Mura

Laraine,

I was all set to sign up until I saw that DH (being over 75) would have to jump through hoops to sign up. No way he's going to comply with the rules for a diamond membership.

So I guess we look for something else.

As a matter of fact, Divers Alert Network has great coverage for a moderate amount. We aren't divers but a friend was, and she pointed us in their direction. I'll have to recheck the benefits ... we may not need medical evacuation depending on what they require.

Mura

P.S. I just checked ... a family membership is $55 (base rate). This includes $100K in medical evacuation insurance.

"Covers evacuation and transportation as directed by a physician to the nearest adequate medical facility (or home if medically required). Includes medical escort if advised by attending Physician."

That's a good point, Pam. I've never used one of O's hotel packages but whenever I've checked them out, they appeared to be five star hotels. Definitely not boutique hotels let alone a B&B.

As you say, that is understandable!

One thing we especially liked about Renaissance was the "free" included hotels in excellent hotels ... gone are the days. (Then again, they put us up in the Taksim area in Istanbul but Sultanahmet would have been far more convenient for touring.)

Mura

It's up to you. If you would feel naked without a sports jacket, bring it along. But many gentleman will NOT be wearing one.

Mura

For fellow cheapskates, when we left NCL's DREAM in January 2002 we spent the first night in Vina del Mar and then took the bus to Santiago. Back then the fare was $5pp. It included a movie on board ... of course, it was in Spanish but it was something to watch. The bus itself was very comfortable.

Then we just took a cab to our Santiago hotel.

Mura

We usually take the credit and it's always been a different amount depending on our destination (and from where we were flying as well). The one absolute is that we used to get much larger air credits than we do now!

Mura

Miami is a different kettle of fish!

Mura

In terms of paying a deposit to a tour guide has anyone considered wire transfers or EFTs? Are these possible in such situations?

There's an obvious problem in taking a lot of cash with you, not just because of the possibility of theft but the customs regulations. So you might not be bringing in more than $10,000 in such a case ... but obviously you don't want to lose the money for any reason.

We recently had a tour in Rio where the guide wanted a deposit in advance. In the past Paypal worked but because there have been money laundering problems in the past (which make using PayPal difficult in Brazil), he asked us to use Western Union. This worked very easily -- at least to Brazil. If we used credit cards to send the money, there was a surcharge. Not a bad one, but still money you don't need to spend. If the money was withdrawn from a checking account, there was no surcharge -- but it took a couple of days longer.

So the next question is: would Western Union work in the countries the OP is asking about?

And if you use Western Union, you can set it up online. You don't have to go to a Western Union office.

Official Disclaimer: No, I don't work for Western Union. And I prefer not to use Western Union, but on the rare occasion when I have used Western Union, it has worked out just fine.

Mura

Even if there aren't any customs problems in arrival at Barcelona, we've never had them in the past upon arrival in Barcelona. (Then again, we're usually departing from Barcelona, not arriving there.)

But never say never.

Mura

Interesting, but conventional wisdom seems to be NOT to purchase the cruise line's insurance but to get outside insurance.

Even so, I'm not sure if outside insurance would help in this situation either.

I'm about to buy insurance for our next cruise and I'll certainly consider this in looking at the provisions, even though we don't expect to take any ship's tours on this cruise. (We usually do private tours but the question still exists for those as well.)

Mura

Rhonda,

Thanks for your comments. Just one thing to say about your problem with the cook who didn't understand your English. Might part of the problem have been your Australian accent?

I agree that all crew on Oceania should understand English. But we ourselves have encountered occasional problems in Europe with our "American" accents. I remember when we were in Yugoslavia in 1977 that many service people spoke English very well, but they had learned British English and often were puzzled by the American accent. On a few occasions I did better by speaking to them in German!

Mura

That Rio problem in December affected departing passengers as well. Some of our friends returning home (I believe through Dallas-Fort Worth) had flights cancelled the morning we were to leave the ship due to weather conditions. Some people didn't even find out until they arrived at the airport!

Needless to say, O had its hands full. I know they helped some ... not that this is a consolation if they didn't help YOU.

We were okay because we were going to NYC and the weather problems in Texas didn't impact us.

Mura

P.S. I don't think this is a new problem and Oceania should address it better. Back in 2006 some passengers on our Dover-Dover (via Iceland) cruise had several passengers arrive a few days late because of delays in Southern California. One couple told me at the time that Oceania had not been at all helpful or responsive, and I believe they had been using O's air -- although I could be wrong. It's quite a while since I heard the story.

I speak Google but Google doesn't really speak German ... but some of those translations are more than amusing, aren't they?

Mura

Can't say I was really serious in making my comment! Unless you have some facility in a foreign language (in that situation), there are better trips. Not understanding anything that the others in your group are saying is no fun at all.

And since this is apparently an expensive cruise line, I'd take a pass even though my German is still passable ... but not nearly as good as it once was.

Mura

Okay, so if only 25 fellow passengers speak English you could have a lonely time ... or LOTS of time to practice your German!

Mura

I haven't done the Europa 2 (for that matter I haven't been on Riviera either although I have been on Marina) -- but the immediate difference that comes to mind is that Europa 2 carries 500 passengers as opposed to Riviera's 1250.

Mura

Buying on board gets the 30% discount with three or more bottles. Not with just one or two.

Mura

I'm repeating myself, but why not?

When we first had a butler, we didn't use him at all. Had no idea what to ask for ... Besides, we didn't want to have to pay that tip to someone who never did anything! (But that was OUR fault.)

Then I tore my meniscus just before boarding in Barcelona in Nov '05 and suddenly we were dependent on our butler.

And since then ... oh, what a lovely benefit. If we're in a cabin that doesn't have a butler, we survive. Of course, we do.

But it's really worth having one, and if you have one -- use him! On our last cruise we forgot to bring up our bottle of wine for dinner and DH went back to get it. He returned with Sandy who was carrying the bottle and opened it for us.

Was it necessary? Not at all. But it was delightful.

Mura

Plenty of us have done it with no problems. Just do a search and you will see many posts on this subject. It is a very common question posed by people who haven't sailed with Oceania before.

Technically I believe there is a limit of 3 bottles of wine -- except that others have stated that they've brought on cases of wine and beer (not a lot of cases!) without a problem.

Just be careful not to bring your private stock into common areas. There is a corkage fee if you want to bring your own wine to dinner.

Mura

You will be better off finding your roll call for this cruise. It looks like you are on Regatta -- it wasn't easy since O has four cruises leaving on May 19th!

It looks like your Roll Call is at

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1756673

It's not terribly active as of yet but there are three pages so far. This is where you will find your fellow passengers. (It looks like this is your first post so it's understandable you are still finding your way!)

Good luck! And have a wonderful cruise.

Mura

In this case, I think they can manage. (I couldn't, but that's another story.)

However, she says that she is there to help her parents ... and she can better do so in the same room. I agree with J&S that if the budget will permit a PH they'll be more comfortable. But my opinion matters for naught. It is their decision.

Many years ago I asked Renaissance about booking the Owner's Suite for travel with my husband and my mother. That's a large suite -- about 1,000 sf. There's a main bathroom and a second half bath. The sofa in the living room pulls out to a bed.

But I was strongly advised that it would not be comfortable for 3 adults. And once I traveled in that suite, I saw what they meant. I think Mom would have been okay with the sofa bed but NOT with the bathroom arrangements. It's not that she was constantly using the bathroom (!) -- but she took forever getting ready. She was very meticulous in her dress and grooming, and usually took an hour to get ready for the day. (I usually take maybe 15 minutes total.)

So if I was recommended not to consider 3 people in an OS, I do wonder -- in general -- about 3 people in a smaller cabin. It DOES depend on the three people!

Mura

Regarding the desire just to ban smoking entirely ... Well, I personally agree.

However! Renaissance had an absolute ban (which was not always adhered to) but had decided to permit limiting smoking. This new rule was to have taken effect around December 2001, but of course Ren went belly up in September of that year. When Oceania started up not that long after, they kept to the "new" rule that Renaissance had planned on.

I also on occasion have walked across the pool deck without thinking about where the smoking area was and then was overwhelmed with the aroma. But I realized I was wrong, they weren't ... I was just on the wrong side of the deck.

I'm not happy with the smell of smoke at all. I would like to see cigar smoking totally banned, but I can tolerate cigarette smoking if the smoking areas are better protected. It seems I'm not alone.

Yes, in the most perfect of all worlds no smoking would be permitted... but somehow I don't think that is in the cards. Especially, as has been said, with more marketing to other parts of the world where more smoking exists.

Still, we've been very surprised in recent years as to how much smoking in public has been reduced in Europe. We used to be overwhelmed in major European cities with the smoking, and that is rarely the case these days.

I guess we can continue to hope.

Mura

I am amused about the different perceptions of cruisers. (No one is wrong when it comes to perceptions.)

Both here and on the "favorite restaurant" thread, so many people feel so differently.

I'm not wild about the Terrace Buffet on the "R" ships although I'm not at all unhappy to have dinner there when we're not interested in changing after a long day. But I do love it on Marina, and I assume Riviera cannot be too different.

But not everyone loves the buffet, period.

If you look at the "rate the specialty restaurants" thread, there are hardly any people who rate them the same way. I love Jacques the most, don't care for Red Ginger. But there are MANY people who feel the opposite.

Just goes to show ... it's all in the eye of the beholder.

Mura

Well, there is a divider between the two Vistas. I didn't notice the last time we were in one (on Marina) if there was a problem looking to the side across the divider. Certainly there's no problem looking FORWARD! I have a similar problem in that we'll be in a VS on Marina leaving NY Harbor in May and I know we'll be on the right side to see The Lady, but I'm not sure how well we will see our home in Brooklyn (which will be to the left). So we may just go topside anyway on the sail away.

The real answer probably depends on your itinerary and which ports you will be entering/leaving. Your TA or Oceania probably can answer that question better than we can.

Mura

The only time we were in this situation was on an NCL cruise in January 2002. In that case the tour bus broke down and we were about 90 minutes late getting back to the ship -- they took a lot longer to send a replacement bus than they'd promised.

The ship waited. In fact, some of the independent passengers waited in the port until we got there and they joined us in the tender.

I've never heard of O leaving any ship's tour behind.

Mura

Anne,

Speaking as someone who's often had a problem at least sometime during a cruise (obviously, some have been worse than others) I personally haven't had a problem being very aft on a ship. I mean, not noticeably more than when we were midships. I know others will disagree, but that is my experience.

It's very hard to compare sensitivities such as this one, however! I certainly wouldn't want you to go on my word and then have a bad experience ...

Mura