just got off the plane from our repositioning cruise from Barcelona to Rio

[mjmme]

I would be happy to answer any questions about the Insignia cruise. We arrived home today and loved our cruise including South America.

[Druke I]

Curious about sea-state and ride in the South Atlantic. North Atlantic often rough in November/December.

 

We crossed South Atlantic, Recife Brazil to Dakar Senegal, in March 98, and it was very smooth. That was on a trip on Royal Princess from Buenos Aires Argentina to Barcelona Spain. Great trip.

 

We'll be on Nautica, Istanbul to Singapore, November 06.

[vadim77777]

Hi mjmme,

 

I have a couple questions for you.

 

1. Did you get a visa for Brasil through Oceania or you got it yourself?

 

2. Did you buy Oceania transfers and was it worth the expense?

 

Thanks

[7continentKaren]

All of us from the prior cruise who were at the Hilton in Barcelona were wondering if you got off the ship in the Canaries. We saw the effects of the hurricane there just before your anticipated arrival. It also looked like you were headed for a hurricane midway to Rio. Please do a review of your trip. I am overdue on mine from the Athens to Barcelona cruise of Nov 17.

 

To answer the question about transfers, cabs are cheap in Rio and we were there two years ago, had no problems with cabs. Transfers in Barcelona from the ship were very expensive compared to a cab so I would expect the same in Rio. Might be worth it for a single person.

[drwong]

And did they upgrade you from your "G-guaranteed" cabin? I saw that garykool81 reported that he was upgraded from an inside to a balcony on the Regatta's recent crossing!

[mjmme]

The repositioning cruise was very smooth through out the entire trip. On our first trip from Miami to Lisbon, we had one day and night that was rocky with seas of 6 to 8 feet, according to the captain. It made walking a straight line challenging, but on this trip there was never any time we felt the slightest bit shakey. It did rain one or two days, but it was south of the equator, so it was still temperate.

[mjmme]

We purchased our own visas through the Brazilian consulate in Chicago at a fraction of the price charged by Oceania. Each visa cost $100, and that's what we paid.

 

We did not buy the Oceania transfers. A cab from our hotel in Barcelona to the dock was a fraction of the price of the transfers, and we moved 4 people! This is the second cruise on which we've avoided the transfers, and although Oceania does a great job, transfers can be managed more cheaply on your own, especially if there are two or more people.

[mjmme]

The Canaries lost power due to a storm for 1-2 days before we arrived, but were completely functional during our stay. No storm damage was noticeable.

 

We had only one day of rough seas (not too rough at that), and a couple of paritial days of rain. Overall, the trip was quite smooth and the weather was good.

[mjmme]

We and another couple purchased guaranteed Category G cabins. About a month before sailing, we were upgraded to a D (outside with porthole) and the other couple finally got upgraded to a D in the week before the cruise. A particularly helpful employee at Oceania is Mauricio (extension 2242), a supervisor, who helped us with our arrangements. I wouldn't hesitate to ask for him again if I had a problem or concern.

[mjmme]

There are 2 things I wanted to point out about the Insignia. Our asst. Cruise Director Margaret Scroggins was not only a talent, but a cool person to have a drink with. The second thing was was how great the head chef Anthony Gatherall was during the cruise. Not only were his cooking classes fun to be at, we had a drink with him and found him to be fun to spend time with. You don't usually think about the executive chef of the boat as being approachable, but this guy has class.

Margaret and Anthony added to our enjoyment as much as any meal we had on the boat( and all of the meals were as good as you think they will be). If I were going on the Insignia soon, I would make a bee-line when I got on the boat to introduce myself to these 2 and you will enjoy your trip just that much better.