Travrat

50 minutes ago, Acrusa said:

is it a far walk?

50 minutes ago, Acrusa said:

is it a far walk?

We walked to JetBlue but I don’t remember which terminal it was. It took about 10 minutes. LAX is a horrible airport. It is not passenger friendly at all. They have a shuttle bus between the terminals but you have to load your luggage on and off by yourself so it’s actually easier to walk if you can

On 4/7/2024 at 3:31 PM, Acrusa said:

Can we use luggage carts between Tom Brady Int. and Delta Terminal 3 on the SKYWAY  at LAX.

If you arrive at TBI and are taking a domestic flight on Delta you can use the luggage carts but have to exit TBI and walk outside to Delta. When you get to Delta you need to recheck your luggage and go through security again

We just did a nice tour with The Wine Tasting Company. Nidia was a great tour guide and only 6 people in the van. Went to Batch Winery, Casita Miro(not to be missed!), and Mudbrick. She gave an option for where you want to have lunch(cost not included). I highly recommend. We purchased our ferry tickets online

On 3/16/2024 at 9:06 AM, deck chair said:

Hello!  I was just on the INSIGNIA arriving in Sydney February 22.  while it was disappointing, we didn't dock in Circular Quay Oceania did provide a shuttle to the CBD from the White Bay Cruise Terminal.   Have fun.

Deck Chair. 

Thanks. Do you happen to remember where in CBD they drop you? Is it walking distance to The Rocks or Circular Quay?

Does anyone know if Oceania provides a free shuttle from White Bay Cruise terminal to CBD or anywhere in downtown Sydney? The shuttle list says no shuttle only taxis available. If anyone has docked there recently can you provide info on this. Currently on Nautica and we will be there in5 days.

If you want a nice personal winery visit contact Geoff Wright the owner of a small boutique winery. He picked us up at the tender wharf and gave us a short tour in Gisborne then brought us out to his place for a lovely tasting and cheese plate. Very enjoyable. 
geoff@wrightswines.co.nz

We are doing it now. Be prepared as it is not smooth sailing! Last night the ship was tilted 30 degrees and going up and down and side to side. Trays of dishes and wine buckets were crashing to the floor in the dining room- on Oceania Nautica 

1 hour ago, Mrs f. said:

But they don't have spas on the smaller ships...Regatta, insignia

Or concierge lounge

I do believe the Nautica has a spa and a spa terrace

5 hours ago, LindaD22 said:

We did this yesterday and the tender took about 15 minutes. The line to go back was so long! But the port staff told people they could wait at the nearby yacht club and they would come in to let us know when the line went down. We did this and got on the second to last tender, it took 15 minutes. 

Thanks. What did you do there?

On 2/3/2024 at 5:43 PM, boeckli said:

I believe it's in Paihia

https://www.fndc.govt.nz/Your-district/Visiting-the-Far-North/Visitor-Information-Centres/Bay-of-Islands-isite-Visitor-Information-Centre

Can you tell me how long the tender took to get to the tender Wharf?

34 minutes ago, EJL2023 said:

There is a current thread on Bay of Islands in the Port of Calls section. Perhaps you could go there and ask time for tenders there as they are mentioning tenders, etc.  I don’t see where you have been on that thread. It may be helpful for you since it is a current thread and they should have a good recollection of timing, etc.  

Thanks. I’ll check it out

17 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

Is your excursion fixed timings, are is it a private tour for you ?

At what location will you meet the excursion, the tender pier or in town ?

What time does the excursion leave versus the ship's scheduled arrival time ?

What is the previous port ? 

That’s a lot of questions. The excursion is a catamaran tour in Bay of Islands, NZ. It is not private. I believe there are maximum of 14 participants. According to the current info from O we anchor at 8:00AM and depart at 6:00PM. The tour begins at 10:00AM in Paihia.  From the tender wharf there is a shuttle to a different location(it is supposed to be 5 minutes) then a 5 to 10 minute walk to where the catamaran is in Paihia. The excursion I would prefer to take is in another location, Russel, which would require a 15 to 20 minute ferry from Paihia. I think that one is too risky so chose the one that leaves from Paihia. 
It seems that I should not have a problem getting there by 9:45 but if all the O excursions have priority and I can’t get on one of the earliest tenders I may not make it. The tour company explicitly says they will NOT wait for cruise passengers under any circumstances. I am not sure how long the tender ride is to the location where we get the shuttle bus. This is why I asked the person who said the tender took 40 minutes in a port in NZ if it was Bay of Islands.

3 hours ago, ORV said:

Maybe a better question is have they cruised on Oceania before? Like so many things that people worry about I have found this to be a non issue over the years. But if it’s that important just book the owners suite. You’ll have priority. 

This will be my fifth O cruise. I find their shore excursion program to be weak and the shore excursion team unknowledgeable about most ports of call. They couldn’t tell me where their drop off location was on their “London on your

own” tour. They said it is somewhere in Central London- we’ll that narrows it down lol. This is just an example. 

17 hours ago, EJL2023 said:

Have you missed a DIY excursion before on Oceania because of this?

No. I don’t usually schedule DIY excursions in tender ports.

8 minutes ago, basor said:

I have never found that O "does not allow" independent passengers on early tenders.....they give priority to their tours and fill in with independent passengers.  We have been able to get on one the early tenders every time we wanted to...

Perhaps “not allow” was an incorrect choice of words but giving priority to those on O excursions leaves few if any spaces for independent passengers. I am hesitant to book the excursion I would like to take because I cannot be guaranteed a place on one of the early tenders which I would need to be on.

6 hours ago, pinotlover said:

You’re right! Wellington was the port with the big terminal and where the dogs caught the really ignorant guy trying to take bananas ashore from the ship. This was after Carr, our CD, announced repeatedly not to take any food from the ship ashore. The passenger was eat up with stupid, and the authorities had him instantly. Now I can’t remember which NZ port had the long tender in. 

 

Maybe Bay of Islands. That is a tender port on our upcoming cruise. I hope it’s not that long because I want to do a non-O shore excursion there and I am afraid I won’t make it on time because of O’s policy of not allowing independent passengers get on early tenders. 

6 hours ago, pinotlover said:

I believe there isn’t a rule. It depends upon the port and length of tender. In Wellington,NZ we had something like a 40 minute tender on Marina. Other ports, we’ve had 5 minutes tenders. Different circumstances, different rules. Read your Current or check the “ Port of Call” forum here on CC.

I thought Wellington, NZ was a docking port. Our upcoming cruise doesn’t have it as a port with tenders

13 minutes ago, clo said:

Here's some info from the Mayo Clinic:

 

Allowed fresh foods

Many naturally gluten-free foods can be a part of a healthy diet:

• Fruits and vegetables
• Beans, seeds, legumes and nuts in their natural, unprocessed forms
• Eggs
• Lean, nonprocessed meats, fish and poultry
• Most low-fat dairy products

 

Grains, starches or flours that can be part of a gluten-free diet include:

• Amaranth
• Arrowroot
• Buckwheat
• Corn — cornmeal, grits and polenta labeled gluten-free
• Flax
• Gluten-free flours — rice, soy, corn, potato and bean flours
• Hominy (corn)
• Millet
• Quinoa
• Rice, including wild rice
• Sorghum
• Soy
• Tapioca (cassava root)
• Teff

It doesn't seem like it would be hard to do this on a cruise ship or ashore. But I'm not celiac.

As someone who is gluten free it is difficult to do on both land and sea. You don’t realize how frequently soy sauce is used in dishes and sauces and soy is not gluten free. Wheat flour is used on chicken and fish prior to sautéing and is the most common thickening agent in sauces. Gluten is hidden everywhere. 

Is gluten free pasta available in GDR and Toscana by request? 

I was looking at transfer from Zeebruges to Bruges through Viator, Get Your Guide, etc and it seems like a lot of waiting for the bus both at the port and in town. If a bus you wait for fills up before you get on you have to wait another 30 minutes before the next one. Many reviews said it was unorganized and difficult to find the bus for return to ship. Has anyone recently taken a taxi there and back? I know there are taxis available at the port and in the city center. I would like to know the cost and how easy it was to get a taxi back to the ship from Bruges. The ship is charging $159 pp which is ridiculous!

I am trying to find a driver in the port of Lorient to take me to Pont-Aven for a few hours and then back to the ship. I am having an extremely difficult time. If anyone can help me with contacts in Lorient to provide this service please let me know 

I would prefer to have the extended balcony and choose B3 deck 7 aft on all 4 of the O cruises(3 on Marina, 1 on Riviera) I have been on. The vibration is only bad when docking and setting sail. It’s a good alarm clock in the morning and I’m usually not in my cabin when setting sail.

I have been to London numerous times and don’t need a guided tour. I would just like to spend the day enjoying what I like to do and wanted to know where the excursion from O drops you so I can plan my day. 

50 minutes ago, osandomir said:

Even it is so, they are finding the way to run their business in the way it’s make a financial sense for them. The other way is to raise the cruise fair even more. I guess not many will like that either.

We also received the letter with the port time reduction for our Mediterranean cruise in April. I believe it’s four hours over 22 days. We don’t like it either but we’ll leave with it as long as it’s allowed us to afford our future cruises. Also, I appreciate they are doing that in advance now and not when we’re already on the ship. No guarantee though…

They can’t raise the cruise fare for those who have already booked so they are screwing us this way. I won’t book HAL for nickel and diming guests but Oceania has found a way to do the same by hiding behind a claim that they are helping the environment. Not buying their nonsense and not happy that I am losing time in the ports. 

Does anyone know where the Oceania excursion “London on your own” from Tilbury drops you? It says a central location in London. That could be any where. Has anyone used a reliable car service for the transfer instead of Oceania’s bus?