Woodrowst

We have also enjoyed the chocolate croissants so I put them in the “everything other than cookies taste good” category.

Sorry to disappoint, but the cookies in Baristas on our cruise are no different and are as tasteless as anywhere else as the ship.

So I guess the question becomes why Oceania cuts back on the flavor ingredients in their cookies when they do not seem to do that with any of their other food items?

My wife and I are currently on the Nautica having embarked in Dubai and now entering the Red Sea on our way to Egypt. We are having a wonderful cruise. This is our 5th Oceania cruise and we have noticed on all of them that the cookies have no taste whatsoever. This is clearly the exception since all of the other food is terrific. So I thought I’d ask if anyone knows why Oceania bakes cookies that have no taste? Please understand that this is not a complaint. It would take a lot more than cardboard cookies to ruin our cruise. I am simply looking for an explanation. i also realize that the question can be read two ways. The taste I am talking about involves ingredients. It does not reference a cookie who wears shorts to dinner ☺️

Much appreciated.

My wife and I will soon be taking a Middle East cruise on the Nautica. We are visiting a number of countries and would like a small amount of local currency. We don’t need much as we are spending our off-ship time on Oceania shore excursions and mostly want money for tips, snacks, and bathrooms. We are particularly thinking of Egypt where articles talk about the need to tip everyone. It would be a burden to get so many local currencies in advance and my bank requires a minimum of $200 for each country. Does Oceania make available small amounts of local currencies for purchase at guest services?

The cruise company has three different disembarkation times listed on various documents and their website. Ordinarily I would not care but the flight turnaround time is tight. I know I can always check onboard.

I am disembarking in Barcelona later this month. I went to the official port site Cruise Schedule | Barcelona (bcncruiseport.com) and tried to do a schedule search but it came up empty. No matter what day or days I plug in nothing comes up. Does anyone know why this function is not working or how to work around it? I wanted an "official" listing of the docking time for my ship. Thanks!

Why? I have had the good fortune to have traveled to almost 60 countries and independent territories and China was the most fascinating of them all. I do agree that Shanghai is the least interesting city as it is the most westernized. Other areas provide a paradigm shift from what we are used to in North America and thus expand our horizons as travel is meant to do.

Can anyone who took an Oceania shore excursion from Safaga to Luxor to see the Valley of the Kings tell me if they provided a bathroom break on the long 3.5 hour drive each way? I am assuming yes, but you know what they say about people who assume..... Thanks!

Out of curiosity, what is a permanent traveller?

An alternative to a traditional cruise ship in the Amazon is to take a small boat expedition cruise. I did one through Road Scholar from Manaus. The boat only had 16 cabins and the focus was on experiencing Amazonia. The guides were locals who knew the nooks and crannies of the Amazon and Rio Negro. Rather than the (potentially boring) drive by done by cruise ships, we would take two to three trips a day in motorized canoes to see, hear, smell, and taste what the Amazon has to offer. We went piranha fishing and the crew used our catch to make soup for lunch. We played with the local pink dolphins. We took hikes in the forest. We visited indigenous villages. We trawled the shoreline for birds, snakes, cayman and other wildlife. We watched the cook buy fish that had just been caught by locals fishing within sight of us. Much more of an in-depth and authentic experience than can be provided by Oceania and other traditional cruise lines.

We got the same thing last week for our cruise departing at the end of May.

Surpisingly, no. I had expected them to add it on due to the direct flight request but there was no extra fee.

We went during the summer and the sea was tame.

PS: After my TA submitted my request O put together a proposed flight itinerary. I could still have requested changes at that point - they did not “book” the flights until I gave my approval. Everything went through my TA.

I researched the United flight and had my TA request it.

We are on an Oceania cruise next month from Dubai to Barcelona. I asked for a direct flight back from Barcelona to Washington DC on United and got it with no problem. They did not increase the quoted price. There are no direct flights from DC to Dubai and I was fine with the outbound connecting flights on Air France they gave us.

I second what Catlover said. It isn’t called the land of fire and ice for nothing. Due to the history of Icelandic volcanic activity you will see terrain unlike anywhere else. Stark and beautiful. My wife and I did a cruise around Iceland and loved it. I would think of it as an expedition type cruise where you want to experience a very different and beautiful environment with geysers and a landscape shaped by volcanos and earthquake. It is not geared for those who want a traditional cruise focusing on cities or warm weather activities (although there is swimming in volcanic heated lagoons). If you go in the winter you may see the Northern lights.

Does anyone have any idea what is in the blank space between cabins 605 and 607? It seems too large to be a storage closet.

We have been on both classes and prefer the smaller R ships. They just seem to be quieter and have a sense of intimacy that the bigger O class lacks. We prefer quiet and intimacy over bells and whistles. But that is just us. Everyone is different. The only way you will really answer your question is to try both!

Thank you to all who let me know there are no formal nights on a SS expedition cruise. If you can tolerate one more question: On a SS Expedition Cruise can I get away with bringing sweaters instead of jackets? Or will I need a jacket for evenings?

Oops. I subtracted instead of adding a month. It is actually in 13 months (April of 2024). Now i know why I never became a math teacher.....

My wife and I just signed up for an Endeavour expedition cruise to the British and Scottish Isles in 11 months. No bow ties appear on the schedule as described in previous posts. Can we be confident that there will be no formal nights or might one or more be added as we get closer to the cruise? Formal wear does not make sense to me on an expedition cruise but since this is my first Silversea cruise I do not know how SS and the SS culture feel about that.

This is from a November 25, 2022 article in Travel Weekly. The link for the complete article is: https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/First-Call-Silversea-brings-small-changes-to-Endeavour-for-now Bigger Changes in Store A planned drydock after the Antarctic season will bring several substantial changes to the Endeavour. The large casino, which Silversea isn't using, will be turned into crew cabins and an infirmary, while the current infirmary will become four balcony suites. The helicopter bay on Deck 8 will be remodeled into six suites, since Silversea doesn't plan to carry the two helicopters that Crystal had on order for the ship. Muckermann said the helicopters are being shelved for several reasons: They can't be offered to every guest; they are costly to staff and maintain; they can provoke anxiety for wildlife; and most importantly, if something goes wrong in Antarctica, limited rescue resources and harsh climate conditions can compound any problem. But she said Silversea hasn't ruled out employing helicopters in other parts of the world, using local tour operators that would land and take off their own helicopters on the ship. Silversea had hoped to make other changes prior to the Antarctica season but due to supply chains issues was unable to have them done. Muckermann said the company is focused on making short-term fixes to such "customer experience" issues. For example, some bathroom shower doors rattled at night and had rubber bands holding them in place. Silversea also plans to alter an overactive motion-sensor light in the walk-in closet as well as the closet door that doesn't latch properly. "That's actually a really complicated door to get rid of and install," Muckermann said. "Since the 15th of July, we knew we needed to fix this stuff but due to the constraints we couldn't."