susiesan

Azamara pricing includes gratuities, self service laundry, wine and beer with meals. You don't have to pay for shore ex you don't want to use or an upgraded beverage package that has the spirits on it. Azamara does not include dining in the specialty restaurants. You can buy the extras if you want. Their prices are comparable to oceania's prices now for cruise only. before I booked a Croatia intensive cruise for Sept. 24, I looked at O's version of the same cruise. AZ came out ahead plus I get a $500 rebate check after the cruise. Also, AZ has not shortened port times like O has done on all of their itineraries.

When you choose cruise-only fare under the simplyMORE program you are excluding air only, all of the other amenity changes outlined will be included. I'm glad my cruise is September 2023 and it will likely be my last Oceania cruise. If I can't book cruise only, which means all I want to pay for is the cabin, then I will no longer be an Oceania customer. I don't want more, I am happy with the way I travel with Oceania now. The next cruise after Sept. 2 Sirena is booked with Azamara. They will likely become my new favorite cruise line.

On your cruise, let's say average port taxes/fees are $25 a head per port. For 1200 passengers times $25 times 4 ports that comes to $120,000 that Oceania gets to keep. That's how they make money by skipping ports.

Cancel now. You will NOT be going Myanmar, no one is even by air or land. Find another cruise or do a land vacation to southeast Asia. You could easily spend the 20 days between Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand on a custom tour for far less than the cruise.

Now the Lisbon airport is going to be affected by strikes all summer. With many cruises embarking or disembarking in Lisbon, including mine, and passengers flying i and out of LIS, I wonder if Oceania will change cruises using Lisbon as a starting and end port. The strikes at Humberto Delgado Airport began yesterday (May 22), from 05.0 am until 10.00 am, as well as on the following dates: May 27 to May 29 June 3 to June 5 June 10 to June 12 June 17 to June 19 June 24 to June 26

OP says 3 ports were missed, not one. If the cruise had 6 ports to begin with then half were missed. Like the OP, I'd be very upset too, especially about missing the Portugal ports for no reason and then being lied to by the staff about it.

It's going to be so bad in Europe that you have to check a web site to see who is striking each month. This is going to be repeat of last summer's travel disruptions. https://www.euronews.com/travel/2023/06/06/where-are-airport-and-transport-strikes-happening-between-now-and-easter If you are transiting through Heathrow be prepared for the worst on announced strike days. I connect there at the end of the cruise but in September so hopefully I'll be okay. Unite union says there will be 31 days of strikes this summer with walkouts expected almost every weekend from 24 June to the end of August. The exact dates of the strikes will be: • June 24, 25, 28, 29 and 30 • July 14 to 16, 21 to 24, and 28 to 31 • August 4 to 7, 11 to 14, 18 to 20 and 24 to 27

What 2 ports were cancelled? I have a cruise on Sirena Sept. 2 that ends in Lisbon. From what I am reading, there will likely be more strikes in Portugal and other European cities all summer. Would Oceania be changing embarking/disembarking ports due to strikes? This would have a massive impact on passenger air arrangements.

Who was the cruise director with the bad attitude?

If you are in a balcony or lower cabin you will have to ask for the shower gel. Soap is provided but not the gel. If your room steward won't get some for you, take some off the service carts in the hallways when you see one. With as much as O charges for even the lower priced cabins on their cruises they should supply shower gel. I have always had to ask for it on every O cruise I have taken.

I'll get going on it now.

How far in advance should this be done? My cruise is in 3 months and is paid in full. Is it too early to request the shareholder credit?

NCL allows on closed loop Caribbean cruises. They advertise them as no passport needed cruises.

My plan is with United Healthcare. All advantage plans are state specific so benefits vary a lot depending on where you live.

All of the annual policies I compared had lower medical limits for people over 70. Having limited medical coverage is better than nothing. Besides, both of our medicare advantage plans cover us when traveling out of the country.I made sure of that before I chose the plans we have. One is UHC and one is BCBS. We would have the same coverage and copays for emergency treatment than we have if we were in the US.

Hey Roger, let me know what's for dinner at the Chef's table 😉 on your magical mystery AZ cruise. I'm off to Botswana next week for the safari. Susie

Same here. For ages 68 and 73 annual cost was $460 for both for the GeoBlue Trekker Premium policy. Medical coverage if over age 70 is $100K, under age 70 is $1Million. Evacuation coverage is $500K.

I have a cruise booked for sept. 2024. I signed myself up for an AZ Circle membership and it shows on the reservation. My husband will be with me on the cruise and I need to sign him up for a loyalty number. I don't see anywhere on the web site where I can sign him up for an account. How do I sign my husband up for an AZ Circle account? How do I get him a number?

DH and I spent 2 weeks there. Flew into Beijing, stayed at a Marriott. Then flew to Guilin, took a bus to Yangshuo. Then back to Guilin for a train to Shanghai. Train to Nanjing, train to Suzhou, train to Hangzhou, flew home from there. I had people/friends from flyer talk help plan this trip but we traveled alone. I studied Chinese for 9 months before going but could barely communicate once I got there. Hotels were booked online myself with CTrip.com. I have never worked so hard on a vacation as I did on that trip. It was very stressful. I've got stories to tell about our experiences there. The country is packed with Chinese travelers, it's not foreign tourist friendly anymore, the Chinese don't like Americans. Chinese tourists are rude, spit everywhere, and smoke everywhere. The cost of the visa is excessive compared to other countries. There are also political reasons why I won't go back that I'm not allowed to discuss here. I'm glad I went to China when I did but will not be returning. There are plenty of other Asian countries who are welcoming to Americans.

Shanghai is just a huge city. There's not much of historical interest to see there. If you never go there you're not missing out on much. I went to China in 2011 on a DIY land trip. I'm not ever returning, for various reasons.

Japan's covid test/vax requirements to enter ended April 29.

Americans can pay an expediter to get the visa for them without going in person. A one year tourist visa costs $140 plus whatever an expediter charges which is likely hefty. You have to really want to go to China to pay all of this extra money on top of your cruise fare. I'd be finding a different cruise itinerary.

Always book your own air on all cruise lines. Never do cruise air, you have no control if something goes wrong. I have been on over 50 cruises with multiple lines and have never ever had the cruise line do my air.

Oceania and Viking still produce big beautiful brothers, I just got one from each in the mail yesterday. They are for 2024 and 2025 cruises. I'm glad I saved my old renaissance deck plan brochure, I have a hard copy of that, for the ship layouts. My AZ cruise is on Pursuit. Which former R ship is Pursuit?

I still get hard copy brochures from Windstar, Oceania, Viking, Celebrity, and NCL. These are all lines I have sailed on in the last 5 years. I think Azamara is the outlier not sending hard copies.