Eloise4Ever

I am open to correction but I think the cabin ceilings are always metal. We were able to attach magnetic hooks to the wall on Riviera before the refurb but not afterwards as the walls are now panelled with wood. However, the ceiling was metal both before and after. We will be sailing on Vista soon so interested to see what the situation is there.

7 hours ago, Hlitner said:

As usual, we were among the last standing in Horizons and did not leave until about 11:45.  I know I sound like a broken record but ending the live entertainment at 11:15 drives me (and many others) nutz.  Last night there again was a pretty big crowd (over 100) and packed dance floor up until the minute the band stopped.  

I've been enjoying reading your thoughts about your first Oceania cruise Hank. We feel the same way about the early ending of entertainment each night. It's the one thing on Oceania that we have found to be very much lacking. Have you mentioned this at all on any of your mid-cruise surveys?

6 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

... I am a first generation Sicilian-American who spent much of his childhood in the Red Hook/Carroll Gardens section of Brooklyn - the Sicilian stronghold so accurately portrayed in the Nicholas Cage/Cher movie Moonstruck with its Cammareri Bros. bakery just a few doors down from my grandmother’s “walk up.”

I  am tickled to hear you are from the "Moonstruck" neighbourhood of New York Flatbush 🤩. That's one of my very favourite movies,  due in no small part to the setting. Very evocative. I'm delighted to hear that you feel it was an accurate portrayal.

Really enjoying your review Hank. I've been reading your CC contributions for years and appreciate your comments.

If, at some stage before you disembark Vista, you could find out who the CD will be for the first two weeks in June, I would be very grateful.

Thanks to all who have reported on the offerings at the Bakery in Baristas on Vista. Sounds like a huge improvement on the baked goods available in the same venue on Riviera and I can't wait to try it in June 😃

2 hours ago, SATaxman said:

At Toscana you can ask for a half size portion of any of the pastas.

A half size portion of the lasagne is a perfect starter ☺️

1 hour ago, RPen63 said:

The approach they took was more than fair and is certainly not unethical.

I don't think anybody is saying O's approach in your case was unethical. I know I'm not.

18 minutes ago, RPen63 said:

The fact that refunds are deemed to accrue first to non-SM excursions irrespective of how they were originally allocated seems fair to me, and is certainly not unethical.

Agree 100%. The issue under discussion was around the "use it or lose it" nature of SM shore excursion credits. Your post was quoted as an example of someone receiving a refund of unused SM credits so thank you for confirming that was not the case.

10 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

As for lost SM credits - I assume that if you booked an excursion and the port was cancelled, you have to use the credit for another excursion. No refunds. But this is no different from SS, Regent or Viking. Those lines have one included excursion in each port, and if the port is cancelled, you don't get any refunds. Technically, you paid for the excursion in that port (we know that nothing in life is free), so how this practice is different from what O does?

6 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

Yes, that is true but Oceania is by no means the only cruise line to do this. 

 

The SM credits are an "inclusion" in your fare. It's up to you to use them or not. 

 

HAL, for example, allows you to buy (or includes, on certain specials) their "Have It All" package, which includes $200 credits for shorex and 2 free specialty dining reservations. 

 

If you don't manage to book the shorex or if you can't make reservations for a time that suits you, you don't get the money back.

These are all fair points. The issue was raised by folks who couldn't use their SM shore excursion credit because O cancelled or shortened time in ports. All other excursions were sold out. I think in these cases the cruise line could see that the guest had "spent" the OBC before boarding and refund them accordingly if a port was cancelled.

With the luxury lines the excursion costs don't stand out so much as everything is included in the fare. With O they are saying "pay the fare and we will give you x amount of money to spend on excursions". Which may be why folks are feeling hard done by. 

1 hour ago, ORV said:

Here is one, there are others of people onboard getting refunds or additional tours, but I’m not going to waste time digging them up for you. 
 

Have you personally experienced losing your SM credits?

Thanks for that but honestly I don't think it's terribly clear. The poster does say they ended up with "excess SM credits" which may be understood as SM credits they couldn't spend.

I personally haven't experience losing SM credits but for me, unethical business practices are a red flag. Please note, I didn't dream this scenario up. It has been mentioned a few times on this thread that the SM excursion credit is "use it or lose it".

1 minute ago, ORV said:

Yet there are multiple reports saying they do. 

Multiple reports saying they do provide OBC to guests unable to spend their shore excursion OBC due to port cancellations?

11 hours ago, ORV said:

Some of you guys really are smart enough to not feed the trolls. So let’s not. 

So predictable. I wondered how long it would take for the O cheerleaders to trot out the old reliable "troll" trope.

6 hours ago, Vallesan said:

Is there any data published to show that Oceania cancels and shortens more port stays since SimplyMore was introduced?

Is there any data to show Oceania misses more ports than any other line?

Or are these just ‘guesses’?

 

Let's forget about the conspiracy theories. They are a distraction from the simple fact that O does not provide OBC to compensate their guests if they are unable to use the shore excursion credit that was included as part of their purchased cruise fare. I guess everybody defending this practice by O is okay with that.

2 minutes ago, shepherd really said:

Unlike many mainstream lines, Oceania doesn't break out port fees or taxes as separate charges.  This is literally much ado about nothing.   Perhaps O is not a good fit for you. 

Again, I am very surprised that folks are comfortable with this kind of dubious business practice. O may not break out their port fees but don't you think they should?

Any company that treats their customers in such an underhand way is not a good fit for me. I find it amazing that so many are untroubled by these practices. To say this is much ado about nothing gives O carte blanche to treat their guests poorly.

1 minute ago, ak1004 said:

 

Did you see my previous post??

I did. You clearly saw mine but seem to have missed the point. My post is about what happens to the Simply More cohort and the simple fact that O do not make them whole when the company fails to provide the services the guest purchased as part of their cruise fare. Simple as that.

2 hours ago, ak1004 said:

 

How exactly they "profiteering from their customers" by cancelling ports? Don't they lose tens of thousands in revenues from cancelled excursions?

IMO O are "profiteering" in these circumstances because they are denying their guests the chance to spend the Simply More shore excursion credit, the price of which was included in the cruise fare. If they were following reputable business practices they would refund guests for a service which they purchased but which the company can no longer provide. As O are not giving refunds, it seems clear that they're making an unethical profit out of the Simply More cohort.

And don't even get me started on the fact that O don't refund port fees in the case of missed ports. That sharp practice deserves a whole thread of its own.

11 hours ago, pinotlover said:

It’s use it or lose it!

Get over it . SM is simply a price increase. 😒

Thank you for your clarity and brevity. 

I'm really surprised that there isn't more protest about this issue though. Especially since O's tendency to skip ports or shorten port times seems to coincide with the introduction of Simply More. It's not a great look for a cruise line to be blatantly profiteering from their customers by reducing shore excursion expenses while at the same time disappointing customers by missing or shortening ports. Double whammy!

10 hours ago, pmatawan said:

They will convert the canceled cruise excursion cost to refundable shipboard credit. 

This is great news as previous posts indicated that Simply More shore excursion credit would simply go to waste if ports were cancelled or hours in port were shortened. I hope this is now official O policy across all their ships. It is only right that guests receive onboard credit to replace the shore excursion credit that they cannot use due to circumstances outside of their control.

Cruiserchuck, I was recently advised on a phone call with an Oceania rep that I would only receive one advance reservation per specialty restaurant on a 32 day Grand Voyage. I believe it's  the cruise after the one you're looking at as it's on Riviera and departs Cape Town in December 2024. That 32 night cruise is not being sold in shorter segments as far as I can tell. It's odd that you would receive very different information about the cruise from Barcelona to Cape Town as I don't think that's being sold in multiple segments either.

We boarded Reflection around 1pm last Monday from Terminal 25 at Civitavecchia. The agents checked us in on iPads while we sat in the Suite Check In area. They didn't tell us if the suites were ready or about the lunch in Luminae. In future i would ask those questions. Luckily I had already seen the lunch information on the app so we went straight to Luminae and had a very nice lunch. 

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the queue for security in Terminal 25 at Civitavecchia. It was very long (although it moved quite quickly, despite the folks in line who waited until they were at the security scanber to start patting their pockets for wallets etc.) and there was no separate line for suite guests.

Thanks for your review. We will be boarding Reflection on the same itinerary next week. Do you know the name of the Cruise Director currently onboard?

6 hours ago, Bobal said:

 

They may not have mentioned it but the only way back to the ship after a visit to Oia or Fira is via the cable car or walking down.  Have visited many times on several different cruise lines and none of the excusions go directly back to the ship.

 

We'll be visiting Santorini in a couple of weeks on Reflection and are trying to figure out what, if any, excursion to book. I am considering "Destination Highlight: Island Drive and Village Oia". The description of that makes it sound as though guests will be bussed back to the port from Fira - see below:

Would love to hear whether those with experience think this description is correct or not?

On 7/24/2023 at 12:54 PM, Esprit said:

It’s called the Character Restaurant and has an Italian menu. We just had a drink there this time as it closed at 3 pm for a break.

We will be visiting Santorini on Reflection this September and celebrating a very special wedding anniversary that day. Would you recommend this restaurant (or any other) for an occasion dinner? 

11 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

See post #20.

Thank you! 🙏

Thank you so much for doing this live review, I know it takes up a lot of time. Your wonderful report helped us decide to book the same itinerary in September in a suite. We had been leaning towards Silhouette as it has been revolutionised but Reflection seems to be holding up ok. I will be following the rest of your journey with great interest.

Can you please tell me the name of your hotel in Rome? I don't think I saw it mentioned.