sunlover12

I was in a PH on Regatta in March. There wasn't one in the closet like usual but didn't ask about it. 

I recall just one cruise I've been on where everyone's passports were collected, including US citizens. It was on Oceania Regatta, Miami to San Francisco. We got them back the day before we arrived in San Francisco. We sailed through many countries and I don't know which of those was requiring it.

1 hour ago, notatubaplayer said:

I made a calculated mistake and booked a very long Med cruise during the heart of football season on the Riviera.  Is there any venue on the ship that might have a game playing?

No, unfortunately. We are big college football fans and are booked on a cruise that will cause us to miss 2 weeks. The only thing we'll be able to do is follow scores online. 

3 hours ago, Aquadesiac said:

Thanks to all for the info. Most helpful. Now what distinguishes "Tour Price" from "Your World" prices and how do I know which would apply to us? Is this a loyalty perk thing?

 

We've cruised on lots of other lines but we're neophytes on Oceania. We've heard lots of good things about them, but are just investigating at this stage.

The "Tour Price" is the price you'd pay if you booked it separately without packaging it.  The "Your World Collection" will give you a 25% discount off of that price if you book a minimum number of excursions. The minimum number will depend on the length of the cruise and number of ports.  To give you an idea, my upcoming cruise is 10 days including 2 sea days. There will be 7 ports. The minimum number is 4 on this cruise. 

The discount is not a loyalty perk thing so as a first-time Oceania cruiser you will be eligible for it.

Keep in mind that If you purchase the drink package, gratuities are included. 

If you purchase O Life with the House Select beverage package, it is $30/day including gratuities.

I can't comment on prices of mixed drinks and beer because I drink wine exclusively. However I know that a single glass of wine will generally be in the $9-$11 range.

14 hours ago, ORV said:

That was Aussie Gal that said 60 day window. I was curious about Sunlover12 as they said they have no issues getting the times and dates they wanted. Also didn't specify whether sharing or alone, always makes a difference in these things. If they are cruising in Oct it could be a Concierge or PH. 

 

Thanks for posting the chart. Always handy to have.

PH. 3 alone, 1 sharing. We don’t like eating a big meal late so they are all at 6:30. There were many times available on the days we booked. 

Last week we booked 4 specialty dining reservations (2 in each restaurant) on our October Sirena cruise 11 hours after it opened up for us. It became available for booking at 11pm and we booked them at 10am the following day. We had no problem getting the times and dates we wanted. I think it just depends on the cruise but we've never had a problem with making specialty dining reservations. 

There is a lot of discussion about embarkation but what is not being addressed is what will be done in ports that require a negative test for the unvaccinated.  There are some countries that Oceania sails to that require a negative test for the unvaccinated.  On the SailSafe webpage it states:

2 hours ago, janecambridge said:

I do not see any difference in having an unvaccinated passenger at my table than a vaccinated.The virus doesn't fly around and pick the unvaccinated above the vaccinated.Yes the unvaxed may get more sick that won't affect the transmission.At least they get symptoms that will hopefully get them testing, unlike vaxed who think its just a cold...Worse are the people we saw on a recent so-called luxury Seabourn ship.All vaccinated.Coughing and spluttering everywhere, no mask, no hand cleansing.I spent two years around unvaxed friends and family and never caught covid.Cruise with vaccinated and tested positive on return home in April within 24 hours.

Do people seriously think the unvaxed are the only carriers? 

No, I do not think that. What I think is that the unvaccinated have a stronger chance of becoming sicker. It remains to be seen but that could affect a cruise if ports decide not to accept the ship. My October cruise showed some availability in several cabin categories  a week ago and now everything is waitlisted. If I put two and two together, with Oceania executives saying their bookings are up since they made this announcement, I will venture a guess and say there will be unvaccinated passengers on this cruise. 
 

Don’t know what happened on your Seabourn cruise but I’ve been on 2 cruises this year. Everyone was vaccinated and there were no Covid problems. For the record, myself and my husband are vaccinated and boosted. We have been amazingly healthy. Never had Covid. Never had a bad reaction from the vaccine. Haven’t had as much as a sniffle in the past 2 years.  It’s every person’s choice but we are grateful for the vaccine. 
 

52 minutes ago, ToxM said:

 

Voyages may be changed and ports missed due to local health rules. 

There may be changes to ports or an increase in emergency medical evacuation due to unvaccinated people experiencing more severe symptoms. 

 

If you are going to be upset at a missed port or delay in getting to a port or a delay IN a port due to covid related issues then you need to decide whether cruising at the moment is for you. 

 

There is one other option if you are vaccinated and do not wish to travel with unvaccinated people - make sure your voyage includes a destination where arriving visitors MUST be vaccinated - unvaccinated passengers will not be allowed to travel. 

 

 

That's fine if you haven't booked the cruise yet or are deciding if cruising is right for you.

In my case, final payment was made in July and if we cancel now we're subject to a 50% cancellation penalty. I know that Oceania can change the rules as they go but I, along with many other customers, booked a cruise and made final payment based on the vaccination requirement.

We're not going to cancel but we will be upset if ports are missed. We're going to take extra precautions such as always using the stairs and dining at a 2-top table more than we normally would. On the bright side, I'll probably burn more calories from never using the elevator.

I am wondering what Oceania is going to do at the ports who still have Covid restrictions in place. Have they thought about that? 

For example, my October cruise on Sirena stops in 2 ports in Morocco.  Morocco requires passengers to be either fully vaccinated or present a negative PCR test not older than 72 hours.  When we arrive in Morocco it will be more than 72 hours since we embarked the ship. So is Oceania going to be doing PCR testing on the ship? If not, those passengers who are not vaccinated won't be allowed to get off the ship.

Spain requires either vaccination or a negative test. We disembark in Barcelona so there will have to be more testing on the ship.

Many things to think and wonder about for the unvaccinated passengers. 

15 minutes ago, basenji56 said:

I might have missed this, but the last time I checked, Celebrity/Royal require vaccinations?  Maybe not for small children.

It is true that both of those lines require vaccinations.  I really wish NCLH would follow their lead. 

I'm going to feel safer on my upcoming Royal cruise than I will on Oceania.

It's probably not going to stop me from cruising but I would prefer that all guests be vaccinated. Perhaps this is a financial decision that NCL has made.  I wouldn't feel comfortable being in an elevator with an unvaccinated, unmasked passenger nor sitting at the same table with them in the dining room. I guess this means we'll be doing mostly two-top dining on our October cruise. 

I'm also following what Royal Caribbean is doing because I have a January cruise with them booked. They are still requiring all guests 12 and over to be vaccinated. That does not look to be changing. The only change they have recently made is that if the cruise is less than 6 days, passengers do not have to be tested to board the ship.  My cruise is longer than that so I'm required to be vaccinated and tested.  I am fine with that.  Maybe their financial bottom line is better than NCL's, but I really don't know. 

2 hours ago, ldtr said:

We usually have stayed at the Intercontinental on Papeete.  While a nice hotel we found the food service quality to be lacking during this last visit.  Especially compared to the Intercontinental La Moana on Bora Bora.

 

The Hilton has Taken over the Hotel Tahiti property.  It actually looks quite nice.  We plan to try it instead of the Intercontinental Tahiti on our next trip.  It is a bit more convenient to down town than is the Intercontinental.

 We were at the Intercontinental in Papeete in March. It's fine for staying for a night or two to adjust to the time change but it has definitely seen better days.  The food isn't great and the air conditioning in the rooms does not get cool enough to get a good night's sleep.  We had 2 nights of uncomfortable sleeping temperatures and were glad to get out of there and board the ship.  I've seen good reviews of the Hilton so if we went back we would stay there. 

We stayed at the Hilton in Moorea post-cruise in an OTW bungalow and it was excellent. 

Aloha 1:

Thank you for your detailed review. 

I haven't been on Nautica but we have been on Regatta and also loved the refurbishment of the cabins and common areas.  We did manage to put 2 medium-size luggage in the closet but it was tight. 

Regarding the dining, I can understand your point that on a 17-day cruise the menu options on an R-ship start becoming limited.  We tend to do only 10-day cruises which isn't enough days to get to feeling like that. I'm also not that enamored with GDR.  Some evenings the dinner menus are uninspiring. We usually eat the fewest meals there, but that is just us. Sirena offers Red Ginger so you'll have more options there. Sorry to hear that the food in the Terrace wasn't up to O's standards. We've usually had very good meals there and the menus are varied each day. It really depends on the kitchen staff.

When choosing a cruise we go with itinerary first. The R ships have some appealing itineraries that the O class ships don't offer. 

36 minutes ago, ORV said:

Just to be clear, the free drinks in the bars has always been a part of the Captain's Welcome party, I've been doing it over 12 years now, what was different about yours in March is that the Captain wasn't in Horizons shaking hands with people. Personally, I've stopped shaking hands with officers and crew a long time before Covid. I've always felt it is not good for them or me. Looks like a great way to spread germs. FWIW, I've never gone to Horizons for the Captain's Welcome party, I'm fine in Martinis or the Grand Bar. 

Yes, I know.  On my March cruise there was no attendance or presentation by the Captain or senior officers in Horizons.  Pre-Covid, they were all up front and each of them said a few words. In the Regatta lounge at the repeater passenger reception there was no hand-shaking, fist-bumping etc. There was a welcome line where they each said hello verbally and that was it.

This was the first O cruise I have been on where the Captain and officers were not present in Horizons. That's the point I was attempting to make.

We'll see what happens later this year when I'm on Sirena. Perhaps someone who has been on a more recent cruise can comment. 

On 7/20/2022 at 11:58 AM, travelbug2225 said:

If I understand correctly, there are 2 parties that offer free drinks. One is a captain’s welcome party and the repeater party. The repeater party is by invitation only for passengers who cruise with Oceania in the past. 

When I was on the Regatta in March, there was no Captains Welcome in Horizons. It was replaced by free drinks in the bars before dinner one evening. There was a repeaters reception by invitation in the Regatta lounge at which the Captain and senior officers attended. 
That was 5 months ago so it may have changed. I’ll be on Sirena in October so I’m interested to see what they do. 

1 hour ago, Marmaduke said:

 

 

We arrived back at the ship around 3pm and were unable to get any lunch as the buffet had closed and the grill and burger bar was full. We would have been happy to order and take the food back to the cabin to eat on the balcony but they refused to take  orders unless you had a table number.  We were less than impressed.

If Waves is full, you can still place an order from them. You can sit in Terrace buffet and eat there. Get your table number and they will bring it to you there. We have done that. 

After you pay the deposit, you will receive a PDF file via email from your TA or Oceania with the details of the shore excursions. You can also log in to your Oceania account, click on Manage Account to view the details. 
They do not send anything by snail mail. 

They will swipe your card with the first drink only. You don't have to sign anything. 

I get the Basic package and my DH gets the Prestige package so we just make sure the server swipes each of our cards accordingly. So if I get a drink at the bar, I would have to sign for it.

Also, I am fairly sure that you can upgrade to the Premium package on any day of the cruise. It doesn't have to the be the first day. 

4 hours ago, Hawaiidan said:

Thanks my friend,    I used that  this past week in going to europe..      My quandary  is that is for " air travel arrival and departure.     My question ( worry), is there a special restriction for cruise passengers.

my plan B is  if I am denied boarding due to covid testing, will O refund my cruise fare ?     If so then I will  have a 14 day tour of europe on my own by land  ( I just  did 2 weeks fine in Europe).      

According to O, the only country in Europe that requires cruise passenger Covid testing is Greece. 

I was on a river cruise in Europe in May.  Sailed through 4 countries and none of them required a Covid test.

I hope this helps. Enjoy your cruise.

1 hour ago, Hawaiidan said:

So where do I find out what countries require it?    ( so I can avoid going there)....    Who in europe?    Because I was just there and  no one cares. about that stuff

I use United Airlines website. Enter your destination, vaccination status and it will bring up everything you need to know and they keep it up-to-date.  It will also bring up a color-coded map of the world. Almost all of Europe is green (no restrictions).   Here is the link:

https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/travel/restrictions-map.html

8 hours ago, Rosroz said:

Prices are absolutely ridiculous, Plus they always try to sell you equally as expensive products ! In my experience the ships spas are never that busy , no wonder at those prices . I’d rather throw a few dollars overboard 🤣🤣

I disagree that they "always try to sell....".  I had the Fire and Ice pedicure on my last cruise which included a foot massage. She did an excellent job and there was absolutely no pressure to buy any products.  She never even mentioned it. 

I've been on cruises where the spa was quite busy. 

I was on a 10-day Regatta cruise in March and there was no Captain's reception.  Not the traditional one in Horizons where all of the passengers were invited. There was a reception in the Regatta lounge for the repeat passengers, for which there will be an invitation in your cabin. I don't remember which night that was but it was later than the 2nd night.  It started at 5:30 and had finished in time for those with 6:30 dinner reservations.  The traditional Captain's reception was replaced with one evening where free drinks were offered in the bars 5:30-6:30. 

Maybe they have started it up again. Maybe someone who has been on a more recent cruise can comment. 

1 hour ago, oskidunker said:

Does calling United help when trying to use ff miles? Recently I tried to book a direct flight from sfo to lhr  in Business and 275,000 miles was not enough. So we bought premium economy . Recently cancelled Marriott  viisa due to inability to use free nights. Am also cancelling United in Jan. Just got  a no fee Chase United card to replace  it. Totally disgusted with inability to make any of these cards work for me

I'm a little confused by what you mean when you say you're canceling United in January. Cancelling your United Mileage account?

It does take a lot of miles to fly business class on an international flight but if you have enough it is well worth it.  We flew SFO-PPT round trip on United Polaris class.  It was 350,000 miles per person.  The alternative was $5000/person. It took awhile to build up those miles but we saved $10,000.  Well worth the time and effort. 

Did you look at connections rather than flying non-stop from SFO? If you're willing to connect through ORD or EWR it may require fewer FF miles.

 You can always use those miles for domestic flights.  I just saved $1100 booking round trip ORD-MCO in business class and it didn't cost a lot of miles. 

I don't think it will help to call United in order to get a lower price on FF miles.  JMO