dundeene

The Original poster said this horse is dead;)

You don't have to be from Nebraska to know what to do with a dead horse.

Let's all get out our shovels and put this poor thread to rest.

It will drift slowly down the 1st page until it is buried in the archives of Oceania Board topics of the past.

We have been on 3 Oceania sailings with amazing food and excellent service in all venues.

There was a slip in the Terrace Cafe on our last cruise. We noticed all of the waiters around us working very hard and taking great care of diners. No waiter approached our table. I saw the dining manager in the ivory coat and approached him. I told him it had been a few minutes and it didn't appear any server was assigned to our table.

He approached two of the waiters and it seemed one of them was confused as to where his area ended and the other server's began.

He came to our table and explained that he usually only works in the specialty restaurants and was subbing for a friend who left the ship for a family event. After that evening, every time we dined in the Terrace we were fawned over. The manager later called my cabin and apologized again.

I am sailing on Oceania, 16 days in May and again in July for 12 days. I am confident that I will enjoy great food and wonderful service. I do not expect that it will be a "perfect cruise" (although our 1st three were pretty amazing!)

With the two new large ships, the two smaller R ship and now Insignia coming back to the line, I assume call volume is at an all time high. I also read that January is the busiest month for booking and servicing cruises.

Suddenly that 2014 cruise you booked long ago seems right around the corner!

Management does a great job of handling life onboard. I am certain they are already trying to recruit and train more phone agents.

I do use a TA and let her take care of everything for us.

First congrats on your milestone!

We celebrated our 25 th on Oceania and loved having a butler.

Breakfast in bed, somehow getting the most romantic water view tables for two in the specialty restaurants, and making sure our 1st cruise on Oceania was perfect.

He also did a bit of pressing for us, made sure our favorite drinks were in the fridge, and told us the best places for photo ops on shore. He printed our boarding passes, kept the champagne cold, and even brought us delicious treats not on the menu.

On our actual anniversary night he brought us the most amazing dinner. He chose the menu from all of the specialty restaurants, bringing his favorites from each one.

Do I need a butler. . . No

Do I have one at home. . . No

Did it make my cruise even better. . . Definitely!

If I remember. . . . . there was Lancome, Estee Lauder, Clinque and Dior makeup/skincare. Bits and pieces of each line. There were other lines of skincare available in the spa.

There were a range of vintages and price points on the list. Everything from Asti to cabs (about $34-120/bottle) I believe the cost reduction was based on total bottles purchased (not of each variety). Yes they added the 18% grat to the price. If you are in Europe save the VAT by waiting until you have left port to purchase;)

I do not believe the wines listed were the same from cruise to cruise.

The bazaar wines had price points from $28 - $125. The original price and the "sale" price were shown on a tag. Some wines they had one bottle of, others a case. The sommeliers on-board are very helpful. Knowing what we planned to order in some of the specialties restaurants enabled us to ask about pairings.

When they approach your table at dinner just tell them what you would like brought to up for you. A few times the sommelier even called our room when we had specialty restaurant reservations and asked which bottles should be waiting for us that evening.

Oceania goes above and beyond when it comes to fine dining.

We recently sailed on Marina and for the third time bought a "wine package" on the 1st day. There is a list and you mark how many bottles of each you would like. I think the discount was around 30% after the third bottle. The ship holds the bottles and you can request them in any dining venue or delivered to your stateroom/suite. Opened bottles follow you the next evening.

There was also a wine"bazaar" in La Reserve. There were wines in limited availability at reduced prices. It was fun and the recommendations we received were spot-on. We have also picked up bottles at wine tastings on and off the ship on our cruises.

Thanks for responding LHT28! I guess I wondered how Oceania was able to police that...If a guest with the unlimited drink package were to obtain a drink how would they know who actually consumed it.

Oceania treats its guests as adult and expects appropriate behavior. You can bring on your own alcohol, but if you were drunk and obnoxious that privilege would be revoked. Oceania does not seem to attract the drunk, "party crowd" in my experience. It does seem to attract well educated, well traveled adults. I would assume most if not all would consider passing off a drink to someone who had not paid for it as theft. The question has been asked about sharing the package with your spouse. Again with per/person pricing this would be dishonest.

My husbands family came from Plau in 1868 to Iowa.

We know they were all married In the Lutheran church there. Is there more than one?

Can anyone recommend a private guide to take us from Warnemunde and show us Plau and a tour around Mecklenberg?

Thank you

When we were in Red Ginger on the Marina the chef's special was scallops prepared in the same way as the sea bass.(not usually offered)

The best I have ever tasted!

How were your tours with cruising excursions.com? Looking to book with them. Tx

Our tour in Monte Carlo was great, they used Liven up tours, it was even better than described online.

Florence was great driver(Matteo) and excellent guide (Sami) exceeded expectations

Rome, not so good, driver was a taxi driver who usually does airport transfers and was filling in for a driver guide friend who double booked. If I had paid the cheaper tour it would have been okay. But I had paid about $600 for a private driver guide. The guy was on the phone cussing to his friend about the traffic and that he did not know how to get to some of the main sites. We were very disappointed!

Other than the testimonials the company has posted on their website, there is little feedback.

They have live chat online and some of the reps are fairly knowledgeable. Some seem new.

Our emails are promptly answered. Simonne has been very helpful and has the most knowledge about the tours. Gay is fine too.

I have one private tour w/driver and a small group tour from Monte Carlo. I am trying the smart price tour to FLorence which is a "big bus" tour.

I will report back with my experience both here and tripadvisor.

I have a few tours booked with them in the Med. in 3 days.

Many people are curious about them and I will be posting reviews of all of my tours!

I am legally M. Christine , but sent in my passport with Mary Christine because my soc. card still says Mary Christine. I made the reservation as (Mary) Christine.

I let Oceania know I never use Mary and that if they phoned my house we would assume they had the wrong number if they asked for Mary. I do not know what my travel agent told them, but when I have contacted Oceania they address my as Christine. They must have a note of my preference in their system. (I did not even find out my name was Mary until I was hospitalized at 11 yrs old) I was very surprised as I had never been addressed as Mary.

I assume there is some way to input your name as you preferred to be addressed.

I also believe they sent my docs to my TA first and she may even have asked them to list me as (Mary) Christine.

Good Luck! I know how frustrating it can be to be called a name you have never used.