1985rz1

Only the O and A ships have self service laundries on most decks. On the R ships, it's only on one deck...7, I think, but I haven't checked the deck plans to make sure it's 7.

If antibiotics seem to have addressed the issue, then it was not a virus. So, I wonder what the source was.

I tend to discount the extreme posts, especially those who say "never again." Such posts tend to be outliers who want to rant and vent.

You convert to the existing price of the cruise. If there is a major sale, you can win, if not you can lose. Have your TA price out the difference.

Hmmm. I noticed that a standard visitor visa (not an eVisa) is NZD $211 which is pretty close to the $134 you quoted if you quoted US $. Could that be what you applied for? https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zealand-visas/visas/visa/visitor-visa

Agreed, But we've been doing R-ships on O lately (driven by itinerary), so we weren't bothered by the cabin/shower sizes on A.

Sounds like yor inadvertently used a visa broker. The evisa is NZD $17 or NZD $23, depending on whether you use their app or do it online, but there is an addtional charge of NZD $35 tourist fee tacked on when you check out. At least that was true when we got ours for our January cruise. https://nzeta.immigration.govt.nz/

We did a 16- day Azamara cruise around New Zealand this past January and February and were pleasatlt surprsed that the experience compared well with our Oceania experience. O won out in somecareas, but A actually exceeded O in other areas. We have no hestitation to book A again for it great itineraries. We have 2 upcoming cruises on the books on O and one one A, alll three selected for itinerary, since the sailing experience, while differ in details, are comparable. Fortunately A recovered from it's disastrous we site transition. It's still a bit clunky, but O is not known for its IT, either.

We did a 16- day Azamara cruise around New Zealand this past January and February and were pleasatlt surprsed that the experience compared well with our Oceania experience. O won out in somecareas, but A actually exceeded O in other areas. We have no hestitation to book A again for it great itineraries. We have 2 upcoming cruises on the books on O and one one A, alll three selected for itinerary, since the sailing experience, while differ in details, are comparable. Fortunately, A has recovered from its disastrous web site transition. It’s still clunky, but O is not known for it IT prowess, either.

I think most of us have been thinking about strategies when in the MDR or in the specialties, but in the Terrace (O's version of a buffet, but served by the staff), you can adjust the amounts of any dish to your liking. And the menu is more or less the same as the MDR, but with the grill option added. That may be a good option for you to consider.

We too often share dishes in restaurants...even down to the desserts, to my grumbling, sometimes 😉.

I also hate to be wasteful ( my upbringing, too), but one can always order half portions to help reduce it and only order one or two courses that meet your appetite.

Mine, too.

Interedting...but only the shore excursions are excluded, so it's not really cruise only in the traditional sense.

The email says "selected cruises."

Nautica does not have a Red Ginger.

But as I read the negative comments on other cruise line forums, I'm beginning to think it's a choice for frying pan or fire. Things have changed since the pandemic, and I find I no longer have the perfect line of previous years. Yet, I can't find one that is even close to my pre-pandemic experience in all areas. It's become a choice of what I am willing to put up with when I find itineraries I like.

It could be the difference between a premium line and luxury line.

Our physician also prescribed cipro as as backup on our foreign journeys as a precaution, especially in the more exotic places where bacterial infections could occur. For our recent cruise, he pescribed paxlovid as a precaution should we contract covid. We filled the prescriptions and took them with us, but we are aware that we need to be cautious when deciding they are needed.

We attended a travel fair about a year ago, and stopped by the EJ booth. The EJ representative staffing the booth said the person behind the cuisine on EJ is the original person behind the O cuisine.

I think iowananny was referring to the hand cloths in the public washrooms, where paper towels are also available. Hopefully not a bath towel, although that possibility conjures up hilarious images in my head.

Postal rates soared in the US, especially for foreign countries. That could be why O chose to eliminate foreign mailings, except for Canada.

Yes, like the Oceania R ships. We just cruised the Journey and it did need some refreshing, but nothing serious. Service was great: food was good (not WOW). Still, if one is interested in itineraries, the selections were excellent. No line is perfect, so one needs to decide what's important. To us a slight step down from Oceania, but with more interesting itineraries.

You might want to look at Azamara. Their ships are the same size as Oceania's R-ships...about 650 px +/-

Yes...Although it was UK thread, I realized that I needed to qualify the region to the UK, so I reposted with the qualification. Sorry for the confusion. Which Senior Living Place are you visiting? When are you visiting?