daleandrews

As far as I can tell it looks as though the Oceania provisions concerning reimbursements related to testing positive before (or for that matter during) a cruise are no longer on their website. This, along with their statements in several provisions that travelers should carry insurance for Covid-related expenses, leads me to believe that the reimbursement program no longer exists. If this is the case it would be nice if Oceania had so stated rather than just eliminating the provisions.

Our first trip isn't until November, but the description for the beverage upgrade on Oceania's web page says the following: " PRESTIGE SELECT Enjoy unlimited premium spirits, Champagne, wine and beer wherever and whenever you wish . . . .

We are on the Athens to Barcelona segments, November 1 through 19. (I exchanged messages with you some months back on one of the Roll Call threads.)

I suspect the segment at issue in Flatbush Flyer's example is the same one we encountered (Med cruise on Marina this coming November). When I noted the same segment with the "ultimate" savings option I had our TA check it out and after what was reportedly a LONG conversation with Oceania we got nowhere. The O rep our TA talked to tried to see if they could apply the sale for one segment to our existing 18 day cruise and were told "no." Then they tried to see if they could re-book the whole cruise in segments, and were told that our PH cabin would become available to any wait-listers as soon as the cruise was cancelled even though it was going to be immediately re-booked. And finally it became apparent that even HAD they been able to re-book the cruise to get the increased OLife advantages on the one segment the price of the basic cruise on the separate segments would increase to the level that the actual savings over our booking was almost nothing.

Just an FYI -- my wife and I mentioned to our regular doctor that we would be cruising the Med this fall and he promptly wrote a prescription for each of us for Paxlovid. He told us to take it with us just in case. The prescription was free under out health plan.

We are taking our first Oceania cruise (on Marina) this November -- 18 days, Med. We had selected the drink package as our OLife option and I called Oceania yesterday to ask about upgrading to the prestige package. They said this could not be done on-line nor by calling and (as noted above) must be done once you are on board. The rep also said that an upgrade had to be purchased during the "first three days of the cruise." I don't know if this time frame varies based on the length of the cruise but I pass along what the rep said just for the sake of FYI.

As noted in the quoted material, I started this thread back in April concerning the possibility of Oceania offering Venice shore excursions while Marina is docked in Trieste. I have been checking daily since April waiting to see if such excursions might eventually be offered. A couple weeks ago it occurred to me that since we were taking an 18 day cruise (November 1 through 19) composed of several segments I should check smaller segments. Lo and behold I found that Venice excursions WERE offered on the November 1 through 11 Marina segment which (obviously) was scheduled for Trieste the same day we were. I called Oceania to ask if I could book one of those tours and was told that this was not possible until the tours were loaded onto the November 1 through 19 itinerary. They promised that the shore excursions office would be asked to do this. I continued checking and (to make a long story shorter) called three more times, weekly, with similar unsuccessful results. Finally, however, the Venice tours were added for our November 1 through 19 booking today, June 24. I mention all of this to (1) let anyone else on the itinerary know of this availability, and (2) to let everyone know that the glitch that led to our experience could be a recurring one -- so be forewarned in the context of other bookings.

We are booked on the November 1 through 19 Mediterranean cruise on Marina, our first cruise with Oceania. The cruise was originally scheduled to have two days in Venice, though we were not surprised to see the port changed to Trieste given the present docking restrictions in Venice. We have never visited Venice and were planning to book an all day tour through Oceania, a couple of which were offered (without prices) for the last few weeks. I note that today prices have been posted for offered tours but now none of the Trieste tours presently listed are for excursions to Venice. We have never seen Venice and would hate to miss it. Query: Have others on Oceania cruises visited Venice from Trieste on O-offered tours? Is it likely that Oceania will add more tours as we get closer to our cruise dates? I know we could book independently but Marina is currently scheduled to leave Trieste at 6:00 p.m. and I am a little worried about booking with a company other than Oceania at this port for fear of, err, "missing the boat."