sunlover12

I haven't sailed Royal Caribbean in 4 years so I'm not familiar with current check-in procedures. We are sailing on Wonder from Port Canaveral at the end of January in a SkyLoft Suite. Today when I checked in online, the earliest boarding time was 12:30. I was a little surprised that I couldn't get an earlier time. Anyone who could give me insight on how this works would be appreciated. Thanks.

@jazznruby +1 Very well said.

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that's sarcasm. Using the word "snobs" is judgmental and uncalled for. What you call a "complete waste of money" is not for others. We've worked hard our entire lives and now wish to spend our money on things that we enjoy. Always booking a PH one of those things. We won't go back to booking a smaller cabin. Been there, done that. We book a PH because of the larger size, not for the butler whom we don't use. Some people do like to sit on their veranda. It doesn't make them a "snob". We don't own a second home, a boat, jet skis, extra cars, expensive jewelry, etc., etc. If you ever met me, you would find out right away that I'm a down-to-earth simple person. I won't apologize for always booking a PH. You spend your money as you wish and I will do the same.

Looks like spa prices have recently gone up. I got a Fire and Ice Pedicure 10/22 and it was $79. Also be aware that an 18% gratuity will automatically be added.

@ORV It's an IT glitch and a poorly designed page. I checked my future booking and saw the same thing. The $18/day has nothing to do with the beverage package. You can prepay the beverage package or the gratuities. Interesting that the gratuities are $18/day, not $16 as has been in the past. My booking is in a PH and it's showing the usual $23/day/guest. I'll keep checking that if NLCH has announced they're increasing daily gratuities. I''m not at the level where I get complimentary PPG so I pay close attention to what I'm being charged for it. JMO

My October cruise awarded $100 OBC to 2 passengers. The CD did announce the day prior that they would be awarding it on the morning of disembarkation so we did have some advance notice. I usually have no problem spending at least $100 on the ship. Even if you didn't go to the shops, buy drinks, etc, it could be applied towards your gratuities. I agree with you that the requirement to complete the survey while onboard is absurd. I did manage to get mine done even though the ship only had intermittent wi-fi. Doing the survey on my cell phone was very awkward. I understand why O doesn't want paper surveys anymore. Too cumbersome and inefficient. Letting us do the surveys online when we return home is the logical solution.

To clarify that, if you're on the waitlist and have paid a deposit, you will also pay the current price at the time you are cleared off the waitlist. As others have said the benefit of paying the deposit is that you will move up the list.

There are some 2023 cruises on Vista showing waitlist that are alumni group trips. Oceania holds large blocks of cabins for these groups but after a certain date they will release the unsold ones.

We have had very good butler service. We don't ask much of him but they have always been responsive when we call. Our Sirena cruise in October was completely full and the butlers were busy. They are eager to help - whenever we saw our butler in the hallway he would ask if there was anything he could do for us. They each get afternoon breaks so if you call during that time, another butler is always on duty. One day when we saw him in the hallway we asked him to sign us up for the wine tasting. I wondered if he'd remember to do that because I am sure he's regularly being inundated with requests of all kinds. Sure enough...later that day we got a written confirmation in our cabin of the wine tasting. Having a good memory is also part of the job. We didn't ask for extra specialty restaurant reservations but that cruise was so full I doubt there were any. In that case in-suite dining from the specialties, served by your butler, is a nice alternative.

I can also say that the hair dryers are very good. As good as the one at home. I used it every day when I was onboard.

We also got a $300 OBC on the current cruise in October. For the Future Cruise Certificate, the deposit is $250/person (not $750). The terms are you have to choose the cruise within one year of purchase.

To clarify that: We were on 2 O cruises this year. Regatta in March and Sirena in October. In March, they did use the photo from home as the cruise photo. They did not take another photo in the terminal. In October, they took another photo in the terminal. It's inconsistent. One doesn't know what to expect. Port security does not check the photo. They look at the passport and cross-check that with the name on the manifest.

I agree with jondfk. We completed all the online check-in steps including uploading photos. Check-in at the terminal was tedious and repetitive for our 2 cruises this year. I am not sure of the benefit of the online check-in if we have to go through the same questions and steps in the terminal. They also took another photo of each of us even though they already had them from online check-in. We watched the safety video in the online check-in but had to watch the same video again on the TV in the cabin. You can't do anything else on the TV until the video has been watched. More repetition. They asked for our passports at least twice but never bothered to glance at our vaccination cards. AFAIK the requirement is still either vaccination or negative test. On a positive note, we ate lunch at Terrace Cafe at 1:00 on embarkation day and did not encounter the expected crowds. It was actually quite pleasant and quiet.

The band did play at the Captain's Reception in the lounge where dancing was encouraged. We never went to Happy Hour in Horizons but that may have been another opportunity for dancing as someone mentioned. Interesting...I was on Sirena last month too. My husband and I went to all of the cast performances. There were 4 on our 10-day cruise. We also went to a couple of the guest entertainer shows where the band performed along with the guest. We were in the lounge at 9:00 for all those shows and the band did not perform before 9:30. There was recorded music over the PA. The curtain opened at 9:30 and that was the first we saw or heard the band. The point is there are only a few opportunties for dancing. I wouldn't count on many if that's what someone is hoping for.

I have been on Regatta and Sirena this year and neither of those cruises had the band playing in the theater before the evening show. Maybe the Insignia does, I don't know. The only dancing that I was aware of was a couple of afternoons when the band played on the pool deck at sailaway. There was also dancing most nights in Horizons at 10:30. Each cruise is different - check your Currents every day.

samiam0403, I was on Sirena in October and also found Red Ginger to be excellent. The two best dishes I had on the cruise were from Red Ginger. Tom Kha Gai soup and Tuna Tataki appetizer. If you haven't tried them yet, I heartily recommend them. Thank you for your posts and photos.

Thank you for the detailed and informative review. I agree that the bathrooms in the veranda staterooms on the R ships are very tiny. We did that once and now we book PH where the size of the bathrooms and the size of the cabin is much roomier. If you can swing the extra cost, it's a good value. I was a little surprised regarding your comments regarding the timeliness of information prior to the cruise. I've been on 2 O cruises in 2022. E-mails were sent to me more than a month in advance and probably 3 times total with the necessary information and it was accurate. Perhaps it was your particular cruise where the ball was dropped but it's not a regular practice for O to not relay this information. We cruise for the itinerary and we like the R ships. One of the benefits is that the smaller ships can go to some ports that the larger ships can't.

Sorry this is happening to you but it appears there are a couple of countries in your itinerary that require 6 months of validity on your passport upon entry. Oceania does not have the power to change those requirements. You mentioned NCL not requiring a passport on a closed loop cruise to the Caribbean but perhaps their itineraries do not cruise to those countries.

My experience is that they will seat a twosome at a table for 4. One evening we entered the GDR after the big 6:30 rush. It was a few minutes before 7:00 and there was no line. We asked for either a sharing table if one is available or a table for 2. We left it up to the Maitre de. There was no sharing table available so they immediately sat us at a table for 4, told us it will just be the 2 of us and took away the remaining 2 place settings. I think it just depends on what's available and what they are expecting when you arrive.

I can't speak about Marina but I was recently in a PH2 below the Terrace Cafe on Sirena. You're correct that it closes at 9pm. We did not hear any noise at all at any time of day or night. It's quiet. Enjoy your cruise.

Just a comment on O's policy of consuming alcohol in the cabin only that is brought onboard. Oceania might want to do a better job of communicating and/or enforcing that. I recently overheard some conversations by a few fellow cruisers saying that they bring wine onboard and then walk around the ship with the glass. I got the impression that they weren't trying to cheat the system, rather they just didn't know the policy. I recall some posts on this board about how the glasses in the cabin are different from the glasses at the bars. I didn't notice any difference. They looked the same to me. Maybe that's another supply issue. Not trying to open a can of worms but I feel like this is happening more than O would like it to and it's not fair to those that are following the rules.

I was just on a private excursion post-cruise in Barcelona and there was a problem with the van. It broke down when we were 3 hours driving time back to Barcelona. This was with a well known tour company. At first, the guide didn’t know how the problem was going to be resolved but after several urgent phone calls she found a bus that would transport us. Needless to say, we were quite late in returning. If you’re on a ship excursion, they will wait for you. Things like this happen and if you’re on a private excursion, they will not wait for you. Always have a back-up plan for how you will be returning to the ship. It could be an expensive taxi ride.

We were on Sirena 10/25 - 11/4 and were not aware of any supply issues. There was nothing on the menus that we were told was unavailable. The food was excellent. The only thing that was not on the ship that I was aware of were the tote bags but that has been an ongoing issue on all the ships.

I’m just off Sirena a few days ago and I will say that the internet was slow at times and sometimes it was non-existent. It was the worst in the late afternoon, when people were coming back from excursions. I will say that it has improved since 2019 when it was truly awful. Still has a long ways to go. I use it for checking e-mail, Facebook and reading the news. Simple things but it can be mind-numbing and it doesn’t have to be that way in today’s world. I don’t use it for streaming or attaching photos to an email. I’m sure that would be an exercise in frustration. O’s policy of only one person in the cabin using the Wi-fi at a time is ridiculous. We mentioned that in the end of cruise survey. Some people do need the internet for their jobs and businesses and Oceania is not making it easy for them. They should step up to the plate, understand the needs of their clients and be competitive.

I agree with mauibabes about the big benefits of booking onboard. We just purchased a future cruise certificate onboard which gave us a $300 credit on the current cruise. This has been increased because we did this in March and received only a $100 credit. There is also a reduced deposit of $250 per person instead of the normal $750. The Oceania Club Ambassador was very busy every day so it appears many passengers are taking advantage of the benefits of booking onboard.