pinotlover

With the B2B2B2B2B2B2B2B2B cruise fare sales being offered, maybe Elliot will find one purrfect for him! 🙄

The overhang blocks the range of view. A tunnel vision thing.

If the Holiday Sale offers the same prices as the Black Friday Sale, then logically the current price of any cruise is now that sale price. What’s the new sticker price? Interestingly, just read an article where another cruise line is dropping its single supplement charges to move cruises.

June 2022

I apologize, it’s Barcelona that is now only allowing ships to dock that are e/d. Venice is regulating by ship size.

Oceania’s last release of cruises , outside of the new Allura, has been how many months now? They’re still trying to sell cruises released months ( or over a year) ago. If most of O’s patrons wanted any of those cruises they would have been booked months ago. At this point, looking for new red meat or bottom feeders. Personally booked through 24 and into 25. Waiting for the new releases next March/April for NEW cruises. We’ll probably see 3-4 new sales on those existing cruises with little appeal before the new release.

This isn’t difficult and has been posted previously. if a cruise ship is embarking or disembarking passengers in Venice, then the port of Venice can be used IF available. If a cruise ship is only visiting the area, and not e/d passengers, other local ports must be used. This policy is intended to (1) reduce the number of sea gulls in town; and (2) possibly spread the wealth of the visitors. If one is E/D in Venice, it increases the odds of hotels stays and restaurant meals consumed. OTH, The city is already full of seagulls, in their opinion, and they don’t need more from cruise ships. Look at your itinerary. What is the purpose of the port stop? Is it possible you might get in during off season. Yes. Possibly. Will you do it May-mid October, almost absolutely NO.

So Oceania encourage s chair hogs. OK, there you have it. Same with pool loungers obviously.

I always thought ones cabin was ” a comfy spot to read”. Also to sleep in. Not sure why people believe the library is their spare bedroom for naps! 🙄

You’re lucky! We hit Colmar and there must have been 20 tour buses! Ten, at least, from Viking, then every one else. Too many tour buses for such a delightful small tour.

And there are the tour buses regardless of how docked! How many tour buses does it require to make some of those river towns unappealing to visit? Those limits have been tested.

Yes! Unsolvable. As I posted on an earlier thread, on inclement weather days the chair hogs move to the library and hog chairs there. Several do it regardless of the weather. One of the advantages of the Spa Deck. I can typically find an available lounger there. Happily many don’t like going there.

I thought I had read that many of those already highly visited Cities were in the process of limiting, or reducing, the number of river boats coming in. Viking seems to be saying “ We’re going to raft them 5 deep”! Someone is not on the same page or singing from a different song book! Who’s going to drive all those tour buses? Just what many of these towns need, 4-6 more tour buses picking people up and dropping them off every 200 meters!🙄

First of all, what Oceania did pre Covid/pre billions of $$ in debt may have little to what they may be willing to do today. Second, this isn’t the first time this has occurred. If memory serves, Turkey got into everyone’s crosshairs around 2015 or 2016 and cruise lines cancelled Turkey ports. I remember one Oceania Embarkment getting moved from Istanbul to Athens. Seems to me that Oceania bought a bunch of discount airlines tickets for all from Istanbul to Athens. Don’t remember what they did for those disembarking. Of course past performance doesn’t guarantee future performance.

A Simple Question. Have we FINALLY settled the question as answered by two (2) different Butlers to me, and the Chief Purser by poster # 55? Monies given as tips directly to individual crew members are theirs to keep. They are not pooled. Is there any one that can’t grasp that? Are there those that want to argue none of them know what they’re talking about? Can we agree this issue is closed?

Ditto for us! Spain, Portugal, and France. All land based. No cruise ship required.

Jacques is what I remember of French food back in the 1970s. Having been to France multiple times, for extended periods since the 90s, I ‘ve found that version/style of French food has mostly died out even in Lyon and Paris. Kind of like saying eating cracklings and hog jowl is American. Perhaps, but see how often you’ll actually find it still served. Days gone by.

I agree with your comments. Concerning service, as that is the issue at hand. We enjoy the leisurely paced meals served aboard. For us, even as Americans, 1.5-4 hour meals is nothing unusual with friends. I realize this is unusual in American culture and even abhorrent to some. Anything over 45 minutes for them is drudgery and indicative of poor service. I meanwhile find the Flip that Table routine in many American restaurants as abusive. Service expectations are highly subjective.

All food, in all the restaurants, is highly Americanized, including Jacques. The food is toned down to meet most senior American tastes. The new Ember makes no claim as being anything but American. That’s why we search out great authentic local fresh cuisine for lunch on port calls. We can always eat Americanized food at home. Others prefer Americanized food all the time. Each to their own.

If what qualifies as good to very good food is subjective, then what qualifies as good service is even more so. Since we have posters here that declare every Oceania meal as being excellent; Oceania Specialty restaurants being Michelin star level; and O’s restaurants being better than any land restaurants in their area ( I’ve often wondered where they live!) ; then differences in opinion on what constitutes good to great service ( and therefore tip worthy) is also likely to vary. Do whatever you feel like, and I’ll do likewise.🥂

Let’s not over think this. Remember Oceania is not the employer. All these staff members work for an employment agency in their home country, on contract with Oceania. They are contracted workers. Oceania is likewise the customer as well as the passengers.

I have twice. Two different Butlers. Both replied “ what’s paid into the pool, goes into the pool and Oceania decides how to distribute it. What’s given directly to individual staff is theirs to keep.”

FDR, Sr has already stated that the R ships will see no future refits. The current plan, in the near future is the two “ O” Class ships and three (3) A Class ships. The R Class will be aging out. It may take 5-6 years for all of them to go, but come 2030 ( or earlier) they’ll all be gone. For those R ship lovers Show your Love! Book the r ships. Ever notice how often the R ships need the big SALES to fill? First glimpse. Watch the next cruise release currently scheduled for next March/April and see if all the R ships are included.

A couple comments about the Vista Library . 1. On sea days, it can be the worst place for chair hogs on the ship . Far surpassing the pool deck. I believe they should allocate one area to a thirty minute time limit. Let people come, browse, look at reference materials, and have a place to sit. The readers, nappers; etc, can have the other sections. 2. They only had travel reference materials on where the Vista is cruising. Since the Vista will do the 26 ATW, I suppose that section will increase, but wish they had more resources now. 3. It is a nicely laid out facility. Nice to use.

Here’s my experience, and it isn’t one size fits all. The Terrace has the exact same number of wine stewards working at 18:30 as the do at 19:30. If you’re one of those that must eat at 18:30, and the place gets slammed, you may feel “ The Terrace is for Teatotallers “. Some nights you might never get served during that early time slot. Same night, come in at 19:30, most of the crowd having cleared by 19:15, and service is good. Same restaurant, same night, vastly different results. This same situation is played out in the other restaurants likewise. I’ve seen nights where it appeared the entire ship wanted to eat in the GDR! People were waiting to get a table. Service levels ( drink refills in this case) were vastly different from other nights. Service on Oceania is typically very good. Oceania doesn’t do assigned eating times, except for the Specialties, so that cruiser freedom of choice can sometimes lead to imbalances of staffing and service. I’ve likewise seen where, via system glitches, they overload a Specialty. Service likewise goes to pot there when that happens. Fortunately not the norm.