LesSails80435

My wife and I boarded Marina 1-Dec-2021 in Miami. We disembarked in Montevideo 7-Jan-2022, not Buenos Aires as scheduled. Buenos Aires would not let anyone enter via sea, but air was ok-go figure. We had NO Covid cases the entire cruise crew or guests. She originally was sailing crew only to Barbados.  Marine Traffic tonight show her now arriving Miami 21-Jan. We’ll do a more complete post when time permits. Feel free to compare our experience with those on Viking Jupiter. We were safer onboard Marina than in Colorado. 

What is the situation with the self-service laundries? Are they open, with or without restrictions? Does the laundry service included with the suites still take 2 days? We hope to embark Marina Dec. 1 for 38 days to Buenos Aires, and it would help us pack if the laundry services were back to normal.

My wife & I typically book the Oceania Suite in O Class ships and Owner's Suite in R Class ships. There's one piece missing from this discussion and that is Oceania's Beverage Packages, House Select (wine & beer w/lunch & dinner) & Prestige Select Unlimited premium spirits, Champagne, wine and beer wherever and whenever you wish  
from $59.95 per guest, per day

We often entertain other guests and enrichment lecturers in our suite. We've never had any questions about ordering a specific wine varietal or drink for us or our guests when we have the Prestige Select. The other piece of this is in some ports and waters there is a significant 'tax' added to drinks and/or alcohol can't be served unless you are on one of the liquor packages.

I never mentioned anything about '100% "safe." ' I'm a former USAF pilot w/over 100 missions in SEA. I fully understand "danger"  & risks. The point I'm trying to make is if the cruise lines want to reassure us they've taken all the necessary precautions then they haven't if they haven't considered how we get To/From their ship. For many cruisers the airfare is included and unless you pay for Air Deviations you're likely to have multiple stops enroute. Yes, I can research many airlines, but it gets very murky when you try to research airports & heaven forbid if you miss a connection anywhere and spend a night or two in an unfamiliar city.

My wife and I have sailed more than 20 ocean and 3 European river cruises. We have had 3 cruises cancelled because of COVID, yet have 4 cruises booked for 2021 & 2022. We've been reading with great interest, the industry's safety protocols and efforts to sail again. With all I've read, we'd feel very safe when onboard and with the highly controlled excursions.

My biggest concern is the potential danger in flying to the embarkation port (and possible overnight before boarding) transfer to/from the ship and the return home. How concerned should we be about the safety protocols put in place by the airlines (booked by us, travel agents or cruise lines), the airports and others, where we have to transfer? I've read nothing about what the cruise lines are doing in regards to this. I believe this needs to be part of this overall discussion as to how we safely return to sea.

On 12/13/2019 at 3:54 PM, azam71209 said:

I would check on whether there is an issue about getting off the ship after initial boarding. On a cruise that started in Vancouver, we boarded early and I thought we could get off the ship and walk around Canada Place but they would not let us get off.

 

Never had that happen before and it was long before final boarding.

 

Mary

This is also true in Sydney--not allowed to disembark after boarding. Best to confirm with O.

We have found that the length of the cruise isn't really relevant; as we've increased from 14 to 19 to 26 to 28 to 35 days, we always find ourselves both sorry it's coming to and end and also feeling ready to get home a few days ahead of embarkation--no matter how long the cruise. Thank goodness for BillPay!

Highly recommend Overlord. Their guides are excellent, especially in putting a personal touch on what you see and the countryside you can tromp through. They will customize even the 6-9 pax van tours if all agree. For example, we requested a visit to the German Cemetery La Combe, not a normal stop, and found it a fascinating contrast to the British and American cemeteries. We did two of their day tours, with a day in between on our own for Bayeux tapestry and a lovely drive to Honfleur and Deauville. Check out the variety of options they offer to see what appeals to you. You'll get around to a lot more territory on a private tour than with the ship's excursions.

Thanks for this helpful perspective. We're not huge spa users, but with a 46-day voyage, we'll certainly need some services. Let's hope Mandara is an upgrade, or at least more reasonably priced.

This will be (Rio to Miami) our 16th, 17th, and 18th O cruises. Hope you love it as much as we do.

While attempting to find out if a specific manicure service would be offered on Marina next winter, I was referred to Canyon Ranch directly. The phone was answered as Canyon Ranch for Regent and Oceania, and the person who answered reported that their contract with both Oceania and Regent would be terminating the end of this year, as NCL was installing their own spa services (Mandara?) onboard. I tried to confirm with Oceania, and the rep said this was the first she'd heard. The Canyon Ranch rep said they had not been told yet how (where) the turnover would occur (we're in Puerto Chacabuco, Chile on Jan 1--hard to believe that would be practical). I couldn't find anyone at NCL with an answer.

Has anyone else learned of this? Does anyone have experience with Mandara? Canyon Ranch rep said that when bookings open for our cruise Oct 7 (Dec 7 departure from Rio), they would know more about schedule.

We sailed Riviera Athens to Miami starting last Oct. 24, not quite November; while some days were brisk, others (lucky for us Santorini) were perfectly lovely and mid-70s. You will find the lack of crowds very nice, but the seas likely a little rougher; we missed Rhodes altogether--partly a medical emergency and also rough weather. One caution: we did find that more than a few shops were closed for the season in some locations, if that's important to you. But I'm grateful we weren't there mid-summer, as we heard horror stories about the stifling heat they had last year.

3 hours ago, StanandJim said:

Completely untrue.

Yes, the furniture is secured whilst underway, and the upholstered pieces have their cushions removed when the deck in unoccupied, but we have used a Vista balcony many many times while underway.   

 

Actually, when the wind is blowing from the back of the ship towards the bow,  even when the ship is sailing at a good clip, it is surreally perfect up there.  

 

And oh my word, the views, the views, the views!

 

Thank you very much for correcting what we were told. While we've been a fan of the Oceania suites on O class, you've encouraged us to try a Vista; the interior is lovely.

36 minutes ago, Mura said:

It does -- or did.  It's located behind the bedroom.  From the outset I heard rumors (?) that the exercise room was going to be removed, but the last time we were in one (which is a while ago now), it was still there.

 

Mura

We didn't stay in a Vista on Riviera last November, but toured one on turnover day, and it indeed had a dark exercise room (instead of a media room in the Oceania suites). Loved the interior space, but with all the (large) balcony facing forward, it cannot be used while underway, we've been told; way too much headwind; all furniture has to be strapped down.

On 2/24/2019 at 1:53 AM, Paulchili said:

UDSpud - Viking Ocean is off to a very bad start for me.

Tonight at midnight was the time for me to book my specialty reservations. There are 2 specialty restaurants and being in PV-2 PH category we get 2 in each at T-70 (some categories picked earlier but several others will pick later - I pity them). 

I was able to book one of the 2 specialties without much problems but the second one had NO reservations for 2 at 6, 6:30 or 7 PM on ANY of the 22 days of the cruise. We would not mind sharing a table but the only choices are table for 2 or "invite". To invite you need a name and booking number of the other party and I don't know anyone on that cruise.  What about those people in my category from the East Coast that did not stay up till 3 AM to get their first shot at booking - they will surely be surprised in the morning.

This is a terrible start in my book as food on a cruise is a priority for me.

Let's see what I can do on the phone in AM.

Glad to see you found a workaround to restaurant reservations.

But I offer a word of caution, based on our 2015 4-week cruise on Viking Sea. Every single restaurant reservation made online was messed up when we boarded (and we were traveling with two other couples, so it was a bigger problem)--either time, date, number of people, or restaurant were different from our online confirmation.

In addition, online booking for excursions was also messed up. Not only was the time of excursions once confirmed often arbitrarily changed (again, remember that we were six people hoping to stay together), but they actually moved an included excursion on one day to right on top of a paid excursion. And, at least at that time, you didn't get an excursion ticket or an indication of tour time until after dinner the night before, so any concerns did not have time to be addressed. It took a major confrontation to get a refund for the paid excursion.

In retrospect, we should have sat down with the Excursion Desk upon boarding, and reviewed every single reservation; I suggest you do that for both excursions and restaurant reservations.

I love that O provides excursion tickets on boarding; any time changes are slight, and are communicated in as timely a manner as possible. I am hoping VO has gotten those problems worked out, but at the time staff was rude and difficult to work with; unlike O, front-line staff were not empowered to fix problems.

Love the VO ships (we had an Explorer suite--special occasion cruise); we were very unhappy with staff, communication, restaurant table spacing, etc., and found the food to be disappointing.

7 hours ago, UDSpud said:

Something you can do that is probably more important than "extra" tipping.

 

Add their name and specifics as to what the employee did that was special for you (and special as you observed as special for others) to both the mid-cruise and end of cruise comments.  This serves the purpose of possibly getting that employee the following:

1) a raise in pay

2) a promotion

3) a better chance at future contracts.

 

Agree that kudos on the comment cards are very much appreciated; we always try to single out those who make a difference. We also tip 'extra' in cash at the end to Cabin Attendants, Butler, usually Barista (DH is a daily visitor), the occasional waiter. We don't worry too much about which currency; there are so many nationalities aboard, and these crew members are savvy about trading/using currencies.

Thanks very much. Is there any difference in the size of the aft OS deck between Decks 6, 7, and 8?

We have booked a 'combo cruise' Athens-Athens-Dubai for 2020 aboard Nautica. (Maybe someone could explain to me why this isn't a back-to-back?) At any rate, the OS we would have preferred (Deck 7) wasn't available for both legs, so we opted for Deck 8 (8067) so we wouldn't have to change. Now DH is worried about noise from tables and chairs and cleaning on the Terrace (right above). (When we checked on availability of Deck 7 on one leg, Oceania told our TA that they would have to cancel and rebook as two cruises, thus losing some $2500 of discount that the 'combo' fare provided.--huh?) Anyway, I'm sure some time ago there must have been a thread on this suite location, but I can't find it.

Can someone who has been on any R class and in 8067 or 8064 comment on any annoyance in this location? I know it can be an issue on the Oceania Suites aft on Deck 11, under the Terrace.

By the way, we booked this prior to having to move from one Oceania Suite on Riviera to the one next door (we added one leg late), and the housekeeping staff and butler took care of moving everything--on hangars and all. It wasn't the hassle we were anticipating.

5 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

looks like  a wheel or foot should have been there 

how did the case stand up ??

Briggs & Riley are nearly bulletproof. Since the lining had not been pierced, there was no inside damage, and we shipped it home from Miami via LuggageFree as it was. Except for the cosmetics, it's still very serviceable. We thought one zipper area might have been separated/stuck, but the self-repairing claims from B&R proved true--with a little work, it all came back together. LuggageFree did say that if the zipper proved to be permanently damaged, we should buy straps in Athens for the way home, and they would reimburse us, as well as pay for repairs.

13 hours ago, cbb said:

On ATW16 we were allowed to leave the ship in Sydney on an overnight but on Insignia last December when we boarded at Sydney for the beginning of the cruise we were warmed that once we boarded we would not be allowed to leave the ship again.

We had the same experience on Regatta in Sydney--once aboard, you couldn't get off again; in other ports on back-to-backs (Barcelona, Venice) we could stay on or get off. No new key was needed, and unused shipboard credit carried over (except for TA credit, we were told). The musters are every 14 days no matter how long the cruise--maritime rules, I guess.

11 hours ago, ORV said:

Looks like where some hardware was ripped off. 

 

The other thing that you could have done(maybe you did) is return it to Briggs & Riley and they would have repaired it or replaced it. No questions asked. Best warranty in the luggage business. No receipt required. Lifetime. 

11 hours ago, ORV said:

Looks like where some hardware was ripped off. 

 

The other thing that you could have done(maybe you did) is return it to Briggs & Riley and they would have repaired it or replaced it. No questions asked. Best warranty in the luggage business. No receipt required. Lifetime. 

There was no hardware there--looked like a big hook had grabbed it. You are right about Briggs & Riley--we have had two experiences sending bags back for repair or replacement--they are the best!

On 1/26/2019 at 1:46 PM, cbb said:

 Does anyone have any positive or negative experience with Luggage Free or Luggage Forward?  We want to send our luggage to our European port while we travel independently elsewhere for a week pre-boarding.  (leaning towards Luggage Free because we used them ATW and liked them)

We have very successfully used Luggage Free to/from Colorado, Sydney, Stockholm, Athens, London, New York, Miami, and others. They handle all customs paperwork, have picked up at the specified time and often delivered home earlier than expected. Only damage incurred was on our recent trip to pick up Riviera in Athens--our large wardrobe had two half-inch grappling-hook-type holes in one corner; the holes didn't go through the lining, so nothing inside was damaged, but it looked awful. Once they saw the photo, Luggage Free agreed to reimburse us the full cost of a new Briggs & Riley bag, no questions asked. Luggage has either been at our stateroom door when we boarded, or delivered very soon after. And you can just drop the bag with the agent just beyond customs at any disembarkation port.

Only slight concern was disembarking Viking Sea in Stockholm, where the Viking people had no clue what to do; they just asked us to leave it in a tent for their port agent to deal with. We were worried, but it did make it home.

We have used Luggage Free (similar to Luggage Forward) on 5 or 6 cruises to send one large bag directly to the ship and then home on debarkation, both domestically (New York and Miami) and internationally (Europe and Australia). Every time the bag was at our suite upon embarkation and upon disembarking the rep was there to take it immediately upon exiting customs, with one exception. The only time there was no rep was leaving a Viking Oceans Cruise, where the cruise line clearly had no experience with this service. They must have figured it out, as the bag arrived home right on schedule from Stockholm. All Oceania cruises were flawless. Wonderful to have only small carryons for that pre-cruise day or three. Love the service.

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Hi

Is it possible to do wine by corkage and pay for other drinks for the first couple of days and then sign up for the $40 a day package just for the rest of the trip?

Thanks

Yes. It's no problem to bring wines (or liquor) on board upon embarkation or at stops. They simply ask you not to consume in public places, although you can pay a wine corkage fee ($25?) for drinking your own wine at dinner. If you're lucky enough to have a butler, he will take care of getting wine chilled, serving it in your suite, or almost anything you ask.

On the Aussie circumnavigation we are currently on, we took the basic liquor package as our OLife amenity (wine by-the-glass and beer at meals only), then upgraded to Premium package (any liquor, anytime, anywhere liquor is being served--gratuity included, excluding only really high-priced cognacs or wine bottles from the cellar) for the last 16 days of a 34-day cruise--no problem. What's different on cruises since last year is that if you have either liquor package, you get a 15% discount on bottled wine (which almost covers the gratuity).

And upon boarding we were offered a special sale ("Holiday Sale") of about 35-40 good wines that we could purchase in any quantity at a 25% discount, and they would cellar for us. Still had to pay the gratuity, but there were some really nice wines of which they didn't have enough left to leave on the restaurant wine list. Then there was another group at I think 15% off if you bought three or more of the same wine.

So they are tinkering with the wine program; I think there were 5 different wine tastings on this cruise. The sommeliers are good at explaining exactly what the options are; Natasha was available in the Terrace Cafe with information all afternoon on embarkation day.

Thanks for your review of the entertainment. Sounds OK for us, since there is a variety of music.

So what time is “last call” at the bar(s) and lounge(s).?

Can't help there; we're rarely there at the end! It varies from night to night, although Martinis and Horizons are always open following the shows--which usually end at 10:15-10:30. Sometimes Martinis is open late (past midnight) if the casino has players; think Horizons depends on customers. All bar venues state "Till Closing."