carosou

We booked a French balcony on Vista when we were on the Serena in April. It was the last cabin available and it was an accessible cabin. When I asked, the O rep told us that it was perfectly acceptable, even though we didn't need it. O would not bump us out of it if someone else needed it. I feel a bit guilty, but really wanted the French balcony. 

I'm hoping that things will have been cleaned up by the time we board on March 27. Keep us informed about what's going on.

15 hours ago, TFree said:

Here is another example of the way that the Simply More program would apply to an existing booking. We are booked on the Vista Panama Canal Cruise on November 3. We booked it with Olife without air. We chose the excursions option, so we would get four “free“ excursions each in the non-excluded categories, up to $199 each. We are not big drinkers, so that the beverage package option would never make sense for us, but we would each have a wine or beer at dinner, and possibly at lunch. 

 

The cruise is currently waitlisted in all categories, so I was not even sure if they would give us a quote on the difference, if we wanted to choose Simply More instead of our existing booking. The travel agent reported that in her original call, she was told that they could not quote this since the cruise is sold out. But after checking with some supervisor, they called her back to say that we can make the switch, and the total difference for us would be $798 (meaning, $399 per person).

 

I am going to study this in more detail , when I get a chance, but the way I am looking at it, it is probably worthwhile to us. It is not an amazing deal by any means, just probably worth it. First, we would definitely use the second Wi-Fi login, and probably would have purchased it.  This is a 16 night cruise, so the charge for an additional login would be just under $400. I don’t know if they ever or frequently discount that on board, but that is the list price of the additional login. Then, I don’t know what the going rate for a glass of wine or beer at dinner is, but I am guessing that for a glass of wine and a beer, that might be around $20 per dinner. So that would be about $320 worth of liquor, even if we never have a wine or beer at lunch (and we probably would). We currently get (in effect) an excursion credit that would be worth up to $796 person ($199 X 4), but with very few if any of the excursions eligible and right at the $199 price point that would max out the benefit and based on excursions currently booked, we would get $586 benefit per person. Instead, under Simply More, we would get $1000 worth of excursions, with no limitations as to which excursions we must choose.

 

So, all told, I can argue it either way. I could say that we might end up spending a few additional dollars with simply more, because the size of our excursion credit will be shrinking. But, on the other hand, if wine and beer are more expensive than I am guessing, or if we have more than one at dinner, and occasionally a wine or a beer at lunch, we would probably come out a little ahead with simply more. 
 

I would be curious if others have any reaction to this. Also, anybody with recent experience who can give a better ballpark estimate of the cost of a glass of wine or beer within the categories that would be included in Simply More, that would be helpful.

 

Tom & Judy

Thank you for posting this. We have the same dilemma for our cruise in early October. It is fully paid for, excursions added , no air, etc. I did some calculations and think Simply More would be best for us, but I'm concerned about what will happen to the 9 excursions we booked and paid for (4 were the free excursions). The additional cost would pay for the wine we would have with dinner for our 24 day cruise. I'm just waiting to hear from our TA. We also have two more cruises scheduled, but have not made final payment. 

We cancelled our September 30 cruise in mid-April and received our deposit refund today -- approximately 6 weeks rather than the 90 days they anticipated. It was through AMEX.

On 2/20/2019 at 3:04 PM, kitty9 said:

Will we make a 10:45 am flight out of Barcelona after our Riviera cruise in June?  It’s the best flight for us to get home. 

Last May we had an 11:45 flight out of Barcelona. We left the ship at 8:00 am and made the flight with plenty of time to spare. I think you can make a 10:45 if you leave earlier than 8:00 am. It is a short cab ride to the airport.

I've rarely needed anything from the "blue book" except the luggage tags. I've begun to tear out only the pages about cabin # and flights, etc. The rest is just fluff and not necessary once on board.

I love the r-ships and take meclizine religiously when on any ship. It works for me with very few side effects. I agree with others that mid-ship around deck 4 is the best place to be in rough seas. Also get some ginger candy. It helps if you feel queasy.

My husband used Top Dive several years ago when we visited several of the islands. The package was well worth it. He absolutely loved the service and the diving.

Took advantage of the Black Friday sale. Paid for a C (Deluxe Ocean View) on the Riviera, have a B4 (Balcony) Guarantee including OLife.. Sale is running until 11/27 (tomorrow).

I took advantage of the sale, also, with the same result as the OP. Luckily got it at the last minute as it is expiring today.

I take 25 mg of meclizine (prescription Bonine, I think) prescribed by my doctor every morning while on a cruise. I also have ginger candy if the sea is really rough. I have a little drowsiness and some dry mouth, but that is preferable to being seasick.

If you are trying to get GE for just one upcoming trip then it makes no sense. If, however, you plan to travel more extensively in the future, then you should just go ahead and make the appointment - whenever it is available - and then enjoy the benefits of GE for years to come in your future travels

No, not for one trip. We currently have deposits on five trips that we can use the GE for. The one in August is just the closest.

If you need it by this August, call the local office and they will tell you when to come in. Your final approval will be sent to you via E-Mail a few minutes after the interview is completed and your card will arrive in the mail in about 5 work days. You don't need the card for global entry unless the machines are down. They might ask for some documentation to prove you need an expedited appointment.

 

Don't forget to add your known traveler number to your airline profile as soon as you are approved. If you don't you may not get TSA Pre Check even if you were getting it in the past.

I called the local office (SLC) yesterday and was told that there was nothing they could do. They are understaffed and there is a LONG list of people trying to get Mobile Entry. They only process them for two hours a day Monday through Friday. Oh well.

We applied an paid for our Global Entry on May 1 and received authorization two weeks later. The earliest appointment for an interview is in December. We thought we were well ahead of the game and would have the pass for our trip in August, but it doesn't look like it. We check several times a day for cancellations, but our airport is too small to have lots of appointments and we live too far away to just go there on the odd chance we can get it done. We did try one day when we were close to the airport, but they weren't even doing interviews on that day (Saturday).

Could not find a roll call for this cruise yet. Been on several Oceania cruises but never on the larger ships. We are actually doing 4 back-to-back and this is the first leg - we finish in Venice on May 25, 2018. The other 3 legs of the trip all have existing roll calls so it is a little confusing to try to link all 4. We prefer to book our own excursions (Tours by Locals, Viatour, etc). We are always looking for someone to join us (already signing up). Let us know if you are interested.

 

Jim and Stephanie Johnson

San Juan Capistrano, CA

There is a roll call for this cruise. There are not many signed on yet, but I hope there will be more of us. We also are looking for someone to share excursions with. Look at the roll call.

I agree. Both my husband and I get copies of the same brochure. We tried to get one stopped, but with no success. Guess we'll try again.

We were on Oceania in January 2014 and were able to go ashore on Easter Island the two days we were there. The second day, however, we were late getting to shore because the sea was rough and tendering in was slow and difficult. We booked the two day tour with a company called Easter Island Spirit. It was really good and reasonably priced with smaller groups. They easily adapted to the delay on the second day.

Thank you for this post. I have had the same problem for quite a while now. I hope someone from Cruise Critic can get this straightened out. It is annoying to have to log in each time I look at something. :(