Oceania Marina Aug 29-Sept 8, 2021 - they did well

[Jancruz]

3 hours ago, ORV said:

Could you give some more detail on the rotating restaurant closures. Is this also the specialty restaurants? The MDR closed on port days is really nothing new, they had been doing that hit or miss well before Covid came along. I think someone else mentioned having to adjust their specialty reservations. This is the kind of thing, although small, would deter me from cruising until all of the amenities are back in place. 

Orv,

As of the next trip all specialty restaurants will be open every night..this trip they experimented opening and closing some and didnt like the result..

Ive been told right now you can get into specialties almost anytime you want to..

Jan

[CruiseLibra]

We recently booked specialties for our November 7th Riveria cruise. We got all the evenings that we wanted although we had to adjust the preferred times a bit. There was no indication that any of the restaurants were closed on any given day. 

Edited September 21, 2021 by CruiseLibra

[BarbaraM]

The policy of only 2 specialties open each night has already been changed per a letter left in the cabin last evening.

[mountain grandma]

Are they still saying no booking a sharing table in the Specialties?

[clo]

On 9/20/2021 at 9:25 PM, 2552phxcrzr said:

Still have to wear a mask with it at present.

With a new variant in about 50 countries and about that many US states, I'm thinking I'm going to buy some new masks.

[AMHuntFerry]

3 hours ago, clo said:

With a new variant in about 50 countries and about that many US states, I'm thinking I'm going to buy some new masks.

We're still wearing fabric masks that we bought at a fundraiser in spring 2020 and they're looking a bit tired, so we'll join you in mask shopping 🙂

[Laika Sproed]

On 9/17/2021 at 6:10 PM, Cliff-FLL said:

Hi, Laika, and thanks for the info.  We'll be boarding Marina in Barcelona toward the end of next month, so it's nice to know that things are somewhat normal.  Vis-à-vis the testing at embarkation, did they test everyone or just those who arrived without recent test results in hand?  We'll be in Barcelona for several days before the cruise and have made arrangements for pre-cruise testing but, if they're testing anyway, it might save us 100€.  Also, are they doing noticeable capacity control or did it appear to be a full ship?  Is it any easier to get a table at Terrace or Waves?! 🤪

Hi Cliff-FLL,  Oceania tested every passenger before boarding.  And yes, they had less passengers so there was no trouble getting a table.  I do not know if all the cruises will be as limited, passenger-wise, but on ours I heard there were less than 400 passengers on a ship with 1200 capacity...I imagine they will gradually increase capacity as more people book and are comfortable traveling.  I believe one reason for pre-cruise testing, at least for us before flying out, is to validate you are negative and it ensures Oceania's policies have been abided by.  We had no issues and felt they did a great job.

 

[Laika Sproed]

On 9/18/2021 at 4:53 AM, nfienman said:

Did all your shore excursions have to be with Oceania or could you do some on your own?

We elected to go with Oceania's excursions but in several ports we were allowed to walk back from the excursions at our leisure.  They did have some shuttles in several of the ports so folks could do independent exploration.  I suspect this is hard to predict accurately as it is dependent upon infection rates, from my perspective.

[Laika Sproed]

On 9/20/2021 at 1:37 PM, workstocruise said:

I’d like to know how your overseas flights were, especially the one going to the ship?  Did it depart on time, was it full and did you fly in early or the day of the cruise?  We are booked on the Riviera in May of 22 and Oceania is booking our air.  I don’t know what to expect. We fly into Rome and this will be our first flight since COVID began.  We are vaccinated and hopefully will have the booster long before we fly in May.  I guess it’s too early to speculate what will be going on in 8 months but I was curious how you made out. Glad your cruise was safe and you had a good time.

Hi WorkstoCruise:  Our flights were just fine and Oceania booked them - they weren't packed but were reasonably full.  We will be doing the same thing in April when we go on Riviera next.  I recommend the KN95 masks (we got our's on Amazon).  The airlines may require testing but it's hard to predict so far ahead.  We had to show our vaccination cards to fly.  Oceania met us at the airport by baggage claims.  Easy to find them and all went smoothly.

[Cliff-FLL]

On 10/2/2021 at 10:12 PM, Laika Sproed said:

Hi Cliff-FLL,  Oceania tested every passenger before boarding.  And yes,,,

Laika, thanks very much for taking the time to respond.  As ridiculous as it sounds, it's reassuring to have an idea of what we're heading into!

Edited October 6, 2021 by Cliff-FLL

[Cliff-FLL]

On 10/2/2021 at 10:24 PM, Laika Sproed said:

WorkstoCruise

We flew from MIA to Lisboa a little less than a week ago.  Checking in with the airline, they put our Passenger Locator Forms to the side and never looked at them.  Our negative test results, for which Holy Cross in Fort Lauderdale charged $790pp, were also summarily put to the side and never glanced at by the check-in staff.  Upon arrival in Lisbon, I presented at the passport window my passport, the negative test results, and my Covid records showing 3 of 3 shots.  He gave me a withering look, stamped my passport, and gave me back all of the other doc's without ever looking at them.

Go figure...

[Dwtlion]

3 hours ago, Cliff-FLL said:

  Our negative test results, for which Holy Cross in Fort Lauderdale charged $790pp, were also summarily put to the side and never glanced at by the check-in staff.  

 

790pp is about $630 more than I am paying for a PCR test with results within an hour. Did they also take out your gall bladder?

Edited October 7, 2021 by Dwtlion

[PhD-iva]

1 hour ago, Dwtlion said:

790pp is about $630 more than I am paying for a PCR test with results within an hour. Did they also take out your gall bladder?

Can you share the contact info of your vendor? THX!

[Dwtlion]

16 hours ago, PhD-iva said:

Can you share the contact info of your vendor? THX!

Vendor is a local higher end pharmacy chain in Charlotte: Carolina Pharmacy

[susiesan]

Covid tests are free where I live. You were ripped off.

[PhD-iva]

23 hours ago, PhD-iva said:

Can you share the contact info of your vendor? THX!

I checked this morning for reservations at CVS in Central Texas. I live within driving distance to Austin.
CVS lists available reservations out over about 10 days. I can find myriad times and days for the PCR test in my town. Their website states results are provided in 1 to 2 days.
Or, I can drive about 30 minutes to South Austin to get the rapid test, results are available in about 1 to 2 hours but it is the antigen test which is not as reliable as a PCR test and not as widely accepted.

All for free.
Austin airport has reservations for a rapid test but who wants to pay the fee!! Not me :)!

[AlexCherie]

At this point, do we know if the sauna/steam room areas will be closed still? And what about the Thalassotherapy pool?

[Cliff-FLL]

On 10/7/2021 at 3:55 PM, susiesan said:

Covid tests are free where I live. You were ripped off.

I could have easily gotten a "free" covid test from the city or county, but there would have been no guarantee as to when I would receive the results.  Also, our local CVS stated, with some oddly-proud bravado, that they usually get the results back in less than a week.  Of course, that doesn't do me any good when I need to have PCR results that are less than 72 hours old.  My health insurance carrier, however, has assured me that they will pay 100% for all government- or travel-required covid tests, in the US and Europe, so I didn't get ripped off at all.  I've already had one test here in Portugal and received e-notification that my plan has already paid it. 😁

[susiesan]

1 hour ago, Cliff-FLL said:

I could have easily gotten a "free" covid test from the city or county, but there would have been no guarantee as to when I would receive the results.  Also, our local CVS stated, with some oddly-proud bravado, that they usually get the results back in less than a week.  Of course, that doesn't do me any good when I need to have PCR results that are less than 72 hours old.  My health insurance carrier, however, has assured me that they will pay 100% for all government- or travel-required covid tests, in the US and Europe, so I didn't get ripped off at all.  I've already had one test here in Portugal and received e-notification that my plan has already paid it. 😁

You are very lucky that you will get reimbursed by your insurance. If it's anything like fighting insurance companies here in Missouri I wish you good luck.

[PhD-iva]

3 hours ago, Cliff-FLL said:

  Also, our local CVS stated, with some oddly-proud bravado, that they usually get the results back in less than a week. 

I noticed this long delay to receive test results on CVS website back in September. When I did a recent search a few days ago, that expectation statement has now changed to 1 to 2 days. Still a “crap shoot” though!

[avalong]

I had a PCR test at CVS last January and got the results within 24 hours. I'm in California, but not sure if that matters.

[ORV]

2 hours ago, susiesan said:

You are very lucky that you will get reimbursed by your insurance. If it's anything like fighting insurance companies here in Missouri I wish you good luck.

I never have issues with my insurance company here in Missouri paying claims. They always pay exactly what the policy says they will. Maybe you might want to reevaluate the insurance you use. 

[i love to fly]

Hi. Just curious. I noticed when making the dinner reservations that there was no sharing tables choice available. Does this mean they took out all the tables that seat more than 2 or 4 people? Even the first day of dinner reservations the choices were very spotty and already taken. What is going on?

[Queen of DaNile]

32 minutes ago, i love to fly said:

Hi. Just curious. I noticed when making the dinner reservations that there was no sharing tables choice available. Does this mean they took out all the tables that seat more than 2 or 4 people? Even the first day of dinner reservations the choices were very spotty and already taken. What is going on?

We had the option to share on our 12/3/21 sailing.

 

[Hlitner]

We will respond to some of the airline-related questions since we flew between the USA and Greece in July-August and recently returned from Barbados.  Regarding masks on flights it has been enforced on all of our International and Domestic flights.  Policies differ a teeny bit on foreign airlines so you need to check their web site for the latest. I will emphasize that not only are face shields nearly worthless (unless one also wears a mask) but they would not meet any airline requirement.  The standard is masks without valves and some airlines are now not accepting cloth masks (studies show they are not very good).  If you wear a N95, KN95 or a surgical mask that will satisfy just about everyone.  On some flights cloth masks were OK.  Personally we wear N95 masks when moving through airports and boarding planes but will usually change to a more comfy surgical or good cloth mask during our flights.

 

All of our flights in the past 6 months (domestic and foreign) have been within a few minutes of being on time.  The service on domestic airlines has not been very good (in terms of food and drink) as they  continue to use COVID as an excuse to lessen service.   But some foreign airlines have returned to a more normal status (especially in business class).  We flew Turkishairlines Business to and from Greece and they were back to having their uniformed Chef in Business (these are actually flight attendants) serving multi course meals.  The usual wine/alcohol was also served.  But on our recent Jetblue flights between JFK and Barbados there was no alcohol or meals (normal for Jetblue) although there were the usual box snacks available for purchase as well as the usual free snacks and soft drinks.

 

In Greece, much has returned to near normal (particularly on the islands) as Greece continues it's efforts to get tourism back to a high degree of normalcy.  There is still masking requirements inside stores but most Greek life/dining is outdoors in the summer and there were no notable restrictions outdoors with very few folks wearing masks.  Beaches were pretty crowded and on some islands (i.e. Mykonos) were actually packed.  We flew through Istanbul and their main lounges were open and operating normally except for masking.  ATH also was moving to normal with Business Class lounges open with limited food offerings (but drinks were sure flowing).

 

My own prediction (one can get in trouble making predictions these days) is that Europe will continue to ease-up their restrictions and return to a high degree of normal by next spring.  In fact we already booked a long repositioning cruise in March from the USA to Europe and plan on traveling within France, Austria and the Czech Republic (using rental cars, rail and a domestic flight).  I do think there will continue to be some masking requirements, mandatory vaccine requirements, and the usual testing.  In fact, on our recent trip to Barbados which included a 4 day stay at Sandals and 14 days on Seabourn we needed to be tested 5 times (in less then 3 weeks) with 2 PCR tests and 3 Antigen tests.   On Seabourn this was an OK experience as we were always handed a fresh glass of French Champagne as we walked into the testing room.

 

Hank