emd138

8 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

 

They are not tame.  They are human habituated. There is a difference.  

 

" the process of people or animals becoming used to something, so that they no longer find it unpleasant or think it is a threat: Increased sightings of coyotes are the result of habituation, as coyotes become accustomed to humans and unafraid of them."

 

DON

I agree, that is why I put tame in quotes.  Thanks for the better terminology!

On 2/2/2023 at 6:33 AM, njsmom said:

a 100 lb concrete slab? and they have learned to unlock doors? They are bionic bears!

 

When I visited Alaska many years ago, I went with my then-boyfriend and we visited his sister, who had a B&B in Homer. She had deep scratches on her back door from local bears, who would try to get into the house. She took it in stride but I, a Southern California beach girl at the time, was dumbfounded at the idea of living in an environment where bears just ambled up to your back door and pawed at the wood to get inside. 

Thankfully, they can only open unlocked doors, and of course it depends on the type of door "knob,"  haha!  My doors stay locked.  It is amazing what kind of things they can figure out.  When security told me that it was a bear that moved the slab, I thought he was crazy (and wrong), but the footprints the next day were enormous, along with the teeth marks in the pump.   I think that was the last bear they relocated, and it was over 400 lbs.

I can definitely see them pawing at the door if they smell something good!    

njsmom, we have black bears in our development that have learned to open unlocked doors and keep having to be relocated.  I can't image it with camping!  We have sewage grinder pumps here, and a bear tossed a concrete slab that was over 100 lbs down the hill, and destroyed my pump.  They are very powerful animals.  Distance is good!

On 1/31/2023 at 3:43 PM, njsmom said:

Makes sense. Some friends and I were camping in tents in King's Canyon in Sequoia National Park in California several years ago and after dinner, while taking the trash to the bear-proof trash dumpster, a black bear walked up to take the bag away. Just dropped it and backed up slowly to go back to the campsite. So disturbing! The bear licked all of the dinner wrappers and waddled off to another campsite. We heard people banging on pots and pans all night long to run him off. 

There are some insanely "tame" bears there.  We had one walking through some pretty good crowds when we were there.

Nice, good for you, Astro Flyer!  Unfortunately, the particular cruise that I booked went up in price since I booked as well as losing the gratuities, so I am glad you checked since yours was a gain!   🙂

My travel agent said she could add it, but it was at a higher price and would kick out the pre-paid gratuities I get through the travel company, so it was a wash.  Bummer!

1 hour ago, ak1004 said:

 

And I don't see how this is different from increasing the price of a single wine glass mid cruise. Or spa treatments. Or any other extras that are not pre paid.

It is scale, and timing.  If you took the OLife beverage package knowing that you could upgrade for $X, and now that equation changed, you can't undo the choice to do the OLife beverage package if you are already on board.  For my June cruise, I can still change that equation, because paying for the OLife beverage package offers no value to me.  I still work full time in a non-remote position, so my cruises are short.  For others, this difference is huge.  

8 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Did you take the O Life Beverage package??

or planning to buy a package onboard ?  it does make a difference

 

 I have 2 booked, one with it, and 1 without.  Both are showing the same thing.  I might switch the one with it to excursions, at least I can still get some value from using OLife.  That is assuming, of course, that they haven't changed anything with the excursion option.  I will have to check with my TA. 

7 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

new on the  website

The pricing above is valid for advance purchase prior to embarkation day. For onboard purchases, the charge per guest, per day for the House Select package will be $39.95 and for the Prestige Select package $69.95.

 

scroll down to Beverage Packages for  further info

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/value

Very good to know, I just looked in my booked cruise, and it didn't have any notes that the price was only for advance purchase.  Thanks for sharing!

30 minutes ago, ORV said:

Yes, this is one of the little oddities I've noticed also on the website. 

 

The pre paid gratuity is not an option to pick on the Olife. Or am I misunderstanding what you're saying?

Oops, I meant to say onboard credit!  My bad!  The PPG were from my travel agent.

I looked at my reservation for a June cruise, and it is showing $29.95 for House Select, and $59.95 for the upgraded one, so it is indeed showing a $30 difference now.  Wasn't the House Select $39.95 before, though?  If so, it looks like the O Life beverage package will no longer much of a benefit, like when you pick the pre-paid gratuities.    Thanks for the heads-up on this!

Just FYI for anyone interested, the Black Friday sale for the Oceania Bed Collection has already started.  40% off.  Their stuff isn't cheap even with the 40% off, but I waste so much money trying to tell what pillow might be comfortable in the store that it is well worth it to me to get something that I got to try out for an extended period of time first.

This isn't just an Oceania thing, it is a rule for many countries.  https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-905?language=en_US

2 hours ago, PhD-iva said:

NO RAP! NO RAP!

On our sail away from Manhattan, they played Jay Z's Empire State of Mind....I loved it, but it was NOT a popular choice, hahaha!  We are in our 40's, so definitely in the minority age-wise.  We love older music, too, though!

Besides the onboard credit, another reason to check your account regularly is that sometimes mistakes happen.  We have had drinks show up on our account once even though they were covered under the beverage package that we had.  It was quick to resolve mid-cruise, but a lot of people are settling their accounts at the end.

We used the Binax test where they watch you over the phone for our Oceania cruise to Bermuda in July, and it was fine.

Our recent cruise to Bermuda was 96%, so I don't think they are restricting capacity much at all.

Our last cruise in July was not up to par, but we still enjoyed it.  Creme Brulee without the sugar on top is insane to me.  Not one venue, all of them.  We had several other dishes that were just not good. WIth that said, I run a plant, and have many of the same issues that they are experiencing, and have 2 more booked.  I hated Celebrity, their food was terrible to my taste, and that was before COVID.

pinotlover, interesting point.  I use them interchangeably because the travel agent is the only one I have contact with, but very true that it is the agency that would have the deals that I have gotten.

5 hours ago, Cliff-FLL said:

Dang!!!

What makes you think anyone owes you all the specificity you're demanding?  The person came on line to make a general statement about the benefits s/he received when using a travel agent.  This is a forum, not a debating or scientific panel where one provides full proof, documentation, & back-up for every statement made.  The person is entitled to make a statement without you beating them up!

Aggressive and entitled, all rolled into one.

Thank you, Cliff-FLL!  I am happy to provide those details, but yikes!  I have always gotten some benefit, usually pre-paid gratuities, but this is by far the biggest that I have seen.  It looks like some others have seen great benefits, too!

The prices that I listed were BOTH including the sale.  The price from the TA was significantly lower, which is what I was trying to thank many people that have pointed me that way for.  What promotions they applied, I have no idea, I just have the 2 invoices to compare.  We take 1 short cruise a year, always less than $5k, so we are not high rollers.  It included the O Life drink package, and I travel for work frequently, so we are using miles for that, it does not include airfare.  And it was for 2 people, me and my husband.  

By the way, I was trying to help people to let them know my experience.  If you don't want listen, go ahead and pay more for nothing.  Some people can't be helped.

10 hours ago, MEFIowa said:

Though the lack of specificity makes this impossible to dissect. IF you got the "Labor Day sale" price, then what "price" went down "$1600"? What specific "promotions" were applied? To what exactly?

 

I've booked sales prices in 2021 and 2022 directly with O (an A4 Concierge Veranda on one, $2099) and a B4 Veranda on another, $2249, both 10-day cruises on Riviera) and when I contacted a TA (one that does heavy O business) they weren't able to "lower" that specific sale price. We book our own airfare and our own excursions. And we're not wanting expensive penthouses or suites.

 

Just wish people who post these would give the SPECIFIC DETAILS, not vague generalities. 

I am happy to give SPECIFIC DETAILS, sorry!  It was a 7 day June 16 day Alaskan cruise.  Prices went from $4500 to $2900.  B2 with the Labor Day sale.

Thank you so much to those on here that always recommend using a travel agent!  Mine was on vacation last week, so I booked directly with Oceania to use the upgrade sale, and just transferred it over to my TA.  The price went down over $1600 with all of the promotions applied!  It was a short 7 day Alaska cruise, so that was a huge percentage.  It hasn't always been this much of a benefit since I have started using one, but just FYI to those that don't, there are some significant potential savings.  

We had ours (US citizens) collected once on a Caribbean cruise on Sirena.  On 2 other cruises on Insignia, they did not.  I still have the sticker on mine with our name and room number to easily tell which one is mine or my husband's, haha!  I really did not like handing it over, but it was fine.