Aboard Insignia

[flyiad]

Hello all!

 

We’re aboard Insignia now, Rome to Venice, and have just left Livorno. Any questions about Insignia, or the ports we’ve visited so far: Rome (Civitaveccia), Bonifacio, Livorno (Florence, Pisa)? We’ll try to check in once a day – internet is expensive and just a little slow, as reported by others. I’ve used half my package minutes already, only 3 days into the 12 day cruise. I had to use the emergency assistance # just before the cruise and found them very helpful. Embarkation was a breeze – we arrived late in the day and were the only ones boarding. The cell phone service works pretty well on the ship (I have a quad band phone so I don’t know if it works for phones without quad band). One thing I’ve learned so far: it’s really not necessary to intensively plan all your ports, at least the European ones. Lots of information is provided on each port the day before, and tourist office representatives come aboard each morning to answer questions, hand out maps, etc. My only complaint so far: not enough time to relax with this port intensive itinerary! I think tomorrow is a day for that. We’re taking lots of pictures – let me know if anyone wants a picture of anything in particular on Insignia and I’ll try to get it.

 

Ciao for now!

[china addict]

Thanks for spending your valuable vacation time reaching out to us. It confirms my belief that Oceania passengers are especially great. I'll be sailing out of Rome (Civi) on the Regatta on May 17. You said you boarded late and there was no line. Can you pls tell me what time the documents said you could embark, what time the ship left port and when the life-boat drill was held? Also, what kind of weather are you experiencing? I have all the historical data on the ports we'll be visiting, but sometimes Nature delivers a curve ball. As an example, my sister in England says it's been unusually dry for months and they are expecting a drought this summer. Can the crew tell you if there's a trend in the Med? Many thanks, and happy cruising. China Addict

[Isla Gal]

I am planning to take that very same cruise so any advice on the ports, ship, etc. would be greatly appreciated! :)

 

I too am worried about the port extensive itinerary, I love to travel and see new places but I also need my "recharge" time!! I will look forward to your thoughts on this as well.

 

I would also be interested in hearing your opinion on which side of the ship is better for a balcony cabin (port, starboard or aft.) Thanks again and enjoy!!!

[NAS-KARR]

Hi and thank you for your update so far. I do believe you are taking the same cruise as we will be taking only we'll be taking it in 08. I'm very interested in hearing your comment about each port except ROME & VENICE which we visited last year. What kind of activity did you do on the Isle of Corsica ? And did you find that port of call interesting ?

And as far as this cruise being "port intensive", that's exactly why we cruise, we'll rest the remainder of the year while at home.

 

Happy cruising e CIAO,

[Rob & Beckys mom]

We are on the Insignia on a transatlantic in November, it's our first on Oceania. We can't fly in the day before because of Thanksgiving & have left our flight in the hands of Oceania. We have upgraded to business class, but still a little worried about arriving the day of sailing. Did you fly in early? Did you book your own flights?

 

Jan

[Lane40]

We have upgraded to business class, but still a little worried about arriving the day of sailing. Did you fly in early? Did you book your own flights?

 

Jan

 

Hello Jan

 

If you don't mind, would you shoot me an email with the price you had to pay for the upgrade? We are cruising in June 2008 and have decided to take the air credit and book our own business class flights after being told it would cost us $2,900 per person to upgrade.

 

Thanks

 

Lane

lcheramie@cajunnet.com

[aneka]

Hi Flyiad,

 

Hope you are enjoying a wonderful cruise aboard Insignia. My husband and I are booked on the Dec 9th sailing Rio to Buenos Aires. I have a silly question. Could you please look at the front of your TV in your room. I would like to know if the TV has jacks in front to plug in a camera to see the digital pictures taken. They are usually in a set of two plugs (yellow and white), or might be three plugs (yellow, white and red.) It is easier to review digital pictures on a bigger screen. Thanks for you help and have a great cruise!

 

Annette

[flyiad]

A few answers, as we sit in the warm sun, anchored off Portofino. Internet has been down more than up today but maybe that’s a good thing? For those of you who need special programs (such as the Citrix client) to connect to work, be aware that using the shipboard PCs will not accomplish this. They are locked down (as they should be) and I couldn’t get anyone to load anything that needs admin rights. So, for ultimate connectivity, bring your own laptop…

China Addict, we boarded in Civitaveccia around 5:30pm. We are in a suite so our documents said we could board at 11:00 am. I think if you’re not in a suite the docs say 3pm. The ship left port at 8pm – as long as you’re there at least a half hour before sailing you’re fine. The life boat drill was going on as we embarked (I think it started at 5:30) so we had to attend a different drill the next day. The weather has been nothing less than fabulous – each day starts out in the low 60s and the highs are usually around 72 – it will probably be just a little warmer when you go. It’s been mostly sunny to partly cloudy. We had one day of intermittent rain – most of that day was cloudy and the rain was relatively light in the morning, then nothing until a thunderstorm in the afternoon. I don’t really see any evidence of a drought trend here in the Med. Everything is green and growing.

Isla Gal, I will post a full report of the cruise at the end. We are using the less intensive ports to recharge. For example, today was Portofino. You can choose to just wander around Portofino (shops, restaurants, scenery – oh, and the best gelato so far!) and then return to the ship for a leisurely afternoon, as we did, or you can take a ferry to nearby Santa Margherita, or a tour to Genoa, or a day trip to the Cinque Terre… We are in an aft suite which is good because we’ve had interesting things to look at no matter how the ship was positioned. So far it’s been 50/50 for the cabins on the sides. At Bonifacio the port side had the best view, here at Portofino the starboard side has it. Aft has had great views all the time! I’ll keep an eye out for how things are situated in future ports. Both times we were docked (Civi & Livorno) there was little to see but industrial port stuff.

NasKarr, Bonifacio was perched on some amazing looking cliffs and was a small, walkable town with a lot of shops. Others took tours beyond the little city and didn’t have much good to say about doing that (but of course I haven’t talked to everyone who did it). For those of us not on guided tours, there was a little tram a short walk from the port that, for 5E round trip, took us up to the town, around an area with a necropolis and then dropped us off at the edge of the shopping area. There were also some steep stairs you could take up from the port for free. The area looked great for those who like to hike up into the hills and it was fine for those who like to shop. Maybe a walking tour with a local to explain the history would have been good? There was a convenient Spar grocery store at the lower port level that had some interesting French wines, chocolate, etc. for reasonable prices. As noted above, I’ll do a full report on each port at the end so stay tuned for other ports!

Jan, we booked our own flights but spent 4 days in Rome prior to our cruise so had plenty of leeway, even with our little emergency. I found the emergency number that Oceania gives you with your documents to be very helpful. If Oceania has arranged your flight (and your transfer?) I would think you’re ok – they are responsible for getting you to the ship. Maybe a TA will answer with more detail on that? In any case, as long as you make it to the ship at least ½ hour prior to sailing you will be fine.

Annette, in the suites there is a Sylvania tv that DOES have the plugs in the front, and a DVD player built in. Are you in a PH, VS or OS? If not, I’ll ask what the regular cabins have, because I think they have different TVs without the DVD player.

Any other questions, let me know! And now back to my bottle of wine on the balcony in the gentle med breeze!

 

[Isla Gal]

thanks flyiad! :) could you hear me squealing with delight all the way in Portofino?? We have booked an aft cabin - 7116 with our friends right next door in 7121. There had been some debate over whether we should get one cabin port and one starboard to take advantage of the various views, so I am very happy to hear you like your aft view on this trip!

 

Looking forward to more of your report. We are also planning to spend 2 nights prior to the cruise in Rome and 1 extra night in Venice after the cruise. Being you spent 4 days in Rome I would be interested in where you stayed, etc., in your trip report.

 

And NAS-KARR you are absolutley right - We can rest at home anytime!! (but that wine on the deck is sounding soooo delightful!)

[Rob & Beckys mom]

Jan, we booked our own flights but spent 4 days in Rome prior to our cruise so had plenty of leeway, even with our little emergency. I found the emergency number that Oceania gives you with your documents to be very helpful. If Oceania has arranged your flight (and your transfer?) I would think you’re ok – they are responsible for getting you to the ship. Maybe a TA will answer with more detail on that? In any case, as long as you make it to the ship at least ½ hour prior to sailing you will be fine.

 

 

Thanks, Flyiad. I appreciate you taking the time to answer. Following your trip through your eyes...thanks!

 

Jan

[aneka]

Hi Flyiad,

 

We are in an aft balcony cabin on the 6th floor, cabin 6093. So if you get a chance just knock on the door and tell them you need to check out their TV for a fellow CruiseCritic member!! Just kidding (well, sort of).

We sailed previously on Nautica in a 6th floor cabin and I know our TV did not have a DVD player. The TV's may be different in the regular cabins. Good luck in your future quest to find me an answer! Just enjoy your cruise and keep us all posted on your trip.

Thanks,

Annette

[china addict]

Sounds as though you are enjoying a great trip. Thanks for taking time out to reply to my questions, and I look forward to reading future bulletins from you. I wish you smooth seas and lots of sunshine.

[NAS-KARR]

Hi flyiad.......thanks loads for answering my request & if it isn't asking too much would you continue the same please...just a brief re-cap only. Your commentary is driving me crazy and is sure making my mouth water for more of the MED. again, it's a great running play-by-play.

 

Waiting for more...

 

CIAO,

[flyiad]

We've been having some rough waters and have an unscheduled sea day today, so we're missing Taormina. Yesterday at Amalfi we were just barely able to tender ashore and back - it was quite an adventure. Most of the shore excursions for Amalfi were cancelled but they gave us a free walking tour with a fun guide. Did I mention that we also docked in Naples instead of going to Sorrento? It was a good thing because we heard Sorrento was shut down due to a day of mourning, and was having a big funeral. Most of the ferries weren't running so Capri was also out of the question. Naples was more fun that we thought it would be as we hired a taxi to take us to Pompeii and then around the city. One word of wisdom - if you go to Pompeii and you've never been there, it's worth it to hire a guide to walk through with you. It's very difficult to interpret the sites yourself with just map and guidebook.

 

Annette - I asked our cabin attendant about the TVs in the regular cabins and she said the don't have the plugs on the front. So, prepare accordingly! You would be able to download your pictures in the computer center or library on their laptops and see them on those screens if nothing else.

 

For those interested in port side vs. starboard, it continues to be about 50% for each as far as having views when anchored. In Naples we were backed into port so aft had a nice view of the city. At Olbia, Sardinia, we were also in port, but forward so aft had a sea view (with some islands out a ways). For the short time at Taormina it looked like port side had the city view. I think the way the ship is situated when anchored might depend somewhat on winds so it could probably end up either way.

 

On our way to Corfu, rolling about quite a bit... Walking around is definitely a challenge so I think I'll sit right here and organize all the pictures!

 

More to follow...

[Daphna101]

Thanks for your updates. I enjoy sharing the cruise with you. Sorry you couldnt go to Capri-the chairlift up the mountain is awesome.

Have a wonderful time.

 

Daphna

 

Am sailing Pacific Princess 6093 to the Holyland, Venice, Croatia, Egypt, Israel, Turkey, Patmos, Santorini and Athens next yr. What do you think about the food, or spa if you went to it?

[Imagineer]

Hi Flyiad,

...we were supposed to be with you on this cruise. Its interesting how life can have serious curve balls thrown at it. As I'm typing this out I am recovering from having laproscopic surgery to remove my gall bladder. Had we been on our trip, I don't even want to think of how events may have turned out - it was most fortuitous that we cancelled and arranged to go next year. Nonetheless, I am enjoying your up to the minute reports...

...hope the rest of your journey goes very well for you...

 

cheers,

 

the Imagineers

NCL cruise to Alaska on the Norwegian Wind - Aug 27/06, it was great, I'll miss the Wind.

Mediterranean cruise on the Insignia - Apr 28/07 (cancelled, by us)

upcoming Oceania cruise Rome to Venice onboard the Regatta - Apr 13/08.

[china addict]

:confused: Am leaving May 17 on Regatta out of Rome and now I'm worried BIG TIME about seasickness. What happens? Does the front desk offer seasickness pills, or do you have to see the doctor, and if so, what does that cost? What percentage of folks are ill? Are the restaurants empty? Do the pills do their job? How many days can a sissy like me expect to be down? Should I see my doctor before leaving and get a patch? Really sorry that you are missing so many ports. Taormina was one of the highlights of our cruise last year. Please keep posting, and I hope things calm down for you. Regards, china addict

[LHT28]

:confused: Am leaving May 17 on Regatta out of Rome and now I'm worried BIG TIME about seasickness. What happens? Does the front desk offer seasickness pills, or do you have to see the doctor, and if so, what does that cost? What percentage of folks are ill? Are the restaurants empty? Do the pills do their job? How many days can a sissy like me expect to be down? Should I see my doctor before leaving and get a patch? Really sorry that you are missing so many ports. Taormina was one of the highlights of our cruise last year. Please keep posting, and I hope things calm down for you. Regards, china addict

 

If you are prone to motion sickness I would take some patches with you.

They will give you pills at reception if the seas are rough but they may not be enough depending on how many other passengers are sick.

Eat Green apples..the crew were pretty good about getting them for those that were feeling ill.

 

Enjoy the cruise

[Rob & Beckys mom]

:confused: Am leaving May 17 on Regatta out of Rome and now I'm worried BIG TIME about seasickness. What happens? Does the front desk offer seasickness pills, or do you have to see the doctor, and if so, what does that cost? What percentage of folks are ill? Are the restaurants empty? Do the pills do their job? How many days can a sissy like me expect to be down? Should I see my doctor before leaving and get a patch? Really sorry that you are missing so many ports. Taormina was one of the highlights of our cruise last year. Please keep posting, and I hope things calm down for you. Regards, china addict

 

 

Go to the grocery or drug store & buy Bonine. Take the patch, this is prescription only & can be hard to find at some drug stores so do this asap. I get seasick very easily & Bonine taken once a day works for me. I started out with the patch, but it makes me soooooooo thirsty that I switched to Bonine & have been in some very rough seas with no problem. I do take a few patches with me, but have not had to use them.

 

Jan

[flyiad]

I thought I was one of those who would not suffer from mal de mer but i brought along the patch just in case. After about 8 hours of the rolling i needed it - and it DOES work. I got it from my own doc before i left - just called in and told them i wanted to be prepared for my cruise, and they called it into the pharmacy. Some people felt no effects at all (like my husband and aunt). Others were staggering about, pale and miserable. I guess you can't tell who it will affect so just be prepared and bring some remedy. I think the heavy seas were unusual and for most of the Med cruises you don't have to worry about it anyway. The unplanned sea day was full of other activities on the ship, or just relaxing. Don't worry!!!!

[CruisingSerenity]

I second, third, fourth and fifth what LHT28 said about green apples for sea sickness.

 

I am extremely prone to seasickness and I eat a green apple and a bowl of beef broth 1/2 hour before I step on the ship. It really works. Green apples are available on board...eat them, they work better than the pills and bands and teas and anything else I've ever tried.

[china addict]

It sounds as though an apple a day keeps the ship's doctor away! Appreciate everyone's help.

[scdreamer]

If you decide to try Bonine for sea-sickness, there are a couple of things you should be aware of. First, I think the Bonine must be taken PRIOR to your feeling ill. Second, some people become very sleepy after having taken Bonine ... not everyone, but it is definitely a possible side effect.

 

I used Bonine on a cruise from San Francisco to Vancouver a couple years ago, as we were anticipating rough waters, and I could hardly function, because I felt so drugged. In retrospect, I wished I had tried the Bonine a few weeks before the cruise just to see if I would be affected. My zombie-like state lasted about 12 hours, and I felt as if I had missed out on an entire day of my trip.

 

Since then, I have used ginger with good results. You can buy ginger-root capsules in most health stores (I think I bought mine at GNC), or you can buy tea-bags with ginger root in them. You have to be sure you are getting pure ginger-root, though --- ginger-snaps and ginger-ale are not effective. As far as I can tell, there are no side effects from using ginger-root - in fact I make the tea occasionally if I have an upset stomach, and it really works.

 

Happy sailing!

[flyiad]

We're in Venice now - our last day aboard! Corfu, Kotor and Dubrovnik were all charming and I'll address them in more detail on my final trip report. We said hello to Nautica while in Dubrovnik - we were docked, Nautica was anchored, and on our way out we "visited". Sailing into Venice was spectacular. Starboard side (and of course fore & aft) got all the good views. We are in port near San Basilio at the smallere Stazione Marittima rather than the larger port. The vaporetto stop for #82 is right outside the terminal building so it's very convenient.

 

Probably my last post until we return home, when I'll do a full review.

 

Oh, one thing I may have been wrong about - it appears the cell phone system on the ship is not yet operating. I always had a signal within a few miles of port (on my quad band phone), but further out, nothing. Maybe someone else can clarify this?

 

Ciao!

[zu zu's petals]

As we've booked private tours in some ports that will charge us for no-shows or late changes, could you tell me...how far in advance of arrival at your ports of call were you notified that a change/cancellation was going to occur?

 

Thanks,

 

zuzu's petals