ruthnlarry

The problem is fixed now.  I am using Safari.

Have a great day!

Good Morning.

Is anybody else experiencing problems opening the forum links on CruiseCritic using Safari as their browser? 

When I use Safari, I can't open any of the forums (boards), including this forum and the Roll Calls.  This problem started yesterday evening.

In order to open many of the links on CC including this Oceania forum, I had to use Firefox.  I use Safari most of the time that I am online.

I did send a message to CC.

We have used Blackberrycars several times.  https://www.blackberrycars.com

They have always provided excellent service at a reasonable price.  

2 hours ago, Vallesan said:

Piracy had been an issue for many years in the Red Sea and Straights of Hormuz although the threat seems to have lessened in recent years.

In all truth, if you have any fears of piracy or sudden outbreaks of hostility you shouldn’t plan cruises in such an unpredictable area! 
 

In 2013, we cruised on Nautica from Dubai to Rome.  We had 2 piracy drills, no outdoor lights, and all curtains closed at night.  We were also informed that there were other safety measures in place.  However, for security reasons, they could not be revealed.

Got our check in yesterday's mail!!!

Deposits on 2 cruises.

Good luck to everybody!

13 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

We will be in London, Heathrow.  Any advice how to get to Southampton,  bus, train, private car? Will stay two nights, then Uber to pier.

Any advice is appreciated. 

 

We have used https://www.blackberrycars.com several times.  Always had good, punctual drivers at a great price.  Very easy to book via the website.  

1 hour ago, 22cruise22 said:

Cruiseing on Riviera from Abu Dahbi to Mumbai 12/29/23 to 1/8/24. It will be our first time in Mumbai.

Does anyone have any experience or a recommendation for a private car company from the cruise port to the airport ?

Also how far is the walk from the ship disembark to where you get transporttaion ?

Thanks

 

After disembarking Nautica in February, we used https://www.mytransfers.com/en/ to take us from the Mumbai cruise terminal to the airport.  It was not a long walk from the cruise terminal to the area where our driver met us.  The driver was very good at a good price.

15 minutes ago, SophieM said:

Thanks, guys! Good to hear from you—it’s Jane & Ed from last August’s cruise ending in Istanbul. Hope you are well and still go going. 

Hi Jane & Ed.  Good to hear from you.  Yes, we're doing great.  In a couple of months, we board Riviera in Istanbul to Abu Dhabi.  Before boarding, we're going to Cappadocia.

Hope you're great, and have plenty of trips planned! 

21 minutes ago, SophieM said:

I’d still love to hear from anyone our ageish (a young 74 or 65+) who has had the vaccine after age 60-65. 

Both of us had our YF vaccine in 2011.  We were 63 and 58 years old.  No problems whatsoever.  We never hesitated to get it.

27 minutes ago, Whipsnade said:

On a $4000 claim you will probably not receive more than maybe $1500 from Moecker. They sent out six weeks ago an entire list by pax of all the amounts which would go to each claimant. If you did not receive this call the Moecker ofc. 
 

Did Moecker send an email with the priority amount due to each claimant?

In an Omnibus Objection to Claims filed in July, we saw our priority amount because our 2 claims were consolidated.  Should we have received anything else?  Thanks

Allura bookings are now open.

We and friends have a courtesy hold on an Allura cruise.

8 minutes ago, sunlover12 said:

I thought the food on Nautica a week ago was very good.  No complaints. Thinking back, the only thing I didn't like at any of the restaurants was the scrambled eggs at Terrace which I tried once.  I usually just have a croissant and fruit for breakfast so can't comment on the temperature of the food.  There was a Chef's Market Grill for 2 nights in Terrace while we were sailing off of Italy.  It was fabulous. Hot foods were hot. The executive chef was Mario Santoro, one of the best in my opinion.  I saw him several times roaming the ship, including at Terrace.  You know you're in good hands when he is onboard. 

That's great news.  We were hoping that Nautica was just going through a bad period.  The GM was aware of the problems after we talked with him, and we were confident that things would improve.

17 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

The Terrace  no matter what ship you are on  

They have a bad  habit of not having hot food in in the  ready made trays & no hot water under  in the pans so how would the food be hot

The only way to get hot food is to go to the grill & made to order stations 

I gave up on eating in the Terrace unless it was cold food I wanted like salads or fruit/desserts

Try WAVES   for breakfast & lunch

JMO

 

We eat the majority of our meals in Terraces, and have never had a problem except for Nautica.  On all of our cruises, soups are hot served out of the kettle, sticky buns are warm, ....

I love breakfast in Terraces.  The egg chefs do a fantastic job.  I am able to get bacon, sausage, or ham.

There was no excuse for the problems on Nautica.  We had friends who ate a lot with us, and they had the same complaints.  In fact, they were contemplating cancelling future O cruises.  However, they recently disembarked Riviera, and said the difference was like night and day.  The food on Riviera was excellent just like they were accustomed to.  There were a lot of others complaining about Nautica. 

One day on Nautica, I had a reuben in Waves.  It had no corned beef.  The meat appeared to be left-over sliced roast beef just as the OP reported.

I have been on 20+ O cruises, and have enjoyed the food except for Nautica.   

29 minutes ago, Harters said:

That name suggests to me someone of South Asian heritage. If so, then no, that wasnt the head chef doing the tours of the tables in the restaurants (we also spotted him having dinner with colleagues one evening in the Terrace). This guy seemed to me to be more of a Latin heritage. 

Yes, I think Chef Vijay is of Indian heritage.  He was roaming around Terraces a lot during meals.  I think the Executive Chef was Michael.  

I mentioned earlier that foods weren't served or kept at their proper temp.  Even the breakfast sticky buns were room temp or cool even though they were in a chafing dish.  The water for afternoon tea in Horizons wasn't hot.  

During our January Nautica cruise, I ate a lot of pasta, grilled lamb chops, and grilled shrimp.  The pasta chefs, egg chefs, and grill chefs were great.

I hope that Vijay is no longer on Nautica or the other O ships that we have booked, or he has completely changed.  One of our future O cruises is a 35 day Nautica cruise next year around the west coast of Africa.  We are really looking forward to this unique cruise itinerary which had been cancelled 2X during Covid.

I am only commenting on this thread because some seem to doubt the OP and a few others.  

3 hours ago, Harters said:

Perhaps you'd like to suggest an answer to your own question. 

 

Personally, I'm as interested in the comments of someone's first post as someone's 5k post. Perhaps more so.

 

And, with this thread, I have some agreement with the Op. Our Nautica experience a few weeks ago did indicate a deterioration in the food experience from our ore-Covid Marina cruise. Menu choice in the MDR a bit smaller (some dishes being repeated on many nights); portions a tad smaller, service not at all as sharp - that sort of thing. 

Was Chef Vijay the head chef on Nautica in Terraces?  He was on our January cruise on Nautica from Cape Town, and the food was the worse that we have ever had on Oceania.  The food was not served at the proper temperature.  Even the soup was room temp.  When I informed Chef Vijay of the problem, he said that he could take mine and heat it.  However, this would do nothing for the others in Terraces.  The carved meats were the toughest that I ever had.  Chef Vijay came by and asked what was wrong, and I told him that I could not even cut the meat.  Chef Vijay's response was that he could take it back to the kitchen and cook it some more.  This would not solve the problem.  It would only make matters worse.

During the cruise, I even talked with the GM about the problems with food.

We have had 2 cruises since Nautica.  The food on our Feb. Regatta cruise and recent Vista cruise was excellent.  We just hope that our experience on Nautica was an anomaly, and has been corrected.

We have been to Cape Town two times.  Each time we booked tours with Clive De Bruyne.  https://www.capetowntourguide.com

On our first visit, we booked several days with Clive.  We toured the major sites around Cape Town and also toured the Garden Route.

Clive is an excellent guide and is one of the top rated guides on TripAdvisor. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g312659-d2491916-Reviews-The_Cape_Town_Tour_Guide_Co-Cape_Town_Central_Western_Cape.html

17 minutes ago, susiesan said:

No, the AZ beverage package included is only beer and wine. The Simply More beverage package has hard liquor included. Currently O charges $40 a day per person for that. That means I have to add $80 a day to a cruise only priced O cabin. I can cover my onboard drinks with the OBC I get, some from O and some from my TA.

 

All bookings include FREE champagne, wine, and more with over 30 alcoholic and non-alcoholic choices for lunch and dinner.

Azamara includes select standard spirits, international beers, and a changing selection of one red and one white wine by the glass each day throughout the day.  Oceania's Simply More package is only for lunch and dinner unless you upgrade.

On 1/28/2023 at 2:38 PM, LHT28 said:

Yes  not good  that is another reason I do not like the buffet

even the supposedly hot trays  do not have the pans under them  with hot water  to keep the food warm

 

We have eaten in Terraces during our numerous past cruises.  Have not experienced this problem til our present Nautica cruise.

2 hours ago, LHT28 said:

Sorry to hear 

it maybe NORO  is back  but sounds more like  poor cooking skills & cleaning in the kitchen

 DH  was served raw chicken in RG  one year   pre covid   so  bad Kitchen staff can ruin your vacation

JMO

The none of food in Terraces is hot except for freshly grilled items and the pasta.  The food is sitting at room temp.  
The other day, I had the first portion of lasagne that was just brought out from the kitchen, and it was room temperature.  So was my wife’s.  Told the chef.  He said that he would heat mine.  What about the entire tray?  IMO a possible health violation.  

2 hours ago, Mrs f. said:

We just got off a Regatta Australian  cruise.   Want to check out Atlas. Will see if I can get mailings also.

How was the food on Regatta?  We board her next month in Sydney.  Thanks.

3 minutes ago, Sebbiesgrammy said:

PLEASE be extra cautious because I'm very concerned after my TC lunch today. Missing or swapped items are tolerable but today I was served an undercooked turkey burger and immediately showed it to the dining manager who concurred with my assessment,apologized, and offered to get me another. No thanks as I was already skeeved by it and had already taken one bite.  Not to be ignored, but this ship has had people in quarters with acute gastro infection (the captain's term, not mine) and library and launderette are closed for the second time in 8 days. Extremely diligent, but sometimes baffling, cleaning protocols are in place. It began within 48 hours of boarding in Cape Town and could have been present in earlier leg --I don't know.  They thought it was under control but optimism was pre mature. Even the cruise director is "under the weather" for the last 2 days. Could they possibly be actually serving us pathogens?? All the hand sanitizing and hand washing, as recommended, can't compete with raw poultry.  I'm prepared to be swiped by devoute O enthusiasts but this is my experience in real time so unless you are on this cruise, your past experience will not help😑

Our friend developed this “acute gastro infection” within 48 hours of boarding. His wife didn’t.  They reported his condition to medical, and both were quarantined.  Very curious that only 1 developed the condition.

On 1/26/2023 at 10:37 PM, Sebbiesgrammy said:

I did mention the salad bar in my mid cruise survey. I'm really trying not to be nitpicking but the salad thing really got me.  Last night we ate in Polo. Our apps and main courses were very good but creme brule with a soft lid and apple pie with a soggy crust??  There were absolutely wonderful tomatoes on our appetizer so no tomato shortage.  These are not supply issues. Thinking maybe I expected too much from the finest cuisine at sea??  This ship has had some heightened cleaning and transmission avoiding  protocols because if cases of acute GI illness which had not been helped by the fact that we missed 2 ports.  Day 2 was cancelled because of "traffic congestion" at Bantry Bay, South Africa, a tender port and yesterday, French Comoros, to avoid a cyclone (thank you Capt. DeCeasere and crew). Even these issues don't explain poor execution of dessert standards. No salt or sweetener at the tsble, annoying but not disqualifying but at Baristas sugar packet bowls are on all the tables. In the dining venues, you get handed one or two packets on request. And we actually had one waiter come with a salt shaker to personally salt our food?? It was really funny but the inconsistencies I chalked up to trainng and it's a tiny thing.

 

We chose O for 2 reasons: first and always, the itinerary above all else. Second was all the raves about the food.  I'm still hoping to be amazed.  

We’re on the same cruise.  Yesterday, I ordered a Reuben for lunch at Waves.  My Reuben had no corned beef.  Instead, there was leftover roast beef on my sandwich.  Not good.

On 1/26/2023 at 4:08 PM, SophieM said:

Hi, Guys!!

We are currently back on the Riviera after having second thoughts and canceling our Mumbai to Singapore. We hope you’ll be able to make your lemur tour and hope to sail with you again one of these days.

 

Jane & Ed

We were able to get on the 2nd tender.  Saw lemurs in the wild!

On 1/23/2023 at 11:05 PM, susiesan said:

 

 

The letter says that shore excursion operations will not be impacted, it does not say anything about hours. O will still run their excursions, they will just be shorter and the price will be the same.

We are currently on Nautica sailing from Capetown to Mumbai, and received notification of revised times only a couple weeks before sailing.

We only book private excursions, and they would have been greatly impacted by Oceania’s changes since they affected tender ports.  1 of these ports didn’t matter because it was canceled due to a tropical depression.  This is understandable.

Tomorrow, we are scheduled for Madagascar.  This is a port that Oceania changed the arrival time to 1 hour later.  It is also a tender port.  Given Oceania’s policy of giving priority tendering to passengers booking their excursions, we do not know when we will be able to get ashore to see the lemurs with our private guide.  Viewing the lemurs in the wild was a high priority and reason for booking this cruise.  We already had limited tIme in Madagascar before Oceania’s revision.  Now, we will only have a couple of hours.  Hopefully, everything will work out.  
This is our 19th O cruise, and we are not happy with O’s new policy!

11 hours ago, chloemonkey said:

It is always so interesting to see how others viewed their experiences.....we were on the Riviera from 8/28 thru 9/15....and had nothing but GREAT food from Toscana.  We were in a Vista Suite so had lots of specialty restaurants booked over the course of the two weeks +.  The one restaurant that we CANCELLED three times for was Red Ginger - as after the first time we visited there this trip.....it was clear that they were NOT on their game plan as yet.

We found the main dining room to be excellent - but agree that there were not a ton of options.  The Terrace Cafe probably had more business from us than anywhere....but that was due to the fact that the two cruises that we took had NO sea days and we were booked on shore excursions that departed early each day.  This made it the easier choice to dine at the Terrace Cafe due to time constraints.  We did NOT eat dinner here however.  

We were on the same Riviera cruise from Rome to Istanbul.  Taste in food is very subjective. Red Ginger was our favorite speciality restaurant!  We love the watermelon duck salad and the lobster pad thai.  We went to the Terrace Cafe for dinner on the evenings when we did not go to a speciality restaurant.  The experience was very good.  Where else can you get grilled lamb chops, shrimp, and lobster every night?  We also like the quality and selection on the cheese board.  

This was our 4th Oceania cruise since our Marina cruise in December 2021, and in our opinion, the food quality has improved immensely.  However, we did not like the type of breakfast sausage in Terrace's.  

We love the staff.  They are the best, and treat us better than family.  We are looking forward to our 6 future cruises booked on Oceania!