Snaefell3

Summarizing: "boarding times" are a thing of the past at many (most?) ports, but "boarding priority" remains. Had me wondering. Thanks. We thought that that protocol worked well back in March at Pier 92 [sic], L.A. with Regatta. We'll see if that's true with Miami and Vista next March.

Changed since March? Or did you mean "boarding times" instead of "boarding priority"? Back in March while Deck 3 folks could and did show up at 11am, pax were lined up and boarded cabin class by cabin class, with tail-end-Charlie aboard by 11:20-ish.

Noted. Thank you.

Newbie here (1 cruise), but on Regatta last March, 11am was avail to all, but then there were 4 boarding lanes: Best suites, penthouse suites, concierge, and then "steerage". No lane moved until their betters had been boarded. Cabin availability once aboard was called by category, too.

If a ship normally visits Stirrup Cay, she will have the "everything" to take ashore. Would Vista? 😞

The email cited "berthing conflict".

Newbie here (1 cruise)... I got an email saying they'd received the request form and nothing further, but a few hours later two lumps of half the expected amount showed up as "COMPLEMENTARY SHIPBOARD CREDIT": one lump for myself and one for my DW. I suspect what shows up is whatever the Oceania clerk types in for your particular case.

One possibility based on my experience on Carnival brands: The CCL shareholder benefit is authorized one year at a time at the annual shareholder meeting, and if they haven't held the meeting that (routinely) authorizes the shareholder SBC for your voyage yet....

We plan to treat the second visit the same way we treat Ensenada: Stationary Sea Day. 😉

Two thoughts: NCL has "excluded" shareholder benefit in the fine print on some offers, less often than they exclude AmEx or TA perks, but I've seen such on really good offers. Be sure to double check when considering how good an offer is. After I scan my broker statement, I run it through a "paint" program to grey out my account number before I attach it to my email to ShareholderBenefits@oceaniacruises.com. Beats having the text show through your magic-markering. (Actually, I grey-out my other stocks and account totals, too)

Just got an email update to our 16 Mar 24 Vista cruise: "Stuff" happened. Our overnight in Charleston SC was changed to a single day and a *second* visit to Nassau was added, so Nassau bookends our voyage -- first port of call and last. I've heard of overnights (obviously), but never before two separate visits to a port on a single voyage. Anyone? Also, does Miami → foreign ports → US ports → foreign port → Miami mean two times thru US customs?

I've had to 'splain to folks that the TV won't show anything else until that video plays to the end.

Did, but between #5 and #22 lost track that both were yours. I took "We ended up with stateroom 8071" as meaning that 8071 was GTY-assigned. Glad it went well for you.

Huh? Then it wasn't a GTY anymore...?

To clarify... You got 8071 because no one else wanted it on that voyage -- perhaps after upgrades and upsells, but in the end no one chose it.

To state the obvious, but sometimes overlooked... When you book "guarantee", you get a cabin they didn't expect anyone else to want. 😞

There is a school of restaurant design that holds that "noisy" is the same as "energetic vibe" and therefore desirable. (a crock IMNHO but no one's paying me to design their restaurant 😉 )

Final report: Jun 1 - Our "Routine processing" passport renewal applications both arrived at DoS. Jul 14 - DW's new passport handed to USPS (6 weeks + 1 day) Aug 2 - My new passport handed to USPS (9 weeks - 1 day) Oh! And neither one of us got the promised status update email from https://passportstatus.state.gov/

Plausible, but on my next, not-port-heavy, 11 day cruise, 3 of 6 classes are on port days.

Bingo! Methinks you've nailed it. What I take from your review is that Owner's Suite is aimed at the likes of a CEO hosting top sales producers. Otherwise it's like hammering a nail with a heavy screwdriver: it might work, but the wrong tool, err suite for the trip?

Methinks option #3 is the only reliable option. 🙄

The running joke on many boards is "If you have a yes/no question, call 3 times and average the answers".

Remember... A ship doesn't order "Starlink", but rather "Starlink with 'x' bandwidth". If there isn't enough bandwidth, they aren't ordering enough.

Leaving aside polar extremes, ships could always have bought enough bandwidth to keep us happy. The problem has always been the cost to the ship of that "enough bandwidth". About a decade ago SES had a tech breakthrough that let them offer bandwidth at about 1/10th what had been the going rate. That's when we began to see at-home speeds at sea when under the O3b footprint: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:O3b_satellite_constellation.png. A ship switching to Starlink can still choose just how much bandwidth to buy, so having your ship switch to Starlink doesn't necessarily mean it will indeed buy "enough bandwidth". Worse, there is nothing saying that Starlink's current pricing is not a loss-leader, soon to go away. Meanwhile, I'll stay glad the Vista is supposed to be on Starlink by the time I sail. 😉 ::crosses fingers::

On Regatta last March, "Chef's Market Dinner: Mexico" was in TG on 2 consecutive nights. When we mentioned we had a specialty that night, all present assured us "Oh, they always run such for 2 nights! Enjoy it tomorrow."