samiam99

On 10/12/2023 at 8:07 AM, TheShag said:

i am on this cruise and gave up trying it myself and used [reluctantly!] VisaCentral. They got it after a couple of tries. I found that taking a picture of my passport while it was on a table created glare, etc. that was unacceptable. You may try holding the passport vertically [can't believe one has to go through these gynmastics!] See you on board [hopefully] - Stefken and I will be the ones drinking Vesper Martinis!! 🍸🍸By the way, there is a roll call for this cruise as well you may wish to check out.

vesper martini, I may have to try one, see you on board. 

1 hour ago, RELS said:

 

You can do that?!? Best advice ever!

 

What hotel was it? Regent is putting us at the Sofitel Buenos Aires in the Recoleta neighborhood for the Iguazu Falls post-tour in January.

we stayed at Recoleta Grand Hotel, but my guess is the hotel you have booked will also do that.

On 9/19/2023 at 5:16 AM, DeepFreeze63 said:

YES ! It will. Consider staying in BsAs a couple of extra days, Terriffic weekend fairs near graveyard where Evita is entombed (Friday afternoon and all Saturday) and near Pink Palace on Sunday.

Igazu Fall is spectacular (easily done on one's own from domestic airport); stay on grounds.

We stayed in Recoleta neighborhood, and if you're comfortable carrying cash you can get some fantastic deals. I had hotel front dest request blue dollar exchange to be done at hotel and you receive over twice the official exchange by doing so. Example if you use a credit card the official exchange is around 35000 pesos for 100 u.s. dollars, but the blue exchange will give you over 78000 pesos, over twice the spending power. We were getting an excellent steak dinner with wine and desert for around 20 u.s. dollars for 2 people. They take crisp no tear or dog eared dollars in 100 dollar increments.

P.S. the dollars are the same its just the name for black market exchange which is an accepted and practiced openly there. You will see them on the streets but I recommend doing it at the safety of you hotel.

I used to like oceania but their service has gone down to the point that we refuse to sail with them again. With that being said, it caused us to look at other options so after 2 cruises with Azamara and 1 with Regent I will say Regent is great but pricier but with many more perks. Azamara is also amazing they only have r size ships but drinks and gratuities are included as are an amazing Azamara evening. Crew is extremely friendly from the captain on down. Also they seemed to be more affordable with no loss of quality. 

I booked them on November 9 for my cruise on Marina for January 8 2022. I had to pay my final payment to do so even though Oceania moved final payment to 30 days. I am in a concierge balcony so 45 days out was earliest I could book. No problems getting times I wanted. I suspect a lot are waiting till final payment comes due but I chose to pay a couple weeks early so I could book my choices. I also booked a reserva dinner and was able to book it a couple of months ago even though I had not paid in full. Hope that answers you questions cruisingxpert. 

I booked all four of mine at the same time 2 people no problem

Flat bush flyer is correct in that you receive as a credit exactly what you pay for the sbc, so why give them the (in this case 400.00 per person ) money interest free for some months. But in my case I am pre-selecting my excursions and have to pay for them anyway at booking, so the 400 is coming out of my pocket either way. I usually book olife with air and as I procure my own flights I cancel that and get a revised invoice, and if I don't need the credits for privee dining or excursions I cancel that as well. No harm no foul. Anyway I usually try to pay as much up front as possible. Good discussion guys

I tend to disagree with Flatbush flyer about taking the olife shipboard credit as being a "boo boo". I chose this option as none of the included excursions were ones I wanted. I chose 6 which came to 1844 book price ( non being below 199. mark), and received the 25% discount and applied my credit so those exact same excursions which were now 980. Yes 400 of that was actually my money for olife, but I was going to spend it anyway so as he said green is green. Im not a big drinker and I'll bring my own wine and pay corkage so drink package for me was not a good value. Hope this makes sense and any way I figured it there was not a huge advantage either way. Hope to see some of you onboard. Sam

Actually you can have mixed vaccines in some cases. Its on O web page so you can look up the particulars. 

Oh yes, I remember the midnight buffets on N.C.L. and on formal night the gala buffet was over the top. I was younger then of course but remember sneaking off to take an after show nap and setting my alarm to get up and eat again. Also no free style dining, you had an assigned table and the same group and waiters everynight. It had its benefits as you were well aquatinted with you table mates by the end of the cruise, no need to start all over every diner with what's your name and where are you from..... each has its pluses and minuses, but I prefer what it has morphed into today. Good memories and still making new ones. 

It seems to be a South American thing to not accept anything but perfect bills. They will look them over and any small tear or even folded money will be rejected. I was in Peru and had a stack of what I considered good 100 dollar bills and had trouble finding enough to be considered usable. I was fore warned but didn't take it seriously. Hope you can benefit from my experience. 

I booked for January of 2022 of a 20 day South American cruise of 20 days. I picked olife with air as when I booked airline travel was unstable, especially that far out. I just booked my own air this week and get a 1400.00 dollar price reduction per person for air or 2800.00. I looked at cruise only price and took off air and 400 onboard credit and it was the exact amount. So its a wash at least on my particular itinerary. You might come out ahead if you use it on shore excursions , but most of the ones I booked were above the 199.00 price point so I booked 5 that I wanted and got a 25% reduction and used my shipboard credit for those and paid the difference. Anyway I figured it there was not enough difference to worry about so hope this helps. Have a great trip. Sam