Norseh2o

Good morning to Dailyites who make this a great read in the morning. Our 58 days at sea traveling around South America (2/7-4/6/23) was our best trip ever. We spent one day at home and then traveled to Arizona to celebrate Dear Mother’s 103 birthday, (4/7/23) with a small group of family and friends on 4/8. Ruth is frail, still reading the paper each day, loved celebrating Easter at her old church in Peoria, Az with a few of us. I will wear a muumuu, listen to Hawaiian music, and watch hula dancers to celebrate Lei Day today as we are in Hawaii with daughter and family. A wave to St Pete Cruiser at the Hilo Hospital, thinking of Kazu on this memorable day. Thanks to all for the pictures, memories, food and drink ideas.

We traveled on the Marina 2/7-4/6/23 from Santiago to Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires to Lima and Lima to Miami. The muster on February 7, 3023 in the Marina Lounge was lacking in organization, the next 2 musters were done on the television & just fine. The first leg of the trip brought us closest to the Antartica We visited the Falkland Islands on the first part of the trip, did not visit the second leg due to weather. We understand that many guests were less than happy about missed ports between Buenos Aires and Peru & many disagreed with Oceania caution about travel in Peru. Any travel can result in missed ports and rough weather. The scientists on board the Marina as we visited the southern tip of South America and Antartica were outstanding. The Spanish lessons and dance lessons were appreciated! The staff, crew, and most guests were exceptional. The food was the finest, (one missed specialty dining salad in 58 days!) the temperature onboard was always comfortable. Our cabin was good, all doors and drawers in working order, plenty of hot water. The days onboard the Marina were the finest. This Oceania trip was our favorite and hopefully, we will book the exact trip again.

No lights, drawn curtains and no balcony use in the evenings due to insects. No pirates! 🏴‍☠️

Amazon on Insignia November-December, 2019. In the 25 days, we enjoyed the Caribbean ports, loved the lazy travel on the Amazon, visited pretty Manaus (nice town, but not sure about calling it the "Paris of South America" as we had been told), we were surprised by the size & beauty of the river. We saw & smelled smoke from fire(s) in Brazil on some days & the back patio of Terrace was closed in the evenings. We were advised to not use balconies, leave curtains drawn & lights out evenings and night time. On the positive side, no rainy days, enjoyed the spa inside and outside most days, the food was exceptional, the port stops and onboard activities better than expected, the staff, crew and guests were the best in all of our travel. We saw 1 bug on the ship while on the Amazon. We hope to book the same trip again in 2025 or 2026.

We enjoyed our 2 Regatta Vines trips in April & September, 2022. For both trips we chose the Historic Ensenada/Tequila tours in Ensenada, Mexico as an excursion. We learned a bit about Ensenada and had a thorough lesson in the agriculture, history and marketing of tequila. Especially impressed with the enthusiasm and love of country by the women and men leading the tour and the tequila tasting. We skipped the shopping in Ensenada & walked back to the ship both trips. In San Francisco we enjoyed a private (booked by friends) wine tour during our April trip and in September, we spent the day walking around San Francisco. We lived in East Bay (Lafayette) last century & felt comfortable exploring. Last month, while onboard the Marina, we booked another Regatta Vines trip for September, 2024. 🙂

In 2022, we traveled on Regatta, Insignia and Sirena for > 60 days. Our most recent (and favorite) trip was Santiago (San Antonio) - Miami on the Marina for 58 days, February - April, 2023. Looking forward in 2023: Regatta, 11 days, Alaska, July, 2023. Nautica, 10 days, Mediterranean, October-November. Marina, 20 days, Lisbon-Miami, November-December. 2024 & early 2025 are (mostly!) booked. Checking Oceania website and watching the mail for the rest of the 2025 itineraries!

No problem with the actual onboard “safety drill”, watched and nearly memorized the video online at home & again in the cabin once onboard. Very disappointed with the joking by the drill leader about the drill - isn’t this a “serious” subject? Who are the dozens of inconsiderate passengers who somehow miss the starting time of 4:45 and enter the Marina Lounge @5:15?

Good afternoon from sunny & cool Southern California. After a fun 10 days in Hawaii and a very delayed flight returning to the mainland (the airlines did give us some $ for a future trip 🙂) , we are rested and packing for our Oceania Marina adventure, February 7-April 6, 2023. Thankful for the time with family on the Big Island, thankful for dear Walla Walla sister and husband spending all of January in AZ and spending so much time with DM. DM prefers no birthday celebration for #103 (April 7, 2023) but rather visits of small groups of family and friends. DH and I hope to spend a week with her at the end of her birthday month. Prayers for all who need them, thanks to the Dailyites who are keep this thread a part of every day good reading. ❤️ to Roy.

Oceania provides ironing (pressing) service for a fee. I have not used the fee service. The Marina and Riviera have laundry rooms on decks 7-11 with 2-3 irons and boards tucked in with the washers and dryers. The R ships (Insignia, Nautica, Regatta and Sirena) have a laundry on deck 7 with irons and boards.

The Sirena was our first Oceania sailing years ago. We returned to the Sirena November, 2022 with a b2b from Lisbon-Barcelona, Barcelona-Miami. The Sirena was as fine as we remembered. We stayed in Concierge cabins, enjoyed all of the dining venues, especially Red Ginger. We like both the O and R ships, prefer the R ship libraries, drink coffee from any and all coffee places, love the food choices, and think that the Oceania staff on all of the ships are exceptional.

Our first cruises were with NCL years ago. Aside from a few very nice Holland cruises from the closest port, San Diego, we are crazy about Oceania. From November, 2021- November, 2022 we traveled on the Marina, the Regatta, the Insignia and the Sirena. Onboard about 85 days, no complaints. Especially fine food at all venues on every trip. We booked at least one new Oceania cruise on each journey & look forward to Oceania publishing more 2025 trips while we are inboard the Marina, February-April, 2023.

This morning we watched the beautiful Konigsdam arrive in Hilo, Hawaii. DH managed a quick photo from our balcony at the Grand Naniloa Hilton. If we return from dinner (and apple pie!) from DD home, we will look for a sunset sail-away.

Expecting rain this afternoon in San Diego County. Maybe a good time to tidy the house? I'll finish packing for 10 days in Hawaii and start sorting and "stressing" about packing for our b2b2b on Oceania Marina next month. Antartica 🧊 and the Caribbean ☀️. No dressed up pets altho I think that DGD would love to dress the new kitty.

Thank you! With many O cruises to our credit, we always enjoy learning about other O cruisers experiences.

Thanks for this post! It reminded me to book my specialties today for our February Marina cruise. Even midmorning, Pacific time when booking, I was able to get good times and dates.

Good afternoon from Hawaii! It is a cloudy, cool day, perfect for morning stops at Target, Walmart and Home Depot for a few Christmas gifts and a long drive north along the coast, quite beautiful! DH, grandson and son in law traveled across the island on Thursday, no volcano activity (darn!) to report. Grandson was a bit disappointed. We are enjoying good meals, quiet days and afternoon walks. And the beach.

Thanks for the posts and good cheer this morning. Thank you @kazu for the cat-proof Christmas tree cartoon, I will send it to our Southern California granddaughters who received a black kitty on Saturday as an early Christmas gift. We spent yesterday in LA Quinta, CA with DS and family, DD and family, DSIL' parents and his brothers and families. Had forgotten how lovely the Palm Springs area is, surrounded by rain swept mountains, we traveled on wide streets and oh my goodness, the golf courses! Son and daughter-in-law prepared fondue, DD a green salad, DH opened the wine and son-in-law had the small batch bourbon on hand. The more we get together, the happier we are is always the sentiment when with those folks!

Managed to post our Christmas cards (and the box of gifts that I should have taken to AZ when visiting at Thanksgiving...) yesterday, finished wrapping presents and today will pack for our 8 day Hawaii visit with DD and family. It is so nice to read about Dailyites back on ships, posting and loving the life on board! Prayers for our Care List and love to my brother-in-law, especially today, the 3 year anniversary of my dear sister's passing.

Happy Blue Jeans Day! I decided to 'dress up' for a trip to the local post office & changed from sweats (bought during the stay at home pandemic days) to blue jeans. After reading The Daily, decided to wear the jeans all day, while pulling weeds, cleaning sewing things, and starting Christmas cards. I love our local US post office, and I am certainly behind with getting things ready to ship for the holidays. A few people in line ahead of me were juggling big boxes and piles of stamped cards, all ready to post! With my boxes and stamps in hand, I hope to catch up!

In 2023 we travelled on the Regatta, Insignia and the Sirena. We stayed in bow cabins on the Regatta and Insignia and on the Sirena we changed from a port side cabin to a bow cabin as we were unable to book the bow cabin for the first part of the back to back trip. The cabin sizes seem to be the same. On the Insignia and the Sirena, we experienced rocking and rolling seas and woke often during the nights. We spend a lot of time on the water & have never been seasick - if we were prone to seasickness or uneasiness while at sea, we would not choose a bow cabin.

We returned to the USA after 6 weeks across the pond. Our October cruise on NCL Star was our final cancelled for Covid make-up cruise. Nice to travel with sister, brother & in-laws and DH. The food and service on the Star were better than expected. The best part was the tour at the end of the trip- a coach excursion with a dozen others, we traveled from Southampton to London with an outstanding tour guide and driver! We stayed in London 3 more days and thanks to the tube system, visited museums, enjoyed fine outdoor lunches and a peek at Westminster Abbey (which seems to be getting ready for the coronation! 👑). We flew to Lisbon and used the subway system to explore the city (in between rain showers!). We boarded Oceania Sirena for b2b, Lisbon to Barcelona, Barcelona to Miami, home for Thanksgiving. Hopeful that the transatlantic trips can continue for years, nothing better than days at sea! Thanks to all for The Daily, I missed many days, hope to catch up. Happy December!

A copy of “all itineraries” chart, found onboard near Ambassador’s desk. .

Enjoying our last full day in Lisbon between our NCL Star cruise (nice stops in Belgium, France, Spain and Portugal) and boarding Oceania’s Sirena for our cruise to Florida. Pleasantly surprised with NCL’s food, service and best end of cruise excursion that took us from the ship to stops in London and finally to Heathrow. We stayed on for three days in England and traveled by Tube for long walks in London, visits to museums and Westminster Abbey. After nearly a week in Lisbon (and a bulging suitcase of laundry), we are ready to be back onboard & on the water! Missed a few days of reading The Daily, am sending prayers to those in need and thanks to all who add their posts filled with pictures, recipes and news. Lisbon, October, 2022

When i requested a look at my bill once after 4 days and again after 8 days, the charges of internet and daily gratuities were dutifully posted and subtracted from total onboard credit. Of the $800 total onboard credit, cash back of $75 and no bill on cc after disembarking, seems as though gratuities were paid from non-refundable money.

Traveled on NCL Star earlier this month. Our onboard credit was a good value from our TA plus NCL stock. Boarded with $650 non-refundable onboard credit and $150 refundable onboard credit. Used all of the non-refundable to pay for better internet package $299 (as Platinum members, we received .25% discount from $399 cost), paid 18x2x10 ($360) for Club Balcony gratuities, $29 for a bag of laundry, bought a few drinks and collected $75 cash the evening before leaving the ship. I requested but never received a receipt at the end of trip.