slk230red

Yes we just got off yesterday!!! We were off at around 7:20, self assist and home by 9:15- had a great time

We don't usually take short cruises, but for $109 I couldn't pass it up. I thought the entertainment was pretty good, lots to do on the ship, and having the drinks loaded on the card worked out nicely. Only drawback going to the CL was waiting for an elevator to and from deck 11, so going to the Lobby Bar was a good alternative for drinks, live music, and dancing before dinner.

Next up is the Quantum in November.

I believe they meet in the theatre for self disembarkation. It usually starts around 7:30

Hey, weren't you just on the Enchantment? We were in no hurry to get off and it took like 5 minutes to get from the card swipe on deck 5 to the cruise terminal exit door. Got home at 10:30 am yesterday.

I have heard the diamond Lounge on the Oasis TA isn't open yet?

You heard incorrect as it's the Diamond + lounge that's not open yet.

Isn't the Diamond Club on deck 4 for Diamond and Diamond +, and the Suite Lounge on deck 17 for Suites guests and Pinnacle?

Excellent! I just sent my renewal in yesterday.

Same here!

We did too! Hope we have the same turnaround.

So, I assume that the information was in your cabin upon arrival?

 

Bill

Yes.

The last time we were on the Allure, the Diamond evening hours were held in both the Blaze lounge and the Jazz club. I only stopped by both one night to check it out.

The Concierge club evening hours were held in Dazzles, breakfast and lunch in the Concierge Club lounge. On the last night the Concierge evening hour was held in the Viking Crown lounge.

I wanted to share this information to help in your planning for excursions in ports.

Oceania’s Free Shuttle service in European ports – June 2014

Embarkation Day – Venice

Port provided a free roundtrip shuttle between People Mover and Oceania ship

2nd day in Venice – no shuttle offered

Dubrovnik

Oceania provided free roundtrip shuttle between ship and Old Town Gate

Corfu

Port provided free roundtrip shuttle from ship to Terminal

Oceania provided free bus from Terminal to Old Fortress

Taormina

Tender to shore in Giardia Naxos

A few taxis available in Giardia Naxos – no free shuttle

On Sundays in Taormina, no available taxis to return to ship. Must pre-book a private service, to guarantee your return to ship.

Amalfi

Tender to shore in town of Amalfi

At ferry / ship tender dock, can buy a ferry ticket to Positano – 8.50 euro per person

Just past ferry dock, public bus to Positano = 3.40 euro (bus is often very crowded)

Olbia

Port provided shuttle from ship to Terminal. Walk through Terminal.

Oceania provided shuttle from Terminal to Olbia ‘city center’.

Difficult to find a taxi, for an independent tour of Sardinia.

The Brilliance is a great ship. The prices were so low I booked a 4 night and a 5 night B2B balcony (same cabin) for January 2016.

The vouchers are in addition to the unlimited drinks in the DL/CL. The vouchers can be used in bars or the main theater. They cannot be used in restaurants. They are valid only during the normal cocktail hours of the DL/CL and they expire every night.

Didn't know that about the main theater. Now I won't mind leaving the CL to go see a show that I've seen before.:rolleyes:

We've done many excursions in Grand Cayman when we fly there and stay for a week. My favorite is Stingray City.

When we go by ship, we usually just go to 7 mile beach for the day.

Is there an upper limit on age for Flowrider?

Thanks!

No age limit, but you can't use your walker on the surfboard. ;)

If you book a GS, then both of you can go to the Concierge Lounge....just a thought.

Would YOU give up a couple hundred dollars of YOUR salary to someone? Yeah,didn't think so....you're not going to work for free.

As I understand it, as the typical TA commission is between 10 - 15% of the base stateroom rate only and does not include port fees and taxes, giving back 8 - 10% the total cruise value seems extremely high and would have them working basically for free or very little commission.

Hey....isn't that the American way!:rolleyes:

All of our 75 cruises and other travel arrangements have been booked through the same travel agent for the past 15 years. She checks prices daily and re-prices our cruises if they go down. Usually we're on a cruise or traveling somewhere every month, so she manages our bookings while we are enjoying our travels. We'll be in Italy next month, then going to Riviera Maya for 10 days a week later. Why would I want to monitor our 3 future cruises during our travels?

Also, I like the idea of her commissions coming to our community, it costs me nothing and I like her personal service, along with a few perks.

Small, cozy, no view, but great service and drinks. Great for grabbing a cappuccino in the morning. We usually go when the early diners leave at 6. Sometimes we use the Diamond Lounge since it's larger and has great views.

Thank you everyone for your replies.

We're looking forward to our 2nd Oceania cruise in June on the Riviera.

Do you have to complete your 2nd cruise before being invited to the

"Exclusive Oceania Club cocktail reception"? In other words, you aren't invited until your 3rd Oceania cruise.

That's how I interpret it from the Oceania website.

Thanks

We are not expecting poor service, we had amazing service on Carnival. Yes I believe they deserve the tip. Has anyone noticed that tips are increasing every year? In my 2010 guidebook it lists as 10 bucks a person a day and now it is 12!?

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

It should be $15 per day. For me, it's just part of the cruise fare and I tip extra to those that have given me special service. DL and CL staff along with others that deserve recognition.

More annoying were the smokers out on their balconies.

Let me first say that I hate smoky places - irritates my eyes, and is just generally unpleasant.

 

But I do have to note - the smokers ALSO paid to cruise and to be able to smoke in the areas that RCI allows them to do so. As long as they observe those rules and confine their smoking to those areas, I have no trouble trying to avoid those areas as much as possible, and resign myself to smoke if I do decide to go through the areas.

 

On the other hand, I'll have absolutely no hesitation reporting smokers for that, if its affecting my enjoyment of my own balcony, which I paid to have smoke-free according to RCI's rules.

Last Saturday we were docked next to the Liberty of the Seas in Cozumel. We were sitting on our balcony and saw a lady on the LOS smoking on her balcony. I guess she didn't get the memo.:rolleyes:

That's my point- the past 3 years on this class of ship I have been in a D1 for anywhere from $999-1,100. The pricing is through the roof.

We will be on the Allure 12/14/14 sailing too and we booked early in January to grab the low cruise fare. Now I see the prices have risen.

On our 12/1/13 Allure sailing I was happy with the $999pp B1 balcony, then I received a credit on my Visa card. My TA re-priced it for $613 pp before final payment was due when there was a price drop. She checks all of our future cruises for price drops, so you might want to keep checking.

I think most of these problems could be sorted quite easily. The windjammer buffet is nicely set out for absolute chaos and confusion. There should be one way in and one way out of every station. If you forget something, you join the back of the queue.

 

Food should be handled by the crew only, using tongs. Agree!

 

Cameras should be recording at all times and anyone touching food with bare hands should have the footage shown on TV before being dropped at the next port. Agree!

Chair hoggers....doesn't bother me. If your chairs' been vacant for more than 30 minutes, your towels off and mine's on. End of! Agree!

Mandatory hand sanitizers should be placed outside every rest room and none compliers flogged. Agree!

 

Cruising's fun :D

 

Cheers

 

Davy !!!

I very seldom ever go into the Windjammer, but the few times I did I was grossed out by people putting food on their plate, tasting a sample, lick their fingers, then grab the tongs and put more on their plate.

Also, small children putting salt and pepper shakers in their mouths and parents doing nothing.

No Windjammer, no shrimp cocktail, and I never go into the pool or hot tub.

slk230red...when did you book? those are amazing prices!

The first week of January.

We were on the Allure last Dec. 1st before going on the Azamara Quest on Dec. 8. The Allure price for a B1 balcony was great so I told my TA if she sees a good price again go ahead and grab the same cabin # for Dec. 14 this year. She booked us on the 12/14/14 Allure B1 for $760 pp plus tax, $1748 total for 2.

We also decided on the Oasis for Dec. 6 and she booked our B1 balcony for $602 pp plus tax, $1432 total for 2. I figured since we're down there why not do 2 cruises.

On ships that have both lounges, we have never had separate cards issued to access the Diamond Club, Concierge Lounge, and our stateroom. We have always been able to access all three with our single SeaPass card. This has been the same as well when we have been in a suite (Gold card) or a standard stateroom (Blue/Silver card).

I still have some of the separate lounge keys. It wasn't until a few years ago that I only needed one key.

So for the past 6 to 8 years or more, you have never had a separate access key?

What I learned from having access to both CL and DL is your key cannot be coded for three things. CL, DL and Cabin. So you will need an extra key to get into the DL. At least that was one issue that resolved on the Adventure. We also had an extra key on the Serenade to access the DL since our key was coded for cabin and CL.

When they stopped issuing the separate lounge keys, our seapass card has worked so far for the CL, DL, and Cabin on several ships. Worked OK last month and hope so again this Thursday.

I only used them about 3 times before one broke off. I replaced the others with something more sturdy.

I decided to use our D+ bag tags on our Allure cruise at check in.....big mistake, only the plastic straps made it to our stateroom. I guess they're only designed for a short life span. :rolleyes: