Flatbush Flyer

Whatever the FAQs say regarding the number of bottles (then or now) is irrelevant. O gets $25 per personal bottle (or it’s contents) used outside your cabin.

VineyardView is absolutely correct. SM includes the old House Select Program of a small selection of wine-by-the-glass at meals. Folks with that program (or with Prestige package) paid corkage for their personal bottles then, pay corkage for them now and will continue to pay the corkage when SM starts on 10/1/23. All you SM fare is paying for is the provision of the package wine (including glassware and service - ONLY for that wine). As always, we all will continue to pay for any personal wine taken out of our cabin in a bottle or in a glass. It’s $25 for each personal bottle used.

After more than 400 days on O ships, I repeat: Other than an occasional passable 1 or 2 selections, the wine-by-the-glass is poor to mediocre at best.

Time for a new TA.

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No need to check it out. Personal booze has nothing to do with O Life or SM.

Yes. The facial recognition apparatus also takes temps. Why does it concern you? Aren’t you happy that, if you have a fever both you and the ship’s doc will be able to take proactive measures?

Nothing changes with corkage under SM. Bring a bottle of wine onboard and drink any of its contents outside of your cabin? That’s a $25 corkage fee.

No. As previously stated, the beverage packages (both of them) are wines-by-the-glass from the same menu of mostly mediocre offerings.

Bring your own wine if possible. The 6 bottle limit is only a CYA statement. We often bring a case to start and replenish along the route at appropriate stops. That said, don’t buy cheap wine. A good $70 NorCal Pinot plus $25 corkage would set you back $250+ on the ship. The only booze package worth it is the Prestige package and that’s if you drink spirits. Order doubles with good booze. But, once you cruise O a lot and do long cruises, you may find that even that package isn’t that great. Welcome and O Club parties each segment plus officer invited plus happy hour twofers plus bartenders who like you all help to keep your final bar tab reasonable.

No- the various tastings are an extra charge as noted in the flyer. Same goes for the “bin end list.” As aforementioned, whether it’s your O Life perk choice or your SM included perk, both the basic booze package of mealtime beer and wine and the prestige package upgrade that adds spirits and all day service includes a relatively small list of mostly mediocre $10+\- USD retail wines (except for an occasional half decent selection of one or two at $15-20. And both packages’ wines are always by-the-glass.

I looked into it and was reminded that I’ve seen this before with single segments that are about 3 weeks long. The reservations blocks are split so that reservations are forced into a somewhat equal distribution where you must split your allotment over the multiple blocks (both by number and specific restaurant.

NEVER EVER use the O website cart to purchase tours. It has many glitches! Always call O direct (or have your TA call - but only if the TA fully knows O’s booking idiosyncrasies). Though we do use a great TA, I prefer to do my own excursion booking with an excellent, long-serving O phone rep. I have his direct contact info and he immediately sends me the detailed math “prepurchased shore excursions” PDF which is essential to have with you during the cruise - should there be cancellations/replacements. The other very important reason to call is because both the web shopping list and the latest PDF tours list man not be current! The most accurate list is what’s on the O phone rep’s computer. And, if you want/need to make changes to your purchased list of tours, the only way you can do it pre-cruise is to call O.

For $2400 (for two cruises!), what do you consider “long?” And are you talking about door-to-door travel (including air and pre/post cruise land travel)?

FWIW: we eat most meals in the Terrace Café - mostly the same food as the GDR plus other items and all in a casual atmosphere. We’ll do occasional breakfast/lunch in the GDR and also specific menu dinners like Thanksgiving, Beef Wellington and invited officer dinners. Admittedly, there’s a lot of new wait staff on this cruise- not uncommon as the industry is still in a “return to service” mode.

You booked what O officially calls an “extended journey” (two consecutive segments with a single booking number that is marketed as a single cruise. If not marketed that way and you have a single booking number with two cruise ID numbers, you booked a “custom cruise” (also splits the dining dates). Recently, O reintroduced “grand voyages” with marketed cruises of three or more segments and single booking number. They too will have split dining booking dates.

It depends on the cruise line.

Trying to buy extra/better bar service with a cash tip when you are served (beyond the always included gratuity) is tacky at best. I have found that chatting with a cruise ship bartender (or cabin steward or wine server or waiter or barista) when they are not super busy is worth its weight in gold when it comes to receiving the best service. Showing an interest in them leaves an impression that is seldom forgotten. That said, if at the end of a cruise segment I have been pleased with a particular individual’s extraordinary service, I’ll give them an extra gratuity, sometimes with a thank you note and always with a positive comment about them in a cruise review. We cruise often (approx 75-100 days annually) on a preferred small line. Many hotel long-serving crew know us by name and treat us very well (as we do them) whether we give them an extra gratuity or not at the end of the segment/cruise.

Well, I can tell you from personal experience that A: the boarding pass language (i.e., test results “if required”) is crystal clear. B: Oceania does no longer necessarily sends out emails that say anything about specific test requirements other than its own. C:There may be far more “authorities” with Health requirements/restrictions than you realize. We embarked from SYD earlier this year and our documentation (boarding passes et al.) had the “if required” testing language along with the warning that it is the passengers’ responsibility to comply with any Covid restrictions/requirements imposed by appropriate authorities. At that time, O did not have a testing requirement (nor did our air carrier, United). An Aussie here on CC posted a reminder about multiple authorities in OZ and we decided to check the Public Health authority websites of every possible regulatory entity we might encounter. Australia had no testing requirement at that time. New South Wales had no testing requirement and neither did the City of Sydney (in general). However, the Port of Sydney had a testing requirement of all embarking cruise ship passengers. We were among those who followed what the O boarding pass stated, did the research and had our negative test proof on hand. But, plenty of folks didn’t pay attention to the O warning and were very surprised when they entered the terminal and were asked for their test results. Somewhat fortunately for them, there was pierside tests available (at approx. $90 per person). But, fortunately for the rest of us, those who then tested positive were denied boarding.

Perhaps you haven’t looked hard enough. We’re currently on a 23 day Oceania cruise that offered an “extraordinary savings” sale after our final payment had been made. Because we had “booked onboard,” we had a “price drop match” guarantee. That translated to more than $3k in our favor. We’re also about to probably change a future Oceania cruise from the old “O Life” deal to the new “Simply More” deal which will add a significant increase in our onboard amenities at approximately the same fare cost.

IMO: if YOU are paying the fare, call it what you like. That said, the reality remains that there is a generally accepted difference between a “ship” and a “boat.” In the most general terms, “you can put a boat on a ship but not a ship on a boat.” Of course, there’s the sole traditional exception in that military submarines are commonly referred to as boats. Why is the distinction between “ship” and “boat” important? There are several possible reasons why someone might “correct” you. The easiest is that some folks like knowing stuff that you don’t and want you to know it too. C’est la vie. Another, somewhat more significant reason is that mariners have their own language describing all sorts of items/actions and a practiced mix of understandable specificity and tradition helps to keep communication clear which, in turn, often contributes to maintaining safety and efficacy. A perfect example is the use of the terms “port” and “starboard.” Beyond the historical origin of words like “starboard,” think about how, in an emergency radio communication to the Coast Guard, citing a landmark as on our “right” is far less accurate than stating it is on our “starboard” side. Similarly, “lines” are specific types of “rope.” The list goes on…. including “ship” (big) vs “boat” (small). And, finally, IMO, if you call a cruise ship a “boat,” it suggests to me that you may not understand other terms that are far more important for your safety. And that’s why, when you first step on a stranger’s boat (particularly a sailboat), among the first words it’s skipper may say to you is “please don’t touch anything unless I tell you to.”

You can also look at Execucar (division of Super Shuttle that does private transfers).

Segment cruising is what sets Oceania apart from many other cruise lines. The ships are deployed to a region of the world and, apart from a ship doing a number of similar regional itineraries, it eventually moves across seasonal regions in a very organized fashion - allowing folks to book multiple segments (either as an advertised or as a custom cruise). While many people will board/leave at the changeover day between segments, others continue onto the next segment. As aforementioned, the multi-segment folks will get a flyer during a current segment describing changeover day tours. However, some of the most popular published multisegment cruises will list the changeover day tours on the web and in the tours PDF prior to embark. Bottom line: if you don’t see listings for your changeover day before you board (web or pdf), you’ll eventually get the flyer once you’re onboard.

Close to changeover day you’ll get a flyer with available ship’s tours for those who are continuing on.

Sadly, the current Regatta segment’s award winning trivia team (The Evil Geniuses) is dissolving in Vancouver. I’m the only one continuing on. So, if anyone else, who knows trivia for the “blood sport” it really is (just kidding), wants to keep our team going from Vancouver to L.A., let me know and we can connect at the M&G.