sunlover12

21 minutes ago, zoncom said:

32 days NON OLife on Sierna? How many speciality reservations Please? How far in advance do the reservations open?

Below are the links that answer your second two questions.  Note that it has nothing to do with if you purchase OLife or not.

https://oceaniacruises.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360005477713-When-can-I-make-reservations-in-the-specialty-restaurant-

https://oceaniacruises.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360005477653-How-many-dining-reservations-am-I-allowed-in-each-specialty-restaurant-

Something worth noting on the 3 free bags of laundry is that it will take 3 days to get it back. I've used this service several times and have never gotten it back before the 3rd day. If you need it back before then you should consider the express service for an additional fee or use the self-service laundry room. 

I did this in 2021 guessing the cruise would most likely soon be cancelled which it ultimately was. The deposit was simply transferred to the same itinerary in 2022 without any problem or delay.  I called O directly and it did not have to be requested in writing.  I don't know how this would be handled today, now that cruises are not being cancelled.

3 hours ago, chocchic said:

I did a bunch of small independent tours using Roll Call on Oceania a few years ago and it made the cruise way more enjoyable that boarding a  huge bus and the waiting for everyone to get on and off the bus and having no input about what you would like to see or do or when to stop for a break.We made friends with the people who we did tours with.   And most of all it totally eliminated waiting for that one rude passenger that kept everyone else waiting on the bus while he took time buying a cup of coffee. I have posted an invitation to roll call for January cruise and not received much feedback.  If I have to depend on Oceania excursions it will be disappointing.

In defense of Oceania excursions, I've been on quite a few of them and they have been mostly good experiences.  My last cruise was small groups of about 12-15 people.  None of them were on "huge buses" although it does depend on the location. Many of them offer free time where you can stop for a refreshment or lunch. Oceania cruisers are well-traveled, mature people respectful of others and it's a rare occasion where the group is waiting for the rude passenger getting a cup of coffee.

My upcoming October cruise has very little activity on the roll call. Since the start of O Life with shore excursions and the YWC 25% discount, I believe more people are taking advantage of those offers.

JMO, YMMV

We get a Penthouse suite but we do it for the larger space, not the butler. They are very gracious and will always ask us if there is anything they can do for us or get us.  We'll usually get breakfast served in the cabin once per cruise but that's about it. We've never asked him for any extra speciality restaurant reservations.  If there was such a thing as the Penthouse without a butler, we'd be good with that. 

5 hours ago, Rosroz said:

I should think their  job is pretty boring as far as I can see they don’t have a lot to do as the activities and entertainment is pretty non existent , this is no reflection on them as people . It would appear that a lot of what they do is very generic, there are very little impromptu activities  unlike Azamara where the officers seem to have a bit more freedom.

The CD introduces whatever entertainment is happening each evening. They also produce a daily show on Oceania TV and they host daily trivia. Their schedules are busy from what I've observed. 

On my last O Cruise in March one of the singers was ill one evening.  Rather than cancelling the show that had been planned, the CD Julie James did a one-woman 45-minute show with the house band. They put that show together in a matter of a few hours.  It was very good.  Julie is a talented singer.  I'd call that impromptu. I was sorry to hear that Julie is retiring because she's my favorite CD on Oceania. 

9 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

As I said Pre Covid  the Captains party is open to all  but maybe due to Covid  things may have changed

They would not want the Captain to come down with covid on day 2

JMO

My guess is that the free martinis in Martinis, which was open to all,  replaced the Captain’s party open to all.  It appears they’re doing some things differently post Covid. 

4 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Perhaps  it was  due to limited capacity cruise  & they were trying to drum up future business

Captains  party is usually open to all

2 minutes ago, sunlover12 said:

The Captain’s Welcome was not listed in Currents. It was by invitation. I am a diligent reader of Currents and it wasn’t in there. They highlighted  repeater passengers. There was no other reception. 

33 minutes ago, ORV said:

,I'm sorry, but no, the Captain's Welcome is for everyone. You might have it confused with the repeaters party. Or something else. No invitation necessary. 

Perhaps it depends on the cruise or has something to do with the length of the cruise. I know for sure that on our 10 day Regatta cruise, we received an invitation in our cabin for the Captain’s Welcome. The Captain and staff were there to greet us. The O Club Ambassador was there to recognize repeaters. There was no other welcome reception on this cruise.  If there are free drinks and food, we are there and there definitely was not another one on our March cruise. I read Currents every day and that’s how we knew about the free martinis in Martinis. 

30 minutes ago, ORV said:

Usually the second night of every cruise has the Captain's Welcome where there are free drinks for 3 hours. Sometimes when there have been issues they will have an open bar to soothe things over. Missed ports etc. 

This was on a different night from the Captain's Welcome reception.  The free martinis in Martinis was listed in Currents and was open to everyone whereas Captain's Welcome is by invitation. This was only my 5th O cruise but it was the first cruise I've been on that did this. I don't know how common it is. There were no issues like missed ports, etc so it was a very nice surprise and my martini was excellent. 

1 hour ago, Guest said:

Thank you. Do you happen to know if the martini’ s are a good size ship wide or would a person find then a little on the small size?

This is a little off the subject but when I was on Regatta in March, there was one evening before dinner when Martinis offered regular size complimentary martinis of several varieties. It was a nice surprise as it was the first O cruise I was on where they offered it. I don't know if that's going to be a regular thing going forward.

Enjoy your cruise.

9 minutes ago, basor said:

It has been this for many years.....the select package is $39.35 per person per day and the Prestige package is $59.95 per person per day...plus gratuity.....if you take the select drink packakage as your Olife choice then you pay an additional $20.00 per person per day to upgrade to the prestige package.  We just did this on our November 2021 Maina sailing...

I've been corrected numerous times already and yes, I know the upgrade is $20/day.

To be clear about the basic beverage package:  It is $30/day if you purchase the O Life beverage package.  If you purchase it outside of O Life, it is $39.99/day.  Gratuities are included in the beverage packages.  If you purchase drinks a la carte, the gratuity will be added on. 

I think this sums up all we need to know about the beverage packages. 

3 minutes ago, ORV said:

Not to be argumentative, but no, it's been $20 a person, per day for years. 

You're right and I remembered it wrong.  It's $20.

5 minutes ago, ORV said:

 

And I'm pretty sure that the basic package starts at 39.99. 

 

But to address the OP. I don't buy the premise that they are ridiculously overpriced. Look at the current price of Celebrity's drink price for comparison. 

If you purchase the O Life drink package, it is $30/day.  If you purchase it outside of O Life it is more than $30. 

I agree that the drink package on O is not overpriced. Never been on Celebrity but I know that on Royal Caribbean it is $78/day and each adult in the cabin has to purchase it. RC doesn't include soda and specialty coffee in their fares but, still, their drinks are ridiculously  expensive. I think O is a bargain compared to them.

6 minutes ago, LNielsen said:

The drink package upgrade is $20.00 per day. 

That must be a new price then.  I know when we were onboard in March, my husband upgraded and it was $10/day.  

Average cost of a glass of wine is in the $10-11 range. Mixed drinks that aren't top shelf are generally in this range too. 

The value of buying the drink package depends on the person.  For me, it was an excellent value.  The O Life basic drink package is $30/day and includes gratuities. It includes beer and wine with meals. You can upgrade it to the premium package for an extra $10/day when you are onboard.   I only drink wine and only at mealtimes. I don't go to Happy Hour but I'll go to the Captain's party when invited. Beer and wine is served.   So for me, 1 glass of wine at lunch and 2 glasses of wine at dinner is more than $30/day and I'm getting my money's worth. 

When deciding if you should purchase either of the drink packages, think about what and when you prefer to drink. Just keep in mind that if you purchase drinks a la carte, an 18 or 20% gratuity will be added on. 

Mandatory to present:
- A valid vaccination EU Digital COVID Certificate (with a complete vaccination schedule or with a complete vaccination schedule and a vaccine booster)
- Or a valid test or recovery EU Digital COVID Certificate,
- Or a valid vaccination certificate (with a complete vaccination schedule or a vaccine booster) or recovery certificate issued by a third country, under reciprocal conditions
- Or a negative RT-PCR Test (or similar NAAT test) - 72h before boarding, or
- Or a negative Laboratorial Rapid Antigen Test- 24h before boarding (according to the European Commission list) 

My understanding from reading these requirements is that we need to present a negative test.  The US is not included in the list of countries for valid vaccination certificates, under "reciprocal conditions".  I'm hoping this testing requirement is eliminated now that the US doesn't require it.

I would welcome the elimination of testing. Most countries of the world no longer require it to enter. I'm all for the vaccine though. I hope they do away with it before my next cruise in October. 

1 hour ago, ORV said:

How long is your cruise?

10 days

6 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Not true. The Cart still has its shortcomings (right up until today). For example, if you want to do an early daytime and evening excursion on the same day, it’ll give you a “conflict message.” You have to call. Want to cancel or change a tour? You have to call.  If you are mixing O Life snd paid excursions, the display of pricing on the final cart page will often not jive with reality though the bottom line price will usually be correct. And though not in the Cart itself, there remains the issue of not auto generating the math PDF that will be essential should tours be cancelled onboard and you want to doublecheck destination services math. Want that doc? You need to call or have your TA call or wait u til final docs are sent.

I understand but none of those circumstances apply to my particular purchase. I know that I will have to call if we want to change or cancel.  No need at this point in time to make things more complicated than they have to be. 

8 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Again, if you chose O Life excursions option, the allowable selections you make may satisfy your YWYW minimum number required on your cruise. In that case, anything you add to your selections will have the 25% discount.

Listen: The O website Cart is notorious for being twitchy and, in any case, if you use the Cart, you will not be mailed the detailed math doc I’ve described elsewhere (which is essential should you want to double check math should O cancel tours once onboard). Buy the tours directly from an O rep who agrees beforehand to send you the “pre-purchased shore excursions” pdf. 

I don't know how this works if you purchase O Life excursions. In our particular case, we did not choose that. We purchased our excursions a couple of days ago online and it was remarkably easy. Before we started the selection process, it alerted us to the fact that if we purchase 4 excursions we will get the YWC 25% discount on each.  There was no need to call O directly.  The cart listed in explicit detail the 25% discount on each excursion we purchased. The math was correct. If the cart has been twitchy in the past, I can vouch for it being user-friendly and accurate now. 

1 hour ago, ORV said:

It should be pointed out that it's not always 5. It depends on the length of the cruise and number of ports. If I'm not mistaken 5 is about a starting point, many cruises will require more to get the 25% discount. 

For my upcoming cruise, the minimum is 4 to get the 25% discount.  It depends on the length of the cruise. 

17 minutes ago, oskidunker said:

I am on Sirena Oct 1. Payed the final payment a few weeks ago you must be leaving closer to the end of the month. 

Final payment due date depends on the length of the cruise. For cruises less than 15 days, final payment is due 90 days before embarkation.  So for me,  final payment is due the 3rd week of July. Interested to see how many cabins open up after that. 

I'm on an October cruise on Sirena and there is almost nothing on the roll call. Oceania's website shows it to be almost sold out. Only 2 cabin categories are available. It's an itinerary that O does not do often. Final payment is due next month so it will be interesting to see how many cabins open up after that. 

I think many people are taking a "wait and see" approach so they are hesitant to book private excursions.

6 hours ago, pinotlover said:

My primary request is that Oceania make a mostly unambiguous dress code and then ENFORCE it. Should not be too much to ask.

 

If shorts aren’t allowed in the Specialties, then turn everyone away at the door wearing them. Fairly simple to me,  but they don’t. Yoga pants and a T-shirt is not country club casual anymore than my sweatpants and a T-shirt. Gentleman remove their hats indoors. You might be from Midland, TX, but you’re not sailing in Midland, TX! Whatever happened to “ When in Rome…,.,,”?
 

People get goofy with YWYW . Your way may be to dress slobbishly with a cap on backwards. It’s not always YW, grow up Boomer, it’s not the 60s anymore.
 

 

A lot depends on the maitre d and if they decide to enforce the dress code.

On my March cruise on Regatta, there was a man in line in front of us wearing shorts for dinner in the GDR.  We wondered if anything would be said to him.  Sure enough, the maitre d whispered something in his ear and sent him off to change clothes.

On that same cruise there was a woman in Polo Grill wearing old, ugly blue jeans.  I was shocked they let her in.  Whoever was in charge of Polo that night was not enforcing the rules.

Oceania's dress code isn't that hard to follow but it seems there is always a few people who try to push the limits.  I appreciate the staff who monitors people coming in because it's not an easy job. 

22 hours ago, susiesan said:

I know the cruise lines have to require a pre cruise covid test if they sail from the US since the CDC requires it. But if European countries don't require covid tests to enter then cruises embarking in Europe should not. Requiring pax to be vaccinated is fine as most of us are.

 

sunlover12 which cruise line did you sail with that did not require a pre cruise covid test to board?

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