Suggested sail again changes.

[UDSpud]

Recently I have been thinking about changes I would like to see (especially related to my scheduled March 20 Trans-Atlantic sailing).  Note that some relate to a very recent

Cruise Critic News article on possible cruise ship entertainment changes.  My thoughts follow:  Some may be Marina/Riviera specific.

 

1.  Sea day lunch seating, with spacing, in one or more specialty restaurants.   This would include limited and possibly little of no related specialty menu items (ie. little or no Asian

     food at Red Ginger Lunch)  This would permit greater table spacing in the Main restaurant and the Terrace.

2.  One half hour before lunch at Waves clear out some deck chairs and widen the table spacing forward.  Design a paper order form based upon the menu with a table number

     and changes section (ie "no fries) to limit lines

3.  Evening reservation times for the Terrace.  (6:30, 7:15 & 8:00 ?)

4,  Bar service at the back outside of the Terrace after food service closes.

5.  Show Reservations, including specifically assigned and spaced seats.  (Also try specific seating times with front rows early and back seats later.

6.  For production show staff, Marina and Riviera, two-four fewer dancers and add one singer-dancer.  One singer- dancer would then perform at Horizon's while the production

     show is on in the main show room.

7.  Consider a nose covering only mask, so one could eat/drink with the nose protected (I can already fold up and under a standard paper (one time use variety mask) to protect

     other from my nose exhales and sneezes).

 

I would welcome any and all other suggestions (other than I quit making suggestions as my wife has already done this.

 

Edited October 10, 2020 by UDSpud
spacing

[Jay23]

(7)   You are joking, of course??

[pinotlover]

I would encourage the OP to find and read a review from a British ( I believe) travel writer that was in the 2nd sailing of the Italian line. Even though there are no guarantees that Oceania will follow those exact protocols, they may well.

 

Just a couple of examples. Cruisers were given boarding times stretched out over about four hours from12:00-4:00. Passengers weren’t allowed into the terminal until their assigned time. The boarding times seemed to correlate to when the cabins were expected to be ready for occupancy. Boarding was similar to airport boarding. One’s luggage stayed with them until they were cleared for boarding which was after check in, all the medical prelims, and clearance. They didn’t want to have to locate and retrieve luggage for passengers denied boarding. Only hand helds were then allowed as carry ons, all other luggage appeared to have gone through a sanitation process before delivery to the cabin. The ship didn’t want a large contingent of people waiting around with baggage in the common areas.

 

Very few cruisers, with later boarding times , ate lunch aboard. Most all had eaten ashore before boarding . Opening more lunch venues on embarkment day won’t be necessary. The buffet and MDR did have reservation times for dining for other days.

 

Oceania could be more efficient by allowing those interested in upgrading their drinks package to do so online before boarding, instead of past practice. 
 

I believe shore tour tickets were handed out the day prior instead of showing up en mass the morning of. Tours were then called when boarding was ready. 
 

There was a procedure for disembarkment, but I don’t remember.

 

She addressed several of your issues, particularly the evening shows. Good read if you can find the review. Don’t believe it was on CC, but a travel magazine article.

Edited October 10, 2020 by pinotlover

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, UDSpud said:

Recently I have been thinking about changes I would like to see (especially related to my scheduled March 20 Trans-Atlantic sailing).  Note that some relate to a very recent

Cruise Critic News article on possible cruise ship entertainment changes.  My thoughts follow:  Some may be Marina/Riviera specific.

 

1.  Sea day lunch seating, with spacing, in one or more specialty restaurants.   This would include limited and possibly little of no related specialty menu items (ie. little or no Asian

     food at Red Ginger Lunch)  This would permit greater table spacing in the Main restaurant and the Terrace.

2.  One half hour before lunch at Waves clear out some deck chairs and widen the table spacing forward.  Design a paper order form based upon the menu with a table number

     and changes section (ie "no fries) to limit lines

3.  Evening reservation times for the Terrace.  (6:30, 7:15 & 8:00 ?)

4,  Bar service at the back outside of the Terrace after food service closes.

5.  Show Reservations, including specifically assigned and spaced seats.  (Also try specific seating times with front rows early and back seats later.

6.  For production show staff, Marina and Riviera, two-four fewer dancers and add one singer-dancer.  One singer- dancer would then perform at Horizon's while the production

     show is on in the main show room.

7.  Consider a nose covering only mask, so one could eat/drink with the nose protected (I can already fold up and under a standard paper (one time use variety mask) to protect

     other from my nose exhales and sneezes).

 

I would welcome any and all other suggestions (other than I quit making suggestions as my wife has already done this.

 

Oceania's planned reduced passenger capacity addresses the bulk of your items.

 

So no need to serve food in specialties at lunch, which would only detract from focused prep for the evening meal.

 

Adding a second show at night at the ship's reduced passenger capacity (already in effect already). 

 

If you had heen on one of rhe Asian region cruises back in February of this year, you'd know that O already started using disposable menus and even greater oversight of no self-service food.

 

Bottom line: no need to fix what ain't broke.

[clo]

1 hour ago, Jay23 said:

(7)   You are joking, of course??

Why? I don't have opinions on some of them but some sound quite reasonable.

[alcpa1]

UDspud.

Your final point (#7) does not comply with CDC guidelines. The mask should cover the nose and mouth. A nasal cover while dining would be cumbersome at best. I understand what you are saying and appreciate the thought you put into your list.

All of the spacing issues in the entertainment and dining venues will probably be a definite. I can't imagine otherwise. 

I do hope that they set our embarkation time when we make final payment. For our May, 2021 cruise we might have to adjust our plans for that day. We will be staying on shore after our cruise but we would still appreciate having advance notice of our disembarkation time too. I can imagine the angst of our fellow ship mates who unwittingly make "close" travel arrangements. There are always some who are out of the loop.

[Shawnino]

A 4pm embarkation time would jam up dinner and the muster drill. 

 

Not to mention that those getting in a day or more early have to make luggage arrangements for the day. Even if I can't board, I love dropping off my luggage at the pier at 10-11, knowing it's one less thing I need to deal with for the rest of the day.

[palakika]

We send our bags to the ship with Luggage Free.  I wonder how the check in protocols will affect our ability to do that. Would the bags have to be sanitized and we claim them?  The convenience of Luggage Free is important to folks like us who don't want to wrangle our bags!

Palakika

[pinotlover]

28 minutes ago, Shawnino said:

A 4pm embarkation time would jam up dinner and the muster drill. 

 

Not to mention that those getting in a day or more early have to make luggage arrangements for the day. Even if I can't board, I love dropping off my luggage at the pier at 10-11, knowing it's one less thing I need to deal with for the rest of the day.

I believe that the “ muster” drill was canceled on MSC and replaced with a tv drill showing passengers how to put on their life jackets. No muster involved. I believe I read, or maybe on the Oceania Webinar, that Oceania is planning something similar. Oceania already does something similar on longer cruises for the second required drill.

 

We have always boarded later and never had an issue with our hotel Concierge keeping our luggage for the day. New world with new rules. Dropping one’s luggage before they are cleared to board is something of the past. We don’t live there anymore.

[pinotlover]

4 minutes ago, palakika said:

We send our bags to the ship with Luggage Free.  I wonder how the check in protocols will affect our ability to do that. Would the bags have to be sanitized and we claim them?  The convenience of Luggage Free is important to folks like us who don't want to wrangle our bags!

Palakika

I have no idea how Luggage Forward will work now. What if you’re denied boarding at the airport if you show symptoms? What about at the ship? I would guess Oceania will figure it out and give instructions on the matter.

[palakika]

Pinotlover..thanks for your input.  We'll have to wait and see about the whole thing now.  The recent article that Regatta is going to Astoria for a few months is interesting.  We are booked April 22 to May 28, 2021 SFO to Miami and back to SFO on Regatta.  Looked like a good bet, but maybe not!!

 

[susiesan]

If these suggestions were to come to pass I will be a former Oceania cruiser. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

4 minutes ago, susiesan said:

If these suggestions were to come to pass I will be a former Oceania cruiser. 

see my post #4.

no need for concern.

[alcpa1]

susiesan,

I think in the short term some of the points in UDSpud's post will be implemented at least in the short term as cruising resumes. I hope you will not give up on cruising before we all know what to expect.

[pinotlover]

The demographics of cruisers between the cruise lines differ a lot. There is one huge area of concern that has received very little attention here. It’s the new load capacities for the elevators. With the new physical distancing requirements, older ships with small elevators, read R ships, are going to have a problem. New capacity might be four (4) , two couples max, or a mix where 2 or 3 will be max.

 

We typically take the stairs aboard ship most all the time. Many Oceania cruisers can’t manage even one flight of stairs. If one reads the reviews of the MSC sailings this became an issue for them likewise. However, those ships have larger elevators  , with a bit more capacity, and what appeared to be younger demographics with more using the stairs. Even with that, waits for the elevators could/would be long. For those on the middle floors it was excruciating because they were always passing at capacity. Adding insult to injury, the elevators always seemed to stop every floor because there was always someone wanting to get on, if not off!

 

The EU gave strict requirements concerning the use of elevators. Oceania will have to comply with those when sailing in their waters. It will be interesting to see what the CDC requires here.

 

For those that can’t do stairs, you may need to get in the elevator line at 6:00 so to make your 6:30 dinner reservations. Same goes for those with shore tours! It will be interesting to see how Oceania manages this aspect. Those lines such as Oceania, Regents, and Crystal, that serves an older demographics, will be more affected than some of the other lines. We’ll continue to stick to the stairs.

[ORV]

10 hours ago, susiesan said:

If these suggestions were to come to pass I will be a former Oceania cruiser. 

While all these probably won't come to pass I wouldn't expect things to be the way they used to be pre-covid. There will be changes, to get an idea check out the cruise lines that have restarted, like TUI & MSC to get an idea. 

 

If you expect things to be as they were you might be a former cruiser period, not just Oceania.