LNielsen

4 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

If there was no military threat in the Black Sea by Russia, why have Oceania and Viking both canceled cruises that involve the port of Istanbul?  

Which Oceania cruises that include Istanbul have been cancelled?  

We were in our mid and late 30’s when we started cruising with Oceania in 2003, it quickly became our standard for what we wanted in a cruise vacation.   We appreciate the calmness of the ships, and have always enjoyed the demographics.  We’re there to relax, not to be bombarded day and night with pool deck parties.   It’s our happy place. 
 

Edited to add that we had already fallen in love with the smaller ships themselves when we sailed with Renaissance.  It has always felt like coming home when we board.  

18 minutes ago, Jancruz said:

Sorry she should have advised you..

Jancruz1

You both have always handled things beautifully.   I have no idea how to do what you do, I just know you’ve always taken exceptional care of us 😊 I can’t imagine why the need to advise would come into play.   

8 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

exactly 

now depending on what O life perk you chose  (lots of discussions here on that option)

You could just take the cruise only fare  unless you do the excursion deal or drink a lot  you end up paying for O Life  OBC 

 

DH likes the to take the drink package, hence our using O-Life.   I wouldn’t say he drinks a lot, he just doesn’t like a surprise bill at the end of the cruise.   We tend to do our own excursions so that’s not an issue.  

6 minutes ago, 1985rz1 said:

They are really separate.   Oceania's marketing of these options is quite confusing, perhaps on purpose, as they market OLife with Air as "package."  When you look at the online pricing, this package is called OLife Fare w/Airfare, so it's pretty specific that there is an OLife fare and a separate airfare.  You can choose OLife with air; OLife without air. air without OLife, or cruise only (no OLife and no air).  OLife is imply a choice on one of three options, which you pay for in the price of the cruise with OLife alone (OLife Fare).

Thank you for this explanation.   In nearly 19 years of sailing with O I have never realized this.  Our exceptional TA has always worked her magic on our behalf so we have never bothered to look at this in depth.    

59 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Included air is not part of O Life

 

 

How did you come to that conclusion?   It clearly states that it is and we’ve used it in the past.   For our upcoming cruise we’ve taken O-Life and have spun out the air since we’re driving to the port, thus receiving a reduction in cost by what they call an air credit.   

5 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

We may have been on the same August cruise, Aug 7th for 10 nights. We canceled for the same reasons as you, St Petersburg.

Ours was 18 nights, Reykjavik to Paris.   Broke my heart to make that phone call.  

We cancelled an August cruise because St. Petersburg was one of the main reasons we booked.  Not getting there would not sit well with us.   

I thought I would commend Oceania for the prompt refund of our deposit for a recent cancellation we made.     We were told it could take up to six weeks for receipt, it took 14 days to be credited back to our card. 

We’re considering a late April LA to LA cruise on Regatta.  Our TA, a dear friend who will be on that cruise, had told me I can wait until fairly close to sail date to book, most categories are currently  available.  This is good for us as we can monitor what’s going on without playing the what if game.   

35 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

For those of us on this cruise who have future bookings on the current ATW segments, be on the lookout for MAJOR changes after the current Hawaii stops. 
BUMMER!

Yes, the changes have been posted on the ATW roll call.   

Cancelled Reykjavik to Paris, in part, due to my concerns of not getting to St. Petersburg.  One of our main reasons for booking the cruise.  

Interesting wording!

2 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Just boarded Riviera. My understanding is that there’s about 600 passengers due. I’m fine with 50% capacity. Also, pre-Cruise, we were notified of only one port change (though I expect we’ll see a few more once we take off).

 

I fully understand “get out of Dodge.” Though NorCal (home) is an excellent place for “staycations,” we got the itch to start traveling again this past summer and, so far, we’ve done Disneyland (the real one in SoCal) in August with the grandkid, Kauai in September and now the Caribbean.

 

My only complaint (definitely “first world”) is all the lead up paperwork, testing, itinerary changing (flights, cruises, etc). It really says a lot in favor of only doing long trips (if for no other reason than to minimize the amount of “hoop jumping red tape” in a single year.

So glad you’re onboard.  Enjoy every moment.  
 

DH and I grew up in Danville only leaving after our second child was born to move further inland.  Loved being in the Bay Area and the ease of it being a jumping off point for vacations.  We ended up in Lincoln (Sacramento area)  which afforded easy trips to Tahoe and beyond, before moving to Oregon when DH transferred with his engineering firm to finish out his career on a large infrastructure project.    He hopes to retire at the end of 2025.  
 

We generally refuse to board a ship

for anything less that 14 days, with our preference of at least 18.  Once he retires we’ll have the luxury of longer cruises without the worry of his desk piling up.   

Anyway, have a fabulous cruise. 
 

On 1/12/2022 at 4:03 PM, Flatbush Flyer said:

Understood and a key consideration!

This is why we chose a 2 week Caribbean cruise for our restart after 2 years. IMO, Caribbean ports are mostly a “dime a dozen” and a “cruise to nowhere” will be just as much fun. 

Our first cruise back was this past August.  We needed to get out of Dodge so to speak, so we drove to Seattle, spending time in the city for several days pre-cruise , and did a quick 7 day Alaska on one if NCL’s larger ships at half capacity.   It filled the need to cruise.   

We docked in Toulon.   We just took the little train at the port which drove around the city. It stopped at a beach as well.   It was good enough for us as we had a very port intensive cruise  with private tours at each stop so we needed a down day at the start of our trip.  
 

Many passengers used ship tours to go to Provence.   

32 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Understood and a key consideration!

This is why we chose a 2 week Caribbean cruise for our restart after 2 years. IMO, Caribbean ports are mostly a “dime a dozen” and a “cruise to nowhere” will be just as much fun. 

Conversely, we’ve been to a bulk of the ports on our 2023 30 day Barcelona to Athens cruise so not getting to the ports advertised, while not ideal, won’t be a big deal.  Would love to get to Florence, Venice, Istanbul and Izmir again, however.  
 

Also,  if we were to test positive in

Barcelona, once any quarantine ended we’d switch it up and do a land trip.   

For us, other than the final payment date being too soon to be able to make an informed decision as to what August will

hold, it’s not a matter of fearing Covid WHILE cruising it’s getting to Iceland and finding we cannot board due to a positive test at the cruise terminal.   Also, we chose the cruise for specific ports, one of which is St. Petersburg.    We would rather not play port roulette.  

We cancelled an August 2022 cruise with final payment being due March 12th, and penalties beginning in February.    Even with CFAR insurance we would have been out 25% of our fare.   Not willing to roll the dice.  
 

We, HOPEFULLY, will be sailing on Riviera for 30 days come October 2023.   Watching things closely to see how things are going to decide if we keep that cruise under deposit.   Fourth time is the charm, I hope! 

Our refund in September of 2020 (cruise cancelled  by O) took  about 19 days.  Our refund in July of 2021(we cancelled) took maybe two weeks. 

Copied from a FB post as indicated in attached photo. 
 

Just received this a little while ago- goodbye Amazon cruise. ☹️

 
 
IMPORTANT NOTIFICATION
CONCERNING YOUR CRUISE RESERVATION
 
 
 
Dear Valued Guests and Travel Advisors,
 
We are coming to you today with a very important update on Marina’s scheduled South America voyages.
 
Due to the recent introduction of onerous and prohibitive restrictions for entry into Argentina by sea, combined with ever-increasing travel challenges in the surrounding region, and extended port closures in Brazil, we regret to inform you that we are no longer able to operate her planned itineraries for January and February 2022. The impacted voyages are January 8 and 28, and February 14 and 26, 2022.
 
We understand how deeply disappointing this news is and wish to underscore that we never undertake the decision to cancel a voyage lightly. Complying with the evolving testing, health, and entry requirements for Argentina and Chile has presented a significant challenge and at this juncture, with the introduction of new and prohibitive entry restrictions, we can no longer be assured of clear passage for our guests and crew.
 
All guests will automatically receive a full refund of the cruise fare paid back to the form of original payment.
 
For guests who made independent air arrangements, Oceania Cruises will reimburse up to $300 per guest for airline change fees or fare differentials. Airline issued receipts should be emailed to: GuestRelationsOCI@OceaniaCruises.com.
 
On behalf of everyone at Oceania Cruises, I want to apologize for the inconvenience and express our sincere thanks and appreciation for your continued patronage, loyalty, and understanding during these unprecedented times.
 
Warmest regards,
 
Carlos E. Ortega
Vice President, Guest Services
 
Should you have any questions, please contact your Travel Advisor or Oceania Cruises at:
 
United States and Canada 855-OCEANIA (855-623-2642)
United Kingdom and Europe +44 345 505 1920
Australia 1300 355 200
New Zealand 0800 625 691
Singapore +65 31 651 677 / Malaysia +60 3-30992292 / India +91 22-71279118
Taiwan +886 2-77031292 / Hong Kong and the rest of Asia +852 2165 6010
China 400 842 8362
 
 
 
Please note this email does not accept replies.

This email was sent by Oceania Cruises
7665 Corporate Center Drive, Miami, FL, 33126, USA

ALL ships under the CDC’s purview currently sailing with passengers are at Yellow, with the exception of one at Orange, and the World of Residensea at Green.   

Our October 2023 cruise shows availability, although several categories are waitlisted.  

15 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Have you followed the whole CDC progression of restart requirements over the last year? If so, you’d remember that one requirement was having shoreside quarantine facilities to get positive cases off the ship ASAP.

While “page 4” doesn’t specifically say you (and yours), if positive, will be disembarked ASAP, common sense does. Of course, where/when will be highly dependent on your itinerary.

Yes, I have.  Please do not admonish me as you do so many others.  
 

The fact remains that it absolutely does not say  that you and yours will be disembarked.   That can be left to interpretation.   Someone asked a question, I expanded on your “read the sail safe faq’s” by providing a link to the sail safe program.    I pointed out that although it was clear to you, it was not to me.  

2 hours ago, Jpieper said:

If a passenger is tested positive while on board, are they required to move out of their room/suite while quarantining?

What is required of passengers identified through contact tracing? 

see page 4.   To me, unlike Flatbush Flyer,  it’s not crystal clear. 
 

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/sites/default/files/2021-12/sail-safe-health-program-v22.pdf