NeedToChill

Hello, I am sure this has been asked before, but the search feature is not helping out, so... Is there a standard time people are supposed to be back on board prior to departure? Like, one hour before departure time? Or does it tend to vary by port. As I recall from previous cruises, it tends to vary. But I am curious if Oceania has any particular policies around this that anyone knows of? What I'm looking at are train times to and from various ports, for self organized sight seeing. So it's obviously important not to cut the times too close! --Julian

@LHT28 Thanks. Lowly penthouses don't count I see.

Which levels is that? I don't remember hearing of this before. --Julian

On Riviera and Marina PH3 10002 and 10003 have the spotlights beneath the bridge hanging down in front of the balcony. --Julian

What wood wee do without spell cheque?

My one and only experience with being on a waitlist, was perhaps not indicative of the norm, but here's the story: We were booked in a PH3 on Riviera, with a bathtub. But also with a partially obstructed view. So I wanted to switch to a PH3 with a bathtub, with no obstruction. That's a pretty small group of cabins and not a category in and of itself. I was told by our Oceania contact, that they would check on this for me. (We were booked direct.) But what ended up happening was that one month before final payment was due, which was the point at which canceling started to have a financial penalty, I checked the Oceania Cruises website and found that if I started to book the cruise online I could get as far as the cabin choice, and I could see that there were PH3 cabins available, and at least two of them had bathtubs and no obstructions. That was on the weekend. So first thing Monday morning I called my contact at Oceania and told them the cabin number I wanted to switch to. And they took care of it right there on the phone. If you're on a formal wait list with a number, then that sounds like they will be more proactive, hopefully? But regardless, I would recommend that on the day that the deposits become not fully refundable anymore, check the website! If the waitlist is working the way it should, you ought to be slotted into a cabin before it shows up as available on the website. But it never hurts to check; as the saying goes, if you want something done right do it yourself. I assume that if someone has one of these good travel agents I keep hearing about, they would sort all this out for you. I would also concur that there are not a lot of Oceania suites and I suspect that your chances of getting a lower category are much better. --Julian

Haha. Americans can be funny. I once had a conversation about Quebec separatism with an American on a cruise. He was somewhat informed about Canada, but assumed that if Quebec became independent from Canada, they would naturally want to join the US. I think he was misinformed about the definition of 'independent.' 😉 I can only imagine how much more heated some conversations these days might be. Let us all listen well, and speak only if we can improve upon silence. --Julian

If one has booked direct, is there a department at Oceania one should contact? Or just the 'specialist' you booked through? I thought there would be a pre-cruise questionnaire or something, but perhaps this has to all be done proactively. --Julian

Thank you so much. And very glad to hear the table is a good size for the intended purpose!

Just curious, what grounding incident is that?

Thanks so much!

Thank you!

Does anyone have refurbished PH room photos?

All cabins on Riviera were refurbished in November 2022.

Yes, for many reasons especially those mentioned, a ratio of tonnage to passengers is a fairly useless measure. The industry should stop using it. I remember trying to work out a better method, with my mother in the '80s when we were assessing various ships for possible cruises. We considered counting the number of public lounges and rooms as part of a calculation, and other things that I forget. It was an interesting exercise and the main takeaway was that ships are unique and it's really hard to come up with a one-size-fits-all method of comparing the amount of space on one to the amount of space on another. --Julian

Exactly! Best hospitality experience I ever had was checking into the Toronto Four Seasons. As soon as I identified myself, the clerk knew everything about my reservation, without having to look anything up. But even better, he had an upgrade offer ready to make, and the upgraded room he suggested addressed the one, predictable, question I had about the room we had booked, related to in-suite dining. The issue was entirely predictable since this was during a pandemic lockdown. True five star service anticipates your needs without you having to ask. Under the current financial strain, Oceania (and probably many other cruise lines) are defaulting to Motel 6 level service it seems, though I gather the pre cruise experience with the head office has always been haphazard compared to the on board experience. --Julian

Yes. The question is, did they change the bathrooms at all? Match the decor to the new style while keeping the tub? Or did they leave them untouched entirely?

Hello, If anyone has been on the refurbished Riviera in a cabin that retained a bathtub, I am very curious to know if the bathroom was renovated at all, or if they just kept the bathroom as is? I'm looking forward to a PH3 with bathtub in March. My Oceania rep said they would not be touching the bathrooms in those cabins, which I kind of expected and makes sense when you're planning such a major operation as that drydock. Save yourself the work. But the official letter about the bathroom changes did say that all bathrooms were being redone. Which is probably just imprecise communication from head office again? So, if anyone has been in one of these cabins that retained the bathtub and can confirm for sure how they were handled, that would be lovely to know. Thanks! --Julian

This is how it worked for me too. I send the form and brokerage statement, the next day they sent me what looked like an automated message with the invoice for the cruise attached (which is paid in full). But if you go to like the fourth page or whatever, there's a listing of the shipboard credits, and in addition to OLife, it says shareholder credit now too. An odd way to notify people about this, but on the other hand, nice to have updated official paperwork. I noticed the dining reservations were listed on the official invoice now too. (Not the culinary class bookings though.) --Julian

Thanks all! Very helpful to know.

Hello, I read somewhere that if your entire cruise is made up of a series of shorter sailings back to back, then your specialty restaurant bookings have to be spread evenly between each constituent cruise. I'm wondering how this applies if the cruise you're on was sold as one long cruise, not actually purchased as a series of back to back cruises? We are on the March 22 Miami to Venice/Trieste cruise on Riviera, which has two parts that can be bought separately, Miami to Rome and Rome to Venice/Trieste. We have two bookings per restaurant. So I'm wondering if half our specialty restaurant bookings will need to be made in each part of the cruise or not. Thanks, --Julian

Connection, or coincidence? 🤔

NPR's Throughline did a great story on tipping last year. Fascinating. The US used to be a non-tipping culture. It's a classist thing and the early US believed it was a bastion of egalitarianism. Ultra low wages of black porters on railways led in part to tipping as we know it now. So basically, blame greedy capitalists. https://www.npr.org/2022/03/29/1089587173/the-land-of-the-fee-2021 Personally, I'm in favour of paying people a living wage, and no tipping. Also, include the tax in the price! If you live in Canada or the US and go to Australia where tipping is uncommon and tax is included, it's a total shock. The price is the price is the price. What a concept!

Newfoundland is a wonderful place, with very wonderful people. That's a real shame.

On deck 11 suites have a shade-giving roof that extends outwards, because deck 12 is wider. Some like the shade, some don't, some find the roof interferes with the view. On deck 10, PH3 10002 and 10003 have a partially obstructed view from the searchlights on either side of the bridge. --Julian