whencanwego

Is Oceania still going to Ephesus?

We won't be on Oceania for Ephesus. We are taking a 7-day Celestyal cruise first; old ship Nefeli - just doing it for the ports of Ephesus, Crete, & Rhodes. Good package deal with free alcohol & excursions; unfortunately. it is barely cheaper (for an inside cabin) than the super deal we got from Oceania for 7 nights w/6 free excursions in a veranda cabin. Will make us appreciate Oceania a lot more!

Thanks, Paulchili. Your reply, along with the Oceania descriptions of excursions that I read after my post, has made my decision easy. I'll take the free excursions so that I can book them early! We are taking back to back cruises so that we can go to Crete (as originally scheduled, then cancelled, on Oceania), as well as to Rhodes and Ephesus. On that 2nd cruise, I'll get free excursions in Santorini and Mykonos, so all my bases are covered!

I have a choice of $600 OBC or 6 free excursions on my April sailing in the Mediterranean. My guess is that the free excursions would cost more than $100 apiece if paying (I can't see them yet). But if I chose the $600 OBC, and got a discounted price for the purchase of at least 5 excursions, seems like that would give me more flexibility to chose the excursions I liked best, rather than being limited by the OChoice restrictions. The OBC would apply to the cost of the excursions, right? What do you think?

Hi fellow 10/2 cruisers. It's good to be home, but better to be aboard the PG (where I didn't do the cooking or the cleaning up)!

We very much enjoyed the food and wine aboard, especially because we got to know Kelly, the sommelier, and Elmo, bartender extraordinaire. Both were always accommodating and helpful, and seemed to enjoy making us happy! We have a small wine cellar at home, a wine group that gathers for dinner each month, and a decent amount of knowledge about wine and food pairings.

If we occasionally didn't like or want the wine being served at dinner, we asked for their suggestions or inquired about other available varietals (that were among the complimentary wines). There was one especially memorable one, where I asked for a specific varietal to go with my foie gras appetizer. No, says Kelly, let me bring you something you will like better. Which he did - Semillon - and it made for a great pairing. And sometimes Elmo was in L'Etoile, and would come by our table and ask how we liked the wine or if we wanted something different.

None of the wines served were high-end, which we were not expecting. But they were generally good, and there were always sufficient choices among the complimentary wines.

We like our Mai-Tais layered, not mixed! So after getting a mixed one, my DH trys to tell the bartender how to make it. He doesn't understand, so goes and gets Elmo, who immediately makes us the best Mai Tais we've ever had (well, maybe in Maui was a close second)!

We aren't demanding or hard to please. We enjoyed talking with and learning about many of the PG service people. All the above is simply to say that if you want something in particular, ask nicely and you are likely to be pleasantly surprised.

I agree that the best dishes were the fish; especially the wahoo and New Zealand salmon. I had more fat than meat on my rack of lamb, so Stephan must have gotten all the lean! Probably should have asked for another, but I was always too full at the end of a meal, anyway. I also had excellent beef tenderloin one evening, though on another the beef dish was a bit tough. I thought the desserts were beautifully presented - like works of art with leaves and tendrils swirled around on the plate, and enjoyed everything I tried. My DH asked for shrimp cocktail one evening, but was told that it would be an extra charge. We had shrimp in a few dishes, but they were sparse. They must be hard to come by and/or very expensive in the South Pacific. We did see a farmed shrimp pond on one of our island tours.

Our day room at the end of the cruise was in the Intercontinental Tahiti. We are both platinum IHG members, and I emailed the hotel manager prior to our leaving home that we wished to be upgraded to a panoramic view room, if available, also mentioning that our trip was to celebrate our 40th anniversary. I didn't ask for an overwater bungalow, because I knew we wanted to snorkel in the natural aquarium and enjoy the infinity pool during our short stay, and some of the overwater bungalows are a LONG walk to one or the other.

When we checked in, we were greeted with a "happy anniversary" by the staff person and taken by shuttle with our bags to top floor room 379 a couple of buildings down from the reception area. The large room and bath were beautiful, with a full unobstructed view of Moorea from both the room and the full balcony. There was a card on the desk, with a box of chocolates, that welcomed us and wished us a happy anniversary. And on the bed was a package with a pareo inside, compliments of the hotel. I almost wished we hadn't taken the included PG excursion of Tahiti, and had come straight here instead! We immediately changed into our swim suits and went down to enjoy the aquarium and pool. After taking pictures of a gorgeous sunset with Moorea in the background, we came back to the room, and saw that a wedding was about to begin on the lawn out front. So we took quick showers, then sat out on our balcony with drinks and the complimentary chocolates, and listened to the live band playing for the wedding party. What a way to end our trip! The airport transfer came at a reasonable time of 9:15 PM for our 11:15 PM departure flight.

Unfortunately, it wasn't the end, for as Stephan has explained, the Papeete airport processing was a nightmare, with almost an hr's wait to check in, then another 30 minutes to go through security. As an aside, the Air Tahiti Nui seats are the MOST uncomfortable coach seats that I have ever experienced (and I've been in a lot). Rock hard seats and hard neck rests that actually pushed my head forward. No sleep until I got on the Delta plane the next morning in LAX for the last leg home.