MEFIowa

Any trip is what you make of it, though I tend to agree with your assessment of the respective itineraries. Did much of that W. Caribbean cruise in 12/21. Two of the worst things about your proposed new itinerary is the abject fake "Costa Maya" day (what a joke that tourist trap is!) and the beach day at the mediocre Harvest Kay. Too bad it didn't include Belize City instead (which I fell in love with walking around for hours on a beautiful Sunday, the people so friendly). But take something as "junky" as Santo Tomas, Guatemala. We spent no time there but did an amazing excursion to Livingston and up the Rio Dulce into backwater Mayan communities (thru Go With Gus). A day I'll never forget. And the day on Roatan playing with sloths and monkeys at the reserve was wonderful, too, followed by some time at the West End. And swimming with dolphins and manatees at Cozumel. We did our own excursions. We're in our late 50s.

Yep, bring your wine on board at the start and then buy beer, hard liquor and wine in the various ports. Wife and I didn't spend a penny on O's overpriced alcohol on our 12/13-23/21 W. Caribbean cruise, but we did find some great beers, cana, rum & tequila and even a nice Mexican wine. We're going to do the same 11/18-28/22 on Sirena in the E. Caribbean.

Yes, "anything" could be possible. But you might read the many rather scathing reviews of Sirena here on CC from May-June-July. I don't seem to find any formal published reviews there specifically for Sirena from Aug-Oct. Read the complaints about staff, food, etc. That's staff and supplies. One easy way to help a customer service problem is reduce the number of passengers and move them to a later voyage and another, possibly "better", ship to give the Sirena more time to work out issues, esp. if crew are changing dramatically as the ship comes back to Miami from Europe, as Sirena will be doing.

I read your words thrice and other than mentioning 2022 once, you'd think you were writing in 2019. BEFORE what? COVID. Did COVID impact O and its ships regarding when they returned to sailing? Yes. Did COVID impact O's crews? Yes. Did COVID impact O's ability to get supplies? Yes. Did COVID impact O on quarantine issues on ships? Yes. IS COVID still impacting these same issues today? (Yes) But IF "quite often Private Travel Agencies or College Alumni" issues seem more plausible in late 2022, then to each their own. IIRC Sirena was the last to reenter O service in Spring 2022. And she'll be making a transatlantic to Miami shortly. Sirena has been getting many a scathing review of poor service and poor experience this past summer. And that's tied to crew. Who have to rotate in and out.

I'm essentially responding to your rather dismissive and smarmy initial comments over on the "Disregard" thread... "The why is pretty simple, they sold more rooms than the ship has. It's pretty common in the travel industry...." Could it be crew related? Supply related? COVID quarantine preparation related? Who knows? Something is off about this one. And someone else reporting something similar for an Insignia cruise in early December, too. "Overbooking" seems to be an inadequate assertion when one looks at the facts, the dates and what O has done in regard to them.

For anyone thinking "overbooked", O had final payment from everyone on August 20, 2022. Then 7 weeks later, AFTER I've already recently received my official "Cruise Vacation Guide" WITH LUGGAGE TAGS, O is now trying to get me to change cruises. Yet O already has told everyone their rooms and given us all our luggage tags. IF this is normal, usual and customary "oversold" behavior by O, then they are utter incompetent corporate fools. Which I seriously doubt. Seems more likely last-minute crew or other issues (e.g., supply, being prepared for quarantine, etc.).

Well, you must think O is really quite stupid, for O had already mailed out the Cruise Vacation Guides with Luggage Tags! Nearly 7 weeks AFTER final payment was made! NOW they ask if I want to change cruises? Because they are "overbooked"? Right! So IF this is just "oversold", O has a history of delaying long after final payment was received to try to fix the issue until it has already informed every one of their room and given them their luggage tags? If your assessment is correct, then those "corporate idiots" should all be fired for wasting company time, resources, and ticking off customers. That would be utter fiscal and customer service incompetence.

This was from yesterday on one of the unofficial "O" FB groups for a specific cruise involving Insignia: "Just got an email from Oceania offering me perks such as OBC and excursions if I switch from Insignia 12/10/22 to one of 3 other cruises on Sirena later in January February or March. Never saw anything like that!!"

Not sure if this is "oversold" or "crew related". This is reportedly also for an upcoming Insignia cruise. The complaints about crew issues for the summer seemed pretty serious. Lots of scathing reviews for Sirena this summer! And crews can only stay on so long. IIRC Sirena was the last O ship to restart. And she'll have to make a transatlantic to get over here. With so many new crew? I wonder if O might be thinking better to have 500 or 550 on this R-class ship than 650 if there are crew issues? Final payment for the Sirena 11/18/22 cruise was due August 20th, 2022. So, they've known about any "overselling" since that day. When everyone fully paid. Odd they'd wait till suddenly in October and are reportedly only making the offer to some, not all. AND we got the offer, too, without any TA involved. Booked the Sirena cruise while on Riviera 12/21. But had to decline due to non-refundable airfare.

Keep in mind our final payment was due AUGUST 20, 2022 and only suddenly in October 2022 are they offering this. They would've known since Aug they were overbooked from people who had PAID in full. And I've been paying very close attention to cabin availability on this particular cruise, for I wanted to move from forward to aft, but couldn't. There were still some open Cs in August prior to final payment day.

That's a claim, an assertion. Someone on a FB O group posted this AM they had the same offer for their upcoming Insignia cruise, too. Fascinating to see this arising suddenly like this, when not seeing it earlier in 2022. The complaints about passenger service in 2022 have been seemingly consistent about inexperienced crews. There are rules on how long crews can stay aboard. Thinking Sirena was last to reenter service in early 2022 and her crew may be time limiting out, for example. IF there are crew issues, better to have 500 or 550 passengers on an R-class than 650. And O seems to be selective in who they are offering the option to, not just some blanket anyone want to move offer. For some are mentioning they didn't get the offer.

Who knows the "why"? I'm wondering if this isn't more crew related. Issues with new and changing crew. Their numbers. Tied to a full ship. Moving some off makes it easier for the crew? Just my initial thought. I, too, wish I could do this! Rather have a B2 on Riviera than on Sirena, and considering I booked while on Riviera 12/21 to save the $200 per and there were two $100 price increases afterwards, I'd be getting the bigger room and ship at a steal. Booked this Sirena cruise because it was so much less expensive than Riviera in early 2023 for the same itinerary.

Paul was great on Riviera 12/13-23/21 in the W. Caribbean. I never forgot the Veterans Group he hosted early on the cruise. There were about 33 or so of us. After we introduced ourselves by name, branch and said a bit, he then started from the 1st and went to the last name by name! Got them all correct in order. When I mentioned we didn't have a guest speaker on the mid-cruise comment, he called my room to tell me how to access the recorded guest speakers. Every time I'd see him on deck or inside I'd mention one or the other to him, thanking him.

From the formal official O documentation sent us for our upcoming 11/18-28/22 cruise on Sirena, her sister ship: "MONEY MATTERS For your convenience, we offer a cashless system on board. All onboard purchases and services will be billed to your onboard account. ... The U.S. dollar is the standard currency for all transactions on board. In order to realize the best exchange rate overseas, we suggest that you take advantage of the ATM machines located in many of the ports of call. Cash advances are also available at the Reception Desk. A daily limit of $500 per registered credit card, can be billed to your credit card for a 5% transaction fee."

Food is so highly subjective. IF the food is so problematic, one would expect some significant discussion amongst the passengers and rather public complaints to servers and cooks. I'll be on Sirena 11/18/22 and I'll find out then.

THOUGH for cruise pricing on Oceania, check out the periodic sales. Presidents', Memorial and Labor Day. That's how we did our first O cruise (Riviera, 12/21), snagging an A4 Concierge Veranda 10-day W. Caribbean cruise for just $2099 apiece, when an O brochure fell out of my WSJ on the last Saturday in Jan 21. The identical cruise on the identical ship early in 2023 is priced at $3999 per. And yes, we did the book on Riviera then to save $200 per person (Sirena 11/22), because we fell in love with Oceania, but we have since also booked a later sale for our cruise in the Med late 2023 (Riviera).

A primary difference, in general, for the Oceania experience will be between the much larger O-Class ships (Marina and Riviera) and the much smaller R-Class Ships (Insignia, Nautica, Regatta, Sirena). One can hold up to 1250 passengers vs only 650. A second key is your specific cabin. The cabins on the Rs are smaller than on the Os. Wife and I did Riviera 12/21 and are on Sirena 11/22. Our Veranda Stateroom will be much smaller on S than on R. As for nightlife and entertainment, pretty much the same. But do NOT expect to be wowed nightly. Wife and I only did the comic on R in '21. We enjoyed him, but we went to bed around 2130-2200 to be prepared for the excursions the next day that were our focus. She barely gambled and I didn't. We brought our own wine on board and later our own beer, wine, cana, and hard liquor from the ports. You will have NO trouble finding a quiet relaxing spot, though, of course, quiet and relaxing are subjective and the number of passengers makes a difference. (Wife and I both in our late 50s.)

Here is the material from O's web site, including schematic: Luxury Cruise Suites & Staterooms Aboard the Sirena - Oceania Cruise (oceaniacruises.com)

Wife and I are on that cruise. B2 Veranda, deck 6 forward. IF you see a man with a goatee wearing a t-shirt saying Paraguay on it, that's me. 😉

Since I'm going to be on Sirena 11/18-28/22 in the E. Caribbean, just curious as to how crowded the ship felt. How many passengers aboard? We've got 3 sea days so hope to get a nice "bed" by the pool when I can. How was the food in the Terrace Cafe? Loved that on Riviera 12/21!

We were on Riviera 12/13-23/21 and enjoyed the holiday decorations. We'll be on Sirena 11/18-28/22 so we can't wait to see them decorate for Christmas!

I believe Sirena is the only R Class with Red Ginger. And Jacques is NOT on the R Class. So apples to bowling balls (Riviera to Sirena in this case). There is huge difference menu and taste wise between Red Ginger and the other options in the R Class ships. And it seems so many rave about Red Ginger that one might think they'd be glad to get us out of there. I will tell her about that sea bass. BUT for her, "spicy" doesn't just mean "spicy hot", but often just the mere presence of a spice. She isn't a curry kind of girl, for example. She never developed the taste of "exotic" cuisine in her small midwestern town. (I thank God I was feeding my infant son Filipino food when I was in the Philippines back in the day. Clark AB and a volcano ended that in 1991.)

Yes, we're going to check about a switch when we board. As for the GDR, it offers nothing over and above the Terrace Cafe. I prefer the buffet with instant access rather than "order and wait". And unless and until they move part of the GDR outside, I greatly prefer eating under the starts aft. (And I won't comment on the various complaints I've been reading about the wait staff and service in the GDRs lately. But that's an issue with the "order & wait" service.)

Just a bit bummed that our specialty reservation window opened for us today (B2 Veranda) on Sirena (11/18/22, E. Caribbean) and we couldn't make both of our reservations in the Tuscan Steak. Even called O and the O rep said we can't make 2 in one restaurant. My wife doesn't like Asian. She did not enjoy Red Ginger last year on Riviera (12/21, W. Caribbean). We've got 1 each in both and we'll eat at Red Ginger, but she'll have to find something she likes. She just doesn't like spicy or spicy hot foods. Unlike me. I prefer the Terrace Cafe, eating under the stars anyway. We did NOT eat at the GDR last time and won't this time either.

Yep, booked our Venice to Athens 10-11/2023 earlier this year and it became Trieste to Athens later in the year.