Harters

Maybe you are memorable. In a nice way, of course.😀 We were on Nautica last autumn. As I recall, had to give our cabin number each time in the restaurant. Not that's a thing for me at all - I don't expect restaurant staff on land or at sea to know who I am. By the by, did you ask for the same table/servers, or was it just a co-incidence? Reason for asking is that, over three cruises, table allocation seems to have been entirely random. Which, again, is absolutely fine so long as we get a two-top, I don't care which part of the room it's in

And a similar thread, just two down the list from this one: https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/3023815-should-i-use-usa-ta/#comment-67892672

Searching those forums will provide lots of information. It will also be worth your Googling for "port guides" for each place. You mention London as your starting point, although your actual port will be somewhere else, possibly Southampton. Are you looking for ideas in the port town or actually London? How long are you planning to stay there before your cruise.? Suggestions, in particular, for a large city like London will much depend on your particular interests.

Marc - I've read the Palma de Mallorca one, as it's the place best known to me (I have family members who originate from Soller). And, yes, I think folk visiting on a port day will find it useful mentioning, as it does, many of the city's main sights.

Exactly my point about O seemingly not knowing its own mind about its strategy. They introduced SM and, as a result, sales have been strong as you suggest. So, having had a marketing success, it has always seemed odd that they choose to withdraw SM, rather than simply increasing prices

Terry - several contributors, including me, have said their cruise is now listed cheaper. If someone has no interest in the booze or ships excursions, then rebooking may make sense - Oceania has listened to those points being made which is why we don't have the benefits of SM any more.

I agree. I think we've now generally concluded that, on a like for like basis, O has introduced a fairly significant price increase under the cover of reworking their offer. Those of us who have booked cruises because of the benefits of SM will obviously stick with our booking, whilst those who do not appreciate the SM benefits may find it beneficial to cancel and rebook. Seeing as O seems not to have known its own mind over its future marketing direction, I won't be at all surprised if we're not having a similar discussion in 18 months time when it realises that the new customers it attracted with SM are no longer attracted to O. But, in the meantime, we've already started looking more closely at Regent & Viking as being a possible better fit for for us.

Mrs Harters will be unhappy.

I read JanDom post as indicating the listed price had reduced - but without the Simply More benefits. Your extra cost if you add those back in seems to be similar to what it would be costing me in the UK

Google Maps says its 21 minutes. I didnt have a stopwatch on it when we did the journey last year but it was about that. We also had a flight about 13.00. Meant we had longer hanging about the airport than the actual flight home.

Maybe the King is hosting an "event" which, for security reasons, means the estate has to be closed to the public.

Our next cruise, booked under SM, already included gratuities, as I am a European customer. For an A2, it was priced at £5329. Under Simply Less, it is now priced at £5009, obviously without excursion credit or the included booze. On a like for like basis, buying in the credit and drinks package that would be an effective price increase of about £550 - about 10%. I think that we will now look more closely at competitor cruise lines to assess value for money. And reflect on whether we should cut back on future cruises, perhaps completely. It's getting to be a very expensive holiday which is increasingly questionable whether that's how we want to spend our limited resources.

I've also used parking4cruises.com and plan to do so again (unless we decide on pre-cruise hotel which offers a "park and cruise" offer). What I liked about the company was that, literally, their check in and collection point was literally across the road from the ship. And very reasonably priced, IMO. FWIW, I asked on this thread about Hampshire hotels away from the city centre. I've not yet looked at them too closely but I have spotted a couple do a "park and cruise" deal. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/3018350-looking-for-a-hampshire-hotel-for-a-nights-stay-pre-cruise-from-southampton/#comment-67640365

All of the boat tours on Tenerife operate from the south of the island, which is about an hours drive away. Taxi fare will be about €100 each way. There is the odd company which includes a pick-from the north. Google found this one which picks up from hotels in Puerto de la Cruz (about 30 minutes away). It's suitability may depend on which day of the week you're in port and for how long. https://adventurestenerife.com/en/actividad/water-activities/whale-watching/boat-trip-whale-watching-costa-adeje-3h-copy-copy/

Do you mean in relation to an already booked cruise? If so, then the info from the O rep is just not accurate. If related to cruises yet to be booked, then it is accurate and has been discussed at length on this thread

Taken from O's website: "Recommended on board clothing is resort or country club casual. For evening dining, elegant casual resort wear is suggested. We request that casual jeans, shorts, t-shirts, baseball caps, sandals, or tennis shoes not be worn in the restaurants after 6 PM. Baseball caps may be worn in the Terrace Café after 6 PM." And, yes, I know this might prompt another discussion about what are "casual jeans" as opposed to other sorts of jeans. But hopefully it won't

Here's the .com link if that's better for you than the co.uk link https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g1-i10703-Cruises.html

You should start to get reasonable weather once you're off the coast of Spain but probably not really hot until you get to the Canaries. Stick with your jeans and short sleeves - but add in a lightish jacket.

Catherine - we had a similar Covid experience, at a time when the cruise line was requiring a "Covid free" test result. Also three days before boarding. Have to say, Staysure was fine, paying out in a couple of weeks or so.

Here you go https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowForum-g1-i10703-Cruises.html

O's evening dress code is "country club casual" which may be meaningful to folk from countries that have country clubs but was no help to the likes of me who has no idea what such a club is. Check out their website - it mentions things like no casual jeans in the restaurants but you should get an idea. I'm fine in chinos and polo shirt and my companion if life dresses in a female equivalent.

By the by, I remember reading on a food forum I play on, that the "Dover sole" usually served in America is actually a Pacific flounder, rather than the Dover sole, caught off Northern European waters (like near the town of Dover) which is an actual sole. I don't have a good enough palate to know which Oceania serves

Based on our Vista cruise, earlier in the year: POLO - Pork belly and Waldorf salad to start. New York strip and fillet to follow - both OK. Cooked accurately as requested . Not as much flavour as we're used to, but then it is American beef, so to be expected. An OK dinner, but nothing to rave over, which has been our similar experience on two previous cruises TOSCANA - the only speciality to pass our "holiday restaurant" test - if it was close to home, would we become regulars. The bread basket is the best on the ship. I enjoyed the stuffed artichokes, gnocchi in pesto, veal escalope in marsala sauce and the Toscana quartet. My companion in life enjoyed the roast vegetable salad, lobster risotto , Dover sole and the berry tiramisu (that not being an improvement on a traditional tiramisu). A very nice meal, as previous occasions, but there's no single "must have" dish for future visits. As ever, these were just the dishes we fancied eating on the day. On another day, we might well have ordered something else, which is why its difficult to respond to the sort of question posed in the OP. It's no help whatsoever me recommending the pork belly, if the OP is Muslim or Jewish. Or simply doesnt enjoy fish. My only real recommendation to the OP is ignore what we're all saying and just order what you want to eat when you sit down for dinner. We also very much enjoyed eating in Ember, which is only on Vista. Which is more than can be said for Red Ginger. We've eaten in Red Ginger on two different ships and both times it was very underwhelming, with little of the vibrancy you expect from East Asian food. We've decided not to book there on the next cruise - we'll enjoy a meal in the GDR more.

Although CC has a ban on naming agencies on the forum, its parent company, Tripadvisor, has no such qualms. Check out TA's cruise forum. Actually CC has no qualms about naming them itself. I originally got the name of the TA I use here in the UK, from an article on the main CC website which listed most British cruise specialists. I don't know if it has similar list for American agencies, as I've never looked for it.

Good suggestion . We had a short break up there in 2022. Spent three days exploring much of the length of the Wall. Fascinating sense of history in the various forts. There's also the best preserved Roman bathhouse at one of them.