Cliff-FLL

I was on Vista twice last year and was quite surprised at the number of men wearing informal shoes in the restaurants. (Mind you, not offended - just surprised.) In most cases, they were black leather or fabric, with black soles. Unless one looked closely, they would have appeared to be standard - albeit clunky - men's dress shoes. Personally, I was just afraid that, if I were to wear something similar, they might clash with my dressy jeans. 😁

@Kay S Yes! But is it available as a matched set? (And we're gonna' need more hangers!)

No! Not a chance! When we travel, we each take a 30-32" suitcase, a shared 26" to accommodate the wine, a small backpack each for miscellaneous items we don't want to check, and 2 laptops with assorted accoutrement. Since we're normally flying to an international destination, the two large cases will weigh about 60 lbs. or so. It seems as if there is always someone around to help with the luggage - a porter, a taxi driver, a bellman, a perky college student traveling light - and I can actually deal with it on the rare occasions when no one is available. We avoid bringing more, we do laundry as needed. Don't ever let anyone convince you to "travel light". I've never found any advantage to it. That's the truth and I'm sticking with it.

You may also want to let your butler know if you have any allergies or reactions to certain products. Although you may order certain canapés in the evening, it's not unusual for the butler to bring a little extra something, which sometimes includes a bowl of nuts.

FWIW, we were on Vista in August & September of 2023 and again in October. We were able to connect both laptops and both phones without any issues and the signal was excellent.

@ORV @mauibabes I'm with you all on this. When I had AT&T, I had to pay $60 per month for international service and then pay 35 cents per minute for calls. The $60 each month got me texts and some data, though I don't recall exactly how much. If we both wanted to have international dialing, that made it $120 extra for each month we were outside North America (plus 35 cents per minute). On T-Mobile, international connectivity is included. Internationally, we each have unlimited texts, 5GB of high-speed data (and then unlimited slow-speed data), and calls at 25 cents per minute. All this without paying a $120 per month access fee.

How come you're the only one that recognizes that?! 🤔🤣

Rented an on-ship wheelchair for my mother a number of years ago. When we arrived at the terminal in NY, she used one of the terminal's wheelchairs to work her way through the their space & security. We used their chair to take her up the ramp to the ship and, as we boarded, she transferred to the one I rented for her. I believe there was a single piece of paper to sign and that was it.

We've always found the butler to be quite helpful in obtaining additional reservations. When we board, we hand him a copy of what we already have reserved and our requested extra reservations. Invariably, he's been able to get what we want, albeit at a slightly different time on occasion.

Uh, hate to break this to you, but they don't seem to be doing whole lotta' checking. At the end of August, we took the ferry from Ouistreham to Portsmouth and the French provided an exit stamp. However, nobody checked or stamped our passports when we arrived. When we went back to France as part of the cruise, there were no entry/exit stamps by either country and, when we went back to the UK - again, as part of the cruise - nothing was stamped. The next stamp was in Ireland and, after that, absolutely nothing, including the US and Canada. Despite the lack of stamps, I'm going to guess that all of these governments are keeping tabs on who's coming & going from their shores. (Or maybe my tin foil hat's a bit too snug?)

PortSeattle offers what they call "Port Valet" service. Cruise ship passengers sign up in advance and receive their boarding passes & airline luggage tags while on board the ship. They place their luggage outside the door the night before arrival in Seattle and, the next morning, their luggage is transported to Sea-Tac and delivered to the airline. They only do this for certain airlines (Alaska, American, Delta, Horizon, JetBlue, Southwest, United) and for certain cruise lines (Carnival, Celebrity, Holland America, Norwegian, Princess, Royal Caribbean). We're on an Alaskan cruise, ending in June 2024, and it would be very helpful if we could avail ourselves of this service but we're not sure if we're eligible to use it. Our sticking point is the "Norwegian" designator. Does anyone know if, when they state "Norwegian", is it only Norwegian Cruise Line or if it spans the entire NCL family, including Oceania? If it does include Oceania, has anyone used the service when arriving on an Oceania Cruise? If so, how did it work out? Any lost luggage? Thanks for any insight you can provide.

Make life easier (but more expensive) for yourself and get a 2nd passport. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/have-passport/second-passport-book.html

Except that Oceania is not saying it's "included". Rather, they are very boldly proclaiming that these things are "FREE": "2 for 1 Cruise Fares" - let's just say they've beaten that laughable horse to death; "FREE Roundtrip Airfare" - but only if you pay more for the included-airfare option; "FREE Airport Transfers" - but only if you pay more for the included-airfare option; So how are either of these options "FREE" if you have to pay more to receive them? Moving on, we get to the other FREE benefits of simply MORE: "FREE Shore Excursions" - but only up to a certain dollar limit, depending on the cruise length; "FREE Champagne, Wine, & More" - but only at certain times when they say you can have it; "FREE Gourmet Specialty Dining" - which is no different than what they've always offered; "FREE Unlimited Wi-Fi" - which, to the best of my knowledge, has always been the case. For a cruise we have scheduled for May 2024, the new fare, without "FREE" airfare, increases the price by $400pp. We're certainly not going to drink enough of their wines at lunch & dinner to justify that amount and the FREE shore excursions would probably be taken only so we don't lose the extra money we're already being charged. So, to be clear, I don't intend to, "Get over it or move on." I'll look at Oceania objectively, ignore all of their "FREE" perks while I compare them to other cruise lines, and make an informed decision as to whether or not Oceania is the best selection. Before, I probably would have just decided which Oceania cruise I wanted. Now, I'll simply decide on the basis of itinerary and what is more reasonably priced based on its "FREE" benefits.

I agree. Worst coffee on the seas. 🤮

As much as we've enjoyed Oceania, the recent changes will definitely make us take a closer look at former and never-used cruise lines. We've been sailing only on Oceania for more that 14 years and, as much as we've enjoyed it, this is a great opportunity to take a closer look at what other lines are now offering. With the change to simplyMore, exclusivity will be going out the door and Excel spreadsheets will become a major determinant in our cruise-line decision, on a cruise-by-cruise basis. Bye, bye loyalty...