JeffElizabeth

Horrible planning!

This will never happen, but we would love to sail on the Kiel Canal again. We did it years ago on the Prinsendam. The German people had BBQ 's and waved as we passed by.

Ironic that Norway is all concerned about fossil fuel pollution when they are one of the biggest oil and gas exporters in Europe.

We are willing to pay for the small ship experience so we are booking fewer cruises with Holland. We still really miss the Prinsendam. We tried the big 2500 man ship to Hawaii last year and didn't enjoy it as much.

Understand how Norway feels. We were at a small port on the Prinsendam, about 800 passengers and at noon, a MSC ship of 5,000 shows up. They engulfed the small community of 1,000 souls. We do try to walk the small towns on our own and dine at their restaurants. Enjoy talking with the natives at the non-tourist restaurants.

I am down on HAL right now after a bad cruise to Hawaii in October, but since we are 4 ****, my wife will continue to cruise with them.

Exactly! I had four ports canceled by Oceania on our last 28 day cruise. Bermuda, Azores, Madiera, and Marseille. They blamed it on bad weather but I really wanted to see Marseille. Seen the other ports plenty of times. Did add up to a very long time at sea in the Atlantic.

Funny thing, on Princess, the boat was half empty, but they closed three restaurants for the entire two week cruise. And the food was cheap, lots of pasta choices.

We had a delightful cruise on Marina in March and April and it was awesome! Great food, boat was half full, long voyage from Miami to Trieste/Venice. Then we took a Princess cruise in September and a Holland cruise in October. Night and day! Closed restaurants, small portion sizes, boring food, and excursions were very limited. Hope Oceania doesn't go this way.

Gala nights usually are scheduled on Sea Days so people don't have to rush home and change after excursions.

We recently had cruises in both the British Isles and Hawaii with Princess and Holland America respectively and they were unable to add excursions because they couldn't find enough guides and drivers at ports. So this isn't only a Viking problem. Book early.

We were quite disappointed by the food serving size and choices on both Princess in September and Holland in October. We had great service and food on Oceania in March and April. Hopefully they kept up their standards through next year.

Wow! That sounds awesome! I hope we get it on our next Oceania cruise.

Good for you! I was in London in September and everyone looked shocked at my tips. (Maybe because I dress like a slob?) Or had the exchange rate wrong?

We loved our butler Francis. He was fun and always available.

We loved the extra room, but didn't really use the butler enough. Even the butler asked us to use his services more often.

We had a bow room on the Marina, one below owner's level and loved all the space. Didn't have issues with seasickness even in a very windy March that had us canceling port stops in the Atlantic. What we did not like was we had to blackout at night on the deck so we didn't disturb the navigation deck above us, and it was too windy while underway. I don't think we would book that room again.

Barcelona is one of our favorite cities. We added five days to the last Atlantic cruise we took that ended there. Might be a great place to start an Atlantic cruise too!

Really? Do we have to worry about delisting? Or bankruptcy? Then they could comeback with a new IPO, or go private with new investors. Then no more OBC.

I like buying a few hundred shares for the OBC but only use risk capital. I think it is a good long term investment.

I love the Hawaiian cruise, get to start with sea days to relax, port days in the middle to see the sights and then sea days to relax on the way back. The weather isn't as hot as the Caribbean or Canal cruises. Or as busy as the Alaskan cruises.

We got our tiles delivered to our room aboard the Nieuw Statendam in October on the Hawaiian cruise.

Exactly! Jacques is wasted on us. We prefer the others.

Actually got the Wall Street Journal. Worked until we got into the Mediterranean because of the time change.

Before our last Oceania Cruise, I never cared about cruise directors, but Peter was awesome on our trip from Miami to Trieste. Really made the cruise because high winds canceled more than a few planned port stops.