Robjame

1. What is the Craps table level and limit? Does it change maybe by time of day? Eg. $5, $15, $25?) 2. Is the vig for buy and lay bets paid at the time of the bet or upon the win? 3. What are the accepted odds? 2x, 3x, 5x, 10x ? 4. Is it possible to deposit cash and then access it at the table or at the cage? I don’t wish to join their Casinos At Sea program where they have access to my home bank account. 5. Is there someone at the casino on embarkation day to answer questions (Not to play until international waters - I get that) 6. Any funky cruise rules? Anyone who can answer any of these questions, I appreciate your help.

As long as you have had a recent pedi, keep your nail polish current and complete and have washed your feet in the last week. A few discreet sequins or small flowers on the sandals help to make them looking classy.

My lanyard is not from Etsy or Coach but from Dollar General - does this make me a bad person?

Oceania’s dress code is easily found and Oceania publishes it -, “Country Club Casual”. If anyone is so sheltered to not know what that means perhaps this is the wrong cruise line. Google will answer what it means. Videos will show pictures. I agree with pinotlover - anyone who posts this thread is trolling and wants reactions. I find it very fertile with straight lines to try to attach humour to. It is an oasis when nothing new is on CC. No one needs information. No one will change their minds. Vent on.

So is it the cargo shorts or the butt scratching you object to? I don’t think one has anything to do with the other and butt scratching is not part of the Oceania dress code i saw a woman in a very fine skirt and top who had toilet paper streaming out the back of her skirt.

Pete as I said before, I don’t really care what anyone else wears in the Oceania restaurants - just trying to have some fun with you. BTW those skinny cut J Jeans that Tim wears - $280 retail. That would pay for everything in my suitcase. 🤪

A few comments: - pictures are easy to find of anyone of these people wearing formal, and very formal, clothing. Their ability is to know when and where to wear appropriate clothing -. It is a style known as executive “norm-core” and is carefully crafted, coordinated and expensive and will never be mistaken with the style “cruise-slob”. The purpose for their particular style on any one day is very thoughtfully applied (and it’s not comfort). What is the purpose of that guy who wears cruise-slob? - Pete surely your point is not that you think wearing cruise-slob will make you like Tim Cook et al? Not every person who wears boots and a string tie is a cowboy. Or is it the unisex style you are going for….

Exactly. We would dress smartly whether or not there were a dress code. We do that at restaurants at home too. The dress code is for those who don’t know any better. It gives the management a standard to cite if they want or if they need to. Having said that I pay little attention to others in a dining area. My focus is my wife and the food (in that order?)

This will not be popular but there are indications of a dumbing-down of the “finest cuisine at sea” on Vista. - lunch offered at some specialty restaurants, change from Jacques to Embers, change to La Reserve?, lack of availability for booking specialty restaurants, short order open grill specialty restaurant, change of champagne pairing from Dom Perignon to Moët & Chandon, gimmick drinks at bars Now maybe this is all coincidental and all will be resolved shortly

I have tried to verify that it is Dom on the drop-in tastings as the champagne/food pairing menu on Vista is Moët & Chandon, not Dom Perignon. ‘For comparison purposes - Dom is $147 - $400 a bottle Moet & Chandon is $51 - $75 a bottle

Oh I didn’t know that - that is good news!

I meant this as an alternative to the present system which is wines by the glass or drinks are included if they are on the main bar menu. People have ordered an after dinner liquor in Tuscan, sake, beer in Red Ginger, featured wine or beer in Terrace, wine by the glass in food/wine pairings in MDR only to find charges 0n their final bill. Very confusing. The alternative is to ask with every pour, “Is this included with my beverage package?” Often the servers don’t know.

Embers is an open kitchen, grill-type restaurant that has been offered as faster service. May be why reservations won’t be needed. The menu revealed so far is familiar. The restaurant changes are one of the main reasons we will stick to Marina and Riviera.

With either of the Beverage Packages, whether OLife or paid, there is an automatic 20% savings on your bar bill as the gratuity is included with these packages. Needs to be part of your calculation. As is usually pointed out in these threads, one glass of champagne, or a couple of beers or a double single malt (pp per day) makes the $20 upgrade worthwhile. Wine, champagne or beer outside of meal times of course.

What is 15th and Vine nights? Is that what they call the wine bar evenings in La Reserve? Are the wines by the glass in MDR that are part of the wine pairing menus included in the beverage packages? ‘If you take the Select Package and then upgrade on board to the Prestige Package for $20 pp per day, you do not get the discount (unless there has been a recent change in policy) for La Reserve or for wines by the bottle. This is not advertised that I have seen and many have been surprised when they see their bill.

Thanks Lynn. It is making me re-think the choice of beverage package both as OLife and upgrade options. These events, Barista’s wine samplings, wine pairings in MDR and Privée all make the packages less attractive. Things getting expensive for us drinkers and wine enthusiasts. As a suggestion, I would rather see a dollar value applied to the Prestige package. For example, All drinks $20 and below are free and upcharges apply for more expensive drinks minus the $20. This would be more in line with other cruise lines and would entice me to buying into some of these events. Just my opinion.

The wine events we attended pre-Covid were either themed - wines of a certain region or wines of a certain type for which there was a slick presentation and nibbles and a fixed charge which covered all - or complimentary sponsored by a particular wine promoter. ‘These pay for what you want events will be new to us and mirror what is happening in Baristas pre-dinner with tapas and regional wines. The question for us is how do these events meld with the Prestige Drink package? Are some of these wines included? Is there a discount/break for those on packages?

Anyone who has ever been in business, and particularly in this uncertain economic climate knows the appeal of cash - and it is well beyond the saving of the credit card fee.

This kind of change, cancellation, substitution is happening far too frequently. It would have been helpful if they had given you some kind of justification - I guess someone has just had 2 days added to their itinerary. There is a lot of thought, planning and itinerary comparisons done before actually booking (at least for us there is). Once the decision is made there is an investment in that thought process. I would be just as pissed off as you!

Thanks for the responses. So the solution for many is the same whether you use a consolidator or deal directly with the tour operators - - - dispute the credit card charge. I do like Lynn’s method of only paying on the day of the excursion. Do a lot of tour operators in places like the Caribbean accept these arrangements? I like the idea of dealing directly with the operator in that he gets more money from my payment. I was taking a sense of security from the fact that I was dealing with an American Company (Viator) as opposed to dealing with someone on a Caribbean island. I will go back to my booked tours and see if they will allow me to pay on day of the excursion. (Viator is 24 hrs before)

Could you please expand on that? i always book with Viator because I felt I had the resources of a company supporting me, especially during these times when small, local operators could disappear. What is the support if the local operator simply does not show up like the OP’s experience reported above and offers an unsatisfactory solution?

As I mentioned you have to search. ‘Macallan Enigma @ $250 is a bargain for me. Sells for $479 in duty free - part of the Macallan Quest series. ‘Now of course it really depends what you value. For me the opportunity to get a top line single malt at this price is tempting - but not compelling LOL.

You can buy bottles from their Bon Voyage Collection. While most are very overpriced I have found the odd selection that was a really good buy, often because of the size of the bottle advertised. Did well on some single malts. https://www.oceaniacruises.com/documents/bonvoyagegifts/26643/Bon-Voyage-Gifts.pdf

Here is a full description of the options: https://www.theluxurycruisereview.com/oceanias-new-privee-private-dining-menus/

Rather than an ostentatious display for us, it was an opportunity to have an intimate dinner for a total of 10 people. The charges ($300 + gratuity) are put on one person’s account. It is up to that person to bear the full cost or collect from the other guests. On one occasion the organizer divided the cost and added a little extra as an additional tip given to the staff at the end of the meal. You can arrange for a selection of appetizers and have drinks in Privée prior to the meal. Our favourite is chunks of parmiagano drizzled with balsamic. Wine can be brought by you and/or guests paying corkage or charged to accounts. Not sure how the new choices for meals works. They were not all available at first as Oceania was introducing them slowly. I would suggest you speak to one of the staff about pacing the meal slowly so you can have a wonderful evening. You have no need to add your friends to the reservation. ‘We found the room and table conducive to quiet conversation. Others have mentioned that they thought the setting was cold and the table too large. It will be a memorable time!