Flatbush Flyer

Here in the US, O’s (and Regent’s) T&Cs are not as kind. O assumes zero liability for the performance of its contracted services (eg., air, tours, etc). Of course, they’ll do their best to accommodate folks who purchase air and tours from O. But there’s no guarantees on anything related to stuff like missed air connections that keep you from. making your embarkation. BTW: Unless O’s chartered a flight, the ship will not wait for late comers. That said, how good a “deal” you got has zip to do with my point about adequate layover times. A 3 hour layover buffer can quickly be diminished by a 1 hour delay at your point of origin flight. And all sorts of other things can chip away at what remains. Ever been through passport control in major hubs during the summer? On one occasion for us at FRA, the line to get into the passport line was an hour in and of itself (plus twenty minutes to go through the passport control)! And we had already experienced a one hour delay at the start of our flight from SFO. We used the resulting approx one half hour (not the original three!) layover for a bathroom break and the sprint across FRA to the new gate. And what I am describing is not unusual. So despite your “great” deal, I’d still be thinking about altering your flights to add adequate layover time. But, be prepared to live with your decision.

Our basic layover rule for intercontinental connections was minimum of 3 hours for many years. Due to several recent close calls with ultra busy Star Alliance hubs (e.g., FRA) and our equally busy SFO originating flights, we have increased the layover buffer to a minimum of 4 hours (fully expecting at least an hour lost to delayed starts and connection congestion). I suggest you do the same. I also caution you to reconsider using the cruise line for air. If you accept their bulk rate fare, only that ticket seller can make ticket adjustments necessitated by a bad connection situation. So, while you’re on the phone trying to get to Your cruise line’s air department in the middle of the night at home. DIYers are grabbing the last replacement flight seats thanks to gate agents at the connecting airport.

Actually, the only cruises where Country Fair is as close as you’ll get to “guaranteed” is in full Pacific crossings where there are always plenty of sea days. Add to that the ceremony day for crossing the International Date Line and the always fun boatbuilding contest.

One caveat: MANY DS personnel are relatively new and mostly clueless when it comes to “under the hood” of their operations. Thus, I recommend to get on the waitlist precruise and ASAP. It doesn’t negatively impact anything but still can prove that you were (and should be) further in the front of the queue for a tour spot. I had this situation recently on Riviera with one pre-cruise waitlisted tour (for which I had a senior O phone rep email detailing my addition to the wait list months prior). Onboard, a neophyte DS staffer said she had no knowledge of any precruise waitlist but had started one onboard. I showed her my O email and asked nicely to speak immediately with the DS manager (explaining first [also nicely] that I really didn’t want to have to escalate the issue as far as the GM). She left to the back office and several minutes later returned with two tix for the tour.

Well let’s set the record straight. Roma Sparita is ground zero in Roma for Cacio y Pepe (at least, according to Anthony Bourdain), and here’s the ingredients (which is how we make it at home): The dish only calls for the following four ingredients (five if you count the pasta water): spaghetti, a tablespoon of freshly grated black pepper, butter, and 1 3/4 cups of grated Pecorino Romano cheese. And don’t forget the bowl made out of Parmigiano Reggiano (which calling it Parmesan is an insult).

What link? And what’s with bother get the freebie although only one earned it. Either something new or fake news.

IMO, the best of the HS bunch.

If he’s the “socks” guy, I’ll pass. Zero personality.

You’re not answering both parts of OP’s question. Only one of them is near cruise credit number 20. So, that partner is SOL for the comp cruise. That said, they can identify the cruise on which OP will earn CC #20 and inform O Club of the preference. O Club will let them know what the balance due is once the combo platinum and regular cruise fares are figured out.

Trust me on this: Clelford is the absolutely worst CD ever employed by O. He was on some mass market line previously and the bottom-of-the-barrel mentality and attitude shoes through in all that he does. and it wasn’t just one time. We’ve had him at least twice and the badness just blends together. I even went so far as to write management at O (and NCLH) and recommend that they require him and all newly hired CDs to intern for at least part of a contract with Ray Carr. If you are unlucky enough to ever get stuck with Clelford, do be proactive and voice your legitimate concerns with O management (both on and off the ship). He is a monstrous zero and major O embarassment.

I was getting a blank screen on my iPhone using Safari. Also reported it and all is back to normal. I could, ar least, see posts via the Australian website (which is where I saw your post). Kind of reminds me of cable outage where I call my neighbor and am relieved when he has the same issue 😎

Agreed. Don’t forget the backpack. That said, I trust that you’ll agree that the O “messenger bags” provided at each O Club milestone level aren’t exactly top quality gear. The single Velcro fastener on the big flap cover, the shoulder strap et al. are at the low end of the performance spectrum for regular use.

Only the tip of the iceberg. There are other O software glitches - particularly with O invoices - e.g., specifically dealing with any mix of OCAPP $ passed to you via a TA which then conflict with “in lieu” O Club gratuities $ coverage on multisegment cruises. The “good” news is that it all works out before embarkation (usually). But, many TAs and passengers are clueless about O idiosyncrasies. Another glitch involves tour availability on some multi-segment cruises which requires O to be notified of the problem in order to fix it. All that said, I’m ROTFL everytime someone suggests that O should have an app!

Bags are useless.

I can only assume you haven’t perused this forum and haven’t seen/read any of my zillion posts saying NEVER use the O web cart to buy excursions. It is extremely glitchy!!! Always call O (or have an O knowledgeable TA do it) to buy tours and make sure you get a copy of the “prepurchased” shore excursions PDF which shows all the math. It’s important to have on the ship if there’s ever any disagreement about your tours/refunds/etc!!!

The only SM “option” is with/without air. As for Princess- once you cruise on an O ship, you’ll say goodbye to Princess.

Yes- the “new” SM 25% deal is the “old” YWYW 25% deal.

I wish folks would use the search feature here on CC. There have been many many threads (quite a few involving my detailed responses) that highly recommend NEVER using the O web cart (originally for O Life and now, seemingly, it’s necessary for SM as well. As for your SM package discount (formerly called Your World Your Way, different itineraries require different minimum number of purchased tours to get the 25% off. If you qualify and the Cart’s bottom line didn’t jive with your own “correct” math, call O and the phone rep will straighten it out. And make sure that you get a copy of the “prepurchased shore excursions PDF with all the math shown for your purchase. This doc is essential to make a point with Destination Services onboard if there’s any disagreement about what is owed you if O cancels your tour(s). You can also have your TA do this all. But, know that many (if not most) TAs are clueless about the idiosyncrasies of O’s excursion policies and practices. And when the “poop hits the fan” regarding your ship’s excursions while you’re onboard, your best resource/advocate is YOU. BTW: Once onboard, if your total tours booked falls below your minimum for the 25% discount due to an O cancelation, you do not lose the discount on the remaining tours. However, the refunded SM tour SBC cannot be used for anything other than replacement tours.

At least (until the recent FDR Sr retirement), the bulk of NCLH’s executives were previously Oceania execs (from FDR to. Bob Binder and on down the line). With FDR senior at the NCLH helm, there was little worry that “his baby” (O) would ever get the short end of the stick. But, that was then and this is now. Moreover, FDR Jr (now heading up O) remains an uncertain as regards his familial devotion to the brand.

It’s not just cruise lines. Try airlines and hotels- lots of glitches. That said, however, the one travel website (and it’s accompanying app) that I have found to be the least problematic and best maintained/updated is United Airlines. Add to that the fact that they actually answer their phones!

Just booked a multi-segment SYD-Bali-SYD (35 days on Riviera) in the newly available 2026 itineraries. It was supposed to be two ATW segments on Vista (based on pre-roll out segment intel). But a now-confirmed disembark in Dubai instead of Mumbai (for a cruise starting in Sydney) put an end to that plan. FWIW, not only do we like the SYD-Bali-SYD itinerary, the fare ((for pretty much the same cruise duration) on Riviera is significantly less. But, the real killer was a bizclass airfare price check (this year’s) of RT SFO-SYD vs the multi-city SFO-SYD/DXB-SFO. That multi-city for a variety of different dates and airlines was as much as twice the SYD-SYD RT. Final decision was easy!

These fold out 3D globes come in varying sizes. Bought ours in a eclectic shop in Miami.

Should you eventually decide to return often to Oceania, the value of certain of the GMs knowing you will become apparent in quite tangible ways. CDs are, perhaps, less influential but knowing who will be onboard can prepare you for their style, which can vary significantly from uniquely entertaining to a bothersome PITA.

ExecuCar

The four “inside corners” extended balconies on Marina and Riviera (e.g., 7108) interior cabin size is exactly the same as the regular B cabins (recently changed to Concierge) next to them.