sunlover12

Agree. I haven't had it in GDR but have in Terrace and it wasn't good. I do have to admit that the best Eggs Benedict I've had on a ship was on Royal Caribbean.

@SthrngaryI'm in a similar situation as you with regard to proximity of a major hub airport. My home airport is a 30 minute flight to ORD and a 2-hour drive. When we fly internationally we always drive to O'Hare. If there are any weather or air traffic problems, the short flights will be the first to be delayed or cancelled and we don't want to deal with that anxiety. We are loyal to United. That loyalty has given us business class tickets using reward miles over the past several decades. We never pay for checked luggage. We're booked on an O cruise in August out of Barcelona. We're paying for this flight so we've been checking the airfare ORD-BCN since last fall. As we all know, fares change constantly. We just booked the tickets a week ago because the fare was the lowest we had ever seen it so we jumped on that. If you're using reward miles, it's a good idea to book as soon as you can but if you're paying with $, we don't book it right away. We've found that the fare 10 months out is not going to be the lowest (on almost all occasions). Now with United adding the nonstop to BCN makes it so convenient for us. One 2-hour drive and one flight and we are there. As I've said before we always book our own air and we never use O's air. If you pick one airline and stick with that one, you will thank yourself later. Just something we've learned over the past 30+ years. Enjoy your cruise in November.

I have eaten lunch in Terrace Cafe on embarkation day on my last few cruises and it has not been crowded at all. Maybe because more people are eating in port. Terrace was leisurely. No problem at all finding a table. We enjoyed a nice lunch on the ship and the food was very good.

I don't know the exact date but it's closer to the end of the month, Memorial Day weekend. It's nice that we don't have to go through Newark anymore.

Terrace Cafe is a buffet and it will be open for lunch on embarkation day.

Something you might want to consider is United’s new route nonstop Chicago-O’Hare to Barcelona, starting in May. It would be a simple connection from LAX. We always book our own air. We don’t want the uncertainty of whatever O’s air would do.

I also pack a change of clothes in my carry-on bag so that I do not have to wear the same clothes on the ship that I've been wearing on the plane. It's an easy thing to do.

@ShelleyK Did Oceania give a reason why the excursion was cancelled? I'll be on the Nautica in August with Nice on the itinerary. We're looking at both Oceania and private excursions to Monaco. Interesting that they cancelled it a full month in advance. Usually it's with short notice. Thanks.

I don't consider the price of O's alcohol to be inflated. They are very much in line with other cruise lines and mid-range priced restaurants on land. Adding an automatic gratuity is standard operating procedure. My club at home automatically adds 20% to my food and bar bill. I was recently on Royal Caribbean. Their alcohol prices are very comparable (and sometimes higher) than Oceania's and gratuity was automatically added. If you don't purchase their beverage package, you will pay $3.50 for a bottle of water. That is what I call inflated!

I'm going to be with a group of 10 on the Nautica in August. I don't recall if they have a table that large in the GDR. Does anyone have any experience with this? We may have to split into 2 groups. Thanks.

With the package, you don't have to sign anything. They'll take your card but no signature or paper is necessary. I get the basic package and get my money's worth. There aren't any drink charges that appear on my bill which makes for a cleaner invoice at the end of cruise.

Waves is only open until 4pm so if this was lunch time, casual is fine. Just to add my two cents worth, what is fine for dinner in Terrace might not be appropriate in the GDR.

Yes, it really does depend on the wine steward. My husband gets the prestige package and I get the basic package. We always set our cards on the table and they take them and bring them back with each drink. I can't remember a time where they didn't do it that way. Just depends on the luck of the draw I guess.

I get the basic package and I have to ask for each glass. You may have to go a short while with an empty glass but the service from the wine stewards was good in my 2 O cruises in 2022. I didn't wait long. Also note that they will take your card and swipe it with each glass, as they are required to do. The only time I have had two glasses brought to me at once was when we ordered room service for dinner and I knew I would be drinking two glasses of wine.

If they do allow it, they should then remove that from the list of banned items to bring onboard that is currently on their website. Oceania is contradicting themselves by saying that they're banning it but then saying "no problem" when you're on the ship. I'm in the camp of doing as much as I personally can to be safe for myself and others around me. If that means that my hair is not going to look like it does when I'm not on a ship, that's okay. There are safety rules for a reason. Just last week, there was a commercial plane in the US that made an emergency landing because there was a fire in the cabin. Turns out that a passenger was carrying lithium batteries. Thankfully they were in his carry-on but if they had been in the cargo hold that plane would have been a goner.

Yes, of course. The point I was trying to make is that if they see something in your cabin that shouldn't be there or if they see a cell phone that is plugged in and left unattended, don't be surprised if they do something about it. It will depend on your cabin attendant of course but don't be surprised if a curling iron, etc is seized. Keep in mind that the biggest risk a ship faces is fire. We should all do our part in being safe. JMO

This is on Oceania's list of what not to bring onboard: Items brought on board the vessel and not supplied by the Company containing any kind of heating element, such as but not limited to: immersion heaters, heating blankets, flat irons, water heaters, coffee machines with heating/hot plates, etc. I once forgot to unplug my cell phone and when I came back to the cabin, they had it unplugged. I''m a rule-follower so I can do without a curling iron or whatever while I'm on a cruise ship.

+1 I have quite a few pants without pockets. I carry a small purse with my key card but I do not consider a lanyard to be tacky. It can be worn discreetly tucked behind a shirt. To the OP - I just came off of RCI and they are still issuing cards to everyone.

Crowded elevator 5-6 times a day for 7 days. I'm not saying it was specifically from the elevator but Covid was on the ship. Crowded bars, restaurants, theater, it could have been anywhere. No thanks.

Not sure if we should go back to required testing but passengers have to assume the risks of being on a very large cruise ship. We got off Wonder on 1/29 and both DH and I got Covid. First time either of us have had it. The past 10 days have been rough. This was our 4th cruise post-Covid, the first on RCI. The other 3 were smaller ships with maximum 650 passengers. On Wonder we were in crowded elevators, no one wearing masks, 6000+ passengers. We knew the risks going in but it's going to be a very long time before we go back to the mega ships, if ever.

Prices are high but the quality is good, IMO. I had a 1-hour pedicure for $93 including gratuity. The OP asked about product pushing and the short answer to that is they don’t. On my 2 cruises in 2022, I was never asked to purchase any products. The subject never came up.

I was in my early 50’s on my first O cruise and didn’t feel too young. It was a great itinerary. Back then the entertainment was almost non-existent. It’s much better now and they’re making a good effort towards appealing to a wider range of age groups, Now I’m 67 and feel like I’m in the middle age range although it does depends on the itinerary . On my South Pacific cruise last year there were as many people younger than me as older.

Wow. That is against Oceania’s rules and that wine steward needs more training. It’s upsetting to people who follow the rules. If too many people break Oceania’s generous alcohol policy we could find ourselves under the same restrictions as the mainstream lines who will seize your bottles. Follow the rules for the enjoyment of all aboard. Just My Opinion

+1 I completely agree. Just checking email and reading the news can be very frustrating and difficult on an O ship. Charging for internet could help the problem. O needs to do something about it because they’re not even in the same ballpark with other cruise lines when it comes to internet quality. I only have first-hand knowledge about Royal Caribbean. Their internet is outstanding and they do charge for it unless you are in a suite.

I received a similar email yesterday for my Nautica cruise in August. It’s well before final payment but it’s 3 fewer hours in ports in France and Italy. I just wish they would be more upfront about the reason rather than saying it’s to “reduce their carbon footprint” which I am not buying.