sunlover12

I’ll wait until the prices are released in October but for now I’ll assume they will not be going down. Same price, fewer inclusions. SM was a good match for me because I drink wine with meals and I go on ship excursions. O Life was a good deal too. Now the customers who want cruise only fare have gotten their way.

For anyone looking for an alternative cruise line or perhaps land based travel, haha, good luck with that. Everything is expensive because the demand is there. 

1 hour ago, PhD-iva said:

OK, so I’ve tried multiple times to take my photo as part of the online check-in process. Frustrating process, and am not able to take and upload an acceptable photo although it does not tell me why my photo is not sufficient to proceed.
Even if I select “skip the photo”, I cannot get my boarding pass. Any tips? BTW, I tried Oceania’s chat function, and it was pathetic and useless.

I did the online check-in process today and almost had a similar experience. I skipped the photo because it's not necessary. They always take a photo at the terminal anyway. I watched the video and got down to "save or print boarding pass". It wouldn't let me do it.  I called Oceania and she told me I have to wait 24 hours, then I can print the boarding pass.  I questioned that because that has never been a requirement but she insisted it has always been that way. ??

When my husband checked in a little later, we were then able to print both boarding passes.  So if you're traveling with someone both have to check in before you can get the boarding passes. 

It's always interesting when you call Oceania. You never know who you're going to talk to.  The stuff they come up with and then insist it's true......

1 hour ago, bandp407 said:

Thank you ! No, we are not looking for ballroom. 60’s, 70’s & 80’s works! The band makes the difference. They need to play for their audience. 

Some cruises will have a guest band as well.  A few years ago, my cruise on Marina had a guest band that did a Beatles tribute in Horizons at 10:30.  There were at least 200 people up there with many on the dance floor. 

2 hours ago, bandp407 said:

Thank you- yes, I will check it all out. I think I missed a sale ? Any comments on the evening music? 

The band plays in Horizons at 10:30.  There is a dance floor.

They may also play on the pool deck in the afternoon, weather permitting. 

They have not played in the lounge pre-show on my recent cruises.  That may depend on the ship however.

3 hours ago, The Sunset Glow said:

 

In Canada your credit and debit cards never leave your sight - the machine comes to you. I can't remember the last time someone took my card and walked away to a machine to run the payment through - at least 10-15 years. We've had chips in our cards for about 15 years too, where we just tap or put a PIN in the machine. I think the chip & PIN is just becoming popular there over the last few years.

 

We also very rarely use personal checks in Canada (they are never used in a store and mostly used as a void check to get banking info to a company) but they are still popular in the US for everyday purchases. And we us e-transfers through our banks to send people money - I don't think you have that there either and have to use a third party like Venmo to send money?

 

I honestly can't believe how far behind the US is on this banking stuff. I mean it's such a large country with the biggest economy in the world - how are they not keeping up with the rest of the developed world on banking technology?

I rarely write checks anymore.  People here don't use them for everyday purchases.  Target no longer accepts checks.  It's getting more common now to see "cards only" in restaurant windows.  In the last couple of months I've been to two restaurants who have brought hand-held payment terminals to the table. As has been mentioned already, it would be a huge project to change out all the payment systems in every retail establishment in the largest economy in the world. 

For reference, I live in a mid-size state in the U.S. in the Great Lakes Region. 

41 minutes ago, Rainbow3fe said:

The 1st sea day is on day 6. So I won't really know in advance which day the Captain's Party will be. That will be fine. We can play it by ear.😎

 

My upcoming 11 day cruise doesn't have any sea days. The Captain's Party will be on Day 2  which is an early departure from port at 3pm so it won't conflict. It's at 5:30 and lasts about an hour. 

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Interesting.    I was of the opinion that the use of specialty was unlimited but you were limited to the number of reservations you indicated per-cruise.   

 

So question is--- is it unlimited if you can get additional reservations or agree to share tables?

It's what @njhorseman has already replied to.  When requesting at the dining reservation desk, you'll have a better chance if you're willing to share a table. You are limited but remember that an advantage to being in a Suite is that you can order from the Specialty restaurants and have it delivered to your cabin by your butler.  Just let him know that morning. 

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Just a couple quick observations -

 

Both Celebrity RS and Oceania Vista come with Unlimited Specialty Dining.   Oceania offers unlimited Specialty to all room classes not just the upper suites.

 

Celebrity RS comes with Unlimited Laundry and Dry Cleaning.   Oceania come with Complimentary Pressing on Embarkation at 2 Bags of Laundry. 

Will discuss more when we get further into the Comparison 

The number of specialty restaurant reservations are not unlimited. It varies by category of cabin and length of cruise. When you board the ship, go to the dining reservation desk to request additional reservations. According to Oceania's website:

Insignia, Nautica, Regatta and Sirena 
Concierge Level Veranda and above 
Cruises 7 days or less: 1 reservation at each restaurant 
Cruises 8-17 days: 2 reservations at each restaurant 
Cruises 18 days or more: 3 reservations at each restaurant 
 

Also to clarify the complimentary bags of laundry will be 3.  20 items in each bag. 

11 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

The challenge is wading through their newbies and not-so-helpful phone reps until you connect with the cadre of long-serving experts who are the examplars of good customer service.

Thank you for saying this. I know there are some very good O phone reps but unfortunately the last time I called to ask about a shore excursion, I got one of the not-so-helpful ones.  Not only could he not answer my question, it sounded like he was eating and there was a barking dog in the background.  Is it too much to ask Oceania to train their employees to be professional phone reps?  It shouldn't be on the customer to have to call back in hopes of getting a knowledgeable and helpful customer service agent. 

9 hours ago, Volterra24 said:

 

I still have not received a return call from our cruise concierge, it has been four days. So I went online and just started booking dinners as best I could. There are 6 of us traveling together in three rooms so toggling between those bookings was a learning curve.

 Dinner wise, I reserved tables of 4 and a table of 2.  Maybe they can be placed near each other.  Only on two of the reservations could I get them at the same reservation time. So my sons can go earlier or later as the case may be. (You will probably recognise them as they are handsome and likely the only guests on the boat under the age of 60!)

Your sons will be happy to know that there is a good chance there will be other guests their age on the ship.  I was on a Mediterranean cruise on Nautica last summer and there were a lot of 40-somethings and some 30-somethings.  I'm in my late 60's and was way north of the median age. Of course each cruise is different but you may be surprised. It depends on the itinerary but the Med attracts younger guests.

We had a large group and the specialty restaurants were very accommodating in sitting us at 2 tables next to each other.

1 hour ago, jonthomas said:

I also need to add...

 

We do travel as an extended family with two young boys ages 7 and 5.

 

At Christmas time we will be on the Celeb reflection ...

The boys go free, they will be in the kids camp during the day. Will be eating in the buffet mostly, with us reminding them not to run. Hard to do, with all the kids, running. A wild time, no doubt, but expected and not seen as a holiday for us.

Anytime I am with my children and grandchildren is a holiday. We are scattered across the country and it is rare when we are all together. We will all be on a RCI cruise next year and very much looking forward to it. We'll be eating dinners in the main dining room. You don't have to settle for the buffet.  Cherish the time with your family all together and don't form a preconceived notion that it won't be a holiday. 

11 hours ago, osandomir said:

After many years for us Oceania specialty restaurants add very little value to the cruise experience. We actually often prefer the GDR because of the variety of choices. Some of our specialty reservations remain unused. But if you want them, especially on the longer cruises, you’ll have a good chance to get extra and it’s even more likely for the late dining which you prefer.

 

And by the way, to address your concerns, concierge level if not critical in some cases can be of little more help when you ask for additional reservation on board.

It's good to know someone else is thinking the same thing.  The specialty restaurants are nice but we don't want to eat there 4 nights out of 11. We like the GDR and Terrace because of the variety.  On our upcoming cruise in September we only booked 1 night each at Polo and Toscana.  2 more nights wouldn't add value for us. 

We'll use all of our allotted reservations on Vista next year as it will be our first cruise on it.

14 hours ago, walkingsoon said:

Never been on Oceania, but I'm eyeing a fairly long cruise on an O-class for next year.

 

I notice prices seem pretty high compared to what I've paid over the last several decades, but that seems to be the case across all the lines. I guess it's a function of supply and demand and I'm a fan of the free market economy. I'm alright with paying the going rate, but I just don't want to be the guy foolishly paying an outlier price.

 

So what I'm looking at comes in at about $450 pp per day for a balcony and $600 pp per day for a penthouse suite, with concierge verandas in the middle.

Q1: How ordinary is this pricing? 

Q2: Without asking the unanswerable "Is it worth it?", can anyone speak to the 33% premium that one would pay to go from regular veranda to suite?

 

$600/person/day for a PH is a very good price.  I'm very surprised to see it that low. Go for it if you like the itinerary. Most of my Oceania cruises have been on R ships and I don't recall the fare ever being that low. 

The 42-day cruise that you mentioned could be a factor. Maybe longer cruises are priced lower than shorter cruises, I don't know.  Someone might be able to comment on that. Itinerary and ports are a factor too. My cruises are generally in the 10-12 day range. I'm on an 11-day New England/Canada cruise on Nautica this year.  We've booked a PH at close to $900/person/day. PH on the R ships are a little smaller than the O ships. 

When deciding to book a veranda stateroom vs. PH, it's all personal choice depending on what you value.  We book PH because we like the extra space.  Veranda staterooms are too small for us but, again, it all depends on what you value. 

Enjoy your cruise if you do decide to book it. 

A "ship within a ship" can be a very good thing. I'll use my example. 

We haven't been on NCL Haven but we've been on Royal Caribbean in an upper suite. They sound similar. There is a suites lounge, restaurant and sun deck and pool.  It is quiet. It's a nice way to spend some time away from the crowds and noise of the rest of the ship.  Next year we are going on an Alaska cruise on Royal Caribbean with our adult children, their spouses and 4 grandchildren, ages 7-13. There is something for everyone on that ship. We, the grandparents, will spend some time in the quiet suites lounge, etc and the adult children and young grandchildren can go and have fun with all the activities. We'll probably join them on the bumper cars. The entertainment on the big ships is excellent and it's something we'll all enjoy. 

There is no way we'd be able to do all that on an Oceania ship. 

40 minutes ago, MEFIowa said:

Classes, segregation, exist on airplanes because the airline creates it. Not all did or do. Have you flown on say a Southwest 737? Either now or back in the day?

 

And we know why airlines create the various classes. To maximize their profits. You pay a lot more to get a little more. They pocket the difference as profit.

 

And, no, I don't ever fly business class or 1st class. We're both in the same airplane going to the same place. In a relatively short period of time. I'd rather save the money for the destination.

Southwest is the poster child for no classes on an airplane.  Yes I have flown them and never will again. Just to save a couple of bucks, no thank you! Their IT department has serious flaws but I won't get into that here. 

It's a personal decision on how someone wants to spend their money and sometimes that decision is to fly business class. 

1 hour ago, Harters said:

I shall lose all credibility with you as well, in agreeing that $11 is expensive.

 

Depending on location, that'd be anything from 50% to 100% more expensive than a glass of wine in the UK. The couple sound as though they are from South East England, where alcohol prices tend to be dearer than in other parts so probably 50% more expensive than they are used to whereas I'd reckon it's getting on for double my local prices. I have previously commented on the forum how expensive we find O's drinks prices (including, say, their alcohol free beer)- fortunately, I don't drink alcohol and my partner only very sparingly, so it is not an issue for us.   

I agree that it depends on where you are from and what you are used to.  I live in a medium size city in the Great Lakes area.  $11 for a glass of wine is not expensive and in many restaurants you will find a lot of wines that are more than that.  When comparing Oceania's drink prices to other cruise lines, Oceania is not at all out of line.

They lost all credibility with me when they said a $11 glass of wine is “very expensive”. 

Your daughter won't feel out of place.  You don't say the length of your cruise but I was on a 7-day Mediterranean cruise last year and there were many 40-somethings on the ship. I'm in my late 60's and felt like one of the old ones, which I was. A shorter cruise will attract younger passengers while a TA, longer cruise will attract older. In any case, your daughter will feel welcomed.  Enjoy your cruise with your family. 

Regarding the hard sell of products, I think it just depends on the ship, the spa manager and the staff.  I haven't been on Vista but I can speak about Nautica and Sirena. I've gotten the Fire and Ice Manicure and Pedicure on both of those ships and there was no mention about any products. 

3 hours ago, dock said:

Wow, even my OBC, won’t go far with those prices and then the tip and off course the hard sell for products! 
 

Prices are high but there has been no hard sell for products. It wasn't even mentioned. 

31 minutes ago, mb777 said:

Not sure many of us expect dining to begin at 5, however 6 would certainly be a huge improvement and possibly open up some 6:30 slots.  Happy hour 5-6, dinner 6-8 (yes, it took 2 hours each meal), Martini's after dinner, shopping at the boutique, maybe casino for some, then 9:30 show doesn't sound like a ghost ship to me.

+1

My experience has been that the ship doesn't start quieting down until 10:30 when the show is over. Especially if there is a guest performer that night, it is packed. 

On my last O cruise which was summer 2023, the casino and Martinis was standing room only after the show.  I left at 11:00 and it was still going strong.  Depends on the demographics of the cruise. 

We prefer 6:30 reservations.   A couple of reasons why we like dining earlier:  *We don't go to afternoon tea although occasionally we'll order canapes that arrive at 5:00.  So on most days we are hungry at 6:30 because we haven't eaten since lunch.  *We go to the evening show at 9:30 and with a later dining time we'd be rushing through the meal.  *Going to bed at 10:30-11:00 on a big meal that hasn't been fully digested because I ate a late dinner is not a good feeling. 

I would choose GDR, Terrace Cafe or room service if I couldn't get the early reservation in one of the specialty restaurants.  It's just my preference but everyone is different. 

I agree with @mauibabes that opening the restaurants before 6:30 isn't practical because of staffing issues.

Travel prices are up significantly regardless of what type of vacation it is.  Cruising and land-based. Hotel and restaurant prices are up dramatically from just a few years ago.  We all know that. Road trips aren't going to be cheap. As an example, we were recently on a road trip and stopped at Arby's along the interstate for lunch.   2 roast beef sandwiches, one order of fries and one soft drink that we shared was $20.50. 

No matter what type of vacation you are planning, be prepared to shell out a bunch of money.

Just My Opinion. 

My September cruise on Nautica is waitlisted in every category except inside staterooms. PH and veranda staterooms have been waitlisted for several months. There sure aren't many looky-loos for this cruise. Final payment is tomorrow but I'm not expecting any cabins to become available. 

This cruise has never been included in any of the sales.  Not only that, but the price per day is the highest of any cruise I've ever been on.  Demand remains high. 

@MEFIowa  Keep in mind that not everyone who is in a PH and above wants extra specialty dining reservations.  We book PH and have never asked for extra reservations.  We take our allotted reservations and that's all. We like dining in all the restaurants.  It's hard for me to believe that they're holding a bunch of slots open to PH and above just in case they ask for more.