pinotlover

How in the world would Oceania know if these changes will affect shore excursion operations? Oh! They mean their own! 🙄. Does this mean if we’re now signed up for an eight hour Oceania shore excursions it will either now be cancelled or just cut in time at the same price?

😂. In sincerity, I believe Room service will bring you the hamburger and up to two beers in that original delivery. Then you’ll have to call room service again for any further orders and go in the que for that order.

Deck 8 imo. You are on the same deck as most all of the OH and above. You are further away from the anchors and other noises. You’ll find on many Alaskan cruises the outdoors seating area of the Terrace is either closed or only lightly used because of inclement weather. Big difference from Carribe cruises.

It is effective at all dining venues. It is available for room service. However, I believe it is only available during normal dining hours.

Please let us know how it unfolds. Thanks! 🙏

Explain what happened with the Falklands, please. We have an all day tour to Volunteer Point booked.

Robjames; Part of the bartender story isn’t accurate. 1. All drinks come with the gratuity added. 2. All such gratuities are pooled. Therefore, it doesn’t matter whether one orders from a waiter or bartender. I do agree with the bartender on one issue and often repeated it. Cash tips on Oceania given to any employee are retained by that employee and not pooled. I also agree in essence with NJhorseman. All the funds, including gratuity, received by O are fungible. One shouldn’t compare how their favorite restaurant back homes operates to how Oceania does.

There are multiple destinations, including Embarkment ports, that are either wine or alcohol deserts, or the taxes so high they make Oceania prices look cheap. One is not going to a Baltic port and buy wine to bring aboard. The alcohol taxes plus VAT are outrageous! Same with other destinations. We bring wine abroad when we can. When we can’t, we pay the Oceania piper.

+1000!

I am a traveler, not a cruiser. I cruise for the ports, not to sit on a ship. If port times gets cut, on our upcoming cruise, and we are forced to eliminate tours or significantly shorten them, that will mean cancellation of three booking when we get home. Oceania can then truly become a fleet for those “ with the ship being the destination “ and those only wanting 2-4 hour shore visits. We’ll see how that works out for Oceania. FWIW, one sea day Captain Max gave a full rundown of ship operating costs. Fuel consumption drops only about 30% while the ship is in dock or anchorage. Most of the power generation goes to powering all ship functions not related to motoring. Time at dock is a huge cost. Shorter dock times = less costs. Per Cpt Max, for major ports, docking fees are higher than fuel costs if staying at sea. That reduction in fuel costs does not offset the port fees. Most every sea day is a bigger moneymaker over a port day.

I can’t speak for either Canada or Great Britain, but here in the States a significant portion of the patrons know whether the venue pools tips or not. Typically the information comes via reputation or from people they know working there. A couple current era observations. First, there are some wait staff that will only work where tips are pooled. Likewise, there are those that refuse to work in such establishments and demand what they earn. Second, in the current era, labor is extremely scarce. Some establishments have closed or are still on reduced schedules because of lack of labor. If a waiter quits at lunch, they can be employed elsewhere by dinner. That means that, unlike last decade, it’s very difficult for management to drag their hand in the tip “ till” much at all. If they do, management will find themselves being the waiters themselves. Supply and demand of labor has altered practices.

One wonders if damage actually occurred when the ship grounded? 🤔

The workers in the Casino, shops, and Spa are not Oceania contract employees. They work for the individual concessions. Don’t confuse what those workers do, with what O workers do.

Paul; Thanks for this. Interesting plan. If you buy the drinks package pre-cruise you get a discounted price. However, by doing so, you must buy it for the entire cruise, or first segment ( perhaps). If one waits, they pay more, but can delay the start based on situation.

I believe you touched on the essence of the problem. Oceania has been sailing a bunch of low passenger capacity ships. Lots of upcoming cruises still showing cabin availability. I’m shocked that our June Vista cruise went from waitlist to now having availability and we’re not yet to final payment! If Oceania, or any other entity, is to run a successful wine and spirits program, it has to be paid for. LGW59, and a host of others, don’t choose to participate in any adult beverage program. That leaves only we imbibers to not only cover the program costs, but also turn a profit for Oceania. While I might feign surprise at the number of ( near) Teatotallers above, the average age of Oceania’s clientele makes that feign look naive. This is coupled with Oceania’s very generous policy of allowing adult beverages to be brought aboard along with a modest $25 corkage fee. This singularly decreases the pool of those buying the package. As you decrease the number of those buying the various packages while the costs of said booze increases, someone must pay the delta. Oceania has several options ahead. Hopefully, this package increase takes care of the issue. If not, their generous policy of allowing alcohol being brought aboard could be in jeopardy. Or, the selection of included items decrease significantly. When multiple packages become Ala carte, those packages then not only have to pay for themselves, but also generate acceptable profits to be sustained.

Heeding instructions of senior Oceania staff or policy is not something a significant percentage of Oceania cruisers do. Many examples. Back in 16 or 17, on the Nautica, we were having continual plumbing issues. Seems someone thought they should flush their adult diapers down the toilet every day. They finally caught the guilty party when they didn’t make it past their cabin.

Google Day tours in Rhodes. We found many private tours offered to there and Linda’s for less than half Oceania’s price.

I don’t actually believe the bar has exact hours. If few are around the pool, they close at 4:00. If things stay busy, they stay open later to make money. No certain established hours.

The number of sea days matters to us a lot. If we are on a port extensive cruise, we are always off the ship at lunch. Always. Therefore, the beverage package at lunch has zero value for us. Only on sea days does the lunch inclusion have value. Then the value of the standard package is based solely on dinner consumption. All part of the calculation.

My TA has made the same comment. They’re all doing it in unison.

The pairings and the menu, along with its preparation style, for the Dom meal was created by the people at Dom. Jacques has nothing to do with it. In 2019 we had four different Dom P, with only one being used twice. Even with the current world wide supply issues for Champagne, it’s depressing that O couldn’t get a full complement of wine for this event. We are signed up for it again on Marina in March. Hopefully they get a new shipment 🥂

FF; Will our in lieu of PPG OBC perk still be a perk going forward? Have you heard anything official?

ORV; Do you believe that international crew made markedly less income on all those 50% and less filled cruises than on full cruises? Do you believe the guys working the engine room income is dependent upon gratuities paid? I believe most Americans have a very narrow view of tips and gratuities that aren’t consistent with how they are treated worldwide.

Rob; I never realized your occurrence was an option. When we upgraded, in the past, it was always for the remainder of our cruise. I never knew that only upgrading to the end of somebody else’s segment was an option. So upgrading for possibly only two days, in the middle of your cruise, losing the upgrade for a few days because some segment ends, and then upgrading again is a possibility? Never explained to us that way! Always learning!!

Drink package questions vary depending upon the cruise. Our last cruise was a combo of a 7 & 10 day cruise. That meant two Captain Parties and two repeater parties in 17 days. Few sea days. We had one overnight in a port, and thus ate ashore, plus most importantly we were in a tremendous wine production area. No drinks package required. The bin end list was the worst and most unreasonably priced I’ve ever seen on an O cruise. Next cruise is a 20 day single segment cruise. One captain’s party and one repeater party. No overnights and not even a late departure, with six sea days. The math changes. Add to that, we’re social people. We enjoy meeting people and talking with fellow cruisers. We are not in that crowd that only wants to eat alone in restaurants and drink alone in their cabins. That affects the math also. Additionally, there are wine and booze deserts. Places you can’t pick up something ashore to bring back to the cabin. That affects the math. A lot to go into the formula, and we’ve never found the same math on any cruise. There are multiple variables for different people to consider.