Hunding

jondfk

Bon Voyage!  I hope your cruise is spectacular.

2 hours ago, DeanoNorthPerth said:

My first ever cruise was on Insignia. Great way to start and made me fall in love with all things Oceania.

So was ours - all the way back in the prehistoric year of 2007!  

2 hours ago, YoPhilly said:

I have to agree with you.  I spent one night in Ushuaia and would have loved another day or two.  There's so much to see and do in the area.

 Very happy to see this - looking forward to two days in Ushuaia!

16 minutes ago, edgee said:

Hard to disagree with your point. However, Ushuaia is beautiful. No "downtown Burbank." We were "stuck" there overnight 10 years ago when Antarctica portion of a Celebrity cruise was cancelled due to weather. Like an Alaskan port town but much more interesting with a more international flavor. Some great restaurants. Great natural beauty, of course.

edgee, this makes me slightly more sanguine about our decision to "stay the course," despite the lingering wariness...which is inevitable, I suppose.  Thank you.

34 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

usually it is just a stop in a certain Country to adhere to the rules of  stopping at a foreign port  sometimes they will bunker

Pax are not usually allowed off unless on a ship's tour  that will be picked up at the next port stop EG Hellesylt Norway to Geiranger

LHT28, thank you very much. 

So after Costa Rica, it's a straight sail for seven days to Chile, excepting the Canal transit and the "probably-bunkering" stop in Panama, as you suggested.  

We love the sea days, truly...but missing Lima...the Nazca/Pisco Lines...Inca...? 

And two days in Ushuaia?  I hear Johnny Carson's affectionate references to "beautiful, downtown Burbank!"  And another two days in Montevideo?  

Maybe we'll sleep on it........................

Could someone kindly tell me, or explain to me, what a "Technical Stop" is?  I infer that work will be done in/on or around the ship...but will, for instance, passengers be allowed to debark during the stop?  It seems to me that in addition to Ecuador and Peru, we have also 'lost' Panama. 

This is all a bit disheartening, isn't it?  Ah, well...decisions to be made.

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

The latest development on this 12/1 cruise is that it has completely disappeared from our "O" account.  We assume that this is one of those software issues or that "O" is doing some kind of upgrade.  But then again, who knows.

 

Hank

I'm sure that the three Marina cruises scheduled for December 1st and 19th departures will return to Oceania's web site sometime on Monday, once a [please God] final determination is made about Ecuador and Peru.

6 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

As I was typing this, got the following email from O:

Yeah, kinda feelin' like a yoyo here....  Could be worse, I guess.

Check what is directly above Deck 10 and directly below Deck 8...that will usually explain the preference for the deck between two other decks of staterooms.  Not always, but....

Thank you, Laika Sproed.  Very happy news.  

On 7/29/2021 at 7:56 AM, ak1004 said:

Our December 1 cruise from Miami to Lima shows now almost all categories as available. Inside and outside were waitlisted for over a year (we ended up booking veranda). We were #3 for outside and #4 for inside. There is very limited number of those cabins on the Marina (around 20 I think) Not sure how to interpret this - did people cancel, or Oceania released cabins that were reserved? 

My guess is that many, many people have cancelled, as we would, were it not for the steep financial penalties.  The situation in Central and South America has not improved in the last months, and one wonders how it possibly could in time to ensure even a relatively safe cruise.  There are any number of ports on this itinerary in which we will emphatically not be debarking for the day...and wondering what may be brought back from shore onto the ship.  The idea of having to quarantine either on the ship or in Argentina for two weeks is - how can I put this? - not very appealing.   We are between Scylla and Charybdis.  Aside from handing over tens of thousands of dollars to Oceania (and American Airlines), we are stuck waiting to see...hoping...wondering...fretting...mostly hoping....

Thanks, pinotlover.

So.......... 

If Marina's SA voyages, commencing December 1, 20121, are scrapped, where in the world might a few sensible itineraries be created to take their place(s)?  Because, to paraphrase Jancruz's post of a coupla weeks ago, "the ship's gotta go someplace." 

Given any thought to one of the Hurtigruten ferries (preferably one of the larger ones)?  A very different experience from the "happily coddled" experiences of Viking and Oceania and Regent.  But a round trip, Bergen to Kirkenes to Bergen, will put you into a very large number of fiords, many of them in the middle of the night, true, but....  Cannot speak about Azamara as I have never sailed with them.

On 6/11/2021 at 9:39 AM, Jancruz said:

Absolutely and he is not kidding..

Jancruz1

We're counting on that/him.

1 hour ago, Jancruz said:

All new carpets, upholstery and other soft goods.

 

Brand new Baristas.

 

Brand new Owners Suites.

Jancruz1

Grrrrrreat!!!  I mean, especially since we're all in Owners Suites! 😂. I'm sure it's all lovely............

TA said this morning that yesterday was "brutal" as O cancelled all Asia-Australia-New Zealand cruises until July 2022.  

Thanks, jancruz, as always.  We, too, are in the "December 1st Marina Quandary" -- though we plunked down a lot of money yesterday on air reservations, all of which must be insured today!  We would certainly be open to a revised/new itinerary, but...

...there we are.  😕

5 minutes ago, Jancruz said:

There is a webinar for CCC Members on the 3rd, maybe we will learn something then..

Jancruz1

ROTF!  The very day cancellation penalties click in for Marina's December 1st sailing from Miami to Lima and Buenos Aires.

3 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I wonder if folks have also taken a good look at Marina's schedule.  After she returns to the USA in Nov the ship is heading off to Peru and then does moves around South America's Cape Horn.  But COVID is raging in Peru and much of South America.  Will cruise ships be allowed to dock in Peru and other South America ports before the end of 2021?  Very questionable.  'O" is running out of time if they want to consider some major changes to the Marina's 2021 schedule.  

 

Hank

These folks have!  We have less than a week to cancel our cruise - a December 1st departure from Miami - without incurring penalties.  We were hoping Oceania would have something to say about Marina's 38-day Miami-Buenos Aires itinerary before the 180-days-from-sailing window passed, but apparently not.  Every country in Central and South Amerca on the Cruise is at the CDC's Level 4 - basically, "Don't go unless you have to!"  But we are left to wonder, even knowing that a lot can happen in six months....  I suppose were Oceania to cancel or alter the original itinerary, there wouldn't be any problems, but there are air and hotel reservations to be made, identifying a testing location in BA so we can fly home, considerations like that.  I know, "First World" problems, but still....

KS&JW

Thanks for this!  Fascinating, exciting, exhilarating - gonna be one of those things you "want to have done."

Viking Jupiter is dressed tastefully and elegantly for Christmas, waiting to welcome you aboard - and I'm sure there will be added flourishes here and there later.

Right now we are contending with huge swells and high winds - the stabilizers are working overtime, and doing a great job.  We are pitching like the mechanical bull in URBAN COWBOY - okay, I'm exaggerating to make a point - but so far haven't suffered the inevitable consequences of excessive rolling.  Hoping that situation maintains for another three or four hours, until I climb into bed...and then into Montevideo in the morning.  But it has been a glorious day, much cooler and windy, but truly beautiful.  The Weather Gods have truly blessed us for this entire cruise.  Hope yours is as wondrous.

On a cruise now with many, many...many...sea days - which we love.  We also love "movie nights" - you know, bathrobes, room service, wine, whatever....  Checked the movie listings on this cruise, and honest-to-God, I've never seen better or more creative or more interesting choices on any ship in my life.  Only my opinion, please remember.  But it takes a certain kind of confidence and chutzpah to program POSEIDON ADVENTURE on a cruise ship...and GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES and Criterion Collection films and currently released movies, including the stupid ones, and a large part of "The World of Marvel" (if that's your thing)....  Put it this way:  The many - many - choices are varied, broad and deep.  If you don't find more appealing titles than you would ever be able to watch...I dunno...bring your own?...stay home?....  You ain't gonna be disappointed, trust me.  At least, in the available movie stock.

48 minutes ago, Liz Masterson said:

Hmmm...

So... if you order a coke with a burger at 3:48pm from room service... do you pay for the coke or not? 

Nah, don't worry about it!  If they charge you for the Coke, lemme know and I'll pay for it!

4 hours ago, cstrick said:

I have a 55 minute layover between flights from PHL and SYD. Is this going to be enough time ?

 

WHERE is your layover?!?!