sunlover12

I believe one of the original questions on this thread is how to view the newest post. Within that thread, I click on the time below the poster’s name that shows when the post was submitted. No need then to scroll to the end. The newest post appears first. It’s what I do to keep it simple. 

We will be on the Marina next week and the roll call is quiet.  We are taking the OLife shore excursions. It's a better value than either the beverage package or the OBC.  The included excursions that we are getting are all priced at $199 so that's nearly $1200.  Even with O's high-priced shore excursions it's still a fairly good value.  The OBC would have been $600. Maybe the OP's particular cruise does not include OLife excursions over $150 but that is generally not the case.

The 50-passenger bus was mentioned and I agree that can be annoying.  Loading and unloading the bus can be very slow but we have found the ship's excursions to be good and we have had some excellent tour guides.

I can add that I am also using FF miles on United Airlines to fly their Polaris Business class to Europe this summer.  Chicago to Stockholm and return from Copenhagen for a total of $182 in taxes for the two of us.  The FF miles were earned through travel and some buying miles, but mostly they were earned from making purchases on our United credit card.  I wouldn't even want to know how much these tickets would have cost us in dollars.  I agree with Hawaiidan that using miles for international travel is a much better value.

We will be in Oslo next month and are planning on using our credit card for everything. You'll get the best exchange rate.  According to the Lonely Planet book on Oslo, credit and debit cards are preferred over cash, even for small purchases. I'm following their advice on that.  I wouldn't purchase currency through our local bank at home unless you don't mind being "taken to the cleaners".  It's not necessary and it is very expensive. 

Thank you Rob and Paul for your quick responses. I just looked at Oceania's website that lists their preferred travel agents. I hadn't seen that before.   Shows how little I know!   I was under the mistaken impression that the travel agent we have been using does a lot of business with O but they are not on this list.  I'll also ask our fellow cruisers this summer for recommendations. 

6 hours ago, bbtondo said:

I just booked my first Oceania cruise.  I live in the US.  My TA gave me OBC and $$ as a perk which I can use for gratuities if I like.

That is impressive.   We don't cruise often but we've been on Oceania more than once. I live in the US too and have never had our TA pay for gratuities or given us an OBC. The most we have ever gotten from a travel agent is a bottle of champagne, sometimes not even that.  I guess I don't know the right people.  ☹️  The main reason we use a TA is to ask for help in case something goes wrong. We have always paid gratuities ourselves. Our next Oceania cruise is this summer using the same TA. I'm not expecting anything from them and would be very pleasantly surprised if we got something more than a bottle of champagne. 

Booking 330 days in advance has been mentioned by a few people in this thread.  That's great to be able to do that but I can offer a word of warning if you do. It is practically guaranteed that the departure time of the flight is going to change, sometimes by many hours.  Keep checking it and never assume as it nears the date of your trip that the flight is the same as when you booked it 10 months ago. 

We booked a flight in Business Class 330 days in advance using FF miles. Chicago to Stockholm on one of United Airlines partners (SAS). Our cruise is in June.  About 4 weeks ago, being the somewhat OCD-type person that I am, I went on SAS website just to make sure that this flight is still as it's supposed to be. I had already checked my reservation on my United log-in and everything looked fine. I was shocked to see that the flight to Stockholm now leaves 5 hours earlier than the original departure time.  SAS didn't inform United of the change.  United was quite surprised when we called them to ask what was going on. If we hadn't done our research, we could have shown up at O'Hare and be told that our flight departed 3 hours ago.  Check your flight status routinely and do not assume that nothing has changed. 

This sounds like a wonderful cruise and I wish I had acted quicker on doing it while the Marina was still in the South Pacific.  Going forward only the Regatta will be sailing to Papeete. It leads me to believe this was an itinerary that is not as in demand as others.  I'm curious if the ship was full. 

I am very surprised you were able to order a la carte at Izumi.  We weren't on Independence so maybe it is different depending on the ship.  The sushi at Izumi is very good but the price we were charged was excessive and we were not allowed to order a la carte. This was confusing because the individual prices of each item were on the menu.  We had to make a reservation in advance (I don't think they took walk-ins) at a fixed price of $49/person.  Looking at the a la carte prices on the menu, there was no way the 2 of us were going to eat $98 worth of food.  We asked the maitre d if there would be a discount if we didn't order that much food.  We were told it could be applied only if we returned another night.   Consider yourself lucky that they only charged you $12 for all that sushi.  Glad you enjoyed it. 

I wish Royal Caribbean would make the entire ship smoke-free.  Having a non-smoking section in the casino is not good enough. I wrote it on my post-cruise survey. I was recently on Serenade and could not enjoy my glass of wine in Vintages because the cigarette smoke from the casino was drifting through.  It was awful. 

There are other cruise lines that prohibit smoking in all areas of the ship including the casino. Royal Caribbean should follow if they want to remain competitive. 

12 hours ago, cbb said:

Trivia is usually taken VERY seriously so if you find yourself in a group who is there just to have fun --and you believe in winning--you need to find a like-minded group!

 

Have fun--and you're right--head off for drinks afterwards.

Too seriously by some folks, IMO.   I participated in afternoon trivia and we generally had the same group of 8 each day although one day we had an extra person which was against the rules.  Some people took that as a serious violation and instructed the CD to make an announcement upon which everyone in the room glared at us. We ignored it and went on with our group of 9.  We never won anyway.  Just have fun with it and enjoy your cruise. 

I'm sorry to hear you didn't like your cruise.  In my opinion, it's all about expectations.  If you know what to expect before you board you are less likely to be disappointed. We recently returned from a 12-day Royal Caribbean cruise and we enjoyed it very much.  We have an Oceania cruise booked for this summer. We like Royal Caribbean and Oceania for different reasons. What one offers the other may not, and vice versa. 

Royal Caribbean's internet is amazingly good but you're going to pay $30+ per day for it. It is not included in the fare as is Oceania's.  You mentioned that you got a $700 OBC - I have never seen that much on RC. On Oceania you don't pay extra to dine in the specialty restaurants. On RC, it depends on the specialty restaurant but you may pay as much as $50/person to have dinner there.  If you want lobster in the main dining room, you'll pay an extra $30 for it. You also pay extra for specialty coffees, bottled water and soda on RC. Those are all included in Oceania's fare.  If you want room service on RC, you will pay $8/person/meal for it. You can see where I'm going with this.

The executive lounge that you describe is very similar to what RC offers.  Regarding the size of the fitness room, it's a smaller ship with fewer passengers on Oceania so it's reasonable to expect that it will be smaller than a larger ship's fitness room. Never take the ship's transfer on any cruise line because it's going to be at a highly inflated price. 

Although I can't comment on your particular cruise, all I can say is to do research before you book any cruise and set expectations in advance of boarding. 

I’m on a cruise currently. This is my 5th on RC and the first time I’ve gotten the beverage  package. I like how it includes bottled water, specialty coffee, and how you don’t have to sign anything when you get your drink. Mainly I only drink wine, maybe once in a while a liqueur after -dinner drink, and no soda. I have access to the concierge club. I tried their wine and it’s a cheap house wine that, IMO, is almost undrinkable. I had 2 sips of it the first night and haven’t had it since. With the beverage package I can get what I want and get my moneys worth. 

47 minutes ago, teltrainer said:

Is it correct then that you must purchase the $49.99 per person at Izumi and that a la cart is no longer available at all on Serenade?   Thanks! ~ Melissa

That’s correct. When we booked it pre-cruise we had to pay the 49.99 per person. I am wondering now if we had waited until we boarded would it have been ala carte? The only way we would have gotten our money’s worth is to not have eaten anything else all day and arrive there famished. It’s definitely the most expensive specialty restaurant on the ship. 

We recently had dinner at Izumi on Serenade.  The food was very good but it’s not a good value at all. It’s price fixe at 50 per person. The ala carte prices are on the menu and, oh my gosh, you would have to eat an enormous amount of food to get $50 worth. My husband and I had 2 sushi rolls and the hot rock. According to the prices on the menu those were valued at $58.  In other words, we left over $40 on the table. IMO, it’s one of the most overpriced things on Serenade.  We won’t eat there again unless they lower the price. 

1 hour ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

Does "a case of wine" when checked as baggage actually arrive on the other end intact?

GC

Yes, for me it has. We go to California a couple times a year and always bring back a case of wine. We have a special wine suitcase which gives a lot of protection. We've been doing this for a long time and have never had any breakage. The wine suitcase packed with 12 bottles has always come in at 48-49 pounds at airline check-in so we've never had to pay extra to check it.  The $200 we paid for it has been well worth it. 

10 hours ago, NoWhiners said:

 

I'm pretty sure they will pack it up for us too. As long as we can check it with our luggage?

Yes, the airlines allow you to check a case of wine as luggage. 

We like the 7-bottle wine package. It's been a topic of discussion here in the past and there have been many different opinions on it.  Like you said, wine is very subjective. We've been happy with all of the wine we've bought from that package. Haven't been disappointed.  At around $49/bottle it's a very good value. 

There are advantages and disadvantages of each.  People are going to have different responses as to what is important to them.  For me the biggest disadvantage of the R ships is the size of the bathrooms, especially if you're on a long cruise.  I was on a 16-day cruise on the Regatta and towards the end I couldn't stand the tiny bathroom anymore. One big advantage of the R ships, as some have already mentioned, is that the berthing location in the port can be much better than with a larger ship. I don't put too much importance on 2 additional specialty restaurants on the O ships, but that's just me. 

With O Life you can choose either shore excursions, a beverage package or OBC.  It doesn't have anything to do with air transportation. I believe the amount of each depends on the length of the cruise. 

2 hours ago, pinotlover said:

Lyn;

 

I had the exact same initial impression: KA Ching , KA Ching!

 

Next thought was : What in the world are they going to do with them in Winter? Perhaps, since the Marina will stop going to the FP, and has long departed AU and NZ, this ship will venture there! Maybe replace the Regatta on the AU circumnavigation?! So that’s one ship in winter, what about the 2nd? 

 

A bit of combined humor in the past week. Opening of year end stock portfolios in our retirement accounts and reading of near certain substantial price increases! Not!

Exactly what I'm hoping for too.  I want to cruise to French Polynesia but not on the Regatta, which is the only option in 2020. I'm not doing it. If one of these ships is sailing to FP in 2022 I would definitely consider it. 

1 hour ago, StanandJim said:

For others questioning "do-able" flight times:

 

When Customs and Immigration rear their ugly heads, I'm far more cautious because until that ship is cleared, NOBODY sets a foot off of it, period, and that takes it out of my control. 

 

StanandJim: Thank you for that very insightful comment.  I was thinking the same thing.  I would much rather spend a little bit more time at the airport than stressing over how long it takes Customs and Immigration to clear the ship. 

On 11/14/2018 at 7:51 PM, java spot said:

I've been on an Oceania 'r" ship once and Azamara about 7 times. One thing I prefer on Azamara is greater attention to outdoor spaces. On Oceania, the promenade decks rarely had loungers on them, and  never had towels or attention from crew.  On Azamara they are always stocked with towels and kept clean and cared for.  Also on Azamara there are wonderful seating and sunbathing areas on Deck 11 -also missing on Oceania.  If spending time outdoors in a variety of settings other than the cabin balcony is important to you, Azamara is the winner. 

Interesting observation.  In my experience I haven't found that to be true. I've been on Oceania Regatta twice and there were plenty of loungers, sunbathing areas, clean towels and attention from the crew. I haven't been on Azamara so cannot comment on them. 

I always use a credit card.  I never use a debit card.  I just think you have more protection with a credit card and fewer things can go wrong.  Credit cards are more consumer-friendly. I have seen signs on the counters of hotel front desks that because of holds that the banks place and longer time necessary to process, they strongly suggest to never use a debit card when paying your hotel bill.  I assume paying your bill with a cruise line is similar.

Just my two cents worth. 

I just want to add to the comments already made.  We have put dozens of wine bottles in our checked luggage over the years and have never had any break.  We wrap them in bubble wrap and surround them with clothing in the middle of the luggage. This way you can bring your favorite wine from home and not be at the mercy of what the supermarket or liquor store sells.

Thank you everyone for your replies.  I did a further search for all Oceania ships January - March 2020.  The schedules look like they are set and Regatta is the only ship in the South Pacific.  I found it interesting that both Marina and Regatta will be in there in 2019.  Maybe O is downsizing in that region.