Hambagahle

I have organised 2 on Oceania - both on Riviera. And several on Regent as well. On both lines I went to the Cruise Director's office when I boarded and gave him (it was a him in all cases...) a copy of the spread sheet I had for all the CCers who had participated in the Roll Call. In every instance but one (On Regent) a section of one of the bars was reserved for the group and some hors d'oeuvres appeared as well. At a couple (one on R. and one on O) the CD, F&B Mgr, GM and, in the case of Regent, the Captain appeared to greet everyone. They were great fun. On a TA crossing on Riviera we had a second M&G later in the cruise. By which time many of us had also had dinner or drinks together.

Rescues are possible on TA cruises. I have been on two crossings that involved them. First was on Cunard (in the 1960s) when a seaman on a ship not that far from us was severely injured. he was brought to the Queen Mary on a lifeboat and the Cunard medical team took over from then. The second was when we were on Riviera, on a TA crossing a few years ago. Around 0600 the ship suddenly slowed. And a mammoth helicopter appeard above us. We were about 500km south of the Azores and it was from a Portuguese military base there. It winched the stretcher up and flew off. We later heard that it was a passenger who had had a heart attack. He recovered. And his wife disembarked in Madeira and flew off to be with him. Apparently we were just at the limit of the range of the helicopter so he was very lucky. The ocean is not as lonely as one might think!

We see American tourists in Switzerland all the time who add 15-20% to a meal bill - but here the full service charge is already included in the restaurant price. So they are tipping twice, and over-tipping at that. In some countries (Japan I believe for one) it is considered rude to tip someone. I really do think people from the US need to be a little more aware of local practices...

It probably comes down to the fact that America has a "tipping culture" and Europe and Australia/NZ do not. If - in our case - $23 is added to the bill per person and per day that is quite a large sum. We tip (as I said) in addition to that to our butler and steward but not to others unless they do something exceptional. We simply do not run around with money that we are handing out! (On tours of course it is different. We tip the guide if s/he has been good, more if great. And the driver, maybe a few EUR or a dollar bill or whatever. We only give coins if we are in the country of those coins otherwise they are worthless to the person receiving them. And we do see our butler before we disembark. He brings us breakfast - it is the one time we eat breakfast in the suite as a rule. Have to get up early that day!!

Update to the "N/A" port ... the cruises are now back to Trieste. Very strange episode.

I do not like snails. (I do like the sauce!) However snails have re-appeared on menus in restaurants here. Certainly there was a while when you never saw them listed. Now they are all over the place. I was in a smallish out-of-the-way place on Sunday for lunch and there were escargot on the menu. (There was also foie gras which was wonderful by the look of it but I chose tataki of Thon for my starter... Foie gras was yesterday at the Golf Club instead!)

Your on board account will be charged $18 pp/per day t cover tips. As a result only tip for something which is "above and beyond" the norm. Delivering breakfast or whatever is part of the room service steward's job. We tip our steward/ess and Butler at the end of the cruise and often leave some additional money for the "Crew Fund" with Reception but that is all the tipping we do.

We are booked on Vista from Valetta 21/4/24. We were scheduled to disembark at Trieste on 1/5/24. So was the preceding cruise (from Rome) and the following cruise that was Trieste/Istanbul and the two following that. All are now listed as “N/A” in place of Trieste. I am curious as to where N/A might turn out to be!! Somewhere I suppose not far from Rovinjc which is the penultimate port on our cruise but near Venice. Ancona? Rimini? Chioggia? Fusina?? seems a bit strange to me to have this change 5months out…

Gary - I just read your "magnum opus" which made excellent reading! Thank you so much for the effort and time you put into it. We have done 3 Oceania cruises and are booked for another 21 April Valetta to ?? (We booked a cruise Valetta to Trieste via Turkey. Turkey was dropped a month ago. Today on the O. site the cruise is listed as Valetta to "N/A". ) Interesting...I have never visited that port!! It is bizarre to say the least to take us on a mystery tour. Anyway I shall adopt your attitude and wait...and see!

Probably true. I prefer to choose things for myself. But from others' descriptions it looks as though this one might be useful for grocery shopping.

Might be the same here...I have never asked! I sort of doubt it though (doubt there would be pimps here...not that there are in Spain!!)

Maybe you should come to Switzerland to eat ??

That is certainly an idea for us. We walk to the supermarket etc but I do use shopping bags in the car for my weekly shop. (I also have one of those trolley bag things for the market.). Maybe I will just put it into the boot when I get home!!

It is nice I suppose that O. has the laundries on each floor and that they are free. I hear on some lines they are not... We will be in Zürich for a night and then fly to Malta for 3 nights before our cruise so I am planning to send laundry at the hotel in Malta so we can board with at least mostly clean things. Then we spend 2 nights in Murano afterwards...but no hope there (!) laundry will be carted back on the train with us to Switzerland. But I will get as much as possible done on the ship. It is always something you have to plan for. (and I prefer planning excursions and meals to laundry!)

I don't know if prostitution is legal in Spain - it might be. it is totally legal here in Switzerland and around Zürich there are a lot of Russian/Eastern European prostitutes (or so I hear!). We don't see any Chadors or burkas here. In fact the burka is not legal. Veils of course are...

I disagree. I am Swiss and live 45 minutes from Chamonix in France, 50 minutes from Evian-les-Bains. The food I get there AND the local food here in the Suisse Romande (where we speak French) is close to what I remember Jacques being. I know that my husband and I really enjoyed it. The only "American" things we are looking forward (a lot!) to eating on board are Eggs Benedict and corned beef hash. My husband likes hamburgers - I don't much. We both love lobster and that is a real treat for us (not too many lobsters in our lakes here!!)

Well - we travel with a laundry bag so we don't need another one. I don't do laundry and ironing when I am on holiday - I have enough of that at home. So everything goes to the butler and he takes care of it. (And the new bag looks tacky to me!)

If that is what we get it will stay on board when we disembark...

Apples to apples in fact. I would be horrified to find myself on a ship with 2000+ guests. My "ideal" size is 750-1200 I suppose. And I do not think you can compare life on a 2000+ ship to that on a smaller one.

I live 45 minutes from France (in Switzerland). To me Jacques served pretty good "bistro" food. And I liked it. And the restaurants I go to do not cater to tourists.

So - if I want a glass of champagne at breakfast - I pay? Or I don't get? I think last cruise I took on O. I did ask once and was told bars open at 1100. Maybe that explains it...

In my experience there was not always a California Chardonnay but when I asked - I got it ! But (thank you Covid) I have not sailed since 2017. Cruise in 2020 was cancelled...

We have done the same on past Oceania cruises - when a California Chardonnay (a particular treat for us) was not on the list we asked for one and got it. With a smile!

We have upgraded the basic Simply More package to the Premium one and I have our final invoice - $30 pp per day has been added. We are on a 10 day cruise and the total was $600 pp. (I think we can drink that and more given the service charges etc added!)

Those planes operate at capacity. I have been on flights like those. In Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. I wouldn't risk it but I do hope if you do all works out well. Where is the ship stopping next ?