leaveitallbehind

Since the ship was never delivered as promised, I wish them luck with the refunds as promised - especially since one of the reasons provided for the lack of ship was the company couldn't afford to buy it in the first place and their promised investors withdrew. Sounds like a lot of broken promises....

You will probably get better responses on the Oceana board here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/29-oceania-cruises/ You may also want to check the Roll Call for your cruise to discuss with others there. Here is the link to that board to search for your ship and sailing date if you are not already on your Roll Call: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/321-oceania-roll-calls/

As I mentioned in my original response, and to further add to the comments by @zgscl, the refundable deposit fare will allow changes without penalty prior to final payment. But even with a non-refundable deposit fare you should still be able to make the change. However there likely will be a penalty involving the deposit amount that will come into play. But if the difference between the fares as you indicate is substantial enough, the net fare change would still probably be worth the penalty involved.

One potential issue with a singles only cruise is that stateroom fares are based on double occupancy, so unless every single travels with another single friend, the fares may be prohibitive for single occupancy staterooms. Each solo passenger would typically pay the full (or close to) double rate minus one set of taxes and port fees. Booking an entire ship in that manner to allow just singles only may not be feasible.

They will be your best bet for getting things done the way you would like and will also know if there are any restrictions in doing so. Hope it all works out for you.

Typically as long as you are prior to final payment and did not originally select a non-refundable deposit fare, you should be able to make booking changes without penalty. But I would check directly with the cruise line or your travel agent (if you used one) to confirm your options.

I understood that. Again, I think that would vary by cruise line. The one time we cruised over Thanksgiving on RCCL I believe there was a vegetarian option for Thanksgiving, as they typically had vegetarian options every day on the standard menu. The Thanksgiving menu only added a turkey dinner as one of the primary main course options to the standard menu.

I am sure that will vary by cruise line. But with most if you advise them of any dietary requirements or preferences in advance they will try to accommodate you accordingly. And many offer vegetarian alternatives with their daily menus.

Cruising is also something we have enjoyed both as a family with kids, with grandkids, and now primarily as a couple over the past 31 years. And now we have several friends who we met cruising that we continue to cruise with regularly. In the early years work and disposable income limited our cruising to once a year - sometimes longer. In recent years and in retirement that frequency has increased significantly.

They were two 7-night, one 8-night, and one 9-night previously, with one 9-night and two 7-nights upcoming since October '21 through June '24 - 2-3/4 years. And yes we go home between them as they were/are a few months apart each. We, too, like our home and friend's and kids and grandkids, and also think the ships' specialty restaurants (and those in certain ports of call) are very good as well. We also just enjoy traveling and cruising.

I was actually thinking the same thing. Not an uncommon practice often exercised on newer cruisers.😉

This topic will likely become controversial as gratuities and wages are a highly debated topic on CC. But to answer your question, a large portion of service crew members wages is derived from the gratuities paid by the passengers. So if a ship is at less than capacity with passenger bookings than the amount available from gratuities can be less. As such it isn't his base salary that is affected - it is the amount earned from the passenger gratuities. But rest assured, most mass market cruise lines - Celebrity included for certain - are sailing these days at full capacity, so the crew is compensated at the full potential amount. And to add, Celebrity just increased the suggested gratuity amount. More can be added if desired by the passengers. And to your comment regarding how terrible this could be, it is the industry standard that has been in place for many years as to how most cruise line service crew is compensated. (Not unlike the restaurant industry in the US). And relative to the income standard of most countries from which these crew members originate, the income earned in this manner is considered comparatively attractive, which is why so many of these people seek cruise line employment.

As others have said what you choose to do or not to do on a cruise will dictate your enjoyment. Crowds are not everywhere and there are no activities you are required to do on board that would force you into crowded situations. Do you have a veranda stateroom? If so, your deck is your own private space as well. (If you don't, I would consider changing to one). Celebrity ships unusually have a library on board that is quiet and uncrowded as well as a number of smaller venues that you can enjoy. The Sky Observation Lounge is a large space that usually has small, individual seating space available. Try the promenade deck outside for less crowded outdoor spaces. Certain bars will be crowded and there will typically be lines waiting to enter the dining venues. But other than that, ships are not sardine cans and there will always be somewhere on board that will be quiet and away from crowds. You are not delusional for booking this cruise and I am sure you will enjoy it.

Can't answer to your question of more than five years as since the post pandemic restart we have cruised four times with three more planned between now and June '24.

As indicated before, the mass market cruise line websites do not require any information from you to see ships, itineraries, or associated fares. The only time they ask for any personal information is if you proceed to do an actual booking through them. As example, here is the link to the Royal Caribbean corporate webiste: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships. You can see all of the cruise option information without entering any personal data - unless you proceed to do an actual booking. Again, If you are being asked to submit information in order to see fares, etc., then you are likely on an independent on line travel agent website that may look like a cruise line website by showing the different cruise line logos as advertising for their sites. Clicking on those logos only takes you to those fares offered for those cruise lines by the TA where they may ask for information to proceed to fares - and not to the actual corporate websites.

Most mass market cruise lines company websites (RCCL / Celebrity / NCL, etc.) do not require you to fill out any personal information to look at ships, itineraries, and stateroom category pricing. This is only required if you proceed to do an actual on line booking based on a cruise you have selected. What you are likely looking at is on line travel agency websites who show the various cruise lines in their website advertising to entice you to look at them and search for different offered itineraries - not the actual cruise line corporate websites. In doing so, when you click on a given cruise line ad they request your personal information in order to have you in their data base to then call to follow up on your search to try and sell a booking. But you are still on the travel agent website when you do this - not the cruise line website. The best way to avoid this is to go to the actual cruise line corporate websites to search itineraries and pricing.

Simple misunderstanding. Have a good weekend.

Yes - you can cancel and rebook at the current lower price. This can be done through the planner. They will credit the original purchase and recharge the new price to your credit card. Note that this thread will likely be moved to the Celebrity board.

I respectfully disagree. If I have contributed handsomely over the many years to the growth and success of a cruise line (which I have) I feel completely justified in stating that I deserve the benefits I have earned over those years without expiration. That carrot has been dangled in front of those of us who bought into the program over the number of years that we did that the benefit for doing so should not have an expiration date. Again, just my opinion. And BTW, It ticked me off to no end when the primary airline that I had placed my travel with for my business over the years suddenly decided that the many miles I earned doing so would now have an expiration date. Basically, thanks for nothing!

I can assure you this is not an RCCL sponsored thing. I would not pursue it at all - especially if it requires a credit card to do so.

The front of the ship will feel the most up and down motion, in particular on the higher decks. Side to side will be the same anywhere on the ship, again the most intensive on the higher decks. Can't help you with your other questions.

Actually I predicted this several years ago after the last Diamonds in December promotion with so many members reaching Diamond status. The DC was very crowded afterwards (more so than usual) often with overflow rooms added. And about that time is when they started offering drink coupons that could be used anywhere on the ship in an effort to reduce the overcrowding in the DC during the cocktail hour. I also suspected that longer term it would be a way to "thin the herd" by restricting the DC participation to D+ and Pinnacle. Over time the coupons were well received which IMO paved the way for the current change from the DC to now the Crown Lounge for the two higher tiers only during the cocktail hour. That all being said, I am glad that the points never expire. And for those with whom loyalty programs matter, anyone who by being a loyal cruiser has earned the upper tier status over time by investing their discretionary income with a given cruise line deserves the full benefit of that program permanently. It would be a kick in the backside to have an expiration date on points earned over a long period of time when one is now able to enjoy those benefits. But I doubt we will see any more such promotions in the future to grow the upper tiers. Just my opinion.

I would suggest signing up with Celebrity if you think you will cruise with them as you would be Elite with them and would receive those benefits on board Celebrity. Note that Elite is the highest reciprocal tier and is available to Diamond, Diamond Plus, and Pinnacle members. (Similarly, Diamond is the highest reciprocal tier with Celebrity). It is true that currently the points earned remain separate with the cruise line on which you are sailing at the time and the only way you would earn the next level with Celebrity is to earn those tier points through them. But thanks to your RCCL Diamond status, you still share the Elite tier. So why not? My understanding is if they merge the RCCL C & A program with the Celebrity Captain's Club, the tier levels would equalize in terms of benefits (good for Celebrity) and the points would combine so that cruising on either would result in a cumulative total for both tier progressions. Celebrity has already announced the addition of a dedicated Elite and higher lounge on some ships to mirror the former Diamond Club (now Crown Lounge), which IMO signals the first step towards this plan. Unfortunately on RCCL, the new Crown lounge will be limited now to Diamond Plus and Pinnacle members during the designated evening cocktail hours. Diamond tier members will still have the 4 coupon drink benefit available in the other venues around the ship and can still access the Crown Lounge during non-cocktail hours.

Just to clarify, the OP already indicated that upon checking further, the double occupancy fare was an error on the website and the current pricing reflects the correct double occupancy fare.

It is unfortunate that in general a solo cruiser often pays essentially the double occupancy fare less one set of port fees and taxes. As you are likely aware, cruise lines will issue reduced solo fares from time to time to mitigate that somewhat. But, if you have not already, you also should check cruise lines like NCL and Celebrity (among others) who offer dedicated solo staterooms on some of their ships that are somewhat smaller than standard but are priced intentionally at a solo rate that is somewhat higher than the one persons' double occupancy rate would be, but significantly lower than the typical double occupancy rate for a solo. Celebrity offers these stateroom on their Edge class ships as balcony staterooms. Maybe worth looking at?