osandomir

I think we hit almost all of these ports plus some more on our Oceania cruise several years ago. Don’t remember how many days exactly was the cruise, but it was just one cruise and not back to back. We didn’t sail with Viking, but when I looked them up I found their itineraries repetitive with most ports that we had done with Oceania before.

We’ll be on the British Isles cruise in April 2024. Anyone can tell from their experience if this is a good time to cruise in the region? Any other tips will be greatly appreciated as well.

Sorry, I guess some nationalities are excluded 🙁

I appreciate your expertise, but in our case the tickets weren’t changed - the flight was cancelled. We received new tickets with the completely different PNR. And you can continue to trust anyone but Oceania to do the right things.

I think we all would prefer our meals the way grandma cooked it.

I doubt BA would book everyone affected with a different airline. They offered us nothing. Similar to all that flight cancellations last year. You know when people were stuck in airports for days without any help.

We used to book our own air using airline miles for BIZclass. Unfortunately, it has become more and more difficult to find saver award tickets. Since Oceania introduced Premium Economy to Europe we booked their air whenever we couldn’t find our own. One time BA cancelled our flight to London two days prior to departure due to the strike. No other BA flight was available. I called my TA and when she checked with Oceania they informed her that we had been already rebooked on another airline with a good routing for the last minute flight change. Oceania had no obligation to do so per their contract, and I don’t think that I would be able to do it myself. We were relieved and very impressed. We’ll continue to book with Oceania if they offer PE at a reasonable price on the flights to Europe. So far I wasn’t able to find one way PE tickets on my own at their price point. At the same time we’ll be saving airline miles for long haul flights in BIZ to Asia etc… where we won’t be offered or satisfied with PE anyway.

Even if it’s not the “best deal” it’s great and more important if it’s what works best for you. I never got to know all the details about Oceania hotels as we normally have enough different hotels points through our credit cards spending to book any hotel we want.

You are very welcome… but I am a bit confused now. Did you say that you all booked your hotel through Oceania? Im not sure if Oceania provide transfers to that hotel unless you also book your air with them. In any case, are you aware that booking Oceania hotel is always a more expensive option as you pay the price per person but not per room. The “free transfer” is a very little advantage even if you get it when you book your air tickets yourself. I’d suggest you better call Oceania to ask about that and get a confirmation from them.

If the other couple can fly economy and you know what flights exactly you are on it makes sense to submit deviation request asking for that particular flights. Oceania will notify them wether they can book them on that flights or not and how much is an up charge. Then compare it with DIY options and decide if it worse to pay the deviation fee. Sometimes it may work for your benefit or may not.

No, on the embarkation day Oceania will only provide their transfer from the airport or from the hotel that they offer, but not from any other hotel that you choose. You will get the transfer to the airport only post cruise.

Transfers to your hotel? I don’t think so. Oceania transfers are from airport to ship, so only available on the embarkation day. They will also arrange your transportation if you book the hotel through them as well.

Just did that. Instead of asking the TA I called Oceania myself and requested an earlier flight in. It was done in 5 minutes, no surcharge. The earlier flight date is documented on the invoice now. Oceania representative told me that the flight information will be available 45 days prior to the departure.

It’s now possible to request flying in or out up to 3 days earlier/later without a surcharge when booking your flights with Oceania.

We always were able to change USD into smaller nominations at the front desk. Most recent cruise was in April 2023. I hope this will help.

We’ll be on the similar O cruise next April. You said that you liked your Belfast stop and other port calls particularly in Scotland. Can you please tell me what did you do in Belfast. Did you take a ship tour and was there any ship tour that you enjoyed there or in any other port. Thanks.

Mura, you will do just fine with your credit cards and some small amount of cash in Europe. I also have a collection of all different currencies leftovers from that days when credit cards weren’t so widely excepted. My husband calculated that we have been to 90+ countries so the collection is pretty impressive. Enjoy your cruise.

I’d say that dollars are not excepted in Europe nowadays anymore. They take credit cards almost for everything and ATMs are still exist just in case. That being said, I always keep some euros to take with me on the trip to Europe for small things. It’s just for convenience so we don’t need to run for an ATM if we need them.

We also like Oceania but have to admit that they aren’t perfect as well as any other cruise line that I know. Personally we won’t choose to cruise with Princess or Celebrity no matter how many ports they make. Their ships are completely opposite to what we like about Oceania. Also, their itineraries mostly are much less of an interest to us to begin with. The other people should feel free to sail with whatever line that suits them best.

And you’re still here 😁?

Sorry, you were so disappointed. This particular cruise was very far from ideal, and it has been discussed numerous times on this board. Obviously, Oceania had their own reasons recently to make all these itinerary changes, not always weather related, for many of the cruises. And their luck of proper communications makes it even worse. At the same time, they seem to have little concern about the consequences of their decisions on the business operation. I’d think that no amount of complains here will force them to reverse their strategy. There’re many other benefits of booking Oceania cruises that people find attractive to them. The customers just need to keep all these in their minds when they make a decision if it’s worse for them to continue booking with the cruise line.

Yes, you can cancel on board. The cancellation deadline for each tour will be stated on your excursion tickets. You will find them in your cabin when you board. Just remember, everything you cancel will be your loss if you used your excursion credit to book that tours. You will need to replace it with something else at the last moment which will be a problem on the full ship.

And I like your attitude. It’s so nice to finally read here that someone actually likes what they’re paying their money for 🙂

We’re turning Gold on our upcoming cruise next year. I have no experience with the Spa credits. Can someone tell me please if it’s possible to apply both certificates to the single treatment. Thanks.

Actually, I checked my saved certificate just now and you are right. It allows one time change after using it once. Sorry for confusion. Hopefully, it won’t change along with the new cancellation policy.