babysteps

Just now, ORV said:

I like old fashions which use a cherry. So you can buy the nasty maraschino things for 2-3 bucks or you can get the special ones that are anywhere from 12- 25 bucks a jar. These are 5 to 7 oz. Just nuts. 

Our BIL got a smoker a few years ago. One application - he smokes cherries then soaks them in bourbon. Given the time he dotes on them retail equivalent might be $75 a jar lol. 

5 hours ago, mlmdaisy said:

 

We saved a lot by booking our Seattle flights with Oceania but for these flights, I can find options for very little (~$600 RT).  Nobody can fix the fact that we have to deal with MIA.  😞

 

One more wrinkle - if you wish, you can get included air in just one direction. We did an Insignia Barbados - Miami in December 2023 and got our own flights.

In your situation I'd be tempted to do a one-way car rental to get back home to Tampa from Miami

To expand on the details above - the menu you receive ahead of time is not a special menu. It is the dinner menu for the main dining room (or specialty if you have a reservation). You just circle the standard items that you would like and they prepare them according to your dining restrictions.

In the recent past they have started calling to confirm any major changes required to the dish. You can accept the dish as described or make a different selection. 

If eating dinner in Terrace you can either browse what's there, or request your pre-selection. Usually lol that is, one cruise it was browse only. And a couple of cruises it was "let me make you something special". 

Also if you like gf soy sauce it has been hard or impossible to find onboard. 

Room service has not been a problem - we do remind them each time of the restriction. 

In general O does a good job of managing restricted diets. As with most situations, there will be wrinkles. I haven't yet been glutened onboard so I'd describe the wrinkles as erring on the side of caution. 

Happy exploring! 

Happy to help!

3 hours ago, CruisyGator said:

OTOH, fried food (as I'm sure you well know) is an absolute luxury for a celiac to be able to have at a restaurant. I will definitely be pushing the button on that to see what happens. There's an encouraging picture of fried shrimp here so - yay. 

The french fries at Waves were gluten free in December 2023 on Insignia.

The fries didn't used to be gluten free, but they are now (or were in December...).

Not sure about any other fried food onboard being GF...I might have to ask about that!

I think Italy has the second highest incidence of celiac in Europe after Finland. Who knew, right?

I am celiac and will be doing our 13th cruise on O this June.

I hope I can put your mind at ease. The gluten free adjustments are generally quite similar to the non-gluten-free original menu item. You can choose anything you like from the menu - rarely (but not never) they have told me they can't accomodate my selection in a gluten free way. That said, I have not ever (for example) selected the tempura so can't promise that everything is available.

Yes in Terrace you may end up becoming friendly with the chef! On some voyages they will start to recognize you and take you on a mini-tour and even come up with special dishes. On other voyages the servers will simply head to the back to ask if a given item is GF...

Bread/rolls/pancakes/pizza are all available gluten free. GF pancakes might only be available in main dining room and you may have to reassure your server that they are indeed available GF.

GF pizza takes some pre-planning (not just 'on the spot') - haven't been on Vista yet but assume GF pizza is out of Terrace and not the pizza oven at Waves in the evening??

Breadth of GF availablity at tea in Horizons has in the past varied by ship/voyage but it's been many years since I was met with the equivalent of a shrug when asking for GF options at tea.

Also occasionally if I choose a side dish in the dining room the availability will have changed, eg asparagus no longer available, would green beans be ok?

For the "I'd never go to a country where I don't speak the language", there are free to download & print gluten free travel cards that explain in local detail what gluten free requirements are. I understand this may still not be your idea of relaxing travel, but in case you find yourself in a bilingual city - say Montreal - and want some additional resources something like these cards could come in handy!

Some countries are easier than others, but we managed to spend several days in Thailand last year without my getting glutened thanks in part to the cards. English was more widely spoken than we expected at least in large cities especially at hotels and restaurants. For GF dining, even France is much easier now than it was 5 or 10 years ago. Italy is actually quite easy thanks to regulations and demand.

So I got curious - for Vista's visit to Santorini on June 22, 2024 there are 6 different private tour options. 3 vehicle classes, each available half day (4-1/2 hours) or full day (8-1/2 hours). Can't tell from the descriptions where the pick up is (ferry dock or top of cable car or...)

Every port is different, but here's the pricing

Private Car, capacity 2 people, $899 half day or $1199 full day

Mini bus, capacity 12 people, $1399 half day or $1699 full day

Van, capacity 6 people, $1099 half day or $1399 full day

Most ports I'm assuming this is waay more expensive than DIY, but if you have SM credit and hate group tours, it might make sense for some folks in some situations.

If you're traveling with a group a mini-bus might not be a bad price pp option, but it would still mostly make sense ONLY if you had SM to burn. Note that only 1 person reserves the private car, so only 1 person's SM can be applied.

We did Capri on our own in August 2022. October should be a bit less crowded! It is a charming island. 

There are many different ferry lines but they are not quite as separate as you might guess. Departing from Sorrento when we pick up our ticket next time we will ask which boat/slip we are headed to. I didn't, and dragged DH to end of pier - right company, wrong boat. Walked all the way back to other end of embarkment for the correct boat, we were in the last 10 people to board lol.

Our return ferry was cancelled last minute but we were able to (as directed) exchange our tickets for a different line's boat that was scheduled to leave just before the one we'd been aiming for. All worked out fine but very grateful we didn't cut it too close! 

Ok here's my worth just 2 cents recap,

What is the answer to a special request?

mass market "no"

premium "yes" *if* it's someplace onboard and isn't already an extra cost

luxury "yes" even if they have to make a special purchase ashore to make it happen

No this doesn't apply in all circumstances.

Yes there are additional differences between the categories. 

Yes we can all agree to disagree as to whether we see the $ value of a given category compared to any other category

Yes the conversation as we agree to disagree is engaging!

Hopefully someone who has been in Istanbul will reply!

We will be embarking there in June, all the research I've done suggests you are best off arranging a car service to pick you up at the port

On 4/23/2024 at 5:17 PM, lorimay said:

One line in the description says "There may be lines for the cable car during the busy summer season."  

I assume "There may be lines for the cable car during the busy summer
season." implies cable car both ways?

Many tours that end in Fira don't include this language, even though it seems highly likely that's the main way to get back to the ship.

My hopeful **guess** is that the disclaimer applies to tours that take the cable car up and down (so could delay tour) vs those that tender to the dock that buses can access near Oia.

Equally likely explanation is that the descriptions are not super-comprehensive or accurate.

We should be on Santorini this June on Vista. I double checked and there are at least 5 ship's tours including winery visits - we're doing one the "Santorini Wines at Venetsanos Winery" & I'll report back here. This particular tour doesn't have the disclaimer, but I'm guessing that the tour ends at Fira. I'm hoping it starts at the dock served by buses

On 4/22/2024 at 9:20 AM, godfreyb said:

It's not all by subway!  You have to take the Yokohama subway to get to the commuter station to get the train to Tokyo (30 minutes) and then use the Tokyo subway.  Sounds complicated but it isn't.  Have cash for tickets and then be aware that the Japanese stand in line behind each other as they gather, they let people off the trains first before they get on.  I can't remember the stations we went to, but people are very helpful.  We can't wait to go back to Japan.

We love taking local transportation and often reply on Citymapper app - but I just checked and it says Tokyo is in beta. Guessing there's some other similar app that is fully launched that covers Tokyo?

Citymapper is amazingly helpful in a strange-to-you city, it handles mixed-mode very well, reminds you when your stop is near, guides you through transfers, suggests best spot on platform etc etc. 

On 4/17/2024 at 8:19 PM, AmateurGO said:

.   I do suspect that their "status" in the Vista Suite probably helped grease the process a bit.  

We were in a regular Veranda cabin and did this in 2019 in NYC where we had an overnight. Worked with I think it's called "special services" at O. The process took a bit and was done well ahead of sailing (a couple of months?) . For a fee we were able to host our guest at dinner. 

8 hours ago, TRLD said:

 

There are some things that are very nice such as the string quartet playing during afternoon tea. But we find overall the environment  not a good fit for us

@TRLDif you could expand a bit on how O is not a good fit for you, I think that could help other folks considering the line for the first time. Thanks for taking the time to share your viewpoint! 

There are lectures on every O cruise.

Most are quite good but some not so much.

Little ships (R class) generally 1 lecturer per cruise with an almost-daily presentation. Larger ships usually have 2 lecturers but still typically 1 lecture per day except sea days. 

One reviewer called dismissed them as too "academic' but I would describe as well-documented entertainment. Once in a while you get someone who knows their stuff but isn't such a great presenter. 

Yes they usually have destination-focused topics. 

Everyone feel free to correct me, it was 4 cruises ago since we were on a 'big' ship - looking forward to trying Vista this year

From the printed brochure, following cruises offer the "free" (read, no additional cost) 1 night pre-cruise hotel stay. There may be more, this is just what was in this particular brochure - the direct mail code was c4 03/21/24

2025 01 12 Riviera 15 days Singappore to Hong Kong

2025 01 27 Riviera 18 days Hong Kong to Tokyo

2025 02 14 Riviera 24 day sTokyo to Singapore

2025 03 10 Riviera 11 days Singapore to Hong Kong

2025 03 21 Riviera 11 days Hong Kong to Tokyo

2023 03 23 Insignia 22 days Singapore to Taipei

2025 04 09 Regatta 15 days Singapore to Tapei

2025 04 13 Riviera 12 days Tokyo to Tokyo

2024 11 14 Regatta Singapore to Aukland

2024 12 08 Regatta 14 days Aukland to Sydney

2025 01 25 Regatta 16 days Sydney to Sydney

2025 02 10 Regatta 14 days Sydney to Aukland

2025 02 24 Rregatta 14 days Aukland to Sydney

2025 03 10 Regatta 20 days Sydney to Singapore

2025 03 26 Nautica 22 days Aukland to Singapore

2025 05 04 Insignia 24 days Perth to Aukland

2025 01 14 Marina 12 days Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro

2025 01 26 Marian 21 days Rio de Janeiro to Buenos Aires

2025 02 16 Marina 18 days Buenos Aires to Santiago de Chile

2025 03 06 Marina 18 days Santiago de Chile to Buenos Aires

2025 03 24 Marina 12 days Buienos Aires to Rio de Janeiro

there were also 7 itineraries without the free one-night hotel offer

Not sure any of us have clarified yet -

Yes you can book excursions with a no-cabin-yet-assigned guarantee booking on O

Got the O brochure touting free pre-cruise hotel in yesterday's mail - but it does not have prices. Of course Regent brochures also don't have prices these days... 

I guess this could mean that O has decided that little/no change in price combined with a hotel room and one extra shuttle is better for profit margins and/or branding than reducing prices would be? 

Red seems to be the "up to 40% off" price. 

For cruises where lower categories are not in red, I assume the lower categories are sold out or wait listed. There are some interesting juxtapositions.

Our latest such brochure had 4 cruises with red (sale) prices out of was it 13 total? Many different combinations of which categories were or were not on sale. 

Have fun shopping and Comp sent everyone! 

3 hours ago, Jimparr said:

Lettuce seems to be a common factor in all we have spoken to. 

Hope everyone recovers quickly!
Left that out of my list. I don't eat lettuce (unless it is cooked). My spouse says I need a t-shirt that says "lettuce can kill you"

Not foolproof but our protocol has worked so far: 

+Prophylactic pepto bismal in high risk areas ( Peru for example)

+Hydrogen peroxide wipes (are somewhat effective against virus) - wipe hands every time entering cabin

+Do not touch your face. Wash and sanitize wipe hands before any toothcare. 

+Do not touch your food. Silverware or napkin for everything. 

+do not drink tapwater onboard or in many overseas countries (often overkill but you never know)

2018 Lima to NYC cruise had a long period of GI related sanitary procedures. Whether by luck or above approach our guts were fine. 

Stay safe all! 

5 hours ago, Carnevale said:

The moving sidewalks to get to the pier have been mentioned but unless things have changed from the last time we were there (this past February), you can’t take the luggage trolleys on them. So be prepared for the walk.

Good point. Do I remember there is enough room in the connector to use the luggage carts just not on the moving walkway part? 

As of fall 2021 there are moving walkways between the airport and the dock. The connector is covered and is a level or 2 above the sidewalk. There were also luggage carts available. Elevator available at each end. 

Will be interested in what your TA reports! There are at least 2 factors that might calm your fears in the meantime: 

1- Online just now the 12-day Miami-Lisbon segment has some categories showing "avalable" or "guarantee" although most categories are wait listed. 

2-This 12-day segment has been one of the lower-priced pp pd itineraries on Vista so that could help drive early bookings compared to some other itineraries. 

@stevesol6718 you and/your TA have likely already thought of this. In case not, you could consider asking for a specific discount or onboard credit amount to apply to one or more of your already-booked future cruises. It's true that O could still decline to answer or say "no". Even so many companies are much free-er with future discounts than with cash-back on past problems.

Could you share if you are satisfied with your TA's handling of the situation? I'm disappointed to hear that O hasn't responded to either of you, even if to say 'we're not going to respond'. Or has your TA has been able to talk with people at O but nothing has been put in writing and/or resolved? That is still not great, but might be just a little less frustrating than radio silence...

TLDR "yes and"

I was once on a kitchen tour (many years ago made friends with the guest chef instructor). As I recall (hm-recall?) the entrance to the GDR-kitchen escalator is midships so not all the way as "front end" as yo can get. On Marina and Riviera the GDR is somewhat U-shaped...although the escalator entrance is as far forward as you can get at midships. I need a whiteboard to explain better!