CruiseFlee

On 11/20/2023 at 2:08 PM, tropicalkerry2002 said:

I'm not so sure that swapping a cruise booked while aboard can be done without the $150 fee....

I booked a cruise to Bermuda while on board. The exact same cruise, sailing the week before, is now in the Black Friday sale. I would have to pay the $150 to switch, and lose my OBC as well. Not worth it!

Talk to your TA and have them contact Oceania for Black Friday price. My TA did that for 2cruises I had booked while onboard. 

We embarked the Journey at Piraeus on September 24. We tested at a pharmacy close to the port that morning. 
We were told at check in that the test results were no longer required. They didn’t even look at them. 

22 minutes ago, SingBill said:

I’m wondering the same thing.  Also concerned about quarantine requirements for non-UK residents

Our final payment date is 06/04/21. Hope there is a decision before that date. I’m not interested in sailing around the UK as we’ve done that before. 

Anyone have an opinion as to the likelihood of Anthem sailing to European ports September 12? 

We are planning our 3rd Oceania cruise. Is there any benefit with booking with a Cruise Connoisseur Club member versus an online TA? 

We love the specialty restaurants on O ships. We have cruised twice on the Riviera and have a Marina cruise booked for 2020. What I can say about the specialty restaurants is this. Toscana is yummy even if Italian is not your favorite. I loved the Gorgonzola filet. And I’m not even a steak lover. The  Miso Sea Bass is well worth the visit to Red Ginger. The cuisine in Jacques was hit and miss for us and very rich. We tried it a 2nd time and it was superb. Polo was the same ..had a mediocre experience and a good one.  So in my opinion I would choose Red Ginger and Toscana. Enjoy. 

‘If you have OBC to spend, book the Reserve. It was a wonderful food and wine experience. 

Just returned from the Riviera. We had our bottle swapped out for the house red while dining in Toscana. Our traveling companions also had theirs swapped out while dining in Polo Grill. Just ask the sommelier.

We're doing a TA (Miami to Southampton) the end of April. There are 4 of us that plan on renting a flat in London for 4 nights before returning home. Any neighborhood recommendations? We all like to walk and explore, but close to interesting sites is always a plus. Thanks in advance.

The waiter was aware of the missing meal as was the manager. All apologized profusely, no one knew what happened or who mEssex up.. Tonight as we were leaving dinner the maitre de talked to us again, aplogized, and offered to get us an extra dinner reservation at Red Ginger tomorrow plus a bottle of wine. Oceania is taking care of us. They are making it right. Very impressive customer service.

We are embarking on our 1st Oceania cruise on the Riviera next week. Glad to hear that Oceania has excellent service recovery. Anyone can make a mistake, but how that mistake is handled, speaks volumes.

Thank you all. That helps...I won’t need to bring my own..

Thanks

So excited to be taking our 1st Oceania cruise in a few weeks. Can anyone tell me what type of hair dryer I'll find in my stateroom onboard the Riviera?....the dreaded wall mount or handheld? Thanks!!

We were on the same cruise and I did notice cut backs from our Silhouette sailing in August. The most noticeable one was no more assistant stateroom attendant. We were in Concierge class and our stateroom attendant did an amazing job keeping up.

The Martini Bar was always packed...probably because so many guests had the premium drink package, thanks to the Go Best promotion.

We got a plastic/magnetic card holder that was useless..it de-magnetized our Sea Pass cards. I found to go cups in the OV after day 3. They were always available at the Aqua Spa Cafe.

We had our "Champagne" in our stateroom by the 2nd day...we didn't ask for it because we rarely drink it.

I liked that the afternoon canapés were automatically delivered in the late afternoon. We had always refused them on previous sailings.

It was a great cruise. Happy Travels.

We did Vancouver to Tokyo September2014. We had a wonderful crossing with nice weather. We stayed in Tokyo for another week post-cruise and the weather was shirt sleeve warm.

We found mahjong sets onboard when we sailed in August, but we had to request them as they weren't in the card/game room. I think there were 2 sets.

Take it you have sailed S-Class before... Curious as to what category

 

We have done Concierge now on both M & S Classes (Solstice & Summit)

 

We have our first Aqua booked on The Constellation in December... And I am a tad worried about Blu vs the MDR

 

Many tell me here not to worry... That we will love Blu

 

But it does seem to me that either one is a BIG FAN of Aqua Class & Blu... Or they are not. Doesn't seem to be any undecided or middle ground people.

 

So would love to hear your POV

 

Cheers!

We did the S class Equinox this past June. We were in cat 2C. #6159. Lovely stateroom with partially obstructed view. Lots of storage space and a large bathroom compared to M class.

We sailed in September on the Millennium. We booked Aquaclass because it was a reasonable price and we thought it would be a good chance to try it out. The cruise was Transpacific Vancouver BC to Tokyo/Yokohama. It was a great cruise with many sea days. Maybe Aquaclass on the S class ships would be worth the price, but I don't think it was worth it on the M class. We were a party of 4 people and we all felt the same way. Personally I thought the food in the main dining room on the Equinox was better than the food in the Blu on Millennium. Service was about the same. And forget breakfast in the Blu. Service was slow, omelets were cold and I always had to ask for more coffee. IMO I would save the money and use it for the specialty restaurants. We enjoyed the Olympic and Qsine.

We are just recently off the Millennium. We booked AquaClass Deck 9 (A2). If I had to do it all over again I would book Deck 11( A1). But then again I probably won't do AquaClass again. The cabins on Deck 9 were adequate but not nearly as nice as a 2C on the S class ships. We weren't overly impressed with the Blu restaurant either. Maybe it's just the difference between the M class and the S class ships.

We were served by Ion on our Equinox Med cruise this past June/July. We loved Select dining and Ion was a perfect fit for us.

We had select dining on the Equinox this past summer. It was our first experience with select and it couldn't have been better. We almost never had to wait for a table. We were a party of 2-4. Some nights we had reservations and some nights we just showed up at 7:00 and we were seated immediately. Towards the end of our cruise (21 days total) we asked for waiter, Ion's section. He was the most professional, warm and caring waiter we have ever experienced.

We had a great experience with seeamalficoast.com. Had an all day excursion with 4 others (6 total). We spent time at Herculaneum with a private tour guide( a great alternative to Pompeii). We went on a drive of the Amalfi coast, including Positano with a fabulous lunch at a family owned and operated restaurant overlooking the coast. Wealso stopped at an olive oil factory for some yummy tastings.

Thanks for all the great advice! Happy sailing to all!

The answer is yes,no or maybe. We do because of the excellent service.

Thanks Steve...do you hand them cash or put it in an envelope? How much would you typically tip per person?

Although we are not new to cruising, we are new to Specialty restaurant dining. We have reservations at the Millennium Olympic restaurant in a few weeks and would love to know about customary tipping procedure. Would welcome all advice:)

Thanks for your replies. Appreciate it. We will continue to read some cruise critics post.

We are leaving out of Venice on the Equinox, June 14. We are flying in to Marco Polo several days in advance to take in the sights of Venice. There are 4 people in our group and want to take a water taxi to our apt near St Mark's plaza. We're wondering if it would be better to buy water taxi transportation ahead of time or wait in line at the airport dock and negotiate. Does anyone have any experience with this?