DrHemlock

16 hours ago, pinotlover said:

By ordering the double it either (1) counts as both drinks on the 2 for 1, or (2) I can get the second one for the price of one. While my DW prefers option 1 for me, I occasionally go for the gusto! 😎🍹!

It's the perfect primer for a long, sociable dinner!

3 hours ago, shepherd really said:

You can specify what liquors you want used.  

3 hours ago, 1985rz1 said:

As long as the liquor is on the standard bar menu, and not a specialty liquor.

Yes, and that's definitely what you want to do.  Like any shoreside dive, their "bar pour" tends to be affordable but not so wonderful.  For a buck or two more, you can have Hendrick's or Maker's or mostly whatever brand you want.

3 hours ago, ak1004 said:

I think what he meant by placeholders is people who book several cruises for the same period knowing in advance that they will be cancelling most of them.

Aha!  Now I get it.  I was unaware of the 3-1 statistics referred to above.  

Yes, a chronic placeholder who cancels reservations as a matter of practice would certainly whine at the new fees.  Too bad; so sad.

As for the lookers, bookers and hookers: I only care that the cookers stay with us!

On 11/18/2023 at 8:38 AM, pinotlover said:

I don’t understand placeholders...If one wants to book a placeholder, they should face the same cancellation fees as any one else.

On 11/18/2023 at 9:24 AM, shepherd really said:

Some people can't decide what they want to order in a restaurant, much less where they want to cruise two years in advance.

Speaking as a person who as canceled or changed a few bookings during our years with O, I don't understand pinotlover's lack of understanding.  Not everyone is being frivolous or unethical with their "placeholder" booking.  We book cruises we definitely want and intend to take; nothing to do with being unable to decide.  And because we always want a specific cabin category in a specific location, we need to book now even if the cruise is two years in advance.  I guess that makes us "placeholders."

Unfortunately, sometimes stuff happens between booking date and payment date.  In the past, cancelling or transferring the booking to a different cruise was free; now it isn't.  But the fees are not exorbitant (as long as the cancellation or switch is made before the 180-day mark) and we're willing to pay them just like anyone else.  What's not to understand?

14 hours ago, schooner_Drinker said:

Im sure the showers in the cabin on R ships are adequate 🙂 

"Adequate" is exactly the word, as it has been for us on more than a dozen R-class cruises.  To paraphrase an aphorism often used on this board: Any day with an adequate shower at sea is better than a day with a larger shower at home.

11 hours ago, ToxM said:

Shhh don’t tell everyone about 8000 😉

Amen to that!  The only reason we cruised once in 8002 was that someone had already grabbed 8000.  Best seat in the house, in our opinion, except you gotta be okay with motion of the ocean when it gets rocky.

1 hour ago, ORV said:

From your signature you look like you have a lot of experience on Oceania, but I really haven't run into any situations like you described here on any of their ships. 

Neither have we.....but that doesn't mean it's not possible.  

I'm a person who tries to imagine what could go wrong, then try to avoid it if that doesn't mean compromising quality.  Therefore, we never book next to adjoining cabins as there's an increased chance of at least four people occupying (or socializing) on the other side of the wall.  (Not to mention the TV, which has been discussed at length in another thread.)

We just got off a Nautica cruise in an ordinary verandah cabin in which the people next door, in the same size non-adjoining cabin as ours, somehow managed to do a great deal of entertaining in their limited space with the ensuing loud laughter and talking over each other.  Where they all sat (and why they had such apparent difficulty hearing each other) I have no idea.

There is no perfect solution to guarantee peace and quiet, but one can still play the odds and win more often than not.

We've sailed in both 8000 and 8002 (next-door), deliberately chosen to be under the computer room rather than the gym on the opposite side of the ship.  Never heard a sound from above.

There is, however, one potential downside to 8004: it's right next-door to 8006 which has a connecting door to 8008, both of which are equipped with sofa-beds to increase capacity.  Hence, a family with multiple kids, or two (or even four?) party-hearty couples, could book 8006-8008, leading to loud goings-on for your listening pleasure in 8004 during the wee hours.

Consider carefully.

Yep.  Good work!

20 hours ago, edgee said:

Suites are 75 day window or more. Concierge level is 60 days.

Oops!  Thanks for the correction, edgee,  I've gotten lazy by just looking at the "reservations open" date on the invoice and not calculating how many day it is before sailing.  So, as Emily Litella used to say: "Never mind!"

20 hours ago, shepherd really said:

So, should we believe you and your firsthand current information or the fact free speculation?  Hmmmmm😄

Hey, it's 2023.  I'll go with speculation or any allegation that fits my desired outcome and consider it factual.  Everything else is fake. 😎

BTW, that's a good point made by pinotlover above.  One might think, "I'll just log on at 11:59 and wait for the clock/date to change; that way, I'll already be aboard."  Unfortunately, as it turns out (and as used to happen to me) it doesn't work that way.  

If you're logged on at 11:59, then your log-on status remains the same until you log out, so the reservation window simply does not open.  You really do have to wait until the clock turns.  I've never tried actually waiting until 12:01 because I'm too impatient at 12:00, but I do usually have to log on-off a couple of times before the window opens.  (Possibly, that's because it opened at 12:01 while I was busy doing the on-off thing and was no longer noticing the time!)

Well, it also depends upon what cabin/suite level one will be occupying and, therefore, how far in advance one can book.  The OP mentioned 45 days which is the same as for us in our concierge-level cabin.  But suites get to book starting at 60 days out, so they get first dibs on what they consider to be the best days and times.  Because we're picky and always want a 6:30 two-top (which are apparently quite popular among the suite crowd), we make sure to be online at 00:01 Miami on our booking day.  Even then, we usually must choose substitutes for about a third of our preferred dates as they've already been taken.

On the other hand, those who prefer the "dining with others" option generally have no, or very few, problems with their preferred dates and times (though that's anecdotal, not empirical). 

It's a blessing to be on the west coast of the US because midnight in Miami (sounds like a song title) is only 9:00 p.m. when even we geezers are usually still awake.

Midnight (or 12:01 a.m.), Miami time, which may vary twice a year between EST and EDT.  Look at your invoice that you got from O when you booked.  It should show the date your reservation window opens.  Stay up or set your alarm the previous night so that the instant the date changes to the date per Miami time, you'll be on the computer.  Mind you, that's only if you want two-tops at specific times on specific cruise dates.  If you're more flexible, then just do it when you normally get up in the morning.

18 hours ago, basor said:

We put our cards on the side of our table and they take them when they are ready to check us out.  Your stateroom card has a notation imprinted on it so any waitstaff immediately know if you have a beverage package and which type by simply seeing your card.

Exactly.  Same in the bars: card on the table in plain view makes everything quick and easy-peasy.

Now, if someone doesn't want their card to be in plain view because then other cruisers can see in what class they're sailing, that's another matter....

I don't see anything on the cruisemapper site (or any other site that I can find) indicating which of the Barcelona docks/ports will be used by any given ship on any given date.  Only that it will be Barcelona.  Am I missing something?

13 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

FWIW, in 2013 (or 14?), we got this close on Regatta itself! But the ship today does not get that close.

Yes, we wondered about that on the previous cruise that ended last Thursday.  (I think you were aboard, no?)  Stopped way farther out than in 2018.  Granted, this time it was a drizzly day with low overcast and an earlier offshore fog bank that we had to crawl through, but viz was good once the glacier was (barely) in sight with no significant floating ice visible.  

Not surprisingly, no explanation was provided as to why the ship stopped so far away -- though one could surmise it had more to do with profit from a tour boat than with SOLAS.  JMO.

Scots use them for stuffing haggis.

2 hours ago, LHT28 said:

I think most  deposits  are  $500 PP  or more 

Unless it's changed recently, the onboard booking deposit was $500 total for any cruise.  It is (or was) one of the inducements offered by O for booking onboard.

Thanks to DanOnboard (above) for finding that info in the ticket contract.  It answers at least one of my questions.

2 hours ago, Sthrngary said:

To clarify, I have no stock. 

It's by no means a great stock to hold: hardly a growth stock at this point (and not likely for the foreseeable future), and it pays no dividends.  But at just below $17 today, you can pick up 100 shares and hold them until you sail.  Then see how you like the O experience.  

If your bones tell you that you're gonna be sailing this line for years to come, then the stock will pay for itself in another 16 cruises -- and that's if you only take cruises of fewer than 15 days.  Any longer than that, your NCLH benefit is $250 so you could break even at 7 cruises.  Caveat: Past performance does not guarantee future results.

2 hours ago, Sthrngary said:

can I apply for the credit event though my final payment already passed.  

Yes.  Final payment is often due 3-4 months before embarkation, whereas you can submit your Shareholder Benefit Request form anytime up until "at least 15 days prior to sailing" (per TFree's link posted above), though I wouldn't cut it that close in case things are slow around the office and they don't get to your request until you've already sailed.  In which case.....who knows?

Possibly.  But I would wager that the less crowded the venue, the better chance one has of avoiding someone else's droplets.  Farther for the little devils to fly before falling to the ground or being neutralized by the atmosphere or whatever.  That said, I'm not a doctor and I've never played one on TV.  (Anyone remember the Vicks Formula 44 commercial back in the 80s?)

Posters also use "TA" to denote a trans-Atlantic crossing (as in "I was on a TA when...."), though not as often because not as many take those longer sea voyages.  So, one must first deduce the context in order to know the meaning.  😎

21 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

We booked one using the credits for Tunisia 16 and under.

The dilemma remains the same.  "16 and under" doesn't guarantee more space between coughers; more likely, it just means a smaller vehicle designed to carry 16 people in basically the same configuration as a larger bus (if not even tighter, like a big minivan with bench seats rather than individual).  There simply is no better solution than "protect yourself" -- and even that is by no means foolproof.