Hambagahle

Does anyone have Harry Sommer's email ???

I think what you plan is risky. Not on the Oceania side but you are flying internationally late on the day you are supposed to board. If the plane has a mechanical and you can't fly and don't get to BKK till the following day who is going to stop the ship from sailing without you? OR the car that is taking you from Ankor Wat to the airport in Siam Reap breaks down and you miss the plane? I suppose I have travelled so much internationally (including in SEA) that I am "risk averse" but I would not dream of doing what you want to do.

Why don't you post the question about the Hebridean Sky on the boards for that company? You are more likely to get an answer... Personally with the current Oceania situation I smell a rat. Our cruise is no longer going to Turkey. The Vista will drop us at Trieste, as scheduled, on May 1 and the board passengers - who are going to Turkey. I fail to understand this logic nor the reason for it. If Oceania, in its infinite wisdom, doesn't want us to risk going to Turkey (which BTW was lumped with "Holy Land" ports in Ortega's letter) why is the Vista dropping us off, turning around and then going to Turkey. Something else is afoot...the rat. But what sort of rat ??

Another place entirely!! Thanks for the explanation though.

We have the same situation but for a 24 April cruise which ought to have been Turkey and Greece. Now - no Turkey. And also no news at all about changes to the excursions, refunds, new ones etc. So we are waiting... (and we switched to SimplyMore too!)

I thought about that as well - we are obviously in the same boat! - but I seem to remember from the past that the cruise lines won't reduce existing booking fare just because they have a promotion. I have been in touch with my TA in Texas. She says that everything at Oceania is frantic with loads of changed itineraries and ports, tours etc. She expects (read "hopes") that I will hear something in early December. Right now, on the SimplyMore programme, I have $800 in excursion credits for our suite (2p) and have used some for the Delos Excursion from Mykonos. That must still be happening though the site shows it on the wrong day. I also have a cooking class booked on 27 April. Which is now a sea day. Originally it was supposed to be on 28 April I think. But it hasn't been changed. I suppose they will make all the changes at once though. What a mess! And so unnecessary...

Very likely and perhaps we will do that... however I have a question for you. Your screen name has a familiar "ring" to me because I am a Valaisanne. Any possible connection ?

We are sailing on Vista from Malta to Trieste 21 April 2024. 2 weeks ago Oceania cancelled our two ports in Turkey and added ports in Greece and Montenegro. But so far they have not indicated what excursions will be available and when I go to "Manage my Booking" I cannot book them there either. My record shows I have one booked (but with the itin. change it is now on the wrong day!). However it also shows I have no SM credit left. Which is clearly an error. So my question - if you are sailing in the Med. in late March/early April and have had ports in Turkey or elsewhere cancelled have you had your account updated and can you now book excursions? I am just trying to get a fix on the timeline involved! Thank you very much!

I grew up in Central Africa. In those days there were no anti-malaria pills. I got malaria and unfortunately "latent Malaria" which can come back and back. It was not fun I can assure you. Now when I go to an area where there is Malaria I take the pills. And I also remember to continue them until I have finished the course even if I am no longer in the Malaria area. Please check (1) with your doctor and (2) have him check with the local health authorities. Then do what is advised...

And we - or at least our then 4 year old daughter - called the Raffaello the "Raff my ello" !!

Colombo? Sri Lanka ? Maybe not... But if you mean the Cristoforo Colombo of the Italian Line - it was ! And we got off in Venice. (Previous TA on the Italian line was on the Raffaello to Cannes).

Furniture in aft suites is sometimes tied down too -if a storm is coming. We had a Seven Seas Aft suite on Regent's Mariner once and the "tie down" happened several times (it was a TA crossing...). Our furniture in the Vista Suite on Riviera was tied down almost every night and the cushions put into what should be the little gym (which we never used anyway...)

from what I have seen most of the cruise lines including O. will announce a sale, run it and then when it ends - raise their fares. So about the opposite of what the OP was asking!

I have sailed into or out of Venice 3 times now. First time was in 1970 on the Italian Line. We docked at the Riva degli Schiavoni - right in front of the Doge's Palace. This was not a cruise ship, it was a trans-Atlantic vessel (at the time our preferred way to get from the US to Switzerland in fact). Then once on Regent's Mariner maybe 10 years ago. We ended our cruise with an overnight in Venice and were docked at San Basilio, (not at the Cruise Terminal), near the Piazzale Roma. It was dense fog. We could hear children playing soccer on the quai but could not see them! We heard disembarkation announcements from a Silversea ship moored ahead of us, and could not see it! Last time we sailed from Venice on Oceania's Riviera. And that was from the Cruise Port. Again the weather was awful - heavy rain! but at least we could see a bit of what we were passing. I think it a shame that the smaller ships cannot dock at least at the Cruise Port. But on our next cruise - Oceania Vista - we end in Trieste instead of in Venice... not the same and logistically difficult.

We simply asked our butler to get us a table in the restaurant we wanted to eat in. He did and we did. (Vista and Owners Suites...)

I have been to Venice many times - it is only 5 1/2 hours by train from where I live - and I have never once seen a mega ship that blocked any view I had of the lagoon. Only once when I was walking around the Giudeca did I see a ship - a mammoth MSC one which sailed by. Normally when I am in Venice I go to Torcello, which I love. You can see lots of the lagoon from there - even stuck my feet in it on a hot day - and never a ship. Not even from the Vaporetto going there. However I do agree that the mega ships were a danger to the foundations of buildings in Venice. But Oceania and Regent do not have mega ships. Anyway I am on the same cruise as CricketLover and I am really annoyed about our two Turkish ports being removed. Turkey is a long way from Gaza and Israel but it seems the "powers-that-be" in Miami don't have a map!

Both chain hotels (as the Shangri La is now). DIfference is that the SL was the first ever hotel in that group. And so very "singapore".

Exactly! I love the Garden Wing (have stayed in all three and when we were first there there was only one building anyway). And I simply adore "The Line". Strange to say I know that a self service restaurant would be great...but it is! Also the location is perfect. Easy walk to the top of Orchard Road, not far from Tanglin Road and the Botanical Garcens.

Absolutely delighted to learn this!! Heidseick is an OK champagne. OK - not Veuve Clicquot, but OK. They had better stock up when my husband and I get on board!

We have stayed at the Shangri La many many times since 1972 and I would not stay anywhere else. First time we were in Singapore we stayed at Raffles - which was OK. But no more...

I have never (yet?) had a bag that went totally missing. Only delayed arrival. And I had thought about air tags too. But then all I am doing is going from Zürich to Malta and loosing a bag is rather unlikely. from what I have read - chances multiple with connections. Especially in the US.

That is what our outside tag says too. Name, Phone, country. Looking on the bright side - only twice in my life has a bag gone missing. Once on a Aeromexico flight to Acapulco and it was delivered to me next day. Once on a BA flight to Bangkok and that took 3 days to arrive. BA paid for the clothes I bought/had made to get through those days of meetings etc - USD1000. Not something I would like to have happen again though. (and I travelled a huge amount all over the world when I was working).

You can walk just about everywhere. Ship docks in town and there are shuttle boats (you pay a couple of EUR) over to the main part of town. If you are going up to the "rock" - where the Palace is and where the Oceanographic museum is - you can take a bus.

Presumably though you can order whatever you like from the staff who circulate around the pool IF you have the upgraded package.

Here in Europe we lock our luggage - when we fly and when on trains etc* - so putting a label inside means the case would be broken into to get at the label. Probably for us the best thing is to have the normal "home address, email, phone" labels on the bags and then put the O. labels with the suite number (if we get them) or those nice labels a previous poster was kind enough to provide on the bags right before we get in a taxi from the hotel to the pier. *I understand that in the US you cannot lock your bags unless you have TSA locks but that is not the case here.