phillygirl63

We generally bring a case (12 bottles) of our wine on board, loading it at the same time we load our luggage. Occasionally, a handler is reluctant to accept the wine, but we have always gotten it on board. The wine is generally packaged in an ordinary wine shipping box with foam inserts, so it can be shipped as baggage during air travel. If we buy the wine at port, we pack it in a regular wine shipping box. Remember the corkage charges.

We just did this in August on Marina, because we wanted to have some special wine in Privee. We had 6 bottles of wine shipped to us from one of our favorite wineries in Napa, and just left it in the same box. Checked the box as luggage at JFK with no problems, except we had to pay the extra luggage charge. Then there is the $25 per bottle corkage fee we had to pay in Privee. I guess, if you added all that up, it probably wasn't any less expensive than purchasing the bottles off the ship's wine list, but then we would not have had this particular wine to enjoy.

Just off Marina in August, and I booked Privee just following final payment. I would not recommend waiting until you board, even if you do have OBC, as there is only one reservation per evening. We verbally invited four couples we met on board at our roll call's meet and greet and then gave a list of those couples to the dining reservations desk and they delivered invitations to each of the couples' staterooms. We also brought our own wine on board for the occasion, which was decanted by our waiters in the room. It was a great evening and would do it again.

wine and beer at lunch and dinner. You can add to it on board $20 per day PP so it covers you at happy hour or for cocktails.

 

Without a liquor package, don't kid yourself, the drinks are ridiculously small and they add 18% to each ticket.

 

I personally would take the OBC and use it either for spas or tours (which you can book on board). Then I would buy my own liquor package. We don't drink a lot, but it doesn't take much to at least break even on the good Prestige Package which it not what O-Life offers.

 

Other will post their preference. This is mine.

Just to clarify, if you choose the OLife beverage package, which, as stated above, includes beer and wine at lunch and dinner, then the Prestige Beverage Package would cost an additional $20pp/day and would allow you to have as many drinks as you wish at any time of the day, not just happy hour. Both packages include the 18% gratuity to the bar staff.

As a couple who, while vacationing, love to have an afternoon cocktail at the pool bar after our daily excursion, another at happy hour and then more before, during and after dinner, we love the Prestige Beverage Package because we get no surprises when we see the final bill at the end of the cruise. Without a drink package, the cost of those cocktails can add up quickly, especially with 18% gratuity added on.

My DH and I have just celebrated our 31st anniversary, and our kids are now grown and out on their own. Every five years of our marriage, we did one special vacation without the kids. It gave us time to be husband and wife and not mommy and daddy. As long as you are leaving them with someone you trust to handle everything, you will have no worries. Just make sure you provide your caregiver(s) with an authorization to make decisions on medical care, etc. in your absence. Just in case.

There were very few children on our two cruises with Oceania. The first one, we noticed just two kids -- one about 11 years old and another toddler. We only noticed them at the muster drill, and never saw them again. Oceania does not offer any kids programs on board, which I believe discourages families.

We have just confirmed the booking of 7108 on a May 1st 2017 cruise with our TA.

 

Looking forward to a great cruise and thanks for the help everyone. You convinced us!

 

Phillygirl63, hope you have a great cruise in August and please don't forget the feedback...will be very interested in your thoughts.

As promised, here I am with my thoughts on Marina 7108. The balcony area is huge. Because of the way the side walls are (one long wall on the left and one short wall on the right), the views are spectacular even from inside the room.

The only downside is that you can see into many balconies if you stand at the end of the deck. I must admit that it was a little uncomfortable to be out there when the people in the cabin next to me were on their deck. I would not choose that room that shared the short wall with my balcony as I could see directly into their room if I wanted.

We had no noise from the crew's stairwell across the hall, which was the topic of some discussion on other threads.

My DH had to mess around with adjusting the shower head in the tub so that it didn't spray water all over the floor. We didn't have that much of a problem when we were in 8000 last year.

Other than that, the room was great, and I would book it again.

Currently on board and IMO, Sirena is lovely. Staff is well organized, extremely friendly and seem very happy to be here. Head Chef is visible in every dining venue, every day -- thinking he has clones! We've seen lots of staff we remember, and they us, from other cruises.

 

A criticism on previous cruises was that the Somms mostly didn't have a clue but that is not the case here - they are very well trained and knowable.

 

Some children on board - perhaps 10 to 15, generally 8 to 16 years old and seem mostly well behaved. There is an infant on board - really - no more than 5 months old! Who on earth thinks this is the right place to bring an infant!

Why was there an infant on board? O's policy is that any child must be one year old as of the first day of the cruise.

The policy reads as follows:

Children, Infants and Unaccompanied Minors

Infants must be one year of age as of the first day of the cruise. Guests traveling with a young infant that does not meet the infant policy will be denied boarding. No refunds or other compensation shall be due from Oceania Cruises as a result of the denial of boarding to an underage infant or any accompanying Guests. Any Guest under the age of 18 must be accompanied by and occupy the same stateroom as an adult 18 years or older. Oceania Cruises does not provide for the care, entertainment or supervision of children.

I just returned from my cruise on Marina, and thought I would post some clarifications of the outlets in our B3 verandah cabin. There is a two-pronged outlet in the bathroom that has a nightlight in it that can be removed, but it can only be used for electric shavers and toothbrush that have two same-sized prongs. There is a euro outlet above each of the nightstands beside the bed. There is a euro outlet and two US outlets at the desk. However, the US outlets are side-by-side and too close together to use at the same time, so really there might as well only be one.

My advice is to bring at least one Euro-US adapter.

The prestige beverage package is well worth the price and the gratuities are included in the deal. It takes only 5 drinks per day on average to equal out. For example, on most days, we will have a fruity afternoon cocktail at the Waves Bar after returning from our excursion, a drink or two before dinner, a glass of wine at dinner, and then some cocktails after dinner. Some days less, some days more. In any event, it adds up quickly. I just like the idea of not having to think about what my final bill is going to be, let alone seeing a detailed account of what we have consumed during our cruise.

Look at Oceania too. We did the Baltic/Scandanavia last year on Marina, which included 3 days in St. Petersburg. There are several very reputable tour companies that offer tours in most of the ports as a package deal, which is IMO much better than the ship's excursions and less expensive. They also provide the tourist visa. I posted a review of the cruise in the Reviews Forum.

Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK -- We played golf at Close House, and booked our transfers with Blue Line Taxi online in advance -- there was a free shuttle from the pier and other taxis were readily available.

Edinburgh (Newhaven) -- We had a tour booked with Ultimate Scottish Tours for a day in St. Andrews, but our ship was unable to tender due to weather

Londonderry (Greencastle), Ireland -- We played golf at Ballyliffin, and booked our transfers with Foyle Taxi

Belfast, Ireland -- We had a full day tour with Paddy @ Belfast Tours

Dublin, Ireland -- We did the Guinness Connoisseur Taste Experience and Jameson Distillery. There was a free shuttle from the pier to Merrion Square near Trinity College.

The Guinness Connoisseur Experience was fantastic and not to be confused with the Guinness Experience. Ours was a 90 min. tasting in a private room which looked like an old-time pub with all kinds of memorabilia, and was limited to just 18 people at a time. Tickets should be purchased on-line well in advance.

Liverpool, UK -- We played golf at Royal Liverpool at Hoylake. Great experience. Taxis are readily available at the pier.

Cork, Ireland -- We did a tour with Munsterbus.ie to Blarney Castle and then to Kinsale.

Portland, UK -- We took the shuttle into Weymouth, which is a great fishing and resort beach town.

I just returned from a cruise on Oceania Marina. We had one day in port in Liverpool from 8:00 am until 5:00 pm on Friday, August 12. Many people did a Beatles Tour, which they enjoyed very much. We, however, planned a golf day at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake. I booked my tee time several months in advance and requested caddies for each of us. At first it was just DH and I as a twosome, but we met two other couples on the ship whose husbands wanted to join us. I immediately emailed the course and was lucky to add the two guys to our tee time. The course even got two more caddies for them. We got off the ship at 8:15, got in a taxi, and arrived at the course about 30 minutes later in plenty of time for our 10:10 tee off time. Our taxi driver even volunteered to come back at 3:00 to return us to the ship. We had the best day -- one that I will never forget!

I have read through some older posts where people were trying to figure out where to play a round while in port, and I guess they didn't have much luck and gave up. So, I just wanted to let everyone know that a round of golf in Liverpool is doable and may just turn out to be the best way to spend your day in port, especially if you are a golfer. Royal Liverpool is an Open Championship venue, and is a real treat to play for any golf fan. Be aware that an official handicap is necessary at the time of booking. I believe 21 for men and 32 for women. However, I would not advise anyone to play this course with a handicap above 21. It is very difficult, especially if windy (which it a certainty).

Hi, all!

We just returned from Marina's Royals & Vikings sailing on August 4, 2016. Here is a list of the free shuttles offered in our ports:

Newcastle, UK

Londonderry (Greencastle), Ireland

Belfast, Ireland

Dublin, Ireland

Portland, UK (shuttle to Weymouth)

Question for all you FP cruisers, both "O" and PG. we've cruised a lot and for the most part larger ships (50,000-120,000 GRT). These ships are equipped with stabilizers and so forth to help provide for a smoother ride. Wife is fine; however, I have a problem when the wave action gets it rocking and rolling. We caught the tail end of hurricane Nicole coming from Boston to Baltimore and it was a a rough 16 hours. I use predominantly the sea bands and carry Bonnie with me. So there is the background, the question is with both of these being much smaller ships is it more usual to experience the sea action? Of course understand if there are storms it could get rough no matter what. I am more concerned about the routine day to day sailing.

Since this thread is about OBC, you will get more responses to your specific question by starting a new thread.

Ozzie’s Mom Consider Hawaiidan’s well thought out description of NCL above, from two different threads. This is who you may be cruising with on O.

 

The passenger demographic on O is primarily 60+, white and affluent; at least it was on our June Regatta trip. If you’re getting tired of “a cross section of humanity that would overwhelm Sigmund Freud s...” on NCL than O might be your ticket. If not, O is a lousy trade for what you’ve got on NCl.

I don't think that we should counsel the OP to put much stock in one poster's opinion as the "tell all" of all O passengers. We are in our early 50's. We are caucasian (although I don't why I should even have to mention that), as WHO CARES. I wouldn't know for sure whether someone was affluent or not, because that just isn't something that comes up in a conversation, and again WHO CARES. And, to be honest, if we did meet someone who felt the need to inform us about their standing in life, we would surely not spend too much time with that person.

We liked O because our kids are grown and out of the house, and we appreciated the mature, well-traveled couples that we met on our Oceania cruise. We liked NCL, because we had our kids with us, and that line was a much better fit for that situation.

The bottom line is that the OP posted here on the Oceania forum, and naturally will get more opinions in favor of Oceania. We could all do without the negative opinions of NCL, as they just aren't helpful IMO and don't really answer the OP's initial question of whether an ocean view cabin on Marina is a step down from a suite on NCL.

I was a big fan of NCL also until last year when we took our first cruise on Oceania Marina. Of course, circumstances were different -- on NCL we were sailing with kids or other couples, and then just DH and I on Marina. We really enjoyed Oceania's "adults-only" feel, although there were a few (and I really mean a FEW) children on board. Although Marina does have 1250 passengers, it never felt like that many. Public areas never seemed crowded. Even the buffet on Marina was so much more civilized than NCL. Don't get me wrong -- I'm not bashing NCL at all. As a matter of fact, if I was looking to cruise with my kids (25 and 22), I would pick one of NCL's older ships. I do not particularly care for the Breakaway-size ships with 4,000 passengers and many kids.

That being said, you won't know if Oceania is for you until you try it, and I don't think you will miss NCL's suite perks very much. Remember, on Oceania, even if you are in a non-suite cabin, you will not have to fight with the rest of the passengers for things like dinner reservations or pool loungers.

Another thing to keep in mind is that excursion could be cancelled by O just before your cruise date. There have been several excursions cancelled for my upcoming cruise that leaves next week, one of which I had booked. At least you have plenty of time to find alternatives. My suggestion would be to: 1) find out if there is a private company that offers that tour; and 2) go to your roll call and see if anyone else is interested in joining you in the tour. My guess is that a private tour would cost less and have less people.

Just relaying what I was told today that I didn't need anything but my passport. However, I always bring whatever paperwork I have to show proof of perks, restaurant reservations, etc., just in case.

Good morning, we are considering booking our first Oceania cruise - recently we have been doing all Holland America, but I noticed that the pictures of all cabins seem to show only one bed. Can the bed be split into two twins on Oceania the way it can on all the cruise lines I have previously sailed?

 

Thank you!

The default configuration is together, so you will have to request that they be separated prior to the cruise.

I spoke with my Oceania Cruise Consultant today to confirm that everything has been finalized for my cruise next week. No eTicket, and you don't even need to bring the bluebook -- just your passport and a credit card for onboard account. I'm still getting e-mails though reminding me to make sure guest registration form is complete, even though it's been complete for months now.

You should go to the ROLL CALL forum and find your cruise. There is a good chance that others on your cruise are forming groups for private excursions. I'm not familiar with all of the ports you mentioned, except Rome. For Rome, I would highly recommend that you have a private tour, which will allow you to get the most out of your day there. There is just too much to see on your own, especially when it is your first time.

There is an app called Google Translate.

Weather in early May can be unpredictable, but if the weather is good enough for the beach, then I would suggest getting off the ship as soon as possible after it docks and hiring one of the blue-flagged taxis to take you on a tour, so that you can see all of the island. I think the tour usually last about 4-5 hours. After the tour, have the driver drop you off at Horseshoe Bay beach. There is a walking path that connects Horseshoe Bay beach with Warwick Long Bay beach, with some very picturesque coves in between. Some of the areas can be a little rocky, so make sure you have appropriate shoes. IMO Warwick LB's sand is more pink than HB. We did this in early May when the weather was not so good -- spitting rain most of the day -- and we still had a great time.

For the second day, you could revisit one of your favorites from the tour.

ISP (Hoonah) would not have been a favorite stop if we didn't have an excursion booked. We did an ATV tour, which was a blast, and we got to see a brown bear that ran in front of our vehicles for quite a while. Afterwards, we saw the cultural show, which was a little corny, but our group had fun with the audience participation. Before we returned to the ship, we watched a lone humpback showing off in the distance. I would highly recommend doing some sort of excursion at this port or maybe just having a relaxing spa day on ship.

Here is what the website says.

Terms and Conditions OLife Choice

*Standard terms apply. View complete terms and conditions in addition: OLife Choice offer expires on 9/30/16. OLife Choice amenities are per stateroom, based on double occupancy and subject to change. Free Internet is one per stateroom; Owner’s, Vista & Oceania Suites receive access for two devices per suite. OLife Choice free shore excursions vary by voyage and exclude Oceania Choice, Oceania Exclusive and Executive Collection. Voyages up to 9 days receive 6 free shore excursions; 10-12 days receive 8 free shore excursions; 14+ days receive 10 free shore excursions. If shore excursion amenity is selected, all excursions must be chosen at least 14 days prior to sailing. OLife Choice beverage package amenity is House Select. Guests in the same stateroom must choose the same OLife Choice amenity and amenity must be chosen by final payment. Not all promotions are combinable.

Since the O Life program offers free shore excursions, which must be booked at least 14 days in advance of sailing, I would think that many of the ship's more popular excursions would be full and not available if you wait until after embarkation. Also, if you are participating in the O Life program, no excursion would not be free if booked on board.