AlexCherie

On 11/9/2021 at 4:13 AM, mauibabes said:

On board Riviera now. Access is Free if Concierge level on up but a Fee for other levels. There are reduced capacities for use of the steam room so making arrangements with the Aquamar staff is wise.  
We will have to see how the CDC restrictions play out once we are back in US waters come December. 
For upcoming cruises in the Caribbean, please do not sail with the expectation mask requirements will go away. Safety measures remains #1 and every port of call has their own requirements. Just plan to be flexible and enjoy being back to sea on Oceania.

Mauibabes

I'm happy to hear that the steam/sauna is open at any rate. 

I take it that masks are not required on board, provided you have double dipped the stick? 

4 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Yes - the Passport only includes the O Life allowable tours (I.e., <$200). The OE, OS, et al. are 40% off (?) vs the YWYW 25% off. But, there’s the upfront Passport charge (varying by itinerary) that is often the deal breaker.

LMAO. Yes, yes very clear. 

Laughing again. It's convoluted, I'm sorry. But hey, that's ok. 

Laughing on the way out the door. Thanks to all, though.

1 hour ago, WESTEAST said:

As we all know, 'essential' travel by air has been permitted between Canada and US throughout the pandemic. Canada opened land borders to fully vaccinated Americans with test in August however, the US has yet to open the land borders to fully vaccinated Canadians? The border problem is up to the US Government to resolve. Of note, Canadian Gov't website reports as of Oct 2nd, 81% of Canadians 12 and older are fully vaccinated (believe US has total of 65% fully vaccinated per NY Times).  

As we know, what is permitted and what is happening tell two different stories.

I don't know what it is like in Detroit, but our cross border traffic is down considerably. The shopping malls used to be full of Ontario plates.

No more. 

And speaking for myself, I'm twice vaccinated as is my wife. We aren't going to go get tested just so we can get into Canada. That's just not happening. 

13 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

I agree (though the website cart will allow a comparison of the costs).

 

For the OP: Most importantly, you need to check the first page of the excursions PDF that come with the emailed O invoice. However, I also will call and ask for the latest version depending on when that first PDF showed up.

The first page of the PDF shows the cost of the Passport for that itinerary as well as the number of tours (total number of purchased and/or O life selections) to qualify for the 25% discount on those that are purchased. 
FWIW, I do the math on every cruise and (for us) the Passport has never been the better bargain because, while the Passport gets you as many O Life approved tours as you can book, you still have to pay 60% of the cost of the OS/OE/et al. ones.

Our strategy is to usually take the O Life tours perk, book our allotment of the most expensive of the allowable ones (e.g., just <$200) in which we are interested and then add enough paid ones to meet the minimum number required for the YWYW 25% discount on paid tours. FYI: one of the nice features of the O web cart is that it is intuitive and will auto assign $0 to the most expensive of the allowable O Life tours to fill your allotment. Your other choices will show their retail price. But, at the top of the cart, it will say how many you still need for the YWYW 25% discount. And the top of the cart will show the total cost for each of the three ways to do it.

Again, because of the upfront Passport fee, it has yet to work out for us. And there are some tours that we prefer to book through private companies (e.g., Maohi Nui on Bora Bora). 
That said, however, the bottom line is: Understand the rules/costs and “DO THE MATH.” (Or call O and gave them do the math)

Interesting and thank you. 

We had selected the most expensive allowed tours - simply to insure a seat. I'll look into the process, but ... it just seems sort of clunky, don't you think? 

Our goal will be to take Oceania at it's word - to seek out a rebirth while onboard and in port, a holistic approach to vacationing. Normally on Caribbean ports for at least three ports I don't even get off the ship. Other than Puerto Plata, I think I'll be in town every day. 

It's exciting. I'm already working it into my head to budget a longer trip for 2023. 

 

With apologies, because surely this topic has been covered at length elsewhere.

We chose to use the O-life benefit regarding excursions on a 10 evening trip in the Caribbean. We selected some expensive choices, and had a bill of less than $600 above our nearly $750 credit. We are anxious to immerse ourselves fairly fully in the O experience. 

If we were to select the Unlimited Passport Collection, what would that entail/cost? What has been your experiences with this level in the past? What if I had a hankering to do something like several additional culinary tours? 

Thanks in advance.

4 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

....and every day thereafter 😀

🙂

At least, when we are not in port.

Western New York - a recent surge in people wearing a mask at a supermarket; border traffic to Canada is problematic and that is having an impact on business here. Restaurants have no staffing so you can't really dine out between Sunday and Tuesday night much.

Given the compressed availability reservations are still available, which is surprising a bit. Before the rise of the variant in the summer they were harder to come by. 

We have family involved in healthcare, there really hasn't been a rise in hospital beds for the infected. And I think there is as much fear of rising crime as there is COVID.

2 minutes ago, arima22 said:

No, it is not.

thanks! A shame. We will plan for first day, then. 

to the original poster, and to those that say "one and done" regarding Caribbean sailings ...

Our planned excursions ...

taking a 4x4 into the jungles of Martinique, well off the beaten path and through the rainforests, fording rivers and adjoining plantations through natural paths.

In St. Lucia, being part of a small group going through 8 zip lines across the tops of the sky canopy, affording beautiful vistas,

and finally at St. John's, dining in the private home of a chef, being taught local cuisine and enjoying a marvelous terrace with cocktails overlooking the bay at Antigua.

I'm pretty sure you won't find the level of intimacy afforded on Oceania on any mainline, 3500 cruise ship. I'm not expecting to be herded onto a bus along side a bus from several other cruise lines to a destination where we will be part of 500 other visitors. 

Granted, I've never been on Oceania. I think you make the destination exciting and exhilarating, refurbishing your soul by getting the opportunity to immerse yourself. 

For myself, I couldn't be more excited about finally getting away. 

slightly off topic question ...

Is afternoon tea offered on embarkation day?

On 10/7/2021 at 10:15 AM, Hutcha said:

I'll add a different spin to it. I've been on 4 Norwegian cruises in the past decade. Two smaller ships (early in the timeline), and more recently a Breakaway and Breakaway plus ship. All standard balcony cabins. On the smaller ships, I didn't notice the Haven areas. On the large ships, they take a huge chunk out of the upper decks to define the Haven area. They force all of the non Haven guest into, what I think, a much smaller, compressed area than what it should be. Take a look at the picture I've attached. The red outlines the Haven area and the blue is the Vibe Beach Club.

 

There are about 80 Haven cabins on a ship of this class (Encore pictured). Lets say 200 guest. I estimate that 40% of the upper decks are taken by The Haven and Vibe ($200pp/week). 30% is pay per use activities, the race track and laser tag. That leaves 30% for the other 3,800 guests. I've been one of the 3,800 twice, and let me tell you, you can feel it. The pools are tiny. The deck chair game is on another level. The bars are packed. It's just not much fun to be up there on a sea day. So much so that I've vowed to never go on another NCL cruise, unless I'm in the Haven. That will be in February. 

 

 

This is a deep concern to me; they are actually squeezing the enjoyment out of the ship. 

Being offered the choice between dropping $1000 a night for my wife and I, or being basically asked to row with the rest leads me to choice three: Oceania or similar. We'll check it out this January, and decide whether or not to keep our TA reservations in November on NCL on the Getaway.

At the end of the day, anything in excess of $500 a night per person means that I can be thinking about sleeping at a Peninsula or Ritz (close, anyways. Would take some deals). Or for that matter, simply get on a Silversea or similar. 

There is a point where just a little bit more is absurd.

On 9/26/2021 at 12:34 PM, nursinadream said:

We've been to the Caribbean several times.  Did cruises with our kids and grandids (Disney), parents (RCCL), workmates (Celebrity), Bareboat charter (BVI), and we lived on St Thomas while I was working.  Husband's summary is been there, done that - and we live in South Florida.  Is there something about an Oceania cruise to that region that might wow us or entice us (especially him) in anyway?

I enjoy this board and read most everyday.  Vikings and Baltic Shores cruise coming up late in 2022, our first one in many years and our first Oceania.

Thanks, Deb

This is an excellent question Deb. 

We had initially thought our first O trip would be in the Mediterranean (an excellent cruise leaves in April, 2022). 

The combination of saving money and agita on transatlantic flights, the international COVID fears ... all of it. It just made it simpler to enjoy our first near luxury experience on a trip to a familiar locale. 

These aren't inexpensive vacations even at $300 a night. And Europe realistically is more like $450 or even $600, by time you are done with absurdly overpriced excursions and even just a little fun onboard. 

I'm not expecting much when we go to the ports. I will say that contrary to what Hank (HLitner) is saying, none of these locations are safe and especially St. Barts. Many if not all of them have been listed among the most dangerous vacation spots in the world, including Martinique and St. Lucia. I am expecting some blow-my-socks off food. 

At this point, do we know if the sauna/steam room areas will be closed still? And what about the Thalassotherapy pool?

18 hours ago, susiesan said:

Depending on where your cruise is there are times when Celebrity may be the better choice. Although I prefer to cruise with Oceania, I just booked a 10 day Celebrity Millennium cruise from Ft. Lauderdale Nov. 29. I was looking at the 10 day Riviera cruiseDec. 3 from Miami that has almost the same itinerary. This cruise is to be a get away from cold weather trip, don't really care that much about the ports, will just be going to the beach.

 

With the current 20% off promotion on Celebrity I was able to book a veranda cabin for 2 people under All Included with taxes for the price of a 1 person in a veranda on Riviera. This was a no brainer choice for me. My next cruise after this will be back with Oceania on April 4, 2022, maybe.

It’s Celebrity’s sweet spot. 

Caribbean based, non-Retreat priced. There’s no way to add value, so it will always win that contest. 

20 hours ago, LHT28 said:

Were these for  upcoming cruises 2021 or ones in 2022- 23?

 

Things may change by next year so booking  a higher capacity  might work  by then

JMO

Specifically it was for an April Grand Voyage, Western Mediterranean. I was only interested in those ports at that time of year.

42 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

I absolutely agree with all that Hlitner posted. Our recent cruise was likewise magnificent.

 

Here’s the 800 lb gorilla. These cruise lines can’t survive doing 50%, and often less, capacity cruises. If people don’t start returning to cruising soon, there won’t be a cruise industry to return to. All these people cancelling everything until late 2022 or 2023 may need to start looking for a new pastime. 

During Labor Day sale, O reps were telling me they were already up to 50% occupancy and they were continuing to take reservations. 

Just as an FYI; agreed across the board. These firms have brought on more debt than a bank can lend, and the juice is just running.

I would tend to think that handling of certain situations would be pretty consistent. 

For instance, for those of you recently on a ship … how did they handle things like public saunas and steam rooms? 

1 hour ago, MarkWiltonM said:

 

The Crystal Bahamas cruises were priced below their normal rates. And they've just added additional seven-night Bahamas cruises that are even less. From November 2021 to March 2022, you can get a veranda stateroom for $1,499 for seven nights on Symphony. That's $214 pp/pn and includes everything. (Note: Crystal's fares do not include taxes and fees so you have to add a few hundred dollars for those.) 

Thank you - hadn't seen those. Interesting and impressive costs.

 

19 minutes ago, mauibabes said:

I am curious because we have only sailed Celebrity once in Aqua Class and were underwhelmed. We hear many X cruisers mention Elite level. What does that mean in amenities? How does it compare to the Oceania Club amenity levels? 
Mauibabes

1 load of laundry, a 10% discount on beverage package, a discount on Internet package; some other odds and ends.

 

55 minutes ago, MarkWiltonM said:

 

We have two Celebrity cruises scheduled. Both are Concierge-class cabins purchased pre-Covid before "Always Included" and the breathtaking increase in fares. Now we have two Oceania cruises scheduled in veranda cabins. One is on Riviera and one is on Sirena. They were less expensive than comparable staterooms on Edge-class ships and only slightly more than comparable staterooms on Solstice-class ships. When deciding on the Oceania cruises, I compared the pricing to similar itineraries and dates on Celebrity. The fact that we don't drink alcohol but do drink specialty coffees makes Oceania a much better value for us than Celebrity's "Always Included" scheme. Oceania also includes bottled water, internet, and specialty restaurants, and our TA takes care of gratuities. We are super-excited about the new Oceania Vista ship, which we plan to book for autumn 2023 as soon as the bookings open. (We found it interesting that Vista has a few "Juliette balcony" cabins that are equivalent to Celebrity's Infinite veranda but there are, as I said, just a few, and they are less expensive than an actual veranda. And the Juliette balconies appear to have traditional sliding glass doors that you can manually open rather than the sometimes problematic electric vertically descending window on Celebrity Edge class.)

 

I suspect the only thing I'll miss on Celebrity is Cafe al Bacio, but I'm happy to see that Oceania is expanding its Baristas coffee bar on Vista to include a bakery. 

 

We also cruised Crystal this summer on a 7-night Bahamas itinerary aboard Serenity. Food was great -- and consistently good in every venue (a rarity) -- service was unbelievable,  and the price was comparable to Celebrity's Edge class but more expensive than Oceania (especially since we don't need to purchase a drinks package on Oceania). It will be interesting to compare Crystal's and Celebrity's food to Oceania's.

 

We are just about to hit "Elite" on Celebrity but I'm not sure we'll be back after our upcoming cruises on Equinox and Millennium. Many fond memories of Celebrity but the "value" proposition is number 1 for us. 

Surprised you were able to find a Crystal cruise even remotely close to anything that Celebrity offers. 

I am particularly like you - not much for booze, loved Cafe al Bacio. Never been on Edge, and unlikely to go there. If this trip turns out like I think it will, our Elite status will be far behind us. It's not like we were getting some great benefits from it anyway.

3 hours ago, mauibabes said:

Interesting discussions. A Sunday to Sunday is still a 7 night cruise on Oceania. As far as value goes, that 4 Category upgrade is going to spoil you with the added amenities, you will see. 

Now for a little Inside Stateroom chatter, I could never get my wife in one although she did visit some friends in one once. After the fiasco and quarantines required when Covid hit the cruise lines, there is no way in the world I could deal with a claustrophobic inside stateroom. I must be able to breath fresh air and see the sea or the shore.  They would be taking me off the ship sedated and in a straight jacket if we were ever quarantined in an Inside room. 

As for Celebrity, I guess I can not handle traveling with 3,000 people and would only consider R or O Class sized ships. Based on what I am reading about Celebrity and prices and our one experience in Aqua,  we will always take the Quality over Quantity approach and ENJOY the luxury of Oceania.  
Spoiled, you better believe it.  
Mauibabes

Yeah, the idea of being stuck inside a room without windows for potentially 10 to 20 days? I'd have literally jumped off the ship. I'll never again book an inside cabin, on any cruise ship. That's insane.

But the upgrade? We aren't typical joiners, we like our table for two and our privacy. So getting The Grand Dining Room on our balcony (I think of it as a porch) while we sail away from some small island in the Mediterranean? For real? Yeah. All about that.

7 minutes ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

🤣

We almost always choose inside staterooms.  For my next cruise, though, I chose a (gasp!) ocean-view!

It's a funny thing, I've wanted to try O for an inside cabin for several years. I've never found one available on the trips I wanted to try. 

Then this Labor Day opportunity came up, and I couldn't resist the 4 category upgrade (even though an inside was available for part of the cruise). Getting a Concierge room, with the possibility of room service from the Grand Dining Room? I blew my budget to hell in a handbasket. 

5 minutes ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Just curious about something: Does Celebrity consider embarkation and disembarkation day as one day or two, if it mentions number of days in its marketing material?  Oceania counts embarkation and disembarkation days as one day, so that the number of nights is the same as the number of days.  But at least one other cruise line I know counts both embarkation and disembarkation as "days" when it describes a cruise. I know it's trivial, but I'm still curious.....

I am almost certain that X would say a trip that leaves on Sunday, arrives on Sunday at 8 AM as a 7 day, six night cruise. 

10 minutes ago, ORV said:

You might guess wrong. Many Oceania cruisers, which include current and previous Celebrity cruisers, are quite value conscious. I personally have been in insides on Celebrity and Oceania. We've been in suites on Oceania, but never on Celebrity as they are not a good value at all. 

Perhaps true.

I myself have stayed in an inside cabin; in fact one of the best ever was an inside, on an old ship and it wasn't even X. I'm not saying that Oceania doesn't represent value.

I'm saying that there is an entry price to get onboard Oceania. And from my experience, most Celebrity cruisers will say something very much to the order of: "I'd rather take 10 sailings in the Caribbean in an inside cabin than 1 trip on a luxury liner". 

10 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

... The bottom line is that Oceania has always been a far better quality/value experience than Celebrity. ...

A bit much and overstated. I suppose if you are like the OP and looking to use a Vista Suite, that would be the case. 

But it's worthwhile to note that the Silhouette has something like 1000 cabins that are not of that class - just regular Balcony or even 144 inside cabins - nearly more than the entire set of rooms on the Riviera.

My guess would be that the former Celebrity cruisers rarely if ever stayed in an inside cabin.