WESTEAST

Do miss Franck's Mashed Potatoes on Oceania and curious if EJ offers this side dish?

Your point of not being 'special' is key as this is what we expect when dining in Speciality restaurants. Haven't sailed Vista yet so cannot personally comment. That said, most forums seem to give Ember a 👎. At least we will once again enjoy Jacques on Riviera this spring.

We will often reserve a Specialitiy restaurant on the first night. We find the first night dining in other venues such as GDR and the Terrace to be extremely crowded and service rushed as a result. Whereas, we start our cruise with a relaxing and delicious dinner - personal choices.

Have lived in Quebec and visited NYC many times. Thus, agree with your comment.

We visited in mid-December and shops and restaurants were open. However, it was cool and rainy.

We stayed at the Hotel Westminster and loved the location on the Promenade des Anglais walking distance to all sites: http://www.westminster-nice.com/en/.

Yes we are aware of the difference in distances but thank you for restating. Did clarify that we docked at Tauranga - post #34.

Totally agree😀

We use WhatsApp mostly for texting but you can call as well. Download the app, put the phone in airplane mode and select wi-fi calling. We do get complimentary wi-fi which helps.

Agree and would add a few: - Cobh: Blarney Castle - Invergordon: Cawdor Castle and Urquhart Castle - Belfast: Troubles history tour - Dublin: Trinity College (don't miss the Long Room) + beautiful Cathedrals

Never cruised with Princess however, have walked off the ship as soon as docked at Southampton with our luggage. On our ship's disembarkation sheet you fill out, you can mark this and the time and that you will not put out luggage the night before. Also, can double check with purser. Wasn't a problem and we had booked a limo to take us to airport (unfortunately, that company is no longer in business).

We have done two British Isles Cruises and offer a few ideas for some of the ports you mentioned that we visited: Edinburgh: to satisfy the golfer, we took a ship tour to St. Andrews; also went to the Royal Yacht Britannia the same day. Stornoway: tender port and walked around small town/village then to Lews Castle (about a 20 min walk) with nice views. Belfast: shuttle bus to town and then took a walking tour of the Troubles; then walked around the nice shopping area close to City Hall (stop in the City Hall as it is beautiful); excellent Tourist Office close by (near Tim Hortons). Dublin: shuttle bus to town and then had pre-booked tickets to Trinity College (Book of Kells and don't miss the Long Room - stunning library) then to St. Patrick's and Christ Church Cathedrals. Strolled Temple Bar area and then stopped for an Irish Coffee in 'the' Temple Bar. All walkable. Cobh: first time, took a ship tour to Blarney Castle and visit to close-by Blarney Woolen Mills (authentic products) then, walkabout in Cobh where ship docked lots of Titantic history and picturesque. Second time, took a ship tour to Kinsale - quaint seaside village and very picturesque drive to and fro and still had time to walkabout Cobh again. Enjoy your cruise.

For clarification, the Rotorua (Tauranga) original post was taken from our cruise itinerary. Many cruise lines show a key destination first and then the port where they dock in parentheses e.g., Rome (Civitavecchia).

Our ship docked in Tauranga where we took a private tour to Hobbiton with stops at a kiwi farm + McLaren Park.

We will achieve Silver on our next cruise in 2024 and our Oceania Invoice states the current Silver status rewards included in our booking: PPG, increased OBC so we assume that we will receive these even if they revamp the O Club benefits prior to our sailing.

On our cruise, we stopped at Gisbourne but it was disappointing - did go to two nice wineries though. Loved Dunedin, Napier and Rotorua (Tauranga) See our post on these ports to see wildlife:

Here is a breakdown of the wildlife by port that we saw during our cruise of NZ which we thoroughly enjoyed: DUNEDIN: Otago Peninsula - Royal Albatross Centre - extremely interesting and just stunning scenery AKAROA: Farm Experience at Paua Bay Sheep Farm - shearing demo, sheep dogs herding and then tea and scones in an utterly beautiful setting WELLINGTON: no wildlife but special mention to the Te Papa Museum (free) particularly the Gallipoli exhibit. NAPIER: National Aquarium - booked Close Encounter Penguins tour whereby we had a behind the scenes tour and fed the cutest penguins ever (smallest in the world) - adorable! It is a scenic 15 min walk from Napier's city centre. Also special mention that we took the Hawkes Bay Express little train throughout the city which was great fun to see the charming art deco city centre. ROTORUA, (TAURANGA): No wildlife, but thoroughly enjoyed the tour of the Hobbiton Movie Set - gorgeous scenery that you pass enroute. p.s. if in AU: Sydney, go to the Taronga Zoo but be sure to book a 'behind the scenes tour' where you get up close and personal with all sorts of wildlife - special for us were the koalas! Went to Heasville Heasville Sanctuary as well in Melbourne and of course in Tasmania, Wings Wildlife Park to see tons of tasmanian devils!

Thank you for posting @Fouremco. WestJet and other airlines are looking for every angle to increase revenue. The recently negotiated pilot contract has to be funded somehow!

Yes realize what is stated however, many posts from cruisers receiving notices from O that Turkey is cancelled.

Reviewing the release, confused as still shows three itineraries with Turkey so not sure what changed perhaps removing only Israel or O IT hasn't finished updating(?): July 7: 10 days from Athens to Istanbul aboard Riviera September 28: 10 days from Athens to Istanbul aboard Riviera Nov 24: 18 days from Istanbul to Dubai aboard Riviera

With the war in Israel and uncertainty in the nearby countries, Israel and Istanbul have been cancelled. This is not news as many on this board have stated. Just noticed today, that Oceania's new Media Release states ".... O has revamped its 2024 Mediterranean schedule to replace ports of call in Israel, Egypt, and Jordan with perennial favorites and compelling new destinations alike. The 42 revised itineraries range from 10 to 58 days - detailed itineraries can be viewed online." New cruises are also detailed in the release. Interestingly, O's IT Department didn't review their web postings before releasing -- as the heading on Oceania's Media page (https://www.oceaniacruises.com/media/) shows date of November 11 with incorrect paragraph; however, once you click on this post, the date shows November 2, 2024 with accurate wording (https://www.oceaniacruises.com/media/2023/Oceania+Cruises+Releases+New+2024+Itineraries%2c+Highlighting+Many+of+the++Mediterranean’s+Best-Loved+Ports/)! Guess someone rushed to post without double-checking! Screen shots below.

Good luck. We did this tour years ago and remains one of our most unique and interesting tours.

@ToxM Agree with you as during those long days, it was always refreshing to scan the site for new itineraries for our future travels and revisit ones we have great memories of.

@MVPinBoynton Thank you for once again providing a stellar review. Your site is always one of our 'go to' sources when researching upcoming itineraries 😀

Just a note re lounge access, many airlines are now restricting time spent in the lounge - one can enter only 3 hours prior to flight time. However, if your flight is delayed, you can stay past the 3 hours which we did on a very long delayed flight. Lounge access is offered to many preferred credit cards, etc. which makes most lounges very crowded and this is an attempt to control the number of guests in the lounge.