Astro Flyer

I contacted my TA who called O and learned that we could get the anniversary’s $400 OBC added but would lose the existing free tips ($252) from the travel group’s perk. We had our TA make the change to gain an additional $148 of OBC & our tips are still covered. 😊

We are booked on our first O cruise in September 2023 & on the O website for our cruise it states: Celebrate 20 years of Oceania Cruises with a free $400 Shipboard Credit plus OLife Choice offer with 2 for 1 Cruise Fares, Free Roundtrip Airfare with Airport Transfers,* and choose one free amenity: FREE - 4 Shore ExcursionsFREE - Beverage PackageFREE - $400 Shipboard CreditAmenities are per stateroom 20TH ANNIVERSARY OFFER*Offers and fares are subject to change on 04/03/23. 20th Anniversary offer valid on select sailings from 1/16/23-2/28/23. Our travel agency has a free tips offer through their partnership with a group of agencies. I haven’t contacted my TA yet but like what ‘emd138’ was told would not want to lose that benefit. I’m attempting to understand the offer before discussing it with my TA.

I have no experience with purchasing two 1 device packages because my wife & I share one package. My guess would be that each person would need to purchase a package on their own app although I am not going to risk purchasing a package now to know if it’s possible for one person to purchase two 1 device packages & hopefully someone knows that answer. Previously the cost for purchasing two 1 device packages was the same as the 4 device package. Now that isn’t true which for my 10 day cruise the 4 device plan is $200 ($20/day) or $150 ($15/day) for two 1 device packages. For us the 1 device plan we share has increased from $5/day to $7.50/day.

For our 10 day eclipse cruise with you on Discovery I now see the correct amounts after the recent app update however being 449 days out not purchasing it now.

There are elevators to the rooms from the lobby & also from street level for bags or anyone who doesn’t want to walk up the stairs to the lobby. Like Ibis we enjoyed the breakfast buffet. We’ve had both the single level & two level room with the bed upstairs. Hopefully you’re weathering these storms okay like we are in eastern VC.

Three years ago they had a reasonably priced shuttle to the ship.

Sailed twice on Discovery (balcony & deluxe balcony) & no night lights.

We’ve enjoyed Hotel San Giorgio twice before embarking on cruises. It’s located on the street fronting the beach & easy for us to walk around Civitavecchia including picking up our favorite Italian wines. In my opinion there’s not much to do in town but it’s nice to not have to travel to the port on embarkation day. First time we took the train from Roma Termini station but preferred going by shuttle van the second time.

Great information posted by all of you & greatly appreciate taking the time to share it with me. 😊 I can have sugar sweetened items & my wife just prefers artificially sweetened diet drinks such as Coke Zero & in coffee drinks. And yes, we have an inside guarantee so no extra benefits.

Thanks 1985rz1 and MEFIowa for all of the helpful information. We’re looking forward to our first O cruise & to maybe finding a new favorite cruise line. Due to health reasons I cannot drink caffeine so hopefully they’ll have some types of canned caffeine free sodas.

Thanks…we don’t participate in many onboard group activities but enjoy a casually elegant cruise experience which no longer describes Princess. Relaxing at sea with good food & service is our top priority which is apparently what O offers. Dining: Our booking confirmation shows the date we can book both specialty restaurants 6+ weeks prior to sailing…is that done by accessing our reservation on the O website? What is the consensus for the best way to attempt booking additional available dates onboard? Is the first night a good time to book a specialty restaurant or are they generally busier? Or is the GDR good enough to dine there on the other nights? In general what times are busiest at the GDR (prefer to minimize lines) and are there many tables for two? Non-alcoholic drinks: Are included sodas in cans or from a bar soda gun? Are there smoothies & blended coffee drinks such as a Frappuccino? Cabins: Are cabin movies relatively recent & free? Are bathroom toiletries good & not in pump bottles? How is the room service menu? Upgrade bidding: Does O have this option? Recently a minimum bid worked great on X but realize it’s based upon availability. I continue to read this board for additional insights about our first O cruise after over 3 decades of sailing Princess as our primary cruise line.

Thanks for all of the great information as we prepare for our first O cruise next year on Regatta…any suggestions specific to this R-class of ship would be appreciated before sailing roundtrip from LA.

We prefer TD but understand why some prefer an anytime system which seemed to work well having both options before implementing the unreliable DMW. However in 18 months the DMW system has failed to provide the promised TD experience. We have booked the same time each day immediately when it’s available & on all 3 of our cruises it’s been greatly changed upon boarding. I feel sorry for onboard crew who are responsible for attempting to make DMW function as promised by management with their unreliable DMW system. The current management has staked their reputation on the Medallion system including DMW which still has too many problems many years after implementation so doubt if real TD will return. We recently returned from our first Celebrity cruise with a relaxing TD & ATD system which worked great…just like it worked previously on Princess before creating the unreliable DMW system. Another plus with Celebrity was having no problems completing their app’s pre-cruise requirements & using it onboard which added to the total experience.

There have been several posts confirming that the cost has increased to those prices.

Appears to be the same offer for military.

This is the adapter I bought on Amazon & used it in a desk socket. I don’t know if it will fit under the bed next to the lamp’s socket or if you’d need to unplug the light. Type E/F Plug Adapter, TESSAN Germany France Power Adapter, Korea Cruise Travel Converter with 2 Electrical Outlet 3 USB Charger, US to Spain Iceland German French Norway Sweden Europe Schuko Adaptor https://a.co/d/ejSprIo

This is from Sky which is likely the same on Discovery but I didn’t check it when sailing on Discovery. Our bed was in the queen configuration & this outlet was on the left side of the bed & you can see the bed’s skirt.

In my opinion X's Tuscan Grille was a slight step up but certainly not worth nearly twice as much as Sabatini's. I felt the same way about all of the Celebrity food...not any better than on Princess but as we know opinions about food are subjective.

Even with those price increases it’s still a bargain in comparison to Celebrity where the Italian restaurant is $55 and steak restaurant is $60…add an automatic 18% tip to both restaurants.

We recently sailed on Celebrity’s Solstice with a 2 level main dining room & found it to be nosier on the lower level that was open to the upper level and it was more difficult to carry on a conversation.

The WMF coffee machines on Royal-class ships make filtered coffee from ground coffee in the buffet & dining rooms which suited my taste buds much more than on older ships where coffee is made from concentrate. ☕️

Just returned from our first Celebrity cruise & their Italian specialty restaurant Tuscan Grille is $55 + 18% tip = $65. Sabatini’s is still a bargain at $35 and is nearly half the price. Their steakhouse Murano is $71 including tip so $39 for Crown Grill is a good price.

We dined there on the first night & thought everything was excellent including our filet mignon entree.

I have not read about it in the Celebrity Today flyer of events nor on the app’s list of activities.

We’ll be in Mazatlan on Discovery Princess in April 2024 for the total eclipse near noon hopefully without fog & like current conditions (11 AM) which is typical haze after the marine layer burns off with clear skies above. Discovery is scheduled to be in port unlike other ships which are at sea. A guy on the roll call is communicating with an upper management contact in an effort to have our ship at sea like HAL.