espmass

Have a wonderful and safe time.  I'll also be watching postings for info for the upcoming 2/7 cruise.

37 minutes ago, Nymich said:

BOTH of us are negative for the next cruise!  This after many days right next door to a quarantine guest who is disembarking tmrw.

Congrats on your being negative.  Would you know what type of cabin the quarantined passengers next door to you are in?

14 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

Did you perhaps use a large FCC (with an expiration date) for you current booking?  I just wonder if some of the different results are buried in the details of the affected booking.  Otherwise it is a black mark for Oceania IMO.  A person should not have to individually negotiate terms. 

No, we paid cash for this cruise.  It's absolutely a black mark.  People are probably tired of seeing me post about this as I have had several posts on the issues as others have asked about it.

18 minutes ago, marieps said:

Many thanks to those who've posted here and on other threads about their experiences trying to win FCC for later cruises.  My TA convinced O to give me FCC, thanks in part I believe, to testimonials posted here.  We'll be sailing now in February 2023.  Apparently tales of FCC granted into the new year are accurate.  Hooray.

I responded to you on the roll call too.  They are still not granting us approval to postpone.  We want to postpone to the same 2023 cruise that you mentioned.

I also want to post a thank you to Nymich for all the wonderful information.  Loved your posts and your information has been more than valuable in helping me to become familiar with the ship.  I still hope to postpone our 2/7 cruise but if I do, we will reschedule on the Riviera so your information will  be of great help.  Enjoy the rest of your cruise!

21 minutes ago, Nymich said:

St Maarten. 

 

So everyone can expect similar things to this:  This itinerary we are on was sent to us by email ONE DAY before we boarded.  It is completely different.

But........we made both ports so far.

I was wondering when O would update the Travel and Entry Requirements for my 2/7 cruise.  Now I see we likely won't have anything until the day before since they obviously don't know what our itinerary will be.  Thanks for the heads up.

Have a wonderful time in St Maarten.  Glad to hear you were able to stop there.

10 minutes ago, Nymich said:

Every US City has covid also but they are obsessed with slamming cruise ships. 

 

We will never get numbers anyway but if the ship does well enough with testing to go to Barbados then things are going as well as possible.

Yes, I pretty much thought the report was slamming the cruise industry.  One of the things they did also report was some well-known cruise reviewer (sorry I forgot his name) who said he feels just as safe on a cruise ship as he does in a crowded restaurant.

1 hour ago, Nymich said:

I am not jumping to any conclusions.....

 

 

I hope there are no positive cases onboard and will be waiting to hear.  NBC News this morning had a report about the cruise industry and insists that every cruise ship out of a US Port right now has Covid cases onboard.  It will be interesting to hear the results.  Good luck to you and for all of us on future cruises!

14 minutes ago, Nymich said:

We are thrilled to be back on O!  Just finished lunch at Waves and waiting for room to be called.

Thinking of good memories of 2019 where we met Catherine and Orv.

Have a wonderful time and please post to let the rest of on later cruises know how things are.

Sadly, someone on the Riviera posted a pic of a person being loaded into an ambulance while docked in St Maarten.  Any word on if it was Covid related or not and whether it was a passenger or crew member?  Just curious.

17 minutes ago, Jayne E said:

Not advertising it?  Pretty underhanded!  Possibility your friend was accommodated because he’s a TA and brings in business?

Couple on this board leaving 1/4 getting no cooperation from Oceania.  I asked for shorter payment window than 5 months and was told to pay or cancel, despite several hundred empty cabins. 
 

Thought about it but the friend said it applied to everyone and not just because he is a TA.  Who really knows of course.  He got the information from a friend who apparently works at Norwegian.  I'm not saying I'd cancel or postpone yet but it would be nice to have the option as it gets closer.

10 hours ago, Jayne E said:

They should be allowing cancellations with FCC for ALL customers. 
We cruised on Riviera 12/3/21 and not one case of Covid. No masks and no restrictions This is no longer the case. Infection rate expanding daily. 
We just cancelled 17 day cruise as O held to payment 5 months prior.  Friends scheduled on other cruise lines have 7 day window to cancel….Oceania is completely ignoring the current infection rate. 
We’re scheduled for Caribbean O cruise 2/7 and wish we weren’t. We’re not worried about health effects of getting Covid. We don’t want to get it and spend thousands to quarantine in a ship cabin OR be restricted to O excursion to leave ship. We’ve been to the ports numerous times and just go to beaches. O’s beach excursions are about 3 hours including transportation, are overpriced and you’re back on board early afternoon. 
 

Just spoke to our TA who was supposed to cruise this weekend out of Miami on Norwegian.  He postponed and told me Norwegian is allowing pax to postpone but they are not advertising this.  If Norwegian is allowing this perhaps Oceania will at some point?  We feel the same as what you said in that we aren't afraid of a mild illness but we don't want to spend thousands and end up quarantined in  a cabin.  We also just go to beaches and do not take ship excursions.  Let's hope for the best as we have several weeks to go.

23 minutes ago, RCD1952 said:

I agree.  Makes no sense.  With the new warning today from the CDC, I look for most yellow coded ships to go red very soon.

What happens if they turn to red?

If all the cruises seem to be waitlisted, perhaps Oceania is just doing something on their website?  

How sad it would be for the cruise industry if they have to cancel all these cruises but if they do, I would hope they do it before so many people travel to Florida!

I noticed the same thing this morning for my 2/7 Riviera cruise.  I wondered if perhaps O is trying to keep a limited number of passengers so blocking any new bookings?   

2 hours ago, pilgrimage said:

It appears that the shutdown is starting.  We had mandatory testing yesterday for our upcoming stop in Barbados in two days and there appear to be enough positive cases to concern Curacao where we are currently docked.  Captain came on and said negotiations are going on between Miami and Curacao to see if we can go ashore.  No idea how many positives came up and I doubt they will tell us.  

That's concerning to us.  Looking towards our 2/7 Riviera cruise we can manage with masks both indoors and out and we can manage with a change in ports and we would be happy to even miss one or two stops as sitting in a lounge chair by the pool is far preferable to sitting home in the cold North East.  However, if more and more ports are starting to close out ships, we really wouldn't be happy being onboard for the entire 12 days without any stops.  Hopefully for us and for the entire cruise industry that won't happen.

40 minutes ago, Jayne E said:

I have a driver take us. Takes about 75 minutes as there’s always some traffic. You should leave after rush hour. No earlier than 10 AM.  Oceania is Terminal J and parking is across from the terminal.  Road Signs are good but using Waze or Apple Car Play better. 

Driver as in Uber or a friend?  Thanks for the info.  Thanks to emckeeve too.  Didn't mean to hijack this thread.

4 hours ago, Jayne E said:

Glad to hear recent Covid testing time was short. On 12/3 departure it took almost 2 hours. 
It was very orderly, just took time.  
Food and service excellent. New menu items added throughout and some items removed. 
Agree with a previous post that Caribbean cruises with 3-4 sea days should have better activities.  Bracelet weaving and needlepoint were two “activities”. I know we’re not the youngest cruisers but we’re still active enough for something more exciting than that! 

The band playing at the pool were very good….they should do two sets on sea days. 
Going to Caribbean again 2/7. However, going to cancel 17 day European cruise in May. Having to make Final Payment 5 months in advance is just too risky. Can always rebook closer to sail date….many cabins available. 

Since your post shows you are in Boynton Beach,  hope you don't mind a personal question.  We are staying in Boynton for a week prior to the 2/7 cruise.  Is driving into Miami on a Monday morning and trying to find the port lot difficult if we aren't familiar with Miami?  Or are we best off driving to Miami 2/6  and staying at a hotel with a park and cruise deal and a shuttle to the port.  Thanks so much.

We would not be happy if Bubble Tours were required on our upcoming 2/7 Riviera cruise because we normally just grab a cab and head for a beach.  Yes, I realize some people frown upon that.  However, we figure that staying onboard, sitting on a lounge chair in the sun by the pool for 12 days is far more fun than sitting on our sofa, watching tv all day, and seeing it snow outside for 12 days.  

2 hours ago, Homerody said:

Consider this as heads up PSA (no, not the medical PSA....)  My travel insurance company will only accept PCR results if I file a COVID related claim. YMMV.

I was wondering about that so good advice.  Guess I'll need to check my insurance policy.

I am new to Oceania and will be on the Riviera in February.  I loved looking through your review and all the pictures, menus, etc.  I will continue looking at them for the next 2 months until I board!  Thank you so much.

Beautiful picture!  

Thanks.  We do realize the cost of the taxi and, as I said, we aren't planning to do this to save money.  I just hope we are making it easier for ourselves.