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Oceania is very very adamant in saying certain benefits,especially prepaid gratuities are not combinable wiith Amex Platinum onboard credit. IME they mean it..no way to add it back.

No, this whole thread us about the announcement that Marina will NOT have tubs removed and replaced with larger shower like was done to Riviera.

Okay we can agree that this Peacock thing sucks, but likely irrelevant to cruise ship viewing. Should have zero effect on international distribution which cruise ships use. NFL games...select regular season games and all playoff games...no matter what network they are on in USA are sold as a package for certain international uses including cruise ships.

Hell no I am not 100% sure...I read the press releases and make an educated guess like most of us. They have been especially wishy washy in their releases about what actually will happen with Concierge and below cabins now that they have welched out on initial promise to do full cabin refurbs like on Riviera. Pitiful statement that there is "no time" to redo all bathrooms. Cost cutting move...well, they cannot say that!

Well except they ARE refurbishing all staterooms this time according to the press releases. So I am assuming that Concierge and below cabins will receive just new carpets and other "soft goods,"whatever that means. This would tend to refute your optimism that O would redo bathrooms on Marina in a year or two IMO. They would consider all cabins as refurbished and would not redo them in a matter of one or two years. Seems to me that if they do the very messy work or redoing all of the bathrooms, cabin soft goods would need to be done at the same time, as otherwise they would remain full of dust/dirt/schmutz, whatever you want to call it, from the extensive bathroom work. BTW Aquamor restaurant's addition to Marina will be a big advantage over Rivera for us. We really enjoyed it on Vista and would miss it if we were to cruise on Riviera.

It is also printed on second page of final cruise documents you should receive by email from O or your TA about 3 weeks from embarkation. I embark Vista in exactly 3 weeks and received my final documents by email from my TA this morning.

We have MedJet and actually used it; not like we expected (eg. during a cruise or foreign land trip.) My wife became deathly ill from an infection while visiting relatives a few hundred miles from home. They did a great job with medical evacuation to a hospital near our home. Do need to remember that MedJet only works when transfer is from hospital to hospital, so, for example if you become very ill or injured while on a ship you would have to be hospitalized at a local hospital in foreign country before Medjet would evacuate you back home and it would have to be to a hospital near home.

Find a TA that gives benefits like ship board credits and rebates a part of their commission. Mine gives me a rebate of about 8% of cruise cost back by check a couple of weeks before my cruise. In essence if I book direct with RSSC, I am paying up to ten percent more for my cruise. What is the sense of that? Also, always buy your trip insurance from an independent agency so that any part of the trip not arranged through the cruise line are covered. I use tripinsurance store com. They will also help you if any issues come up if you need to file a claim.

Ongoing problem with O which they seem in no hurry to correct. This along with gamesmanship with Simply More credits...coming to the conclusion that the cruise line many of us have known and loved is turning into an ethically challenged company. Looking forward to two more cruises booked with them..we do like the product...but sadly may be taking them off our list of cruise lines with which we book.

When I posted a month ago about my annoyance with sometimes inability to use SM shore excursion credit, O apologists argued that not being able to use the funds is equivalent to missing lunch because one is on an excursion or not going to available shows, etc. etc. Because of the defined dollar amount showing on my account, I still think it is more of a problem, but, as others have said...O does not care. It is a price increase!

Absolutely correct! Of course this also happens on luxury lines like Regent where tours are included. Somehow it seems less of an issue because there is not a shown dollar amount on your account. With O you see the money which you lose because you cannot spend it and it is infuriating to some. We experienced a variation of this problem..$196 worth of excursions at final port were cancelled due to rough seas...snorkeling tour cancelled at last minute. Nothing else available. Two $98 tours gone. No way for us to recoup the money. Suck it up and deal with it seems to be O's message.

Thank you. That is reassuring. I was looking at an on line TA website which says all restaurants open at 7;30.

We are fairly early diners. Is it true that on Silversea the earliest time dinner is available in any restaurant is 7:30?

Not in our experience on Vista. Internet was at least 95 percent reliable...almost zero in and out issues.

It has always been spot on accurate in my experience indicating if tours are full. Second tour on same day or failure of system to properly price...then yes, need to talk to a human.

AFAI can recall, nothing has changed it Terrace in terms if offerings, so I think ur spouse will be fine.

I wish everyone getting all excited about advantages of on board booking would also point out that it is not the "can't lose" no brainer it used to be. With imposition of new penalties, you no longer can get all of your deposit back if you decide to cancel (other than making your allowed one time switch to a different cruise.) At least that was the way it was explained to me on my recent cruise on Vista. I said no thank you, as we like to keep our options open. Also we are finding an increasing number of sale fares under which on board booking benefits are ineligible, except, of course for the reduced deposit.

It focuses on healthy food and menu is somewhat limited although we thought it to be quite good and innovative. Realize that Waves and Aquamor are not air conditioned (except for a small section of Aquamor), but Waves staff will deliver ordered food to you at a table in the air conditioned Terrace Cafe which is adjacent. Combine that with meals in Waves where they will deliver food to your table after ordering plus occasional meals in the Terrace buffet at non crowded times when perhaps you can let her select food and bring it to her. I think you will be fine.

If you travel after May refurbishment you will have option of ordering served lunches and breakfasts in Aquamor restaurant which will be added to Marina. We enjoyed it on the new Vista recently.

Your highly principled attitude seems not to recognize that there are several high volume agencies, such as one I use, whose business model involves a rebate of a portion of their commission in addition to the perks such as onboard credit and included gratuities, when available through their consortium. On recent 16 night cruise on Oceania Vista, I received about 8 percent of my fare back in the form of a check two weeks before sailing in addition to prepaid gratuities and $150 on board credit from the TA plus $250 NCL shareholder credit. If prepaid gratuities were not available on that cruise, I would have received Amex Platinum on board credit also. I also get great personal service from a travel agent who is paid on a salaried basis with some incentives, so she is not giving me a part of "her" commission.

OP is asking about Rssc Mariner..no refurb sadly til 2025.

In terms of condition of the ship, unrefurbished Riviera was in much better shape than Mariner. Riviera is 10 plus years newer, so that makes a difference also. Level of service on Mariner will be great, somewhat better than Oceania, cabins are fine...just old. We last cruised Mariner in late 2022 and noticed hallway walls scuffed, carpet worn in some places...never saw wear and tear to that degree on Oceania. I am sure you will have a good cruise on Mariner.. but depends on how much the wear and tear bothers you.

We are on same cruise. Signed in at 8 p.m. Had zero trouble getting 2 tops for all 3 specialty restaurants...early on a sea day...just the way we like it. Ship looks to be about 70% full and cruise is for 14 nights so that could be the reason it was so easy.

Absolutely. I enjoyed NA beer on my November cruise and had to show my card so it was covered under SM beer and wine with meals package. I was referring to virgin drinks as most people think of them...pina coladas, daquiris etc...those are not charged. It was absolutely wrong of Oceania to offer response saying that virgin drinks were not included without qualifying their statement to say non alcohol drinks that are charged include those with Lyre brand flavors as well as N.A. beer...others are included, or something to that effect.

Unless policy has very recently changed, virgin cocktails are included at no cost. We enjoyed virgin cocktails at the Waves Bar most afternoons on our November Panama Canal cruise on Vista.