us Celebrity loyalists without concierges, private dining rooms, butlers, etc. and save some cash for bigger, badder cruising goals this fall (and ok probably a little more onboard spending by me).

 

We’ll be flying into Miami a day early and staying in Fort Lauderdale the night before the cruise. 

 

In the next day or so I’ll do a post sharing our plans on the ship and in port. For now it’s time to start my last day of the fiscal year, last day of observing Dry January AND last day in the office pre-cruise!  

 

In my mind, I’m already 2 cosmos deep listening to live music in the Ensemble Lounge…

 

 

I've only read your first entry and I already can't wait to read the rest of the review!

Thanks everyone for all the great feedback.  As it turned out, our Escape cruise was cancelled.  But since we already had all the flights paid for, had Rome planned, etc., we pivoted.  We are still flying into Rome for those days, but now we will fly from Rome to Athens, spend a few days in Athens and then join the Jade in Athens for a Greece intensive 7 day cruise.  This turned out great because with the money (FCCs) we already had tied up on the Escape, we were able to get everyone into the Haven on the Jade.  So, while the Jade doesn't have all the amenities, at least we are all on the same "level" now.  We are excited for our trip, and hope everyone here has some happy cruising!!

On 6/4/2022 at 10:03 PM, casofilia said:

@pamelab

 

There have been discussions of late of problems getting drinks in Greek ports especially after embarkation.

 

Otherwise I have never heard of a problem.

My understanding is that this is only the case if you do NOT have a package.  If you have the package, you are technically not buying a drink in port (because the package is already paid for) as opposed to someone who does not have a package paid for already and wants to buy a single drink.  

I don't know how accurate that is, but I found the clarification on another series of posts, which were apparently validated by several people on a Greece cruise.  I hope it's accurate because we are on a Greek cruise in Sept. and we DO have the prepaid package. 

We usually have the best luck doing laundry in whatever city we are in prior to boarding the ship.  We will also be in Athens for a few days before boarding, and our plan is to do a local wash and fold.  I found several near our hotel using Google (Maps).

16 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

Hmm, since this is a couple, they might like having some time to themselves, but if you paid for the upgrade, might feel obligated to spend more time with you (I’m a parent of 5 young adults 19 - 25, 3 with long term SO’s). I’d definitely have a conversation.

Yeah, I think this is a really good point.  Part of me feels like they won't WANT to be with us that much....plus we are so port intensive, a lot of our/their time will be spent OFF the ship.

19 hours ago, Newfun4me said:

I ask myself this question a lot as we often treat our young adult kids to vacation with us.  I book them in the same category that we are in.  I know they won't always be able to travel with us and things will eventually start to get in the way - schedules, lack of vacation time, pull from the in-laws, them wanting to do their own thing, kid stuff, etc.  For now and while we can, we splurge.  It's as much for me as for them as I like being around them.  If I was you, I would bite the bullet and upgrade them.  You sound a lot like me and I think the joy you will get out of seeing them enjoying their fancy vacation will make it worth it.  I, personally, would be bummed if I was sitting in the Haven lounge and knew that they couldn't come if they wanted to. 

 

On the flip side, my mom and her boyfriend are joining us for a cruise to Alaska later this year.  We are Haven and they are not.  They are paying for their own trip and decided to join after we booked.  I know we'll have them join us for dinner in our suite and we will spend time with them on their aft balcony.  They mostly want to do their thing and we want to do ours.  That'll work out just fine.  BUT, I'll help her if she has an option to bid for Haven.  🙂

Thanks for that....travel is MY passion, and part of what I love about travel is introducing people who have not had the privilege of travel to it and seeing them experience places and things for the first time.  My son is actually my "step"....he came into my life ten years ago with his dad.  I introduced his dad, now my husband to travel and he is as passionate about it now as I am.  I just want to give my son that experience.  It sounds like you understand that and feel similarly.  Thanks for the feedback. 

You all are AWESOME....thanks so much for the feedback.  I am leaning to upgrading them.  Since they have never been to the Med (or Europe at all), I know they're going to have fun not matter (as are we)!  I will tell this group that they ARE super appreciative of us taking them, and we cannot wait to get there.

Thanks all!!

So, I just want some OPINIONS (I know everyone will think differently, but I want pros and cons).....my husband and I are taking our son and his partner on their first trip to Europe this summer.  We are booked on the Escape out of Rome on a 10-day port intensive itinerary.  My husband and I have cruised Europe many times, but as mentioned, it's a first for the boys.  Hubby and I selected a Haven Owner's Suite, and put the boys in a Club Suite.

Obviously, we will have Haven perks such as early boarding, priority disembarking in ports, Haven restaurant, etc., but they will not.  So my question is.....will this be much of an issue on the cruise?  I mean, I know we will have to choose for example to either board early without them or wait to board with them, etc.....but have any of your cruised in the Haven with travel partners who are NOT in the Haven, and if so, what was the experience?

And for the record, I'm debating about upgrading them to Haven so we'll all have the same perks....I'm not a cheap Momma, I'm paying for their cruise, flying them business class, and paying most of their ancillary expenses, but I'm looking at another several thousand dollars to move them to the Haven.

I knew all this going in, and thought I was good with it, but I just keep thinking I wish they were in the Haven.  🙂

Thanks for the feedback!

On 1/13/2022 at 11:56 AM, TrumpyNor said:

As we have a 7 days roundtrip cruise from Venice, Italy booked for July 2022, and no cruiseships except the very tiny ones are allowed in to Venice port since summer 2021,  I have been trying to do some research to find out the likely alternative ports we would be sailing from, and there were three different alternative options that were likely to be the replacement port:

• Port of Ravenna
• Port of Trieste
• Port of Monfalcone

 

Until today my research had retulted in absolutely no clear answers, just guesses everywhere - not even my PCC at NCL could find out anything a couple of weeks ago. But today I was just checking my online cruise summary as I am waiting for a Latitudes Diamond upgrade to be activated on our Venice-cruise, and then I noticed this:

 

 

So the city of Trieste, located in Italy’s extreme northeast  (kind of surrounded by the country of Slovenia), will be the starting point for all cruises offered to/from "Venice" by NCL. Instead of the cruise ship (and city) being as little as 14 km/9 miles) from Venice Marco Polo Airport, Port of Trieste is located about 152 km/95 miles from Venice Marco Polo Airport. That is some distance..... 

 

For those who may have no idea what I am talking about, here is some information:
https://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/venice-cruising-changes.htm

 

Personally my husband and I have been on several cruises to/from Venice in the past, and was looking forward to spending a night there pre-cruise. Well, I guess not - will instead plan on finding a hotel in Trieste for the night before the cruise, as I do NOT want to travel for several hours just to get to the port on embarkation day... 

If you do go out of Trieste, make the most of it.  We sailed out of that port in November on an Oceania cruise.  We flew in to Venice and because we had done Venice so many times before, we arranged for a pickup at the Venice airport to take us directly to Trieste.  We booked the Savoia Excelsior Hotel, which is literally right across the street from the cruise port.  The Savoia was a WONDERFUL hotel and I would highly recommend it!!

We spent 3 days in town.  It was a really nice little town to wonder around, have some nice meals, do a little shopping, etc.  And the day of our cruise was so stress free....we just checked out of our hotel and walked across the street to the port at boarding time.

Enjoy!!

On 10/20/2021 at 7:30 PM, i love to fly said:

So, if you were going to arrive in Venice a couple days earlier than the 9th where would you test? They only want 72 hours before boarding! We are arriving in Venice on the 8th so will test here before going to the airport on the 7th. Test on the 6th. I was told by eric Oceania would transport people staying at the Hilton molino stucky hotel in Venice that Oceania would provide transportation from that hotel to Trieste at their expense because that is the hotel they originally recommended. Anyone else staying here before the cruise? We are going to do the private boat taxi from the Marco Polo airport to the Hilton hotel. Our flight arrives at about 2pm.

On 10/21/2021 at 11:30 AM, Grandants said:

Anyone on the November 9 Marina who has independent air arrangements and staying in

Venice on the 8th that is interested in sharing transportation to Trieste, Please let me know.

It turns out that Oceania provides transportation only for their own air reservation customers and

has no plan to help independent travelers. NOT CUSTOMER FRIENDLY AT ALL AND THE WEBSITE

DOES NOT BEGIN TO MEASURE UP.

7 hours ago, ronrick1943 said:

You also get extra perks that aren’t printed in the better suites, you just need to ask.

This is our first “O” cruise and we’re sailing in an Oceania Suite….anything you are thinking I should consider that is not listed in the brochure?

4 hours ago, clairol said:

We are just off Riviera and were in a Oceania suite. We were not able to choose wine/spirits in advance. I tried. They had a generic bar set up when we got there which we could keep or choose to swap out. We swapped.
 

Any other questions about the suite please let me know as it’s all fresh in my mind. Overall, it was heavenly! 

Thank you for the information….we’ll just evaluate and determine how to proceed.  I assume your butler handled the swapping for you?

we are really looking forward to the stay in the Oceania suite!

Just now, basor said:

I believe they are talking about the bar in your suite.....

Oh yeah....I thought they meant the bar in my cabin.....I was just saying that if the bar in our cabin is not set up when we are ready to sailaway, we could go to an actual bar.  Haha....sorry if I was confusing!

2 hours ago, Cliff-FLL said:

We always have our TA request the current list of in-suite spirits - which is different than the those that can be gifted by family & friends.  We review the list, let our TA know which ones we want, and - thanks to excellent butlers & ass't butlers - they're sitting on the bar when we arrive in our suite.

That's great to know.  I will contact my TA.  We can certainly go to a bar, but we were thinking it would be nice to make a cocktail in our suite and enjoy the sailaway from our balcony!

3 hours ago, Kate-AHF said:

Unlike Seabourn, who asks you in advance what liquor you want in your cabin, Oceania doesn't do that.  Just see what they put in there, if anything, and tell the butler to swap it out for what you prefer once on board.

 

Yeeeaahhh... the luggage tags.  I'm joining up with Marina on 11/2 and JUST got my blue book/tags by mail yesterday.  36 hours before we are to leave.  Thank heaven they didn't mail them to our TA to send to us.

Thanks for the information.....be safe and enjoy your cruise!!

Hi all.  We are new to cruising with "O", but are scheduled to travel on the Marina on November 9th.  We are in an Oceania Suite, and according to the information from our TA, the cabin comes with six bottles of liquor or wine.  My question is, when will we have an opportunity to request what we want those six bottles to be?

We often sail in suites on other lines, and have had this benefit, and usually we receive information in advance of the cruise to contact the butler with any requests we have in advance.  We have not received a package of any kind (including luggage tags and such, which I understood we should get....maybe it's too soon?), or an email with that kind of information.

If anyone has any information, I'd appreciate it. 

Meanwhile, we are super excited for this cruise.....partly because we really think we are going to love Oceania, and partly because we have waited way too long to go somewhere!!

1 hour ago, basor said:

Charles Schwab

USAA does as well.

6 hours ago, Grandants said:

Anyone on the November 9 Marina who has independent air arrangements and staying in

Venice on the 8th that is interested in sharing transportation to Trieste, Please let me know.

It turns out that Oceania provides transportation only for their own air reservation customers and

has no plan to help independent travelers. NOT CUSTOMER FRIENDLY AT ALL AND THE WEBSITE

DOES NOT BEGIN TO MEASURE UP.

Our TA sent us a note asking what time we wanted to meet up at the Venice Airport for the transfer to Trieste on embarkation day…..it was also set up on our online account.  We arranged our own flights and are traveling in several days in advance of the cruise.

(In the end, we decided that because we’ve been to Venice several times, we’re ahead to Trieste when we fly in to check that area out.)

11 hours ago, i love to fly said:

So, if you were going to arrive in Venice a couple days earlier than the 9th where would you test? They only want 72 hours before boarding! We are arriving in Venice on the 8th so will test here before going to the airport on the 7th. Test on the 6th. I was told by eric Oceania would transport people staying at the Hilton molino stucky hotel in Venice that Oceania would provide transportation from that hotel to Trieste at their expense because that is the hotel they originally recommended. Anyone else staying here before the cruise? We are going to do the private boat taxi from the Marco Polo airport to the Hilton hotel. Our flight arrives at about 2pm.

We were scheduled to stay at the Hilton for a few days prior to the cruise (great hotel, btw!).  Our TA sent us information for the free transfer to Trieste, but the pickup for the transfer is at the airport, not from the hotel….you still have to get yourself from the hotel to the airport.  Our TA said the transfer pickup times started at 11:00 and the last one is at 1:30.

In the end, my husband and I decided that because we’ve been to Venice several times, and we really don’t relish the idea of the multi-step transfer the morning of embarkation, we are just going to spend some time in and around Trieste before the cruise.

So we have a car meeting us when we land on the 5th, and we are staying at the Sovonia Excelcior Palace in Trieste, which is right across the street from the cruise port.  Also - and back to this thread’s topic - the hotel offers onsight testing so we won’t have to deal with self-tests before the cruise.

happy cruising everyone!

5 hours ago, Happy-48 said:

Nope no test..there is one trip, the unguided capri..you can do what you want t do if you leave the hydrofoil boat

Bring warm clothes and a rainjacket/umbrella 

I am in Italy now and the weather is bad..when you are going the European countries can be sunny but also experience bad weather

Is this a tour from the Naples port?

On 8/30/2021 at 12:04 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

I'll be checking my bookings for possible upgrades – because nervous people will be cancelling today before anybody knows what this announcement will really mean.

Yes!!  I did that the other day and was able to move up to an Oceania Suite!

16 hours ago, nikless said:

That was the price quoted by the hotel we booked, Pallazzo Veneziano. Down the Giudecca from the terminal.  Here's what they advised:

1.Private Water Taxi: Your driver will meet you at the arrivals, lead you to your car and assist you in order to board on the private water taxi. Afterwards you may enjoy an exclusive and mesmerizing ride through the Venetian lagoon all the way to the hotel.
The price is  € 190,00 (up to 4 people)  and the journey will last approximately 30 min. 
 
2. Private Car + Private Water Taxi : Your driver awaits you at the arrivals, and lead you to your car to reach Piazzale Roma where a private water Taxi will be waiting for you. The journey takes a total of 35 minutes, including 10 minutes on board of the water taxi. The price is € 125,00 (up to 4 people)
 
3. Private Car: Your driver awaits you at the arrivals, afterwards he will lead you all the way to San Basilio for 80€ (4 people). From there you will be accompanied all the way to the check-in

 

 Last time in Venice we stayed at the Carlton Capri, which was a few minutes walk (with less luggage) from the train station as we had arrived from Lucca.  Then took the airport bus at the train station when we left.

 

In January, our agent told us that the two hotel O uses are the Hotel Bonvecchiati and the Hilton Molino Stucky.  Prices below include the deviation fee (which we already paid for custom air) and transfers.  When I put them into my spreadsheet, using the private option (#1) for transfer, plus the rates our hotel is charging, the cost was similar (less than $100 difference) due having to get back to airport.  So I may be inclined to have O do it all, given that we are packing for 24 days...   Maybe I am missing something...

HOTEL BONVECCHIATI

1^st night is $429 per person per night

Additional nights $259 per person per night

HILTON MOLINO STUCKY

1^st night is $509 per person per night

Additional nights $329 per person per night

Thanks for posting this info.  I didn’t know you could add hotel to your booking later (I’m a first time ‘O’ cruiser).  However, we got a great rate at the Hilton Molino Stucky (nowhere near the price quoted above), and we have budgeted for the transfers to/ from the hotel….not sure how that would compare to what the cruise line offers.

This thread is really interesting to me.  We are scheduled on an NCL cruise in May, 2022 that visits Italy, so I’m not too worried about that one yet since it’s so far out.  However, we are also booked on an Oceania cruise in November that has several ports in Italy.  I bring this up because, as everyone knows, Oceania is owned by NCL, and Oceania has NOT posted anything about requirements to take cruise line only tours in Italy.

So whether the requirement is NCL ore Italy, the sister cruise line seems to be behaving differently.   Hmmmmm…..

16 hours ago, clairol said:

We have arranged her own air and are now disembarking in Trieste. When I asked our TA about transfers yesterday, this is what I was told 🤞

 

Just spoke with Oceania and they will be providing the transfers from the port to the airport.

 

They are going to be coming out with details regarding your transfers in the next few days.

Same here….we have arranged flights on our own a few days in advance of the cruise so we can spend a few days in Venice.  Our TA also told us that Oceania is arranging transport from the airport.  So we expect to just make our way to the airport on embarkation day, and meet up with the Oceania transport there.

On 8/20/2021 at 12:29 PM, nikless said:

We were to board at Venice on the 9th.  Was coming in 2 days early...using O air...wonder how we will get to Trieste...

My TA has said that Oceania will provide transport from the Venice Marco Polo Airport to the port in Trieste.  Apparently there is a transportation registration that others have seen on their booking (I believe for the October sailing out of Venice), but I don't see it on my booking yet.