Bobtails12

Never had one in the theatre. Did the guests wear their swimming apparel ? :D

only if before 6pm...

thanks isklaar...

it's doing party tricks like that - that my travelling companion disapproves of !:)

ah tv24.... a kindred spirit...

if only we had better mouth-head co-ordination we could catch said bubbles and caviar like a seal....for post workout refreshment...

thanks very much all.

i like an evening gym before dinner - and good to know i won't be hissed at in the hallways.

thanks also on referral suggestion. this is indeed my first seabourn- have done a good few royal clippers and azamara, cunard and also tried the big lines - but the big lines and herds are not for me - they make me want to go to a quiet room and sit in the dark....

thanks emperor

believe me i would not be stopping at any bars or for any reason between gym dn cabin. i am one of those that gets really sweaty and red headed during a workout - so want to get to my cabin quickest way possible- and speed walk back to my cabin!.

its just that people on these boards seem very disturbed by protocol on post 6pm dress code - am expecting a country club type to ask me to use service entrance after the gym...

hello,

after seeing so many posts about dress code 'opinions' I am just wondering when i am coming back to my cabin at 7.30 or 8pm after a workout - even though i always try and take the least public venue route - will I enrage the dress coders? will i need to protect myself from caviar being thrown at me in protest?

i suppose if i start really training now then i can outrun them?

i have in all honestly been looking at the online levels in maps and plotting a route of 'least resistance' or at least least public areas - but there still seems to be one or two?

just that the threads here seem very 'engaged' on dress codes...........

thanks

bob

then apologies if link does not work - bit i get am getting into the oceania website from it- selling oceania cruises only logo- so if you need to access that site you seem to know how to do it already yourself better.

I do have a vpn - so that is probably why i am finding it.

then i would follow pavovsky's good advice on hola.

apologies if the link is not working right- i am not the most technical- it should have been for oceania USA website - when i link in it takes me to oceania ************ - USA site.

probably then pavovsky's method of looking via hola if you are looking.

no - it should be just the link to the USA website for the other poster on their query on how to get to the USA website( searching from europe you are auto redirected to euro website)

i contacted oceania through eu website contact form page.

I am interested in booking an Oceania cruise and I have filled in the form on their website 3 times now asking to be contacted - nothing. Surely this stuff isn’t that hard?

i suppose that is my point - they offer online contact- and yet they don't seem to be well monitored or responded to.

i would understand if they didn't sell direct - but they do- so should answer queries.

and i am sorry but i don't want to spend 30 minutes possibly talking to a 22 year old trying to upsell me on something- when i have a clear idea of my queries.

however as cepholopedia above kindly pointed out - this is their flaw - they do the actual hospitality( hotel/beverage/ food ) aspect reasonably well. but are not good communicators.

its a bit annoying when you are first time customers - as feel this is the first impression- its kind of like you hear a restaurant might be nice - but they never answer their phone- cause they have so much walk in business they don't need reservations. how hard do you try to still go if it's not in the near vicinity - maybe they are worth or maybe not- but not a good first impression.

many thanks for the logical and objective viewpoint cephalopodia.

it's good to know they do so many things well- and if this is their achilles heel - then i would take that into account- no company is perfect at every aspect - but sometimes you wonder if being bad in one area reflects the standard in others. in your objective experience it doesn't reflect all areas - so thanks that is good to know.

its good to know you did get a refund even if long winded process- so that is good from their viewpoint. i agree though- from simple time and efficiency of staff time- you'd think they'd agree a process and put it on forms in cabins or at reception- would seem to make their life simpler.

thanks again ceph.

also thanks pavovsky for the logical comments.

Good for you if you have received good customer service.

well you obviously can't speak for answering all their mails - unless you work for them and are the recipient.

they didn't answer mine- and others responded to me that they wait weeks for a reply or for no reply.

so inconsistent at best.

Well i think the one mentioned here was an insurance company sales men group.

but usually large groups do take over areas - even well behaved ones *( as you often have a group of 20/ 30 50 whatever arriving and leaving an area together instant noise etc)- ones not well behaved can be very unpleasant.

it's less of a guarantee rather the attitude- it someone from oceania replied saying bulk of that cruise is already booked by individuals and unusual for groups bigger than 20 to book at this stage - or they don't normally attract groups on european cruises - thats not a guarantee but i can see where they are going.

if someone answers absolutely we welcome large groups more the merrier- then i know where that is going

it's a bit like asking a cruise are they kid friendly - if someone answers absolutely we have loads of activities everywhere - kids welcome everywhere - at least 500 kids on board - i could then see where they were putting their marketing and customer focus

Thanks

but i fear my other half may have fallen in love with itinerary( we book normally based on itinerary/time in port/ food quality/ service) - so I thought oceania would meet these.

so i might be giving O my money yet !

funnily my question was prompted from here - from people saying large corporate groups and booked, taken over and ruined their trip- i had not thought of O as being suitable for that kind of booking- so I had asked whether there were any large corporate bookings on a specific cruise in august.

Oceania's failure to respond makes me wonder whether large (and loud) group bookings is something they are moving towards....and the non-response is deliberate.

Thanks M.

But firstly you are in England - so it would make sense for you to book in GBP.

It rarely- unless guaranteed parity- is worth booking in GBP for euro based citizens.

secondly my point - which has somewhat digressed is-:

Oceania have an online platform where they encourage you to raise your questions to them.

they do not state that that you need to go via a TA - effectively their distributers - as they DO sell direct.

yet - Oceania- the producer and direct seller of the product do not answer queries.

its the attitude of the producer and direct seller which I find less than tempting me to buy their product.

Well J.

Firstly if I am paying money to a company - and they have a contact system for queries i expect them logically to reply to that. not ignore queries - as Oceania have done.

Secondly my query was of a specific nature to a specific cruise that cc will not be able to answer.

well my credit card would be geo linked to a european bank - so there no creativity possible there.

not opening a usa account for the sake of oceania

thanks SFB.

Yes the geo blocking and regional pricing models in favour of north americans by cruise lines specifically is reason it is very expensive for europeans on certain lines like oceania.

so i can look on my euro website and have another page opened on the USA website - and the difference is just maddening- double and more sometimes.

so for me to take a cruise from two hours down the road - european starting and based cruise - it's usually a lot more expensive for me than the american couple flying into europe for it.

if you american cruisers think about that in reverse - if i was given special rates as a european resident for a cruise starting in miami- that you as a USA based resident had to pay double for.?? how would you feel??

for europeans it;s probably even more annoying as one of the centre points of the european union is free movement of people, goods , services.

it's not over thinking when you can't use certain websites - as in your non north america address is not accepted when trying to book

do you think the 70 pages of people on trip advisor are " over thinking"

i don't think you understand = most USA ta's are forbidden by companies they deal with selling to non USA residents.

they declare you can have your booking voided. its a problem european and austral;ian too face when booking cruise lines. many including oceania have different pricing models for different geo regions.

so the european couple in the cabin next to you may be forced to pay double as that is the pricing structure set up for european based residents booking.

it's a real annoyance for other geo area travellers - e,g, see the 70 pages on one thread on trip advisor

https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/ShowTopic-g1-i10703-k3350647-Regional_pricing_at_what_cost-Cruises.html

it's not something usa based residents face usually as the use companies skew it in their favour

not in europe and not on companies like oceania that insist on regional based pricing.

Thanks DJS - good to know I am not alone being ignored by Oceania.

I think possibly one of the other differences with TA's is that as european based they do not have the same deals on offer as being offered by use based travel agents. the idea of regional pricing is really quite shocking compared side by side for same room on a ship - and the obc offered by use ta.

hence using TAs in europe results in even further costs on top of increased europe based costs e.g. same oceania cruise i just looked at can be booked by a use resident for about 1000 less than I can - same room - same cruise - same included items.

then the company don't care about responding to you - as do not monitor it. do you want to give your money to that company?

if you are a customer - if you are trying to sell into that company it is different.

it's basic math when monitored- x emails queries received - y answered within agreed timeframe, z answered outside - most large organisations there is software in place monitoring it and giving out weekly reports to a head of customer relations type person - y+ z must always equal x mails received.

usually the software identifies the number outside agreed timeframes and the objective is to respond to e.g. above 95% within timeframes.

but i digress - thanks all- If oceania - with the size of their organisation take weeks to respond- then I am happy to take my money elsewhere - as what that tells me is that they have more than enough customers- so they can treat them badly - and not care if they lose some.

i requested the information by email as a. i was in meetings and do not want to spend 30 mins on a call to someone trying to upset me - and b. and like things in writing - there is no confusion or back stepping then.

from a business perspective if a company does not reply to something then i assume they don't want my business as i take it elsewhere.

the person left a message and an email for me to call him- i replied i would like my answers by email.

i don't want the answers yesterday- but most companies have a 48-72 hr max turnaround on queries- it's monitored and measured.-- unless it doesn't matter to them- with Oceania it obviously does not matter to them.

they are happy to distribute my personal detail to a sales man who wants to waste 30 mins of my time trying to upsell me junk i don't want- but won't answer my queries.

thanks all- made up my mind on oceania.