LAexNY

We are onboard Nautica now and there is a minor change in the Bulgari product, at least in Concierge cabins. We were supplied with a new scent called blue tea. There is a card stating that if we prefer the old green tea scent, our cabin attendant will switch them.

entirely different pricing NCL...Oceania....Regent

 

Getting credit from the bottom tier would not work to get higher priced benefits, Sort of like accruing points at a Marriott F airfield and wanting to get Ritz Carlton stays...

 

It would be great but the lines even though commonly owned are totally separate products for a totally different niche / market as I see it..... For that reason alone I doubt they would ever consider such a program.....

 

But dont let that stop you from booking O.... not only is it different ports, but it is an entirely different and pleasurable experience far beyond your past NCL experience......

Bad analogy. If you stay often at Fairfield, you could accumulate enough Marriott points for a Ritz-Carlton stay.

F

where is this place you are docking? Never heard of it. :confused::confused:

Sounds like the poster meant Warnemunde.

I wouldn't worry about the negative reviews - there will always be complainers.

It sounds like you may be on the March Australia circumnavigation as we are. You will find many long-time Oceania cruisers on this cruise. In fact, there are more than ten couples we know just from past Oceania cruises.

We're looking forward to it.

Here's another vote for Red Ginger from frequent O cruisers.

It's our favorite.

à chacun son goût

We are on the Amazon cruise in December this year as well. Did your cruises go from the Amazon to French Guiana as well as other Caribbean islands and was this recently?

 

Thanks.

Yes, we were down the Amazon to Manaus and then back up, stopping in French Guiana on the way back to Miami. November 2015.

Yes, we have been and no, we weren't.

Never a problem.

BTW, the vaccination is no longer recommended for seniors who have never had one before.

In addition, on the O class ships, those machines are in the Executive and Concierge Lounges. And I believe there is one in Horizons on all the ships.

Sorry but there is no Jacques on Sirena.

There is Jacques Bistro at lunch in the MDR but no dinner.

Quote:

Originally Posted by potterhill View Post

That unlimited internet is practically worthless now that they give it away. Usage far exceeds capacity. Only time it works well is in the middle of the night if you happen to have insomnia.

 

Mo

 

 

 

What surprised and annoyed us was that Oceania dictates only ONE DEVICE at a time can be logged in to use the Internet! So if DH is using the Oceania wifi, I cannot. :mad:

First world problem!

I have typically just booked my own air in the past, even though we have once used O's air. United (via Air Canada) is currently having a fairly sale on business air for one of our cruises next summer. We are just under 330 days out.

 

So my question is: If we use Oceania air, we will pay the deviation fee to Oceania anyway, since we will depart and return a couple days early, will O's air give us price quotes on our air options now, or make us wait until the 270 day pre cruise time period? We could easily miss a very attractive sale if we have to wait, but would like to see the options!

In my experience, O will not talk about air until the 270 day mark.

Thanks for the info. I figured the expensive ones (which is the one I'm most considering) would be excluded. Went to Oceania's site and found that everything OC (Oceania Choice) and above is excluded. Basically, Oceania is giving away ice in the winter time and this doesn't mitigate the fact that their shore excursions are the most overpriced in the industry!

So you are complaining that they are overpriced and that you can get them free?

The 2 lines are night and day different.... cater to totaly different people

O is for casual, low key, entertain your self independent but very well mannered and well spoken travelers, No formal dress up.... big focus on cuisine and ambiance with a small number of passengers 600-1000 tops

 

Actually 1250 tops.

It's the only one I've noticed.

Paul, have you seen anything else?

The number of ports that have land based connections is very limited. NCL has had this feature for awhile. Basically it the major Caribbean ports and some of the large Med ports.

Today we are in Bilbao.

Friday - 10:00. AM

Big surprise today. Many people are off the ship now. The wi-fi is the fastest I've ever seen on Oceania. Pages load quickly. I did a Speedtest and got an astounding result of 71 Mbps. Tested it again a while later and it was a still respectable 9 Mbps.

So the system appears to be capable of decent speed, at least when fewer people are online.

She looks fine.

Seems like a brand new crew (mostly) and they are being "broken in".

See you onboard.

PS re:Internet - agree wit LAexNY - same old, same old. :(

The most noticeable change is that all the carpets have been replaced. We spoke to several of the crew members and they told us that they were all put to work during dry dock helping with ripping out the old carpet. BTW, the dry dock was in Cadiz, Spain and Marina sailed to Lisbon on June 6.

We are onboard Marina now. The internet does not seem any faster than it's been on our previous 20 O cruises.

I did a Speedtest on Day 1 and got a whopping 1.49 Mbps! I did another just now at dinner time and got 0.50 mbps.

I'll post again if things get any better.

They did previously cut off the time to buy unlimited. But that is no longer the case. We had 500 minutes last cruise and bought the unlimited once that was gone. I even asked the IT guy to make sure and he said there is no deadline.

Based on the level of service received, I would agree that Oceania is indeed overpriced. I stayed in a PH1 and if I had paid anywhere near what the brochure price was, I would not have been a happy camper. For $5500 pp for a 7 day cruise there should have been someone available to wipe my butt 24/7.

Oh, and by the way, how was your cruise?

She is going into drydock after her current T/A sailing (5/14 - 5/28) and will return on June 7th in Lisbon.

Nothing major will be done AFAIK - only cosmetic stuff (whatever is needed)

Hi RheaSue and Paul,

We are boarding Marina in Lisbon on June 7. We will report on any changes.

David & Laura

We are thinking of the 31 day cruise from Los Angeles to Rome aboard the Sirena. From my signature you can see that I have sailed mostly on Princess ships, the smallest being the Pacific Princess 20 years ago.

 

 

Since the Staterooms are the same do past Oceania cruisers think it is worth it to upgrade to the Concierge Stateroom. On a smaller ship is it more stable being on a lower deck nearer the water.

 

Thanks for any help. The perks are so good I really hate to pass up this opportunity but it would be our most expensive cruise so I want to be sure it is right for us.

The Veranda Staterooms and the Concierge staterooms are identical, other than location.

Good to know. I always thought they were prayer mats.:)

We use tripinsurancestore.com.

Very good website compares many options and several insurance carriers. Have used them many times and no problems.

Originally Posted by iamtrustworthy View Post

Hi hondorner,

 

 

That answer will guide whether you can keep your original policy or have to get a new one. It's not an arbitrary decision by the insurance company because they also are governed by their contract language.

 

Steve Dasseos

 

Appears Don't Insurance is with John Hancock and perhaps Steve Dasseos at insuremytrips.com should be able to help with the policy.

 

Good luck and God Speed Don, may he rest in piece.

Correction: Steve"s company is tripinsurancestore.com