pinotlover

Oceania has neither published a 2024 date nor a later date for the refurbishment. Everything is pure speculation at this time.

Thank you! I’m getting very nervous about our booking for this cruise. A lot of money, both ship and airfare, for that many sea days especially on an R ship. The shorten port times adds insult to injury.

I have a request for anyone that did the circumnavigation cruise this year. How many total ports did you miss, and how many total sea days did you end up with? Thanks for your efforts!

Some officers are highly visible and attend all the functions. Some of the senior officers attend none of the functions . There is no requirement for any senior O officer to ever intermingle with guests. You were on a ship with the good guys! Luck if the draw.

+1. Won’t much affect a TA, but this will become a huge factor between the two lines, especially as Oceania slices more port times away. For those that care, some of Oceania’s senior staff, such as the ship captain, are invisible. They don’t even show up for the Captain’s Welcome Party. AZ’s senior staff intermingles with the passengers FAR more than Oceania’s. Never been a big deal for me, but others enjoy meeting and being coddled by senior staff.

I’ll repeat my comments while in my Sirena cruise. : I had some great meals and I had some very poor meals.It’s the Inconsistency that’s killing them.

Typically, when Oceania makes cruise cancellations, they do it before the air schedule opens up for that time frame. That’s 11-12 months depending upon airlines. Therefore, most all of 2024 is still in play. I will add that the ship yards appear to be fairly busy and it would be at least that far out to get a slot reserved. I still personally believe that NCLH’s financial condition is such that they need all the revenue they can get, and will delay extra expenses as long as possible. I’ll be on Marina next month. Will be interesting to make my own decisions. In Oct, our OCA on Sirena announced that the cruise schedule for the second “ A” Class ship would be announced in April for 2025 sailings. We’ll soon see if that actually happens. A new ship is a lot of money NCLH doesn’t have.

We found a total absence of tamarind in the Red Ginger watermelon duck salad. Eradicated much of the flavor. Then , they presented Tamarind Soup, after acknowledging they had no tamarind aboard. Disappointing to say the least. Going bland seems to be accepted alternative.

We are on the Dec23-Jan 24 circumnavigation. Looks mostly similar to your itinerary. Hopefully they figure out the descaling in advance. A lot of money for additional sea days we don’t want. As always will attempt to avoid Oceania shorex! Would love your information on the guide in Bali!! Was hoping to be there two days with an overnight, but only one unfortunately .

I don’t believe we actually docked, but was on anchor. There was only one major city in the Bay. We didn’t do the overnight to Hanoi, but spent one of the days touring through the remarkable Bay with its inhabitants along with a cave tour. The next day we walked around the town itself and visited a fabulous marketplace.

Not for mentioned, but one of the things we love about the GDR is the open seating. The Specialties have reservation times which one must/should stay fairly compliant with. In the GDR, if we’re having drinks with friends that have later reservations, had a large lunch ashore, or just prefer to watch a magnificent sail away in Horizons; we can go to dinner when we please. The outside of the Terrace may not be open or desired because of weather. Additionally, the Terrace is mostly an early crowd. Go there at 7:30 and there may only be 6-10 people scattered around the entire restaurant. ( I realize this is preferable to some). Go to the GDR and you most likely can still share and meet new cruisers. Typically good food, good ambience, a dress code and a pleasant evening. Looking back, we have had fewer misses ( poorly done meals) in the GDR than in the Specialties.

Part of our routine, is that nightly, either after the show or dinner, upon returning to our cabin we read the Currents and the news extracts left on our beds. Therefore, Dottie’s reading of such is repetitive. However, to hear any of the CDs one must open their cabin door. Only the Captain’s announcements come into the cabin now. The far larger issue is that a significant number of passengers never read the Currents, never listen to the CD announcements, and are totally oblivious to anything reps from Destination Services or their tour guides say. A perfect example of this issue occurs when Destination Services is setting up the table to give out passes for the tours. A lady announces over and over and over again to please take a seat and they will call you up when ready. In walks Mr Oblivious, with everyone else seated, that goes to the table and hands out their coupon slip! This , of course, just after the rep has finished telling them to take a seat. I believe the other CDs realize nothing they do will ever reach the Oblivious, so therefore keep their sermons shorter. Dottie drones on.

Once aboard, just ask your fellow cruisers. Easy conversation at dinner. Most fellow cruisers will gladly make recommendations if they are satisfied with their Agent. Don’t be surprised when you start hearing the same names popping up . First, decide what is important to you with an Agent. That way you can address your questions more efficiently.

We don’t find our PH cabin, most particularly on the O ships, conducive to eating full meals for two, much less four. The table, at the foot of the bed, just isn’t large enough for two people with plates if steak/chops, lobster, or other large dishes along with wine glasses, water glasses and any other accompanying items. One of us would end up moving to the coffee table to have space. What we do enjoy en Suite, is ordering a couple of waves of appetizers ( finger food). The butler can then set up the table as a buffet of sorts. Then we can sit either on the veranda or inside, as we please, and graze from the shared selections at will. Since the PG and Toscana share a kitchen, and both menus can be used, this provides a large selection of finger foods to choose from. On the Sirena, with its varied mix, the choices can be eclectic! Plenty of room for the wine glasses!! 😜!

Remember that Santiago easily includes visiting Valparaiso which is much more attractive. Several day trips out of Santiago to completely different wine regions are available. Stay in one hotel in Santiago and hit all the area including Patagonia.

The discussion by the OP does bring up an interesting point, that being the significant portion of Oceania cruisers that either don’t drink alcohol or drink very little. On the Sirena it was often commented on how Horizons might only have 10–15 patrons during Happy Hour, with some being hanger ons from tea. Martinis was rarely full. To run a successful beverage program one must have a sufficient audience to make it viable. My question becomes “ is the current increases in both drinks and drink packages being partially driven by the need to distribute those total costs over a diminished number of cruisers?” A Premium line has to have a premium beverage package to compete imo. There’s a line there of costs versus availability that can be problematic. I’ll take notice on my cruise next month to see how utilized the bars are. Drinking coke or coffee during evening trivia won’t count.

Funny! I thought the sale was primarily on cruises that weren’t selling. Highly sought after! 😂 None of the cruises I’m currently booked on are included! 🤔

Amazing! Oceania is so flush with cash they don’t feel the need to advertise either Cooking Classes or Privee availablity. Our June 11 Vista cruise lists nothing for either. It appears I can contact my TA and inquire, but with NCLH so flush with cash will they even respond to her? They obviously don’t need our money. 🤔

While that is obviously the best place for such a question, I’ve read where some of the Roll Calls are so dead, some feel compelled to post on multiple forums.

I discussed the blandness of many dishes on our Oct Sirena cruise. Total absence of many herbs and spices. Things obviously haven’t changed. Problem is many people prefer bland and want bland. This conflict was regularly discussed by the passengers and crew. Many herbs and spices are not hot, but add exotic flavors to the dish. We had some great meals aboard and some very poor meals. Inconsistency was the issue.

We are on a June Vista cruise and haven’t found any cooking class listed. Maybe they aren’t ready to take the leap yet and offer that amenity.

Elevators go up and down. Elevators carry passengers up, they carry them down. How much cognitive ability is required to grasp that? Is it beyond some’s cognitive grasp? Oceania is the only cruise line I’ve sailed in the past decade where the above is an issue. The elevator will ding and certain , often geriatric, passengers will stand right in front of elevator door blocking those within from exiting. Additionally, they’ll try pushing their way in while others are trying to exit. How stupid is that? Attend a Captain’s Reception or Repeater Party, on a R ship, and instead of getting in line going down the hallway, people will block the forward elevator and stairwell and just stand there. Bizarre! So here comes Disembarkation Day, and people expect the same exact people with identifiable low cognitive abilities to not block the elevators and stairwell? Really? What should happen is that Oceania, IF they cared about an organized disembarkation, would station people at those points and force the flow out and around into organized lines to facilitate the disembarkation process. The above “ IF” is obviously not on Oceania’s radar and has never been so. Does anyone else realize how Stupid allowing some to block elevators and stairwells is?

“ I always thought “ that when the ship was at port, most everyone gets off the ship and goes ashore. Boy has that been proven a silly “ thought” on Oceania! In port, I’d have no way of knowing if the ship’s tv works or not.

We received our new port call schedule yesterday for our Feb 27 Marina cruise. Some ports got extensive haircuts! Some untouched. Hoping the one hour cut in the Falklands doesn’t ruin our Volunteer Point tour!

Industry average is 3 cruises booked for every one taken. Eighteen months out, chances are huge, you’ll get your cabin.