sunlover12

@meg1021  I completely agree.  Oceania's handling of shore excursions onboard the ship can be frustrating.  We once had an excursion cancelled and were never informed of it.  We received the tickets in the excursion envelope and went to the meeting point near the pier at the designated time.  No one ever showed up. When we got back to the ship we went to the DS desk and that's when they told us the excursion had been cancelled. What a waste of time. This was on Regatta's first sailing post-Covid and there were many new staff so that had a lot to do with it.  

Hopefully as more staff become better trained things will run more smoothly.

Other than not being able to fill the O ships on the South Pacific crossings as pinotlover explained, another reason is port restrictions.  Bora Bora comes to mind. They don't allow more than 1200 cruise ship passengers in port per day. No other ship would be allowed if Vista or Riviera were there. Not likely that's going to happen. Windstar and Paul Gaugin are predominant in French Polynesia and their ships are even smaller than O's R ships. 

Something to to think about if everyone will be getting a shore excursion credit with Simply More, is that there will be obviously more demand for them. I've been on O cruises with the O Life shore excursion option and haven't always been able to get my first choice. I've occasionally had to go with 2nd or 3rd choices. They sell out.  O is going to have to find a way to increase capacity on the excursions that are in highest demand. 

I was on an all inclusive river cruise last year and had one port where we had 2 choices of excursions. One was fully booked and the other one we had no interest in. Didn't get our money's worth at that port.

Just speculating, of course. 

With the new pricing structure including beer and wine at lunch and dinner, I think this is to attract the generations younger than baby boomers.  Statistics show that Gen X and Millenials are more likely to drink alcohol than baby boomers. 

I drink enough wine at mealtimes to probably make it worth it however I have to wait and see how much fares will increase.  I do feel bad for people who don't drink because they'll be subsidizing those that do. Not sure how I feel yet about credit for shore excursions. I'll hold judgment until it all shakes out.

I am curious what this Simply More is all about but I'm willing to bet it will result in higher "cruise only" fares. There is no way we will get more without Oceania raising basic fares. I prefer a la carte pricing. 

Whenever a company changes its pricing structure it is almost always not in favor of the consumer. A good example of this is all the changes the airlines have made to their FF awards structure. It was never in favor of the consumer.

I'll be following this.  Cruising on Harmony in January from Galveston. We fly United exclusively and they do not fly to Hobby. I had enough FF miles on United to get a first class round trip ticket to IAH so I'll just deal with whatever Royal's transfer is between IAH and the port. 

1 hour ago, Jayne E said:

Other than Portugal ports, this was a fairly lackluster itinerary. Overnight in Cadiz underwhelming and 2 additional boring sea days. We were also on the previous cruise and missed Amalfi which was replaced with Salerno….nothing much to see there at all, but at least Oceania attempted to avoid another sea day.

 

May I ask why you missed Amalfi?  My Nautica cruise in August is scheduled to go there.

We book a PH for only one reason and that is the extra space. We don't ask much of our butler. It's up to the passenger how much or little of their services you want to use.  We'll usually ask for one breakfast in the cabin per cruise and most afternoons we'll ask for canapés.  That's about it. We've never requested extra specialty restaurant reservations.

The maitre d' at each restaurant is the correct person to talk to if you are requesting a certain table. We have also asked for ice at a certain time of the day which the butler directed us to call the stateroom attendant who did a great job each day and it only took one phone call.

@Eloise4Ever On a port intensive cruise, many passengers will want to retire to their cabins after dinner if they are going to be getting up early and going on a full-day excursion the next day. There wouldn't be enough business for the bars to stay open late.  If the next day is a sea day, you'll find more passengers around the ship later. Looking at your itinerary, this is a port intensive cruise.

Thanks for your review. Enjoy the rest of your cruise. 

45 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Check your Oceania invoice: if the gratuities coverage says OCAPP next to your TA’s (or his/her consortium’s) name, those $ are pass through incentive funds from O via your TA.

Thank you for that information.  That's good to know.

My Oceania invoice doesn't say OCAPP but it does say "Group Amenity Prepaid Gratuity". So, it's hard for me to know if it's coming from O or the TA.  I just know that we don't have to pay it. 🙂

My TA gave us PPG on our upcoming August cruise. We're not at the O Club level yet to get this so it's a nice perk that we're very appreciative of. We're in a group with a few other couples - we were all given the PPG.

Establishing a relationship with a good TA can give you valuable benefits and service.

Does anyone have any information on a Nice (Villefranche) shuttle?

Dinner time after 6:30 would likely be a good time to do laundry. I haven't tried that.

I have gone on port days and found it very crowded.

As I've said, I've given up on it and now use the ship's laundry service. I'm not going to do laundry when I should be enjoying a nice dinner. 

YMMV

The R class ships have one very small self service laundry room. I used to go in there but gave up because they were always crowded. If you’re in a suite, take advantage of the 3 free laundry bags. You’re on vacation and you probably don’t want to spend it in a tiny crowded laundry room where you may have to wait a long time before a washer and dryer are available. 

@LHT28 Not sure why you have to single out alumni groups. 2 of my 6 Oceania cruises have been with alumni groups and they were gracious, intelligent and well-mannered. If that wasn’t your experience with them, it’s definitely not the norm. Bad behavior can come from any and all walks of life.  I am fortunate to not have experienced it on any cruise I’ve been on.

1 hour ago, jazznruby said:

Unless you know, as some of us do, that the non-refundable credit WILL be used...for gratuities, bar bill, La Reserve, whatever...and that we like the convenience, minus the sticker shock at the end of the cruise. Not interested in O's shorex or drink packages.

I agree.  We haven't chosen the O Life OBC but I understand why people like the convenience of it. 

I'd have no trouble spending it. We don't get pre-paid gratuities and that alone will almost reach the amount spent on O Life OBC.  Add in a few drinks and maybe a small purchase in the gift shop and that OBC will be spent before you realize it. 

1 hour ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

And is there ever a way to use a sale like this to get from, say, a concierge cabin to a PH suite?  Or is there no jumping between categories like that?

I was told by Oceania that I couldn't upgrade to a PH. They said a concierge cabin was the highest I could upgrade to. It could be dependent on the particular cruise. This was several years ago and maybe things have changed.  It's at least worth asking about.

My advice is to use as little cash as possible and use credit cards for everything that you can. The best exchange rate, by far, will be with your credit card. If the merchant asks you if you want it charged in local currency or US dollars, choose local currency. If you choose US dollars at point of sale, you will not get a favorable exchange rate. 

I've never converted US dollars to Euros onboard the ship but I wouldn't think the exchange rate will be favorable. You'll want to have a nominal amount of Euros for incidental purchases but that is all. 

@Rosroz What you describe when going through US immigration is common in other countries as well.  I’ve experienced surly immigration officers in Europe.  It’s the nature of their job. 
JMO

There is a happy medium between complaining and not saying anything.  As a paying customer it is okay to say something if there is a lapse in service or quality. It can be done discreetly and gently. A good manager will welcome comments because then they can work on it and make improvements. If nothing is said, the issues will continue for the next customers.   

If I have a legitimate concern or issue, I will say something discreetly. This doesn't just apply to cruising. 

2 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Of course, those folks chasing “1 million miler” status on United need to remember that only miles on UA hardware count. So, even UA code share flights on ANA hardware come with a slight concern for those folks “oh so close” to completing their “million miler” quest.

 

+1

My husband just achieved million mile status on United and we made sure to fly United whenever possible. Flying on the partner airlines gets you nothing toward status. 

Sorry to hear of your experience. What you have described is not the norm, IMO.

I've been on Regatta 3 times, the most recent being March 2022. The food and service were wonderful each time. Requesting that your ice bucket be filled every day and it wasn't is a service flaw. That shouldn't happen.

You mentioned that the cheesecake was dry and tasteless. I am sorry to hear that. My experience is that Oceania's desserts are fabulous. I can't recall one bad dessert I've had.  You also mentioned being on Royal Caribbean.  I've sailed with them a few times and found their desserts to be truly awful. I couldn't eat them.  

I think so much depends on the staff on duty at the time of your cruise.

Regarding the comment survey that you mentioned, unless things have recently changed, that can only be done while you are on the ship. It's too late once you disembark. 

My husband and I mailed ours in the same envelope early February and got them in late March.  7 weeks. Not expedited.

The online application status kept saying "In Process" and hadn't been updated so we were surprised when they showed up in the mail. 

@Fam_Cruise  To add to what you said about First Class being a dying breed,  United does not specifically offer First Class but they do have 3 classes of seating on their long haul flights. I am guessing their Polaris Business class is similar to First Class on foreign carriers.  Lie-flat seats and excellent meal service. United has a large fleet of Boeing 787s that fly to Europe and across the Pacific that offers the 3 classes of service.  Their Polaris lounges at ORD and SFO are beautiful and second to none. 

Thank you for posting your extensive knowledge about airlines.

I agree about booking early if using miles.  I just booked a domestic 1st class ticket for January and was pleasantly surprised how few miles were needed. Far fewer than I thought it was going to be. 
If buying with money, wait and see because it may go down.

This has been my experience.