Tranquility Base

We were there last year. We had planned to walk along the seafront to the steps up towards Cap Ferrat. However we found that way was at that time inaccessible due to works. We were wandering up towards the road when a kind local offered us a lift. Is the seafront walk towards Cap Ferrat available now ? We also had a pleasant day there, although it was very windy on the Eastern side of Cap Ferrat.

4 days ago Princess announced a re-route of the June 2025 World Cruise to proceed via Cape Town.

In '25 or '26 the Grand, Royal & Discovery are doing cruises which begin or end in Honolulu. If you live in the U.S. I agree with LACruiser to head East to avoid the long haul flight home. Otherwise I personally prefer West for the 25 hr days as Arizona Wildcat mentioned.

Coral leaves this month on the World Cruise. I have no doubt the Captain will do a couple of Q & A presentations in the theatre. You could ask on their roll call if someone would ask the question and report back.

It will be interesting to hear about what they plan to use regarding power plants. Next decade we will see an increasing number of ports / regions in the world placing restrictions on both cruise ship size and emissions.

Possible port restrictions ? 'R' ships are preferred by some because of port availability over the 'O' & 'A'; eg: Saigon (Nah Rong), Bangkok (Klong Toey). What ports / cruising areas are the current larger ships able to use now, but are close to their size limit ??? Just interested in what future port selection decisions may look like once the 'R' leave the fleet.

According to the internet..... "Verige Strait. Name comes from old slavonic word veriga, "chain". The legend says, in 1381, defenders of the Bay held a massive chain here to prevent the passage of Venetian ships to Kotor."

I'll actually support your initial preference for private tours on occassion where the attraction is distant. EG: Petra. Been 3 times; the 2nd & 3rd time on private tours. I headed straight out on my own to walk a different trail as soon as we arrived at the site on the 2nd/3rd visit. I was confident the tour company could arrange alternative transport if the bus broke down on the way back. Sail away was not till 10pm. EG: Luxor. Private tour with an overnight . Once again I had confidence in alternative transport arrangements. The smartest decision we made was to do this tour with just the 2 of us. It was 40 degrees, no need to worry about anyone else's stamina. Of course we had cash and multiple credit cards with us for contingencies. We were back onboard about 5 hours before sailaway.

This I agree with. We often cruise for 30 - 70 days at a time, occasionally longer. Sometimes multiple times a year. We have reached the stage where we utilise a combination of: Ship's tours, Joining private tours, Organising private tours for ourselves or perhaps one other couple maximum, Simply wandering DIY. This combination is desirable, ...... for us. It allows us to manage the large number of ports we are visiting, plus the amount of time and effort we wish to spent at home in the planning stage. We have also found, once onboard with a large number of ports in a row, we have more flexibility with being able to take an easy day if desired, instead of being committed to a lengthy tour somewhere.

Last year we had 4 overnights in Istanbul on 3 back to back cruises on Riviera. We did one ship's tour. We had approx 25 people on our small bus. It was a full day tour. Our guide was absolutely brilliant. This tour was paid for using non refundable SBC. Excellent value.....for us.

Last year on Riviera at Valletta we were docked on the other side of the harbour (Boilers Wharf) due to the main dock being occupied. DIY passengers had to take a ferry across to town. Ship's tours were picked up ship side, but dropped off at the town dock and had to take a ferry back across to the ship. This was neither an overnight nor an embarkation port however.

This is why when I looked at the 2025 Riviera cruises I just said....nope not for me. China, Japan and South Korea in the first week of February....brrr.

Do you think that passengers who are affected by these SM excursion credit problems should quietly accept these as part of their contribution to the corporate debt reduction ? Or, do you think complaints are warranted in the hope that this policy is changed in order to make the experience better for the passenger ?

I booked the segment which follows yours. Those two segments were a different pricing structure due to the reroute you mentioned. I had been following closely what would happen with those itineraries. I booked the day after it was released in December 2023. The price was a bargain, but has now skyrocketed. I see it however as a different pricing history than what would be usual.

Is this happening during the dry dock due next month ?

Non refundable O Life SBC.....$400, Oceania clothes in my wardrobe......many, Not having to be taken shopping for shirts, polos, jerseys on my return home.......priceless.

However, when booking from certain countries (ie: Australia) O Life was mandatory . IE: No there was not a 'cruise only' option. If one didn't want the alcohol or tours option, the SBC was the only default option left.

So that's the difference to what Vallesan is posting. In some booking locations eg U.K. and Australia, I believe gratuities are included in the initial base fare irrespective of whether the passenger is new to Oceania or silver.

If someone books in North America, whether they be new to Oceania or silver, are gratuities included in the base fare initially paid ?

Never let a crisis go to waste.

That is also my understanding. Once the value of the SM SBC has been used up on the first few excursions, any subsequent no fault cancellation will go back to other forms of payments. IE: Normal non refundable SBC or normal refundable SBC. Had just wanted to clarify whether you received a refund on some SM SBC. From your answer it appears no, it was just because you exceeded the SM SBC by booking further excursions with other types of SBC or card. Thanks.

What form of payment was used when the excursion was originally booked ?

Also, because many people do B2B cruises, if any SM credits are unable to to used through no fault of the passenger, those credits should be allowed to be carried over to the next cruise.

Apart from Denali, which Princess Lodges did you visit ?

The only 'O' size ship we have sailed on is Riviera post refurbishment. We are booked on Marina in a B category cabin, and are aware of the plan not to refurbish these bathrooms. On the website schematic it appears there is currently a shower separate from the bathtub. Is that correct ? Thanks.