DrHemlock

6 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Recently on Kauai, every restaurant we visited had a QR code on the table. It was actually very efficient. Point your phone at it and bingo!

Well, not very efficient for those of us who neither have nor want a cell phone.  Apparently, based on earlier posts in this thread, there are many of us Luddites.  

And even if we did have one, I've tried reading a menu on someone else's cell phone ... but only once: squinting and scrolling (especially after a nice martini) are hardly conducive to anticipation of a fine meal.  

I've found that "Excuse me; could you bring us a printed menu?" works every time since the alternative is that we don't order, eat, pay or stay.  They may keep 'em hidden, but they've got 'em somewhere.

1 hour ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

I am thinking (but not willing to bet) there will be no Red Ginger on Nautica. That said, I’d be very happy to be proved wrong.

Thereby the adage: "Different strokes...etc."  We two would be very happy for you to be proved right!

23 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

I know for a fact that some Platinum folks got the invite too.

Then I happily sit corrected.  Even cynics can't be right all the time.....though it does become easier and easier as the future gives way to the present.

8 hours ago, LHT28 said:

most of  the mini fridges  are more like  a cooler   some will be cooler than others

Have never seen a freezer on any ship' s  fridges

 

And, truth be spoken, they're not even all that cool.  Kinda halfway between room temp and what you'd wish for in a fridge.  Think "cellar temperature."

On 6/24/2021 at 5:18 PM, Flatbush Flyer said:

In this case, I’d say I disagree. From what I’ve heard, this Panel invite is targeted at O regulars who don’t need advertising to keep booking O cruises. 
Perhaps some of the O “regulars”’ here will share whether or not they received that same invite(?).

We've taken 13 cruises with O and have three more booked so presumably we'd be considered "O regulars who don't need advertising," yet we've not been invited.  This would appear to contradict Flatbush Flyer's analysis.  

Other responses above seem to indicate that the invitations are, in fact, not for O regulars but are instead aimed at newer O cruisers.  As HiFi43 wrote, they already know what we want. 

Not that O's strategy is a bad thing -- it's just business -- but it appears the only thing "exclusive" about this Insights Panel is that it's populated exclusively by new(er) fish.  Still, to the extent that it works for all our benefits, it can only be a good thing.  Maybe they will want a circumnavigation of Sicily; we'd book it in a heartbeat!

2 hours ago, tgg said:

I followed the link and was asked for lots of demographic information. There was no indication of any benefit to me for participating, however.  Does anyone have an info about this?

Well...sorry to be cynical but it sounds like the information they're requesting from you will be fed into an algorithm leading inevitably to a whole bunch of "targeted" advertising from O and whoever else.  When a corporation mentions that you're "exclusive" and a "connoisseur" and they want your opinion about "experiences, amenities and features" -- oh, and a whole bunch of demographic info about yourself -- you can pretty much assume they want to send plenty of customized advertising: the better to hook you with.  JMO and YMMV.

5 hours ago, Condocat said:

We disembarked early once, it was no problem.  Just tell your TA in advance and the details will be arranged with O and noted on your itinerary.   Confirm details when you board.   

 

Of course this was "pre-Covid days".

 

   

Condocat has the procedure exactly right, as we can attest from having done so in pre-Covid days.  Those days are gone, but the procedure will be the same and will take into consideration not only whether O has a problem with early disembarkation but also whether local officials will allow it.  That part could be problematic, depending upon the port. 

Oh, good grief!  The signature, too?  So, posters have been reading my misspelling for a year now.  How "embarasing!"  😮

I've never found a way to delete or edit posts once they've been up for an hour or so (which I would do if I could) but at least the spelling in the signature has now been corrected.  Meaning, of course, that post #6 now makes no sense at all.

Anyway.....would love to hang out and chat further but gotta go and join Jazzbeau at the blackboard.

OR....I could have looked down the page at my own CC signature to see the correct spelling.  Oy!  Gotta start waiting until the second cup of coffee before writing.

Oops!  Too late to edit.  I should have caught the Nautica error even though it had been typed correctly originally and "corrected" (to incorrect) unnoticed by the spell-checker, but I didn't actually know how to spell Sirena/Serena and was too lazy to look it up.  I thought, "Hmmm...is it Sirena as in the sirens who lured ships to their demise on the rocks, or is it Serena as in everything's serene aboard?"  The latter choice seemed more likely but, as Emily Litella used to say, "Never mind!"

Thanks for being my proofreader.

The R ships (Regatta, Nautical, Insignia, Serena) have forward-facing category A2 cabins 7000, 7001, 6000 and 6001.  Vista suites also face forward IIRC.  We prefer seeing what the Captain sees and also enjoy watching the deck crew work during docking, so we've stayed in them exclusively for our past several cruises.

The deck 7 cabins have a better view over the bow because they're one deck higher and just below the bridge so we always try for them.  However, deck 6 is nearly as good when deck 7 is already booked by others, and not a problem in terms of the view over the bow.

Be aware that 6000 and 6001 are directly over the main theatre so some sounds can be heard during afternoon rehearsals if you're not ashore.  Also, the same is probably true during the shows themselves though we never hear it as we're full of wine and sound asleep by the 9:00 p.m. show start times.

Be aware also that being in the pointy end of the ship means a fair amount of motion when seas are running high.  We're not bothered by it -- in fact, we find it rather exciting to watch the bow smashing down between waves -- but your mileage may definitely vary in that regard.

Some posters complain about the wind on the balcony while at sea, but again, it doesn't bother us.  Just don't wear a hat that can blow off your head!  

11 hours ago, Hlitner said:

The frustrating issue is dealing with air since we prefer to do Biz Class and "O" is not a good option.  We could get a great deal on air now if we use miles.  If we wait the good deal may not be a good deal.

Last time I checked (admittedly not in the past few weeks), AA and UA were both allowing cancellation of FF itineraries and reinstatement of miles with no fee or penalty.  I've done it 2-3 times over the past year as situations changed.  Even before COVID, the mileage reinstatement fee was only $150-200 which essentially provided cheap insurance for grabbing a good deal on FF bookings when actual travel was not a certainty.  YMMV, of course.

Contrary to pinotlover's boarding procedure described in #21 above, we try to board as early as possible.  Here's why:  

It's not for the buffet lunch, although that's nice (or would be nice if there were any tables available, which there never are).  We get on early so's we can hit the library before all the interesting new books are picked clean from the shelves, mostly never to be seen again until Disembark Day.  Plus, the R ships that we prefer have such beautiful, comfortable libraries!  O ships' libraries are less satisfactory (or were before OceaniaNext which we've yet to experience), as if added as an afterthought.  

Yes, I know: Kindle/Nook/whatever on an iPad screen would solve the issue but that's not for us, thank you.  We like to turn real pages in real books, and those can be tough to find ashore in foreign ports.  We certainly don't want to schlep them from home.  

But that's just us.  If it weren't for that one detail -- if we preferred to spend our free time during the cruise socializing, using the spa, going to lectures and demonstrations, etc. -- we'd follow pinotlover's example every time.  So civilized!

1 hour ago, RJB said:

So has this become a web site for travel agents?  Let them get their own web site or share what they get with all of us.  Good either way 

They do share what they get with all of us, and we never even know that they're TAs unless we happen to know them personally.   I know mine from back in early '02 when they were allowed to identify themselves, but that practice has long-since been banned.  Mine -- a CCC member -- is a major provider of information to this board and is frequently thanked in replies posted by members, including myself.

Right on, bro'!

To paraphrase Emile De Becque:  "We know what you are against.  What are you for?"

13 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I think you missed the joke...

Yes, apparently I did miss the joke.  Shipping is vital to the economy of our country; cruising (much as we love it) is not.  Therefore, any president should rightly take an interest in the Suez situation and offer resources to help resolve it.  Whether that same president should take an interest in frustrated cruisers is a different matter and open to debate.  What's funny?

10 hours ago, Daniel A said:

President Biden is committed to seeing shipping open up in the Suez Canal - just not in the US though.  😂

Last time I checked, "shipping" was not the same business as "cruising" despite the latter taking place aboard ships.  Cargo containers, no matter how closely together they may be stacked, don't infect each other with viruses which may then be further transferred to other containers in their destination port.  

In fact, on the reasonably safe assumption that at least some of the cargo aboard that container ship is headed for Amazon and/or other US merchants/manufacturers, the president would appear to have quite a justifiable interest in getting the bloody boat moving again...as one would expect any US president to do.  Do you disagree?

Good one, njhorseman!  Looking forward to one or more of the legal eagles on this board addressing the question.  (Sadly, it's above my pay-grade.)

Transatlantic Barcelona to Miami with Jacques Pepin aboard.  

Not only did he conduct the cooking demonstrations that one would expect; he also used the gym along with us regular folk, and he would sit at the bar and talk to people.  

A great guy, totally unaffected by his status.

Cannot say for sure whether there is pool deck noise on the R ships (of which Insignia is one) but we have experienced it on other ships.  That's why, when sailing on an R ship, we always choose a PH in the front of the ship.  It will be under the computer room and/or games room on Deck 9.  Always quiet there.  Also, there's very little hallway traffic because the corridor leads only to some officers/ranking staff quarters even farther forward.  

But this advice applies only to the port (left) side of the ship.  Those forward PHs on the starboard side are directly beneath the gym.  One might expect noise from overhead due to weights being dropped or from various zumba classes (boomp-boomp-boomp).  

You can't go wrong with 8000, 8002, 8004 unless you're especially sensitive to the motion of the ocean.  In which case, forget everything I've said.

True re Allianz.  

However, to be clear for members who aren't cruise insurance mavens, the Travel Protection Program Enhancement sent by Oceania and posted above is not affiliated with Allianz.  

Even with the Allianz policy (which I have not read), the question remains: What if you're not sick but you've been exposed to Covid aboard ship and, therefore, are not allowed to fly home without first being quarantined for two weeks at the port where you've been off-loaded?  Does that count as "trip interruption,"  meaning you are covered for expenses?  It apparently does not with O's new TPPE, which states you must be sick or injured even though not requiring hospitalization.  

Admittedly nit-picking here, but it's always the nits of insurance policies that bite you in the end. 

I received the same notice, forwarded by my TA.  I read the notice and the linked policy as closely as a layman can read any of those things.  Nowhere did I see any mention of Covid.  Lots of trip insurance and emergency evacuation policies specifically exclude everything Covid-related, and they say so right up front.  What about this one?  To me, silence on the issue means you're not covered.  

All well and good that this new enhancement covers you if "a physician certifies that you cannot fly home due to a sickness or injury which does not require hospitalization."  That would seem to be the case for most of us if we are all put ashore at the nearest port because one or more passengers test positive for Covid mid-cruise.  We aren't sick or injured, but we will probably be quarantined for two weeks at our expense before we're allowed to fly home.  Does this policy cover that?  Inquiring minds want to know....

Mea culpa on the free bottle of wine.  We've sailed O on a bunch of cruises and I forgot that that freebie comes with frequency, not cabin class.  

The "free laundry service" shown on O's amenity list in post #3 above is of questionable value.  Three-day turnaround for your laundry when you've deliberately packed as light as possible?  Ummm...probably not.  Good ol' regular 1-day service works better for us and it's a good use of OBC. 

Well, you get a welcome bottle of decent bubbly plus a free bottle of wine with a concierge veranda.  Also, your cabin will be ready about an hour before non-concierge on sailing day.  

Both are nice but non-essential.  For us, the biggest attraction of concierge class is that we get to make specialty restaurant reservations before non-concierge pax.  Penthouse and higher get first crack, then concierge about a week later, then everyone else about a week after that.  (Don't quote me on the time frames.)  If you like a two-top at a certain time, you'll increase your chances of success by booking concierge.