Mkdvmz

I suspect however, that Oceania will not change the Winery excursion nor the beach excursion. They make far too much money on them. Far easier to refund some money. The fact that one does not scream and yell, I am sure is appreciated by Destination services and helped obtain a partial refund, but doubt it will do anything to change the excursions 

7 hours ago, ORV said:

Oddly enough over the years I've found this to be something I've encountered again and again with Oceania cruisers. I'm not really sure it's age related, they simply are not interested in pop or rock music. Not everyone, but enough to make me ponder it over the years. I'm ok with it, when there are rock trivia questions it usually gives me an advantage. 

 

I've wondered why the string quartets are always female? 

On Rivera, last October our string quartet was completely male

23 hours ago, chloemonkey said:

So odd that we were on the two sailings just prior to yours and found no similar issues.  Our experience was the total opposite as we found the staff to be so overly concerned with our satisfaction that it bordered on being bothersome at times.

Our experience was that this was among (if not the best) service that we have had of all of our Oceania cruises.....funny how we all have varying degrees of satisfaction and opinions.....Guess that is what makes the world go around.  Hope your last day or two provide you with a better experience....

 

Or perhaps, there was a staffing change and it had nothing to do with opinions and satisfaction 

3 hours ago, urlaub said:

It is not only the lost of the suitcase but the way Oceania will not keep care for their longtime guests. They do not appreciate guests with 25 cruises.

And the other side is that the quality of Oceania went down.

We know also other cruiselines

( we cruised nearly 50 times) and so there is no reason for us to come back .

I only wanted to tell that you cannot count on Oceania if something goes wrong.

 

When an airline loses your bag, they take responsibility for its return. The baggage handlers in NYC airports work for the Port Authority but the individual airlines still assume responsibility for returning your luggage. They do NOT charge shipping and handling. Oceania’s response is indefensible, seriously unacceptable 

We used a private car service, treviso airporter, booked online, for our transport from cruise ship in Trieste to Venice. They arranged for a water taxi to take us to our hotel as well. It was perfect. They handled our luggage, assisted with transfer to water taxi, who also helped with our luggage, dropping us at our hotel dock. Exceptionally easy, no waiting for others to get on the bus with Oceania transport! Cost was 400 euros for the four of us. 

 Either of those locations not at at all convenient, especially from near St. Marks. Agree, train is very easy to Trieste. Get a vaporetto or water taxi to St. Lucia train station,

 Venice to Trieste, where a porter will take your luggage into the terminal. $5 euro a bag. 

9 hours ago, benel204 said:

Hello,

We have spent quite bit of time researching this same question (and have the same desire NOT to handle luggage too much) and here is what we are doing:

 

We have booked a private van through Viator to get from Trieste port to Venice. It is ~$415 for up to 7 people. As we get closer to our cruise date (in May) I will post on cruise critic and see if anyone else wants to join and spit the cost. 

 

The transport will take us to Venice central as far as a vehicle can go. One drop off option would be Piazzale Roma, and another drop off option is the  San Basilio Terminal.  I have tentatively booked 2 hotels, both of which are within 5 min walk of of those stops respectively (one walk would be without bridges).  One hotel has offered to arrange a porter to meet us and I believe the cost was EU10 per bag.  Both hotels are also nicely located to access the central part of Venice.

 

To get to the airport from the hotel after out stay in Venice, the options are to either take a taxi from Piazzle Roma or San Basilio Terminal (takes about 45-60 minutes we are told), or water taxi directly from the hotels ~EU130 (25-30 minutes). We will probably opt for the water taxi just for one last fun experience of Venice.

 

We found the water taxi drivers were extremely helpful getting our luggage in and out of the taxi and even more helpful getting us in and out of the water taxi. The water taxi to the airport is a beautiful trip and well worth it! 
we used a private driver from Trieste to Venice and the company, treviso airporter also arranged for the water taxi to our hotel, included in our fee. The driver handled our of our luggage
There are porters at piazzale Roma at the water taxi station who gladly help take your luggage into the terminal, or conversely to the water taxi,  should you decide to take the train 

17 minutes ago, sophiesmom3317 said:

Do you remember what company you used? Thank you.

 

We used treviso airporter. They were excellent, took care of everything. Driver even reminded us to not pay the water taxi driver in Venice, that it was taken care of. When we exited the ship terminal with our luggage, he was waiting right there with a sign and our name on it

13 hours ago, Jancruz said:

Thank you all..

Any guides for Dubrovnik, Kotor, Katakalon, Corfu or Valletta..

Janncruz1

Valletta, do not bother with the hop n/ hop off bus: a complete waste

In Rome we used Katie Farrar with eyes on Rome for a wonderful tour of the Vatican 

1 minute ago, Mkdvmz said:

Pompeiitourguide.com

Expensive, but so worth it. He arranges transportation from the ship to Pompeii and meets you at Pompeii. 

6 hours ago, Jancruz said:

How do I reach him???

Thanks,

Jancruz1

Pompeiitourguide.com

On 1/4/2024 at 5:34 PM, Jancruz said:

Looking for private guides in theses cities..I lost so many due to covid..any help would be appreciated

Thanks Jancruz1

 

May 29 Wed	Venice (Trieste), Italy	Embark 1 PM	5 PM
May 30 Thu	Zadar, Croatia	7 AM	4 PM
May 31 Fri	Dubrovnik, Croatia	8 AM	6 PM
Jun 1 Sat	Kotor, Montenegro	7 AM	4 PM
Jun 2 Sun	Corfu, Greece	7 AM	4 PM
Jun 3 Mon	Katakolon, Greece	7 AM	3 PM
Jun 4 Tue	Valletta, Malta	11 AM	8 PM
Jun 5 Wed	Taormina (Sicily), Italy	8 AM	6 PM
Jun 6 Thu	Naples/Pompeii, Italy	8 AM	6 PM
Jun 7 Fri	Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy	7 AM	8 PM
Jun 8 Sat	Florence/Pisa/Tuscany (Livorno), Italy	8 AM	8 PM
Jun 9 Sun	Saint-Tropez, France	7 AM	4 PM
Jun 10 Mon	Barcelona, Spain	Disembark 8 AM

In Pompeii, we used Gaetano Manfredi, he was absolutely fantastic

If Bonvoy elite, the Gritti Palace in Venice is fabulous 

24 minutes ago, JL87 said:

This. The stairs in the the Terrace Houses are pretty easy. The stairs leading out are old stone stairs with no consistency. Some very deep and difficult. We have no problem but with any mobility difficulties but this is where some may have a problem.

Yes, so you can get in and marvel and getting out is a nightmare!😂😂

I think the Terrace Houses are somewhat difficult for anyone with mobility issues, even bad arthritis. The stairs leading out of it, are steep and not user friendly for those in the Medicare group

Oceania uses the St. Regis which used to be the Westin Europa/Regina. It is a lovely hotel with its own dock for water taxis. The Gritti Palace, expensive but worth it, also has its own dock. Both are near each other and walking distance to St. Marks and near vaporetto stops, the best way to get around Venice! 
spend the money for a water taxi to get to your hotel, so much easier

Absolutely, the easiest, especially at that hour, is the Hilton hotel. We just stayed there two weeks ago, very easy. The walkway is adjacent to terminal 3 where international flights arrive . No need to worry about cabs, shuttles etc. you will be tired. Definitely join Hilton Honors, if you are no already a member

On 10/29/2023 at 6:08 PM, ORV said:

Loved that water organ. Never seen or heard anything like it before. 

Yes! It was amazing! 

We used them from airport to hotel and then hotel to cruise terminal, they were excellent! 

Disembarking was remarkably simple! We had arranged private transportation to Venice using Treviso airporter,. I highly recommend them. We met our driver outside of the cruise terminal. We drove about 2 hours to Venice, they had arranged a private water taci to take us to our hotel. Our driver reminded us, to only pay him, the water taxi was included. By 10:45 we were at the beautiful Gritti Palace, after leaving the ship at 8:30

We have thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed our Oceania ship. The food was excellent, the service great with very nice employees. For us, Simply More worked well, although we each had $84 in unused tour credit, it was a good experience for us. We arranged a private transfer from Trieste into Venice where we will stay several days before continuing by train through Tuscany and ultimately flying back to the US from Rome

There has been a marked increase in dry hacking coughs all about the ship in the last two days. More room service deliveries and do not disturb signs outside of rooms. There are very, very few masks being worn and most do not cover their mouths when coughing. Of course, this cough (everyone sounds the same) could be from any number of viral infections. Those at the pool area who are coughing, do not appear ill. Those joining the ship or continuing on May want to consider masks in the elevators, on shuttle buses and tours 

Our final day of the cruise, we are in port in Zadar. It is a beautiful small city north of Split. Beautiful fall weather, and a wonderful waterfront to walk along. There is an amazing “organ built into the sea wall that creates truly gorgeous sounds. The ocean rushes into pipes under the sea wall which have openings along the walkway. The city has Roman ruins, medieval ruins and areas that were bombed during both world wars. Lots of local families out walking made for a lovely day.

the ship provided a shuttle to and from the old part of the city

We have really enjoyed our morning cappuccino in Barrista’s. The coffee in Waves, i don’t enjoy but the brewed ice tea by the pool deck is delicious. I enjoy that there are three varieties, black tea, herbal tea and green tea to choose from throughout the day. Coming back to ship, relaxing by the pool, enjoying the jacuzzi has made a very port intensive cruise, very enjoyable and relaxing.

We always sit outside on the port side because the small smoking area on the starboard side really makes that side disagreeable. The cigar and cigarette smoke invariably wafts down and is awful