Gogie

16 hours ago, jean163 said:

We're in Canada,  cancelled ourselves on March 10 and it was deposit only.  We have received nothing.

 

We are also from Canada.  I cancelled our November 2021 cruise on May 5.  Received full refund of deposit yesterday (June 9) so effectively had to wait 5 weeks.  Coincidentally, I had actually called my credit card company yesterday to initiate a dispute before the credit showed up and lo and behold, after speaking with them and starting the process the credit appeared on my account when I checked this morning.  In talking to the credit card company rep it seemed obvious that she has dealt with a number of these types of requests as she was quick to move things along and didn't really have any questions.  I called them back this morning to verify that the credit to my account was actually from Oceania and not a temporary credit placed by the credit card company as part of their dispute resolution process.

Just checked my invoices for the last few Oceania cruises.  I always book my own air and take the Oceania air credit.  Here's what I received in $CAD:

Nov 2021 - Monte Carlo to Miami  $900 PP

Jan 2020 - Santiago to Miami  $1,400 PP

Feb 2019 - Auckland to Sydney  $1,900 PP

Feb 2018 - Miami to Miami  $500 PP

Prior to the above cruises fares were always quoted in $US.  Here's a few with the air credit in $US:

Mar 2017 - Miami to Miami  $312 PP

Sep 2016 - Athens to Athens  $800 PP

This may be an anomaly but let me give you the actual cost of a cruise I have recently booked to show how taking OLife is actually worth money for me.  Note that dollar amounts are in $CAD.  The cruise I booked is in 2021 and it's a 26-day back-to-back.  On a per person basis, the OLife cost for a PH1 suite is $14,399.  The credit for air is $900 and the OBC with OLife amounts to $920.  If you subtract the air credit and OBC from the $14,399 you come up with $12,579.  The cruise-only fare for this cruise is $12,649.  By taking OLife I come out ahead $70 PP, which equates to about $50 PP $US.  I'll take an extra $100 US in OBC any day.  I may change my choice once shore excursions become available and effectively come out further ahead (as many others have mentioned you can easily "save" close to $100 PP per excursion taking that option).  Again, these amounts are from my actual Oceania invoice so they are not hypothetical.

2 hours ago, Paulchili said:

Book the cruise without O Life ($800 less) - you can always add it later (up to 14 days before cruising).

If you do take it, forget the $800 OBC - you are essentially prepaying your own OBC 2 years in advance - the worst option.

Will you drink $800 worth of drinks? You can search for drink prices on this board and what basic package includes.

If you don't mind taking ship's excursions, those are the best value as you pay $100/excursion (a total of 4/pp) and most of them are well over $100 - up to $199. Later you can see what excursions they offer and see if you would be interested in 4/pp (only excursions without letters like OE, OS can be chosen).

Not sure how one effectively "prepays" OBC when they make a deposit on a cruise.  In my experience the deposit amount is always the same regardless of whether O Life is chosen or not.  Also, you don't have to drink $800 worth of booze to utilize the OBC - it can be applied against gratuities and any other on board charges incurred (excluding most, but not all, casino charges).

Edit:  If one books an OS, VS or OC suite the required deposit is 20% of the cruise fare so I guess in that case booking O Life means you are effectively prepaying 20% of your OBC.  Otherwise the deposit amount is a flat US $750 PP per cruise regardless of cabin booked. 

Here's two photos of the balcony for 7130 on the Marina.  It's an aft PH1, so not exactly what you're looking at but you can get an idea of the depth of the balcony on the B3 staterooms in the second picture (with the two loungers).  The balcony for 7130 is a huge wrap-around (see the first picture for the aft part of the balcony) but the floor space for the cabin itself is slightly smaller than a regular PH cabin

.

Only on the O Class ships (RIviera and Marina)

Your itinerary is almost identical to ours.  The only difference is we left Melbourne at 3 am in the morning and docked at Geelong at 8 am, leaving Geelong at 6 pm.  Your cruise stays in Melbourne instead of crossing the bay to Geelong.

We had our TA arrange land tours for us in Australia and Auckland prior to the cruise.  During the cruise we relied on Oceania tours.   Our private/semi-private tours and transfers were all arranged by Goway Travel using local tour guides.

Just a note on the crossing from New Zealand to Tasmania - during our cruise there was a big storm that blew through the Tasman Sea that delayed us leaving New Zealand and played havoc with our sailing for 2 or 3 days.  We experienced very rough seas (rougher than I'd ever experienced before) and had to bypass our planned stop in Burnie.  I had never gotten seasick before but I did on this cruise (although it may have been partly due to a weakened immune system resulting from a bout of bacterial bronchitis that I had at the beginning of the cruise).

Overall it was a wonderful cruise (despite my travails).  If you've never been to New Zealand before you'll love it - both the country and the people. 

We were in Dunedin on Feb. 21 of this year (aboard  the Regatta).  As per that day's "Currents", "Today in Dunedin guests may use complimentary shuttle buses provided by the local port authority to reach the Visitor's Centre in the city center..... "  

Of the many things to sweat about, this is not one. The magic marker as suggested will work. And you'll probably get your luggage just after lunch, providing you get on at noon.

 

Remember to tip the curbside luggage handlers a few bucks .....

 

:D

This. We cruised out of Miami last month. I tipped the guy who was directing the luggage handlers a bit more than I usually tip and I heard him say to the luggage handler to put our bags on the "special" cart. Lo and behold, when we went to our cabin later that afternoon our bags were waiting outside our door. There were no other bags in sight.

Just a note on pre-booking excursions vs. booking on board. If you book on board you cannot get the benefit of the 25% "Your World" discount that you can get if you book in advance. So, if you're planning on booking the minimum number of excursions required to qualify for "Your World" (which I believe is 5 for a 10-14 day cruise) then you'll save 25% by booking in advance rather than waiting to use your OBC. I'm pretty sure that if you booked in advance with the intention of cancelling and re-booking once on board using OBC you'll also lose the benefit of the 25% "Your World" discount. In fact, the fine print specifically states that Unlimited Collection and "Your World" cannot be cancelled for a refund once on board.

So if you bring a 1.5 liter on board, will they store it over a few nights if it isn't consumed on 1 or 2 nights?

Yes, they will store it and they will retrieve it for you for dinner on following evenings regardless of which restaurant you dine in.

As an Oceania cruiser, I am on this site. However, my comment is about Silversea - or is it Silverseas - which I have seen mentioned on a couple of post on this site recently.

In Europe we call it Silversea but I know many people in the USA who refer to the line as Silverseas.

Late in the evening and you just caught me ruminating on this one!

If you go to their .com website they refer to themselves as "Silversea" (singular).

Zip line, boat rentals, a pool, an ocean, a beach, shops with local goods (no Diamonds International) restaurant, kiddie area

 

Directly from Oceania's website:

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/Caribbean-cruises/port-harvest-caye-HAR/

 

HC, according to the google search, is really meant to be a launching site for an ever growing list of mainland Belize shore excursions. A few were offered

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

If you aren't really "beach people" (don't care to lay in the sun or swim) and you don't want to bother with an Oceania excursion is it worth your while to get off the ship in Harvest Caye? We don't mind walking around and exploring, but we don't much care for laying in the sun - we'd rather walk in sunshine. Our upcoming cruise is more of a relaxation cruise for us. We've done many cruises in the past and we've always filled them with daily excursions but this time we want to limit our formal excursions and spend more time just relaxing and wandering about.

Is there beer, wine or liquor in the mini frig?

Not unless you're in a category above a PH Suite (OC, VS or Owners) or you buy it yourself and put in in. We were fortunate enough to get a cheap upsell to an OC suite on our last cruise. I knew we would get a "complimentary in-suite bar setup with 6 full-size bottles of premium spirits and wines" but I prefer beer so I figured I was out of luck. Lo and behold upon mentioning my preference for beer to our butler he made sure to keep our fridge stocked with Sam Adams. I'm going to miss that on my next cruise unless the upsell fairy visits me again, which isn't too likely. :-(

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

First off, I'm enjoying your posts. DW and I will be on Marina in March so following your cruise is almost like having a practice run for our cruise. Keep up the great commentary.

Secondly, seeing your photo of the wreck brought back memories of our visit to Roatan in 2014 (we were also on Marina for that cruise). Here's my photo of the wreck. I thought it was hilarious to be sailing by a rusted out old hull on a beautiful cruise ship. Quite the dichotomy.

Here's a few more photos of 11083.

6917 - View of the main living area. On the left is a desk with a laptop computer. You can also see the dining table (centre of photo) and the balcony doors (on the right) as well as the coffee table in front of a couch.

6919 - media room. The couch (on the left) only sits two people. The wide screen tv etc. are on the right.

6921 - bedroom. A most comfortable bed with a window looking out to the side of the ship and a tv (on the left). There's a huge walk-in closet to the hard right of the photo and the main bathroom is on the centre-right of the photo.

6922 - a slightly slanted view of the main bathroom. The shower is a good size. There is a full tub (lower right corner) and a bidet (on the right). On the left there are twin sinks and plenty of drawers and cabinet space.

Does any have some interior pictures from these cabins? I know that they are somewhat different from the others and would like to know what they are. Thanks for your help. :):):)

My wife and I stayed in 11083 last September. I've attached a few photos of the cabin. I've never seen the "regular" OC cabins but my understanding is that the main differences are a smaller second bathroom (which is still very useful for two people getting ready at the same time) and a much larger balcony. You can get an idea of the balcony in the photos - it wraps around and provides lots of room and viewing angles.

Here's a description of the photos:

6920 - view of the main sitting/dining area from the balcony doorway. The wet bar is straight in front, the sitting area on the left and the dining table on the right

6923 - view of the rear part of the balcony standing with my back to the dividing partition and looking towards the side of the ship. There was one lounger, one table and two chairs provided but I'm pretty sure you can request a second lounger if you want it.

6924 - view of the side part of the balcony standing at the curved part and looking towards the bow of the ship. Note the hot tub and television at the end of the balcony. The window you can see is the bedroom window.

6925 - another balcony view, this one with me turned 90 degrees from the previous picture.

6926 - a view of the main living area from the balcony doorway. The entry door to the cabin is on the left. The media room and second bathroom are to the right of the entry door.

You will love the cabin. It's a great place to hang out and relax privately if you're not in the mood for mingling or you can host a nice pre-dinner cocktail party or just hang out with your friends.

I think that those of you who post on this board regularly will consider that we have committed a serious crime.

 

After about two months of prevarication we have cancelled our Marina cruise and booked an Azamara one in its place.

 

I know there are many aspects of Marina that we would love, she looks a stunningly beautiful ship and the food is often described as among the best at sea. The afternoon tea would have been a real treat once or twice during the cruise and the speciality restaurants sound interesting.

 

So why did we cancel? We just felt after reading this board and our roll call assiduously that we might not be the right fit for the brand.

 

Our cruise was a beautiful port intensive Mediterranean itinerary and our roll call friends were booking delightful private tours for most of the stops. We know the Mediterranean well and were planning do it yourself days to our favourite spots.

 

Many friends who have sailed with Oceania have told us that many guests retire early. This is not surprising if they have had a long tour with the prospect of an early start the following day.

 

While we are not party animals, we are gregarious people and like to have lively conversations and fun with our fellow guests and crew. In the end we weren't sure if we would find this vibe on Marina.

 

We returned from our first Viking Ocean cruise at the weekend (a very nice product) but found the ship to be too quiet for us after the show finished at 10pm.

 

I hope in the future we will have the opportunity to cruise together on Oceania or another line but for now the decision has been made.

 

Would prefer not be flamed but I can take it:D

 

Happy future sailings to all

It took me a few minutes to figure out what you were trying to say at the beginning of your post. I think I've figured it out - you were procrastinating, not prevaricating, for about two months. If it was the latter, than I'm not sure we can take anything you've said in the rest of your post as gospel. :p

Yes they will, and you have guessed half of the way that they do it.

The table from the foot of the beds is moved outside, and has a larger top clamped onto it.

 

Add acres of snowy linens, china, glass and silverware, even a gorgeous floral centerpiece should one choose to splash out that far..... and voila!

FYI Those table bases are weighted, so it is a fairly sturdy set up, yet the entire business will be whisked away that very evening.

 

The assumption seems to be that everyone will have returned to their own digs, by breakfast ;)

 

Thanks for that bit of information. Would they consider leaving the table on the balcony or do they have to move it back in after each use? Not sure that it would be practical to leave it on the balcony (inclement weather would preclude its use) but on the other hand freeing up space given the space reduction in the aft PH suites might be worthwhile if it can be done.

 

..........

 

Were you on the Aft for the Oceania Suite - ?? It looks like the balconies might be the same size... the PH1 on Deck 7 maybe even a bit larger. If yes, do you think a dining table for 4 would fit out there - ??

 

..........

Yes, were were in an aft OC Suite. While the balcony was large and wrapped around, it's no where near as deep as the balcony on the aft deck 7 cabins. I'm pretty sure there wasn't enough space for dining in comfort on the OC balcony but from what I've seen of the deck 7 aft balconies (we could look straight down from the OC balcony) they have plenty of depth to handle a table. Not sure where the table would come from, though, unless the one at the foot of the bed was moved out there (which might actually be a good idea given the reduced space inside). Would Oceania actually provide a table that could sit 4 for the balcony?

We loved it. To compensate for the loss of room in the cabin, we asked that the chairs and table at the foot of the bed be removed (we found them rather silly anyway). I can't remember the closet situation, but it was more than adequate.

 

My question is this: Why do people love in-suite, course-by-course dining? We've been in PHs three times and haven't tried it, probably because we're outgoing and love to chat with tablemates. But I'd love to hear why others enjoy it.

My wife and I were fortunate enough to get a great upsell deal on an OC suite on Riviera last year so we had lots of room for in-suite dining. That said, the only time we took advantage of it was to have breakfast on days when we had early shore excursions. As far as dinner goes, we much prefer the public dining rooms. That said, I can certainly see having in-suite dinner for 2 or 3 couples if you want to celebrate something or just enjoy a more intimate evening but unless it can be accommodated on the balcony I just don't see it being very practical in a PH suite. Having been in a "regular" PH suite I don't think the balcony would work for more than 2 people. We haven't had the pleasure of the extended PH balcony referenced by the OP so I can't comment on that. Ask me in a few months though and I'll be able to - we're booked on the Marina in one of the rear extended balcony PH cabins.

I would question them as they posted the insurance was now included

 

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/faq/

 

Is medical insurance required?

All travelers to Cuba must show proof of Cuba approved medical insurance. This medical insurance will be included in the price of your cruise fare.

They have now refunded the insurance part of the additional payment ($50 pp) so net I've paid $75 pp for the Cuban travel card.

Was there a reason you paid for this so early, Gogie? (just asking)

 

I will be posting this on the other Cuba thread to update it (as I went on & on about the visa.)

 

I see today that O is charging $75 for tem to obtain the tourist card. No mention of the insurance.

It wasn't a case of paying early. We're on the March 7 sailing on Marina, which is past the final payment date. We had to make a separate payment this week to cover the "additional" charges resulting from the change in itinerary after final payment was due.

What is the cost of the extra special Cuba only health insurance?

Not sure what the "cost" is but I just paid Oceania US$125 per person for the "required" health insurance and travel card re Cuba. It was either pay Oceania or I wouldn't be allowed to board the ship. No other options.

The penalty may have been eliminated I believe. Double check. There was a plan to eliminate.

 

Otherwise euro is the way to go

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Actually, for North Americans the Canadian dollar is probably the way to go. According to VisitCuba.com, "the best currencies (for exchanging in Cuba) are Euros, Canadian Dollars, or Sterling since these are the most common and the exchange rates are generally quire reasonable". Unless you already have Euros, I suspect for Americans it is easier to obtain Canadian dollars.