Wynterwynd

Squeezing lemons for sidecars as I write. My absolute favorite but only with fresh lemon juice. I’ve never ordered one on board but I will give it a try next month.

I would pack water shoes or sandals if you have them. Just FYI, last summer our kayak excursion at Icy Strait Point was cancelled and we didn’t find out until just before we left the ship. It seemed the company offering it had been cancelling regularly. It’s an interesting port and worth a stop. Polo shirt and khaki slacks are always acceptable. It can get cool out on deck (and you’ll go out there to see Hubbard Glacier and maybe whales). I’ve found one of those squishy down jackets is easy to pack and carry. Enjoy your cruise! It was my second Alaska cruise and my favorite stop was Sitka. The White Pass RR in Skagway is something everyone should do.

I think determining whether Oceania’s excursions or private excursions will work better for you will depend on the itinerary and how ‘in depth’ you want to go. For Alaska and Scandinavia, we tend to use the Oceania excursions because most of what you want to see is right there near the port (or viewable from the ship). For Baltic with St. Petersburg (several years ago), we did all private excursions and they were fabulous. For Mediterranean, we did a mixture depending on whether the port and surroundings were areas we’d visited more in depth on previous trips. Pre-Covid, there were many more excursion choices—both private and offered by the cruise lines. Hopefully, it will start to get back to that point again.

I’m very used to packing light (carry on only) for 4-5 day trips. But a cruise…no moving from hotel to hotel to vehicle to train to airport…I bring my entire closet (well, that’s what it seems like, anyway). We pack two days worth of clothing and our must-haves in a rollaboard that we carry on and everything else into a large (26? 27”?) checked bag. We arrive a day or two before embarkation so use the carry on bag for that stay and don’t even open the big suitcase. Once on board, I love unpacking and putting everything away. I even enjoy going to the laundry room to iron wrinkled things! Generally, I launder some things once or twice during the cruise. To pack for the return, the large suitcase has the dirty clothes and the rolling carry-on has clean clothes and non checkables. Layers are always the best and that’s why you need to bring all of your clothes….plus, if your sister is feeding your cat, she might go through your closet at home and borrow things.

I understand. I can carry your bags for half the price, lol! But depending on how long you’re cruising and connections, etc., I can see where it would be an advantage, if it’s reliable.

According to the full page ad in the Oceania cruise booklet I just received: www.LuggageForward.com/Oceania It says the service is available to/from more than 150 ports of call. I have no experience with doing this. For $2000 RT, we can carry our own bags (and know where they are!). That’s why luggage has wheels.

Since Oceania has arranged those excursions and sold them, those purchasing expect that they will be able to join the excursions at the time they selected. I see nothing unfair about this. How in the world could they know who has private excursions and when they are scheduled? The tenders can only hold so many people. As someone who usually arranges private excursions, I take this into account and prepare accordingly. I’ve never had an issue.

We just used Lyft (from EWR to the cruise terminal and then back to EWR on the return). May be a bit of a wait and there are a lot of folks waiting for cars, but it worked.

It never hurts to ask…I almost didn’t bother since the website showed a slightly higher price than what I paid, but if they are sending out sales (via print), then it seems to me they owe a little something to those who are loyal/interested/comment on social media/etc I asked my TA to express my disappointment if they refused to consider anything. I included a screen print of the brochure pricing. She got back to me within 48 hours with what I considered to be a more than reasonable resolution (all SBC, but in an amount equal to what the difference in pricing was). While we lost the other included items, the new SBC more than makes up for that. Good luck!

Good to know! This is our first time on the larger ship. And the game I was trying to describe is shuffleboard.

I was wondering the same thing! I haven’t played in several years, having hurt both my knee and my back, but I was thinking of starting up and playing a little less…competitively? Aggressively? Anyway, there is usually a big wooden box against the bulkhead with the equipment for golf and that other game where people push discs around on a hopscotch thing (I can’t remember the name, I’ve never played it). So maybe there are paddles and balls in there? OTOH, how much room would a pball paddle take in a suitcase? I’m bringing mine! Hopefully it remembers how to play. I’m on the same cruise (July 23, Norway). I wonder how many balls end up in the sea….

I don’t think Oceania is trying to be “deceptive.” Can the pricing be confusing? Yes. After our first cruise (with Regent Seven Seas) I realized that while all-inclusive might be simpler, it was also more difficult to see what I got for my money. A nice large room (which I still remember as fantastic!). Bottles of booze in my room to drink whenever I wanted (left them half-full). So, I kind of like having the choices; we can each pick what works for us. There are often sales with anything we want to buy (do I get that new iPad now or wait to see if the price comes down on Black Friday). So why Oceania? The food, plain and simple. Regent had edible food but it was uninspired. It was mostly impossible to get a table in their ‘specialty’ restaurants and feedback from other cruisers was that it wasn’t really worth it. Ocean’s meal options and preparation are far superior, in our opinion. The dress code, the smaller ships and the itineraries are also appealing to us. Oceania lets cruisers pick and choose what makes sense for them. Airfare included? Not for us; I have years of experience arranging my business and personal travel. Prepaying SBC (because that’s really what O-Life is—pay ahead for things you will want while on the ship without any refund at the end of what you didn’t “spend”)? No; though I do the math with every cruise to see if it might make sense. Hotels before/after? No, I can easily evaluate options on line and find my own hotels. We generally book private excursions but due to a huge SBC (which our TA got us when the sale prices went down hugely for our cruise this summer), we’re just going to take Ocean’s excursions. It’s taking some time for private excursion companies to get back up to speed, anyway…better this year than last, but still not all of the choices there were pre-COVID. In most ports, we prefer just to wander on our own, anyway. If we like a city, we can always go back sometime and spend a few days. In fact, a short walk around and I’m ready to go back on board…after all, I’m paying a lot of money to be on the ship, lol. We often pick our cruise itinerary based on what we will see from our balcony versus spending an entire day in a van or on a bus. We’ve found that just paying as we go is almost always the best option (rather than O-Life). Everyone needs to do their own Excel spreadsheet, though, based on what you want your cruise to be. And once you decide, enjoy!!

Last cruise: August 8, 2022: Regatta (Seattle to Seattle…Alaska) Next cruise(s): July 23, 2023: Marina (Copenhagen to Tromso) Jan 20, 2024: Nautica (Papeete to Papeete) The biggest difference I’ve noted between post and pre Covid cruises is the excursions—not just the cancellations (staffing for excursion companies is difficult, I’m sure), but the Oceania excursion desk staff’s poor handling in rescheduling, reimbursing, etc. It was my biggest (probably only) complaint on the Aug 8 cruise last summer. I find the food to be just as good; other staff to be pleasant and helpful; the things I like about cruising to be just as nice. The library still has good books and is a beautiful place to spend some time. They still let us bring wine (and other alcohol) on board. I can still get surf-and-turf-hold-the-bun at Waves. I can sit on my veranda with a glass of wine and a good book and enjoy the view/breeze/nap.

The dreaded mailed brochure with the “extraordinary savings” came this past weekend and our July cruise along the coast of Norway showed our PHP cabin at HALF of the price that we paid. Our cruise is fully paid for and included a generous ship board credit from our TA and prepaid gratuities from Oceania…but still. I contacted our TA and asked her to see what she could do (noting that the on-line pricing for our level cabin was $100 more than what we paid; the huge discount was only in the brochure). The result is a shipboard credit equal to the difference (but losing the other ‘perks’). I’m happy with that as I realize they didn’t really have to do anything. Now we’ll book every excursion and schedule massages and I’ll drink like a fish (hubby doesn’t drink) and we’ll still have $$ left, lol. And maybe that remainder can go toward additional gratuities if the service is as good as it’s been on past Oceania cruises. Spread the joy! Thanks to this thread for giving me the impetus to at least look into what the options might be.

‘Now comes the question if Oceania will honor the sale on an already booked cruise. Any experience with this out there?’ I’ve had one previous experience with this and Oceania did honor the sale on our already booked cruise.

The ice cream stand by Waves Grill, the Main Dining Room and, I think, Terrace Cafe. There’s usually one HS flavor each day. Also usually a sugar free ice cream and a sugar free sorbet (mango is the best!). As someone else said, there’s something for everyone.

I had to laugh at this…the ‘surf and turf, hold the bun’ is my absolute favorite also and when I cruised last summer with a group of friends, it quickly became everyone’s. Followed by a small dish of ice cream (sugar free or not) with the delicious caramel sauce. I can’t wait for July and our next cruise!

Yes. Same in Penthouse cabins.

I’m confused…did you pay for their cruise with the idea of limiting how they enjoy it? From reading this, you were not dining WITH them and therefore having to wait for them to finish. Your concern seems to be for the wait staff…who are there to wait on the folks who are there to dine. One of the delights of cruising is that everyone gets to enjoy their cruise as they like. Some want to try all of the food, some want to read books on their balcony, some want to be social, some want to soak up some rays. Isn’t it each person’s business how they enjoy their time? I can’t wait for our cruise this summer and being able to enjoy NOT grocery shopping and NOT preparing meals for two full weeks. I’m going to eat whatever I like and hope I am dining next to people who are concerned with their own enjoyment and not critical of mine.

Just booked Oceania Marina July 23 to Aug 7 (2023, of course), Copenhagen to Tromso. This will get my husband his bucket list Arctic Circle checked off (Leknes, Harstad, Alta, North Cape and Hammerfest) and my favorite cruise occupation, reading a good book on the balcony and enjoying the scenery (with a glass of wine). Oceania is rather port intensive (only one sea day) and I’m sure each of the little towns it stops in will be fun to walk around. A friend of mine once told me that the top two cruises, in her opinion, are the coast of Norway and the coast of New Zealand. So, New Zealand booked for 2024. Figuring out how to get home from Tromso will occupy most of my time next spring, lol.

There is often a (small) discount and/or reduced deposit for booking a future cruise on board and yes, you can transfer it to your TA within 30 days of booking.

“TSA pre check is great. HOWEVER, if you are returning from overseas you cannot use pre-check at any US airport to continue onward. A good example is IAH. American and United, and possibly other airlines, are routed through TSA at one very small TSA checkpoint. There is NO TSA pre-check. “ If you have TSA pre-check and are connecting from an int’l flight to a domestic flight and there is no pre-check option, you can exit, go up to ticketing level/area and go through a Pre-Check or Clear line there. I do this at DTW and SEA (though Seattle has recently improved their int’l arrival area and it may be better now). Saves time if the regular TSA line is long.

This just changed, Oceania is extending the COVID testing requirement through August, when embarking from US ports.

Leaving on Regatta Aug 8 and had crossed out 48 hour negative COVID test off my list after a communication from Oceania. But then, today, received another notice, tick-tack taking it back. Also, I’ve downloaded the ARRIVE CAN app and it’s pretty straightforward. You can scan your passport or input the information manually and upload your vaccination brand/dates. But you need to wait until 3 days before your cruise to input the cruise information. Since a 2nd visit to Butchart Gardens in Victoria is on my list, I’m going to follow the instructions. Dear Valued Guests and Travel Advisors, We look forward to welcoming you onboard Regatta for your upcoming voyage to Alaska. Recently, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) decided to end the COVID-19 program for cruise ships operating in U.S. waters. At this time, the testing requirement for cruise ships departing from U.S. ports will remain in effect through the month of August. All guests sailing aboard Regatta from Seattle will need to comply with the pre-departure testing requirements detailed below. Additionally, we want to remind all guests that as your voyage calls in Canada, all guests must download the ArriveCAN app and complete the ArriveCAN form (details below) prior to embarkation. FOR SAILINGS EMBARKING FROM U.S. PORTS: Oceania Cruises will require that all guests arrive at the embarkation terminal with a negative COVID-19 PCR or Antigen test result from a third-party verified laboratory or pharmacy, taken within 48 hours of arriving to the terminal. All guests must provide proof of a negative test result at embarkation in a digital or printed format. Guests not in possession of a negative, third-party Covid-19 test result will not be allowed to embark for the voyage. Test result documentation must be provided in English and must include the following information: · Your name, which should match the name on your travel documents · Your date of birth · The result of the test · The date the test sample was collected · The name of the test provider · Confirmation of the type of test provided FOR SAILINGS CALLING IN CANADIAN PORTS Canada also requires that all travelers download the ArriveCAN app to upload all of their entry and vaccination documents within 72 hours prior to boarding a ship destined for Canada. Guests are required to arrive at embarkation with all information uploaded into the website. The ArriveCANapp is available from Apple, Google, or at www.Canada.ca. A detailed step-by-step guide to completing the ArriveCAN entry forms can be found here: ArriveCAN Step By Step Guide

I couldn’t agree more with this. I already have a list of options (including driving to airports 3 hours away) for alternate flights for our flight to SEA in a few weeks. The more information you have, the better your results will be.