avalong

Has anyone tried to use "WIFI Calling" on an Oceania ship?  Did it work?

Cheapies from Wal-Mart, Target or wherever are just fine. I think I got mine at Big 5 Sporting Goods. It's trying to find ones that are semi-tasteful that's the problem. :-)

8 hours ago, bobolz said:

I’m sorry to hear about the OPs experience, but happy to hear about others  recent positive comments. We are traveling on the regatta in late Sept for the California coast itinerary. For those that have traveled during this time and this 7 day itinerary (LA to LA) , I was curious how the seas were , ie were they rough during this time of year? . How were they around Santa Barbara since that is the only tender port. I prefer the O classships Versus the R class oships like regatta, but looks like regatta has been upgraded since last time I was on board which was 8+ years ago. Also is the port in LA always San Pedro? Is that very far from LAX ? 

 

thanks in advance for any feedback

Yes, it's always San Pedro which is about 22 miles from LAX via a very busy freeway. Recommend you fly in the day before and stay at the Doubletree in San Pedro. 

1 hour ago, BruceMuzz said:

Actually, Star Breeze has 6 Suites that have very nice and spacious balconies.

I know. But I was talking about for us common folk.

4 hours ago, Tahitianbigkahuna said:

Interesting read ...

 

I've booked my first WS cruise for October 2024 on the Star Breeze. I tried putting together a WS cruise back a few years on the Wind Spirit but no interest. IMO the Wind Spirt with no balconies or elevators was great for those that want a sailing experience but many want a larger room, elevators and a balcony thus the likely reasoning for the Star Breeze to be full time in FP. 

 

I've been on the PG 15 times  ... love it but thought it was time to experience something new. Star Breeze will be a solid head to head competitor for PG 

You're aware Star Breeze has only french balconies, right?

We were on the Regatta recently in a B1 and got a call prior to morning coffee delivery. We were surprised, but thought it was a great idea. 

28 minutes ago, J18ktleo said:

Yes, we lose a day and two ports😰

If you look at the next cruise (Amsterdam to Edinburgh, I believe), you'll see that it goes back and picks up Zeebruge as the 1st port!  Maddening. 

Think I'll book it anyway. :-)

Can anyone report back on whether the A/C and sewage smell problems on the Star Pride have been corrected?

The 2025 itinerary does not seem to include Honfleur or Zeebruges, more's the pity.

My first thought upon reading OP's post was that he/she was lucky to get a seat in Martini's at all. Our timing was always wrong. Never did get to enjoy that venue.

However, by no means do I discount how upsetting it must have been to be threatened by a belligerent drunk.

I'm a bit confused. Is Beaulieu ON the Isle of Wight?

5 minutes ago, MEFIowa said:

Pack light! Had an couple on Sirena (11/2022) that were waiting to disembark. They each had just a moderately small carry-on bag. I said, "Is that all you had for our 10 nights?" He said, "Yes, we've learned to pack really light." So they didn't have to worry about leaving any luggage outside their room the night before. And when the door opened and the disembarking started, they just booked on out.

 

From our 2 cruises that disembarked at Miami, took about an hour or 90 minutes for clearance. BUT that is up to each port and cruise. (Hear TA cruises take longer due to customs issues.)

 

As fyi... At Miami the holdup in Terminal J is the one elevator to get down to the luggage & customs area. Backs people up right as they try to get off the ship. Wife and I don't take it and we try to slide past those waiting for it to take the stairs down. Can be a long line. Including walkers.

Now that you mention it, the hardest part of our self-disembarkation was snagging an elevator on the ship! Eventually we gave up and schlepped our bags down the stairs.

Yes, Oceania allows self-disembarkation. We were off within an hour or so of arrival, but I would imagine it depends on the port and how fast the ship is cleared by port officials. We were in Los Angeles (San Pedro).  

40 minutes ago, fedexretiree said:

My friend wants to bring her own hair dryer so we will need both things unfortunately....I Don't know what the adapter should look like either, there are a bunch of different ones.

As Jazzbeau said above, most small appliances automatically convert now. All you should need is an adapter plug. Have your friend check the hair dryer for 110/220 designation.

I skipped the photo step on my recent on-line check-in and we were able to print the boarding pass with no problem. Then they took our photo at the dock. No problem at all. I think there's even wording on that page that says it's optional.

Re QRR menus: per a recent NYTimes article, they are slowly but surely going away. Diners hate them.

34 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

Probably so. Lisbon is such a lovely town, and like so many a leisurely local lunch with local specialties and local wines takes us to 2:30 or so. Far surpasses the Terrace, which we’ll have multiple days later to explore, and completely escapes Boardamania. 
 

I have no problem with cruisers choosing Boardamania. Please spare us the handwringing with the results afterwards. Boardamania is a personal choice.

What do you do with your luggage?  

3 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Only been to Europe 15 or 20 times, including last July (Copenhagen)and are flying there (AMS) in 3 weeks. Have used a PIN exactly once...in a train station ticket machine. Never had our credit cards denied.

Thanks. It's been a few years since we were there, and I seem to recall this same controversy. I don't recall having any issues either, but memory fades....  

Just called our credit card company (Capital One) and was given a pin, but was told it was only good for cash advances, would not work for purchases. The Cap One rep said that the use of the card simply does not prompt for the input of a PIN at the point of purchase. This is very confusing. I hope you're right CruiserBruce. 

27 minutes ago, mexicobob said:

We went through the Amsterdam airport about a month ago. Very stressful experience. Had a 3 hour layover. Very large and very confusing airport, at least for us. Much walking involved. The "passport control" lines were long but moved quickly. Make sure you get in the correct line, which was not obvious to us. Had to ask fellow passengers as no assistance available.

We were told our luggage was checked to our final destination by KLM in Venice. By chance we found out in Amsterdam that we had to retrieve our luggage from the merry go round and walk it about 100 feet and place it on another conveyor belt. Otherwise it would not leave the airport and arrive in Houston on a KLM flight. Not sure if this would apply to you......but.

 

I would highly recommend doing as much research as possible on this airport before arrival. Would be greatly beneficial. Ended up we had enough time but at first we were wondering if we would make it or not. Was stressful. 

 

The KLM lounge in the International terminal was nice with better than average food and wine, at least when we were there. Did not have much time to enjoy it but worth stopping by.

Thanks so much. You've all prompted me to do further research. There's a good video by KLM on YouTube explaining the layout of the airport, and the link given by LHT28 allows you to get info specific to your flights. I can't really change anything at this point, but at least I'll know what to expect. I've been through this airport in the before-times and I remember walking a LOT. Fingers crossed for this trip.

6 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

See Post 31 (3 posts ago): FRA can be brutal in summer. Two trips ago (connecting from UA to Lufthansa on the way to BCN), just the line to get to the line for passport clearance (on another floor) was over a 1 hour wait. Add to that a late start from SFO (an hour delay) and we barely had time to hit the head and grab a drink at the Star Alliance bizclass lounge. We got to the Lufthansa gate just as loading began. That was the end of 3 hrs minimum for intercontinental connections for us. It is now 4 hrs for anything transoceanic in either direction from SFO. 

Thanks. I was hoping that you were referring mostly to FRA. Sounds like you were. Duly noted tho.

8 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Of course, those folks chasing “1 million miler” status on United need to remember that only miles on UA hardware count. So, even UA code share flights on ANA hardware come with a slight concern for those folks “oh so close” to completing their “million miler” quest.

 

And I’m glad you recommended that 4 hour layover (with bizclass lounge access). We’ve been finding that, with so many intercontinental flight delays lately, even 3 hour layovers can be “nail biters.”

Um, this is a bit worrisome. Where were these 3-hour "nail biters?"  We have a 3 hour layover in Amsterdam. But we're transferring from KLM trans-Atlantic to KLM City Hopper, which I HOPE will not involve a huge trek through the airport.

On my recent Regatta cruise I remember seeing something in Currents about completing an on-line survey regarding the cruise. Then I remembered reading on Cruise Critic that it was a somewhat cranky procedure requiring some time and patience. I decided I didn't want to spend my cruise time doing it. They really should send out questionnaires after the fact .I would gladly have done it then. And I would have had nothing but good things to say (well, except for the room service coffee...). The food was excellent in all venues.

5 hours ago, IpswichChris said:

We met a couple of people on our cruise who had sailed recently on the Star Breeze or Star Legend and said that, in particular, Amphora and lounge were more crowded now since these ships now carry more passengers but public spaces weren't made any bigger. So just wondering how much of an issue this might have been to others who have been on them lately and whether this should be major consideration for our next Windstar cruise.

Full disclosure: this is hearsay, something I read here on Cruise Critic. It sounds like the indoor public areas become rather crowded if it is a cold weather itinerary. Not enough indoor space if everyone wants to be indoors. Warm weather itineraries are OK since people are more spread around between indoors and outdoors. Based on this info, I decided not to do Alaska or Norway on a Windstar yacht.

Maybe someone who's actually been on a cold-weather itinerary on a full ship can weigh in on this.

7 hours ago, hmorrow said:

I would say , the only negative for us, on regatta, is the size of the bathroom. We knew this ahead of time, but it really is SMALL. we were on this ship When it was renaissance, but that was probably 25 years ago . We were probably smaller- lol

We were on the Regatta cruise just before yours, and I feel your pain about the bathroom, especially the shower! LOL. But we really got quite used to it and ultimately it was not a problem.

We too thought the entire experience was wonderful, and that the food was really good. The only exception was the room-service coffee in the morning. Waaaay too strong. And we love strong coffee, so you know this was really over-the-top strong. My husband started getting us coffee at Baristas instead.

6 hours ago, Cruisingagain2022 said:

No we are Oslo to Southampton. Marina is supposed to have its refurb end of April so looking forward to seeing the new decor. We have been on Riviera in the past but I have seen very little of the new suite, cabin refurbs since it began sailing again.

 

I am on this itinerary this July. If you want to see Geiranger Fjord you will need to book an excursion privately out of Nordfjordeid. I waited too long and it's completely booked for this July. So, if you're interested, book it asap. Apparently Geirangerfjord is not to be missed. This is the outfit that will take you by bus from Nordfjordeid to Hellesylt, then on a boat for a tour of the fjord. 4 hour and 20 minute excursion.  https://www.fjordex.no/sightseeing-boat-geirangerfjord