babysteps

Wonder if they will personalize the offers based on current selection - for same category and cruise, will the person who has selected 'beverage package' get a different offer than another person who has 'OBC'? Inquiring minds...guess we better book that additional cruise we were thinking about very soon so we KNOW cruise only will be an option 🤠

Nautica in February was at Klong Toey - no confirmation 100% until final boarding docs.

Bummer! I bring hydrogen peroxide wioes

I have some serious fragrance sensitivity. The provided detergent is fragrance free (it has been for our first 11 O cruises). Does anyone know, is fragrance-free a requirement of ocean-safe detergent??

Good guidance @Hlitner I admit, when we used the Alilaguna we had only small hand luggage - nothing checked (that met us at the ship).We did have 4 small bags, no one seemed to care but this was November 2021 so not very busy.

We embarked in Trieste in 2021 after staying in Venice. Also an option, an alilaguna, hotel shuttle, or private boat transfer right from the airport. The dock is a few blocks walk (enclosed but not heated iirc) from the terminal, there are moving walkways and luggage carts.

Very true. I think we got an 'early access' invite on our 5rh cruise - but no one opened the event early so we just got a chance to chat with other 'early access' invitees in the hall lol. 10th cruise we received a standard invite,, early access.

What in your shoes I would realize 2 days later I could have said- "Wow I would never have guessed that gold thing wasn't attached! Let me help you get it back on there.

We have picked up luggage tags at the port in Buenos Aires and Bangkok, not chaos in either spot. We have also self-labelled boxes of wine at various ports, also worked fine

I admit we take the onboard booking credit for the cruise we are on (not the one we are booking/using FCC to book later). No arguing with Miami that way lol. But having to argue is frustrating!

Do we have a guess as to whether cruise only will still be an option? I hope yes but assuming can get me in trouble lol

Yup I have a spreadsheet but I put everything in a spreadsheet (not just travel plans). Maybe O just attracts us spreadsheet people lol? I also include weather averages in the beginning and then, 6 or so weeks out, long range forescasts. Perhaps us over-planners are over-represented on cc forums

We had an email that came before the boarding document phase. The email included a list of countries that required visas with a brief description of what was required on each. Our TA forwarded a very similar email even before we got the one direct to us.

Oceania does send out specific information per cruise if visas are required for US passport holders about which visas are required and whether you need to get them ahead of time. Our TA forwarded us the email (we also got one directly but that came weeks later iirc). Sometimes details change - we decided to let O do our Cambodian and Vietnamese visas and Feb 2023 arrived at the ship with forms for Cambodia as instructed. Forms not needed now it is all online - a recent weeks update at the time. We thought we'd need to do visa on arrival for Thailand but no visa was required for US and many but not all other passports (perhaps a months-ago or post-lockdown change).

I may be a risk-averse person, but to me it seems like the worst case could be that Oceania enforces their visa requirement even if you met the Chinese government's exemption. Does anyone have an example of O allowing such an exemption? If yes I would be happy to be wrong!

This is true. 2 things to add - if you want your GDR pre order in Terrace just ask. Once I was told no, all other times the answer was yes (total of maybe 5 asks over 11 cruises). Second, you get to know the chef They can often (but not always) make a GF version of an item whose buffet version isn't GF. Random aside, if you like soy sauce on your sushi bring your own GF version - it usually isn't available. One last thought, since COVID (3 cruises/4 segments so far) they now have a designated special diet person as part of dining staff. This does help and reflects an increased awareness/focus on O's part although aside from recognition it's hard to put my finger on any specific change that the diner sees. ETA they do now call you ahead of time to arrange a substitute if you select something that won't work. Used to be they told you only after you were seated in the dining room. I am celiac and now 15 yrs gluten free

Thanks @DCGuy64for sharing your experience! Your description of lack of salt/pepper/set-ups at Terrace reminds me of some noro containment protocols we have experienced. Or a staff shortage. Bummer you had to deal with it, not the standard that O aims for. @Charles4515I hear you - and yet good friends of ours who are extremely well travelled are taking a Windstar cruise in Japan this fall. Plenty of people do stuff I wouldn't do and yet have a great time - I guess I'll learn someday lol.

Goodness that updated page is terrible, I can see why you don't believe us @MEFIowa I did find an official Oceania FAQ that helps! "As long as the club number is attached to your future bookings, you will accumulate cruise credits based on the length of the voyage." And on the misleading page, "Club members qualify for Oceania Club level status based on the number of cruise credits earned."

@basor types faster than I do! And explains it well, Ok I'll take a turn lol. Let's see if I can make it more confused! There are two different times that cruise credits get analyzed. First when earning the credit. This is based on the length of the reservation. For example a 7 day cruise earns one cruise credit. A 24 day cruise earns 1 cruise credit. Two separate reservations B2B for a 10 and a 14 day cruise get 1 cruise credit each (you can't always book this way, but this is one reason you might try). The same ship and same 24 days someone else with a single reservation will earn 1 (not 2) cruise credits. This is where you need 55 days to get 5 cruise credits for a single reservation. You "earn" the cruise credit(s) as soon as you set foot on the ship for that reservation. I assume but don't know for certain that in the B2B example you would get 1 credit on day 1 and the second credit on day 15 (the first day of the 14 day segment) Second time to figure cruise credits is when calculating loyalty status. The number of cruise credits earned through the current reservation is what gets counted. 2 different bronze status members could have anywhere from 29 days sailed (day one of 5th cruise where the first four were each 7 days) to 120 days sailed (day 24 of 5th cruise where the first four were also each 24 days). This is where 55 days sailed doesn't tell us someone's loyalty status or cruise credit count. Could be anything from 3 credits (not-yet-bronze) to 8 (already bronze and closing in on silver - for example someone on the next-to-last day of their 8th cruise all of which have been 7 days).

That is a tempting idea! If you have time you could even plan on a few days in Singapore at the end of your cruise. Then that wouldn't be a "backup" it would be plan A. Less pivoting required if anything changes.

Exactly. Bangkok had a building (not that big) where we dropped luggage and checked medical basics, all other formalities were done in the lounge (theatre). At some points the tide meant some tricky temporary elevated walk ways were in use. Lima check in is also mostly on board. Ther adventurous travel for the adventure, right?

You may not want to put any more trust in O, but would it make sense to let them handle (only) the return air arrangements? That way if there are changes you don't have to mess with them. Understand completely if that is not something you wish to do!

This could be a whole 'nother hoped-for sticky: port terminal schedule rigor. Here's our experience so far Trieste Nov 2021 cared a little but only made you wait until there was space (not until your assigned time) Barcelona Aug 2022 did not care (or by 2pm didn't care any longer) Bangkok Feb 2023 did not care

Only 1/2 an O air package since COVID so take this with a grain or 7 of salt. Which port makes a difference would be my guess. For example our one transatlantic O air was Lisbon to NY (pre-covid). TAP is the main nonstop provider and that's who our nonstop tickets were on. Many non-hub European port cities have just a few non stops to a given US airport, and/or just one or 2 US destinations with nonstops. Given our out-of-date TA experience, looking at schedules to the given European city may help you guess best airports and most likely carriers for nonstops. If a nonstop is important I suggest you do the DIY math. Then if the math isn't compelling for DIY, you could make a deviation request for a nonstop (for a city pair you know offers nonstops). If you don't like what you are quoted you can always go DIY after all. Even then you may be at seasonal schedule mercies. We lost a DIY nonstop to Italy for a Nov 2021 TA when American shortened their Milan season. We did have 3 month's notice. It worked out and was also a bit of a scramble to adjust.

We got an Extraordinary Savings brochure in the mail yesterday, lighter paper than usual. It has a few non-sale voyages listed plus a whole bunch of the sale ones. Can't promise it's every sale voyage, not quite obsessed enough to double check (if the weather was bad I might already have done so lol). At least 2 sailings we were eying are on sale, woo-hoo! Fares for three categories on each sailing are listed, and it's not the same 3 for each itinerary. I assume that reflects on part which categories are on sale and those vary a bit. Also the discounts aren't 100% uniform. Look honey how much money I saved us!