Vertygo

I purchased 8 excursions yesterday (Sat) for my 8/2/24 Vista cruise. I clicked the Simply More box to get the discount for buying 6 or more, & paid. The receipt I received showed full/price paid, as did the O web site. Call this morning was quickly answered by a friendly agent who stated the correct discounted price was charged & their computer system was in error. Whew!! I’ve read about web issues on weekends, but not this particular type. Just beware… Linda

Thanks Hlitner & MeHeartCruising! The description doesn’t state details about return. Hopefully it’s bus return to Athinios, but I’ll have my TA check on Monday. Linda

Looking at Oceania Santorini tours 8/24. A Food & Wine Trails tour including Oua, Boutari Winery & Fira is listed from 7:30-3:30. Vista scheduled to leave port at 4PM. Has anyone done this tour? I’m concerned about late return given what I’ve read about cable car crush. Would that be an issue? My sister has bad knees so unable to do trail down. Linda

Recently booked NJV Athens Plaza for 8/24 through big box store’s travel site. 2 rooms for 2 nights including transfers from ship to hotel to airport for $800 each. Close to Acropolis.

The OP simply asked if masks were being furnished by O. No one was “panicking”. I agree people should do their own unbiased research. Also agree this discussion could go on adinfinitum unnecessarily. Please don’t fuel the fire.

Obviously coughing & sneezing may be caused by many conditions, infectious or not. The discussion centers on wearing masks to help prevent either catching or spreading Covid 19. I’ve posted a link from Annals of Internal Medicine 6/23 reviewing literature addressing this question. Their conclusion is that masking MAY help in both the hospital & community settings, but more precise studies need to be done. It appears from the tone of your post that you choose not to mask. Hopefully if you do catch Covid you at least quarantine out of respect for others. https://doi.org/10.7326/M23-1120

Definitely do water taxi! An experience on my bucket list, we had a wonderfully gracious captain who let me stand next to him as we entered from the airport. He gave us a long tour of several canals, pointing out landmarks, as we made our way to the private dock at Gritti Palace. We also took a water taxi from there to cruise terminal, but that captain didn’t speak English & wasn’t as outgoing. Still better than schlepping luggage on a vaporetto.

In addition, some companies cover pre-existing conditions if you pay a smaller premium for your deposit & the rest when you make final payment. I usually book 1-2 years ahead so nice to not tie up my money that long.

I recently booked an Alaska family cruise for 7 on Regent & had to find a new TA. One was in a large on-line company offering $1K discount per cabin, but during our discussion I learned she’d never sailed on Regent or even to Alaska. Another offered less of a discount & seemed more knowledgeable but didn’t respond to my calls or e-mail in a timely manner. I ended up booking with someone who knows Oceania & Regent well & has inside contacts such that if I have trouble booking an excursion for our group she will arrange it for me. She has responded to both calls & e-mails within 30 minutes, even on a weekend when I wasn’t expecting a response for a few days. I may get some OBC from her (gratuities are already included in Regent) but her availability & assistance are priceless.

But if disembarking in Miami, halfapair’s tips would be in $ per the post, not other foreign currency. So no beating after all.

I’ll never use Allianz again after my last experience. I had purchased a policy that included pre-existing conditions & unfortunately had to cancel the trip 2 years later due to my husband’s advanced Alzheimer’s. They initially declined payment due to a clause buried on page 28 in fine print that excluded Alzheimer’s as a “mental illness”. I was later reimbursed after I mentioned the class action lawsuit in Washington state, got the office of CA Insurance Commissioner involved, & they reread the physician’s letter stating my husband had a neurological condition that wouldn’t allow him to travel.

I just purchased a policy from Zurich through CostcoTravel for a price 75% less than Regent. You don’t need to have booked the cruise or any part of it through them, but price drops even more if you do book a hotel stay or car rental.

Thanks for posting DeepFreeze63! I’ve just booked a family cruise to Alaska for my “special” birthday in 2025, including my GD & GS who will be 15 & 17 at the time. I realize there are more kids on Alaska summer cruises, but was a bit worried about them fitting in or getting bored, so nice to hear your experiences.

Shootingstar07, glad to know you were well taken care of & are hopefully doing better now. Highlights the fact that Covid can still be debilitating for some. Were you given Paxlovid?

Everyone needs to assess their own risk & take any precautions they feel necessary. For many, no precautions are taken & they’re comfortable with that. Up to them. Hopefully, anyone feeling ill will test & quarantine as indicated, but obviously many don’t. Covid is not going away. Less risky now due to mutations & available treatments, but still causing long term results in some, including the longest term result-death.

Here’s the standard cancellation rate chart, inaugural season or not. You were either very lucky or they really want your business. Hope you have that $100 in writing, but most of all hope you don’t need to cancel & have a wonderful cruise. DAYS PRIOR TO VACATION DATE CANCELLATION AMOUNT PER PERSON CATEGORY RS MS-H Deposit Date-121 25% of fare $100* 120-91 50% of fare 15% of fare 90-61 75% of fare 50% of fare 60-31 100% of fare 75% of fare 30-0 100% of fare 100% of fare

Really appreciate this info. I spoke with CoverMore this morning about a 7 person family cruise. Regent’s cost is $5848, Costco $2759, or $2123 if ANY part of the trip is booked through them. So, even though my cruise is booked through an outside TA, I can book one of the hotels through Costco & get the lower price. Another interesting wrinkle is that the other adults in my group need to be Costco members to get full coverage. If not, I can purchase a single policy for the same price & my family members will be covered for cancellation & medical, but not trip delay or luggage loss.

Thanks for the update Dolebludger! Wonderful to know they all enjoyed the cruise since I just booked same in 2 years for my family. (It’ll take me that long to save the $ I’m paying for the 7 of us🤣). I’ve been a little worried my 17 & 15 year old grandkids would get bored, so appreciate knowing your granddaughter had a great time.

Thanks for the update! Great to know they’re all having a wonderful time. Has your granddaughter mentioned if she’s met other kids on board? Has she tried any of the teen programs?

I’d love to know what your granddaughter thinks of the cruise! I’m planning a family trip in 2025, including 15 & 17 year old grandkids. I want the focus on Alaska rather than a huge ship experience. Did they do the train from Anchorage? If so, what did they think? TIA

I’m in a similar “boat” as GMIAC as my prior TA recently retired, so scouting around. Planning 2025 family Alaska cruise with 3 cabins, new to Regent. Also received a $1K per cabin discount offer as a new Regent passenger, but TA sounded new to the industry & in questioning further, admitted she’s never cruised Regent, much less even been to Alaska. As much as I love to save $, insider knowledge is important to me for this trip & I’ll find someone else. I did contact Regent this morning-phone answered quickly by Jorge who answered my questions & put me in line when booking opens for the 3 cabins I’d like so that gives me time to search for a knowledgeable TA.

I know which TA I would book with!!

Vielen dank!

Thanks all for your replies. My sister later told me they were so shocked that someone would do this they didn’t report the thief after their confrontation. I hope I would have told him to return it or I would report him, then follow-up as needed. Love the thought of him getting picked up at the airport as “more ports” mentioned.

My sister & her husband were on Nautica Tokyo to Singapore, visiting a temple on an Oceania excursion. My brother-in-law saw a guy in their group take a gold ball (larger than a golf ball) & place it in his bag. As they headed back to the bus he told the guy he should return what he’d taken. The thief responded “oh yeah?” & got on the bus. They decided not to report the jerk to the tour guide & make a scene, so the ugly American got away with the theft. He was wearing an Oceania ball cap with gold lettering, so likely cruises often. What would you have done in their situation?