chloemonkey
-
Posts
1,184 -
Joined
Content Type
Forums
Store
Blogs
Downloads
Events
Gallery
Posts posted by chloemonkey
-
-
I find it easier to set up a credit line with the Casino dept in advance. You can draw against it as you wish....and only have to write them a check at the end of your trip for the amount that you have been advanced. No fees, etc....BUT you do have to apply and get the credit line in place before you cruise...
-
On 7/3/2023 at 10:46 AM, Acrusa said:
I don't get it,people gamble all sums of money but to pay $2.00 for an ATM withdrawals they get nuts LOL
It's not only the $2 or more fees.....it's that there is a limit to how much you can withdraw using an ATM account method.
-
6 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:
After re-reading this, a thought occurred to me. Most steak restaurants offer several sauces (if desired) to complement the steaks. Does O not offer this?
Rub or no rub, I'm not all that much about "just steak". But add a port wine reduction or a green peppercorn sauce and my interest level goes up.
I know that they do in Polo.....all of the above and Bernaise....and I have also ordered Bernaise in the main Dining Room.
- 1
-
But still on hold again......7 minutes and counting......geesh!
-
You all are GREAT! I will try calling again....
-
Cannot remember if we can book and PAY for Shore Excursions before final payment or not...and I DID try calling Oceania and was on hold for 10 minutes...so thought I might just ask you all....
Thanks!
-
On 6/4/2023 at 4:48 AM, Woodrowst said:
My wife and I are currently on the Nautica having embarked in Dubai and now entering the Red Sea on our way to Egypt. We are having a wonderful cruise. This is our 5th Oceania cruise and we have noticed on all of them that the cookies have no taste whatsoever. This is clearly the exception since all of the other food is terrific. So I thought I’d ask if anyone knows why Oceania bakes cookies that have no taste? Please understand that this is not a complaint. It would take a lot more than cardboard cookies to ruin our cruise. I am simply looking for an explanation.
i also realize that the question can be read two ways. The taste I am talking about involves ingredients. It does not reference a cookie who wears shorts to dinner ☺️
I totally agree! And I have been asking my husband (who has Type 2 Diabetes) why he insists on going into the Concierge Lounge on our way back to our suite....to grab these TASTELESS cookies! I mean for Pete's sake.....there are other ways to misbehave and blow your diet!
- 2
-
On 6/17/2023 at 2:12 PM, Clutj said:
Okay, I know only a few are interested in this topic (but I do see references to it on this board every couple weeks), but I had really hoped that when Vista was rolled out that at least that ship would go back to a decent Champagne, like in the olden days. The Germain is way too sweet and just … yuck. Regent switched over to it the same time as Oceania, but there was a passenger revolt, and Regent changed back in a few short months. Unfortunately, I think Regent then solved their problem by dumping all that they had purchased into Oceania! And also unfortunately, there’s been no corresponding Champagne revolt by Oceania customers. We’ve suffered long enough. Who’s with me?
OMG! Count me in for a mutiny, strike....whatever needs to be done to get a better champagne by the glass onboard! Not sure if you are paying by the glass but I have been paying approx $58 per day to drink this stuff......and would love anything better! Geez....even NCL serves Veuve by the glass in the French specialty restaurant...or at least they used to?
- 1
-
Yes
-
Not as of late March....as we still had them on a B2B trip.
-
2 hours ago, basor said:
An excellent review of Embers along with pictures was just posted on that other social media forum by someone currently onboard...it looks marvelous and a nice option, for those that want a more casual atmosphere but with table service. Around our neck of the woods, their offerings would not be considered ordinary but then maybe Oregon is too ordinary.
But isn't that what Terrace Cafe is for? I know it's not table service....but seriously.....I am beginning to think that some of those pundits that espouse the idea that the "old timer" Oceania customers will soon be a thing of the past....as you hear more and more "I don't want to dress up"...."I want a quicker meal service".....just seems as though people are moving in a different direction....or maybe those "old timers" are moving onto other true luxury lines? I will try Vista once.....but as we are not fans of Red Ginger.....and were fans of Jacques.....I am afraid that we will find it lacking somehow.....I mean one of the things that I SO looked forward to was escargot.....We ate at Jacques SIX times on our last cruise.....Polo five times....Toscano five times.....Red Ginger once.....
- 3
-
I have routinely asked for and received $20,000 to $30,000 credit lines while applying with CAS....and did not necessarily have that amount in my checking account at the time. I think it has more to do with your bank's recommendation as they DID contact my back each time......and also I did have the amount of my approved credit line in my checking account come cruise time....as I had been told that they do recheck and that it matters that you can write the check at the end of the trip for the total amount of your credit line....
-
Interesting....as we have been Casinos at Sea members for almost 30 years now and enjoyed tremendous savings on NCL cruises. But ever since switching to Oceania, the discounts have not been so good at all. And for the record, we have always been given future cruise certificates at the end of each cruise on Oceania which states a dollar amount....so I am not sure what your "bounce back" offer amounts to.
On a side note, the agent from Casinos at Sea who handled Oceania just managed to LOSE the second reservation in one year for us...and I am really angry about it. Seems she got a "promotion" and no one took over her position.....and her response was "all I can do is apologize....." which I find severely lacking as I have been more than patient with this gal.....
Ok - that's my rant and I need to find out who if anyone I can complain to.....as Oceania is such a SMALL player in the casinos at sea game.....but then we are pretty BIG players and probably among the top for Oceania! So I would think that they would care a "bit" about losing two trips in one year....each of which was a stateroom only charge amounting to over $50K.....as we cruise only Vista Suites....
I am truly close to jumping "ship" no pun intended.....as Oceania does close to nothing in terms of discounts for our gambling.....and the food over our past two trips has been sub par.....AND then to add to it that this gal lost TWO reservations! Which are truly hard to find for 21-30 day cruises in a Vista Suite......
Ok - rant over! But DO call and see what they are offering and then call Casinos at Sea directly to see if they have a different offer for you......
-
Spent three weeks on Riviera last month and got Champagne instead of Prosecco....sometimes you jst have to ask...
-
Lost the "real" point of this post ages ago.....but for the record? Last cruise 3/2/23....next was already booked for 9/26/23. And not positive that I would have booked this one after the March trip....due to lack of food quality, shore excursions, etc....Still debating whether to cancel or switch to another luxury line....as I have been shopping...but HATE to ditch Oceania! But maybe once I have a go or two on another line...I will feel as devoted to them as well......stay tuned.
- 2
-
Sadly we have booked it FOUR times and each has been cancelled due to lack of sufficient reservations to go ahead with the dinner. We have enjoyed the other two options a couple of times and thought them to be totally worth the cost. And although the DP one is substantially more expensive....I AM a champagne girl! So this added cost is nothing for me....just wish more people would book it so that we could give it a try! Fingers crossed for next sailing.....
- 3
-
On our past four cruises on the Riviera in Vista Suites have all had the whirlpool on the balcony. Last year there was also a TV - but that was not present on our most recent trip which was last month. Only problem is that the water never got that hot (not an issue for us as we were in the Caribbean and cool water was just fine for the hot days we experienced) and the water DID drain out as it appeared that the closure feature was not working perfectly.
We happily had more sea days than normal....especially as we also got "diverted" on our second portion of the B2B and spent a LOT of time just sailing SLOWLY....lol! So we got much more use out of the lovely balcony than we normally do....as it is NOT possible while at sea. I STILL love having this lovely balcony AND whirlpool/hot tub.....and also love the vantage point you have while sailing into ports. Any other questions, feel free....
-
On 4/1/2023 at 9:22 AM, MnDAL said:
Does anyone know if ALL the bathrooms have been renovated? I have seen some videos that were supposedly taken after the reno and the tubs are still there. I am specifically interested in cat A4 9 deck.
Thanks
Not sure if this is pertinent....but NO changes in the Vista suite onboard the Riviera as of last month.
-
I feel compelled to respond as I was the OP for this topic. For the record? We were on the cruise that rec'd press coverage as having to put two people ashore....and to be honest - my hubby started with cold symptoms near the middle of our "second" cruise....as we were on a B2B. I had brought along Covid tests just in case....and we tested him twice per day instead of going to the health center which had lines that lasted up to an over 45 minutes to an hour and a half. We know this as hubby also cut his arm pretty badly and the lines were SO long....complete with people coughing and sneezing....that he just left the line and relied on our bandaging the wound ourself until he found a window where the lines were not so long.....
Glad to say that we continued to test negative.....he had a few more days of coughing and sneezing but continued to test negative for Covid. I tested once a day....but never developed any symptoms. We were quite prepared to bare the burden of hotel quarantine or whatever...as the e mails previous to this trip pretty much stated that Ocania/NCL were NO LONGER footing the bills for Covid and that they relied on passengers to have obtained trip insurance.
We arrived home safe and sound....and happy to have had a wonderful trip -despite those awful days of NO STrawberry jam! lol.....and luckily, hubby's cold symptoms were gone in a few days and he is back to work making enough money to take me on my next cruise! lol....
Just wanted to let you all know that if you are still trying to respond to MY original post....that it's all "good" and I do not need any more updates....but of course there are others who may...
Thanks all!
- 2
- 2
-
6 minutes ago, schmerl said:
We had strawberry preserves at our table in the GDR every morning.
Not the case in Terrace Cafe or WAVES..... and on two occasions in the GDR. Maybe your options were different....but we inquired and our poor waiter was trying SO hard to find some. Maybe it is who you "know?" lol.....certainly not a deal breaker....but I had heard about the previous cruise also having preserve shortage issues......again, nothing to turn me against Oceania. I just am telling you our experience.
-
On 3/27/2023 at 6:52 AM, SSFrance69 said:
Mmmm. Those croissants and no shortage of preserves! 😁
Unless of course you wanted Strawberry 😉
-
After three weeks on the Riviera, I told my husband that this lounge (as well as the Executive one) was really a waste in my opinion. The Concierge was there only a couple hours twice daily....the only snacks, drinks that we ever saw were sodas, and juices.....coffee....and those rock hard cookies. I kept peeking in there while passing by to see if anything changed....but never found that to be the case. I guess is you are not able to use the internet for rebooking shore excursions of flights....and do not want to stand in any lines at Guest Services....this person may be of use. I saw people just sitting in there READING and could not figure out why you would choose this space with all of the other options available onboard to sit and enjoy a book.....Just my opinion....but I found myself shaking my head over this lounge.
- 4
-
4 hours ago, Vertygo said:
It appears from reading the article that the couple did not have travel insurance for medical incidents. If they had, a simple phone call to the company contact would have taken care of anything needed. Not just medical expense reimbursement, but arrangements for care or evacuation. Best to have it at any age, but especially at their ages.
We were on this cruise and actually had to wait for a tender as they were bringing the person affected from the ship. And as I understood the current situation (I believe we received e mails to this effect pre-cruise) we were on our OWN so to speak when it came to Covid. This is of course separate from the care onboard and quarantine assistance i.e bringing food, nurses etc. to the cabin. At least this was my take on it all. For the record, we do now take out insurance for all travel......
My main concern is that all of the people that we saw onboard and being offloaded....are now safely at home and recovered. This did re-affirm the fact that it is worth the cost to pay for travel insurance....although from what I saw the personnel onboard did try to truly care for those affected....but at some point, people may need hospitalization.....which creates a whole other ballgame.
- 3
-
On 3/28/2023 at 9:43 AM, artlee said:
food is such a subjective thing. What I hate someone else loves, etc. We are currently on the TA to Trieste. This is day 7 of 23 for us. So far we find the food to be average at best. We sailed Riviera in Dec 21 and were generally pleased which encouraged us to take this cruise. So far we have only been in Toscano’s, Grand Dining Room, Waves, and Terrace Cafe. My wife liked her lobster dish in Toscano’s. My veal piccata was tasty but a bit tough. The Terrace Grill has had several Market takeovers where a theme took over the entire cafe — Indian, British Bermuda, etc. the British one ran 2 strait days. Again its personal taste, but not ours. I didn’t realize British food was a thing? We had mexican night, and asian lunch which were fine but nothing special. During Mexican night the grill at Terrace that had fixed steaks/fish/lobster/chicken was replaced with a Churro stand. My wife had had grilled shrimp and lobster there on another night and was looking forward to more but she would be disappointed. Two nights in the main dining room were fine but I can’t say memorable. Two nights we did not find anything on terrace or the main dining room that appealed to us so we had pizza at Waves which turns into a Pizzeria at night. It was excellent!! Today at lunch a passenger was hand feeding her dog in between her own eating. Not a dog owner so maybe this is ok? Overall, I am finding myself question whether the best cuisine at sea is actually pretty close to the standard fair from Princess/Holland/RCL/NCL/etc. I hope the balance of the trip changes our mind. I was going to book the next cruise while on board but having second thoughts. I’m sure others may have a different opinion and I totally get that, but this is ours so far.
art
So happy to hear that your experience is very similar to ours having disembarked the day your cruise began....we did two cruises B2B and the last week had resorted to nothing but Polo or Jacques, a few times at Toscano or PIZZA! Thankfully we qualified for so many specialty options....as we had become pretty much over the Grand Dining Room or Terrace Cafe options.....but of course each time that I mentioned this - I received so many responses arguing. As you said, food is subjective. But although we love great food, Michelin Star options on occasion....we are truly happily satisfied with just regular food prepared well....which we found to be hard to find on our last three weeks onboard - with the exception of the specialty restaurants mentioned. Not sure if I am quite as anxious to book that Around the World cruise right now....but of course love the service and suites on Oceania enough to give them another chance or two.
- 2
Question On Vista Suites on the Oceania Riviera (12001)
in Oceania Cruises
Posted
You have written such a thoughtful post! And I applaud you for your sensitivity and insight. And as for the Vista Suite on Deck 12? We have sailed in Vista Suites on Decks 8, 10 and 12....and Deck 12 wins for SURE! It is just SO nice to walk a third of the way through the ship and be at the pool, Terrace Cafe.......also very convenient to the Private dining venues, art classes, cooking classes....pool deck bars......we always ask to be "wait listed" for Deck 12 Vistas when we are already booked in other Vista suites. So be VERY happy with your Stateroom selection!
WE are a bit disappointed as it appears that the Vista Suite on the "Vista" doesn't even have a jacuzzi on the balcony. We enjoyed the jacuzzi on the Caribbean trip more than the Europe and Mediterranean ones as we weren't always rushing from port to port....and some ports we chose to just lay on the balcony and enjoy the jacuzzi. There have NOT been televisions on the balcony on the Riviera for the past four years however....