pinotlover

ORV; Unless there has been a recent change, Oceania’s casinos are 3rd party operators. I would be extremely surprised if some type of POP arrangement isn’t in effect therefore giving Oceania motivation to be at Sea. Captain Max gave a lengthy detailed summary of vessel operating costs on one of our Nautica sea days a few years back. Hourly port fees, along with port navigation people, is indeed a huge cost. Ships are charged by tonnage, not by passengers aboard. This is a disadvantage for Oceania ships. Some of the port fees quoted by the good Captain seemed outrageous. Oceania could never sell enough tours to come close to paying the port fees. However, some of those more expensive ports are where the ships have to bring on additional supplies because of logistical infrastructure. They can’t do it at anchor or remote ports. There desire to stay in those ports longer than necessary is nil. While the many cruisers don’t care, others of us sign up for cruises strictly for the stated itinerary. Period. It is the marketing departments job to put together interesting itineraries to draw us in two plus years before sailing. Operations then determines how to maximize profits by eliminating controllable costs . Extended port times are controllable costs. Shave an hour here, and two hours there; and the savings can be significant. Don’t forget the store and casino POPs, the alcohol sales, etc, once at sea and/or all aboard.

Oceania is not Liberty Mutual Insurance. One may well pay for amenities they don’t want. Get over it! I don’t care if you don’t drink, under SM wine & beer will be included for lunch and dinner. I don’t care if one goes to bed every night by 8:30, the evening entertainment is included in the price. Et. Ctc.

When we disembarked in Civitavecchia in June, the free shuttle went to the train station in town, not to Rome. The shuttle is ran by the port on their schedule. Oceania has nothing to do with it. It does run regularly and it stops at the terminal for other ships. It will be packed when it leaves the port. Very packed. It’s free. It got us to the train station.

I always bring a dress jacket for this purpose. Easy to pack and very convenient and comfortable to have when need demands. Same reason my wife always brings a sweater or wrap.

You leave out an important item. Have you cleared English immigration before arriving in Southampton? We have disembarked three times there. Immigration Services were always either late arriving, slow processing, or both. They do an eye to eye on the ship. All those people insisting upon dragging their luggage creates a cluster. I would never haul my luggage off there again. Once was enough.

This is the way I view the Original Question of this thread. I have friends that bought condos in FL or AZ. They go to those condos every winter, meeting up with the same Snowbirds, eating at the same restaurants, doing the same activities year after year. It’s what they want to do. I have other friends that rent seasonal condos in AZ one year, FL, CA, CO, HI, a Carribean island, New Zealand, Bali, plus/and/or get on a cruise ship part of the season in another year. They never go to the same places year after year. It’s what the want to do. People are different and so are their comfort levels.

Dinner time normally starts at 6:30 as stated above. However, one size doesn’t always fit all, so there are occasional exceptions. Everyone is guaranteed at least one reservation in each of the Specialty restaurants. On a full ship this can be hard to accomplish on seven (7) day cruises. Therefore, on those short cruises, Oceania will often start at 6:00, which creates additional dining times to accommodate the Guarantee. So if one is on a seven day cruise, or a cruise with a seven day segment, they may see a 6:00 pm start time. Otherwise, typically not.

As I posted way back in post #2, Barcelona announced a year back that in the near future only ships embarking would be docking in Barcelona proper. Other ships would be Docking elsewhere. There attempt at crowd control. We have a Barcelona port stop on our Allura cruise. Only a port stop and plainly say Tarragon. From the Barcelona announcement, the docking port is not determined by the number of ships coming in but there purpose in the stop.

Is the ship doing an Embarkment stop or merely a port visit?

Regatta has had on going maintenance issues over the years. Will Regatta be the first R ship out? Over/Under! 😎

For us, it’s like boarding a plane since we’ve never known hunger on a cruise ship. Allow those needing extra time to get in and seated first . Arriving at 7:00 is convenient for and gives extra time tothe more limited mobility ones.

Social Hostess said years ago that mgt doesn’t want earlier dining. They’re afraid it would turn the ships into “ ghost ships “ by 7:00, thus turning off a larger number of cruisers. Enough cruisers have disappeared for the night by 8-8:30 now, changing that to 7-7:30 would create a reputation O doesn’t want. There is always room service for those wanting an early dinner.

My brother in law goes to the exact few restaurants repeatedly ordering the exact same meals from menus that never change. That’s him and he’s happy. Our favorite restaurant change menus regularly, plus we eat at new locations. We’re a bit bored with the Polo Grill and Toscana, plus quality there can swing significantly. We eat a lot of fabulous meals ashore to get variety, but different lines can help provide that likewise. An example is Paul Gauguin! You’re in the FP, PG provides tasty food with a local flair. We don’t fly halfway around the world to eat Merican. We realize that’s all some people want, simple Merican. The Polo Grill and Toscana is actually a turn off for us when foreign local options are available. Did I say we love Champagne and caviar? That Champagne definitely isn’t Germain!!!

I believe an infamous Austrian Princess turned French Queen stated similarly: ” Let them eat cakes “ How did that turn out? 😂

Ditto; or be so polite if you refuse to get/wear them to just leave the tv sound off to benefit your fellow passengers. Be nice if there was a general kill switch for all TVs between say 22:00-06:00.

Define this more clearly please. We’re the stops for embarking and disembarking or merely port stops in transit.

I believe the answer is two part; 1. If the ship is Embarking/Disembarking then it’s done in Barcelona. 2. If it is merely a port stop it is done out of town elsewhere outside of town.

More cancelled ports and cut port times in three Post Covid cruises than in all my prior cruises combined. Weather was not the only issue. We boarded the Vista in June and were informed upon boarding port times in three of 12 ports had been cut. Hard to believe the Captain made those decisions only on Embarkment Day. Good luck. Enjoy your cruise.

That may be the case for large airlines and hotels. I can tell you for restaurants ( non chain) and small businesses it’s 7%. That’s why many won’t accept their cards, particularly European small businesses.

Some people want Mother Oceania to take care of them and hold their hands. They stay in Mother Oceania hotels pre or post cruise. They use Mother Oceania Air even for BC. They only take Mother Oceania shorexs. Yes, they also use VisaCentral at O’s recommendation. Some are capable of doing it themselves. Nothing new here!

Something we’ll never learn at our peon level, but what I’d love to know is what negotiated deal do the credit card companies have for points and/or OBC. We normally value frequent flyer miles at $0.0175-$0.02 per mile, but what does Visa actually pay per mile for them? Same with cruise line OBC, I’m pretty sure they aren’t paying $1 for each OBC $. Then the other side of the coin, many smaller businesses won’t accept AMEX cards because they charge 7-7.5% of sale. Visa/MC is 2.5% normally. What kind of a deal can NCLH negotiate and get those charges lowered? Just think, if O is paying top Travel Agencies 16% of fare and AMEX 4+%, that’s a 20% haircut off the top before any O perks! I doubt AMEX would go below 5%!

I don’t believe so. AMEX Travel becomes your TA and they get the commission. There are different options with different perks. 1. Book with whomever and pay with the Platinum card. 2. Book with AMEX Travel and pay with the card.

No. The rumor ( actually focus group discussions) is that 2024 marks two years of a full return to cruising for Oceania. The current program is a purely “ life time achievement “ one. Oceania is considering going the way of airlines and hotels. To keep your status, you must cruise. Whether that’s once every 18 or 24 months tbd, but you must cruise. Otherwise, you just revert to Blue. The open question is “ Will a branded credit card step in to protect your status as with the airlines and hotels?” Doubt Visa or MC would take that huge expense on. Maybe, or not, that specific AMEX card, or an even more expensive one. Guess we’ll find out in the next year.

I don’t currently have an AMEX card. Got rid of mine about 15 years ago. Rumor is next summer change could be coming to the O Club plan. That AMEX card may, or may not, be the saving grace.

I will admit that at as of that cruise I still hadn’t grasp the full measure of Oceania’s propensity to cancel ports or shorten port times, even though it had been happening frequently. We don’t turn our tv on first thing every day, and in fact rarely watch it. It was dark outside, and we’ll before our scheduled arrival. It was my mistaken belief that the ship’s Captain, or Destination Services, would have informed us of the port cancellation , especially as people piled into the Lounge. Destination Services continued to tell passengers we would be anchoring very soon and to just wait in the Lounge. So the learning experience, believe nothing Destination Services tells you; and check your tv monitor, before dressing, for actual ship locations because the Captain may refuse to be forthcoming. Lesson learned.