Woofa

Having been born in Brooklyn and raised on Long Island I have yet to find a comparable bagel. I have been told it is the NY water which is one part of the recipe not to be the same anywhere else. I did not enjoy our bagels on Riviera last year but found the croissants quite good and (horror of horrors,) had cream cheese and smoked salmon on my croissants many mornings in Terrace. We all have to make do.

Sleeping that first night on the super comfortable O beds with maybe just a hint of the ocean rocking you to bed.

Just 4. Your booking number is required for them to make a reservation for you or vice versa. That reservation will will disappear from your cart.

Just to clarify, Simply More (SM) is not something you choose like the old Olife program. It is simply O's marketing name for the current base fare. Unlike with Olife, there is no longer an additional "catch-all" program you can purchase (or maybe get free from a TA or during a promotion) on Oceania. Truth is, things on these boards would be much simpler if O had left this as the new base fare without naming it anything. Since last October anyone booking now gets the base fare (SM) which includes some items (beer, wine and champagne at lunch and dinner and an excursion credit,) which previously were not included in the "cruise only" base fare. This has angered some who were used to cruising O before these things were included. Of course the price of cruises did go up when they removed Olife and instituted these changes. Complicating matters is that many people are still taking cruises purchased under the old pricing structure and will be for some time. From what I have read, the bigger issue for most is the excursion credit. Many O regulars were used to cruising with private or no excursions and the recent implementation still has kinks to be ironed out. For now, as has been said above, the credit for excursions is a use it or lose it proposition. Hope I have this right and this helps. Have a great cruise. We took our first about a year ago and will be cruising again over Thanksgiving. We found it to be a delightful vacation.

It is my impression that the new refurb is not for another few months. Best current info is that it will be similar to Riviera's refurb but cabins below penthouse will not be completely redone with new bathrooms. Not sure we will know exact info til after.

@Sthrngary As always enjoy and appreciate your perspectives. While I dont't always read them fully now, I know I can always find them, if I need them in the future. Hope to cruise with you someday.

While have not done one it is on our bucket list for the future. Relax, eat, sleep late, eat, be lazy, eat, read, oh and did I mention eat.😀

This thread feels like it has gotten out of hand. Lots of good suggestions for the OP to follow up this week. I suggest we let the OP do that then report back.

One suggestion, as its not clear from your post. If you don't already have one I would look into getting a good TA who specializes in luxury cruising. I would also try and determine what ports are most important to you. Mediterranean cruises can be very port intensive often with no sea days. This combined with overseas flights can overwhe!m some travelers, even younger ones. Not sure how much time you can take but given the option I would think about a 9 or 10 day cruise combined with at least one day pre and post cruise stay. Sounds like a great trip, have fun.

I wonder if in fact the best thing to do when this happens is to make sure management knows about the issue. (Either on the mid ship survey (assuming you can fill it out) or to a higher up person on board the ship.) While I don't doubt they know it happens, they may not be aware of how many people are affected (and how big a deal it is to some people). I know from previous topics and posts, at least sometimes O follows through and frees up chairs. Perhaps they just need to implement that policy more regularly. From our limited experience and all that I have read, I assume O does not want to get involved if they are not clearly in need to.

Forgive me if I am mistaken but I thought you could only use it for culinary excursions not culinary classes. If someone with experience can confirm.

I think the difference is that if you have OLife with the basic beverage choice already it is an additional $30 pppd. If you don't have any beverage package ( only possible if you booked before SM became the new pricing) then it is the higher amount for the full package.

All non alcoholic beverages ( exceptions maybe for certain non alcoholic beers or mocktails,) are included. With SM you also get wine with lunch and dinner in the restaurants. Need to move up to the paid package for liquor and of course If you don't care for the wine choices you can pay for bottles of wine or bring your own on board and pay the $25 corkage fee in the restaurants.

My bad, thanks for the correction.

Just a quick note from our experience on Riviera in the Caribbean. The main pool is not overly large but I always got a spot with personal space. While the pool deck chaIses fill up and stay filled, most of these people are really not sunning or getting wet. In fact many were not even attired to do so. Most of the all day chair hogs we saw were basically spending the day, mostly in the shade, relaxing, reading, etc. It was clear many never got off the ship and I believe if there was another, "non pool" area with an outside shaded area to fit so many, they would happily go there (especially if it allowed you to look out on the water). Even those in the pool, like myself were basically in for a few minute dip, cool off then back out. There is no real swimming opportunities during the main part of the day as having just one or two others in the pool precludes this. Some don't even get in the actual pool but wet their feet on the shallow side sections. One or two tried to do yoga, or at least stretching, right at the handrail and stairs but in truth there is not room for this and they were in the way of anyone getting in or out. Our cruise at least skewed pretty older and of course, most above 60, certainly above 70 were not looking to tan. Maybe a dozen or so people really soaking in the rays, mostly somewhat younger (read 50's) and with great tans already. I assume many of them live in south Florida and stay tan all year round. And I will agree with those who felt like the live music poolside which I think started in the afternoon was too early and too loud. No need for this imo before late afternoon or early evening. I am a little hard of hearing and I felt it was just too loud in that area.