Terryd444

Amazing photos! As I knew they would be! Can't wait for tomorrow!

Ron,

As usual I really enjoyed your live posts and pictures. Thank you so much for taking the time to do them. Have to admit I am dying for you to tie the story up with a big ribbon and bow and post your pics of Istanbul!

John and I leave August 2nd to spend three days in Istanbul before our cruise to Venice which begins on August 5th. Pam has kindly updated me with all sorts of tips and hints so we feel very prepared. I am beyond excited!

Could you comment on whether you think a wheelchair would be doable? My disease has progressed such that I tire very easily now. I usually do fine with my walking stick that has a little seat on it, but DH is very concerned about me and wants to make sure I see everything on my bucket list. He is insisting that our itinerary combined with the heat will do me in if I'm not careful....!

Thanks Ron, we are all enjoying your posts, sorry for the small hijack....

Cheers

Terry

PS. Catherine is trying to get us to have a reunion cruise in November!

Enjoying your pics as usual Ron.

Love Angela's new hat style!

Cheers for a great cruise! Will you stay afterwards in Istanbul?

I will be there in August....counting down the days already....

Cheers

Terry

Hello,

I heard the Icon museum is closed for renovations. Do you know if this so?

Will it be open by August which is when we cruise.

To Karen who posted the questions about icon shops, thank you for that information. I will certainly check them out as I am also interested.

TerryD

We are doing a cruise with Oceania in August, starts in Istanbul, ends in Venice - and does all three of these ports and Ephesus. Can't wait!

Terry

Thank you for the detailed post, I love hearing about my favorite ship....even if it is the only one I have experienced! Two cruises down and just booked a third on Riviera.

Your post took time to write and was very thorough and enjoyable. Thank you for taking the time...

Terry

Yes Lynn - Patrick Dunn! Thanks for jogging my poor memory.....

Terry

On our Mayan Mystique cruise on Riviera in February we had to skip Roatan due to the weather, hence an unplanned day at sea. That afternoon they announced 'Elvis' would perform that evening...

So we went, Elvis was my first love....but I wasn't expecting much...

Turned out we were blown away by the performance which imitated Elvis's Televised shows....you remember, the black leather outfit from the early show and then the most watched Hawaii show with the white jewel encrusted suit. Turns out that he was one of only 30 or so performers licensed by Elvis productions to do this show. His mannerisms, make up, voice, costumes - everything about him was excellent. Even his jokes when he stepped out of character were entertaining.

I can't remember his name but of course he sings in the regular production shows, the 60's stuff -the Andrew Lloyd Webber show, we go and enjoy those shows for what they are....cruise ship stuff directed at our age group. This guy was good in those.....but he is really Elvis....

All us ladies were lining up for pictures with Elvis when this jewel of a performance ended!

Terry

Pam,

We will have four days in Istanbul...I can hardly wait, the places and things to see look just wonderful. I envy you going back, you will be able to dig deeper....!

I've been all over Italy but have yet to see Venice, so this will be a perfect finish to the cruise.

Sorry TRock...didn't mean to hijack your thread!

Terry

Pam, we did Caribbean Hideaways last March...then Mayan Mystique this past February...we loved them both so much...they were our first cruises too.

Now we have ponied up for Istabul to Venice for our 45th wedding anniversary this August.

I guess this means we're hooked.....we love Riviera and 'O'

TRock hope you have a truly fabulous trip!

Terry

Thank you Lynn!

Indeed you are correct. My travel Agent has got it all worked out....no deviation fee as we want to arrive on the day the optional package begins.

She also found us a discount of $200 dollars since we are booking within 45 days of our last cruise!

On our last cruise we had asked around about Travel Agents, since ours basically had done nothing for us. A lovely couple from Virginia gave us the name of their TA, and they also gave our names to the TA. We got follow up emails, a call and a card from this person....we liked that, someone who was eager for our business.

She has found us a cruise for our 45th wedding anniversary, booked the cabin we wanted, got us free Internet, free gratuities and $500 in OBC, plus this $200 discount. We love her already. She answers my questions promptly, and calls when she needs to get or give a quicker answer than email might provide. Plus she books and knows a lot about Oceania.

Definitely understand why everyone here on the forum encourages finding and using a good TA.

Thanks for your answer,

Terry

This is such a helpful thread, thanks everyone for the input, I have learned so much.

I'm currently looking at booking our third Oceania cruise. This one has a very attractive three day pre-cruise option for the departure city. Since this an Oceania sponsored tour and add on, can I book this to arrive early and not have to pay the deviation fee?

Seems like this would be a good service to offer for those of us who do a pre or post Oceania sponsored tour.....

Thanks - Terry

PS. Forgot to mention you can get a ton of excercise climbing the Mayan pyramids where they allow you...views over the jungle are Amazing! Nice walks through the jungle to get to the sites too....

Hi there Tom,

We just did Mayan Mystique this past February. Loved it for the mix, my husband enjoyed the Mayan ruins and I learned to snorkel. I had three snorkeling stops, Key West, Cozumel and Grand Cayman, sadly we had to skip Roatan Honduras due to high winds preventing docking, but it reportedly has some of the best snorkeling right off the beach. All the snorkeling was amazing!

We didn't bike but we did learn to Segway! One of the trips to the Mayan ruins took a river boat ride to get there.

We booked all our trips through Oceania and took the unlimited package which had us busy in every port, but this sailing also has days at sea so you can rest up too! Our roll call for this cruise was very much NOT active, no one seemed interested in booking small independent operators and there were concerns with some of the longer excursions to the ruins getting back to the ship on time. We were glad in the end that we did this, all the tours were good and the reduced pricing with unlimited was not that much more in the long run, especially for our peace of mind.

By contrast we sailed Caribbean Hideaways the year before. It was lovely too, especially St Bart's and St. Lucia. But I found the Mayan ruins more interesting than the fairly recent history in the Eastern Caribbean. I wasn't snorkeling then so maybe someone who has done that part of the world could chime in..

Enjoy the planning!

Terry

Hey Katz,

Mine did not...not a whisper about the price of any creams or oils. We had a discussion about all the oils she had available as we decided which combination of scents would be best for me, but no pressure to buy anything at all. Thank goodness, I hate that kind of thing too.

Terry

I too was horrified by the Spa price list, never used the Spa once on our first cruise, and I love massages.

However I had a really nice experience on Riviera for our Mayan Mystique cruise in February that I thought I would share.

We had a B3 cabin, and lots of port activities so. I wasn't really planning to use the Spa Terrace until the sea day, where I was prepared to pay the $25 so that I could get access to that fantastic heated Thalassotherapy pool.

However on one of the port days they advertised 20% off massages in the newsletter, so I thought I would give it a try. I didn't realize that when you get a Spa treatment you also have access to the Spa Terrace and T/pool for the day, so I enjoyed that extra perk and didn't have to pay the $25 daily fee. The massage was truly wonderful, well worth every penny I spent on it. I tipped extra and was quite satisfied, telling the therapist that I would be back.

Then we got busy as one does on O....and right as we were leaving for dinner our phone rang - it was the therapist just calling to let me know that she had some early morning openings for the next day at the discounted rate....was I interested?

You betcha! Another massage next day and a whole day of access to all Spa amenities for little me.....

Not sure how much leeway the therapists have to do this sort of thing, but it certainly made a convert out of me. Isn't it funny how a bit of a discount and a personalized phone call can make such a difference. Of course concierge level fans won't see any benefits, but if you're like me and only want a few days of Spa, it's worth remembering that there may be some flexibility on pricing....

Cheers - Terry

Oh please don't 'poke' at each other.....

It changes my perceptions of you- and this nice forum - where I love to come and learn from the differing points of view.

Terry

PthJudy

So sorry to hear of your family members illness. That must have been upsetting when we had to skip Roatan! Glad to hear all worked out, sounds like Oceania did a great job handling this unexpected event. We only had ten at the M & G but it was so friendly and we kept running into each other through the rest of the cruise. It was like running into old friends each time!

I'll try and get the thread back on track Mura, since we just got off the ship three days ago. Took us two more days to get home thanks to the East Coast Blizzard, will just say this was one time I was glad we had booked our air through Oceania. They scrambled to get us a way home. After three different sets of reservations we finally got a direct flight home to Richmond from Miami. Whew, what a mess....

Restaurants, this time around...

1. Jacques - I had the mussels, so many of them! it was a meal all by itself, i could not finish them. they were small tender and succulent. then - lamb en croute which was so tender and perfectly cooked. for dessert, crêpes Suzette, which sadly were not flambéd but I gave them a buy since I understand a ship is scared of fire....they were a special that night.

2. Toscana - I had the Caprese salad, delicious mozzarella but the tomatoes were not the best, no balsamic/oil on them, so improvised and poured my rosemary infused oil that was supposed to be on the bread over the mozzarella, that made it near perfect. Then had an appetizer sized lobster rissoto that I would order again in a heartbeat - it was perfection. After that came the Dover Sole. Oh my goodness, just order it! For dessert I had Tiramisu and decaf coffee. Just a note on the decaf...it is the best decaf coffee I ever had anywhere and the same deliciousness in all the restaurants.

3. Red Ginger - the duck and watermelon salad to start, not to be missed. I also tried the vegetable green curry - it was very good, the flavor of the sauce was so yummy, I was a bit put off by the sweet potatoes in it, but loved the aubergine and mushrooms along with the soy. Dessert was the three sorbets, coconut, mango and pineapple.

3. Polo - Tied for third place this time. I was so full from tea....I skipped appetizers and salad and opted in for the main event which for me was the Maine Lobster. As usual it was totally delicious. Tender and flavorful with the butter all over it, what could be better? Key lime pie for dessert.

It was all good. No restaurant disappointments this time around. We had good service in them all. Only off putting event was the drunken couple at our table in Polo who kept asking each of us how many times we had sailed on Oceania. Thank goodness they left early! Other than that we had the most delightful dining companions on this cruise.

I know Horizons isn't technically a restaurant but I still love Afternoon Tea there best of anything at all. If Oceania had to ditch the specialty restaurants I could still live with Waves, the Terrace and my afternoon tea!

Cheers everyone

Terry

Hey TRock, in general it depends on your cabin. When we boarded at 2pm they told us our cabin would not be ready until 3pm. Then even when it opened it was quite late before we got our luggage. 5:30 for three of our suitcases and 6pm for the last one. So yes, we went to the Terrace and enjoyed lunch, such a hardship...(smile). Our cabin is the infamous number 7108 with the extra large open balcony. I adore it! Would not switch even if offered upgrade. PH and higher get on earlier ...as do concierge I think.

Terry

Ps, sorry - we did not do cave tubing....haven't run into anyone who has yet to get you an update. But today I learned to Segway in Cozumel...so fun!

You can hang the over the door shoe bag at the other end of the tub where the shower has this glass partition. It doesn't reach the ceiling so DH has his toiletry kit hanging there. You should be fine...bring on the clothes!

For Wowpeople...

I think you should be able to utilize one end of the tub for hanging more clothes. There is a metal towel rack there that should accommodate several outfits. Hope this pic helps....

Pam - enjoyed your comments on the artwork. Thanks for taking the time to post.

Terry

Thanks Catherine, Baychilla and Lyn,

Certainly only take pictures of our own food! Appreciate your comments.

Will certainly be sure to ask permission of others at the table in the future.

We're having a wonderful time, though Roatan was cancelled today due to very windy weather. We are getting an extra sea day instead. I am somewhat disappointed as I wanted to try out my new snorkeling skills there. Still, it's hard to complain when the Captain has our safety as priority, and a day on board is not exactly a hardship is it! I'm lazing by the pool as I post this....feeling happy from the HUGE raspberries and blackberries I just ate with yogurt as the Terrace......

Happy cruising

Terry

Goodness, I hope I didn't offend anyone. The iPad is large, and I did it quickly and then put it down on the floor. Good point though, I suppose one should ask others at the table if they mind if I take a quick photo. I've never been accused of having bad manners before and I always have my cell phone off at dinner, promise.

My family is all over the place, San Francisco, Michigan, England. I have them set up as a small hidden group on Facebook, and try to send them daily pics of what we're doing. They especially love Oceania food pics. Have to say though, the connection is so very slow it's proving to be a real annoyance. It's a miracle those pics showed up.

Consider my hand slapped........

Terry

I think it's the same, your photo is just better and closer! No flash on mine so it looks a bit dark....either way, so good!

Wait......I know what's coming next, someone will want a picture of the duck watermelon salad, yes - I have that too. So yummy, and just as good as I remembered from last time. How often does that happen!

Terry