mamaclark

38 minutes ago, SATaxman said:

On our October Marina cruise, we chose to stay on the ship. Although it is lovely to eat in a great restaurant at the top, we decided "been there, done that" and stayed on the ship. 

We did have a lovely meal and enjoyed the time we had walking around. It is definitely worth seeing once.

On 4/24/2024 at 4:37 AM, Techno123 said:

You can walk down (if able) in about 20/30mins from Fira can't you? Obviously, need decent shoes on and to avoid the donkey droppings but beats standing in a queue in the sun.

We walked down and I have never seen so much donkey doo in my life. The stench was awful. We covered our noses and it was far quicker than the other options.

24 minutes ago, Pearl64 said:

Do you think we will get to Japan this time? I’ve lost how many times a cruise had been cancelled.

Hello Patti!

I think this is the fourth attempt? I am pretty sure the port is Kobe and Oceania has excursions on their page to both Osaka and Kyoto. I am hoping @Jancruz sees this and can share some of her wisdom. I just need to be sure since we have booked a day in Kyoto. Are you on this cruise?

I am curious as to why the Oceania website itinerary for this tour lists Kyoto/Kobe port, but the accompanying map shows Osaka.

14 hours ago, palakika said:

I was also on Sept cruise  and have the  CD's name my notes as Carson Hunter.  I commented that he was good.

We were on an Alaskan cruise last September and Carson was the CD. We found him helpful and charming.

Thanks for your fast response. We will spend the short day in and around Kobe for sure. I'll try to find a private tour that will pick us up early and have us back by 5 at the latest. Perhaps I will need to rob a bank first, JK!

On 4/12/2024 at 8:40 AM, pinotlover said:

I’ll conclude this thread with a couple of points:

 

1. Passports were required in every port. You have to keep them with you at all times. Very different from Europe and other destinations.

 

2. Lots of walking, lots of steep stairs. Be prepared. 13,000 steps per day is fairly average.

 

3. Absolutely fantastic food along the way in the various ports, with most showcasing their regional flairs. The best meals on this cruise was definitely in several of the ports.

 

4. Good cruise overall providing a good glimpse of where one needs to return to when not stymied by a cruise ship schedule. We’re off to Kyoto after disembarking.

 

5. Lastly when possible, fly into Haneda not Narita airport.

 

Enjoy your travels. Wonderful people and beautiful country. 

Your trip report was helpful, thank you! Was Kobe/Kyoto on your itinerary? We are in port from 11am one day until 7pm the next, 10/31-11/1. I am trying to figure out how to arrange our tours since the port is a distance away from Kyoto. 

42 minutes ago, PhD-iva said:

Please share (if allowed) sufficient details so I and others could evaluate this luxury train option. Thx!

That was not a luxury train, I was mostly replying to the comments regarding handling your own luggage, stations, etc, We booked our own trains with no problems. If you Google luxury train travel you will see a plethora of options that are available all over the world. Have fun researching!

18 minutes ago, LuAnn said:

Me too...I could just go around in a circle and be happy!!! Being on the ocean is "my happy place". 

That's great, but it is not mine! It's simply a floating hotel with great food providing access to places I want to see. Thank God we are not all alike! 

13 hours ago, Hlitner said:

We do agree.  Those large bus tours might be the kind of thing we will do when they have to carry me on an off the bus because I am too old and sick to walk.  Even then, I would not be a happy traveler.  As to self-driving, we have finally run into our first roadblock which is Montenegro where they do not allow folks 75 to drive (they will likely need to change that before they become part of the EU).  In fact, we will again be in Kotor, in a few weeks, and it bugs me that I can no longer rent a car and drive in that country.  To me, an organized bus tour ranks up there with a visit to the dentist.  Driving in Europe is no more difficult than driving at home and GPS has been very helpful in saving my marriage (no longer need to rely on DW's map reading).  

 

River cruises can be fun although it is not my favorite way in Europe.  But our river cruises in Egypt and China were fantastic and got us places that would have been difficult to accomplish on land.  We are also very open to the idea of taking small group tours from companies such as Tauck.

Hire a driver. We had one in Montenegro who took us up into the hills, scared us to death on those narrow windy roads with buses headed toward us, but nonetheless, we laughed all day. I tried to find a name for you, but alas I could not.

1 hour ago, QuestionEverything said:

Hanoji, excellent analysis and you are very perceptive.

I agree 100% with your conclusions and changes in consumer behavior.

Your "cross over" element is spot on - all my cruise friends are now booking high end land trips, not a cruise booked by any of them, including me.

There will continue to be the very dedicated cruise junkies but like in everything these days $, consumers are changing their decisions.

The Simply More is simply an insult to me and is a turnoff. I totally enjoyed the al a cart product offering and it was unique in the premium category.

Thanks so much.

Thank you, spot on observations. We have been blessed to travel a lot over the years. We spent over 2 weeks in China on an excellent Smithsonian tour. Tokyo, Kyoto and Hiroshima were cities we wanted to see. This will achieve that for us and then we will probably go back to land trips, some tours, but probably just exploring on our own, getting wet, being lost and loving life. 

No, it was because (as they said) they were understaffed. And, of course, I like to think I am always polite.😇

On 3/6/2024 at 7:03 PM, basor said:

The clothes are washed, dried and folded but not pressed.  They are returned in the same bag.  Plan on 3 days but we have gotten them sooner.  There are also free laundry machines on each floor of Marina.  I used them for my delicates.

it took us 5 days to get ours back on a 12 day cruise. Be sure you have enough time.

3 hours ago, Hlitner said:

There are good trains in Europe and Japan.  However, you are on your own with luggage and train stations can be huge.

 

Hank

We used trains for a trip from Budapest - Vienna - Prague. Trains were on time, clean and comfortable. We absolutely loved it! I do agree with your stations and luggage statement though. Now I am looking at luxury train travel with time spent on and off the train and someone else handling all the details.😁

8 hours ago, Cruisedreamer1 said:

Does wait list equal higher fare once an opening occurs?

I think this is why you need a good TA!

3 hours ago, DoulaAnn said:

Book your guaranteed reservations as early as you can on the app in order to have a chance to get the times you want. I think the level of stateroom dictates when you can start booking.

 

After you are onboard, go to the dining reservations desk (there may be quite a line the first day) and try to get additional ones. If I recall, we were told we had to wait until everyone had a chance to make their guaranteed. (I keep wondering why they didn't do it in advance, but I guess they had a reason).

When did Oceania get an app? 

29 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

keep it exciting, try something new."

 

Yes, and we are looking at train travel!

I learned so much from all of you, thank you. At this juncture, so much of this is beyond my pay grade. Over and out.

1 hour ago, njhorseman said:

I quoted the "anecdotal evidence" in the context of my experience in this business. You haven't quoted anything to contradict that and I'm reasonably sure you have no experience in the travel business.

 

Simply More doesn't come close to Regent's inclusions. Without getting into all the details:

 -Simply More only includes wine and beer at lunch and dinner. Regent includes full open bar including liquor at any time the bars/lounges are open.

 -Simply More provides a dollar allowance toward shore excursions while Regent offers (theoretically) unlimited shore excursions.

 -Regent fares always include gratuities. On Oceania gratuities are not included except under specific circumstances.

-Regent has some free pre/post cruise land programs

-Regent fare includes business class air from most major US and Canadian airports on intercontinental flights. Oceania fares include coach class air.

 

I appreciate the comparison of the two inclusions. Food for thought, and that is not a poor pun!

Just now, cruisemom42 said:

 

I do exactly the same, and I agree with your assessment.

 

I am a bit overwhelmed. I was sure when I opened this topic I would be shouted down as a traitor to O. Clearly, I misread the current climate AND my fellow cruisers. Forgive? What I have learned is that "times they are a changin' " in cruising and that I need to realize the old days at the price point I am willing to spend are gone. So, I shall look at this cruise from a different and more relative/current perspective. I cannot tell y'all how helpful this has been to us. 

50 minutes ago, AMHuntFerry said:

We had no bad meals (but those cookies need butter!),

Now that made me laugh!

17 minutes ago, QuestionEverything said:

But my intent to book with O is very much gone given the skipped port, likely to skip ports and the 1 hr reduction in port time due to "environmental" bull.

Thank you! Skipped ports and reduced ports were an issue for us in Alaska. We book for the itinerary. We have a lot to consider for this cruise since we will only have 48 hours to make a decision. May need to look at 2025. Thanks.

36 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

With our multiple cruises on Oceania, we have reasonable expectations on what to expect. We know which foods they generally do well, and what to avoid. Therefore, even though we still get some excellent meals, some mediocre, and some poor ones; we generally trend to very good because we don’t reorder those that have proven substandard. We only rarely see less than great service, but it does occasionally happen. They are wine stewards, not sommeliers. Expect no more.

 

Overall, as far as food and services go, I don’t believe Oceania has declined much since Covid. Destination Services has always been a train wreck, so we try to book our own private tours. I believe the greatest difference between now and pre Covid on O is the number of ports now missed and or the number of port hours cut. It went from a rare occurrence, to happening most every cruise. Outside of the debt issues and saving money, this no longer has anything to do with Covid.

 I agree! Thank you for mentioning the skipped ports.

1 hour ago, Sthrngary said:

I shared this with you to give you yet another perspective form a long time vacation cruiser.  Many will agree, many will disagree and some will just give you their perspective.  Take everyone with a grain of salt as you should also take me.  This is social media and CruiseCritic.com should be a safe environment. 

I appreciate your excellent review and thank you for sharing your perspective. To be fair, there were too many "at sea" days (some scheduled, some not) FOR US which meant a lot more ship time. That could not be helped. We love the destination intensive itineraries O typically offers. We essentially use cruising to see the places we know we want to visit, but may never go on our own. Thus, our floating hotel needs to be comfortable, clean, have good food and worth the cost. Thank you!

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

We will be honest, candid, and back-up what we say with facts.  Folks can certainly dispute subjective issues (such as the quality of beef) but "inedible" or "cold" is something that most understand. 

Such an excellent post. I hope you are able to share your experience with us. One thing I should have stressed was the outstanding staff you will encounter on O, from top to bottom. I could never say enough good about them! Enjoy!