CANDYAPPLE

14 hours ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Look at Brimm Mastercard a no fee card 

Thanks for that. The Brim website does state that the first year fee of $199.00 is waived, but charged after that.

Ken

    Out of curiosity, do you use a Canadian credit card and let the credit card issuer calculate the exchange rate, or do you use a U.S. credit card and then go to your bank at home to do the exchange?

Ken

1 hour ago, Fouremco said:

Different lines, different rules. Celebrity is quite clear about when you can and can't transfer a cruise:

 

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/ca/faqs/reservation-transfers

 

CC contains many broadly stated posts on transferring bookings that make the conditions appear to be universal. Unfortunately, that's not the case, and one needs to check with the specific line in which you are interested.

Thank You for clarifying that information.

Ken

Which cruise line was it with?

Ken

      Last year, used a great travel agent. Spur of the moment just before New Year this past December, booked a cruise directly with Celebrity, in order to take advantage of their "last minute sale" Called the travel agent to get booking transferred to her. However, because it was in less than 90 days to sail date, and paid in full at time of booking, Celebrity would not allow a transfer!

Just an FYI.

Just received the box now.

Ken

Both ships are together north of Cuba.  RTDM8 (Rotterdam tender) is in the water doing 1.5 knots

Zaandam is stopped

12 minutes ago, Go-Bucks! said:

 

They conveniently wrap the port fees and taxes into the cruise fare and refuse to return them to passengers if a port is missed or cancelled. 

 

Princess and Celebrity have always refunded these charges to me for missed ports.

Thanks for your quick response. Guess that's why Oceania is not responding to any of my emails!! We too, have received port charge credits from other cruise lines when a port has been missed for whatever reason.

I'm still trying to get Havana port charges refunded on July 28th itinerary...Oceania says "NO"

I should have realized this morning when I went to my daily read of Bob's text and pictures that there must have been a good reason for its absence!  We certainly wish you all the best for a speedy recovery, Bob. You have been one of the most interesting posters on this board. (Our cruise is Insignia July 28th)

Being an "owner" of 5 stents since 2003, I can also vouch for the spelling "stent"! lol

I'm a CPAP user for 22 years!  Usually, my extension cord gets plugged in near the make up table. I simply unplug the cord in the morning and tuck it away out of sight for the day. Simply re plug in at bedtime. No need to try and cover it up during the day.

25 years ago this week, I took my daughter (R.I.P.) on her graduation cruise (her first, my second) She was a grand old ship built as the SS France in 1970, just when air travel was replacing trans Atlantic crossings by ship. (which I had done in 1954) I remember the date of the boiler explosion while docked in Miami, May 25th, as it is my birthday. I followed, with great interest, the saga of the renamed, " Blue Lady" to her final demise in Alang, India. No, she doesn't reside on the bottom of the ocean as someone suggested earlier! She was first towed to Germany to have a new boiler fabricated, but due to cost and all the asbestos aboard, she was deemed unsafe. At one point, NCL announced she would become a floating hotel, but that was apparently a cover story for her eventual tow to India. 

  We lost a piece of history with the end of the Norway.

9 hours ago, Paulchili said:

The situation may be different when an ALL Cuba cruise is cancelled vs a single day in Cuba. While it is not desirable to lose a Cuba stop is not an apples to apples comparison re: compensations.

I completely agree that this is not a comparison of apples to apples. I am not suggesting a refund/cancellation of the cruise, but simply a refund of Havana port charges and an OBC for substituting Grand Cayman (tender port) for Havana, which is the reason we booked this itinerary. We've been to all the other ports, some, a few times, as well as spending a week each at 12 Caribbean islands.

2 hours ago, cruzemaven said:

We are 4  couples who booked our Insignia July 28 cruise based primarily  on having Havana as our very first port of call- a major highlight for us on an otherwise humdrum itinerary. Would never have booked this cruise without that full day stop in Cuba. Of course, we fully understand the circumstances of why it was cancelled but we're truly disappointed in the substitution of what amounts to as only a half day stop which requires tendering into an  underwhelming  port - Grand Cayman (been there several times). Since  the ship is only staying for about half a day  - there's not even enough time to  go someplace nice for lunch since tendering takes time. Wish they would have chosen a port that had dock space- wouldn't matter which Caribbean island...basically all the same. Since there was absolutely no compensation or discount offered, we feel that we are not getting the same value that we paid for. The substitution they made- a half day in a tender port is not equal to a full day docked in Havana. I know cruise lines are entitled to change ports without any obligation to its passengers but in this case the inclusion of Havana on this itinerary was truly the hook that made many of us book this cruise. Oceania could have done better. We have sailed many times on Oceania in the past and we're hoping that the shipboard experience will be as good as we remember.

 

I agree with you 100% I'm still looking for a refund of Havana port charges plus an OBC. Oceania needs to step up to the plate on this. Look at what ALL the other affected cruise lines are doing for their passengers, including parent company NCL! As a premium cruise line, Oceania is not treating us with the respect we should expect IMHO. Others may choose to disagree.

17 minutes ago, rowala said:

Just saw the revised itinerary for the July 18 sailing of the Insignia on Oceania's site.  In my opinion, the alternative itinerary is not at all comparable in quality, and the reduction in price is more reflective of the quality of the itinerary than compensation for the change.  Personally, I think that Oceania has to join its competitors in offering the option of a full refund.

+1

1 hour ago, CintiPam said:

Hopefully you mean a “berthing” issue! 😀

Yeah, I guess that would put a whole new spin on that, wouldn't it?  lol

Oceania's answer for this change is "due to a birthing issue" ! Put your own spin on that.

On our 14 day Insignia cruise departing July 28th, I noticed that Monday August 5th has been changed from Antigua to St. Kitts.  9:00 A.M.- 6:00 P.M.

19 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

When you fly the airline provides the Tourist card   so this amounts to the same thing  

but since you are  departing from a US  City  you are treated like Americans , everyone on the ship  need to fill out  the certification form 

just check the box advised for  the Americans to check 

"Support for the Cuban people"

 

 

This is as I expected..thanks for the clarification.  The code is 515.574, and I seem to recall doing this on our flight into Cuba.

Ken

Our category pricing went up by $100.00 pp. but the whole cruise is wait listed already.

Been going back and forth over this with our travel agent to determine the requirements for Canadian travelers. (We have flown to Cuba previously)  I will print the required documents, fill them out and then drop them off at our travel agents for THEM to forward to Oceania.  I'm REALLY old school!!!!

 If you are on the July 28th itinerary, are you signed in to the role call?

We are on this itinerary, also  (see Roll Call) After checking around, we have booked info@vintagecartours.com  They mostly use convertibles, but due to the expected heat, we have opted for an air conditioned vintage hardtop. They seat up to 5 passengers, but we decided to go with just the two of us with a driver/guide. They will take you to a money exchange kiosk to obtain Cuban currency  (CUC) which is at a better rate than at the port. The pickup spot is a two minute walk from the cruise terminal.

Enjoy!!!

Dining room is for Concierge guests only.

Captain Leo is an excellent player on the Liars Club event!! Had everyone believing he was telling the truth..even when he said that we might be running out of fuel!!! lol

There will be no hot glass show for our Eclipse sailing March 4th. Hollywood Hot Glass starts up on the Eclipse April 1st.