Sthrngary

@Hlitner YOUR plan sounds PERFECT to me. The key is know your options and if you decide not to do them, it was your decision. PERFECT!!! Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@davencl "Take my wife, Please!" Not this cruise, I really need a vacation. However, if Oceania makes me an offer, I am IN!!! Now we all know that is not going to happen. HOWEVER, happy to hold COURT at Martini's, after I had two drinks. Timing is everything because after the third drink I slur my words. "One Martini, Two Martini, Three, Martini, FLOOR!" Cruise well and enjoy every moment. "My set is over, so make sure you tip your service, they need money also. See you at the midnight show!"

@ToxM Bingo. Opposites attract. My wife asked for her luggage from storage in the garage, yesterday. She does lots of lists. So for her clothes, she starts 6 weeks in advance. Yesterday she warned me she was going to get a whole new wardrobe. My response was, "I will believe it when I see it. I double dare you to buy all you want." She talks a good game. Opposites attract. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@Vineyard View I was truly helped by you, and others here on the CruiseCritic.com Oceania Blog. Also, I was helped by Oceania. This was one of the only times I could take two promotions and use them together. The Four Category Upgrade was great. However when the ESE Sale saved both cabins $1800 each, it made everything even easier. I got lucky is the bottom line. Funny, my wife just said to me, "Honey, there is no way we can do everything we want to do in Athens. We will be jet lagged and tired. We need to hire a car to show us around Athens." I fully agree with her. I will hire the car, and tell my friends the cost when we get in the car. Worst case is I pay for it. I would have done it anyway. What will happen is my guest agree reluctantly. Just the way things work. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@shepherd really How NICE of you to say. I led a very stressful life and had to force myself not to lash out or be harsh to folks as part of my career. This led to the love of a way to simply decompress, chill out and lose myself in something other than work. Cruise were the ticket for me. I did enjoy my cruises better when there was "No Email", "Telephone Call" or way ANYONE could get to me. Those were the days. Now, I am retired and all I look forward to are emails, telephone calls or someone, anyone to visit. I get a extra beat in my heart when the UPS, USPS or Federal Express person walks by my window. Gee times do change. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@bbwex LOL, "Yes ma'am/sir, may I have another???" Anyone that goes on frequent cruise is some level of a masochist. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@Vineyard View No, this is the first time we have gone with this couple. They are our best friends but always do family things due to the size of their family. This was our friends wife 70th birthday wish so her husband did what he needed to do to make it happen. Specifically, he told me a budget that was to low, put the fear of god in me to make it as all inclusive as possible, said "NO" to every single time I made a recommendation then two months later wanted it. One was going in a day early and staying in a really nice hotel. I did it anyway, did not tell him, and still stayed within his budget. The whole process was fun for me and keep me working on something fun and production. Should be a nice trip. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@bobnsandi LOL, that will do it. I would explain the SimplyMore program but that would not be humous or funny. I thought having three choices was confusing so I am not your expert on that little topic. I used to take my planning very seriously and personally. NO MORE. I am the topic for jokes by my friends and family all the time because of it. UNTIL, they realize, we are going on a cruise next week, "I wonder if my expired Passport Will work????" Cruise well and enjoy every moment of "Nothing Going Exactly As Planned".

@SATaxman LMAO, I can be bribed. I was a professional speaker before I had a stroke, "I think???". We actually go to the shows, sit in the last seat in the back of the theatre, closest to the exit. We watch 15 min, determine our enjoyment level and usually leave quietly. We then go to a bar and tell stories while have one to many night caps. Sorry, I might be old but learned how to drink on a cruise 40 years ago on Carnival. Thank you for getting my humor. Cruise well and enjoy every bit of the Entrainment on board.

Many folk say, just go with the flow, no real planning needed. Other do what I do, take the time since we have so much time before a cruise, and plan the things that we ALL have "Messed Up" in the past. For me, it is a informal religious experience because after many frustrations in the planning process. Why religious? I keep using god name in vain than ask for forgiveness. Not god's fault, god was kind enough to tell Noah to build an ark so their would be NO missing ports for Noah. I am NOT Noah, and I have educated my guest we will HAVE at least one or two missed ports. This is an Oceania Itinerary isn't it. Just managing expectations folks. Home Made Cruise Calendar: My Planning start like it always does, with a Homemade Excel Spreadsheet calendars. A work of true art. Works great for a Page-At-A-Glance for a 7 day Caribbean cruise but not so much for a 10-day Mediterranean cruise with a pre and post hotel stay. At 64, 66, 70, and 75 years old, no one in my party can read the calendar because the font is so small. Packing list Item #1: High Powered Reading Glasses. Print options is to break the calendar in to two pages and tape them together. At least I have a plan of sorts. Nothing perfect on any cruise. Importance of Advanced Reservation: Since we are wisely arriving one day early (should have done two) for safety and to visit Athens, Greece, I felt proud to find a unique dining experience on the highest mountain with the best view of Athens, Greece. The restaurant's name is, Orizontes Lycabettus. This can be a hard reservation to gain and I booked it months ago. My wife wanted to cancel it because there were to many steps and she has a hard time sometimes with steps. Then she FINALLY read about the view, food, service and it was a "once in a life time experience". Now she is getting cortisone shots in both knees and ordered a knee brace. All it took was a google search of the place and experience to make certain alterations in ones attitude. Homemade YouTube.com Video: I get so frustrated when I plan a vacation that not one person take one bit of interest until the week before we leave. That is when I get the stupid questions of when is the flight, what time does it leave and WHY is it so early. Depression and frustration kicks in. The other questions are even more frustrating like, "Why are we going to this specialty restaurant on this particular night?" Instructions are given to, change it to another night and time. Anyone who has EVER cruised Oceania knows, giving up a Specialty Restaurant reservation with the hope of another exact day and time is a huge RISK if not impossible. With all this in mind, I took my 50-page "Journey document", that showed every decision made and why. Realized it would not be read so I did a 47-minute YouTube.com video for my guest with the high-hard-ones. Problem number #1: We started drinking double vodka's an hour prior to the video presentation. Problem #2: No one was listening to the narrative of the video and all of a sudden, lots of questions starting happening causing every scene so the video had to be pause ever 30 seconds or so. Problem #3: We kept on drinking (heavily, since I was frustrated, I was part of that decision to drink). Result: Total and complete frustration for ME. We only got 15 min into the 47 min video and that took over an hour. PRIOR to beginning the cruise video, one of my guest wanted to put on a movie pre-video. Abbott and Costello Meet Dracula and Frankenstein (no clue where that choice came from). One hour later, not even 1/4 the way through the vacation video, my best friend was falling a sleep on the couch, and waking up every five minutes saying, "I want to watch Abbott and Costello". Journey Document: This is a very organized travel document to basically answer all my guest anticipated question. Not my first rodeo folks. Since none of them participated during the research except to say, "I am not paying for one of the ships Excursions, not one". I did all the months of work. How to get from the Port to City Central, arranging all transfers, booking all hotels, listing websites to gain online tickets for events and transportation, creating "My Google Maps", listing with explanations of famous attractions in each port, and the list goes on. After all the "PLANNING" my wife finally gets interested and Googles bad knees in (each Port) followed by the words to me, "I might not leave the ship at some ports", followed by "I need those shots in my knees!!!". My lovely bride has been working out every day, walking 3-4 miles a day, and three weeks ago, kicked the door by accident and has not walked since. This cruising planning is so accurate. You can't plan for the non-controllable so just have a double vodka and call it a day. Oceania Drink Programs: We booked our cruise prior to "Simply More" so we had a choice of one of three amenities. I choose the $600.00 On-Board-Credit for each cabin. Then I purchased the "Prestige Unlimited Drink Package" for three of the four guest with one guest that simply did not drink. This was NOT an easy decision because Oceania let's you bring wine and spirits onboard, I plan to buy my wife nice wine pre-cruise in Athens, we have a Vista Suite with six bottles of Wine or Spirits, Oceania has two "Happy Hours a night", during the Captain's meet and greet there is an open bar and the list goes on. So drink packages take LOTS of thought and my final decision was, buy the "Prestige Drink Package". The comments I got at 45 days out from the cruise from my wife was, "Why do we need a drink package, I am reading on the Facebook forum we don't need a drink package". Months of research, waffling back and forth with NO HELP or Feedback. NOW She has an opinion. 45 days out my wife becomes the expert!!!! I showed her!!! I said, "To late, my decision. If you don't like it call your congressmen!!!" A man has to stand up for his rights, you know. What to Order In the Restaurant Onboard: I love food, so much so what my wife and I have been on Keto for over 150 days, lost over 25 lbs each. All to enjoy the food on this Oceania Cruise. I read EVERY food related topic for Oceania on CruiseCritic.com. Nothing like "Food Porn". I take notes and put it in my "Journey Document". We all know food is relative to taste and everyone is different. I learned so much and appreciate all the educations and feed back. So as I have learned from the wisest of the wise; Cookies tasteless as well as bad but then again Cookies great, Steaks aways over cooked but then gain steaks cooked perfect, daily souffles tasteless but then again daily souffles outstanding, portions sized to small but then again the portion sizes are to large. Viking food is better but then again Oceania food is the best. All those comments were fine. I understood them as relative to taste. However now my new resident expert who has eats like a bird because of "lap band" surgery's is informing me on menu choices. I hope you enjoyed reading about my agony, frustration and lack of respect. The truth is, "I love it all." I just love that for the first time in 30 ++ cruises over 44 years of cruising, my lovely bride is intensely engages on the planning 45 days in advance. That so far is my favorite experience. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@FetaCheese I have been reading your entire stream on Oceania. I have gotten many smiles at the topics you bring up and how they tie to the comments made by others prior to your cruise. For a while there, I was posting a lot. This was the same approach I took on the NCL Haven and Crystal Cruises Boards. After a while, all my questions were answered and now I sit back and enjoy the CruiseCritic.com read in the morning and before bed. I am so thrilled that you had a great time. Really, you are one of the few on the Oceania Board that approach cruising realistically. That not everything goes great but we all need to have a positive attitude and be flexibly. You never come off as the Ultimate Expert but always come across as wise and even tempered. You deserved a great cruise and glad it happened. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@graphicguy Good theory. I have a different one. NCL miscalculated the fares. They saw all these folks paying incredibly high Haven Fares and thought, HUM, let's keep the up there. What they were not taking into consideration was all the "Future Cruise Credits" and "heavy discount %" they gave making those high fares, "OK". They also did not take into consideration the demand would be high and then level off. What they are finding out is the demand on certain cruises are going down. Just, yet another theory. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

Hello All: Today is a very special day for me. Not only is it 52 days to my "Once in a Lifetime" cruise through the Mediterranean. More importantly, my wife is now researching the ship, the ports, the food on the ship and the cruise in general. She never does that, EVER. I usually do all the planning. I am THRILLED. We are going with friends who do "NO" planning and I have been doing all their planning. I was getting uncomfortable I might mess something up for them or they would not be clear on an important item. So I did a YouTube video for them and my wife. The video was 41 minutes long. We got through 18 minutes that took one hour. WHY, because everyone had questions and talked over the answers being given on the video. Every minute or so I had to stop the video and answer question. My wife then realized, she had some studying to do. Today I handed her my "Journey Document" which was 47 pages. I started it over a year ago. Covers all aspects of the trip giving recommendations NOT requirements. We are not using the brands excursions. I find the to be much more stressful then going on our own. No waiting for buses to fill up for an hour, no having to get up early to make an excursion. We just get up, have a nice breakfast, put on our backpacks, get the mass transit to the city Central and go to two of three sites. This entire process just became so much easier for me with my lovely brides new found interest. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@TodayIsAGoodDayForACruise You in your post said it so well however I think some folks are going to miss it. I have posted numerous detailed information posting on this subject. However, it is kind of like a Owners Manual for a Car. Page 45 in the manual says, the vehicle has "X". Nice to know but what I don't know is how to use "X" to enhance my driving experience. One owner would use "X" this way, another that way. Everyone would use "X" to suit their personal needs. Some would never use "X" making it a waste of time and money. The key to "X" is enhancement of the experience. The "X" in cruising is the butler. Your post established a need, some would say an insignificant need. I would say based on how it made you feel, a very significant need. Your butler listed to you, heard you, qualified your requests. That request was personal to you. Not me or anyone else. This took skill on the Butlers part. I call the the "Crystal Ball Effect". A great butler has to look into their Crystal Ball to see what things "Float Your Boat". That is the most important part of your posting and I hope everyone gets it. This is why I do a Butler letter and have for over a decade. It gives bio information about the guest in my stateroom, wants, needs, and love to haves. Nothing is to over the top. Every thing is very personal with none of the critical. If I share these items like coffee service at 7:30 AM with a bowl of Cheerio's and banana's (example only), it shall happen. If my butler has to figure this out for themselves it won't start happening until mid-cruise. So I help the butler with data so they can focus on service. Thank you for you wonderful post. Excelent. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@Cruzin64647 The video link will give you all the amenities of the H2 Deluxe Owners Suite. The difference is the video is for the NCL Joy. I wrote this op-ed, so when I did the video I attempted to differentiate Haven and Owners Suite amenities. I am also going to attach a excel that shows amenities SOME of which might have changed. I hope the information provided helps you. Cruise well and enjoy every moment. Amenities JOY.pdf

@MarkWiltonM "The Times, They are 0-Changing". When I was a child, a VERY LONG TIME AGO, my mom was a single mom and on a limited budget. About every two months, she would buy my favorite Chocolate bar for all my family of three to share. The brand was Cadbury with nuts and raisins. That taste was such a memory trace for me of special times in the past. Now about 15 years ago, I saw this same candy bar in a local supermarket. I am not so much a candy guy now but the memory was strong like the "force" in Star Wars. I remember bringing it home, noticing it was not quite the size it used to be. I carefully opened the wrapper like "Charlie in the Chocolate Factory" did looking for the golden ticket. The candy look somewhat the same. Maybe a few less nuts but close. I broke off a small rectangle and put it in my mouth. It was awful. It tasted like wax. I was so disappointed that I wrote Cadbury a letter. They wrote back and said they never changed the recipe. They sent me a certificate for a free bar which I ceremoniously cut into a 1000 pieces out of spite. That was the day I realized, "The Times, They are 0-Changing". My hope which is most likely not shared by all is that companies stop cutting back on quality and size to keep the price down. Instead, the keep the quality, formula's, size exactly the same and "just charge me more". Your experience with Celebrity is the same as my experience on NCL. My hopes is Oceania is enough of an enhancement to what I am used too. Not everything but personalized service and food would be lovely. Something tells me I will be extremely happy. Attitude is everything. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@rxlowry I did not click that box. My mistake. I looked back and think you for your response. Love the blog. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@McGarrett5oh Hey, that is copywrite infringement. LOL. Well, it has been a long ride to this moment hasn't it. Lots of questions, second guessing one self. Trying to navigate the information for all the EXPERTS online. Nothing easy about it. Then you start reading an insanely long post on the Haven. The moron who wrote it is a nut case about preplanning and you start doing it yourself. Crazy idea's like Butler Letters, communication with Pre-Cruise Haven Concierge. Nobody does those things. All joking aside, I have one more piece of really important recommendations for you. You controlled all the controllable. YOU ARE DONE NOW!!!! Now just enjoy the cruise with all the non-controllable that come up. Stay positive, flexibly and open to change. 14 days is a long time for a cruise and something will go wrong. Let that be like "Water off a Duck". Second, you visualized how things would be like over and over again. It won't be. Nothing is as great as our visualization. Always have realistic expectations. NOW, "Cruise Well and Enjoy every Moment(tm)"

@1985rz1 Good point for the New SimplyMore program. I am booked on the old program. My strategy would change on SimplyMore. I would utilize the amounts which would be a few excursions and do the rest on my own. The SimplyMore programs is better for some then for others. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@Ella Bella Susan, thank you so much for replying to a post I did in June. The essence of what I was saying is I like the freedom of having choices. If I were to go let's say Viking or Regent Seven Seas, the excursions would be included. For me those would be a waste. So Oceania I can book an Excursion or do it all on my own. I can upgrade my drink program or keep it at Wine and Beer. I have traveled the world for business extensively in my 45 year career. I am on a cruise with our best friends that are on a Very Tight Budget. So I did all the work, figured out the transpiration and how to do it efficiently. I also have WAY to much time on my hands. My point. I LOVE Oceania gives you the ability to book excursions and me the ability to create them on my own. That is the flexibility I am looking for. Added benefit, my guest and my wife and I can visit the ports together and they can afford it. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@LP24/08 I have also read Negative comments however also very positive comments. I like you are new to Oceania. I asked your question on this board a long time ago. Just like the above responses, they were reassuring. My cruise is in November and my guest will be celebrating 70th birthday also. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@graphicguy My idea was never to make another official M&G. It was to 1) Find a GREAT Haven Deal; 2) Have a bunch of Haven Faithful book the cruise just for the fun of it. 3) Make an unofficial meeting in the Haven of many that post on the many Haven streams. The whole Idea was just a "Thought". Just a "What if". I have gone to my share of CC meet and greats. Usually in a bar, usually very quiet with some prices given out. Wine is served and maybe chips. A member of two of the officers show up not very enthused. I figured, we all have a drink package, we are in the Haven anyway, the bar is great, and if we want some real food, was ask the Haven Restaurant a few days in advance. Do will all remember years ago when we had Sliders and Fries when we were escorted to the Haven Lounge. I miss some of those niceties. Again, not a formal thing. But, who knows. Maybe this takes on a life of itself. All that matters is we all have Way To Much Fun. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

I once saw one that said, “This Lounge Chair is reserved for John Smith, do not remove”. Crazy stuff. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@rxlowry It seems this is a tradition for all cruises, cruise brands and levels of cruises. I want to thank you for sharing and also for having a good attitude about this. It is unacceptable behavior's by any guest, on any cruise, at any time. We all have to expect it and not let it affect our long deserved vacations. Great posts this and others so thank you again. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

Well, I could not be happier with the positive response to this thread. Actually, it is more then the response. It is extremely helpful to me personally. I got the idea when folks started to ask me to update "again" my secrets to the Haven Post. The two previous ones were to long. I thought about that and said, why not create a venue for the best Haven Deals instead. BINGO and Thanks to all for the contributions. OK, here is my deal. My older sister has never gone on a cruise. I want to take her on one. As I have said so many times, I am spoiled and will stay booking the Haven. However, she is on budget. The deals that all of you are providing will allow me to work within her budget. When I choose a cruise with I will do in the upcoming weeks, I hope everyone might consider joining and having a Cruise Critic Haven Party. Just a thought and the only issue is the Haven bar on that cruise might run out of spirits. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.