Redtravel

Oceania nightlife is food. Dinner is the highlight. Shows aren’t a big thing.

WiFi is slow.

I am elite plus. Sailed 2 weeks ago. The only benefits that I used was laundry and scoop of gelato. Laundry service was very slow. Had to hunt down my final bag after 3 days. Got it back in time to pack. Everything looked gray. Washed it all again after getting home. Folded everything including items that I asked to be pressed. After 29 cruises, I get a scoop of ice cream? No Captains club nightly reception? This is Loyalty?

Obviously you haven’t been on a Celebrity cruise recently. I was on Celebrity 2 weeks ago. You can wear anything. I saw things on that cruise that I have never seen on any cruise. Hats in all restaurants. Flip flops and shorts at any meal. Swimsuits in MDR. Chic nights aren’t chic. They are slovenly. I thought that I had seen it all until I saw several in pajamas at breakfast. Previously on any cruise, I had never seen that type of dress. It really was sad. There were people who dressed well. However, since nobody is excluded for “ violating the dress code”. Going forward, there is no dress code.

All In or Always Included is just a name for a recent promo on Celebrity. When I booked my recent cruise, I think it was Always Included. Included items were unlimited internet, tips, and drinks. I did ask my TA if there was a cruise only rate. She checked and got me a cruise only rate. Everyone pays tips. When comparing cost difference between included and cruise only, the difference was less than $100 per cabin for 10 day cruise. Figured it was a good price for drinks and unlimited WiFi. If only the internet worked and drinks were made correctly, it would have been good. WiFi was slow when it worked. Most of the time it didn’t. Many of the drink ingredients were not available. If I had known this before booking, I wouldn’t buy Always Included.

Bermuda is just trying keep the island safe. They need to pay those people checking the vax records and issue the authorizations. While $40 is high, before March it was $80. If you were staying on land, the testing every 3 days was a hassle. That’s why we chose to cruise rather than fly in and stay. Before June, you had to apply and get PCR test results sent to Bermuda. Now, you can show your test results at embarkation. It is an inconvenience. Not enough to cancel a trip.

2 ships at dockyard is crowded.3 makes it more crowded. Since ships are sailing at high occupancy, you should expect crowding. We were there 2 weeks ago. 2 ships in. It was crowded.

Don’t lose sleep. We got noon appointment. Got to dock early. We were sitting on bench waiting. We were asked by officials if we would like to checkin. Nobody looked at appointment times.

We had noon checkin. Drove to port. Was there about 11:30. It was quiet. Sat on bench waiting for noon. We were asked if we would like to checkin. Nobody seemed to care about appointment times. Appointment times are a good way to stagger the crowding that can happen. We checked in very quickly. Had printed copies of Covid test results, Bermuda travel authorization, boarding passes. Also had passports and vax cards in hand. All 5 got checked quickly. We were on the ship by noon. People who didn’t print out forms were on phones locating all the info. Print out forms will expedite the process. Dropped bags in cabin, picked up sea passes, watched safety video, checked into muster station (sea pass or boarding passes scanned), and then to lunch. Concierge lunch in MDR was good.

I have seen people bring cases of many nonalcoholic drinks onto the ships. We brought a case of bottled purified water when we sailed with babies. Mixed it with powdered formula. At the dock, we put a luggage tag on the case. It was delivered to the cabin.

Got Covid after a cruise on another line. We were offered either refund or fcc. Took refund. Still recovering. Will not book any cruise until test negative. Been told that it could take months.

Testing at the dock is the best way to insure people are ok. Any testing any place else is not reliable. On another line, we had to do PCR test 4 days prior for a Bermuda travel authorization and a supervised antigen test 2 days prior for the cruise line. We were negative on both. What a hassle scheduling. The week before the cruise was not pleasant. Compare this with another line that only asked us to do an antigen test at the dock. We took an at home test before we flew. Took the test at the dock. No problems.

Avoid cabins on deck 11.

Deck 2 is quieter. If you can, upgrade to a veranda. On our last cruise, we had a veranda. Best place to avoid crowds. During a pandemic, having your own outdoor space is more important than ever before.

Strangely, cruises were never subject to Covid testing to enter USA. Neither was entering anyway except by plane. That was a glitch in the safety system. During the pandemic, testing before entering the USA may have stopped spread of Covid. No that there is no mandatory testing to enter, anyone can enter. Only time can tell if it will work.

Take national express bus.

Be safe…wear masks everywhere.

Loved Hong Kong. Was there for a week 4 years ago. Followed with cruise on Millenium for 2 weeks…..Vietnam and Taiwan.

At Al Bacio, ask for a box carrier.

Deck 9 is better than deck 11.

If you don’t spend it all, you can cash it in on the last day.

Many people love aqua class. We tried Aqua once on Summit. It wasn’t for us. Blu is a nice venue. It’s quieter than MDR. However, we prefer the MDR menu. Luckily on M ships you can order from either menu. Blu and MDR share a kitchen. On S and E ships, you can only order from Blu menu. We also didn’t like our cabin location on deck 11 aft. Vibration, small uncovered veranda, and noise from movie deck above were unwelcome. Also often walked through buffet to access pool deck. If you like aqua, book on deck 9. I prefer concierge class on M ships for the larger cabin space. Also, like the embarkation lunch in MDR.

Oceania wouldn’t let us us fcc for a January 2023 cruise. We had to cancel our January 2022 cruise due to Covid. We figured just book a similar cruise following year. We even picked a longer sailing which costs more. My TA contacted O and was told no. We had to use fcc by end of 2022. We don’t normally travel in December since we like being home for the holidays. We booked early December 2022 similar cruise to the one we missed. We booked most expensive cabin available and will still have fcc money leftover. Guess we’ll lose it. After sailing last week on a different line and contracting Covid, we may choose not to cruise.

On Summit last week, many excursions were canceled with no explanation. The ship didn’t provide decent maps or port guides like they used to do. Advice: before sailing, get info and maps. Don’t depend on going on a tour.

Brought our own insulated bottles. Had cabin steward bring us a pitcher of water and ice. We filled our bottles and took them with us off ship.