catsngoats

4 hours ago, LHT28 said:

There is  no view like on the O class ships

Coffee tastes the same though 😉

 

 

Ok, thx.  Yes, the O coffee bar is placed just right!

I am glad to hear that the safe is lower.  Just got off Marina last month, and the safe was too high for me (5’2”).  

We are in the same ‘boat’, except are past the contemplating stage since we must get back to Australia.  Will book the Regatta Sydney round trip on Wednesday.  We’ve sailed Riviera and Marina, and really love Baristas and the Illy Frozen Cremas.  I see on Regatta the coffee bar is part of the GDR bar, how does it compare?

We exited  Marina last month in Miami.  I believe the transfers to the airport were $60.  We opted instead to get a taxi, which was $20 for three of us, with much luggage!  Plenty of cabs were available, so we didn’t wait long.  I did notice some O ‘transfer’ buses with people lined up outside for quite awhile.  We rarely pay for ‘O’ transfers unless port is a considerable distance from the airport with no good local options.

This is a great review of ‘new’ Regatta and New Zealand.  We are anxiously awaiting the listing of the Regatta 2021 Australia circumnavigation cruise and I’ve been eager to see how she looks.  Have visited Sydney and Melbourne, can’t wait to get back.  I love your pix of NZ, we road-tripped both north and south islands in 2017.  Hobbiton is a MUST, the Coramondel peninsula is gorgeous, as is Milford Sound, Queenstown, and Mt. Cook.  It’s one of the best countries on the planet.

We also just returned from Marina’s PC transit:  loved the B3 deck 7 aft rooms, with an extended  Balcony.  Could just about touch the side of the locks, and it was fascinating, all 6 times, to watch us raise up and lower to each one.  Early in the am we were up on Deck 14 so we could watch the approach and also get a glimpse of the new locks up and off the port side (we approached from the Pacific).   We ordered breakfast in the room at 8:30 am, timed so we could eat while going through the locks.  

He was serving as GM on our Panama Canal trip that ended in Miami on 1/22.   Ot sure if he will still be aboard next month.

We just sailed sister ship Marina through the Panama Canal, deck 7 aft, in an extended balcony, category B3.  Really great!  I think there are about 10 rooms each side forward and aft like this.  You just need to check the deck plan map, the balconies are shown to extend further than neighboring ones.  The only issue is that when you are in the outer section of these balconies, those on decks above can look down on you.  I didn’t care (made sure I was clothed!) and during the daylight full transit it was amazing.

Just got off the Marina Panama Canal transit.  Waves usually opened by 7:30.  The grill there is just as good as in Terrace, all the fruit and pastries there, along with the great smoothie bar (which becomes the ice cream bar by lunchtime).  Population for breakfast in Waves usually less than in Terrace.

23 hours ago, clo said:

Example please. I didn't notice anything and we ate there every morning.

The last three mornings we waited close to ten minutes for a table setting for three, I saw only two supervisors working the port side tables.   Then we waited another ten minutes for juice and coffee.  The juice order was delivered incorrectly all three mornings.  Agreed, this is quite unusual, perhaps there were other staffing issues between Terrace and GDR.  Thus was our second cruise with O and definitely not our last, probably just an abberation.

My DH and DS and I also thoroughly enjoyed the cruise.  Even though Marina is headed into dry dock in a few months, she looks terrific.  We boarded in San Antonio.  Lima was wonderful, we found a great local foodie tour.  Panama Old Town was fascinating as well as the Miraflores Locks Museum.  We picked this itinerary because of the full day stop in Panama City before the full day transit, which was quite amazing.  The food in all dining venues was as usual superb.  We only noticed some service challenges at breakfast in Terrace Cafe.

We also encountered unpleasant weather conditions on Marina coming out of the Panama Canal on Jan 14.  The crew tried but we could not dock in Puerto Limon Costa Rica.  It poured most of the morning in Roatan, we docked  but no snorkeling. I had a sunny snorkeling tour out from Harvest Caye (Belize) but it poured on our little boat and group of 30 most of the way back and the hour I spent waiting for the tender back to the ship.  I had a Reef Restoration tour scheduled in Cozumel  but the NonProfit org called the ship to cancel due to rough seas.  It was cloudy, cold and seas were very rough the whole day and night from Cozumel back to Miami. Locals were a bit surprised that the December rainy season had continued into January.

This topic has indeed been discussed to the max.  However, to extend the BYOB idea a bit further:  when possible we buy a bottle or two when in a local port; take it to the room, where a bottle opener is conveniently provided;  and using wine glasses we’ve collected from a function the first day or two of the cruise (captain’ party) fill them and proceed to dinner.  No one blinks an eye.

We just returned from Marina’s trip through the Panama Canal.  Having an extra large balcony was amazing for the full daylight transit.  It’s great for three or four people.  It was aft and the seas the last few days coming into Miami were exceptionally rough.  I was glad for my ginger candy chews.  There is also considerable engine noise when docking, which usually happens early am and can be sleep disturbing.  7 Aft is indeed great for GDR access, or anything else on Decks 5&6.  It’s also a straight shot up to the Terrace and Waves grills, and the coffee bar.  Overall, a great deal for trips with lots of warm weather and port days.

On 9/18/2019 at 11:17 PM, auntie willie said:

Thinking of visiting this and doing the snorkel program, has anyone done it.  Not offered by Carnival but would do independently thanks

Oceania Marina has offered it, I’m signed up for our stop in January as it benefits a local nonprofit working on reef restoration.   Will post afterwards.

My family is cruising the Panama Canal on Oceania Marina in January.  Then we stop at HC.  Thanks to the wealth of info here and TripAdvisor, we decided to stay on the island, especially after O offered a snorkel trip out to a reef.  I did reserve it and a lagoon kayak hour as early possible as they went quickly.  I do wonder why you can’t pay for food and drink and charge to your room, assuming everything is so ‘captive’.  That would be most convenient.  Glad it’s free to use the pool, at least.  

On 9/21/2019 at 11:26 AM, ggTexasGal said:

I agree, Harvest Caye is beautiful!!!

Have you noticed that Harvest Caye does not actually show up within these "Private Island" listings, but instead, is often discussed under the Belize listing?!?!

That is because, unlike NCL's Great Stirrup Cay, (or, like other cruise lines' islands) it is not directly run by NCL itself, but rather by Belize!!!

Too many people expect the on-ship amenities, which are not allowed within the agreement that NCL made in order to move forward with the construction of this island/port.

Stopping there on Oceania Marina in January.  At first I wasn’t thrilled as I didn’t want to be ‘captive’ on a man-made resort with few options.  We rarely do ship’s tours in favor of locals.  But after much research I’ve seen some good reviews, most likely directly related to the above.   I was going to get a ferry off the island but we’ll take a ship’s tour out to a reef and kayak in the lagoon.  

On 11/26/2019 at 6:14 AM, BillB48 said:

 

When they opened the new locks in 2016, the amount of the larger neoPanamax ships using the Canal daily was a fairly low number... anywhere from just 2 to 4 of them a day.  The Canal authority was planning on eventually bringing the total transits per day at the new locks to around 12 per day.  They are regularly transiting 10 per day presently.  Another layer of complexity is the Canal is accepting LNG tankers at the new locks, which have been added since the new locks opened.  These ships require special handling throughout the entire transit.  Some of special handling includes, certain areas where the ships are permitted to pass in opposite directions,  when they do pass in opposite directions, their combined speed can not be greater than 12 knots and there is increased spacing for following ships.  What all this comes down to is the old rule of thumb that a transit would take about 8 to 10 hours has quietly moved closer to 10 to 12 hours.

 

The water levels of Gatun Lake is the key to what  the draft limit is for ships using the Canal.  When Gatun Lake is over 86', the draft limit of the neoPanamax ships can be raised to a 50' draft limit.  Right now Gatun Lake is just under 83' so the maximum draft for the neoPanamax ships is restricted to 46'.  While that won't affect every ship that transits the new locks, it will affect a few of the heavily laden vessels.  The Canal provides notice several weeks out if they are going to lower the draft limit, so shippers can load their vessels to accordingly.  Of course when a shipper has a deep draft vessel they want it as loaded as possible to get the biggest bang for the buck

That Is interesting!   We are full-transitting first time Jan 14.  It will definitely be small locks but watching all the activity will be exciting.

On 10/2/2019 at 7:24 AM, travelerchris said:

Catsngoats, You mentioned "rooftop bar". Those are in Casco Viejo, not Amador. However, if you like Italian food Alberto's isn't too bad. We like to sit there and watch the boats in the Marina. Personally I would go to the locks first and then go to Casco Viejo in the evening. There are an amazing amount of good restaurants there. Amador has decent restaurants, not amazing. Tantalos has a rooftop bar as does Capital Bistro and Gatto Blanco. I've been to all and liked them. Not cheap, but good and great views of the city. 

Thanks so much for these recommendations.  We have enough time to hopefully get a feel for CV both morning and evening.  

On 10/2/2019 at 2:13 AM, BillB48 said:

Can't really say if it is good time wise...  Is 10PM all aboard time or just the time you want to call it a day?  Where is the rooftop bar located?  What time are you planning to be ashore?  Watching ships a Miraflores Locks is doable, just be aware that on many days from anywhere between 11AM to 2PM can be a slack time at Miraflores Locks for ships.  It is not always every day or exactly those times, but something to consider. 

Sorry for the delay in my response, I check Boards most days and didn’t have a flag in my inbox for this.  Anyway, we are on Oceania Marina.  We dock at 8 am 1/13 at PA and leave port 4 am 1/14 to start full transit.  So 10 pm is our ‘curfew’ so we can be awake early.  I’m still researching whether  cab or the HOHO bus is better to get us to CV as soon as we are cleared to leave the ship in 1/13.  And yes, we will do the Miraflores museum later in the afternoon, already have supper reservations for 3 pm.  Hopefully by then ships are going through.

3 hours ago, pinotlover said:

Besides the delayed boarding, a smart move would be to force all the B2Bers off the ship likewise and not allow them to reboard until the new arrivals do. This way the entire ship can be scrubbed down without guest spreading bugs while they’re trying to clean!

My hope as well:  I board Jan 4, San Antonio Chile.  When I studied the itineraries between now and then, looks like continuous ‘occupation’ - there could be a number of rooms not empty at a disembarkation port, and therefore not thoroughly sanitized.  I’m sure Marina is not the only ship with such an ongoing schedule, but it sure contributes to health issues.

Thx for this article.  I do hope this will bring an end to the instability.  I really want to be on Oceania Marina when she sails from San Antonio on Jan 4.  There is no other way to this port from USA than through Santiago airport and 90 min road trip.

Interesting:  we will be on Marina 7123 and 7119 in January, will have to watch out for this phenomena.  In all 8 past cruises, this will be the most aft we’ve been.  Booked them for the extended balcony - we are going through the P canal.

16 hours ago, sitraveler said:

Iced coffee now at  Barista’s. On Regatta the crema machine is gone 

I sure hope it is still on the Marina:  the Illy cafe is a highlight, especially cream.

This thread has been helpful, I also have been following the TRIP ADVISOR postings.  We fly in to Santiago to pick up a cruise in San Antonio Jan 4.  We plan to take the Pullman bus:  this assumes the airport, taxi transport to bus station and roads out are ok.  I hope so.  There is no where else to fly into from USA.