Issyalex

3 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

You would think so but it isn't the case. It worked out for you this time but don't expect it to be the case every time.

The cruise line considers late arrivals airlines' problem. If you booked with Oceania there might be an agent there helping to get you to the next port but I believe at your expense. If you fly on your own you remain on your own.

That is my understanding of these rules. If I am incorrect, I am sure someone will correct me.

PS These things can vary. If it's a larger group and they are going to be just a little late, the ship will wait if they can (tides, schedules, etc). I've read about a large group arriving late to San Diego on a rt cruise to Hawaii. If they didn't wait for them, the next port would be Hawaii 5 days later.

Bottom line - just because you purchased your ticket through the cruise line, it is not a guarantee that they will wait for you if the flight is late.

If they didn’t wait for me I’d expect them to transfer me to the next port, book me a hotel room with food included at their expensive not mine. After all this is why people take their included flights. The only time I take inclusive flights is if the airport/port is difficult to get to but as I research how to get there and we stay at least 1 night pre cruise it’s a long time since we’ve took an inclusive flight. 

Just now, Paulchili said:

Thank you.

Interesting as I am sure O had to pay fairly big bucks for the extra 4 hours of docking.

I guess the captain felt they could make it to Santorini on time with this delay.

You were very lucky IMO.

IMO if I book inclusive flights with any cruiseline then they should wait on me. However if I book my own flights then it’s up to me to make sure I’m there in plenty of time. 

1 minute ago, Paulchili said:

I guess there are exceptions to every rule - people just shouldn't count on this happening regularly 😀

How many in your late group? Were your tickets through Oceania? What was the next port?

Yes these were Oceania flights. As cruiselines normally send us Scots via somewhere else before our final destination we flew Glasgow-Manchester-Athens. I think we were the only 2 of our Glasgow flight then joined another 10 or so guests in Manchester to Athens flight. Our next port was next day to Santorini. 

On 9/1/2020 at 10:29 PM, Paulchili said:

I believe that they will wait for late excursions but not late flights (even if bought through Oceania)

I could be wrong.

Our Glasgow to Athens flight was delayed by several hours and the ship waited. We should have been onboard at approx 4pm but didn’t arrive till about 8pm. We had the quickest muster drill ever! 

On 8/27/2020 at 9:48 PM, Daniel A said:

DW & I are considering booking a cruise next summer R/T New York to Bermuda.  We are looking at the Vista Suites but have a few questions we couldn't find answers to on Oceania's web site.

 

The ship would be Insignia, and it appears that there are only 4 Vista Suites onboard.  They all appear to be on the bow with the balconies forward facing.  Does anybody know if those balconies are suitable while the ship is underway?

 

Does anybody know if the casino stays open while docked in Bermuda?  I have read elsewhere that Bermuda permits cruise ships to open their casinos at night.

 

With the OLIFE option can you opt out of the air for a reduced price?  (We live in NY so we wont need air travel.)

 

With OLIFE, can you upgrade the beverage package to the Prestige Select for a reduced amount?

 

Where would the cruise depart from in New York? (Manhattan, Brooklyn or Bayonne?)

 

Any other helpful ideas are welcome!

 

 

You can do a dummy booking on Oceania’s website and tick the button for no flights required and this will give you a good idea of the flight discount. We usually find I’d we don’t take the flights we can book our own flights and a 2-3 night pre cruise hotel for the same price. 
 

Our Insignia cruise left from the dock near Hells Kitchen area, sorry I don’t know the correct area but you will! 🙈😂
 

Their ‘free’ drinks package for wine and beer is for lunch and dinner only. 

Sorry cannot help with casino as we don’t use them and have never booked a vista suite, or any other suite for that matter. 😢

As you will have seen that all specially restaurants are free. You will be given a date from when you can pre book a few months prior to sailing. However if you find that you love any of them then you can ask at the buffet restaurant at lunchtime everyday if they have any tables available. 
 

Theres a 241 drinks hour twice a day.  
 

Their afternoon tea is a must visit at least once on your cruise. 

5 hours ago, Smiley27 said:

Like many other cruisers, we like to do things on our own while in ports.

It would be a NO Thank you from us, If forced to go on ships’ tours.

Having said that, we already have a booked ( first for us, on Oceania) May 2021 in the Baltic. 
I have looked at the offered tours, and agree with people saying Oceania needs to up their game, but to make it easy on ourselves, we will book Oceania tours while in St. Petersburg, to avoid the hazzle of getting visas ourselves.
If people still do the basic things to avoid Covid 19, I think it will be safe to do independent tours. Also, now doctors know how to better cope with the disease...so an individual being sick could undergo treatment right away....hopefully, without the whole ship being banned from further ports.

 

Testing people before boarding is not even a sure Way to detect If someone is sick.

some tests are positive negative and visa versa......and here in Europe there is now proof that some have been hit by Covid 19 for the second time within 6 months!

This virus will probably mutate over and over, like other vira do, and we will have to Cope with it for years to come!

This should not stop us from living, but be responsible and follow government requirements.

I don’t know how you’d feel about doing a local operated tour just now but We booked a two day tour with DenRus, a local tour company, when we were in St P several years ago. They were excellent. A blanket visa and entrance to all the stops were included as well as two fantastic lunches for $295pp.
 

there are many more good local tour companies Eg Anastasia, Red Oktober, 

I cannot remember the last time we took a ships tour on any cruiseline as we prefer doing our own thing while in port. 
 

If Oceania decide that ships tours will be the only way you can get off the ship then they’d need to reduce their tour prices dramatically as they are far to expensive at the moment. It would make cruising very expensive and out of reach for a lot of cruisers. 

2 hours ago, tiggertom said:

Yes, we have had two cruises cancelled this year as well, so next year is going to be very busy. Next time we are on Azamara is Feb 2022 to South Africa, 🤞🏻. I am working part time from home and V is retired so the garden is looking great. Hope Alex didn’t find it too hard getting back into the swing of things. I’m finding it difficult to imagine what a cruise will be like in the new world but I am looking forward to trying it.

Funnily enough with lockdown and our unusual sunny weather our garden is looking good too! Alex is the gardener in our house. Also 3 rooms were redecorated too! See good things come out of bad. 😂😂😂 He’s enjoying being back at work. I think he was worried about the pupils not wearing masks or using hand gel prior to getting into the car but he says they are. However his biggest worry is if they’ve been to the pub or other mass gathering at the weekend and still take their driving lesson knowing that someone they were with has symptoms and being tested. 
 

we cannot wait to get back to cruising. I think by next year they will hopefully have everything in place. 🤞🏻🤞🏻

3 hours ago, tiggertom said:

Hi Issyalex 👋🏻, we’ve taken a run up to Glasgow to see the sisters. Can’t wait to be on board again. Hope you are well in these weird times.

Hi Tig 👋🏻 Lovely to hear from you. How’s you doing? We are fine. Alex started back at work yesterday. 😀 I retired end last year so being at home is my new normal. 😂 We’ve passed the ships several times and went on a reckie to get up close and personal as we could to them. Sad or what? 🙈😂😂😂😂😂😂

We’ve had 2 cruises and a city break to Prague cancelled this year. 😭😭 However we have 2 cruises booked for next year. First one is in April on Oceania on Sirena so we’ve fingers and toes crossed 🤞🏻 that it goes ahead. I won’t mind wearing a mask in public areas as long as I can eat and drink while cruising I’ll be a happy bunny. 

On 8/16/2020 at 4:27 PM, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

That is a Virgin ship for sure :). 

 

This is a big day for the cruise industry!!! I'm thrilled. I do expect some bumps, but if MSC can pull this off there is hope.

 

On an entirely different subject, and keeping this NON political, I was watching different Italian web cams last night and didn't see a single person wearing masks. For those of you in Europe, are masks mandated? Again, no politics please. 🙂

In Scotland, unless you have a medical condition, masks are compulsory in shops, Indoor markets, shopping centres, attending hospital, Dr’s or health centres, hairdressers, dentist appts etc. 

4 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Maybe  they were talking about the beverage service ?

Maybe. 

1 minute ago, LHT28 said:

Is this  something new?

Not that I know. However people kept mentioning that the waiters served you but when we tried it once we had to get our food ourselves and the waiters only brought the drinks. 

Hopefully in the correct order

4) 3 Azamara ships docked in King George V dock, Shieldhall, Glasgow due to pandemic.
 

3)  Celebrity Infinity Monterey.

2) Celebrity Eclipse in Santorini

1) HAL ship in South Queensferry, No Edinburgh.  

13 minutes ago, 1985rz1 said:

 The  2 for 1, 5 to 6 pm Happy Hour applied to all  regular bars (although I'm not sure of the Pool Bar since we don't use it) on all our cruises, on both O and R ships.

that’s good news as the Martini bar was jam packed at happy hour. 

We had flights in April with BA, GLW-LHR-MIA. They were cancelled by BA. but luckily after Oceania had cancelled our cruise. I tried phoning them to cancel and after spending 54 mins on hold the girl hung up on me as I was outside the 72 hours travel limit! I then phoned within the 72 hour limit and I spoke to a lovely boy who refunded my seat allocation money right away but couldn’t deal with the flight money as I’d paid £80’s worth with AVOIS points. He did say that the money would be refunded within 1 week. 6 weeks later at least 5 phone calls later with lots of heated words I eventually received my money back. 
 

I had booked my flights, pre/post hotels And cruise separately but I received all my money back from each one. 

If I was you I’d look up local tours as they would be much cheaper than Azamaras. You will be able to tailor your needs/wants with some tours. Or you could base yourself in one area and take local transport ie bus or trains each day to the other areas you want to see.

3 Azamara ships docked at King George V, Shieldhall, Glasgow. It’s lovely to see them this far up the River Clyde. 

Book your allotted amount of nights in the specialty restaurants prior to sailing. You can also ask at the desk at the buffet if there are any extra slots. 
 

oceania has 2 happy hours, 5-6pm in Martinis bar and approx 10-11pm in Horizons bar. This used to be cocktails only but our last cruise it was for any drink as long as they’re the same drinks. 
 

remember ALL non alcoholic drinks are included eg latte, smoothies, non alcoholic cocktails, Bottled water, coke etc.
 

if your ship has Red Ginger specially restaurant try the Sea Bass..........it’s to die for IMO.
 

Oceania’s entertainment is very low key. 
 

Afternoon tea is fine but I’m not an afternoon tea girl. 
 

I love the surf and turf in waves grill, fillet steak cooked to your liking and lobster in a bun but I always get it without the bun. 

the outdoor part in the Terrace cafe changes to a dining area at night where your served. 
 

If you eat in the Terrace cafe, inside and outside, your steak, king prawns, lobster, pork is made to order.

No jackets or ties for the guys unless they want to wear them. A polo shirt or a Shortsleeved shirt and dress trousers will be fine. 
 

trousers and nice top or dress will be fine for the ladies.

Oceania’s dress code is smart casual but if you want to dress up then you can. I wear what I’d wear on a night out at a nice restaurant on land. As long as you feel good and comfortable you will look fabulous.

IMO Oceania’s food is the best I’ve had at sea but is it world class? What is world class? Food is subjective, what you may love others might think it’s awful and vice versa. 
 

I personally don’t think cruising is for you. You want Michelin star food then maybe a land holiday would be better for you visiting as many Michelin restaurants as you can. Or you could book a Cunard Queens grill cabin as the chef in the Queens Grill dining room will, if possible, make whatever food you want.

On 8/5/2020 at 3:18 PM, ToxM said:

So checking as I do often the status of my cruise booking and current pricing this morning for my May Sirena cruise, I noticed something I hadn’t seen before on my TA website: 

 

“*One night pre-cruise hotel stay may be required”

 

It is worth pointing out that my cruise is Southampton - Southampton. I am in the UK (in fact 60 miles from Southampton) so wouldn’t really need a hotel. My TA is a UK one. 

 

It may have been that I didn’t notice this before - but I think I would have noticed it. 

 

Is this to pre test for covid before embarkation? 

I’m guessing that this may be a standard request incase your travelling from abroad. However either phone your TA or Oceania direct to verify. 

On 8/4/2020 at 7:08 PM, GeorgesGal said:

The train is only one hour!  And cheap!

you’ve never met my hubby have you? 🙈😂😂 he gets very stressed out if we’re relaying on public transport. 🤷🏻‍♀️🙈😂 I’d take the train without any hesitation but hubby................not a hope in h**l. 🙁

We’ve only used their included airfare once as the difference in price was minimal. However we’ve used our own flights on other cruises and have saved between £350-£500pp for cruise only. These saving have meant that I could book flights that suited us and book pre/post hotel for the same price as we saved. 

On 7/27/2020 at 1:51 PM, tvmovielover said:

We often do the free walking tours now offered in many cities around the world.  They offer a local view and some recommendations for other things to see as well as being in the open air.  There is usually a hint that a tip would be appreciated at the end and most of these tours are well worth a generous tip.  You are also usually close enough to the ship that you can leave the tour and return quickly if worried about missing departure.  If there is a fee to join the tour, it is seldom much.

 

We have done several free walking tours and find them very informative.

24 minutes ago, StanandJim said:

You are just not getting my point, which is that the onus of cancelling private Tours falls to the passenger alone.

Those booked through the Cruise Line are cancelled with the cruise reservation and need never be thought of again.

 

It is also true of an Oceania Cruise, that many of the more basic shore excursions will already have been included under the Olife Banner, so saving money via private Tours may be even more a moot point.

 

 

 

Your not getting my point either. People can book or not book ships or private tours it’s up to them. I was just adding some more tour options.
 

As for cancelling a private tour that’s easy you just email them with Oceania’s free WiFi. Or maybe that’s too difficult for some people, if it is then I’m guessing they are the people who have to take ships tours.
 

I think we will agree to disagree.