the mice

BTW, I currently see AMEX offers for other travel - Norwegian, Seabourn, Regent, Carnival, Cunard, Hertz, Delta, Resort Pass, Viator, Frontier, IHG Hotels, Hilton, and lots more. A few are only the Platinum 40th anniversary offers, but others not. Realize these are not Oceania related, but passing it along if you have other travel plans or friends who might.

Totally agree. Had that previous Oceania offer on both the Platinum and the Green and used both. Probably giving up the Platinum when fee comes due because I am closing my Morgan Stanley account which pays the fee for me. So hopefully some good offers continue on the Green card.

Same for us! Actually, our FP is almost $5200, so will also put $1200 on my AU's card. And am thinking about paying the other $2800 toward our Japan cruise, but not sure since that one is almost 2 years away. Looking at some O cruises for 2025.....but that requires some skillful "negotiating" with my AU 🤣 (who sometimes gets nuts over my miles and points "obsession" - until he flies in Biz!).

I have read that these offers can have a limited number as to availability. So if it's a popular offer, that can happen. I find that on the Platinum card, the offers tend to be for more high end shopping. Also, I think they become somewhat attuned to your use of the card. When I first got the card a couple of years ago, I did not see any travel related offers. Since I have used it for some airfare, and a cruise deposit, I now see more travel related offers.

As I noted, this is an offer on the Platinum card celebrating the 40th anniversary of the card as shown in the offer.

AMEX Platinum is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a bunch of new offers, including several travel related. Just announced this one for Oceania: Get 10 additional Membership Rewards® points for each dollar spent on qualifying cruise reservations made using your enrolled eligible Card online at oceaniacruises.com by calling 855-623-2642, via Amex Travel or through an Oceania Cruises travel advisor by 7/8/2024. Limit of 40,000 Membership Rewards points. So it maxes out at $4000 spend. Be sure to read the terms regarding what doesn't count. If you have an AU on your card, they might have it as well (mine did). Certainly a nice additional bonus to the one AMEX offered in March.

Like @LuAnn we were on her in 2004, her maiden year. Ours was a 12 night Caribbean cruise sailing out of NY when she was still docking on the West Side - with a third of the ship extending past the pier out into the Hudson. I joke that this cruise is why I will never win the lottery as we had our run of luck here - I booked a hull balcony, but our boarding passes were for a regular balcony. But our key card didn't work there, so suddenly we were upgraded to Princess Grill (like 3x what we had paid!!). We even had our own personal stationery! Good thing we drove down to the ship so we had the fancy clothes (no longer), the good jewelry, etc. so we fit in OK, although we wore shorts to breakfast and lunch and our British table neighbors were very friendly. We had a great time, and loved the fitness center and Canyon Ranch spa pool and the planetarium. Truly a gorgeous liner. We took her again over Labor Day weekend 2009 for a 3 day cruise to St. Johns in Canada - booked an inside and there we stayed. Still had fun back then. So @WildWanderers I hope you will enjoy your 2nd cruise. And @Jim_Iain I am sure you will enjoy Queen's Grill very much! Now we enjoy Oceania which is much more our style. (and the suits and fancy dresses are a bit tight around the midsection these days anyway 😁)

Thank you for posting these links. Not going until March 2026, but have bookmarked these.

And if your first flight is delayed, what are your options then? Are you flying during a peak travel time? How early or late in the day? Assuming you are flying in for a cruise, are you flying day before or day of? All things you need to factor in to your decision.

I think it is based on how long the flight is. Never got pj's on a UA flight to Europe. We fly Emirates at end of September and flight time is 7:55. According to article, only given on flights 9 hours+. YMMV.

Useful reference - BA not listed: https://onemileatatime.com/guides/airlines-pajamas-business-class/

We did this many years ago in November on another cruise line, but I think it is doable given your time in port. Check the ferry schedule online. That should give you some idea of what's feasible. I am sure you can probably buy tickets online these days. We did not go to the Blue Grotto because we were advised that the seas were too rough that day for the boats, so you will need to check on that. And know what your transportation options are for getting there and back on Capri. The Church of San Michele in Capri has an incredible majolica floor which is worth seeing if it is open. We did a lovely coastal walk on Capri - beautiful place. Others can probably give you more up to date info. Hope it works out for you. Enjoy your cruise.

Airfare seems to be up everywhere, and so are the miles required for award seats, assuming you can find those to line up with your dates, especially now that every mainstream publication is writing about credit card points for "free" travel.

Well, I will be sure to check your blog for great information. Your photos are amazing as are your descriptions. Sorry I didn't get to meet you on Riviera, but I think you disembarked as we were getting on in Bangkok. Maybe one day our paths will cross.

@DrHemlock FWIW, I was looking at various 2026 itineraries, including the one we booked. If you see a cruise you are interested in, open the itinerary and click on the port name, or on the link for Ports& Excursions above the itinerary list. You may see descriptions for excursions- maybe if the port was ever used before. Of course, no prices and these excursions could change by the time booking for any opens at 365 days, but some helpful info to glean some insight about the ports. For our Japan itinerary, a couple of ports only said "information coming soon" or some such thing. But there were ports that I have not seen on an O itinerary for Japan (maybe on Regent?) that had excursions listed.