phillygirl63

How about a food & wine tour? Just do an on-line search of "wine tours in Rome," and you will get so many ideas on this.

We were on Celebrity Millennium in July of 2015. This is one of the few cruises where we found some of the ship's excursions to be worthwhile. This is what we did:

Juneau -- Ship's excursion -- myself and another lady did the Mendenhall Glacier & Whale Watch. Guys did the Halibut fishing trip. The whale watch cruise was awesome! We saw a group of humpbacks and even witnessed a full breach. Also saw a family of Orcas, which they extended our cruise so that we could see.

Skagway -- DIY -- White Pass Railway -- the train and ticket booth is right next to the pier, so you don't need a private excursion and you don't need to book an excursion through the ship. Just make sure to get your tickets as soon as you can.

Icy Strait Point (Hoonah) -- Ship's excursion -- ATV tour -- got to see a couple of bears -- We also did the cultural show, which was cute. There is also a zipline there. Not much else in the town.

Ketchikan -- We booked directly with Island Wings for our floatplane tour. It was very nice, but the best floatplane ride was in Anchorage. I'm sorry but I forget the company that we used as it was a last-minute decision, and we booked it when we were there.

Like I said before, Alaska was one of the cruises where some of the ship's excursions were not much more expensive than DIY.

We did book a private transfer from the port to Anchorage with a stop along the way at the wildlife preserve, where we got to see all of the animals native to Alaska. We enjoyed it very much.

I booked our r/t transfers with International Friends through London Toolkit for our cruise in August. I know they offer a transfer with a stop at Stonehenge.

Just send them another e-mail. I e-mailed them and requested that they provide me with a confirmation e-mail.

Jess, Rome in Limo is an extremely reputable and knowledgeable company. They should be able to work out all of the timing with you. My kids were the same ages as yours on their second visit to Rome. On the first visit, we went to the vatican museum and Sistine Chapel. Unfortunately, my kids could not get close enough or see over everyone to admire all the art due to the throngs of people moving through the halls. When we went the second time, we had a private driver, and we skipped the museum and got to see just about all of the major sights, including the scavi tour and St. Peter's Basilica. Therefore, I still think you and your kids would be better off skipping the vatican museum in order to see so many of the other sights that IMO are more interesting and not so crowded. By skipping the museum, you will have plenty of time to visit St. Peter's Basilica, the Coliseum, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and so many other great sights.

Definitely add Santa Maria della Concezione church as well as an alternative to the catacombs. I was going to suggest it before, but I just could not remember the name at the time of my previous post. I am so glad that it was recommended here. Check out the pictures on line and tell me that your young teen boys would not absolutely love it!

Just tell Rome in Limo the sights that are must-sees for you, and they will work it out. Of course, the number of sights you get to see really depends on the amount of time you spend in each one. We did not dilly-dally around and got to see a lot.

Hope all this helps.

Sorry, but we're newbies and I'm NOT enjoying the show...this thread is making me feel as though there WILL be passengers on O looking sideways to see who gets what...rather the opposite of O's reputation for being a very congenial and well-traveled group.

No need to apologize. I too find this show to be quite annoying … and embarrassing. Thus, I am unsubscribing, as it's not worth the time I have to spend deleting the notifications on my phone. But, first, I stick with my prior post, and say that I did not notice any "category" distinction on our Marina cruise last year; however, I am noticing quite a bit of "class" distinction on this board. Not one person that we met on Marina offered information pertaining to the type of cabin they were booked in, and IMO that indicates "class."

Just curious as to why you would not book in advance. I have them booked for my upcoming cruise in August, and they did not require any payment in advance. So, wouldn't it be best to know that you are on their schedule instead of leaving it to chance?

Hi everyone

 

We are on the P&O Azura docking in Copenhagen on 15th June. I don't know which dock

 

It's our first visit and we'd like to visit The Little Mermaid, changing of the guard at the Palace and Hyhavn

 

Could someone please maybe walk me through this, how to get to these places etc

 

I'd be so grateful. I've spent so much time organising St Petersburg the other ports have fallen by the wayside

 

Thanks

Are you using a tour company for your other ports? The tour company we used for most of our ports also offered a guided tour of Copenhagen, and we saw the Little Mermaid and the changing of the guard. At some point, we left the group behind and walked around on our own.

We used SPB-Tours for our 3 days in St. Petersburg and "a night on the town tour," which provided my DH and I with a driver for 3 hours in the evening so that we could have dinner at L'Europe to celebrate our anniversary. It just didn't make sense for us to stay on the ship every evening, since we didn't have our own visas. This provided us with a chance to enjoy some nightlife in St. Petersburg too. We had them for several of the other ports too. They were great!

You will need to provide more information. Are you referring to the Scavi Tour below St. Peter's Basilica or the papal grotto or both? How old are your kids?

If you are talking about the Scavi tour, it is in the same area as the museum and the Sistine Chapel, and it ends in the papal grotto. It costs about 13-15 euros. However, if I remember correctly, kids under 15, will not be permitted into the Scavi Tour. Also, you will have to email your request in advance to scavi@fsp.va in order to get tickets, which are very limited. Make sure you provide your desired time for entry.

Since you said that you are not doing a tour, the amount of time you have to do all that you want, will depend upon the crowds and the length of the line for entrance into the museum. You can purchase tickets online through Viator, which will save you some time in standing in line. However, given all the terrorist activity, I would assume that the line to get through security will be quite long regardless.

May I make a suggestion? Skip the vatican museum and Sistine Chapel, and do the Scavi tour (provided your kids are of age and you are able to secure tickets) and St. Peter's Basilica. Then, you will not have to go through the museum security, and you will have plenty of time to see the other sites as well. Entrance to the scavi office is located through the gates on the left side of the Basilica where you show the Swiss Guards your tickets. At the end of the tour, you will exit into the papal grotto. In my opinion, the museum is so crowded that your kids will not be able to see much of anything through all of the people. The Basilica (inside and out) is one of the most impressive places in Rome, and should not be missed. The Trevi Fountain, Coliseum, Roman Forum are great for your kids as well.

Post back what you decide to do.

As we previously posted, the "Lovers Path" has been closed for several years due to being wiped out by mud and rock slides back in Oct 2011. So far, nothing has been done to rebuild the damaged sections...so the walk remains fenced-off.

 

Hank

I did not know that. Are there still parts of it left where you would walk to get to the ferry boat? I did not walk along the entire path, but remember that we did have to walk along some of it at the first town in order to get to the dock. I thought the padlocks were a neat thing to see.

We used Aldo Monti's company, Your Tour in Italy, for our day in Naples port. We did the Amalfi coast and Pompeii with stops at Sorrento and Positano. They arranged for us to have lunch at a great restaurant at the top of the hills in Positano overlooking the coast. They also arranged for a private guide for Pompeii (a must if you want to know what you are looking at). The whole day was the highlight of our entire cruise. We were back to the ship in plenty of time.

I agree with some of the others who have recommended that you stay in NYC for the day. There is so much to do in the city and you wouldn't have to rent a car. Traffic getting to the various beaches in Jersey and LI would be a nightmare on a Saturday, as that is the day most people check-in/check-out. It took me over 5 hours once to get to Ocean City, NJ on the Garden State Parkway from NJ Turnpike, when it should have only taken less than 2 hours. Maybe that could be saved for the next mother/daughter trip. Besides, after seeing the beautiful beaches in Bermuda, you won't miss seeing the Jersey Shore.

Have you considered driving and parking at the cruise terminal?

Another indoor option is Park Right - Manhattan Cruise Parking

The cost is $175 (tax included) for up to 7 days and $230 (tax included) for up to 14 days.

They are located on 43rd Street between 11th & 12th and they valet you to the ship and reimburse you $5 for the cab fare back to the garage after the cruise.

I used them a couple of years ago. It was very convenient to walk to also.

I have always booked a balcony. I have received and accepted upsells to suites on a couple of past cruises (not on Oceania), and I have to say that the suite perks are nice if you aren't paying full price for them. On the cruiseline where we were in a suite, there was noticeable preferential treatment, but I did not notice this at all on Oceania. I never thought I could go back to a regular balcony room after the suite experience, but given the cost difference and the fact that the balcony rooms on O are quite nice, I prefer to splurge on a beverage package, dinner with friends in Privee, and at the gaming tables in the casino. No one should feel disadvantaged or advantaged for having different priorities.

The fridge is generally stocked with Coke products and waters. If you want Pepsi products or some other brand of products instead, you should notify your TA or Oceania directly to request them prior to the cruise. My DH is a Pepsi employee, so we don't say that C word in my house. We had our Cruise Consultant at Oceania make notation on our file, and there was no problem getting the Cokes removed from the fridge and replaced with Diet Pepsi. Our room steward made sure the fridge remained stocked throughout the cruise.

If your ship offers an excursion to CT, then I would do that. This is one of the few ship's excursions that we have booked. It basically involved bus transfer to/from and a guide who took care of the ferry tickets and escorted us from one town to the next. I did not think the price was overly expensive as so many of the ship's excursions are, and we had a great time. We had also been to Florence previously, and found this day to be a great alternative and well worth the visit.

Some advice: You may want to bring a decorated padlock to place on the railings along Lover's Path to ensure everlasting love. Also, make sure to bring some rolls of "Charmin on the Go" as some of the restrooms are not that well equipped.

My parents are in great shape and up for a mild surprise! Still wondering if anyone knows the best way to contact Oceania ... Maybe the marketing team or those who organize events of each ship ?

 

Rob

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

You can email to ressupervisors@oceaniacruises.com or SpecialServices@oceaniacruises.com and see if they can help you. These are the email addresses I received to set up my M&G.

It is also true that many passengers who can well afford a "higher category" choose a lower category, simply because they don't spend much time in the cabin.

 

Look at all the comments from people who don't care about the benefits "concierge" gives them at all. And not everyone wants a butler! (I admit that when butlers were first introduced we thought we'd never use them ... and we didn't at first. But in the end we came around to seeing their benefits! Can we survive without them? Absolutely.)

 

It's all what YOU want. I prefer a higher cabin category simply because I like more room (as in space) and we DO spend time in the room. We also like some (but not all) of the perks that those accommodations give us. But I can't remember sitting at a dinner table with other passengers and being asked what level room we are in! Although I DO remember on Renaissance that people would ask "how much did you pay", but that was often because no two passengers seemed to pay the same ...

 

Another thought: We've met many passengers who will stay in a 5 star hotel pre- or post-cruise but sail in a lower category ... we tend to opt for a higher category but stay in a 3 star hotel on land ...

 

As many have said, there is no right or wrong here.

 

 

Mura

Totally agree!

I prefer to use the words "higher category" instead of "higher class" when discussing the types of cabins on Oceania's ships. Of course, higher category cabins (namely, concierge level and suites) come with the perks as previous posters have mentioned. Rightly so, since they also come with higher price tags. On our recent cruise on Marina, we met so many well-traveled, interesting people. We shared tables at dinner as often as we could, which we really enjoyed and would be our preference in the future. Not one person mentioned the type of room they had or any special perks they were getting. I would say that Oceania's clientele is "high class" no matter what category cabin they are sleeping in.

On Marina last August. I believe the outlet in the bathroom is a low voltage outlet for electric shavers, and could not be used for hairdryers or other higher voltage electric hair styling devices. I had to plug in everything at the desk outlets.

My future cruise also "arrives" at 7:00 a.m. in Southampton on the last day of the cruise. I would assume that disembarkation should begin to take place within 15-30 mins after arrival allowing time to "clear" the ship.

If I remember correctly, some time prior to the final day, you will have to fill out a form noting the time you wish to disembark. Luggage tags will be delivered to your cabin before the last night indicating that timeframe. Then, the last night, you put the luggage tags on the bags you aren't carrying off yourself and set them outside your door. They should be waiting for you in the terminal when you disembark. Easy Peasy.

There is always the option to carry your own luggage off the ship and leave anytime after the ship has been cleared.

I believe that you would be subject to the corkage fees for bottles brought into Privee, but that would still be less expensive than paying for everyone else's liquor ... and a very nice gesture. But I would suggest if you do bring in a few bottles of wine for that evening that you check with the others as to their preferences. I don't mean that you would need to give six others the exact wine of their preference, but for example, I prefer red (although I will drink white) but only like dry wines. I probably would say something like "I prefer cabernet sauvignon or sauvignon blanc, but I'm sure whatever you provide will be delightful."

 

Again, if my hostess had provided several wines that weren't to my taste I would not have a problem buying something that I would prefer. Or bringing along my own. You are already providing them with a lovely evening.

 

Mura

Mura: Thank you. However, as I mentioned previously, I will be purchasing the bottles of wine before embarking on the ship and then extending the invitations during the cruise. Unfortunately, there will be no opportunity to inquire as to individual wine preferences. I will make a nice choice that will suit most.

StanandJim: Thanks for the tip. You are always so helpful.

Thanks, everyone. Since it seems to be acceptable, I think I am going to make it a byob just because it is least complicated option, given that DH and I will be on the prestige beverage package. I AM going to try to purchase a few bottles of wine in London to bring on board to enjoy and share in Privee. I think this will work out well.