daleandrews

3 hours ago, Ski Mom 2 said:

We are a few days out from making our initial specialty restaurant reservations and are traveling with several others who don't get as many reservations as we do and are trying to figure out how to include them in some of ours.

We will be on Marina next week (Nov. 1).  We are in a PH and are traveling with another couple who are in a Concierge cabin.  When our date for reserving restaurants came up I was easily able to make our reservations on line and, in each case, add our two friends in as guests even though their reservation window had yet to open.  I did this for 8 reservations, 2 per specialty restaurant, even though our friends only had guaranteed slots for 4 nights.  This is all pretty self-explanatory in the on-line instructions.  A couple things to watch out for, though.  First, you apparently can't add more than 2 guests -- the option to add a guest disappears after the second is added.  Second, if your trip is a segmented journey, made up of 2 shorter underlying cruises, your reservations must be spread out -- with us, 1 per restaurant in each segment to reach the total of 8.  

Just in case some have not received or did not read the email sent out by Oceania today, October 24, it provides as follows:

Embarking From Greece – Updated October 24, 2022

·         Fully Vaccinated and Unvaccinated travelers may embark.

·         The definition of Fully Vaccinated for voyages embarking in Greece is as follows: All travelers over the age of 18, whose primary COVID-19 vaccination will be beyond 270 days at the time of disembarkation from their voyage, must have a COVID-19 booster prior to embarkation. In lieu of a booster 270 days after the primary series, travelers may present a government recognized or official medical Certificate of Recovery.

·         Fully Vaccinated travelers do not need to test prior to embarkation.

·         Travelers that cannot meet the definition of Fully Vaccinated must present a negative, medically administered covid-19 test. PCR and Antigen test results may not be older than 72 or 48 hours respectively at the time of boarding.

·         Booster mandates are in effect and strictly enforced to meet the definition of Fully Vaccinated – see above.

30 minutes ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

This appears to be a Greek government requirement which all ships embarking passenger in Greece must follow.  We are embarking Marina in Civitavecchia and the email stipulates 

 

·  

That was the case, but a week or two back the Greek government removed the pre-cruise testing requirement.  

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/environmental-health/greece-lifts-cruise-related-covid-19-testing-updated

It's the failure of Oceania to reflect this in their policy that has some of us scratching our heads.

I've been watching this issue closely since we also board in Athens on November 1.  I'm not unsympathetic to Flatbush Flyer's point, but this is still a little strange.  Oceania currently has a blanket statement that pre-boarding tests are no longer required except where required by local regulations, and the web page detailing such local regulation exceptions includes Greece.  But Greece has now rescinded the pre-boarding testing requirement, which SHOULD put Greek embarkations outside of the local exceptions.  When we received Oceania's email about boarding instructions yesterday evening I sort of expected it would remove pre-testing for the November 1 Athens embarkation but (of course) it didn't -- it just re-stated the requirement.  I get the point that the over-all decision as to whether to require pre-testing or not require it any more is a difficult one entailing a cost benefit analysis the outcome of which individuals may or may not agree with.  But what I don't get is making the decision to abandon pre-testing and then continuing it for one port in a manner inconsistent with the overall approach of the company.  

1 hour ago, ORV said:

Is that on either package? 

 

. . . but you could have Macallan Quest, Glenfiddich & Dalwinnie 15, which wasn't bad. 

And just for comparison sake, on Azamara even if you purchase the premium spirits package Dalwinnie (a personal favorite of mine) is only available at an additional charge.

A couple other idiosyncrasies in making dinner reservations.  When I was first prompted to enter the names and reservation numbers of guests I wanted to add to our table I entered the name and reservation number of the husband of the couple we are traveling with.  The response on the screen was that the system was unable to identify the guest.  I then tried the name and reservation number for the wife of the couple and the system took that entry without a problem.  Thereafter it asked me if I wanted to add another guest, and I entered the husband's name and reservation number -- the same one the system had "not been able to find" originally -- and it took the name this time with no trouble.  I surmise from this that there must be a principal passenger referenced in the system for each booking and that that passenger's name and number has to be entered first.  Also of interest -- while I was prompted as to whether I wanted to add another guest after adding the first one, no such prompt is given after adding the second guest.  I suspect that is why everyone trying to reserve a table for more than 4 people is having a problem with the system -- it looks like the system immediately cuts off when the fourth guest has been added. Also, as referenced above, if you are on a cruise with several underlying segments, and you are allowed more than one reservation per restaurant, be sure to space your reservations so that one for each restaurant is in each segment of the cruise.  The system won't allow you to have multiple reservations at any restaurant within one segment.  Hope this helps!!

Yes, our friends otherwise had a lower cap and their Specialty reservation opening date had yet to occur.  I had read in another thread here that you could nevertheless add guests from a lower cabin category once yours was open so I decided to try it.  The only problem we had was that two of the eight nights that we could reserve I had trouble adding.  I called O and they explained that since our cruise was actually comprised of two underlying cruises I had to be sure that half of our allocated reservations were apportioned in each segment.  The rep from O then added two nights later in the cruise, added the same Concierge guests in, and the system took the reservations.  So I now have reservations for the 4 of us on each of our nights.  I think this all of this also comports with information supplied by O on the FAQ pages.

16 hours ago, LHT28 said:

It helps that you were all in the same Cat

when you try to invite those in the lower cat than  yours  online before their booking date   the system may not take  their booking number

We are scheduled on Marina November 1 for 19 days.  We are in PH and had no trouble reserving all of our allotted specialty reservations on the first day reservations opened.  We added two friends, travelling Concierge for each dinner, even though their reservation opening date had not yet occurred.  The system allowed us to add them as guests for each of our reservations even though their total number of guaranteed reservations was less than ours.

Thanks for all of the great information and suggestions.

We are scheduled for our first Oceania cruise this November, Marina, ending up in Barcelona on November 19.  We are spending one night there before flying back on the 20th.  This is our first time in Barcelona (would like to have spent more days but need to get back for Thanksgiving).  On previous cruises on other lines there has usually been a one day tour available ending in a transfer to the airport that is offered at disembarkation ports.  Does anyone know if Oceania does this?  We are thinking of staying at an airport hotel because our flight on the 20th is in the a.m. and we want to be sure we have plenty of time but would still like to at least see something of Barcelona in the little time we have.  Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

As far as I can tell all of the on-line Oceania provisions relating to reimbursement for Covid quarantine days have been deleted from the Oceania website.  Unless I have missed something I would surmise from this that Covid refunds for quarantine days are no longer given.

Ditto!  The best penthouse view I've seen.  (We will be on board and in one in a little over 2 months.)

Their earlier program, previously outlined on the Oceania website, was very generous.  It was in place when a pre-boarding test was still required.  Under it if you showed up and tested positive, but could show you had tested negative recently (I think it was 72 hours) your fare was reimbursed.  If you could NOT show such a prior test the fare was not reimbursed.  And then if you tested negative at boarding but later tested positive during the cruise you were given a per diem refund of your pro-rated fare.  And during any quarantine on board medical cossts were waived for services performed by the Oceania medical team. Also, if you were positive at the time of disembarking Oceania paid for quarantine costs at the disembarking port.  I was very surprised when I read about the program -- it struck me as more generous than a traveler should expect.  But, in any event, all references to that program are now gone as far as I can determine.  

1 hour ago, roberts2005 said:

Not to confuse it more, but is Oceania still refunding if you test positive before the start of the cruise.

As far as I can tell it looks as though the Oceania provisions concerning reimbursements related to testing positive before (or for that matter during) a cruise are no longer on their website.  This, along with their statements in several provisions that travelers should carry insurance for Covid-related expenses, leads me to believe that the reimbursement program no longer exists.  If this is the case it would be nice if Oceania had so stated rather than just eliminating the provisions.  

Our first trip isn't until November, but the description for the beverage upgrade on Oceania's web page says the following:  "

2 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Looks like your on one or two segments of our Marina trip this autumn. We join in BCN on October 18 and finish at MIA on December 4. 

We are on the Athens to Barcelona segments, November 1 through 19.  (I exchanged messages with you some months back on one of the Roll Call threads.)

23 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

We recently had individual segments of our published/discounted multi-segment cruise added to the “Ultimate” list. Fine print basically said no “double dipping.” And, in any case, when we looked at the current prices, the “ultimate” savings would net only a few dollars here and there.
Also, in general, cabin availability is a key factor on O when it comes to price modifications.
Nonetheless, it wouldn’t hurt  hurt to have your TA inquire. 

I suspect the segment at issue in Flatbush Flyer's example is the same one we encountered (Med cruise on Marina this coming November).  When I noted the same segment with the "ultimate" savings option I had our TA check it out and after what was reportedly a LONG conversation with Oceania we got nowhere.  The O rep our TA talked to tried to see if they could apply the sale for one segment to our existing 18 day cruise and were told "no."  Then they tried to see if they could re-book the whole cruise in segments, and were told that our PH cabin would become available to any wait-listers as soon as the cruise was cancelled even though it was going to be immediately re-booked.  And finally it became apparent that even HAD they been able to re-book the cruise to get the increased OLife advantages on the one segment the price of the basic cruise on the separate segments would increase to the level that the actual savings over our booking was almost nothing.  

Just an FYI -- my wife and I mentioned to our regular doctor that we would be cruising the Med this fall and he promptly wrote a prescription for each of us for Paxlovid.  He told us to take it with us just in case.  The prescription was free under out health plan. 

We are taking our first Oceania cruise (on Marina) this November -- 18 days, Med.  We had selected the drink package as our OLife option and I called Oceania yesterday to ask about upgrading to the prestige package.  They said this could not be done on-line nor by calling and (as noted above) must be done once you are on board.  The rep also said that an upgrade had to be purchased during the "first three days of the cruise."  I don't know if this time frame varies based on the length of the cruise but I pass  along what the rep said just for the sake of FYI.

On 4/7/2022 at 5:43 PM, daleandrews said:

We are booked on the November 1 through 19 Mediterranean cruise on Marina, our first cruise with Oceania.  The cruise was originally scheduled to have two days in Venice, though we were not surprised to see the port changed to Trieste given the present docking restrictions in Venice.  We have never visited Venice and were planning to book an all day tour through Oceania, a couple of which were offered (without prices) for the last few weeks.  I note that today prices have been posted for offered tours but now none of the Trieste tours presently listed are for excursions to Venice.  We have never seen Venice and would hate to miss it.  Query:  Have others on Oceania cruises visited Venice from Trieste on O-offered tours?  Is it likely that Oceania will add more tours as we get closer to our cruise dates?  I know we could book independently but Marina is currently scheduled to leave Trieste at 6:00 p.m. and I am a little worried about booking with a company other than Oceania at this port for fear of, err, "missing the boat."

As noted in the quoted material, I started this thread back in April concerning the possibility of Oceania offering Venice shore excursions while Marina is docked in Trieste.  I have been checking daily since April waiting to see if such excursions might eventually be offered.  

A couple weeks ago it occurred to me that since we were taking an 18 day cruise (November 1 through 19) composed of several segments I should check smaller segments.  Lo and behold I found that Venice excursions WERE offered on the November 1 through 11 Marina segment which (obviously) was scheduled for Trieste the same day we were.  I called Oceania to ask if I could book one of those tours and was told that this was not possible until the tours were loaded onto the November 1 through 19 itinerary.  They promised that the shore excursions office would be asked to do this.  I continued checking and (to make a long story shorter) called three more times, weekly, with similar unsuccessful results.  Finally, however, the Venice tours were added for our November 1 through 19 booking today, June 24.  

I mention all of this to (1) let anyone else on the itinerary know of this availability, and (2) to let everyone know that the glitch that led to our experience could be a recurring one -- so be forewarned in the context of other bookings.

BTW, our cruise disappeared last night and, as predicted, re-appeared this morning.  (Since our LAST attempted but never completed cruise was with Crystal I must admit that my first reaction was YIKES!!!!)

Hi, Flatbush Flyer.  FYI, I saw your posts on this on the roll call thread.  Just wondering if anyone else had had relevant excursion experience on past Trieste calls.  And BTW, on our cruise -- the 18 day segment Athens to Barcelona -- Trieste is NOT grayed out and several excursions for Trieste itself are priced and book-able.  One way or the other -- see you on board!

We are first-time Oceania cruisers and are booked on the 18 day Marina Med cruise departing Athens on November 1.  The itinerary originally included two days in Venice but, as is the case nowadays, some time back the itinerary was amended substituting one day in Trieste for the Venice stop.  We have never been to Venice and would like to salvage a tour there even though it has to be fitted into that one Trieste day. 

Early on Oceania showed available but un-priced excursions to Venice. However when prices were added all for the Trieste excursions all of the Venice options disappeared and available excursions now just show a few in and around Trieste itself. 

Since the ship is leaving Trieste at 6:00 p.m. we are not inclined to book an independent tour since we don't want to risk missing the ship's departure.  I therefore have been checking the available Oceania excursions daily figuring that eventually Oceania will add back the Venice tours, this time with prices.  I know others have toured Venice when docked in Trieste.  My question:  Is it Oceania's practice to add Venice tours availability at a later date and if so, how soon before the cruise is this likely to occur.  (Getting just a little tired of checking every morning!) Thanks in advance!

This is the list of available rums copied just now from the Oceania website.  Each ship has a "bars and Lounges" tab that, when opened, has current bar menues.

Bacardi Light Bacardi Select Bacardi Orange Bacardi Limon Bacardi 151 Captain Morgan Mount Gay Eclipse Malibu Coconut Myer’s Dark Ron Atlantico Dark Private Cask 80 Ron Atlantico Platino

7 hours ago, Mareblu said:

Are you docked overnight in Trieste?  The problem I see is that you seriously need hours in Venice if you only have one day to tour.  A week is barely enough.  Factoring in at least 4 hours of travel there and back  leave you much time to taste and feel bella Venezia.  We never take private tours unless the ship is leaving later in the evening, because I would be so anxious about returning in time.  Unless it's an Oceania tour, they won't wait.

Well, we have no choice in this matter.  When we booked the cruise it was supposed to dock in Venice and be there for two days.  Then, as a result of docking regulations in Venice the itinerary was changed to one day in Trieste, leaving that day at 6:00 p.m.  Sure, more time in Venice would be great.  All we are trying to do is make the most of what we have left.  🙂