Woofa

The mattresses are still listed for sale when you go their website. Do you think it could be these are so new and not yet broken in?

@PhD-iva We have only taken one cruise and it was on Riviera earlier this year. However, I spent a lot of time researching and continue to read multiple cruise lines threads here on a regular basis. Most importantly we need to understand that all of us are different, have different needs, wants, tastes,etc. Second it seems important to note that even within cruise lines experiences can differ from ship to ship, cruise location to location and sometimes even on the same ship if for example the head chef changes. When I was looking for the right cruise line for us I came to the conclusion that an O ship on Oceania using cruise only made the most sense for our first. And we really enjoyed it. Was it perfect? No, was every bite of food spectacular? No. But overall we loved the size of the ship, food was generally very good, service was excellent across the board, newly refurbished ship looked great, beds are super comfy, people we met were, for the most part, very nice. All in all we had a great cruise and we are set for another on Marina in late 2024. While our cruise was a splurge for us ( it was the longest (10 days) and most expensive vacation (all in about $300 PPPD) we have taken). We felt we had value. I determined that Oceania was most likely the best value in cruising for us. While it feels like cruising on a luxury line might have slightly better service (might) the price was for the most part significantly higher. Similarly, while we could save money on other lines it seemed clear that our experience, for our tastes, would be best met on O. Most of this value came because we don't drink and did not want to do shore excursions. When the new pricing is released we will make a determination if the pricing stays generally in line with what they have now for cruise only. If we have to pay $250 more per person but get the $800 credit and beer and wine at lunch and dinner, We will probably stick with O. If it gets more like $500 person or more, we will, like you, examine other options. I think, from the research I have done ( with updates over the last week or so) that if we go elsewhere, it will not be to a single cruise line. More likely, we will take it on a case by case basis (asking our TA for advice,) and making a decision based upon what we perceive as the value for a particular cruise. After all, catching a great sale ( as O recently had) can make all the difference. We will unfortunately understand that we may not find a single line which is in our price range that ticks as many boxes for us as O does. If money was no concern, certainly we would try each of the luxury lines but barring a great sale that fits our timing ( we still work,) my guess is we would try the usual suspects (Azamara, Celebrity, Viking,etc.). We might even find that we back away from cruising for a while. I can see you have tried regent and liked it, and that you often cruise as a single and have to pay a much higher price in most instances. That may well determine what your options really are, unless you decide to truly open the pocket book. Whatever happens we will continue to be here to discuss options and hopefully someday share a cruise.

Lets all remember as well that this has not yet been released to the public. Certainly they must have known that this would leak but lets be real, the amount of people here, even on this lengthy thread is a small portion of O cruisers. The average O cruiser has no idea this is coming. I know we want answers to all of our questions but O is playing this one close to the vest for now. Even after July 1 we will not really have all of the answers until a few cruises have sailed with the new system. That will be in October.

And remember, you do need a reservation for the specialties, only walk in for MDR, Terrace and if have the newer Waves pizza.

Agreed. I do think this is not necessarily a bad thing for the average O customer. However, for us, who stretched to go on O in the first place and don't really drink and for the moment are not planning excursions (or maybe one cheaper one) as we are doing 10 day Caribbean's roundtrip from Miami mainly to keep our airfare down and we have friends to stay with pre and post cruise for free, this may eliminate this small niche. Won't blame them if they believe this helps their business but, it may mean we have to look at Celebrity or similar, which while we believe won't be as nice, will most likely cost less than our current cruise only fares and MAYBE quite a bit less than the new fares. If it does we will probably need to at least explore other options in the future. Who can say, they may increase the fares and add more sales? We just don't have enough information at this time and since we are booked Marina in 2024 we have plenty of time to make decisions after that. Had this happened a few years ago we may never have found O in the first place. Unfortunately, it is my guess that now that we have cruised O, cheaper options will keep us comparing to the things we loved on O. Extended B3's, awesome beds, great service, basically what we felt was luxury level cruising sans drinks and excursions.

@ORV I know you are on your cruise so no need to do this. I am sure you have heard that the new Simply More pricing structure was teased to some ta's but not being released until 7/1. If you were planning to book a future cruise while onboard, wondering if they will discuss it. Sounds like cruise only is going away and new pricing structure will include beer and wine at lunch and dinner and a set amount of OBC which must be used towards excursions. Obviously those of us who don't drink or use O excursions are concerned the price will go up beyond what we are willing to pay. Wondering if the on board bookers have any more details yet. We are hearing that people who have booked before July 1 will get to keep their current cruise only fair and have the option to upgrade if they want. Were we onboard we might take the opportunity to book multiple future cruises at cruise only with the added OBC bonus and lower deposit as this sounds like the last opportunity to do so. Anyway, no problem if you can't and I know you are on vacation. Have fun.

You do not need to take any of the olife options. You can choose to purchase cruise only or cruise with air only. But, you cannot do this booking online. You need to call Oceania or go through a TA. It can get complex so the new system is supposed to make it easier for people.

Well, I am a glass is half full kind of person and we like the O product. When we start seeing numbers we will have a better idea how this affects us. For now, keeping our fingers crossed O does not price us out by increasing fares to much. We will see in a few weeks.

Meh. Looks like they are replacing Olife with a newer version of Olife. Looks like we will be sticking with cruise only. Main difference seems to be new version includes air. We shall see if you can still take the credit and what the prices are but don't think this will really affect us.

Where are you heading? We way over packed for our first Oceania cruise in January on the riviera to the Caribean. Don't forget you can do laundry or, if in a higher cabin or similar send out to have O do. Edit: looks like you may be taking a British Isles cruise later this month. I am sure people with experience for that area will chime in.

We found the same thing on Riviera. Also, going early when the MDR opens there was usually a line. Waiting a bit helped. Although I know of no way to know ahead of time, they did serve Caviar one night in the MDR as an appetizer. Not A connoisseur so I could not tell you what kind. Maybe someone else here knows. Same night was Beef Wellington. On our next cruise I will be checking the MDR menu earlier each day. Also to determine what the soufle is that day. Remember you can eat elsewhere and just stop in to the MDR for a soufle afterwards.

Agreed and I am pretty sure they know this. We shall see what they add but I am guessing everyone will get free wine and beer at lunch and dinner. Similar to when they added the internet. I would doubt there will be a increase per se but fares do go up regularly from what we have seen. I believe O knows its niche and will not be looking to compete with Regent. While we are not big drinkers we would still find O a good value with what I suggested above and even if there was a small increase. Of course everything is relative, our experience has been that staying in a regular veranda cabin or below and not being drinkers or using O shorex the premium lines for the most part have nothing close in price, maybe a few exceptions. I think that many who feel the prices of the premium lines are comparable are paying for things we dont. If you stay in a higher level cabin, get the premium drink package and pay for shorex and possibly business class air then I think the comparisons are closer. We are happy to find this niche and while we have not cruised on a premium line we are pretty sure from everything we have read, our experience would be comparable. Of course we will know more in a few days.🙂

Fyi, when we boarded Riviera in January the porters (not Oceania employees) would not take our carton of wine. As a result, we had to carry it upstairs ourselves. Not sure if this was unusual but I saw many people with wheeled liquor holders and wished I had one at the time. Luckily as soon as we got in line for check in an O employee came over and asked if we wanted them to hold it while we checked in. They also had it sent to our room. Might be worth looking into a wheeled carrier if embarking in Miami with more than a bottle or two.

You can bring either. In January we brought a bottle of vodka and three bottles of wine on Riviera. No issues and we took the vodka bottle with us when we left mostly unused.

On Riviera this was listed in our day 1 currents, 6 to 7 in the Artists loft:

I know you can add in olife up to 30 days out. Not sure about the changes. Do you have a TA? May want to ask them. Also in regards to change to eliminate olife I think they are coming the end of this week.

Hi Tia, As it sounds like Olife may be heading the way of the dinosaurs, I don't know how much longer this information is good for. We also don't yet know if the new program will replace Olife immediately or if they will keep Olife as an option for those who have already booked it. From all of my reading of these threads over time, many of the regulars with alot of experience in travel seem to do their own excursions and choose cruise only. It seems clear that booking excursions through O, will be more expensive than a similar, if not the same excursion booked privately. That difference however may be minimal depending on how many excursions you choose and if you can use the YWMW discount. I think it reasonable to expect a cruise line to charge a fee above the excursion price but many will differ as to what difference is reasonable. Your question however suggests you are not looking at choosing the excursion option from Olife but rather taking the OBC and using that to pay for O excursions. I think most would agree this is usually not the best choice. It is by choosing the Olife excursion option where you can get some benefit. That benefit is that Olife usually will cost you say $300 per person but allow you to choose three excursions listed at up to $199 per. So, it is possible you can get some value there. Some might still argue that the same excursion can be had for less diy. In regards to the quality of excursions and options. Everything I have read is that O offers similar excursions to most lines and that it is important to read carefully what is listed to know what you will be getting. It will also help to know where your cruise is going as we do not know how to help You with local companies at this point. It is also a great idea to get on your roll call if you have not already done so as October is right around the corner and I would guess people are already talking about and booking excursions.

This was our experience in January on Riviera as well.

I would guess that many of us feel the same way.🙂

It is difficult to tell from the pictures but this online deckplan, if it is correct, shows the same three rows we had on Riviera. If someone who sailed Vista can confirm please.

And before anyone takes too much time studying for an advanced Oceania degree, remember its supposed to change, and get simpler, very soon. Perhaps the new system will make everyone happy. We should all know in the coming months.

Thank you. I had the wrong port.

So sorry to hear this and I apologize to have to ask but are you sure they were O employees? Reason I ask I of course it does not sound like O to allow this but more importantly, we often saw O employees throughout the venues (it was clear they were much younger and we even recognized some,) and they did not wear name tags as they were obviously off duty. Could this have been a group which met on board and just had name tags to let them know Wore name tags to let them know each other? Either way letting management know is a great idea.

Sounds like this may all get a little easier in July when the new price structure starts. I believe O has heard how confusing it is and the new structure will be easier. Of course some will not like it regardless of what it becomes. As we don't really drink, the idea of including beer and wine at meals sounds like we will have to pay just a little more. But as long as the prices stay relatively the same, we will be happy. All of life is a compromise unless you have basically unlimited money. What works for one may not work for us.