Paulchili

Terry, I agree with your assessment of the Square hotel (location, location, location...). While it's not 5*, it is very nice, contemporary (up to date) with Danish design; also it is the only hotel in Copenhagen in its category with A/C.

While the rooms facing the square have a view, the rooms in the back are quieter.

Thank you again for the wonderful report and great pictures :).

Terry,

I just caught up with this thread and inhaled all of it as fast as I could.

What great reporting, incredible pictures!!! Thank you.

We did an almost identical cruise not too long ago and it was fun re-living the adventure.

We spent 32 days on the Cloud last year and I couldn't agree with you any more about the great staff; they are all special but Jorge stands out.

I recognized some faces of the staff from your pictures.

We too were lucky to be on duct tape's trivia team (Hi duct tape!).

I am glad you had a fantastic trip. I was reading along while you worried about every little detail anticipating the cruise. I hope it lived up to your expectations.

Thank you again :)

When you say luxury I think of Ritz Carlton (I believe this one closed in Sydney), Westin, Four Seasons or Shangri La.

The latter 2 have great harbor views.

How to get from Fremantle Port to Perth City center then back to Fremantle, any suggestions.

Check out this web site:

http://www.fremantletrams.com/tripletour.html

I had it booked for our Diamond Princess cruise this Feb, but had to cancel the cruise for family member health reasons.

What you do is start with the Freemantle tram tour (first one) then they take you by boat on the Swan river to Perth where you do a HOHO bus tour (cannot do much getting off though, due to time) and then take a short and cheap train back to Freemantle. See for train times:

http://www.transperth.wa.gov.au/

Very economical and you'll cover a lot of ground - I wish I didn't have to cancel.

I hope this helps. If you have questions - post here.

The difference in cost is hard to figure because it is hard to say if you have true apple to apple or sorta apple to apple or well it wasn't apple but I liked it anyway.

If you want "true apple" to "true apple" comparison, here is part of my quote from earlier in this post:

I will give you a specific example:

For a Great Barrier Reef tour out of Whitsunday Island the O charge is $ 299/pp. If you book that exact tour directly with the company that provides this tour for Oceania, it would cost you less than $ 190;

I know for a fact that the tour is given by the same operator.

Everyone should choose what they are comfortable with. I certainly don't mind saving over $ 200 for the 2 of us (for an identical tour).

Other ports/situations may be different.

I think that ShoreX are overpriced on all lines, it is a service that is provided for those that don't want to or can't tour on their own. Maybe the profit made on these excursions helps to keep costs down/quality up in other areas on the ships.

I think you are right.

Most of the time the choice is ours - take it or leave it.

StanandJim,

Oceania has a Shore excursion department.

Just about all the activities you listed above fall into the "job description" of those employees. If they were not doing those activities, they would be receiving their salaries gratis.

Thus most of those activities are not "extra cost" to Oceania, rather fall under the "duties" of the Shorex team, who are already being paid.

My point is - if a travel agency is charging Oceania $100 for a specific tour (including everything in that tour), how much should Oceania charge us above the $ 100 they have to pay the agency?

I will give you a specific example:

For a Great Barrier Reef tour out of Whitsunday Island the O charge is $ 299/pp. If you book that exact tour directly with the company that provides this tour for Oceania, it would cost you less than $ 190; and for all I know, they are actually selling it to Oceania for even less than $ 190 because of the "bulk order" discount.

In any case, if only100 people take this shorex, Oceania made at least $10,000 on this single shorex alone. I suspect a lot more people will do so. I would call it a very decent profit for very little work (as they are doing this excursion annually). Multiply that by the number of excursions they offer during a cruise and you'll get an idea of the profit they are making.

I don't blame them - I am just asking if that's fair? You tell me.

Let's be fair, Oceania has to offer tours for those who DONT WANT to do any thinking or research about the ports. In any arena of life, if you don't want to do the footwork, you pay a surcharge.

 

Oceania also has to provide options, so that the elderly or infirm have options other than sitting on the ship. Many of their tours use busses for distances that could easily be walked by most of us, but Oceania needs to accomodate those who can or will not walk. That, naturally, makes an O excursion more expensive than doing it on your own.

quote]

 

Fair enough - but what would you consider a reasonable profit margin?

100%, 200%, 500% 1,000% ?

This thread is starting to remind me of "Chicken Little":D

 

Enjoy

What a difference 3 short weeks make!

This is the one time I did not want to be right ("sometimes when it rains, it pours...")

Let's hope we get out of this mess somehow - the sooner, the better.

Thanks Shoshana2,

Yes we have Starwood's card, I will check on this option.

 

Heard from my TA & she said that O offers a sightseeing/transfer from ship to airport on day of disembarkation, our luggage stays with us in the bus, we cannot sign up in advance, we can only book it onboard. This might be the most convenient, but knowing O, they will probably charge an outrageous amount???

cruzagain,

at least you'll know what all your options are.

Enjoy!

When was your first trip to Singapore? I don't remember much of old Singapore except for Bugis Street and Chinatown. You're making me miss the food!

 

I would live in Sydney if I could. I love cruising around the little bays. If you like seafood, Sydney's the place. It'll be hot when you're there, so be forewarned. I don't want to threadjack, but I'll be happy to answer any questions you have on a separate thread.

I too do not wish to threadjack - just a brief response.

I was there first in 1985. I love seafood and Chinese - both those cities are great for that.

I may take you up on your offer closer to time - thanks. I will "page" you.

Hi Paulchilli,

Thank you so much for this info, I know I can count on someone like you. Love this message board:D

You are welcome.

Your cruise sounds great - enjoy it!

OK. So, how did you find my home country? You can be brutally honest. I see that you're sailing to Sydney too. Lucky, lucky you. I lived there and loved it.

I certainly loved Singapore as a visitor. Some find it too “sterile” but I find nothing wrong with visiting a place that is squeaking clean and safe. Would I like to live there? I would probably find it too restrictive (and too hot & humid) but I love to visit it; great food too.

I think they acted a bit hastily in cleaning up the city by leveling certain areas instead of restoring them. I think they are doing a better job now.

What more can you say about Sydney other than it’s fantastic!

We are looking forward to the trip.

Oops, my post was meant for Cruzagain.

That's OK. Cruzagain will get the idea.

Paulchilli,

 

The port and the airport are almost on opposite ends of the island. Can O arrange to send your luggage to the airport and have it stored? That way, you'll have more time to see Singapore.

Sorry, I cannot help you with that.

I've been to Singapore several times but have never cruised there. Hopefully O can answer that for you.

Regarding luggage storage, this is from the airport's web site:

StorageThe left baggage service temporarily stores your bags, coats or other items. Please clear Customs and follow the signs for “Left Baggage”. The service is at the ground floor for Terminal 2 and Basement 2 for Terminal 1 and Terminal 3.

This is the web site for city tours (they are free):

http://www.changiairport.com/changi/en/airport_guide/exp_changi/facilities_services/sg_visitorcenter.html?__locale=en

Enjoy your cruise - we are schedule on Singapore to Sydney 2009.

Our ship arrives Singapore at 6:00 A.M. on December 20 but our flight home does not leave until 6:30 P.M. We plan to take a sightseeing tour of the city for the day. Does anyone know if there is a storage area we can leave our luggage at the airport? Or can anybody suggest what is the best thing for us to do in this case as it will be a long wait at the airport once O transfer us from the ship to the airport. :confused:

I believe the city of Singapore (or Singapore airlines) offers a bus city tour from the airport for passengers that have enough time (and you seem to have enough time). If I remember correctly, they are complimentary (or they used to be). Check with Singapore air (or the web site for the airport; they should have the information about storage as well). I'll see if I can find the info and post it.

Alternatively, you can take the metro from the airport and explore the city on your own - it's quite manageable.

The current credit crisis and stock market volatility have had a negative effect on all private equity firms. The treasury dept. explored the possibility of private equity helping to provide credit access / liquidity durng the current situation but found it lacking. You think Apollo is immune to the credit crunch??

 

http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/13/news/companies/apollo_boyd813.fortune/

 

this is a very telling article...I have to congratulate Oceania vs. Ren....they sold to apollo at a better time than now...they didn't take a fatal blow this time around...but stay tuned...

See my post # 28 above - when it rains.......

In this case I do not wish to be right.

This thread is starting to remind me of "Chicken Little":D

 

 

Enjoy

Tell it to those 85,000 British tourists who are stranded abroad. I bet you are happy not to be one of them.I am not saying that Oceania is in imminent danger. No single business entity is immune from the current economical reality as they are all connected in some way and depend upon each other. There will be many corpses littering the road to recovery, including several airlines and possibly some cruise lines.

Let's hope Oceania is not one of them.

TWA was taken over by American Airlines. TWA was in BK over the years but managed to survive. TWA still had cash on hand to operate. AA forced TWA to file a technical BK in order for them to defer debt to the lessors and to get rid of Carl Ichan's Caribou agreement.

 

Eastern and Pan Am went chapt 7 a whole different story.

What's your point?

What difference does it make how they disappeared? They are gone, aren't they?

There are many ways to go "under".

If Oceania went under, in whichever chapter, 7 or 11 (and I hope they don't) how would it help us?

It does happen !

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/article4744384.ece

Scary stuff, indeed!

Or Renaissance?

I hope it does not happen to Oceania, as overall I do like them and do not wish them ill (I also have a cruise booked for Dec 09).

With assets over $16 Billion a $57 million loss in a drop in the bucket

Sometimes when it rains, it pours and the bucket can fill up pretty quickly..

Just ask TWA, Pan Am, Eastern and others.