Snaefell3

17 minutes ago, cruiserchuck said:

 

Since there is a TA involved, I do not believe O will directly deal with the pax.

Can it hurt to try?

AIUI, the need is to move the payment-in-error, not refund it.

::ponders::  Have you contacted O directly, or is this all what the TA said O said?

"It is the difference of opinion that makes horse-races"

— Mark Twain

2 hours ago, mauibabes said:

I just take along some ear plugs and plug in my CPAP machine and doze off, much to my DW’s chagrin. All I can say is plan ahead and if you need white noise or other RX’s to help your sleep, bring them along.

I've got an even easier solution:  Place my hearing aids in the recharger. 😇

(DW envies me sometimes 😉)

46 minutes ago, Sthrngary said:

Enough Vista Guest are calling it out even in PH categories that something will need to happen to fix the issues, obviously.

I'd like to think they'll fix the issue, but since *all* the cruise lines insist on placing their prestige suites on the "corners" of the ship rather than low and mid-ships....

Datum:  The most-subscribed cruise vlogger is aboard Vista now in a PH and from a podcast yesterday:  "...the soundproofing is not fantastic."

1 hour ago, AMHuntFerry said:

@Sthrngary I only know the following because I was corrected in a similar post: the heated tile loungers on Vista are on the card-controlled spa deck, while they are in the available-to-all area on Riviera and Marina.

Speaking of which, the "access controlled" foredeck on the Regatta isn't access controlled any more.  (Others have told me the same for other 'R'-class ships, but I haven't sailed them.)

59 minutes ago, ppanyan said:

"We certainly did not".  Hopefully that refers to you not having issues with the motion of the ocean rather than not enjoying the savings and cruise. 😮

 

As for ship motion, I have generally stayed mid-ship just because that is where my TA has recommended.  I have experienced side-to-side motion before on cruises, which has not bothered me.  So I'm guessing that forward-backward motion might not be an issue.  Looking at the full length of the ship, though, I think those PH3 cabins are actually on the border between mid-ship and fore.  So probably okay.  Thanks for the reply to my question.

There are 3 modes of ship motion:

• Rocking side-to-side.  "Stabilizers" help.  Low helps, forward/aft doesn't matter.

• Pitching bow/stern up/down.  "Stabilizers" don't help.  Low doesn't matter.  Midships helps*.

• Judder as bow digs in, ship slows then resumes speed.  Nothing helps.

* Been right forward in 25' seas and swells.  We went up/down 20-ish feet.  Whee!  😉

1 hour ago, mauibabes said:

I check in with an Oceania Rep routinely asking about the specific classes and their availability. Yes you can go through Manage Your Booking but I like to chat and make a friend in Miami. 😇👍 You never know when you might hear a tidbit about class opening dates. 
Mauibabes

"Embrace the power of 'and' "   (do both 😉 )

When they show up in "Manage This Booking" → "Other Options" → "Culinary Classes"

2 hours ago, Hanoj said:

It feels like cruise patrons (across different lines and luxury categories) must expect less (to match expectations with present realities) but pay more. Not a great recipe for business success for what most consumers consider as discretionary consumption.

Econ 101:  With inelastic supply (takes years to build new ships),  "Demand" up → "Prices" up and/or "Value" down.

If you look at reported occupancy rates, demand is *way* up on all cruise lines, bringing them joy as they desperately capture cash to pay down COVID loans.

1 hour ago, pinotlover said:

For political reasons they ran the systems right through the middle of downtowns in major cities instead of natural by passes. Ripping out homes and industrial areas to build the roads into and through major cities like Atlanta, KC, Denver, etc. was poor planning at the time

As @stephglobal pointed out, it wasn't "political".  It was the mid 1950s and the plan was to provide evacuation routes ahead of nuclear bombers.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time."

— Every planner, ever, after being the very first to deal with a problem.

2 hours ago, chloemonkey said:

now those cookies in the Concierge lounge?..  that’s another story! lol…..

Sorry, not up to date on them.  That good or that bad?

4 hours ago, Harters said:

so didnt get the great views of Britain and Ireland

"From Snaefell Summit you can see 6 kingdoms: Mann, Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland, and Heaven."

One more tidbit and I'll drop this off-topic.  Once upon a time in Douglas there was the Inner Mann Restaurant.  Bad pun, good fish.  The menu was a display chest of that day's catch on ice.

14 minutes ago, EJL2023 said:

We had the same on Sirena. They had a chalk board behind it with a list of items available and wiped it off the board when an item was no longer available. 

Hmmm...  Sounds interesting.

@ORV, @EJL2023   Was that breakfast, lunch, pizza-time, ...?

1 hour ago, Vallesan said:

? Second seating on Oceani.

Nope.  It was in 1993 on Royal Majesty.

Oceania has open dining, of course.

1 hour ago, Jamietravelstheworld said:

If it was tough to drop anchor, imagine how hard it would be to line the tenders up next to the ship. 

Lining up the tenders isn't that hard.  The problem is that the ship and the tender bob up and down at different speeds so what starts as 6 inch step up can turn into a 3 foot step down.  Pax (and even crew) fall and break bones or end up in the water between the tender and the ship's hull to get crushed. 

1 hour ago, Jamietravelstheworld said:

 

I was talking with a crew member who said she saw when they dropped anchor and the swells were high then and the ship was struggling with staying steady for that. (I may not be explaining this right but that was my understanding of what she said.)

Seas and swells won't hinder dropping anchor.  *Currents* might make it tough to anchor in the right place, though.

But, yeah, if it was nasty at anchoring-time, it might even have been a case of "nevermind the forecast, it might get nasty again anyway".

BTW, the anchor isn't what holds the ship in place nowadays, it's the weight of the anchor chain lying on the bottom.  The anchor is to help keep the chain untangled.

12 minutes ago, Harters said:

Hats off, Snaefell. 😀

 

By the by, does your username suggest you have a connection with the Isle of Man? It's sometimes regarded as an honorary part of northwest England (and receives northwest local TV programmes from the BBC)

Grandparent.  I spent 3 years on an RAF station, but never thought to ride Snaefell Mountain Railway to the summit.  "Snow mountain" is also a nod to certain gray hairs.

As for "honorary part"?  Only to the high-tide mark -- smugglers all.  That's what got the Duke of Atholl fired back when.

7 minutes ago, Harters said:

The small town of Mossley is about a 25 minute drive from home, on  the eastern side of the metro area. It's where, in 1863, fish & chips were first definitely  recorded as being sold together. This was by John Lees, who sold them  from a wooden hut on Mossley market.  

 

The fish is traditionally cod or haddock (regional preferences apply - I live in a cod preferred area, although in much of the north it's haddock) but, with fish stocks not being secure (and expensive), coley is now an acceptable white fish substitute.

I invoke the "Law of Holes":  When I find myself at the bottom of one, I should stop digging.

But, but, but, gotta say...  Thank you Mossley Town for your contribution.

1 hour ago, pinotlover said:

On a personal level, I’ve never gone hungry in any cruise ship, so what the GDR will serve next Thursday or a week from Friday was never must know information. On Oceania, I’m always fairly assured I’ll find something I’ll like. I suppose other Inquiring Minds like to know weeks in advance.

Quite simple.  The more extra specialty visits you've snagged, the less likely they will give you another.  Plan ahead.

BTW:  We *have* gone hungry.  It was our first voyage, we got 2nd seating, and didn't know there was a buffet serving prime rib all afternoon.  D'oh!  ::blush::

1 hour ago, JYDCruise said:

the Captain has determined that it is too choppy for the tenders to operate so today is "cancelled" and will become a second consecutive sea day. There are certainly some swells, but to my untrained eye it doesn't look too bad (no whitecaps, but more of a rolling wave, maybe 4 feet???) - but there's a reason that he is the captain, and I am not!

The problem often is that if the forecast says conditions might kick up before the last tender of the day is scheduled to run and can't, he doesn't want pax stranded ashore.

1 hour ago, Harters said:

murdering my culinary heritage. 

Is that a bug or a feature?   ::runs and hides::  😜

2 hours ago, Harters said:

Just printed off the boarding pass for our forthcoming Vista cruise from Miami . It's given us an earliest boarding time of 1.30 - 2.00, which was a bit of a surprise as O's website gives 12.00 as the usual boarding time for Concierge Verandas (webpage may be outdated as it only mentions the older ships and nothing for Vista). Check out time from our hotel is 11.00 so my question is two-fold.

 

Firstly, is O flexible about boarding if we were to arrive early (say, coming straight from the hotel and arriving about 11.30)? And, secondly, if no flexibility about boarding, is there anywhere to get a coffee, snack and sit down at Terminal J while we wait till 1.30.

Several points, but the most important is that while O is (generally? invariably?) laid-back about boarding times, some *ports* are not -- and Miami is infamous:  You could get onto the ship if you could only get into the terminal.

• ICE takes longer with a ship when it arrives to the US on a repositioning.

• Miami's Terminal 'J' apparently has a downstairs you can get into early.

• O doesn't always get to use 'J', and Terminals 'A' – 'G' won't do that.

• 'J' ships are sometimes rerouted even as late as when the pilot boards.

4 hours ago, WildWanderers said:

we used to go to the Library to find books by our favourite authors

I always knew it was debarkation day because I'd gotten within (but no further than) 2 chapters from whodunit.  😉