1985rz1

1 hour ago, footprintsaroundtheglobe said:

I recommend choosing the passenger side of the shuttle for the trip over

What is the passenger side?  

39 minutes ago, clo said:

Just to be clear, this isn't included on the new Simply More wine, beer and champagne, right?

I honestly don't know, since what I posted is the bar list, and have yet to experience SM (Still working with old OL bookings).  But I thought the question was about what was available, not what was included in SM.

43 minutes ago, Cruisedreamer1 said:

Could someone take a photo of the cordials listed on the wine menu? It can be from any O ship. I'm trying to show a an interested friend on what the ship has and what she drinks. Thanks

Under "DESSERT & FORTIFIED" in the "Wines by the Glass" section and under the "APERITIFS & CORDIALS."

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/sites/default/files/2023-04/general-bar-menu-oceania.pdf

4 hours ago, Pearl64 said:

Does anyone know if you are permitted to bring unopened crackers off the ship? My husband is diabetic and I always carry the snack peanut butter and crackers or just plain peanuts. I certainly do not want to hold up immigration. He usually is ok but it is just insurance if he has issues. Would a doctor's note help?  Thanks.

I suspect that unopened crackers would be OK, but I would be very cautious and ask an official government site and not depend on any advice from here or any other social media site.  In New Zealand, the restrictions were rigid, and if you got as far as a customs inspector at any port with any prohibited items such as fruit or vegetables...even a banana or an apple...there is a minimum fine (I think $400) that is instantly assessed.  No exceptions and no leniency. 

And a doctor's note would not make any difference, especially since you can always but snacks in the port.

2 hours ago, BSR said:

On a B2B cruise will I be able to book all my specialty dining reservations when the booking window becomes available?

If it's a true b2b (2 booking numbers) the each segment will have it's own booking window. If its an extended cruise (1 booking number for both segments) then you will be likely to book both segments when the window becomes available.

8 hours ago, chocchic said:

We're booked on Sirena Hamburg to Oslo in August.  I'm running into excursions that will only give refunds if provided anywhere from 48 hours to 1 week notice of cancellation. I'm a little nervous since we cruised Oceania in New Zealand January 23 and had 3 ports cancelled.  I'm wondering if it was Oceania or New Zealand ?  They were not necessarily weather related.  

Any thoughts on whether I can be confident about Sirena making it to ports in August?

Just to put excursion cancellations into a bit of perspective, we returned from an Azamara in February, and two nights in Tasmania were cancelled because of sea conditions.

We're on the Sirena from Oslo to London on the Sirena from August 10 - 28, 2024.  We risk likely cancellations on the Norway to Edinbugh portion at Faeroe islands,  Historicaly it's  50-50.

3 hours ago, maccrate said:

Just booked a September 2024 cruise.  Went to Options on the website, and to beverage packages.  Since our Simply More fare includes the lunch/dinner beverage package, I wanted to upgrade to the Prestige package.  On the website, the option for purchasing the beverage package lists only the Prestige package at $69.99/person/day.  There is no option to purchase the upgrade which should only be $30/person/day.  

 

Anyone else experience this?  Work around? Or, just wait until we board and upgrade at that point?

 

Thanks.

If you do a search on "Beverage Packages" on this forum, you will several posts that discuss this issue in the recent and distant past.

The bottom line is that if you have SM, you can upgrade while onboard for $30 per day. Those who are on the old cruise-only OLife program, don't have any lunch/dine/wine/beer drink package included and have to pay the full price of the Prestige package

44 minutes ago, gailellen12 said:

I have a 1200.00 sm excursion credit. I have booked some excursions but would need to book 7 more to be entitled to the 25 percent discount. I am doing all the excursions I want to do so obviously would need to spend a lot more money to qualify for25 percent discount. Would actually lose money doing this. Makes no sense

Yes, it's not always worth it.  I just do the math like you did to decide.

1 hour ago, ORV said:

One of the best things we’ve done for travel is to change to the T-Mobile Magenta max 55+  
 

Text and data in something like 215 countries, call if you need to make one at .25 a- minute, usually don’t need to, text is fine. Free internet on Delta & AA and I’m sure others. I get a bunch of other perks that’s not relevant to travel but nice to have. 

Same here!  Great plan.

3 minutes ago, Cruisedreamer1 said:

By the way, we signed up for 3 excursions and found that we either buy another excursion or lose the $13 left on our $400 pp excursion credit.

Have you look how many excursion you need to get a 25% across the board discount.  In some cases, with the 25% discount, it's cheaper than just adding just one.

4 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

Year after year we saw this happen until we finally stopped going there and switched to watching chair hogs on cruise ships.

🤣

13 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

I don't doubt your theory at all.  Your post does bring up a side issue I've always wondered about.  How do you get the numbers you cited?  I've seen posts on many other threads where numbers and percentages are offered.  I've been curious as to where the numbers originate.  Are the numbers posted somewhere on the web?  Again, I'm not questioning your numbers, I'd be interested in seeing the numbers for future cruises I may take or decide to book.  Thank you.

I don't know where @ORV get his numbers, but we found them shared by the Captain at repeater's receptions.

1 hour ago, pinotlover said:

I remove them indoors and always at meals.

🙌👏 Yea and Thank you.

53 minutes ago, Techno123 said:

The concierge and executive lounges and the Aquamar spa terrace only available to concierge up:

Isn't the Spa Terrace available to every one, but at a daily fee if it's not included in your stateroom?

On the R ships there are no Concierge or executive lounges, so for those ships, there are no restricted areas.

1 hour ago, uktog said:

1 hour ago, fruitmachine said:

The trouble is that they can't guarantee that lots of 'early' diners won't linger for a longer meal. 

I can see that issue though other cruise lines seem to manage the issue no problem.

I agree with uktog.  Other similar size ships seem to be able to manage their seatings in 30 min intervals, so I don't understand why AZ can't do it also. It would also spread the demand on the kitchen across the evening instead of two peak times.

38 minutes ago, growlers said:

I am booked on the 27 day Barcelona - Cape Town under Simply More with a $600 pp excursion credit sailing on November 14, 2024..   I booked 7 excursions, all at the same time in the same "cart".  It seems to have charged me full price for all of them despite the excursion booking section offering a 25% discount on 5 or more.  They are all real excursions, not transfers or anything.  

On the confirmation, It shows the 25% off discount price for the first 3 in the "savings" column. The other 4 it shows "0" under the column "savings".   Ultimately though, the total price I paid was the non-discounted price for all 7.  It added up the full price on all 7, took off $600 for the credit pp, and then charged me the rest of the full price balance to my credit card.  

Is this a known website glitch?   I suppose I need to call Oceania to get a refund, but is there some weird rule where you have to buy 5 or more AFTER the Simply More credit is used......?    Was I supposed to click / do something else to get the discount when booking these?

Also, what happens if you book exactly 5 for the discount and then Oceania has to cancel one of the ports after sailing?  Do they take away the 25% discount? My point being, they could take away the 25% discount on all 5 and then effectively not refund you for their cancelled excursion (assuming they all were similar base prices).  TIA

 

Yes, the excursion cart is glitchy, and you need to click the right buttons at the top of the cart...but even then it's can be problematic..  As has been discussed on many threads on this board you should book through your TA to avoid the problems, but don't have a TA, book them through an O agent.  However, if you call O and tell them what you want they will adjust the prices and give you a refund.  

20 minutes ago, clo said:

I can't remember. If we only get two res at the specialties per cruise/segment, can we do two at Toscano? I loathe watermelon 🙂 and now the sea bass (aka Patagonia tootthfish doesn't sound so wonderful either. Plus honestly, having lived in the West with a plethora of Asian cuisines, "fusion" is usually my first choice.

Thanks for weighing in as usual.

 

You can't double reserve for one using a reservation for another.

45 minutes ago, HSBC said:

Does Oceania cruise always Refundable prior to final payment date?

How much is deviation fee?

Thanks!

There is a non-refundable administrative fee that is included in your deposit On our recent booking, it is $150 pp.  Then 30 days prior to final payment there is a cancellation fee, which on our recent booking is $500 pp.

If you're asking about flight deviation fees, I haven't used O-air, so I don't know the amount.

24 minutes ago, AMHuntFerry said:

I have received the drinks 2-for-1 at Happy Hour on the menu above on my last two cruises.

 

Also, the drink of the day (or as I liked to call it, Happy Hour all day), is no longer is offered.

That's interesting. Perhaps a change.  I was told the Big O martini was not available on 2 for 1.

28 minutes ago, DoulaAnn said:

If your niece likes things like trivia, name that tune, bingo, casinos, lounging by the pool, bocce or shuffleboard, or just reading, she shouldn't be bored (some ships also have artist lofts -- where there is painting, acrylics, or photography-- and culinary classes -- which have to be booked WELL in advance, like when they open up) she will really be fine. Some people her age actually like talking with elders and hearing their experiences (and the elders -- at least some of them and we're among them) love talking with younger generations.

@Zoey123. If as @ORV says, if you are looking at a R ship ( e.g. Sirena), things like the Artist's Loft and the culinary classes are not available.  

17 minutes ago, paf225 said:

 

Hi Cruisedreamer, Here is a list of the signature drinks for the different Oceania ships.  I would imagine they've come up with one for Vista by now.  Regards, Paul

 

@Cruisedreamer1  In terms of Happy Hour, specialty drinks are not included in the 2 for 1 discount.  

20 minutes ago, edgee said:

My understanding is that that port fees and taxes are separated out on the TA's copy of invoices along with the air fare portion, if applicable. According to my TA, this has to happen since O subtracts them out when calculating TA commissions.

I don't know what applies to TA commissions, but on the passenger level we had to cancel in the 100% penalty level because of a medical emergency, and there was no compensation for port fees and taxes because we didn't pay for them separately.

4 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

Thanks.

 

So, just to clarify.

If you cancel whilst in the % penalty phase (ie: 25%), the fees & taxes will be refunded 100% and the 25% penalty will be applied to the remainder of the fare ? 

The fees and port taxes are bundled in the total fare, so they are not separated out at any level of cancellation.

On 4/10/2024 at 8:11 PM, slw207693 said:

Since Covid, Oceania has collected and kept the gratuities that are added to you bill

How do you know this?  Please provide a source.

20 hours ago, ORV said:

No more like the big coats firemen wear. 

But don't firemen always wear blazers?  It would seem fitting, even if a bit 🔥.