cruiserchuck

I suspect they have kept the current Istanbul stops due to the fact that Riviera’s next cruise ends in Istanbul, and the cruise after that begins there. Changing embarkation/debarkation locations costs Oceania money due to air changes.

We are currently onboard Riviera, and docked in Istanbul yesterday for an overnight stay. We felt safe everywhere we went in Istanbul. Riviera’s next cruise ends here in Istanbul, and for now, the itinerary has not been changed.

In my defense, I was very hungry. 😀 We actually had reservations at Toscana at 7:30 pm, and there was no line when we arrived. I tried the lasagna as recommended, and it was excellent. My wife tried the trio of pastas, and enjoyed all three. I went with the fillet mignon as my main, and she ordered the veal, after being warned that the suckling pig was dry. Both mains were great.

Celebrity offers fully refundable fares if you cancel more than 90 days before the cruise. They also offer lower fares with nonrefundable deposits.

The menu for Red Ginger that is available on the TV in our stateroom is still showing sea bass as of today on Riviera. We have not eaten there yet on this cruise, so no first hand knowledge yet.

Any other can’t miss items at Toscana? We are heading there in about 15 minutes.

At breakfast in the MDR, we were able to get espresso and latte, even though only regular coffee was on the menu. The espresso and latte were good.

I am also on the cruise. We boarded in Athens, and are stopping at Kavala, Istanbul (overnight), Messina, Naples, Civitavecchia, Livorno, Marseille, and ending in Barcelona.

We were unable to get an extra reservation through the desk on deck 5 on our first night tonight on Riviera. I went by Jacques when it opened, and was told no space was available. We waited in line at the MDR for about 15 minutes shortly after it opened at 6:30 pm. Our meal there was excellent.

That was our experience when we cruised on Marina many years ago. We were waitlisted every day, and on a 16 day cruise, got one additional reservation.

We boarded Riviera today, and stopped by the reservations desk right after we boarded. The host told us she will call us later today if there are any spots available tonight. She said they need to wait until folks with no advance reservations board before they will know if there is space available.

It is my understanding that the Chase Sapphire Reserve card provides some coverage for medical and dental, but the Chase Sapphire Preferred card does not. We use a Preferred card, so we buy a separate medical policy when traveling out of the US.

Does travel insurance cover voluntary cancellations made because you do not like changes made to an itinerary?

Out of curiosity, I looked at the Terms and Conditions in the Contract, and they appear to make Regent responsible in a situation like this. Section 4c provides in part: c. If the scheduled port of embarkation or final destination is changed, We will arrange transportation to the new port from the originally scheduled port. So it appears that Regent has assumed responsibility to get the passengers to the new port of embarkation. If they failed to do so, it appears that they are not in compliance with the Contract.

Many cruise ships stop at the port of Aqaba in Jordan.

The charge for US citizens is $50.

How long before the cruise were you notified that it would be Tarragona?

In the Terms and Conditions that all passengers are required to acknowledge and agree to, Oceania discloses that as a for profit entity, it earns a profit on optional services it arranges: For Profit Entity Notwithstanding that Oceania Cruises, at the guest's option, arranges air transportation, hotel accommodations, ground transfers, shore excursions and other services with independent suppliers of the services, it should be understood that Oceania Cruises, being a for profit entity, earns a profit on the sale of optional services.

I have been looking at flights on Turkish Airlines' website, and I can check seat availability by doing a mock booking. You just need to put in a random name and contact information (not necessarily yours) and you can get to the seat availability page.

So everything went smoothly tonight. When I checked O's website earlier this evening, there was a notice that maintenance would be taking place between 7:00 pm and 11:00 pm Eastern time. So maintenance was over when I logged in a few seconds after 12:00 am Eastern time. I was able to make all my reservations at times that appealed to us.

For my upcoming Riviera cruise, my time to book specialty restaurants begins on a Sunday. Since I am on the West Coast, I have read here that I can book at 9:01 pm the day before, which is a Saturday night. I have also read that Oceania's website is often down for maintenance on Saturday evenings. Does anybody know if you can book speciality dining if Oceania's website is down for maintenance?

I get a discount or OBC on every cruise I book. I do not specifically ask for a discount/OBC, but only deal with TAs that offer them. Regarding the comment about Doctors, every Doctor I go to offers a huge discount to my insurance company, at least according to the summaries I receive from the insurance company. I have heard from others that many Doctors offer discounts to non insured patients who pay cash upfront.

I believe the Grand Dining room is closed on most port days, which is most days for many cruises. Can you get lunch room service from the Grand Dining room on port days when it is closed? I suspect the answer is no, but I am curious about this.

It is possible to book an A2 category and not get the always included benefits. I recently did so with a Blue Chip rate. I would think group rates would include all the benefits, but would be worried if the TA cannot confirm that it does.

Oceania’s website is showing O Life for September cruises. I assume this is because SM does not start until October 1.