1985rz1

Az does inlcude specialty restaurants for Club Continent staterooms (the equivalent of O’s PHs) and above.

From our recent cruises on Azamara's Journey (Jan/Feb 2024) and Oceania’s Sirena (Aug 2024) I can confirm that they have the same footprint and much the same level of satisfaction (plusses and minuses for each).

Please don't ask. It's denigrates many passengers on no factual baises.

Wonder if it's port dependent? Uploaded ours for our boarding pass, and it was not retaken upon boarding at the port last month.

My intention was that there was no change in fare when I said no change in cost. I thought that was obvious, but I changed the wording to be more specific.

A Brief History of (Recent) Time A long, long time ago, in a land far, far away, a company offered a vacation experience under a program called “OLife.” One segment of citizens of the land liked and enjoyed the program, but saw and tolerated its weaknesses and complexity. However, another segment of the citizens complained that the program was too complicated and too confusing, and that other companies had amenities that were not part of this company’s program. Many of the unhappy citizens wished for a different program that was simpler and closer to programs offered by other companies. The company heard the citizens, and the disgruntled ones were louder than the satisfied ones, so the company, changed the program to make it simpler and have more inclusions, the latter of which resulted in a net increase in cost to the citizens. It called the program “Simply More.” Again, one segment of the citizens liked the new program but others complained that they didn’t want to pay for amenities they didn’t use and didn’t want to use, as well as the increased cost of the vacation experience. But they didn’t complain about the new WiFi rule of two accounts per cabin. The unhappy citizens wished for a cruise-only program that didn’t force unwanted amenities upon them. The company again heard the citizens, and the disgruntled ones were, once more, louder than the satisfied ones. The company responded by changing the program again and called it “Your World Included.” The new program eliminated the despised included amenities, and replaced them with included gratuities, but kept the two WiFi accounts per stateroom as an inclusion. There was no immediate change in fare for the citizens, neither increase nor a decrease to compensate the net loss of value incurred by the change in amenities. Again, a segment of the citizens was happy that they didn’t have to pay for unwanted amenities, and that gratuities were included in the price, but others were unhappy because they felt it was not a fair trade, especially loyalty club members who saw a reduction in the value of their loyalty program perks, especially the loyalty club included gratuities. Some have begun wishing for a return to “OLife”.” So what is the lesson learned from this history? Be careful what you wish for.

Azamara is one we have tried and liked (and have one booked for next year). Food not quite as good, but the enrichment lecture series outshines O by a mile. We found the excursions to be generally excellent, but not included. It's biggest draw for us was the excellent itineraries.

If it's the "2nd" gratuity you're referring to, it's $250 per stateroom, not per person.

So true. But folks on CC love factless speculation. 🙈🙉🙊

So true. We have a legacy OLife this December, an SM in December of 2025, and an SM in March/April of 2026

Jan- You're such a treasure to have on the board. One last question before I go into my waiting mode for tomorrow's deatils: For example, at silver, the is a loyalty OBC of $250 per cabin. Is the "2nd grats" of $250 per cabin in addition to the loyalty OBC of $250?

Jan- Is that per person or per stateroom?

Yes, with (as is always the case) exceptions.

Whether it's lunch or dinner, just sit down to get a table and let the server know your drink needs. If alcohol is one, the server will summon the "sommelier" who will take your a wine or cocktail order. We've never had a problem getting wine or cocktail service in the TC Then go fetch your meal. In the evenings, they put white tablecloths on the tables on our Sirena cruise last week. The evening pizza option is not available on all ships...the Sirena did not have it. Waves did have a Philly Cheesesteak on our cruise, and in spite of others' opinions, it was quite acceptable, except for the steak to bread ratio.

I too was on this cruise and agree wholeheartly.

Waves menus does not change, so you can see it in Waves anytime. I think it is also shown on your stateroom TV, but I'm not 100% sure. The TC menu us posted online daily and can access on you stateroom TV, and the menu is posted outside the main entrance daily. I'm not sure what you mean by different expectations for lunch or dinner. What information are you looking for?

That's the one currently being served on the Sirena. 🍾🥂🍾

I agree with @SophieM that it may work in your favor. Did O lose the key to the lock?

I just found our original one, too, and it was dated January 28, 2024. My reference to a March notification was part of an exchange with our TA about it later in the game. Guess I keep too many trip related emails in the cloud.

I feel your pain. I recommend you take something for it:🍸.

I agree, and we're on this cruise. It looks like O originally planned for both the Nautica and the Sirena to both be in Leith at the same time. But something changed and O was forced to move one to Rosyth, and O chose the Sirena because it was an embarkation port for the Nautica. I don't think that O would have changed it if it hadn't been forced to. We got our notification of the change on March 5, more than 4 months before embarkation, plenty of time in advance, and although it was a disappointment, it was nowhere close to a deal-breaker. We adjusted. And we found that Dunfermline, to town to which the Rosyth Port shuttle took us was a charming town, rich in history, ancient ruins, the crypt of Robert the Bruce, and the birth home of Andrew Carnegie, among many attractions. Well worth a day trip.

According to the Future Cruise Consultant onboard our current cruise, they will be made available for booking on October 1, 2024, and will be available for preview about a week before.

Got your test email, answered and resent my previous email. Let me know if you got it. Maybe I'm considered spam 🤔

Barry dot L dot Lutz at gmail dot com Will resend.

You must have been within the staggered penalty period. There's a scale of penalties that go into effect starting 120 or 150 days out. If you heard that other lines allowed a penality free transfer, that means the cancelation was outside the penalty period. Same with Oceania. While the rules for other lines is not relevant to O, but other lines have same same policy. We sail O, Azamara, Viking, and Seabourn, and they have similar policies. We had to cancel several trips in 2023 on different lines following a medical emergency, and lost only deposits on several and the full amount in one case. Our travel insurance covered all the losses.