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Booked my first Explora II cruise for next January and found this great walk through video on YouTube which gives a great view of all the public areas. Is there such a thing as too much space on a cruise ship?!!! Amazing, no squashed together tables here and a plethora of lounge areas, only negative was black of covered deck lounger space.

Sommelier would ask when I ordered champagne prior to ordering food if I was having a different wine with my meal and if it was red would bring it at the same time, they noted the choice if white and would bring it once food had started to be served. If they don't ask you ask them, they will be more than happy to oblige.

Oceania stopped providing plastic lids pre pandemic as part of their environmental response. There are many lightweight cups available and if you are a tea drinker I would recommend the purchase of one with a metal casing as it doesn’t impart a plastic flavour to the more delicate flavour of tea.

I am also on the May 18th cruise and I doubt that first cruise would be June 1st as they would have to cancel our cruise to allow for dry dock and that has not been done plus blanked out dates for refurbishment are still showing, unless they are expecting refurb to be longer and haven't got round to cancelling our cruise. My PCC said that the cruise lines were struggling for dry dock space post covid and they were unlikely to let one slip. Plus Marina was due for a dry dock previously which had to be cancelled so odds are in our favour. I am going glass half full until told otherwise!

My top tip for those wanting to go full UK and go for black tea (English Breakfast, Assam, Darjeeling etc) insist on boiling water into a warmed pot (ok maybe warmed pot will be stretching their patience)!!! This is a tough ask on an all cruise ships as coffee is made with water slightly below boiling and other tea such as green require lower temp. Staff usually having a bubbling samovar nearby as they are used to UK tea drinkers requests for boiling water. On my last Oceania cruise, I requested boiling water to be made available for making tea and a Samovar was there at Horizons for early morning and in the buffet at breakfast to ensure that essential piping hot brew. If you opt for the tepid water what results is muddy dirty tasting drink that will make you wonder what was that Boston Tea Party all about!!!! 🤣🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇺🇸🇬🇧

I too am departing from Barcelona on the post refurb cruise on Marina 🤞May 2024, I have posted previously about this very topic as UK TA's were giving conflicting information regarding departure port. I did my research and confirmed with my personal O agent that it was definitely Barcelona, if it was Barcelona (Taragona) it would read like that on invoice and information. The likelihood of a change happening for operational reasons is still possible but nothing is 100% certain with travel.

Thanks @Flatbush Flyer for info, I have attached screenshots of what is happening showing the page with the calendar option when selected, previously, from memory you could either parallel scroll through or open a full page calendar to see your complete reservations, dining and excursions, that is what I am looking for but can't find, seems to only give me a small view of month!!!! I will contact O as it is bugging me. 😕

Previously, when you had made your reservation and went into the option to book excursions/dining, you had the option of either using the scroll list or a full page calendar, the calendar option is now a small window to select a date, does anyone know if the full page option is still lurking in the system somewhere as it would be my preference to see a clear one page idea of my bookings?

To me it always seems strange that there is no facility or instructions to bluetooth your own headset/AirPods to the tv! On another note, I find as I got older, not that my hearing is impaired, I prefer dramas etc to have the subtitles at the bottom as frequently the speech is unclear, I also sometimes have to select that option with Scottish made dramas in case I miss something important! When my DH was alive I used to pester him with questions such as what did they say, spin back I didn't get that, you know the drill!!! Now I am on my own with no-one to ask I rely on this service and really miss when it is not offered as an option. I have become adapt at ignoring them until required, with an occasional glance down. News, documentaries etc are not such a problem where elocution is more prevalent, though it does help when they are speaking to people with poor command of English.

Are they trying to appeal to a more universal audience using alternatives to animal fat perhaps!? Then I suggest bake two kinds of cookies, one for those of us that believe it is a travesty baking without butter and then the rest who can live with an inferior product!!!

Jump in here as a tea drinker and generally a one a day kind of gal coffee drinker, (afternoons around 3-4)! Maybe it is my more delicate palate that likes a great tasting coffee but one that is more akin to American Coffee, easy drinking but needs to be full flavoured not so watered down that it is bitter tastes brew. Now if it is after dinner I can take it a bit stronger but not espresso strong!

Made me laugh! 🤣

@Harters, well done and thank you for your research, the families of those three men will be grateful for your efforts as will all Islanders. We too in Scotland are proving my theory that May and September are frequently our best months as we bask in very unseasonal temperatures in the high 20's.

@Harters there will be lots of material as the impact of the island was huge, along with the loss of lives resulting with the Spanish flue epedemic which wiped out a generation of men from the Island. There is an excellent book "When I heard the Bell" by John McLeod that gives a fascinating insight. There are many suggestions why this, one of the worst peacetime shipping disasters, was downplayed and the lack of effort to find the cause. It is only recently, reaching the 100th anniversary of the disaster that more publicity has been given to the sad tale. Sometimes it is difficult for outsiders to understand the impact this had on the island, where at the time with no tv and very little radio and newspapers a luxury, they lived a very isolated life with tight communities living off the land, many extremely poor and these men having survived the horrors of the war only to return home and die within 20yds of their homeland has its own particular horror. Being staunchly a presbyterian island where Christmas was not celebrated the main festival was New Year and was of huge importance to the people and why the men were so desperate to get home to their loved ones. A sad topic but one that I am sure will keep you busy.

As a Scot whose parents both came from the West Coast Islands and travel there regularly with CalMac I can assure you that our unpredictable Scottish weather can at times be challenging but as they say in Scotland there is no such thing as bad weather just bad clothes. I personally always prefer to holiday in Scotland, for various reasons, Spring April-June and Autumn September - November, missing the school holidays which are different times for Scotland and England by couple of weeks stretching the availability of bookings from late June to mid September when UK residents depend on Scotland en masse. Then there is the Edinburgh International Festival in August that means accommodation in Edinburgh is impossible but a great place to visit staying a little further out,say in Glasgow and taking the 15 train or bus service to Edinburgh which is less than an hour. This year we have had a particularly wet and windy August but it has not been cold, wet and windy constantly, frequently it is sunny and warm, maybe just not California temperatures but it is still a visually stunning country and culture regardless of the weather. The seas around the west coast can be challenging for sailors and the very experienced Calmac Captains who are recruited from the local Islands and coast know the waters intimately probably would sail into port when less experienced Captains wouldn't try. Here are a few photos sailing into Stornoway one May on a wet day and the dry day is 5 September a photo of the plaque from the Iolaire monument adjacent to the rocks knows as the "Beasts of Holm" where on Hogmanay soldiers returning home from WWI lost their lives, one of the reason for this disaster is believed to be the Captain was less experienced of the dangerous waters surrounding the island.

Thanks @LHT28 I booked my hotel independently for 2 nights and price difference is too big to take O's. I am at the Intercontinental so easy hop to the dock by taxi/uber.

I believe if you book the full package of flights, hotel and cruise the transfers are to and from all points, what I was wondering, I have not used O air before, if I make my own way to the hotel will they offer a transfer from the hotel to the Port or because of the break in the journey will it only be post cruise disembarkation to the airport?

If you fly in 2 days early. use O flights but book your hotel independently do you still get O transfers?

Possibly this tragic WWI disaster was weighing heavily on the Captains mind! https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/learning/first-world-war/the-iolaire-disaster-1919

She says still in shock, please don't tell me that was all to diagnose and treat covid?🤯😱 !!!!

My Oceania specialist agent told me that after covid all cruise lines were struggling for dry dock space and basically had to grab what they are offered. So many ships now and so few specialist shipyards capable of quick turn rounds.

Apologies for the typos everyone i really need to read my posts before I send them and yes it is 2024! I normally don’t do cruise excursions with Oceania so this is all new to me and probably others will be in the same ‘boat’! also be in a Simply More learning curve. On the Oceania site is says you “Shore excursions are available 365 to 3 days prior to sail date.” As we are currently within that timeframe the excursions with costings are unavailable on ‘manage my booking’, Oceania customer services don’t have them either and don’t know why it is unavailable. Has anyone experienced this scenario trying to booki excursions and when should I expect them to become available?

@Flatbush Flyer I am a bit unclear about the difference between repurchased (if you haven't purchased any) and preselected and what these would look like. also @CarrieAP comments "Initially was sent a different summary lacking prices and designation of those using OLife credit. " I have been trying for over a week to get a pdf copy of priced excursions for my cruise on Marina 18/5/23 as excursions are not available online, surprisingly O also can't provide the pdf prices so it would be good to be premed once they do appear!

What they need is more staff, problem solved!

While not loving the muster drill, I totally understand why it is necessary and I use the opportunity to turn the drill into a positive with it being part of the cruising ritual which allows you to sit and size up the other passengers and look for familiar faces and basically people watch, kind of breaks the ice of the cruise from day 1!