slw207693

Just got off Marina and it is David, the same one who does the olive oil cart in Toscana

A few things I will add: ORV - you and hubby compete for the diet Dr. Pepper! the first thank you note I write to staff goes to the Master and his laundry team - for 16 people in total to do ALL the sheets, towels, chaise covers, linens, napkins, all staff uniforms and then 3 bags from guests, are the unseen, unsung staff who are hero’s in my eyes. I usually send them treats with my note (chocolates or chips). You do not have to take whatever drink is on tray and offered at Captain’s welcome party. You can give the server your order (just be patient, they are filling many of us who are in the know orders as well). if you are on the Marina or Riviera, I would highly recommend getting 8-10 others together and do a Privee dinner (room between Polo and Toscana). Price is a flat $300 - split by 5 couples equals $60. You can choose to use menus from Polo/Toscana to mix and match or work with the Executive Chef on a couple other menus and you can mix and match them with Chef’s approval. You can get the menus from the Concierge on 5 near Red Ginger hall. We did this in November on Marina with 4 couples we met onboard. It was better than LaReserve dinners we had! There are needlepoint (kits provided for free, you must complete one before you can get another kit) and this is always on a sea day at 9:30 am in Horizons. They will show you how to do it. Other days may include bracelet kits. We bring back spicy chips when we go into a port (Doritos, Cheetos) for our cabin stewards as part of our thank you’s. We don’t wait to tip them at the end but throughout the cruise with notes on how much we appreciate them. Same for others who have been helpful. We tape $2 bills to the luggage when we put it out night before disembarking. Many hands are involved in getting it all moved and into terminal the next morning. Filling out mid cruise comments are valuable, both for things needing correcting and identifying those who go above and beyond. If you don’t get satisfaction, request a meeting with GM - write a note and leave it at front desk. They will respond. We’ve been on every ship since October 2021, except Nautica. We leave this Wednesday for 10 day Riviera cruise from Miami.

I am currently on Marina with upgraded internet package. I have been on since Nov. 1. I need to use a VPN for work purposes and the upgrade is the only way it works ( I use Nord VPN). I make Zoom calls almost daily using the upgrade and they come in clear with no buffering or latency issues. Only a few days with getting kicked off issues - didn’t last long, just annoying. I use ATT $10/day (24 hr period) international plan (don’t have to sign up, it just happens) if you turn on cellular when you are near land or in port. Sometimes I let the cellular update the email box, then go back using ships wi-fi to respond.

Babysteps - good call on that as there was a Repeaters party on that day. Today’s Currents says Horizons 3pm - Closing

We are currently on Marina and have 2 more segments. I can tell you that you can not walk up to maitre’d and get in anymore unless it is for an 8:30pm seating. Ship is full. You will get your 1 “guaranteed” reservation in each restaurant, however it may or may not be at a desired time to you’d like to eat. Crew Salute (where the crew come into the Marina lounge after the evening show and you get to clap and cheer for them and then participate in the YMCA song and then the crew is waiting at the entranceways to clap for you afterward) is back. Lots of fun to feel like it’s almost back to pre Covid

We check the luggage at airport with our other suitcases. No issues ever. the evening entertainment on Marina is at 9:15 not 9:30. It’s up to Cruise Director to chose time. Baristas serves coffee, pastries, little sandwiches (similar to the Concierge and Executive lounges) 6:30 am - 5:30 pm at 6 pm Baristas reinvents itself as Baristas Aperitivo from 6-10 pm. (I don’t know if those drinks are 2 for 1 during happy hour but will enquire). Martinis is open from 3 pm to closing Grand Bar opens from 5 pm to closing Horizons is open 11 am - 5 pm and then 8 pm - closing (strange, I thought Horizons was open for Happy hour 5-6 pm) but not listed anywhere in todays Currents 🤷‍♀️ With Marina at 1180 passengers, all the restaurants are full and getting earlier seatings not easy, even on embarkation or last night of cruise. Next cruise from Rome to Barcelona is at full capacity, closer to 1240

Husband has a wine suitcase, just google wine suitcase. Comes with foam inserts for different size bottles, weighs 48 pounds and the airlines have never broken or taken a single bottle - over 45 cruises with Oceania. We ship it with the other luggage and It gets delivered to room with rest of luggage. It fits nicely under the bed and if we are gifted a special bottle or we find something on board, it gets packed and shipped back home or the souvenirs or dirty laundry go in the bottle holders. We are currently on Marina and had 3-4 hour delay in boarding in Athens due to the Greek authorities sending one passport agent who had to find the stamp you got when you landed at the airport and stamp that you were leaving Greece. He was not happy to be working. There were’t many places to sit, you got assigned a group number by Greek port agent (did not matter what cabin level (we are in a PH2) or your check in time), we all waited. Oceania brought out water, kept Terrace Cafe and Waves open and we were all relieved when the gangplank came up and we departed.

If you though Aquamar prices were expensive before, on Nov. 11, 2022 there will be a major price increase, at least on Marina all prices are without added 18% gratuity Examples: Deep tissue massage - 50 minutes. Currently: $179 New: $229 Swedish massage - 50 minute Currently: $149 New: $199 A couples 50 minute massage was $279 and new price is $399 50 minute Facials went from $199 to $229 My favorite shampoo and blow out (3 session bundle) was $129 and now will be $189 😡 A single wash and blow out was from $49 and now from $79 Fire and Ice manicure/pedicure combined was $139 and will be $169 Exotic hand ritual and sole delight pedicure was $129 and will be $149 Classic manicure and pedicure was $99 and now will be $129 shellac add on for hands and feet stayed the same $30 Gentleman’s haircut and style was $45 and will be $49. Beard and neck trim went from $19 to $29 Let me know if you have a specific service you’d like quoted

There is indeed an ATM on board every ship in the casino and the daily limit is $1000. I speak from experience as I have used them instead of getting a cash advance at reception with the fee added to your onboard account.

We have had 12 in Privee and we were not crowded. On the November 2021 Marina crossing, We had a lovely “commitment ceremony” in Grand Lobby and then all headed to Privee for dinner afterward. There are several options for dining now - you can chose from Polo and Toscana mixing for each course, a new option that was advertised is to go out to the markets with the Executive Chef and pick out fish or other things for him/her to prepare (obviously this wasn’t an option on this cruise due to being in middle of the Atlantic) or work with the Executive Chef and create your own menu (you get to keep your copy they printed up). This is the option we chose and it was magnificent - Chef Frederic C. even created a two layer wedding cake that was exquisite. One of the violinists from the string quartet came and played as well (I did tip her). This request was granted via the GM. I would say to request a meeting when you board with the Executive Concierge and , explain what you would like and see what they can and are willing to do. If it’s possible, they will make it happen. We only had 400 people on board last November. Also remember that if the Chef is cooking for the LaReserve dinner on your Privee evening, he may not be able to do a special menu and you get the Polo/Toscana options which are great choices too.

We gave the order to the Butler and he fulfilled every request from the different locations. Another reason that a Butler can be so helpful.

We were on Insignia in PH room in June and there were no restrictions. We were able to order from Waves, dining room at lunch on sea days, dinner in specialities with mixing from each, room service menu, Terrace grill.

We have had guests come onboard prior to Covid. My husband’s six Norwegian colleagues and their spouses came for lunch in the Grand Dining room while we were docked in Stavanger (cost was $25 per person I think billed to our shipboard account). We also paid for any drinks/wine consumed as well. I believe the evening dinner cost for Grand Dining room is $35 pp (no speciality restaurants allowed). We filled out a form requesting permission, which was granted by the GM in conjunction with Exec Chef and Captain. About 2 weeks prior to them coming onboard, We had to furnish passport/ID information, full names, birthdates, address, etc. When the guests arrived, whatever form of ID they had provided information for, that documentation had to be shown to security (one member didn’t bring his passport which he had provided as his info, but had another ID) and that caused a kink that was eventually rectified, but it was touch and go whether he would be allowed onboard. We were allowed to show them around the ship including our cabin and they stayed most of the afternoon. On another occasion in Seward Alaska we had a niece and her family come onboard for tea time. (Again, the cost was either $20 or $25 pp). Same security procedures. They had a little one and the staff produced a high chair. Now that Negative Covid testing won’t be a requirement for many countries to get onboard, just ask the Executive Concierge if it is possible to host guests. Be kind to the staff and they make all kinds of things possible.

Currently on Insignia (last leg of the around the world, stuck in quarantine) and having issues with wi-fi and being able to use VPN (I’m using Nord). I’ve purchased the upgrade but still not able to use. I was on Marina for the month of November, Riviera in January and Regatta in April. I had no issues with any of those ships. The IT person has only been on board about six weeks and that appears to be her level of experience. She doesn’t know why, isn’t interested in finding out why or finding a solution to make it work. (I’m still working and need a more secure connection). Can any of you IT guru’s offer suggestions or solutions?

So let me tell you how invaluable our Butler, Ari, has been on current cruise. We are in PH room with Covid and he takes all our meal orders, delivers them outside the door, gently knocks and then when DH gets to door in mask, he asks what else we may need. He’s brought carafes of hot water, big bottles of water for room, the WSJ and takes the trash. There is no room cleaning (although our cabin stewardess unlocked the divider with next room and washed the outside doors and windows as she deemed we needed to see the world float by and held up a sign to feel better soon). We too hadn’t made full use of a butler, but this has been above and beyond.

As a long time Oceania. cruiser, we have put “together” 4 continuous cruises - the Club Ambassador put three on one invoice (said that was the max the system could do) and the fourth on a separate invoice. The 3 back to back invoice did not have an A after the booking number. None of our invoices ever have. This was done pre Covid, but while onboard Regatta in April, we put several cruises together for in the future and each is individually invoice but has the 5% b2b savings. (The 4 cruises were this past November 2021 on Marina and we stayed in the same cabin the entire trip. I think 4 cruises is the most we’ve put together - we started in Barcelona and ended in Miami). We received O-life shipboard credit for each cruise, we received spa credits for each cruise, we received Oceania loyalty credit of $500 for each cruise. We also received 4 loyalty credit points towards our next “free cruise”. (The segments were 7 days, 7 days, 10 days and 12 days). At the end of each segment, they gave us printed summary (because we asked for it) but did NOT total out each segment separately. Only at the end of the cruise were all the pluses and minuses totaled and due to travel agent giving refundable onboard ship credit for each segment, we ended up getting cash back. Flatbush flyer - we will be on the Lisbon to NY in a couple weeks and I look forward to chatting with you.