aussietwo

6 hours ago, mauibabes said:

@aussietwo, Hi Roz,

I was just being nice 😇. Yes, it is added on and not eligible to be paid with the Credit. In the past any of my credit balance could be used by Bonnie for other services but that is not how it is now, not even to buy products so “use it or lose it” 🤬. By the way, we are hoping to sail again in November with our mutual friends Marilyn and Bruce 👍🤞 🙏 You and John got off Vista in Miami a few days before we were boarding for our PC trip with them so we know of you well from your past trips with them.
Perhaps you know our friends from Adelaide, Sandy and Graham. If so, our we owe a lot to O for expanding our friendships around the world, especially Oz. 
Bonnie and Gerry/Mauibabes

Gerry have you forgotten we sailed together many years ago when we did the Amazon cruise?   In March we did a cruise with Sandy & Graeme in French Polynesia.  We had sailed with them previously as well.  We enjoyed our many cruises with Bruce & Marilyn.  
 

Back when we used to get $250 Spa Credit each, I would go up on the first day and make several appointments for massages and use the whole $500.  Seemed an endless spend back then.  Those were the days my friend😄😄

9 hours ago, mauibabes said:

Hopefully you can catch one or more of the Daily Promotions, like 90 minutes for 60 price, discounted Couples Massage, etc. They do try to sell products and services so handle the pitch the way you are most comfortable. Remember, 20% tip is “suggested”. 
We are at a level where we receive a $150 Spa Credit but short of a haircut, it is pretty tough to walk out of there using my Credit and still leaving behind some $$. 
But you do feel GREAT. 😇👍

Mauibabes

Hi Mauibabes

Interested to know what you mean by 20% tip “suggested” - I didn’t think it was a choice?  I find it particularly annoying that the tip cannot be taken out of the $150 Spa Credit but is charged to your card.   Like you John only gets a haircut and leaves part of the credit unspent.  Cheers Ros🙂

2 hours ago, HilsTas said:

Thank you for your "live-ish" report DayDreamer62 - it has been a pleasure following your cruise. 😊

Hilary I have been following it as well.   Nice to follow a positive thread.  Thx Lauren I feel you have a lot in common with us two from Down Under.
 Cheers Ros 🙂

Does anyone have a photo of the bathroom in an assessable oceanview cabin on Vista, Marina or Riviera? OR a description of the assessable bathroom would be good.   Years ago on another cruise line when we embarked our cruise we were upgraded to an assessable cabin, the shower relied on a slightly sloped floor level. It was not very effective and the water went everywhere.   The cabin staff each day built us a moat of towels to try to contain the water.   
 

My disabled friend wants to be sure Oceania assessable cabins are set up better.  Thx in advance.  

One question for our regular Oceania gurus - can ship excursion credit be used for transfers?   

1 hour ago, mc_reeve said:

Us too - this is a big cruise for us (50th anniversary) and our first on O.  We used up our SM credit plus quite a bit more on a 20+ day BTB cruise.  We have been X Retreat cruisers in the past and one thing X did was refund cancelled excursions whether the port was cancelled or not.  

As you have used “quite a bit more” buying other ship excursions you would have to be unlucky to lose funds.  Those extra funds are credited back first.  It is only when those funds are exhausted and the credited amount comes from your “Simply More” ship excursion credits that you will lose funds.   Be aware that you will have an amount of “Simply More” ship excursion credits allotted to each cruise.  If you have excursions cancelled I suggest that you ask reception where the funds have been credited to and whether there is any remaining excursion credits.  
 

Best wishes for a very special anniversary cruise.  There are so many positives with O that I would be surprised if you returned to X or any other big ship.  

On 3/26/2024 at 12:22 PM, lolawpb said:

This is interesting that they used to give credit for this even though they were “included” excursions. I understood that it wouldn’t have been safe to dock in Costa Maya but that was about half of our credit that we lost and the other excursion that they cancelled because they overbooked basically and didn’t offer us a solution was really unacceptable. The real kicker was when they charged my credit card $200+ for tips after all of this. 

At the outset, I have to say that I am a rusted on O cruiser with 416 days sailed.  We had the same situation on our recent cruise with 1 excursion cancelled and our last 2 ports missed resulting in $261 lost excursion credit.   Credits for the missed excursions appeared back on our account as nonrefundable cruise credit.  This led me to believe that Oceania obviously had allowed some credit refund for the missed excursions.   So the next few days were spent searching for items to buy in the poorly stocked over priced shops on Nautica.  Fortunately after spending a sizeable sum, I checked our account balance and found that I had exhausted our nonrefundable cruise credit and had spent some of our refundable credit but $261 nonrefundable credit balance was showing on the account.  On checking reception told me that those credits were for excursions only.  
 

Oceania needs to incorporate a third column in their account system 1. Refundable Credit. 2. Non Refundable Credit 3. Non Refundable Excursion Credit as the current system where 2 & 3 are combined is very misleading.  If anyone planned to cover their gratuities with their non refundable credit, it could well lead to a shock debit to their credit card at the end of the cruise.

UK it seems 

So what actually happens is that the gratuities are actually included in the fare you pay.  Most Aussies would be happy about that. When you become an Oceania Silver Club member you then get US$125 Shipboard Cr in Lieu of Oceania Club PPG's per person.  
MV21 I suggest that you will get the same.  

We have been on ALL of the Oceania ships and they ALL have night lights in the bathrooms.  

9 minutes ago, daydreamer62 said:

Well that will be great in the case of any cancellations 

If you have any refundable OBC at the end of the cruise and you are doing other cruises, be sure to take it in cash as it will be in USD.  

5 hours ago, daydreamer62 said:

Yes I have that. It shows the full price of each, them the 25% discount off each . It totals  each at that point . Then the grand total is shown with the SM credit is deducted from that grand total not which separate excursions are being accounted for by the credit

SM will be used up first (as was the case when you purchased).  As you have paid cash for the balance any cancelled tour amount will become refundable OBC. 

Hi Phyllis

Just saw your post about Katoomba.  My husband John grew up in Katoomba so I can assist you with your plans for the Blue Mountains.   Trains run hourly and I suggest you will easily make the 9.18 train.  You do not have to book so should you miss that one you can get the 10.18 train.  Takes two hours for the trip up so the earlier you leave the better.  When you get to Katoomba there is a transportnsw bus that you can hop on and off to get to the different sites.  The bus is actually covered by the ticket you bought for the train.  You can use a contactless credit card.  Simply tap on.  It will take you all day to see the sites.  We can discuss further when we meet on the cruise.

We will be going to Central Station from White Bay terminal so perhaps we could arrange a van to take the seven of us.  Will your group have much luggage?  Perhaps you could email me.  We are happy to assist with your Aussie plans.  
Cheers Ros 🙂.  rosmerleg at hotmail dot com (usual format) 

It seems that the Oceania Special Services (Excursions) are really not coping with the demand for ship excursions since the commencement of SM.  We have had one port replaced by another port and a second port has been pushed back by a day.  As a result, we have now gone from the required 7 excursions to qualify for the Simply More Package 25% discount to having 5 tours booked. While the 2 excursions have disappeared from the list the credits have not come back into our account.  When I try to book other excursions there is not enough OBC and I would have to pay on my cc.  Also the two ports impacted are just not showing any tours.  When I contacted Oceania, I was told to contact my TA.  
 

The same old same old topics seem to constantly come up on these threads.  I knew there was one sometime last year so I thought I would do a search and find it for you.  Imagine my surprise when on finding it, the OP was one and the same poster as the OP of this thread.

knitter - I suggest you at least wait list the tours you want.  Sometimes Oceania increase the number of tour vans in some ports.  Then go through and see if there are any tours with vacancies.  Some of the more expensive tours often don’t fill up and perhaps one or two of those may use your credit.  In the event that your wait listed tours become available you can cancel any tours you don’t want,  Good luck!!

We have a cruise we booked during the Black Friday sale which we got at bargain basement.  Some friends expressed interest in joining us on the cruise and  I screen dumped the price on January 1 2024.  For 2 pax in AUD the price was $16,618.  Today we received the NEW YEAR SALE and it was shown as applying for the cruise with a 25% discount.    Guess what the price is now AUD $18,538.  So it went up almost $2,000 from one day to the next.  25% off??

On 12/25/2023 at 1:19 PM, 2552phxcrzr said:

Life is good on Regatta.  We left out of Sydney on the 21st … had a slightly rocky (10 ft swells) day at sea on the way to Brisbane … hot and humid day in Brisbane (12 mile shuttle ride from the Cruise Terminal into the city, so no cruise up the river this time) … a lovely day in Mooloolaba (ended with a big rainstorm … rough seas made for interesting tendering, which I later heard had been canceled and some were unable to get off the ship) … the Holiday spirit is well and alive on the ship … at sea today heading to Townsville with Santa on board handing gifts out to the few kids on the ship.

G’Day Erin & Mui

So pleased you are visiting Aussie.  I read that you are staying on land for a few months.  If Canberra is on your itinerary please email me as we would love to catch up.    Cheers Ros & John🙂🙂  rosmerleg at hotmail dot com

9 hours ago, DeanoNorthPerth said:

Is that for Americans only or for everyone? Never heard of that being available to Australians.

Aussies get those same perks 

8 minutes ago, gentlemancruiser said:

Recieved a message that disembarkation will be delayed by 2 hours.   Check in time was 12:30 now 2:00pm.

Welcome to Cruise Critic gentlemancruiser.  We are having a Meet & Greet at Horizons on embankment day Sept 29 at 4 p.m. if you would like to join other Cruise Critic members just come and join us. 
Cheers Ros🙂

I think one sentence in your post sums up your discontent.

“We had a PH and the room was small and the bathroom was tiny.”

The PH rooms are small compared to the O class.  All other categories there is not much difference in size.  

A question - does cancellation of a cruise booked before September currently incur any loss of deposit?  

21 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Reduced deposit, SBC on the current or future cruise (amount depends on new booking specs), discounted fare and price drop match guarantee. Nothing beats BoB. And you can then transfer the booking to your TA within the 30 day transfer window for added TA perks/$ rebate or refundable SBC.

Thx.  If we also book for a friend not on the cruise do they get the same apart from the SBC?

Thank you to shepherd really & Flatbush Flyer for your responses.  What are the current benefits of booking on board?   

Interesting observation - I just went on to check availability for September for all Oceania ships.  Every cruise was showing fully wait listed.  The other thing O’Life was showing for all September cruises so perhaps any cabins that become available may be able to still choose O’Life.   Only cruises from October 1 could choose to change to Simply More.