dingsterkat

We received the same type email from O regarding our May 22 Riviera cruise Barcelona to Southampton.  It did read strange - and our overall time in ports is reduced 3.5 hours. One departure was delayed 30 minutes though instead of being an earlier departure. 

I’ve done it twice and made the ship both times.  However I wouldn’t recommend it unless you are a pro at European travel and can take a train without help if Plan A doesn’t work.  We took a Barcelona to Athens cruise and flew in morning of to Barcelona and it all worked like it should no issues.  Since we’d been to Barcelona many times we were fine and had our back up plan set. Even hit duty free in the port for allow carry on bottles.  

However the other time was a stressful mess. Party of 4 cruising Rome round trip. One in party had accidental fall in departure airport - just little bloody but stressful.  Then bad flight delays in US due to stopped up toilets on plane caused missed connection in Germany.  Arrived a couple hours late in Rome.  That’s a long flight when you’re already stressed.  Got off flight and found out cruise departure was delayed.  That was our saving grace but because the ship was delayed our transfer was delayed. Very exhausting.  

I cruised the Sirena in December to Cuba for a week and thought the old girl looked marvelous and that the overall food and entertainment were great for a smaller ship. I do prefer the O ships to the R ships but the itinerary was worth it.  We had a basic veranda cabin and it was clean and not tatty. Red Ginger was amazing and we often preferred the casualness of The Terrace to the MDR. I didn’t notice worn furniture in any restaurant nor in the library where I hung out one afternoon. Spa was immaculate. 

There was a certain group of people from a certain geographical location that seemed to complain about everything and treat the wonderful staff poorly.  I would much rather have gotten rid of them than any cabin or restaurant furnishings.  

If you go looking for the good things you will certainly find them on the Sirena.  

We went to Cuba last month on Oceania and it was an awesome trip.  Our ship was luxurious and such a contrast to Cuba itself. After living in Miami for years it was quite an amazing experience to meet and chat with private guides and shopkeepers. It really helped to speak Spanish. Our cruise ship was small enough to dock in all three ports we visited and fast on and off the ship. We had a two day visit to Havana, one day in Cienfuegos and one in Santiago de Cuba. We hired private guides and drivers each day in Havana and really felt like we immersed ourself in the experience.  Loved visiting Hemingway’s house, seeing Pilar and visiting where he put his boat in. Okay, the rum and cigars were great too. We simply made our own private tour in Cienfuegos and that too was a great experience. Santiago de Cuba we did a ships tour and it seemed almost prerecorded/scripted. Not our favorite stop. 

Havana and its surroundings were interesting but it’s not a place I’d go back. The reasons to visit are to better understand humanity and politics not to visit beaches and tropical climates. Havana is really an eye opener - I left with a strong respect and sadness for the everyday people I met. I also left feeling spoiled and grateful to be able to leave. The beautiful pre-1950 building are falling apart - literally crumbling. 

Its worth a visit!  Like nowhere else I’ve ever been.  Great memories. 

Costa was unappealing to me - lines for everything. Took forever to get on and off the ship. Rude fellow passengers. Announcements repeated in multiple languages, bland food. Maybe it was simply the cursed ship we were on... the Costa Concordia.  About a year before it was run aground.  The only thing I remember as special was the drink package where they would bring you a bottle of wine for dinner, not glass by glass. But not being a huge drinker, that didn’t balance out the negatives.  Stick with HAL or NCL would be my advice. 

We took the Dec 10 Sirena cruise to Cuba and really enjoyed the trip. My husband has Parkinsons - he can walk but not all day so we wanted to get as much as we could from our shore excursions. In Havana, on the first day we set up a late morning private excursion to Hemingway’s house via OldCar Tours.  They were fantastic. Our requested 1951 Chevy Deluxe convertible was awaiting us along with driver and guide.  We had a beautiful day learning about Hemingway’s time in Cuba and our guide knew every interesting fact about the house and it’s residents. The house is your typical open air tropical house with all windows and doors open wide, so when others complain of not walking through I’m confused. I could see everything from outside, but then on our private tour there were no people in our sight lines and we dawdled as much as we wanted.  We then went to the area where Hemingway launched his boat - beautiful ocean but the countryside was covered in trash. A very poor town outside Havana proper - Cojimar. We tipped the guys who serenaded us on guitar and everyone was happy.

We had signed up for an Oceania night shore excursion in Havana but did not go... our fault not theirs. We had signed up for the Buena Vista Social Club concert. But we lost interest when we saw on our tickets that it had been renamed the Guajiros something or other. I’m sure it was fine but didn’t feel like a bus ride. 

Second day day in Havana we did another private tour with OldCar Tours - saw the city and did some shopping via another awesome convertible. Wouldn’t have changed a thing on our Havana tours. 

Cienfuegos we had booked an Oceania  tour - the submerged pearl but we found out upon embarkation the tour was canceled. No others sounded interesting so we winged it. Rented a private taxi and took a comprehensive city tour and shopped downtown at the end. Very impromptu and inexpensive. Pretty town. 

Santiago de Cuba we had booked the Oceania tour - Colonial Santiago. It was probably the best way to see town - part walking tour, then a cultural visit with a singing group, more touring and history. Pretty scripted and the least interesting city of the three but still enough social interaction. 

All in in all the private tours were better and cheaper. Loved our cruise, but unlike others on this board I think we experienced Cuba nicely and loved the people we met, but we aren’t in any hurry to return. So many more places still unexplored. 

I hope you you enjoy it as well!

Wow thanks!  Lots of great ideas!  BigNance I think you win - what a great list. I missed two things on my first cruise - breakfast in the GDR and thus the lamb chops - also afternoon tea. Rum in the smoothie is brilliant 😉

My second ever Oceania cruise begins in just a few weeks - a week circumnavigating Cuba on Sirena. I have ‘prepped’ for vacation by eating sensibly and exercising and am happy to say I’ve lost 25 pounds.  But... I love food and I plan on splurging a little each day of our 7 night vacation. 

So my question is... what splurges should not be missed and which are easy to avoid?  What is your one evil pleasure?.  My first cruise was on Riviera in the Med and I found the croissants to be splurge worthy along with most everything at Red Ginger while most desserts at the Terrace were tasteless. 

Thanks in advance for your Insights!

I signed up and paid for two cooking classes on the Riviera ahead of time via their website. Once onboard, one was canceled and I got a refund. The one I attended was good but not great. Might have just been the particular class. As for the Artists Loft, I don’t think there is an additional charge for that, but I don’t know as it can’t be booked in advance and in our circumstance, the first Europe cruise after a transatlantic cruise, it was all booked up on embarkation day before I could sign up. Those from the TA segment had filled it bThat was a little disappointing - the only item I mentioned as a negative on our cruise survey.

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You all might have noticed many of the Oceania cruises to Cuba are completely full. Maybe this is a ploy to get enough of us to cancel so the OP can book a Cuba cruise?? Buena suerte!!

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Alexandra, I’m with you... I want to hear how Oceania does the 3 port cruise now that there are greater restrictions. No excursions listed yet for my Dec 10 of 2018 departure yet but the ship appears fully booked. Time will tell but I’m hoping to know by April - trying to surprise my DH with the reservation as a birthday gift.

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Got 2 Oceania and 1 Regent brochure today

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Hi Planner - there is really no comparison between O and Costa. Kinda like comparing a macaw and a buzzard. Yes they are both birds, but oh my how different! We were on Costa Concordia back in 2008 and found the ship large, congested, gaudy, the food nothing special. It really did take forever to get on or off the ship. Many nationalities sounded like an interesting perk but turned out to be the opposite. Announcements went on forever in many languages. Now very sadly the ship we went on sunk years later in an awful tragedy. But even in 2008 the cruise before ours hit the dock in Sicily, was late to Civitavecchia to start our cruise. They fixed the damage bit by bit in successive ports. Ship so big it couldn't enter Malta port on a rough sea day. The all inclusive drink package at mealtime was sadly the best part of the trip, but we don't really drink much.

It's not even fair really to compare to our 2017 Greek cruise on Riviera. The ship was beautiful, service excellent, easy to get to land, food simply amazing. Yes it cost many times the price on Costa. No there isn't much nighttime entertainment. Still...Worth every penny. I don't get that much vacation - so when I go on a trip I want a trip that is memorable for all the right reasons. Oh, and now thanks to Oceania and the fellow members of this board I also want crispy duck and watermelon salad and miso glazed sea bass. Go on Oceania and you'll learn the significance of that great tip!

Choose wisely and have fun!

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On my last cruise our 8th deck balcony overlooked the 7th floor extension. While 7th floor was quite big I wouldn't have liked the exposure. I wear my pjs on the balcony for breakfast but don't need others checking them out necessarily. I don't really care about passing ships but the 7th floor was so... close!

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Here's what I did - we prefer Delta and needed good layovers (not too short or long) due to husbands mobility and we stayed 2 nights post cruise. So we did the air deviation with PE but the flights they gave us were awful. So instead of accepting them we had our TA remove the PE (which limits you to certain airlines) asked for specific Delta flights, had them book them for a little less all together than I could do myself. I then upgraded them to Deltas Economy Comfort which Oceania couldn't do for us, and it turned out great.

So it makes sense to figure out your own flights then see if O can do it cheaper. For us on this past Med cruise they were able to help us.

Our next cruise is Cuba so I simply declined that air all together - we are just a few hours by car from Miami.

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I just got off the Riviera ten days ago in the Med. DH and I each had an iPhone and a wifi only iPad. We signed up for the AT&T International Day Pass for our iPhones for $10/day we could use them just like at home for calls, texts and data used by apps or Safari any time a roaming network was available. It uses your home plan limits. We found it really useful as even when sailing a network was often available. We also had the OLife unlimited wifi which we shared between our two iPads. I would log on and download a book then my husband might use his to check news or sports and knock me off. Between the free wifi and the day pass we were more tech connected than ever before. If you really really need a second wifi I think the most inclusive/expensive option was around $300 on our 10 day cruise. Hope this helps.

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I found Oceania air to be decently priced even with the air deviation fee. We just returned from Barcelona to Athens cruise and live in Florida. I picked exact flights and dates and they booked them for a price slightly better than I could myself. Since it was on Delta, I then upgraded to Economy Comfort

Seats on the two international flights. Also we did get our frequent flyer points no issue. While chatting with other Floridians over dinner at Jacques they told us they had Oceania book their flights without air deviation and without extra nights in Athens. They were to fly Athens to DUBAI then Dubai to Orlando. I can't imagine how awful that would have been.

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I am currently on Riviera with port in Rome tomorrow. There are a few kids/young adults on our cruise and there are no specific kids programs aboard. However they have been delightful. Well dressed and well mannered - wish some of the adults were equally respectful. While I would still take my grandkids on Disney instead, obviously these kids were raised well and fit in just fine. I don't think Oceania has to worry about them starting belly flop contests or anything else Carnivalesque should we say??

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We had a ridiculous number of upsells, "change to a different cruise", then finally "cancel for free" and "cancel and we will pay you 5k" offers on our current Riviera sailing. The upsells were to be expected but the cancel offers were really crazy. Of course they were all voluntary and we didn't volunteer, but the very last one was shocking and reminded me of Redford in "Indecent Proposal". Happily ignored them all and enjoying a relaxing day in Cannes.

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Wow. I guess I read the meanness too. Oh well OP I'm on the same cruise with you and really really can't wait! To be in such beautiful countries during annual celebrations sounds fun. Who cares if the museum is closed?? Live life spontaneously and join in the festivities.

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