deus

Hi Mrs f.  - Thank you for the kind offer, I have now sent you an email.  

Ours left at 12:30am - we had been delayed an hour.  We took the air with Oceania.  Also we had a lot of OBC so we took the day room at a hotel through Oceania which I think costs $175 each, we just booked this while on the Marina.  They had water, juice, sandwiches, desserts, free of charge.  We paid for our lunch at the hotel restaurant.  Also if you wanted to go on a tour they provided that for an extra charge.

Bob - Yes those sweatshirts are a fortune in Big O Points - hehe!  Our last cruise in January he got one like I said for 10 points but there were only 3x available - I think that is why they were so "cheap".  He is quite tall so they fit him like yours.

Mrs F.  - My husband and I are taking the Oceania Cape Town to Singapore in 2021 and was wondering if you wouldn't mind sharing some of your tour companies you used for your cruise.  I think I saw you contributing to the 2020 cruise.

Thanks 

Lauren

Bob et al really enjoy reading each and every day your adventures!!

Now as to that sweatshirt you were wearing Bob, did you get that with your Big O Points.  My husband got one very similar to yours with 10 Big O Points.  Great Deal!!

ducruiser01

We went to Luxor for two days in 2018 and I found out that the Valley of Kings opens at 6am.  So we were picked up at 5:15am by our tour company, Love Egypt Tours.  We were the only people in the tombs and we saw every tomb that was open for the day.  It was truly spectacular to see and take our time in each tomb.  

From "Hawaiidan" Just a reminder..... EVERYONE   in Bora Bora who has a boat and does a tour...goes to the SAME spots.   No one has any special secret spots.    Thus other than the boat its self there are really no difference in your experience    That said  the best Bora experience  is the Wave Runner tour !    In picking a tour there is a huge tourist  pavilion where the  tenders come in  will have dozens of vendors.     However, this will NOT be the case for most of the other ports...Taxi's are few   Don't expect the smaller islands to be all that developed....  The ship will overwhelm most ports...."

Actually Hawaiidan that was not the case with me and my husband.  We did Patrick's tour and it was completely different that Tohora Bora Bora's.  Tohora Bora Bora's we went to a coral garden that was a "drift" snorkel but not so with Patrick's tour.  Patrick's we went to his motu and swam with some sharks, swam over a small coral area, no small fish area.  So two completely different tours and sights. 

Hi Terry - I just sent you an email, please let me know if you got it.

Terry - That is a beautiful area  you will be seeing in Alberta and then again up to Alaska.    We did an Alaska cruise a few years ago and loved it.   Vancouver is a beautiful city and I am sure you will enjoy it.  If you are interested, my husband and I are always up to being tour guides for a day.  Just leave your email and I will contact you.

Hi Terry

I just had a couple of more things to add, don't wear your life jackets in the coral gardens.  The current is very swift and you go through too quickly and have no control - so don't wear them there.  We bought water shoes and goggles at Costco at this time of the year - they were good enough.  Just spit in the masks and wash it out and they stayed clear.  Don't put them on your forehead where they get mucked up with sunscreen.  Both my husband and I got slight cuts from the coral.  We washed them out on the tour boat with our bottled water and when we got back to the ship for about 15 minutes in the show.  Also we bought Tamanu oil $20US in Bora Bora and applied that to our abrasions and we got no infections.  We brought antibiotics with us just in case but we never used them.

Hi Terry - we did a 18 day from San Antonio, Chile to (Easter Island 2 days - yeah) Papeete and then a 10 day Papeete to Papeete - January 2019.  The best tour snorkelling wise was with Tohora Bora Bora.  He takes 6 people to a beautiful coral garden, and then three other stops, saw a huge manta ray, 22 eagle rays and to an area where there are hundreds of small fish which we fed right out of our hands!  Best advice to you and your wife - bring an inflatable life jacket and wear it!!!  We bought ours from Amazon and it was worth every penny.  We met a couple who told us that on a tour with Oceania someone was swept away 200 metres from the tour boat.  They luckily got the man but he and his wife were pretty shaken by the incident as well as everyone on the tour boat.  So bring a life jacket and wear it.  I was wearing my life jacket on one of my tours and I was trying to fix my goggles in the water and I got taken away by a very slight current may be 75 meters from the boat and one of our guides quickly came and brought me back.  I didn't even realize I was that far from the boat - it happens quickly.  

If you are thinking about buying pearls, buy them from the actual pearl farms, I think they are cheaper.  

I luckily bought my vanilla beans from the market in Papeete.  A fellow cc member, drbuster, gave me the exact stall that was the cheapest - $22 US for five beans.  We had only one tour that was going to a vanilla farm and they had no vanilla beans left.  I was able to buy vanilla paste so I purchased that at the farm.

It is so beautiful in French Polynesia - it actually is paradise on earth!!  We loved it there!  

CBB - That was a wonderful cruise - Mumbai to Rome.  I don't think we were on the tour with you to Petra but our guide was doing the same thing.  We left him too and looked around ourselves.  The Israel guide talked non stop for 10 hours so that was also a little much.  But all the rest were informative and interesting.
           

   3 hours ago,  LHT28 said: 

or you could  just change the time of year to take a cruise 

 Did you bother to consider the possibility that a particular itinerary might only be offered once a year, and that might be when the NFL playoffs are being held? In our case we cruised from  Miami all the way to Tahiti, and that was the one and only time of the year you could do it.

Your comment is so typical of the type of responses made by some when we had an extended thread about this earlier in the year. It's really easy to dismiss an idea with a snide remark that's indicative of the attitude "I don't care about this so no one else could possibly have a legitimate interest in it that is worth considering".  It goes right along with the "sports fans are beer-swilling lowlifes" attitudes of some. 

You can do better.

NJHORSEMAN - I agree!  

Well we like watching the NFL playoffs so I guess we will making our voices heard on the comment card.  Sounds like it won't change anything BUT you never know.

What's up is that Oceania apparently doesn't want to pay for the rights to show the NFL games.

My comment about beer-swilling Americans was based on the "my ***** don't stink" attitude of some of the posters on that thread who apparently believe that sports is only enjoyed by lowlifes.     I knew you were referring to that.



I guess we will just have to ask while we are on board (if they don't show the playoffs) - why aren't they showing them!!

Well we are not American nor do we drink beer but we do enjoy watching the NFL.    My husband's beloved Colts MIGHT be in the playoffs, he wanted to know if he can look forward to seeing them while on the ship.  Or watching any of the playoffs - which we enjoy!  Kind of weird they don't broadcast the playoffs.  What is up with that!!  I will definitely make a note on my comment card about that if there are no games broadcasted!!

We are on the Marina for most of January 2019 and were wondering will the NFL playoffs be broadcast?

Just my two cents - I think people should do what is most comfortable for them.  My husband wears a suit to the specialty restaurants, which is most comfortable for him.  Wearing a suit for him is like someone else wearing jeans -its no big deal.   And yes I know there are no jeans allowed in the specialty restaurants.  People should dress what makes them feel good and be comfortable. 

Michael - Thanks for taking the time to post - I will be following along with you!

CBB

you get O points for trivia: 3 pt card for 1st, 2 pt card for 2nd, 1 pt card for 1st.

At the end of the cruise you may redeem all your cards for a variety of things. Luggage tags =20 pts all the way to 100 pt clothing items...all with an O identification on it.

Don't worry about not having quite enough points for that long sleeve O shirt...staff is nice about rounding your total waaaay up for you!

Ray Carr always says trivia is a blood sport and reminds us several times during the cruise "people, you are playing for a visor" because it gets argumentative at times.

It helps to be reminded that big O points aren't worth getting all riled up over whether "Netherlands" or "Holland" will be accepted as an answer!

My husband and I thought that was funny!! Thanks for reminding us!

Lauren - we were on Mumbai to Rome with you.

Thanks for taking the time to let us all in our your adventure - really enjoying it!

Mura - Thanks for taking the time to pass on your info. I will definitely remember for next time if I book a non ship excursion.

Lauren

PS I seem to have lost my first post here - I don't know what I did.

Toranut97 - Thanks for the info. I never thought Oceania would help with private tours - that is great to know.

Lauren

Sea42 - I was not that concerned about losing my deposit, but I had been thinking that Oceania might get into ports not on the schedule day and therefore, I wouldn't get my full day of excursions. I guess the thing to do if this happens is to contact the the tour company right away and let them know and may be they could fit us in if we circle around and come back to the places we missed on a different day. Or Oceania might just miss the port altogether - which isn't great but happens.

I never even thought about getting my refunds back from my insurance company - I will have to check that.

Thanks again.

Lauren

Thank you for all the great advice and tips!!

FYI Sea 42 - we always travel with cancellation insurance.

I will as IWANTTOLIVEOVERTHERE...said, book a few private tours, a few ship tours, and DIY may one or two.

Lauren