English Tim

Exciting news to have Heike back on board and the ship leaves Vancouver today, ready for us in Los Angeles on Sunday.

Now, we have another ‘live from’ thread, which will give all of us excited people lots more to look forward to.

Started to look at the weather forecast for LA and it’s looking good, especially with the disappointing stuff in south west England. The left-hand image is of my son Luke and myself after a 50 km cycle ride last week and the second image is of my wife, Rosy.

21 minutes ago, Sidney68 said:

Thank you Tim, unfortunately we didn’t purchase our business class tickets on that Amex offer, never mind. The f nothing else I have now found out about Seat Spy 😊

Could you upgrade using Avios?

2 hours ago, Sidney68 said:

Your upgrade sounds great value, unfortunately I haven’t been notified of such an offer so may look at the app you use in the hope that we get a similar deal! We fly on Wednesday and have a few nights in LA before joining the ship on the 12th. I look forward to meeting you next week. I will too be adding my thoughts to this thread; CC members posts have certainly been of great interest and help to me in the lead up to the cruise. 

in order to utilise this upgrade, one must book an Amex 2-4-1 fare in business class and then hope that seats in First become available nearer to travel, indeed using Seat Spy, as Adrian noted.

We look forward to meeting you.

2 hours ago, Noggins said:

All our documents were on-line - including luggage labels. (not very luxury - but things do improve!)

 

Sneakers or sandals will not get sneered at nor cause a scandal....

 

It sounds as if we might have a few things in common..... Seatspy (and an Explora cruise) for starters. I'm guessing there is an BA AMEX Premium Plus card and, probably, Head for Points involved in the mix too? The Concorde Room is definitely worth a visit!

 

Looking forward to your postings (And Sid's).

 

Adrian

All of those useful travel tools. 😉 

Did anyone from the UK receive any documents prior to the cruise or is everything online?

Did anyone wear sneakers or sandals for dinner?

We board on May 12, so I’m a bit early.

Originally we booked from LAX to Miami, one cruise, but we accidentally discovered that our cruise had been split in two and extended by three days. My UK TA was unaware of the changes until I notified them. It was a worrying time, but we had already booked flights.
 

I suggested to our travel agent that Explora give us the extra three days free of charge, rather than compensation for a cancellation. They agreed and fortunately we were able to change our arrangements. We have booked our transatlantic flight using a voucher and paying most of the fair by airline miles, plus taxes, fortunately there were still flights available for UK.
 

We also had to change internal flights, as after the cruise we were flying up to Washington to visit my sister-in-law, who lives in Delaware. We also had to change the car hire, but fortunately no change fees.

So now we are all set, but last weekend I was notified by an app that I subscribe to, Seatspy, offering two seats in British Airways first class, for an additional £400 per per person, which I considered excellent value and snapped them up. As the flight is just over 11 hours, I considered the top service and access to the Concord lounge at London Heathrow too good an opportunity to pass up. For comparison, I checked what the cost would be had we paid money and tickets are around £11,000 each way!

I imagine we will get an Uber from the airport to our hotel, which is the residence inn downtown Long Beach, where we stay for two nights using our hotel points. Apparently, there is a free bus which runs around the loop, visiting the main locations in Long Beach.

On cruise departure day, again we expect to take an Uber to San Pedro Cruise terminal.

Next week my wife and I will be joining Explora 1 and I’d like to do a live report. How do I start this?

13 hours ago, Waltershipman said:

I too have been on both Explora Journeys and Oceania Vista. Hands down Explora Journeys is and should be number 1

We went on Oceana Vista in January and we were quite disappointed. We are looking forward to going on Explora journey 1 next month and we expect to have a much better experience, based on the information I’ve read on social media.

The fact that Heike is the general manager clearly shows the intent of this line.

4 hours ago, kool kruiser said:

Please be aware that there ae no peleton bikes or spin group classes. However, they have a couple of technogym bikes set up in pelaton style, with a screen and a selection of pre-loaded workouts.

Thanks, I’ve never been on one of those bikes, but may have a go on the Technogym variety.

I wonder if anyone can help me regarding what fitness classes are available on board, preferably included.

Hopefully we will enjoy the Technogym equipment and maybe the peloton bikes, but we also like stretch and abs classes.

Thanks.

One issue with social media is you never know whether the person making the post has any connection with the subject, so they could be social media influencers, or even board members.

12 hours ago, goodvino808 said:

Thanks!  Unfortunately, in true poor American form we don’t get enough holiday time away from work ;(

 

so we’re gonna have to roll the dice and hope for the best in making this flight but I do agree with you It’s earlier than I’d like.  

Best chance is to keep your bags and walk off with them.

11.45 is probably too early for an international departure.

We have embarked at Piraeus on several occasions and all have been pretty easy. If staying pre-cruise, I would advise getting an Uber and checking at which terminal your ship departs, as drivers, don’t always know.

6 hours ago, Noggins said:

You're right, it's not a visa as such - but visa is a nice short word that folk understand! If you want to know what they call it look at this...

 

https://travelform.gov.bb/

 

 

Thanks, I didn’t realise they were still doing that and thought that if you were just transiting, it wasn’t required.
 

Thanks very much for taking the trouble to provide a daily insight into your activities on the cruise. Often people ask questions beforehand but don’t take the trouble to provide the service which you have done, so much appreciated.

I don’t understand why you needed a Visa to get into Barbados!

Maybe when when we go, if I do a post such as yours, they might change the champagne.

10 hours ago, Noggins said:

Tonight....

Two posts tonight.

We went to the Explora Lounge on 11. We were 2 of about 6 there and caught the last 2 items from the pianist, Justine.

Then all the way back down (all those stairs....) to the Yacht Club. It was busy and buzzy - in a good way and we got 'the last table' and a slightly unnecessary apology for it being a 'poor' table. 

We actually had our second best meal and didn't find it difficult to put together a new combination of dishes for this second visit. A couple of photos. The bread basket is the best on the ship. Once again the dessert was excellent.

Service was very attentive despite the number of diners. But by the time we were finished we were almost the last to leave. 10pm, or thereabouts.

 

 

 

That desert looks absolutely scrumptious, and may persuade me to try one, as opposed to being considerate of my waistline.

When we booked Moët Chandon champagne was advertised as standard and we were really looking forward to it, but it looks like it has been replaced, which would suggest a cost cutting strategy.

We are Platinum members and have just booked for July this year. I’ll check the paperwork when I get it for any welcome Home discount, but we are getting 100 miles transfer credit in each direction. As I understand it, this means that when we travel to Eurostar, will be paying a supplement of 33 miles at £2 per mile And on the return it within the hundred miles so it will be included.

12 hours ago, English Tim said:

We cruise on Explora 1 in May and hope we’ll love it and want to return.

 

we cruise on Vista in January, and we’re very excited in advance, but we felt but we wouldn’t return. The service in some areas was lacking and some areas weren’t big enough for the number of people.

 

We love Silversea, and particularly Seabourn and Explora has a lot to live up to.

Well, AutoCorrect made a mess of that post.
 

It should’ve said we cruised on Vista in January and were excited in advance!

We cruise on Explora 1 in May and hope we’ll love it and want to return.

we cruise on Vista in January, and we’re very excited in advance, but we felt but we wouldn’t return. The service in some areas was lacking and some areas weren’t big enough for the number of people.

We love Silversea, and particularly Seabourn and Explora has a lot to live up to.

11 hours ago, KJB416 said:

Do you mind explaining more on the request for a reduction for the third time?  My in-laws are booked on our April 2024 sailing and they paid full price for their OT4 cabin and so far Explora will not do anything for them even though the current prices for their cabin are 2k less and offer the OBC. 
 

I was able to transfer my April booking to another cruise in Oct 24 and rebooked the April cruise during the BF sale. It’s really frustrating dealing with their corporate office and if you use a TA they won’t discuss costs with you. My in-laws are 90 years old so will not hassle over the price, but it really bothers me that EJ slashed these prices after saying they would sail empty before lowering prices.
 

I’m also told the cruise has 70% of cabins sold and I have a feeling there will be a lot of travel agents on board. 

 AFAIK we will not get any OBC, but each time I have noticed a price drop, due to a sale, I have contacted my travel agent asking if this can be applied to us. On the last occasion they said no, so I said would they give us an upgrade  or on board credit, and they surprisingly said they would honour the reduction, or it was only about £100.

they have recently started saying, that offers are for new bookings only.

My experience on other cruise lines is that there are instructions on the wall, usually laminated.

Also, in my experience, most washing machines have been American so it makes a change for one to be European.

On 1/5/2024 at 6:50 PM, uktog said:

My onboard experience - it’s certainly not pretentious. Names are a minor irritant but not enough to dismiss the line 

I love your new positivity after your earlier trials and tribulations.

We have just been informed that our third request for a reduction following the latest special offer has been accepted. It’s almost like a present every every month.