Flatbush Flyer

On a “slow” night for any particular specialty restaurant, there will be a maitre d’ at the GDR entrance asking if anyone wants to eat “right now” at whichever specialty has space. Not a regular occurrence but it does happen.

Yes- do a mock booking. Check the O Life price on top page. On next page, check “w/o air.” On the following page you’ll see a new price. The difference between them is the “air credit.” No transfers w/o air (unless you do their way overpriced “per person” [rather than per room] hotel too). Not that big a deal to. DIY.

Actually, the going rate for a premium sedan/SUV (Mercedes/AUDI/et al.) from the Gothic Quarter or Cruise port location to BCN is about $150+\-. Taxi will be considerably less. FWIW: a good way to check the going rate for private airport transfers worldwide is mozio.com. You still may want more choices than what you see. But, at least, you’ll get a picture of the average charges in any specific location.

NOAA

First things first…. “Learned” from who? Do you see that on an actual Oceania invoice in the Amenities section? Look again at that invoice. Some items like “O life” choices or “O Club gratuities” will show “Guests 1 & 2” (under each person’s name while others like “Platinum SBC” or “spa credits” will not. Perhaps both occupants get only some (if any) items regardless of which person has higher O Club status. I’d be interested in hearing back from you about what further verification you get.

O has a long history of “slow to change” from a formula that has worked well in filling their ships (at least in non-pandemic times). Not that it justifies the current advertising language but, remember that O’s original fare structure (in the beginning) included air in the published price and you paid that whether you used it or not. Still, it would always have been more truthful to say “included air” rather than “free air.” As for getting rid of the ridiculous “2 for 1” fare numbers, it’s just another artifact that O will probably never change since they have no problem selling seats with the current model.

You may want to revisit that thread… As always: The devil is in the details…

While I understand your upset, do know that you were certainly not “screwed.” The base value of each O Life allowable excursion is $100 (equivalent of the SBC had your chosen that perk instead). In part, why folks select the “excursions” O Life options is that you can easily double the value of the perk by selecting those allowable tours which interest you and which are retail priced closer to the $199 cap. In essence, for each extra $100 you paid in the O Life fare, you get a “wash” on the SBC option (dollar for dollar), up to “double your money” (or more) value with the excursions option or a varying value with the booze perk (depending on your consumption, knowledge of craft cocktails and tolerance for mediocre wines-by-the-glass). When O is “responsible” for one of its tours not happening, you have the option of taking your $100 base O Life value back (as refundable SBC) or booking a replacement from among the allowable tours at the same or different port - again up to the $199 max value. You have not lost a dollar. And, you are spared the extra work of dealing with/replacing private tour and/or their refunds. And don’t forget that those O Life tours count toward the minimum required on your cruise to get the 25% discount on any purchased excursions. Done right, a good mix of O Life/YWYW tours need not be that much more expensive then “private only” tours in money and, equally important, far less expensive in logistical time and effort. As for O’s tours specifically: At first glance, the math for ship tour changes can appear daunting (if you only DIY by looking at your ShipBoard account and personal notes). However, there’s a much easier way to balance the bottom line: Destination Services can print you an easy-to-read (and regularly updated) spreadsheet with the details of your original bookings plus the net effect of each and every change made before and during the cruise. And, if you or your TA, requested copies of the “pre-purchased shore excursions” PDF when you made your original O tour buy, reconciling the two documents can be done in a few minutes. Then just go to Destination Services and show them any discrepancy. It will get fixed before you leave the ship. Now some shortsighted folks will pan ALL ship tours for ALL passengers and, of course, that’s ridiculous. Different people assign different value to different parts of the excursions experience. And, for some of those people, the convenience of 1) review the descriptions 2) pick your choices and 3) make your purchase (plus not have to lift a “refund finger” if O or the tour operator cancels) is priceless - particularly when you’re looking at long cruises with as many as 3 dozen or more port days in each cruise in a year’s time. Like many savvy O cruisers who do multiple long cruises each year (e.g., in 2022, we’ll do a total of just under 100 days across 7 segments on 3 trips), we mix ship and private tours in a way that is most efficacious given our priorities. Clearly, some unique/unparalleled private tours are worth the time to correspond, manage the logistics, etc (some of my favorites include Maohi Nui [“Patrick”] at Bora Bora, Sicily with Mario, Little Gem Tours [home based in Dublin], the list goes on….). But, as long as you avoid the panoramic bus tours and recognize that, in some of the most remote locations (e.g., Easter Island, along the Amazon….), O has already contracted with the best of the few tour outfits that are still in business, there is something to be said for the right choices from among ship’s tours. And it’s not just “convenience.” A case in point: We’ll be doing a partial TransPacific in February. Since Vanuatu is on the agenda, I consulted my Rolodex (yes, I’m that old) of professional et al. mariners (yachties) there and in NZ/OZ about sail/snorkel opportunities only to learn that most of the commercial outfits at Vanuatu (as well as many in parts of Fiji and New Caledonia) did not survive the pandemic’s devastating affect on tourism. And some responses included those dreaded yachtie words “waitin’ for parts.” In fact, as it turns out, it looks like Oceania (and any other cruise ships in the neighborhood) already scooped up what may be the last fully operational big cat/snorkel operation(s) at Vanuatu doable in a single day visit. And, yes, the O ship tour has been sold out for a very long time. Don’t despair though. I’m in correspondence with a guy who owns a banana boat that could handle 6 passengers….. (sound familiar to all you private tour afficiaonados?) In any case, I reiterate: There’s no one size fits all whether it’s which (if any) O Life option to pick or whether only private tours are worthwhile, etc. Different strokes for different folks…

Who ends a cruise in Reykjavik and doesn’t spend a few land days exploring? Kind of a waste of airfare.

Though there’s an occasionally decent wine on the by-the-glass list in the booze packages, most are mediocre $10+\- per bottle retail items. The occasional exceptions like Schramsberg Mirabelle and Arboleda Carménère or a DonnaFugata blanco disappear quickly.

RCCL doesn’t always make sound decisions (e.g., selling the Azamara fleet for a mere $200 million). On the other hand, this newer floating amusement park was designed for the Asia Market. I wouldn’t put it past some Chinese outfit making an offer that could not be refused.

Sold?

Do a search here regarding your question and you’ll find that cruising with an infant is not considered by many to be a good idea. And, most importantly, Covid will not have disappeared by then.

You are still wrong and illogical. Out of courtesy, I won’t ask where you were taught about logic. Let’s just leave it at “agreeing to disagree” and move on with a focus on this Oceania “Do & Don’t” topic. What have your many O experiences taught you?

FWIW: if you plan to do a lot of cruises starting/ending in major cosmopolitan ports, know that you’ll find an intercontinental hotel in most of them (and they have an excellent “frequent guest” program).

You keep missing the point. Personally, I have no “opinion” about (nor interest in) Azamara. What I initially stated in this thread was a summary statement about what my, your (or anyone’s) search on CC (particularly regarding first hand experiences about the two lines’ food posted over many years) would find. And then I provided you with Azamara’s former CEO’s conclusion on the issue. Still not enough for you? Just do your own search here (for first hand opinions, albeit sans any academic rigor) and add to that some research on what food publications and major metro news food writers have had to say about their conclusions regarding the best in cruise line food. Or, you could just try the “new” Azamara for yourself.

This is the usual practice.

Even better… I was once at a meeting almost a decade ago attended by the then CEO of Azamara, Larry Pimentel, and I had the opportunity to ask him how HE compared the two lines - Oceania and Azamara - since they were considered by many in maritime circles to be the poster children for “premium” cruising. His answer was simple with words to the effect: “Oceania is for food. Azamara is for overnights in ports.” I’ve always been fine with that truthful answer (and glad that, in recent years, O has added so many port overnights to its longer itineraries). Most importantly, however: Since the food issue is so high on my cruise requirement list, I’ve never felt the need to prove Mr Pimentel wrong about his line’s priorities.

Re-read my post. I offered no opinion on the “new” Azamara other than (from what reviews I’ve seen plus common sense) it’s too early to know how the purchase by Sycamore in spring 2021 has affected Azamara’s previously fine reputation. Ergo, “the jury’s still out.”

Old Azamara? Perhaps yes - except for the far better O food. New Azamara (after the Sycamore Partners purchase)? The jury’s still out.

Whatever numbers you use for comparison, just remember that, when you walk out of the Celebrity cabin, you’re still on Celebrity.

If you value your good clothing, I’d think twice.

Intercontinental - excellent hotel - minutes to the port.

Yes but many family trusts will have your last name in the title.