pinotlover

Likewise, don’t bet on being invited to multiple OClub receptions. Example being aboard a cruise with an extremely large percentage of repeat passengers so that it takes 3 days to get all of those passengers invited to one such event. Then have a seven (7) day leg attached with a corresponding high repeater count. Only the newbies and very high count repeaters may be invited to the short leg affair. They don’t shut down Horizons for three days on a 7 day leg/cruise to reinvite everyone again.

OBC can be use to pay Anything and Everything aboard ship.

I always bring a pair of dress shoes. Typically very nice loafers to wear to dinner.

This must be new. Consumption , with corkage fees, in dining venues, yes! Never seen it applied to the various bars. This program has been logistically problematic in just the restaurants. Never seen the bars included in the program.

Well, it’ll probably take an hour to get luggage, clear immigration and customs. So that gets you to 9:00. Thirty (30) minutes FCO to port. My guess is that you’ll be put on a bus at the airport while waiting for other arrivals. You’ll set there until around 10:30 when the bus departs full, so to arrive at the pier close to your probable assigned 11:00 boarding time. Problem solved.

Most people truly don’t understand the nature of discounted bulk rate airline tickets.

Our October cruise has been “ waitlisted “ in every category for over a year. Waitlisted right through final payment date. I’m now waiting to see what waitlisted means. Will we have a full 680 passengers, 600, or 400? To what capacity is Oceania booking the ships? Time will tell.

I forgot to add this. On our last boarding at Civitavecchia, no one was allowed into the port area before there assigned boarding times. Guards checked paperwork at the gate. No more massive crowds in the cruise terminal pre boarding. Those with early arriving flights had to find some place else to go and wait. You had better check to see if those Covid prevention policies are still in effect.

Yes, Absolutely! However, in most ports you have to wait until after 9:00-9:30 to do so. They won’t check your bags in while everything is going full bore trying to get all the baggage off the ship. We always come in a day or so early and find it much easier to just leave the baggage with the hotel concierge.

As I have posted previously, I’m waiting for our Oct Sirena cruise to form any opinion on these matters. What will the new Oceania look like? Covid, and the effects thereof, are not past us. It still affects everything, whether some want to admit it or not. At this point, I believe trying to make comparisons of the pre Covid Oceania and the post Covid Oceania is as silly as comparing 1960 NY Yankees to the 2010 Yankees. An exercise with no meaning or importance. History is history. There’s a new mountain of debt that separates the past from the future. Only question is does the New Oceania meet my wants, needs, and expectations at a price I’m willing to spend going forward. What the old Oceania did is no longer in the picture or part of the evaluation. Stop living in the past.

My only comment is about the surety you express on getting onto that flight two hours later. Flights have been flying totally full over there ( much like here in the US). We had friends this summer that would had to wait three days to get on another flight. They took a long train ride to make it to the ship. Had I been concerned about a close connection, in today’s world, I would have just booked the later flight for safety sake.

+10,000. Your TA can have you pre-booked. Why would anyone want to set on the phone or computer than morning trying to be a DIYer.

Virtuoso is one of the consortium of Travel Agencies with which Oceania rotates various benefits such as PPG for their clients. Your Travel Agency is obviously a Virtuoso member.

IMO, it would be foolish to gamble an entire Alaska cruise season on the timely delivery of a new A Class ship. When is the Vista going to come on line for sure? Nobody knows! I believe that the Alaskan cruises are well enough subscribed that an existing ship will be assigned to ensure those sailing are completed. Maybe a newer A ship on year 2, not upon a hopeful completion.

I always support using a Travel Agent and their Agency. Here is my sole issue. Some people here, perhaps like sirtom in post #34, read TA and believe it is solely the Travel Agent. They then read that someone’s Agent gave a rebate of X, so then they expect that from their Agent. For the sake of honesty, posters should say, just as you did, the Agency for which my Agent works, gave me a rebate of X. There are definitely times where perks come from the Agent and not the Agency. But not when rebate checks are 8.8-10 %!!

Posters here insist upon using “ TA” for both the Agent and the Agency. They are vastly different. The last time a poster was bragging about such kickbacks they finally admitted the check was from the AGENCY not the Agent. Be careful of what you read in the internet.

That is the only cruise they don’t give detailed prices on. Only info is: Veranda-$47,499 Concierge-$49,899 Penthouse-$63,899 74 day cruise. Another interesting fact is that the opening date for sales for either the ATW or the GVs is never mentioned anywhere in either brochure. Only told to call Oceania or your TA.

Got another fancy and pretty package in the mail today. One for the 2025 ATW along with the 2025 Grand Voyages. One of the most unusual GVs is a combo of doing the annual Circumnavigation of Australia on the Regatta, then putting one a plane to S.A. to join up with the Marina for one of its cruises there. Lots of pretty pictures with some aggressive pricing.

Yes

One of the benefits of the pre cruise purchase, of either package, is the avoidance of paying the VAT if purchased aboard ship in some of the countries. Can’t really imagine why O would not take your money upfront! If I had the problem, it would result in a quick call to my TA. I’m positive she would get it done.

People really need to stop belching over what they get from their TA. They just need to talk with the heir TA and work out what each side feels fair and be happy. I’ve given the example that on our last Marina cruise as part of her generosity comped two couples is us the Dom P. dinner. We gave her a toast at that wonderful event. We were happy. Another couple there said they wanted their TA to comp nothing. They wanted the full amount on the 1.5% cash back card, plus the cash rebate at the end of the cruise. Different folks have different wants and there’s not much meeting in the middle. I was even queried if I knew how much our TA actually had to pay for that meal. They knew exactly what was paid and what their kickback was. Each to his own. Not much middle ground.

It’s what we do for every Privee dinner. They are wine dinners with everyone bringing and sharing a bottle.

Additionally, be aware that Oceania offers various special beers and wines of the day , especially in the Terrace, that are not on the bar menu and are not included in any drinks package. The individual restaurants also have drinks on their restaurant menu that are not included. Easy examples are the sakes and Japanese beer in Red Ginger. If you see a beer, wine, or mixed drink on a restaurant menu that isn’t on the general bar menu, it probably not included in a package. Also be careful of some of the daily fufu drinks at Waves. Ask first!

As a general rule of thumb. To order a mixed drink with distilled spirits, a bar on ship must be open to make that drink. Therefore, room service can/will bring you any drink you want up to the closing of all the ship’s bars. Beer and wine are different and are available 24/7 from room service. Now, keeping that concept in mind, a mimosa is a blend of sparkling wine and orange juice. The various restaurants have beer and wine in them. For breakfast, one can typically get a mimosa. However, if none of the bars are open yet, you can’t typically get the Bloody Mary in the morning. Exceptions may exist, but they are rare. Following this, when you order a mixed drink in a restaurant. A member of the wait staff has to go to one of the ship bars to get it. The beer and wine are kept in the restaurants, but they don’t run bars inside the restaurants. Therefore, if it’s busy in the restaurant, it may take awhile to get that drink if you only drink Manhattans. Having a butler is a different manner. They keep a butler’s pantry so to quickly make simple drinks and those may be available from your butler 24/7. However, without prior arrangements with your butler don’t expect that fufu drink at 2:00 in the morning, because he won’t have the ingredients to make it and the bars are closed. The first bar to open on the ship is Waves Bar, typically around 10:00. However, if inclement weather, it may not open. One has to wait for another bar to open which may not be until lunch time. Because of staffing cuts in the pass, ordering any mixed drinks in the Terrace is problematic. Just getting a glass of wine may be a long wait. The nearest bar for that mixed drink may be 5 decks below .

It doesn’t take much research to find highly rated private companies doing ship side pickup for this tour at under $200 and closer to $150. Some claiming to “ never pay retail” just consistently prefer and hawk Oceania tours. If you prefer paying $549 or $412, no apologies needed. Your money, your way!