opa&oma

10 hours ago, rattla said:

Correct.  It used to be entertainment and dining 120 days earlier but now only dining and entertainment is 21 days.  Although that’s only for a couple of shows anyway.

Why for only a couple of shows?  Not all are included in early booking?

The most attractive perk would be prebooking all the entertainment. Is it possible for all the venues?

As of today, the price difference is only $130pp is that the usual difference?

51 minutes ago, FLAHAM said:

Also earlier pre-cruise dining and entertainment reservations and a free laundry or pressing.

I like that!  We had trouble getting into some shows last time.

It's on the Bliss.

We can't decide whether to book regular balcony or Club balcony. What are the additional benefits of Club?

19 minutes ago, zteamtwo said:

However, if you are booked in concierge or above you can get three bags of laundry done by the ship staff for free.

Are the items also pressed? Returned on hangers?

19 hours ago, pinotlover said:

😂. No, not until we were about halfway through the meal and our host told us. It was in cut strips and we cooked them on a hibachi grill set up in front of us in the restaurant. Lean meat, tasty with the dipping sauces. 
 

We were later shown where the dogs, mostly Great Danes, were housed and raised for the meat industry. Rather similar to a very small scale hog operation here in the States.

Please do not equate dog meat to pork. 

17 hours ago, pinotlover said:

Depends upon the chain and source.

 

There is a standard among high end restaurants, definition wise, on the definition of rare, mr, medium, etc. Not picking on the chains, but many present MR as what is definitely medium by standard definition. In that Oma is German for Grandma, and having lived there for several years,  many of the German restaurants used their own definition of doneness, not the international standards. 

No, I am not German and I know what medium rare is.

9 hours ago, pinotlover said:

I most always use that approach. I have never gotten rare and only occasionally even MR. 
 

I believe what Oceania receives for most of its steaks and chops ( not all) is the same as most chain restaurants. Pre cut, pre individually wrapped, and partially cooked for fast kitchen turn around with minimal labor. This makes medium rare nearly impossible on most cuts by the time it is further warmed.

If this were true, then how is it I have no problem getting medium rare in my chain restaurants?

Thank you all, I appreciate your help!

I would appreciate it if someone would post the prices for laundry and dry cleaning. Also, does concierge include

any dry cleaning or pressing?  First time with Oceania!  Thanks!

37 minutes ago, bozemanman said:

Just go on the Bliss...sound's like your style...NOT mine BTW

You really shouldn't comment if you've never been on it. We mostly only sail HAL and Celebrity but really enjoyed the Bliss.

We've done both and enjoyed the Bliss experience more.  It's a beautiful, tasteful ship with many more adult activities.

Flight Ease flights can be and are changed many times before your cruise, sometimes while you on board for return flights.  I don't trust them any more than the airlines themselves.

You don't have access to the available flights until you have booked and have a booking number.

4 hours ago, Mary229 said:

I am not saying you shouldn’t use a wheelchair if you need one.  I am quite aware that not everyone’s disability is publicly apparent.  I am saying the able bodied should not use them to simply get through the airport more quickly. 
 

Heathrow reported this summer they were not able to assist a lot of disabled passengers because of the rampant abuse in the system.  The wheelchairs are there to comply with the Air Carrier Access Act which clearly states it is for the disabled, it is not for the inconvenienced

This summer at Paris CDG airport a wheelchair assistant told us a flight from India had arrived that morning that had 100 wheelchair assists requested.  She said international passengers request them at airports with unfamiliar languages.  The service is widely misused.  Just as handicapped parking placards are. 

1 hour ago, iceman93 said:

45 minutes to connect in MIA should be plenty.  Why the concern?  I would consider that a nearly-ideal layover!

No, for many reasons, 45 minutes is not an ideal layover, and especially for international flights.

Going north on the Pacific coast you are going against the current and it is rougher than going south. So yes, you usually feel it.  You might want to take something in advance for your return.

On 8/5/2022 at 1:30 PM, Caribbean Chris said:

Perhaps it is because of the staff-shortages at both airlines and FlightEase this year, and inexperienced people on the phones, but the service so far for our trip happening in two months has been lacking. There have been several schedule changes we have never been notified about - just accidentally discovered them by checking the airline’s passenger record. Others on our Roll Call are having the same experience. Some have cancelled their FE air and rebooked, paying more on their own.
 

Twice, our 3-hour (deliberately-planned) layover has shrunk to just 50 minutes for a stopover requiring us to change terminals in a major airport, from domestic to an international flight. When we call FlightEase, they say they can’t help, that the flight we want doesn’t exist, or “we’ll call you in a few days,” so we have called the airline directly and fortunately persuaded them to fix it even though their rules say that FlightEase, as travel agent of record with these special bulk fares they have, must handle changes.

 

It’s making me very nervous about our flights operating properly. Before this experience, we had the impression that by booking with FE, HAL would help us if any problems arise and take responsibility for getting us to the ship, but we no longer feel that way. I know the airline industry is a mess, but I have the feeling we’ll be on our own to deal with it. 
 

Maybe our post-summer flight will be better and - by next year - these problems will be solved for your trip.

We have never had so many serious problems as we did with our last FE  booking (this year).  At this point, we just can't trust it. We too, had many changes to our schedules, without being notified of them, finding out at last minute, including our flight home, which included a 19 hour flight going through Dubai from England to US.

When we have booked flights through Flight Ease and we encounter problems with the flights, we have been told we can only deal directly with HAL to solve these problems.

54 minutes ago, tupper10 said:

Make sure you file your claims w/in the time frames listed on your policy.  They can be quite short and require doctor visits and documentation w/in very specific periods of time.  Do NOT trust what the agent tells you over the phone. Start the claims process for both policies you hold online now.   This way you have documented your claim(s).  They can then pay out as agreed by the policy terms.  

Excellent advice!

This has been going on ever since the pandemic started. I thought customer service would eventually return, but it has not. After many hours of wasted time on the phone with my last cruise's problems, I swore never again HAL, but I'm thinking maybe it's the same problem with the other lines also.  Anyone know if this is the case? 

Then they need to replace it with another perk.  Their perks are very little compared to other lines.

In a word, yes you can.

19 hours ago, montythecat said:

Another vote for The Dutch Cafe and the different types of music which are available on Music Walk on the three Pinnacle Class ships. A word of warning though, as mentioned elsewhere, that BB Kings is being watered down with not much blues being played, having been substituted by

boring (to me) repetitive soul music. Classical, pianos and a rock

band remain to provide a pretty decent choice of music, although it would be even better with a proper Blues Band.

I made the same BB Kings complaint on our last post cruise questionnaire.