honmani2

Yes, there's a show at 9:15 pm every night although there wasn't a show on the night before disembarkation.

Not to worry. The happy hours are still the same. It just isn't listed on the daily Current.

Speaking of television. . . do the bars have televisions that show sporting events? I'm thinking of the NBA playoffs next month when I'm on the Marinia

How did you do this? When I go to my account, I can prepay the gratuities (or beverage package) but it asks for my credit card information rather than allowing me to deduct it from my OBC. Does my TA have to get it charged to my OBC account?

I have the same challenge with $2300 OBC per person for my upcoming cruise. I can get the drink package and gratuities but other than that we can't see using the balance for spa treatments, dom dinners, etc. Are there a lot of shops on board? Maybe we'll just get overpriced stuff to bring home.

It's too bad that O doesn't just refund the ESO dollars to your credit card. $2300 in OBC is gratefully accepted but not all that easy to spend given our habits. I know it's a First World problem so I'll muddle through it. Ha ha.

Thank you for the quick replies. There's a lot of smart cruisers on this board! I'm on the ten day Scandavian cruise departing October 2. I found out it was part of the Extraordinary Savings Offer. (O could make it easier by simply saying it was an ESO credit . . . "Retro" is confusing.) I hadn't heard from my TA so I didn't know if the promotional offer was applied. Another question. Prior to the promotion, my original itinerary had all three O Life options (free drinks, shore excursions, and on board credit.) When I look at the invoice, only the shore excursions are there. Is this because you can only get one promotion so I "lost" the other two amenities?

I was looking at my invoice and at the bottom under Amenities and Gifts, there's: Gift Orders US$2300 Retro Stateroom Shipboard Credit What is this exactly?

Can you walk out of the restaurant with a glass of wine or a beer after lunch or dinner?

You can always go to the website and see if times have opened up. I had a 9 pm for two at Jacques but when I checked today, there was a 6:30 pm time available so I cancelled the 9 pm and reserved the 6:30 pm

We are on a ten day cruise leaving from Ravenna on October 2. How do you reserve the Celebrity shuttle from Venice to Ravenna and back? I'm assuming the shuttle leaves from the airport, VCE. Are there any other options besides catching the train to get from Venice to Ravenna port? The shuttle services I looked at cost an arm and a leg to book.

What exactly is a "pre-existing medical condition"? Say I take medication for high cholesterol. If I have a heart attack on my cruise, will I be covered or will the insurance company say that since I had a cholesterol condition, it won't be covered? I mean, as long as you're alive, you have some sort of pre-existing medical condition of some sort or another, no?

Is there a different 9:30 pm show every night or does it repeat on some nights?

Quick questions. How successful have you been getting an earlier time on the day of the reservation? Since we prefer a private table, the only times available are 8 or 9 pm. Or do I go to each restaurant every day at 6 and ask if they have any cancellations?

This is one of those tips that is premised on a hope and a prayer that there will be a schedule change and therefore enabling you to rebook your flights that you probably wanted to begin with. This is just happened to me on flights from HNL to VCE. My original flight had an eight hour layover in San Francisco but due to a schedule change on the EWR to VCE flight, I changed it so the layovers are around 2.5 hours and we get into Venice three hours earlier that the original itinerary. But as I said at the beginning, it was based upon United changing the schedule and not anything that I did.

That's one way to look at it. That said, it depends on the vintage. The Dom 2004 Rose alone retails for almost $500 so if you manage to drink a bottle of it, you're ahead of the game.

Has anyone done this? We are thinking about it when we are on the Marina in June. I thought it was $295 plus gratuities but when I looked at the website, the total came to $474 per person. Is it "tasting" portions of Dom or full glasses? If it's the latter, it's a good deal albeit not cheap.

There's what Oceania recommends and then there's what actually happens. I booked my air through Oceania and the disembarkation time is 8 am and the flight is at 10 am. I asked my TA if I could change the time but was told, of course, I could change but would have to pay additional for it. Why would Oceania book me on a 10 am flight is unknown to me but they must know something I don't.

I am 56 days out from my cruise and I booked my air through Oceania. I don't see the flight information on my reservation and when I called United, I was told the ticket had not been issued yet although there is a locator number. The Oceania website says that tickets are issued 75 days from embarkation. Why doesn't it show on my reservation or am I looking in the wrong place?

Is there a shuttle at Aarhus, Denmark?

Fascinating if not oft repeated thread. For me, as someone who worked in the service industry for years, I tip above and beyond the included gratuities to a point. That is, not $100 for delivering robes. That said, the tip culture, at least in the U.S., has gone a bit overboard. You see tip jars everywhere and I'm surprised we haven't seen them at supermarket and banks. (Said with tongue firmly in cheek.) For the most part, everyone works hard in their jobs but a cultural norm has developed where only certain jobs are considered tipping appropriate. After all, I don't tip the bank teller, city bus driver, mail carrier, etc., but all are working hard for their money. Personally, I would prefer (I know, not likely but still. . . ) that everyone gets paid a living wage and the product or service is priced accordingly. After all, you're going to pay above and beyond the cruise fare because of tips. You may as well just pay more at the front end knowing that the staff make decent wages and not reliant on tip/bribes/surcharges, etc., Just my opinion, of course.

No, from Hamburg to Munich, it's Lufthansa. From Munich to San Francisco, it's United. One domestic, one international.

I've always booked my own tickets but decided to go with Oceania O'Life inclusive air since it seemed it was lower in cost. When I got the itinerary, it shows a connection time of only 40 minutes for the flight from Munich to San Francisco. We arrive from Hamburg to Munich at 11 am and the departing flight to SFO is at 11:45 am. Why on earth would Oceania booked such a flight with such a short connecting time? My TA has yet to get back to me on this. I will not be happy if Oceania charges a deviation fee to change the flights. Which brings me to my question. If I don't make the connection, do I just deal with the airlines to rebook or will Oceania help on this?