LabMom57

Our last cruise was our first Penthouse cabin on Oceania. It afforded us dinner from anywhere on the ship. We had more than one dinner in our cabin that was just a salad or sandwich. We also have learned to listen to our bodies when we cruise!

Ship: Edge Length of Cruise:11 nights Cruise Sail Date: 04 February 2024 Date email offer received: 23 December 2023 Captain’s Club Tier: Preview Booked through Celebrity Direct OR via TA: TA Current Cabin: C2 Concierge Bid? Yes/No: Yes If YES - Bidding Details: Cabin Category: AquaClass Sky Suite Bid Offer: $1700 (US) pp Notification Date: 08 January 2024 Accepted / Rejected: Accepted

We have a cruise from Sydney to Auckland coming up. We will stay a few days at each end. Do we need to obtain local currency for any reason or will credit cards suffice? Thanks!

I was also on this cruise and spoke to this gentleman's wife about her experience in Toscana's. It should NEVER have happened as it did. She was publicly humiliated for something she could do nothing about. Her attire was always fabulous and in the evening in question, she was very well dressed. Between that and the pool deck repair nonsense on a Caribbean cruise, I don't blame them for never wanting to sail on Oceania again. @schmidlapp Please give my best to your wife (from Ellen).

Thanks Jim. I did see your post. That is where I learned there are no chardonnays by the glass that fall within the classic beverage package price (which is $12 a glass for Australia cruises). I am disappointed in Celebrity. When I booked the cruise, I believe there was a chardonnay in the price range. Even with a 20% gratuity included, the price is absurd for a glass of chardonnay compared to other lines we sail. Guess we will suck it up for this cruise!

We are leaving on a cruise from Sydney to Auckland in a few weeks, and I am concerned that I should not have bothered to purchase the Classic Beverage package. My husband drinks mostly chardonnay by the glass. On looking at some recent posts, it doesn't appear that he will be able to find a glass of chardonnay that will be covered by the drinks package. Am I seeing correctly? My original plan was to pay as we go on this cruise. I'm thinking I should cancel the package and go back to that. Has anyone seen a chardonnay by the glass on this itinerary for $12 or less?

@Sthrngary Thank you for bravely telling me what you did. 🙂 I very much appreciate it!

@Sthrngary Thank you for such a comprehensive document. I love reading all of your posts and the detailed information you share. We just upgraded to a penthouse for our cruise next week on Oceania. We have never had a butler before, so your information was really invaluable and timely. May I ask what you usually tip the butler? I have always found tipping upfront makes everyone happy and improves our experience. I'd like to follow your lead on this as well.

I should have added YMMV. If you both drink the same drink, the server won't have any way to know if you share or will turn a blind eye. They don't want to police the policy.

In my experience, yes. The 2 for 1 drinks are per person.

We have previously paid for our drinks rather than take the pricy drink package when sailing on Oceania. The 2 for 1 happy hour was great for us in this regard. We have an upcoming cruise which was booked prior to Simply More, so we plan to pay as we go again. Does anyone know if they till have 2 for 1 happy hour?

Enjoy your trip and the penthouse! Thank you for continuing to share your experience.

Thank you for doing this! We are booked on this cruise in 2025.

My experience in the R class cabins is the same. I find the bathroom difficult to deal with on cruises where we spend a lot of time in the water (not much room to hang dry clothes) when we shower twice a day. However, we still decided to book another water-based Caribbean cruise in December on the Insignia in a concierge cabin. Couldn't push our budget up to a PH. I like the itineraries on Oceania so we make do. Doesn't mean we don't sail on other lines! We just go by itinerary/cost/experience.

@Sthrngary I feel you! I do all the planning for our trips and ask my DH for his preferences and opinions ad nauseum, only to get questions a week before we leave. At least I now know I am not alone. You had me rolling with the calendar. Same here.

Agreed. We go to bed early due to early port stops but I looked back at the Currents for our last cruise on the Regatta. The Regatta Show Band has nightly performances of different musical styles with dancing in the Horizon lounge as @PSR stated.

No masks were provided on the Regatta in April and we DID get COVID. Lots of people were coughing by the end of the cruise. COVID infections are on the increase locally by me. We plan to mask up for our trips in November and December when in crowds or close quarters.

Thank you for your honest and balanced review. We are on the Insignia in December and I am more excited after your posts. In fact, I would love to do a similar trip to the one you did and may do so in the future. One note I have for your future reference on Oceania's ships is that you would also enjoy the other R-class ships. We have sailed on the Regatta and Sirena and (other than the tiny bathroom!) enjoyed the experience very much. Like you, we do not have a favorite line anymore and cruise based on the itinerary and price/value/experience. I'm glad you enjoyed the experience.

Interesting that the responses are varied. I didn't remember that was available and just ordered it with room service as previously stated. I will ask about this on my next cruise.

I'm not a fan of Pinnacle Grill after our recent experience but will try it again on our next HAL cruise next year in case Eurodam was having an off night. Good to know the charge has been removed.

Great review so far @cruisemom42. I'm glad you enjoyed your trip. I can't wait for our Insignia sailing in December!

We will be disembarking in mid February in Auckland from our cruise and plan to stay 5 days. What hotel would you recommend for easy access to local restaurants and the ferries? Thanks! Ellen

@roscoe39 Thank you for sharing your knowledge and the links to your blog. I very much enjoyed the read!

@roscoe39 I hope you don't mind if I jump in with some questions of my own. We are ending our cruise in Auckland and I am planning a few days on land after the cruise. I'm trying to decide if I should book a hotel in Auckland and do day trips or if we would enjoy spending a couple of days on Waiheke Island. We enjoy wine tasting and snorkeling. I thought perhaps staying on Waiheke might be a good fit for us. What is your opinion and do you think that would be a good fit? Where would be the best place to snorkel from the beach if we go that option? Originally I thought to spend a few days in the Bay of Islands as it looks beautiful. However, I wasn't sure it would be a great fit if we only have a couple of ideas. It looks like we would have to go with tours and charters to see anything. Am I correct? Our cruise is stopping in Bay of Islands as well. We have our excursions booked for all the NZ stops except Wellington. I'm planning to do DIY there. Any and all advise is appreciated! We will have to plan another trip back to spend more time in the future.

That is very interesting as we also experienced really terrible service at times on our last Oceania cruise. It wasn't all bad service, but definitely not what we had experienced pre COVID on the line. Most of the service was very good. We only had issues in the MDR and Martini's bar. The food in the Regatta MDR also reduced in reliable quality. Most dishes were good but some were really bad, like overcooked steak. I just don't expect that on O. For those who might be comparing food on the cruise lines, I will share that lobster tails are still free on Oceania and are even found in the buffet. You can get two mains without any upcharges in any restaurant. As of my last sailing on Oceania in April, there were NO upcharges for food anywhere. The food in the buffet was all excellent. I don't really mind the upcharges we found on HAL though. We can pick and choose what we want to eat and pay for, which matters to our bottom line. Sailing on Celebrity or HAL saves us thousands of dollars for a similar itinerary and the cabins are larger than the Oceania R class ships for the same grade. We did like sailing on smaller ships but have realized we don't mind the 2000 passenger size as much as we thought. Next up will be a cruise on Oceania Insignia in December and then Celebrity Edge in February. I will be happy to share my thoughts after those as well. I'm hoping Oceania has trained their new staff better before December. I do hope to sail on their larger ships (1200 pax) in the future for comparison if I can get a good price.