Mura
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1 hour ago, Sthrngary said:
@Mura Well thank you. I wish what I did was about being a great friend. In reality, it was about being selfish. I REALLY wanted to go on a 10-day Cruise to the Mediterranean. I am 65 and my wife is 62. My love of my life has some knee and hip issues so a cruise is the best choice for such a trip. Even though, she tells me all the time, "NO MORE CRUISES". See, I am just a selfish old man.
On to my choice with Oceania. It helped me choose because it is a member of the NCL family. It also helped that a few years ago, I did all my due diligence on Oceania. This time around it was a much easier selection. I had mentioned in an earlier posting that I did a "Luxury Cruise Test Drive". It was on Crystal prior to its financial issues. I spent a year on the Crystal Board on cruisecritic asking lots of questions. I realize now, I was a complete pain to those fine folks. Yet they were so nice to me. Some who commented during that year are avid Oceania Loyal Guest. They are most helpful on this board.
On Oceania, I asked just a few questions and with my past experience, it all made sense. I was recently asked what would make a cruise the best it can be? I had one answer. "Go with good friends and enjoy the experience together." Since my lovely bride is somewhat of an introvert and I am an extrovert, having our friends with us will make a huge difference in her enjoyment. That makes my trip even better. For my friends, they have not gone on a lot of cruises so my experience will help them enjoy the experience better. Watching non-cruisers enjoy the experience, makes my trip.
Some of the YouTube video's I have watched focused on the food and dining. I also focused on the classes for food preparation on the ship. This is not everyone's focus but it is mine. My hope is the world will be a more stable and better place in a year then it is right now. The ships will fill back up, more people will be traveling and enjoying their lives.
Cruise well and enjoy every moment.
For me, you are researching for what YOU want to see and do. And that is commendable! Whatever cruise you end up on, I'm sure you will find friendly compatriots. And your wife will too.
I'm another introvert so I do sympathize ...
Mura
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On 9/2/2022 at 3:19 PM, Sthrngary said:
UPDATE: Thank you every one for your feedback and excellent advice. Because of you great folks, as I outlined earlier, I booked two (2) Penthouse Suite Guarantee's on the Oceania Rivera for November 9, 2023. Oceania had the "Category Upgrades" available as a Labor Day Perk for this cruise. The other couple that I have the second suite for does not know I booked it. It will be my friends wife's 70th Birthday. He promised her a Greek Cruise but refused to book it until next year.
I knew exactly what the issue was. He could not afford the Deposit until next year. Also, these folks do not understand the concept of planning ahead. So I booked both the rooms, and paid for the deposits with my American Express. This gives both suites the AMX Perks. The best perk of all was to get a Penthouse at literally almost $4,000.00 less then just 20 days prior.
I prebooked the pre-hotel in Athens so we all would get their at least a day early. My friends will take the Coach Airfare that comes with the cruise booking. I recommended they did not pay for the premium coach because that extra money could go for some excursions. They are on a tight budget. My wife and I have saved airline points for years to go on this trip in Delta One Business Class. I will have to wait a few months to book that due to Delta's booking limitations.
Like many people when they go on a new cruise brand, I have watched all the video's, read what I could here on CruiseCritic.com. I can see from many of your comments that this cruise will be very special. Thanks again.
Cruise well and enjoy every moment.
You are a great friend to have!!! Have a wonderful cruise.
Mura
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Back to air ...
We learned on our first Renaissance cruise (when we luckily had booked our own air because we were going into Lisbon early) that there were horrific stories from people on the "free" air. Lots of diversions, etc.
Later on we figured out that since we live in NYC, flying to typical Ren/Oceania departure points is not difficult. But for people who cannot fly straight through, it can be very difficult. But for people living in the Midwest or the west coast -- and the same can be said for people living in European locations that are NOT Paris or London -- it can be just as difficult.
We always book our own ... especially now that we are old enough that we prefer biz air.
Mura
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Oh my. When I was a youngster into my teen years (living in L.A.) we frequently went down to Ensenada twice a year. I loved those vacations. We always stayed at Papagayo, a few miles out of town. Right on the beach but they also had a pool. Mostly they had two bedroom cottages but also some motel rooms.
Fishmongers came by selling fresh lobsters which my Mom would cook for dinner. Our dog loved swimming in the ocean. The pebbles leading down to the beach sometimes cut up his toes but he never cared.
We had friends staying IN Ensenada one summer and we went into their hotel. "Are there any Freibergs here?"
"Oh, absolutely", was the answer.
Then he said, "Er, What's a Freiberg?"
It was so peaceful there in the 1950s ... I just googled the Ensenada Papagayo and it looks like they've become a hotel IN Ensenada ... sad for me. I'd have loved to go back to the place I remembered.
Maybe it's no longer safe outside of town ... Just a guess from what I've seen above ...
Mura
Mura
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When we took our last cruise pre-Covid, South African friends booked the upgraded drink package. Well, the wife did. Her husband didn't know anything about it and was surprised at the extra cost.
But I think they were happy with it ...
While I have said elsewhere (and maybe even here, I'm not sure about that) if we were to get the package, we'd take the upgrade.
Mura
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Like others who posted early in this thread, we started out only wanting port intensive cruises. And then we found ourselves on some cruises with sea days and lo and behold we changed our minds.
We found the activities on board on sea days sufficient for us (without spending the day around the pool). We like sitting on our veranda and reading or going to a lecture. On sea days there will be more than there will be on port days, obviously.
We're all different! So you might come around as we have ... or maybe you won't. It's up to you what you want to do on a cruise.
Evening entertainment on Oceania cruises IS limited ... depending on what you want to see. We're classical music people so there have been evenings we loved, and sometimes evening where we walked out. But we tend to dine late on board and so if the show doesn't intrigue us, we're just as happy to go back to our room.
Mura
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I've never taken the drink package because (1) DH doesn't drink but I do, and (2) I don't want to be governed by the "wine by glass" rules. They DO have a reasonable selection of wines by the glass but I prefer to buy a bottle (or bring my own to the table and pay the corkage fee). But as far as I have ever heard, you can keep on asking for another glass once your run out. SOME have complained that it can be hard to find a server to bring you that additional glass ... I think that was mostly in Terrace, but perhaps not.
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On 8/28/2022 at 8:56 AM, ORV said:
Mura, it has changed, now if you fly with Oceania in on the day of the cruise, then the transfer is included.
Of course we never do that so for us the point is moot! But I'm glad to have the current information.
On our last Renaissance cruise, we booked our own air (coming in early as usual) to Athens and found that we were on a flight largely populated with Ren passengers on our cruise. The van was there for transfer to the hotels and so we just joined them ... doubt we could do that today, however! They just assumed that everyone boarding the van was entitled to do so ...
Mura
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Maybe things have changed by now but in the past if you used an Oceania hotel package for pre- or post-cruise, a transfer from ship (or airport) to the hotel was free. If you booked a transfer through them otherwise it was for a fee, and that fee (in our experience) was generally a lot more than we could do on our own.
Mura
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On 8/25/2022 at 10:12 PM, ORV said:
Yes, many people will say Regatta, but, many think it is for Renaissance. The problem comes from the Princess ships, which are now Oceania ships,) Serena) Which was a Princess ship, but which is originally a Renasissance ship, but is now considered a R ship. Many people refer to the R ships as the Renassiance ships.
I think I'm being unnecessarily technical here (and possibly wrong to boot) but the "R" ships were built by Renaissance. And I always heard that they preferred to designate the ships as R1, R2, etc. The "R" obviously being for Renaissance. When Oceania started up with the R1 (Insignia) and R2 (Regatta) I suppose they chose to designate the "R" ships as Regatta class. Makes sense. Regatta (I think) was originally supposed to be the first ship launched as an Oceania vessel but they ended up switching Insignia into the first ... or was it vice versa? They were clear about this when it happened but that was more than 20 years ago so I admit that I'm foggy on the details ... I remember taking a bridge tour back in the early days on Regatta and they still had the "R2" schematic hanging on the wall.
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We haven't sailed since before Covid (we are booked on Vista Southampton to NYC in late August 2023). I've frequently brought on vodka and wine with no problem. We play by the rules! Drink in the cabin or pay the corkage fees when bringing wine to the table.
FOr those in the top suites that have the liquor benefit, you can bring your wine to the restaurant and NOT pay the corkage, but as I recall still only drink the hard liquor in your room.
Mura
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Agree with most of these comments. On all Oceania ships we've always had our passports collected. If we were in a port (say Russia), then they would return us to them for that port and we might (or might not) need to return them upon return to the ship. There has been some occasions when passports were returned to us prior to the end of the cruise and we were permitted to keep them until we left the ship. Depends on the itinerary ...
And also depends on the ports and immigration restrictions I suppose.
Mura
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We took my mother with us on a very early Oceania cruise (early 2004 I think) when my sister suspected she was early Alzheimer's but Mom wasn't actually diagnosed until shortly after that. Everyone was very solicitous of her. There was a 7 foot tall waiter in Terrace who made sure she had everything she needed. She didn't leave the ship but made many friends on board.
The only real problem was when she returned home to Los Angeles, for which my sister blamed me. Only we were continuing on the ship! I had asked two separate friends of hers to look out for her on the way home (since she would be traveling alone) but once she got to LAX they evidently were very busy with their own plans to get out of the airport. One airport worker was very impatient with her when she was clearly puzzled. Finally another worker saw that she was still sitting in the airport after a few hours and he got her into a cab that took her home.
On a 2012 Black Sea cruise (I've mentioned this before on CC but probably not here) we had an ad hoc Roll Call group of about 16, one of whom was into Alzheimer's. We all took care of her!
I think you will find that many passengers will be understanding and look after your husband should it come to that.
Mura
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I find this disappointing as well. Does this mean that La Reserve dinners might be offered more frequently since the number of diners will be far less? And if so, then what happens to those smaller groups who want to dine in Prive?
Doesn't sound like a great plan to me.
Ever since La Reserve was available, we'd dine there at least once on a cruise. Doesn't look like we'll be able to do that in the future. At least NOT on the new ships.
Mura
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My friends and dinner guests call me a gourmet cook -- but I know that I am not anything like that! I'm an excellent home cook, and when having guests I plan carefully: something that looks like I was in the kitchen preparing the meal for many days but which really were far simpler.
As to how often I repeat meals: it depends. I try to make sure that I don't repeat a dish until at least 7 days have passed. But even so, I will prepare the main dish in a different way. I have one email subscription (which I do tend to ignore) where daily meal plans are presented. Nope, I don't do meal plans. I probably should, but I don't.
As far as Oceania repeating their menus every 14 days, that's fine with me!
Tonight I made a favorite of ours, Banana Shrimp Curry (from an old Gourmet recipe). The last time I made shrimp was nearly a month ago when I made a pasta primavera (from stuff in the 'fridge) to which I added shrimp. DH wants fish every week which is usually salmon unless I can find swordfish or halibut -- which is rarely. Most of the time during the week I serve some variation of chicken.
About a year ago I started keeping track of what I have served on a daily basis -- something I never did before. So I do try to vary the menus but I don't go nuts about it.
I wouldn't do very well if I were working in Oceania's kitchen, I think ...
I've gone on far too long so I will sign off! No one cares what I serve for dinner or how often ...
Mura
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The only time we used O's air in PE it was excellent, but we are in NYC and were flying to Europe so we didn't run into the problems people further west have. We always go in early and come back late. Have often used the deviation fee without problems. But again, flying from NY to Europe is generally NOT a problem.
When we did New Zealand/Australia we flew in to L.A. and visited family and then booked our own air to Auckland, back from Sydney. As I've said before, most of the time we book our own air.
Mura
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I've looked at the deck plans for VISTA but wasn't looking for La Reserve. I can't believe they would remove a good money maker like this! We remain to be educated. Our cruise is more than a year away (although pretty close to a year away) so we can wait.
Mura
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Back to the original question, our experience has been that the MDR menus do recycle every 14 days or so. If you are on a shorter cruise it doesn't matter, but if you are on a longer cruise it might well matter.
It never did to us ...
Mura
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When we started cruising lo these many years ago we disliked sea days. Took one or two repositioning cruises and learned to love them. Yes, there are plenty of activities scheduled on board. And if you just want to laze around and do nothing, you can do that too.
OP may come to love these cruises as much as we do ... I hope so!
Mura
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Speaking for ourselves, our friend was able to board before 9/11 and before various intestinal problems arose on the ships in recent years. I take you point, but it wasn't always the case.
We are traveling next year on Vista with this same Danish friend, but perhaps since she is paying her fare they won't mind having her on board ...
I do understand your comment! These days letting "anyone" come on board could indeed be a problem.
Mura
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While we are deluged with Oceania and Regent brochures (for many years now) we also get tons of them from Viking, and while we are regulars on Oceania (although haven't sailed since Covid struck) our last cruise on Viking was 9 years ago.
Maybe they didn't get the message ...
Mura
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4 hours ago, rbtan said:
My spouse, Keith used to be on CC, but dislikes some of the biased mods we've seen on other lines other than Oceania. We might have been that couple you mentioned. We had been seated with a couple from Texas.. The wife was very pleasant & talkative(at first) The husband figured us out really quick. He mumbled something to his wife & the conversation went dead. Just very uncomfortable. We ate as quickly as reasonable, skipped dessert & excused our selves. We had the Maître D try to seat us with this same couple & Keith politely declined asking to be seated elsewhere. On our second O trip we were in Jacques & the maître D tried to seat another couple with us. This time the wife said no. The Maître D in Jacques figured it out pretty fast & apologized. Keith told him not to apologize for the ignorance of another. We had a 4 top to ourselves that night. Our Jan 14 cruise this year was without a hitch.. excepting we skipped half the islands. We do not blame the cruise line. Covid was still a problem in the Caribbean at that time. From now on we wish to just dine at a table for 2, unless doing Le Reserve, where we always have a great time.
So sorry to hear that in general your experiences have not improved. I certainly understand why you've come to prefer to dine alone. But -- if we are ever on the same cruise, we'd be happy to share a table with you two!
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We sailed with my mother from LA to Costa Rica in O's early days. She had not yet been diagnosed although my sister was convinced she had early Alzheimer's ... and she was right. Mom enjoyed the cruise but stayed pretty much on board, not taking any shore excursions. She made many friends on board and the staff was very solicitous. There was a wonderful 7' tall waiter in Terrace who always made sure that she was tended to.
Then in 2012 we did a Black Sea cruise on Regatta and one of the passengers was further into Alzheimer's than my Mom had been 10 years earlier. We were a 16-person touring group (only established through our roll call) and everyone was very caring and diligent in making sure that she was okay. I remember sitting with her while the others made a large hike up a mountain l.. forget exactly where that was. She did quite well on that cruise.
I think it does matter how far into the ailment your relative is. But dementia patients CAN enjoy a trip like this and I don't think it's unusual for other passengers to want to help.
It did seem to Howard and myself that this trip was really too much for this lady at that time, but she had many people willing to help out. Which did make a big difference.
It really depends on how "early" this onset is, I think.
Mura
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rbtan,
I can certainly understand where you are coming from. When we first started cruising (around 1999) there were indeed gays who hid their relationships. But it really isn't like that these days ... unless you might have the bad luck to be on a bad cruise.
I remember a private tour group that we used for a trip to Rio back in 1973. We didn't realize until we boarded the flight that this was largely a gay group. For us, it was a bargain package. We didn't care about that. But our seatmate in coach was bothered and asked us about the "other" passengers. She was traveling with two sisters but they were seated separately. They were from a "business" group from NJ.
So we told her what the situation was. During our week in Rio she became fast friends with a young man. On the return flight (we had that row in coach that has the escape route and so there was plenty of room for him to sit on the floor) and clearly her attitude had changed.
In recent years on Oceania I've noticed much more "acceptance" (I don't like that word but can't think of another) and where as LGBTQ used to be more reticent, I don't think that's the case anymore.
I do remember a story from a few year ago where two men had an uncomfortable dinner with a couple. But I would be surprised if that is still the case. Of course, it CAN be. There is always the possibility of a bad combo of people when you select to share and don't know the people in advance, but we've almost never had a negative experience when sharing. I did note that you mentioned some difficult dinners.
Then again, a few years ago I saw a post here about a "O" cruise where they were at a four person table and one gentleman was beyond drunk. Yes, you can risk encountering people who are obnoxious for many reasons.
Fortunately, we haven't met many of them on board.
Good luck.
Mura
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Appropriate dress for dining venues on Oceania
in Oceania Cruises
Posted
From my experience on many Oceania cruises, he will be fine with that attire. He doesn't need a sport coat or a suit.
A few years ago we dined with another couple early on a cruise. He was wearing a suit and tie. He noticed that many other gentlemen were far more casual. So he asked about it, and I told him not to worry.
The next night we saw him in one of the specialty restaurants and he was FAR more casual.
The fact is that MOST gents on Oceania cruises are casual. When a man wants to wear a sports coat he is free to do so. If he wants to "dress up", he can. But as long as he doesn't show up for dinner in jeans with holes in them he will be fine. (The same goes for women,)
Mura