Fetchpeople

Should have mentioned the location of the large horizontal table table was in the GDR. We sometimes warned the staff in advance we were coming

My group of 10 or 11 ate at a horizontal table in the center/front on a Riviera cruise this past December and did so several nights

You can book a cruise with the appropriate deposit long before 180 days.and can choose the cabin level you believe to be earned

Just be sure to remind your agent to submit your free cruise request at the 180 day mark

keep in mind that the free cruise no longer includes air fare

And I suggest you add air now as you can  always cancel it later

But be sure you know the last date you can cancel the air

Each bag can contain no more than 20 items and the laundry is returned 3 days later

I believe that the web site listed below is more complete as well as having frequent updates and details on new cases, etc.

Just be sure to scroll down to review all the data

www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

First cruise was in the early 70's on a Home line ship.

The trip was an incentive trip starting early AM in Boston and traveling to NYC by chartered bus with an extensive inventory of booze. Shortly before arriving at the pier one of the hosts came around with mini bottles to hold us until the ship's bars opened. They also handed out separate booklets of drink tickets (about 25 coupons per booklet) for soft drinks and liquor.

After a day or 2 the host urged us to take more booklets. On day 3 they asked us not to use the drink tickets for tips.........

The cruise was 7 days, southbound, to I don't remember. But I do remember putting shoes out at night to be shined. And I do remember some being totally drunk for 7 days.

I remember that clearly because I don't drink a drop!

Stool in the Laundry Room?

Yes, for sure on Nautica. I would guess that there is a stool in each and every laundry

By way of comparison:

On the last ATW cruise on Insignia (January-July 2018) a similar incident happened to an Israeli couple who were denied entry to Indonesia and also had to disembark before reaching any Indonesian port.

After similar difficulty with Oceania, that couple was provided air and land arrangements forAustralia,  and ultimately re-boarding there

Based on my own positive personal experience:

1. Make sure you get Oceania's written approval of your plan

2. On boarding the cruise, promptly go the Purser's desk and let them make a copy of your approval

3. Provide them with your cell phone number, where you will be staying, and the cell phone number of those you are visiting

4. Take your passport(s) with you

5. Be prepared to go through enhanced, but not particularly difficult, security/passport control when you re-board

If you say pretty please and meet at a favorable time, you might be able to use a specialty restaurant. Other than that, my guess is that the Card Room just might be empty.

Based ***** my recent cruise which was long and had a number of sea days:

The O web site noted there would be a bridge instructor on board. There was, and a VERY good one.

There were 6-7 tables for duplicate, several tables for beginner bridge play, and there were 2 lessons in the morning on sea days: 9:30 AM for beginners and 11 AM for intermediate. Best lessons I/we ever had and pleasant duplicate, too.

All in all, on any sea day, better than 5% and less than 10% of the passengers were learning and playing bridge.

Best bridge experience ever

FYI: we were on Insignia from Beijing to Sydney

Facetime application works perfectly even though email is often problematic. That's my experience on Insignia in April/May this year.

IT luggage carries a 5 year warranty

Suggest looking the maker up on the ney

IT luggage is:

Inexpensive

Reasonably durable

Exceptionally light

Sometimes found at Marshall’s or T J Max

Searching through works like a charm

Pricing should be about $50-80 for 21 to 26 inch

And on the other hand, the ORIGINAL port for this cruise was not Catalina Island. It was San Diego

I know what the terms and conditions say and I can read here the belief that if O books the air fare, it needs to accept responsibility. Here's a real experience.

In all our cruising, I booked O only once and it was that one time our connection to an overseas flight was weather delayed. The result was a missed cruise departure and 2 less days of cruising.

What Oceania did:

They flew us to the original departure port and then paid for another flight where we caught up with the ship

They paid for those flights as well as ground transportation from a hotel to the new port.

What Oceania did not do:

Pay for a hotel room or meals

Work with the airline to get us directly from the US departure to our new embarkation port. We were shall we say chagrined to find a plane leaving from the next gate at JFK for our new port and at the same time as our plane to boot. But our luggage was on board and at that point no change of planes was possible.

What we did:

Collected 100% of our out of pocket costs from our insurance carrier.

Our assessment:

Oceania acted in good faith and delivered more than they were obligated to do

April weather: maybe in the 80's and not that humid.

The Space Center is a must do; anything and everything else pales by comparison

Posting all these pictures of Oceania's wonderful food surely constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, something I thought our constitution protected us from.....

We were there in July 2016, booking a private car for 6 days of sightseeing.

We booked the car with Nordic Visitor. I can recommend them as they provided extensive maps, a GPS, and more.

What I would NEVER do again is drive around Iceland on my own as the roads are well paved, but narrow, with little in the way of paved shoulders or breakdown lanes. Traffic is not heavy but certainly includes trucks, tour buses galore, and occasionally sheep.

This from someone who thought the Blue Lagoon was a well designed tourist trap, vastly overpriced, and not convenient to anything but an ATM.

Let me first state clearly my medical background: I have none other than being a recipient of services from time to time.

My observation is that O must be doing something right. Why? How?

Well the consensus is that once a ship is infected with noro, O promptly takes action. It enforces hygiene activity; it requires single use of menus, of salt and pepper, of placemats; it closes the passenger laundry, and more.

All of these actions, to say nothing of the disease itself, hurt O where it hurts the most - on the bottom line. Passengers who are sick and/or quarantined do not drink, do not tour, do not shop, and do not book with the Ambassador. What they do is complain and spread the disease and negatives.

What is most surprising about the various threads about noro on cruise ships is the fact that incidents are relatively rare and the percentage of sick passengers and crew is rarely in double digits. All this while everyone is exposed to disease that spreads with a single touch or sneeze.

Yes, I say give O some credit for trying and it seems to me succeeding.

When making changes from San Diego to Catalina Island for more than one ship, Oceania advised booked passengers that the need to do so was due to California regulations relating to where Oceania could dock in the state.

Yes, Oceania did have tours in Greenland. Some were walking tours, others were whale watching, etc.

Since all 3 ports were tendered and since all 3 were small towns (Nuuk, the capital has less than 30,000 population), we chose to do our OLife tours in other ports. In each of the 3, we did our own thing and walked/visited.

FWIW, Destination Services on this cruise was on the top of their game-helpful, responsive, organized.

From someone who was on board the Insignia, July 1 from Miami to Reykjavic:

Seas calm, with only a hint of motion on part of one day

Food as good as ever, with service to match

Condition of the public areas was top notch, constantly being cleaned

Tender port services were outstanding, organized and without any issues

Entertainment was typical for Oceania-low key, the magician/comedian (Greg Moreland) was especially good

The bridge instructor (Judy Sonen) was as good as they come

We stopped at 3 different ports in Greenland and enjoyed our time, but keep in mind that Greenland is a very large country with a very small population. Accordingly, infrastructure is limited. However, the history of the native people, the Inuit, is remarkable.

Iceland (we spent several days there post cruise) is a truly beautiful palette of waterfalls, gorges, geysers, hot springs, icebergs, and much more. Friendly people with a Danish/Norwegian orientation.

If you want to see if climate change is impacting our world, an open minded look at Greenland and Iceland will do the trick.

My judgement: the Insignia crew executed very well and Oceania delivered what it promised. The stay in Iceland? Frosting on the cake.

Try it, you like it!

"If you take the Oceania flight that is due to get you to the departure port the day the ship leaves, are they responsible for you if the flight is cancelled or delayed?"

The answer is, from personal experience, a big NO.

While they are not responsible, O will typically help you get to the ship's next port such as by paying for the additional flight. They do so, but explicitly say they do not have to. Any other incurred expenses, such as food, hotels, etc are your responsibility (covered by insurance, usually).

Specifically, my own experience, when delayed using O's air:

O paid for a connecting flight to the next port

O provided car service from that airport to the hotel as well as the next AM to the ship

O did not pay for any meals or the hotel

In fact, there were 2 separate couples involved in the same predicament. We were picked up together, taken to different hotels, and subsequently taken separately to the ship in the AM.