cluso

Had the French burger in Waves for lunch today (Sunday). Oh la la!

Oh no, Mr Bill!

Yes, since Wednesday. 😎

Nice luggage tags!

Arrived to beautiful Vancouver weather on Wednesday. Lots of walking and retracing visits from years ago. Looking forward to our Regatta adventure tomorrow.

Arrived Vancouver yesterday, 9/11, after 3 hops from Florida. Long day since we have to fly east first to Atlanta. Yesterday and today were beautiful, high 60's in the day, mid 50's at night. Maybe some rain Friday and Saturday. We are ready for our Regatta adventure. Did a Renaissance Med cruise, Tahitian Princess, and Azamara cruises all on R ships. This is our first O cruise.

There is a little "fenced-in" patio area for the cabin occupants. Check out Roddy Gateau's thread below yours.

We sailed Renaissance in the Med. When they folded, Princess got 3 of the R ships. We sailed on the Tahitian Princess (R) before Princess pulled out of Tahiti and it was renamed Ocean Princess. They also had Royal Princess and Pacific Princess. Some ships went into the charter business for a while. Now A and O have all the R ships. We love the small ships. Have done about 16 cruises on Star Clippers 3 sailing yachts. We have also owned sailboats, so are used to small heads. 😎

OK, enjoy...

Counting the days until this cruise with you and Iain. Flying to Vancouver 11 September. Thank you for starting this thread. We have been on the R ships when they were Renaissance, Azamara, and the Tahitian Princess. ☺️

Great review, but I guess you didn't have enough room for the King Crab Legs at Tracy's (2 locations). 😁😋🙃

That may be us sometimes when we tack on a one- or two-week land trip with different clothing requirements pre or post cruise. Also, medical requirements add a carry-on (which we normally don't use because we like to travel hands free) for a two week or longer trip.

Hi Charla, I have read all your most excellent reviews. We started going to Key West in the mid 80's due to work (military). It has changed immensely, but we have been on a lot of cruises that stopped there recently. A wonderful place to go for an hour is the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory. It was so cool with butterflies landing on you and their plants were some of the most well-kept plants I have ever seen. It's not too expensive, and if you pick up a local tourist rag, there are good discounts for this. Their gift shop is great. Across the street on the water is the Seaside Cafe at the Mansion. Fun place with lots of options, even lobster pizza. We walked to these places. You can even have time to hit up your other bars. We are off to Oceania for the next few cruises. 😁

And...???

As experienced cruisers/sailors and having lived in Europe, the September through November time frame was our desire. We don't do pools, beaches, and shop for "stuff". We go for the experience. Less crowds/children, cooler weather but not too cool, and pretty much all was still open. Great photo ops and plenty of pleasant cafes for coffee, beer, wine, lunches. A way more chilled time to visit.

I guess I confused people. I know the Specialty Dining info. I just did not know if you could make reservations in advance for the main dining room. DH has a hearing issue (former fighter pilot for many, many years--pre-Tom Cruise) and hasn't explored h-aids yet. Big tabletops aren't in ours or anybody's favor.

No, just didn't know when we can make reservations for the main dining room (not Specialty), or if that is possible before we board...

First O cruise coming up soon. A-2 Cabin, so Specialty Dining Reservations are open 60 days out. We are on a 12-night Regatta cruise so 2 nights each in Polo and Toscana. So, can I make reservations for every night of the cruise at the 60 day point? The reason I ask is the invoice has a line --Specialty Dining Reservations--Open for reservations on: 16-July-24. I was just thinking Specialty, didn't even think about the normal dining room reservations...

That's pretty standard pricing among most cruise lines. Amidships more $$ within the same category.

We booked in June 2023 for September 2024 directly with O. This was before SM. As I recall, O lowered the fares, maybe to entice cruisers to SM. I was on the fence for a while. Anyway, we got the total fare reduction of $1800, SM drinks, and $300 pp excursions, for an A-2.

We took advantage of the Flash Sale to lower our fare for a September trip. On Saturday, when I talked to an O agent, it was sorted out as expected. We have not paid final yet. She said I would have to wait until Tuesday for a manger to review the numbers. After not receiving a new invoice by late afternoon today, I checked my reservation online. It had gone UP several thousand, same cabin. Of course, I immediately called O (on hold only 3 minutes). Turns out the "Revenue Dept" applied a different promotion. That's wild, same cabin for almost $2,000 more. I wonder what that promotion was...The Flash sale ends tomorrow. Our fare is now reduced as expected by $818. We had already reduced it earlier by $1800 when we changed to SM. Those numbers are per cabin, not PP. I do have the new invoice now. Time for some liquid refreshment. 🤪

I think I am figuring out these sales. I am on the same cruise in an A2. Earlier, I elected not to upgrade, but today I figured out I could possibly reduce our fare. I called O and she said she changed it. I won't get the new invoice until Tuesday after a manager comes back to review it. Saving $818. Thank you to everyone!

I looked at prices and cabins available. We have aft cabin 6090, which is supposed to be a good location, so we will keep it. I booked it last June. We have cruised Alaska before, so I thought the aft would be good for pictures, etc.

Relooking at the Terms, it appears all the promotions have that "NBOnly" phrase. So, how do people move up cabins or decrease original fare multiple times?

I saw the dreaded words in Terms "New bookings only", so I guess I can't upgrade to PH. I thought I had read that some people have done that. I have not paid final yet. It's our first Oceania cruise and I booked directly with O.