Woodrowst

15 hours ago, LHT28 said:

Nothing trumps  a refund

An FCC  has to be used in a certain time frame 

That was my assumption too.  Then why would the OP say she would prefer FCC?  I am confused ☺️

15 hours ago, Queen of DaNile said:

She may have meant Future Cruise Credit but can't say for sure.

If that is what she meant, then why would future cruise credit be better than a refund?  Wouldn’t a refund be more desirable as it is cash on hand?

On 10/14/2023 at 11:35 PM, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

Our requests for a FFC, not a refund, have been met with a response of “It is a hard no.”  

I am not familiar with “FFC”.  What is it and why is it better than a refund?

2 hours ago, markandjie said:

 

Fun fact: for the minority of you with Android phones, Android allows you to tether a Wi-Fi connection and share it as a mobile hotspot. I do this with my Google Pixel 7 on planes, cruises, etc. Not sure why Apple doesn't get up to speed here but it's one of those features that keeps me on Android. 

Not sure why you think iPhones cannot be used as a hotspot.  I have used my iPhone for years as a hotspot for my iPad.  Any apple product will work with hotspot created with an iPhone.

23 hours ago, Gracie115 said:

 

While we haven't gone so far as to have lunch somewhere local we do regularly show up later to embark. I asked the question because we are new to Oceania and didn't know what the protocols were.  Pretty sure we will stick to our 1PM or after arrival.  I like your idea though and perhaps sometime when we are embarking in a port that is of interest we may do exactly as you say.  Miami just isn't one of them for us.  Thanks!🙂

I certainly respect your decision.  But if you are up for it, Old Havana in Miami is right at the cruise ship terminal and has many Cuban restaurants with authentic dishes that can’t be duplicated on the ship.

On 9/24/2023 at 5:16 PM, Gracie115 said:

Another new Oceania cruise question:

 

We will be on Vista beginning December 11th.  How does Oceania determine boarding times?

 

 

There are many threads on cruise critic where people ask for the earliest boarding time possible.  One of the themes that you will see from experienced cruisers is that many enjoy the port city in the morning, have a nice and quiet local lunch with local cuisine and then mosey over to the ship in the afternoon.  This is how we typically do it (if applicable to the given port) and is much much more relaxing than joining the “first to be aboard” crowd.  You don’t have to deal with crowded lunch venues and lines where everyone is trying to eat at the same time and you do not have to schlep your carry on luggage around with you until your cabin is available.  An added bonus is that boarding later in the day means no lines at all for check in.  Just be sure to embark at least 2 hours before the last boarding time listed so that you don’t have to worry about missing the ship.

17 hours ago, WayneLaR said:

The dock by the WTC is being closed in Oct.  Environmental reasons of exhaust emissions too close to occupied areas of the city.

For more information about the closing of the World Trade Center dock to cruise ships see https://www.cruisehive.com/partial-barcelona-cruise-ship-ban-to-begin-in-october/109202

The answer to your first two questions is:  you never know.  It is up to the harbor master to assign docking assignments and our experience in Barcelona is this can change right up to the last day of the cruise.  On our recent Dubai to Barcelona Oceania cruise the specific disembarkation terminal was only announced two days in advance.
 

If there are no delays ( a big “if”) you might be able to be at the taxis at 8:20am.  But that assumes that that everything goes like clockwork and lots of things can gum up the works.

We have disembarked twice in Barcelona and both times there have been plenty of taxis.  But you can wait for up to 20 minutes depending on how long the line is.

if you are asking because you want to make an early morning flight (seemingly the most common reason people ask these questions on cruise critic) you can search for strings that address this.  You will find the consensus is not to try to make an early flight.  Too many things can go wrong and it is not worth worrying about it while you are on vacation.  The advice is to take an afternoon flight or stay a day and enjoy the wonderful city of Barcelona.

You did not define “need” and that is a part of the decision making.   If it is a matter of something like getting fired if I don’t get home that day then yes, the 11:00am, while not advisable because of all the moving parts that can go wrong, is doable.

 But assuming we are really talking about (strongly) want vs. need,  an emotion-based question for all in your party to ask themselves is:  how much would I worry during the cruise about missing the flight home and would it interfere in my enjoyment in any way?  If the answer is yes from anyone I would consider schedule a later flight or the next day’s flight.  Cruises are too expensive to spend time during them worrying about whether you will make your flight home.

On 9/9/2023 at 7:58 PM, dszrew said:

 Terrace cafe is far above HAL buffet, and the options for fresh grilled lobster or steak can't be beat.

I suspect you meant “grilled to order” rather than “fresh grilled”.  The lobster and steak are frozen rather than fresh - a necessity with being at sea for many days.

4 hours ago, Cruisingagain2022 said:

…which was very different from the hoards who came off the O coaches. 

 

 

 

I think referring to Oceania shore excursions as having hoards is using quite a bit of hyperbole and can be misleading to those who are thinking through the type of tour they want to take.  Every Oceania excursion I have taken had empty seats on the bus and there were never over 30 people (and often less).  I don’t really think that is a “hoard”.  In a previous post I mentioned that I have been on both OE and regular tours that were enjoyable.  I have also been on enjoyable tours I arranged privately.  All three approaches have their advantages and disadvantages; it is a matter of which advantages work best for you in a particular port.  We all have our favorite approach, but I don’t think we need to prop up our favorite by denigrating the other ways of touring.

When cruising on Oceania we typically eat in one of the speciality restaurants on the last night as it gives us a nice sendoff with a nice meal in a nice setting.  Oceania does not do anything special to note the ending of a cruise.  It is not like the old days when cruise lines would have a special dinner with chateaubriand and a baked Alaska parade.  I do apologize for glaringly showing my age ☺️ 

13 hours ago, BasandSyb said:

We received email notification this morning that our May/June 2024 Scotland/Norway/Svalbard cruise on Venture has had an "adjustment" and will now end in Edinburgh and not Oslo. A charter flight from Longyearbyen to Oslo will now be a flight to Edinburgh. "Adjustment" is a fabulous euphemism!

 

I am really sorry that you are going through this anxiety provoking and expensive situation.  It is a major reason why I have switched gears in booking air.  Previous to covid, I always made my own air arrangements and that was great.  Since cruising resumed post-covid, I have seen many cruise critic posters note embarkation/debarkation ports changes as well as date changes and even cancellations of the entire cruise.  So now, and for the foreseeable future, I make air arrangements through the cruise line.  The cost may be a bit higher (sometimes lower) and possibly have a bit more inconvenient routing (or not), but I know that the cruise line is now on the hook for changes.  This paid off when a cruise I took three months ago had its debarkation port changed from Istanbul to Barcelona.  The cruise line took care of rebooking the ticket with no cost to me. 

Please understand that I have great empathy for your situation and am not criticizing you for not doing what I do.  I only wanted to bring up an option for readers to consider.

4 hours ago, davencl said:

Assuming a OE small group tour. We took our first small group tour in Rome after our cruise on the GEM a couple of weeks ago. Not a cruise ship tour. It was insanely expensive but well worth it to us.  Learned and experienced so much more in the small group. I think some tours are fine in large groups others are best in small groups if your willing to afford it.

 

I agree with davenci.  I have taken both OE and regular Oceania tours and enjoyed both.  It is really a matter of deciding if you would benefit from a smaller group for a particular excursion.  My experience is that the two types of tours are not so different that only the OE would be enjoyable.  It is more of an enhancement in the right situation.

5 hours ago, Ray4Fun said:

Well, APP is needed. Period. Once you use a good cruise app you will not look back. Yes Baby Boomers we are part of this. 

If you can do so without rolling your eyes, could you explain to those of us who are not digital natives why an app is important?  What would you want to do with it that cannot be done otherwise?  Inquiring minds want to know ☺️

I agree with previous comments.  We took our first post-Covid Oceania cruise a few months ago and everything was as good as ever including the buffet.  The only change I noticed was that they had shrimp cocktail available almost every day.  That was good for me as I really like it.🙂

After this gets settled could someone tell me how Caribbean is pronounced in  Royal Carribean? 😉

7 hours ago, shepherd really said:

Those power bowels sound delicious…

I did not realize that they they were that cleansing ☺️

1 hour ago, ORV said:

I think they said they're past 30 days, so cancelling would be the only option. 

I would let my TA do the cancellation/rebooking so that things went smoothly and I did not inadvertently lose my cabin by trying to do it myself.

30 minutes ago, Woofa said:

Welcome kmcgann21.  

For the most part people who say they use a TA mean a private travel agent, not an Oceania representative.  Posting would indicate that many, perhaps the majority of O cruisers do book direct but I think you will find most posters here will advise you to use a TA, but only if you can find a good one who specializes in premium/luxury cruises and preferably one who specializes in O.  

Many threads about the pros and cons to find but at the end of the day, a good TA can arrange for some bonuses like free gratuities, OBC, a percentage of cruise fare back.  More importantly we believe is their knowledge and ability to go to bat for you if any issues arise.

As an example of what Woofa said, my wife and received a $1,300 rebate from our travel agent for our recent Oceania cruise.  We would not have received that if we booked directly  with the cruise line.  How can travel agents give perks?  They get a commission from Oceania and share part of that with their client.  
 

As to your question about transferring your booking to a TA:  That is done all the time where people first book directly with Oceania and then have it transferred to their TA.  I have done that myself when I did not want to take the chance that my desired cabin would be taken in the lag time.  But there can be time restrictions as to how long you have to transfer a booking.   Don’t cancel your booking yourself.  Settle on the TA  you want to use and then talk to them about whether they can transfer the booking.   We are not allowed to recommend specific TA’s on Cruise Critic.  But try to find a TA whose company is in the top tier of Oceania bookings as they will get the largest rebate.  The TA will be able to tell you if they are a preferred agency or you can do a google search.

19 hours ago, acing_spades1 said:

Just nerd stuff in general. Not having microscopes isn't a deal breaker or anything, nothing really is when we're talking "Antarctica cruise" sphere, but it would be really cool to be able to look at the special Antarctic stuff close up like that. Since everyone does lectures the laboratories are a cool way to dive in deeper and an easy way to differentiate between lines. There will be much enjoyment of the environment and wildlife as well but again that's a given for any line. 

I truly do not mean to give you a hard time but I am trying to understand what it is you want to do.  Taking any samples back to the ship from an Antarctica landing  - including, but not limited to soil, ice, feathers, and penguin poop - is banned.  So how would you be able look at stuff on your voyage close up under a microscope?

You kind of lost me at “no microscopes”.  Why would you need/want a microscope on an Antarctica cruise?  What are the bucket list things you want to do on the cruise?  Most people.focus on experiencing the landscape/wildlife/environment but it seems you are looking for something different?

3 hours ago, commodoredave said:

Did you take the pills and if so did they have any side-effects? 

I did indeed.  This was the second time I had anti-malaria pills - the first was 15 years ago for a trip to Rwanda.  I had no side effects whatsoever in either instance.

For what it is worth, I took a trip to the Amazon (the area around Manaus) this past December and my travel doc recommended and prescribed ant-malaria pills.

On 8/7/2023 at 4:02 PM, YourWorldWithBill said:

Yes, it's a bit ridiculous that a luxury line doesn't have an app.

Maybe that is because Oceania is not a luxury line ☺️. It is firmly positioned as a premium line between the mass market lines and the luxury lines.