all2me

Agree Cruisemom. Have a trip coming up this Aug/Sept to British Isles. We will do both….usually do. Land and sea….sea and land. Pick a base/land destination and take trains to various destinations. Cruise gets us around the edges. Best of both travel worlds!

I have a small stretchable clothesline with clips attached. Hang over shower or tub. Found on Amazon. Works great!

We were required 8 excursions for our SM 25% to kick in. Had our TA make them. We tend to stick with $100 range excursions anyway….and we are pleased. Only sold out- unavailable was Liverpool Beatles tour. No worries…we’ll get a private tour.

Lots of well written responses here! Without getting too firery! I guess a line is somewhat drawn….who cruise for the ship….who cruise for the itinerary. We select according to “where” the ship takes us. We actually get off at ports and take excursions! I do realize some people “unable” to do this. And we then choose our next cruise to see brand new places to experience. I assume as long as people book these giant floating resorts they will keep sailing. What I think will happen….less and less ports will allow large ships dockage…and they will be mostly “at sea.” And we will (hopefully) enjoy our cruise travels.

We are AARP members and booked on an Aug Hal cruise. Not aware of what these gift cards are being discussed on this thread?

Yes to the last couple posts! We also booked “cruise only” for Aug 2024. First timers. We drink but never enough to purchase any extra package/inclusion. We like flexibility of shore excursions…ship’s or independent. We survive w/o constant WiFi. We have used both ship airfare or booked our own. These extra costs make it unlikely we will book future trips with O. Time will tell.

This has all been hard to read! Since there have been so many ways cruise travel has been up-ended thru the years and most recently…A worldwide devastating pandemic, wars, weather disasters of various forms…well, you all know all of this!? I would think by now…there might be some plan…for when the next crisis happens. Some sensible/reasonable ways to handle these issues of compensation. To be fair and provide responsible customer service. It’s seems like these decisions are being panic driven?

Morocco would be wonderful to experience! I too would be sad to miss it. I am afraid cruises in that region realistically will be affected. I read about people who lost ports they hoped to visit in Baltic regions. Weather is another issue that is out of our control. We chose cruises for the intinerary and would be dissapointed to lose numerous ports. Assume Oceania is committed to sail safety but yet does their very best to work out their port issues as planned!!

Wow…that Silversea trip with all those cancelled ports would be very sad for me! That was one long rough storm system! I realize one can’t control the weather. It’s one thing when you have a week at the beach and rains every day. To me a cruise ship moves from day to day…hoping that improves your odds. Maybe not.

Trying to sort this all out. As always isn’t it likely that this port issue boils down to what’s most cost effective…as complicated everyone’s opinions makes this all sound for me. I do figure it’s rather play by play…day by day…. First time O cruise for us booked for almost a year now for Aug-Sept 2024. We have no extra perks at all….Not the previous Olife or now SimplyMore. Most Basic cruise fare for us. A La carte. We do often book a ship’s offered shore excursions….even if more costly…out of concern if it gets changed or cancelled…it “falls on” the cruise ship. We still have not booked any excursions. Sure hope we get this right. Feel more confused than other cruise lines we’ve used. We cruise for the itinerary, dates and costs.

Well done history experts…very helpful to keep the remembrance alive! As far as our original post about weather and coastal port concerns…it appears warmer….maybe more fair and pleasant now in UK for September? Encouraging for our 2024 Sept cruise…

Gibraltar is so interesting! We hit it on a Med cruise years ago. Walked to the top! Yes…Less time…That’s the downside of cruising…short stops. We live in Great Lakes area of OH and we try to cram in so many places in Europe. And it’s why we hope to not lose any ports/stops on British Isle itinerary. But understand it’s always a risk…at the mercy of the seas!

Good our historians on this thread can find each other and weather becomes part of their connection. We cruise for the many places we visit, the interestingly lovely lands, to walk on trails, in cities and villages and learn their history. The cruise ship itself is secondary but yes a great way to travel. It’s all about where it takes us! I think I will keep hope then for decent weather for our cruise a year from now. Never expected the great weather of the Med coasts for Sept. I know to always come prepared with proper clothes. We’ll cross our fingers we can dock and tender to set foot on these places.

I wondered if it’s the same cruise. This itinerary just looked so great! New to O. Like my previous reply….September weather has worked quite well for our previous European travel. I assumed these more northern seas and coastal areas would be cooler, windy…maybe stormy…and not quite as pleasant as earlier summer. We are not worried about choppy, rough seas…unless….it prevents stopping at our ports and missing excursions. That’s my main concern! It sounds as if this has been happening. And….when I see the “locals” saying not to cruise this ime of year. It’s honestly the better time personally for us to travel too! What to do?? I have had this planned since beginning of this year.

Oh dear. I have an Aug 29 2024 12 day British Isles roundtrip London booked. Did not realize the poor coastal weather trends at this time of year around these areas. Actually most of our European travel has been in September and quite nice…but first time for this itinerary. I hope to get some positive reports from those this year traveling this itinerary.