Vallesan

Interesting, thank you! I have looked at Vista but must admit to being slightly put off by the ‘chair hogging’ and the ‘thin walls’. Maybe worth staying with the older ships? Seabourn is fast becoming my line of choice but only at the right price!

LOL! Just sad that here in the UK our pricing is so much higher than in the US. I wonder how much the USA ‘ complainers’, who object to the new SimplyMore, would feel about the prices we have to pay!

Sounds wonderful!

I agree! Why would anybody want to eat in a noisy place unless it was a ‘Macdonalds’ !

I have sailed Oceania predominantly but have also sailed Silversea and Seabourn. I think I prefer their smaller ships but the price is sometimes too high. I guess, for me, decisions will be made at ‘sale’ times. I think Seabourn will be my preferred line and may just suit you too,

Obviously it isn’t exclusive to Oceania, as you and I know, but people get bogged down with minutia. All cruise lines are cancelling and re-routing at the moment. Cruise lines aren’t cancelling for the ‘fun of it’ or to ‘annoy passengers’, it’s their livelihood. Passenger and crew safety is of the upmost importance. Profitability is also a huge consideration for them. So, as passengers, maybe we all have to be a little more tolerant, a little ‘less precious’ and more understanding of the worldwide situation.

I always felt that the lunch time pizza in the Terrace was a bit like an ‘add on’ just in case anybody wanted it. Definitely not a ‘proper’ pizza!

Correct!

I have to agree with you. In the past I would always go to Oceania first but now I go to Seabourn! The pricing generally seems to be less clear than it was a few years ago. Silversea and Seabourn were always more expensive on a roughly like for like itinerary even when you took into account the extra benefits on each, but that doesn’t seem to be the case any longer. I just think it’s more work, to work out what is best for ‘YOU’ now!

Let me say at the start I have loved my cruises with both Seabourn and Oceania, but for different reasons. I’m not sure you are comparing like with like. The R ships are over twenty years old now whereas the Seabourn expedition ships are quite new. In my opinion, and it is just mine, Seabourn food doesn’t match Oceania’s. Seabourn may have more items on the menu but it has fewer venues overall. And finally …. no lines … as somebody else has mentioned there are far fewer passengers, maybe 200 on the expedition ships, compared to 680 on the R ships. In saying all that, the service on Seabourn is second to none, they just seem to be a notch above all the other lines I’ve sailed on, even the other luxury lines. Would I pay more for Seabourn? Yes, within reason. But then everybody puts there own price and definition on ‘luxury’!

We don’t use ours and just leave them where they are with the labels still on. Hopefully they will realise they are unused and just use again. However, my guess is they can’t do that for ‘hygiene’ reasons!

Maybe the location of the Vista has something to do with the chair hogging. I’m sure this wouldn’t happen on a cold weather cruise!

I’ve been sailing with Oceania since 2015 and it seems newish to me. Maybe it was introduced later in the UK. Anyway, you’re absolutely right! I think I just hadn’t realised that I had already had a BOB bonus. When I originally booked the cruise I just paid a cash deposit then a while later I realised I had a FCC so Oceania refunded my deposit and used the FCC as the deposit. It was over 12 months ago and my memory isn’t that good! At the end of the day it will be what it will be!

Oceania introduced a new scheme not so long ago “Pre-Cruise Savings Programme” where you can book a new cruise within the 30 days prior to you next sailing. This gives you the same benefits as if you were booking on board. At the moment the program offers this in the UK. However, just one word of caution. The OBC could be applied to either to the current cruise or the upcoming cruise that you are booking. I used a Future Cruise Certificate, £400 which acts as the deposit on the cruise you use the certificate to purchase, to purchase my January cruise. I asked for the OBC from this scheme to be applied to my January cruise but am being told that because I used a FCC, which already has an OBC attached to it, I can’t combine it with another. I’m rather annoyed. I’m not asking for anything more or a discount just to used the OBC on my ‘current’ cruise. Anyway, my TA is disputing this with Oceania so we will see. I guess my word of caution is more to do with the FCC’s. They seem to give you the same benefits as booking a cruise on board but in effect they aren’t combinable with any other offers. Not sure I would purchase one again.

Interesting! Sure that if it’s possible to sail without SimplyMore somebody will post the details pretty quickly!!

Could be a plan!

I’ve never travelled Celebrity. Do that have lots of ‘chair hogs’?

I’m sure if these events had been cancelled these pages would have been red hot over the last few days!

It’s really sad to think that so many passengers are being so inconsiderate. I’ve never experienced this in the past. Not to ‘blame’ anybody in particular but Oceania does seem to be attracting a lot of cruisers who are ‘jumping’ from other larger ships and maybe this is the norm for them I find it odd that Oceania won’t move ‘personal possessions’ from beds that have not been occupied for ‘hours’. Surely they must realise that this means some people can ‘commandeer’ a bed but never use it all day whilst other, ‘fare paying’ passengers, are left to fume because they can’t get a bed, when there are obviously beds that could be used. Possibly the only way to remedy this situation is that EVERYONE who can’t get a bed to go and complain to the hotel director. Maybe, if they have constant complaints, they will realise how upsetting it is for the other ‘fare paying’ passengers and maybe do something about it. Another idea maybe for Oceania not to allow any books, sunglasses or other ‘bed saving’ items be put on a bed before 9am by which time those going on morning trips will have gone without being able to save a bed!

What a shame! They have gone to the trouble of adding an ‘extra’ on the new ship but just maybe didn’t think it through thoroughly. Seabourn have ‘nightlights’ in the hallway but they only switch on as you pass by and switch off as you get back into bed.

Thank you so much! That’s a really good idea and far better to speak ‘face to face’ with the Concierge than to send an email to ‘who knows who’ in an office. We have two ‘private car half day’ tours arranged under SimplyMore for our upcoming cruise. We have to contract the Concierge to arrange the itinerary so it will be a perfect time to bring up the possibility of ‘private car’ tours for our May cruise. Again thank you I wouldn’t have thought of that.

Thank you. I think my question was a bit ‘woolly’. I agree that you either use it or lose it. I’m not looking for a refund or to spend the allowance elsewhere. I think what I was really saying was that I ‘can’t’ use the allowance for trips because I can’t access a coach. So it would be useful if Oceania could provide one or two ‘private car’ choices on each cruise, like they have done on our upcoming cruise at the end of the month.

Thank you! Indeed I did post on that thread but I’d forgotten! Actually I notice that I was going to write to Oceania to see if they could provide ‘private cars’ in at least some ports so I must do that now.

Thank you but I can’t see it!

Thank you. Sorry I can’t find the thread could you possibly bring it to the top? Thank you.