Required ship's tours in future?

[Hawaiidan]

On 8/30/2020 at 5:26 PM, Tranquility Base said:

Oceania + Regent.

 

Just pondering.

 

As the shutdown continues, it may be a long time before meaningful  extensive cruising over multiple countries restarts.

At what  stage could consideration be given to merging Oceania & Regent into one brand.

Combining some elements of Regent & and some elements of Oceania.

Perhaps parking up a couple  ships long term.

 

If countries / ports require ship only tours for a significant time to come, the Regent model of included tours would fit that requirement.

Well....NO...... for me and a lot of others we left Regent for the options we could not change and went to Oceania  because  we could.    Too Regent pricing went through the roof $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$    I do not want anything Regent thank you very much

[RJB]

20 hours ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

 

We loved Alla Tours, and for two days, we spent a lot less than if we had taken Oceania's tours.  They have small group tours.  

We used Alla on both of our visits to St. Pete. and they were great.  Much cheaper and much, much better than an O tour.  They take care of visas and everything else.  Use them if you can.  

[ORV]

Our tour guide from Alla didn't have anything nice to say about Putin. I wonder how that fella is doing these days. 

[Paulchili]

48 minutes ago, ORV said:

Our tour guide from Alla didn't have anything nice to say about Putin. I wonder how that fella is doing these days. 

Was his name Navalny? 😀

[ORV]

I honestly don't remember his name and I don't keep any journals or notes. He was about 40-45, slender, dark hair. I do remember he said he used to be an electrical engineer but made more money being a tour guide. 

 

Edit, oh wait, you're referring to the guy that was on the plane to Germany. It was a joke, I get it now. 

Edited September 23, 2020 by ORV

[RJB]

1 hour ago, ORV said:

Our tour guide from Alla didn't have anything nice to say about Putin. I wonder how that fella is doing these days. 

I'm sure Putin does not care too much.  Our guide did not spend much time talking about politics.  Too many other places for her to explain about to us.

[Queen of DaNile]

23 minutes ago, ORV said:

I honestly don't remember his name and I don't keep any journals or notes. He was about 40-45, slender, dark hair. I do remember he said he used to be an electrical engineer but made more money being a tour guide. 

 

Edit, oh wait, you're referring to the guy that was on the plane to Germany. It was a joke, I get it now. 

I think we had the same guide. He really did not talk "politics" but you knew what he was implying.

[RJB]

58 minutes ago, Queen of DaNile said:

I think we had the same guide. He really did not talk "politics" but you knew what he was implying.

Not the same.  Both of our guides were fairly young women, but very well trained.

[CintiPam]

8 hours ago, RJB said:

We used Alla on both of our visits to St. Pete. and they were great.  Much cheaper and much, much better than an O tour.  They take care of visas and everything else.  Use them if you can.  

Technically speaking, I believe you are referring to the visa exemption for visits by cruise ship passengers for less than 72 hours when accompanied by tour operators licensed by the Russian government.  (Yes, I indeed am a “recovering” attorney and also someone who had to get a visa for a land trip there before I visited a few years later on a cruise ship.).

[clo]

30 minutes ago, CintiPam said:

Technically speaking, I believe you are referring to the visa exemption for visits by cruise ship passengers for less than 72 hours when accompanied by tour operators licensed by the Russian government.  (Yes, I indeed am a “recovering” attorney and also someone who had to get a visa for a land trip there before I visited a few years later on a cruise ship.).

I just love your reply 🙂

 

[Paulchili]

3 hours ago, CintiPam said:

and also someone who had to get a visa for a land trip there before I visited a few years later on a cruise ship.).

We had to do it once for a land trip and even though they had a consulate in the city it was a royal pain. Worse even then China or India.

[Shawnino]

Visas there can be pretty restrictive. 

I married a Soviet-cum-Russian citizen in '05.

My visas to go to Moscow are familial invitations by the MIL.

Every three days I need to show up and check in at the (not so) friendly Neighbourhood Interior Ministry Office. 

[pinotlover]

Oceania web site for shore tours not working. Must call in to book tours!

[Jim and Monika]

Hopefully if required tours are the norm, they will add some tours that are more than just island tours. Wherever we go, we always head to a beach, there aren't tours available for just spending time at a beach.

 

Where are they with final payments these days? We have a cruise scheduled for February 2021, but we need to know what the requirements will be before final payment. Also, when does the penalty faze kick in? When we booked ahead, there were none of these potential requirements, most of which will be deal breakers.

[clo]

58 minutes ago, Jim and Monika said:

Where are they with final payments these days? We have a cruise scheduled for February 2021, but we need to know what the requirements will be before final payment. Also, when does the penalty faze kick in? When we booked ahead, there were none of these potential requirements, most of which will be deal breakers.

I think this is a huge question. You signed up for a specific thing. And once/if it starts up, you gotta know it's not going to be the same. So I think the refund question is going to be a big one.

[CintiPam]

19 hours ago, Paulchili said:

We had to do it once for a land trip and even though they had a consulate in the city it was a royal pain. Worse even then China or India.

I remember it took me quite a long time to gather up all the information to complete the lengthy intrusive questionnaire with, among other things, the street addresses for every place I ever had lived, a list of all the countries I had visited (for last 15 years?) and dates of those visits, etc.  I have not been to India (yet!) but the visa application for China was “easy peasy” and not very lengthy.  
 

I so want to travel again!

 

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, Jim and Monika said:

Hopefully if required tours are the norm, they will add some tours that are more than just island tours. Wherever we go, we always head to a beach, there aren't tours available for just spending time at a beach.

 

Where are they with final payments these days? We have a cruise scheduled for February 2021, but we need to know what the requirements will be before final payment. Also, when does the penalty faze kick in? When we booked ahead, there were none of these potential requirements, most of which will be deal breakers.

You may want to check with your TA or Oceania on the new penalty dates  as some final payments have moved from 90 days to 60 days prior  but usually a month before Final payment they will withhold an Admin fee  which can be used on a future cruise

 

I do not think anyone at this point in time knows what the requirements will be  & even if the ships will be sailing then

Sounds like you are booked on a cruise sailing from Miami  so may not even happen  at the rate the virus is going  in some states  or maybe just US citizens will be able to board & sail to no where

JMO

 

[Smiley27]

4 hours ago, clo said:

I think this is a huge question. You signed up for a specific thing. And once/if it starts up, you gotta know it's not going to be the same. So I think the refund question is going to be a big one.

As of now, this is also a concern for me. I have no idea how things work after final payment.

we have never cancelled a cruise before. We have 3 cruises booked,  2 in 2021 and one in 2022. First cruise is May1 and final payment is Dec 30th. It is a lot of money, so.?...
If the cruise line cancel, I know I will probably get a future cruise credit instead....BUT what if I want to cancel??

 

[comcox]

8 hours ago, Jim and Monika said:

Hopefully if required tours are the norm, they will add some tours that are more than just island tours. Wherever we go, we always head to a beach, there aren't tours available for just spending time at a beach.

 

Where are they with final payments these days? We have a cruise scheduled for February 2021, but we need to know what the requirements will be before final payment. Also, when does the penalty faze kick in? When we booked ahead, there were none of these potential requirements, most of which will be deal breakers.

We are in the same waiting situation as you as we will not want to do our May 2021 cruise if ship's tours are the only alternative.  Given the new guidelines recommended by an expert panel to both RCCL and NCL (which owns Oceania), it looks like the required tours will be a reality.  The guidelines are now going to CDC for review and public comment.  With our Oceania cruise booking, I know that $250 per person of our deposit is non-refundable right away.   We were also told that because of the pandemic, Oceania would allow a full transfer of paid money to another cruise IF you had already paid the full fare.

 

Here is their refund policy: https://www.oceaniacruises.com/Documents/Legal/56049/TC-US.pdf

[KirkNC]

We are all buying a pig in a poke as no one knows what the experience will be like.  The recent proposals to CDC give us some ideas, none of which we like.  We canceled two cruises in the spring/early summer of 2021 over our concerns for the cruise experience.  Our hope is that restrictions are temporary in nature, otherwise we will be finding another venue for our $$$$.

[RJB]

1 hour ago, KirkNC said:

We are all buying a pig in a poke as no one knows what the experience will be like.  The recent proposals to CDC give us some ideas, none of which we like.  We canceled two cruises in the spring/early summer of 2021 over our concerns for the cruise experience.  Our hope is that restrictions are temporary in nature, otherwise we will be finding another venue for our $$$$.

We have one booked for Dec. of 21 so there is plenty of time to see how this plays out. Too many restrictions and we will cancel. 

[LHT28]

4 hours ago, comcox said:

 I know that $250 per person of our deposit is non-refundable right away.   We were also told that because of the pandemic, Oceania would allow a full transfer of paid money to another cruise IF you had already paid the full fare.

 

Here is their refund policy: https://www.oceaniacruises.com/Documents/Legal/56049/TC-US.pdf

If you cancel before the penalty phase kicks in  they do not hold the $250 admin fee

Just cancel before 181 days or 121 days whichever is for your cruise

[LHT28]

7 hours ago, Smiley27 said:

As of now, this is also a concern for me. I have no idea how things work after final payment.

we have never cancelled a cruise before. We have 3 cruises booked,  2 in 2021 and one in 2022. First cruise is May1 and final payment is Dec 30th. It is a lot of money, so.?...
If the cruise line cancel, I know I will probably get a future cruise credit instead....BUT what if I want to cancel??

 

Since you are in Europe  cancellation penalties my be different than in N.A.

I would check with your TA or Oceania  which ever you booked with

It should have  the cancellation schedule on your invoice  

 

If the cruise line cancels you should get a full refund  but in some cases  some travel agencies hold back the deposit

[ORV]

13 hours ago, Jim and Monika said:

Hopefully if required tours are the norm, they will add some tours that are more than just island tours. Wherever we go, we always head to a beach, there aren't tours available for just spending time at a beach.

It sounds like you would be a perfect candidate for the trips to the Cruise Line's private Islands, which are the recommended ports when sailing resumes. If all you require is a beach the private Islands have great ones. 

[pinotlover]

Our next cruise is in November. TA confirmed with Oceania only ship tours will be allowed.

 

As I posted above, the website is , or was haven’t checked today, is not allowing one to book shore tours online. I gave the list of shore tours we wanted to our TA and she booked all of them for us with her O rep.