pinotlover

I’d have to find the names, but several companies run bus tours up the canyon to the top of the mountains. Fabulous views and interesting scenery and history all the way up the mountain. At the top is a Lodge to get out and wander around which is above tree line in the tundra.

Fwiw, Oceania runs that bus tour for 3-4X the private option. Some prefer O pricing. Google is your friend.

I believe ORV nailed the issue at hand very early on. He’s currently on the Nautica and commented on how the bars were dead, even during Happy Hour. We encountered the same on our April Riveria cruise. For many a port visit consists of leaving the ship around 10:30; taking a shuttle to town; walking around a bit; take the shuttle back to the ship for a 12:15 lunch aboard. Here’s a fact: If one isn’t going to buy drinks, not take ship excursions; not worry about the photographers; not use O Air; etc, and only pay Ala carte; then that upfront number has to be big enough to cover everything.

For those of us that do drink alcohol; occasionally or primarily do take O shorex; etc, that may make O’s total pricing non competitive. You pay a lot less for an auto, than for all its parts. In sincerity, looking at who SL will attract, that may in itself scare people away. Can the bars become deader than they already are? Will even more shorexs be cancelled due to lack of participation?

Leaving a week from today taking a group of eight (8) to Tuscany for two weeks with a four day side trip to Bologna. There will be zero Mericanized food and a delightful absence of NoNo foods, along with world class wine at every stop. Those that claim to like food, this is the kind of trip they’d be on. The absolute “finest food “ without the at sea disclaimer.

More scheduled day trips to come. There will be zero concerns about missing ports or shorten port time.

21 hours ago, jonthomas said:

we never book a cruise unless it is under 300 a day and that is before the TAs rebate and that is for a balcony....

A good under $300/day cruise is like finding a good under $30 Burgundy. Those days are mostly long gone . You’re more likely to find people living in the past wearing leisure suits.

It’s all still tbd, but my TA reports, via her O rep, that the OCCAP program may not be dead. The new O to Consortium to Travel Agency to Clients  perks might still exist. Just wouldn’t be PPG. Might be a basic drinks package, might be tour credits. It ain’t over until the Fat Lady sings, and it appears she hasn’t even started to warm up yet. 
 

I think everyone will still need to be talking to their TA come October and that new cruise release. DIYers will never know.

2 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

Those changes (whatever they are) are exactly the reason why I pay zero attention to loyalty programs. I mean, people make an effort to get to silver, are so excited to get PPG and $250 OBC.. oops, now everyone gets it. 

 

Loyalty means nothing to us. We sail based on itinerary, price and the overall experience. I could never understand the attractiveness of loyalty programs. You pay $500+/day for a cruise and you care about $18/day gratuities? 

I knew when O floated that Survey several months ago with questions on the Loyalty program change was coming. It will be interesting to see the new loyalty perks for cruises booked after 10/1. I’ll wait for the actual details.

I believe we will have to wait until the new Release to have a clue on pricing, and even then it will be opaque. Oceania will be throwing out the old price list and converting to a new Ala carte menu. You want air, this is how much it’ll cost. Want a drink package, here’s what you’ll pay. Here is the price of tours. Take’em or leave them . 
 

It’s like going into a restaurant. Before, you ordered the steak dinner and got salad, bread, steak, potatoes, and a vegetable. Now you order , or not, each item separately and pay accordingly. We won’t see the price list until at least 10/1 to know how the deal works.

I have no clue yet, but highly probable that the non drinker; cruise for the ship; little or no excursion passengers might come out ahead; while we on the other side pay more.

1 minute ago, Vertygo said:

Yes, unless your TA has offered them or your status is high enough for them to be included.

Not correct. If you’re an American they are still billed to your account. However, you will have offsetting OBC applied to your account. Grats are nonetheless billed.

Now depends upon your country of origin. Details matter! Are you a Merican?

Waiting until tomorrow and seeing the actual program is the best bet. 

There is a bit of dark humor in all of this. For those with a bit of history on this Board, back in the ole OLife days people were often chided for taking the OBC option under OLife! Paying money upfront for non refundable OBC was often ridiculed. Why not just wait and pay for what you buy? Why pay upfront?

I’ll patiently wait until tomorrow to get the actual details, but as presented by Jancruz it appears Oceania wants you to pay 150 days in advance for non refundable OBC under the Simply Less scheme ! Here’s how the joke is on the cruiser. If you cancel the cruise late, Oceania gets to keep the OBC you paid for , as part of the cruise price, and advanced to them! Humor for the day! 🙄

This will be fun for the staff. On upcoming cruises you may find OLifers, SMers, and SLers all together! 😂

Your TA will get you the best answer.

You’re booked as a B3 and will pay accordingly. Not sure you’ll be able to book Specialties as an A2, or get Lounge access. Let your TA work it out.

I’m doubtful this affects already booked cruises under SM. There is a thing called a contract. Guessing it will apply to new bookings.

I’ll wait for the details.

12 minutes ago, Woofa said:

Thanks Jan, interested to see the entire details when they come out 

Yes, the devil is always in the details.

Just assuming this means for any new cruises sold after 10/1. On a different thread, There is a rumored new cruise Release for late 2026 cruises coming out later this month. 😂. Highly illogical to sell SM cruises now, to then change the program 10/1! Anyone want to place bets on a late September release happening? 🙄

2 hours ago, ronrick1943 said:

Question, so if you go through immigration at your first Japan port, do you have to do anything before getting off the ship in Tokyo when you arrive?

We did not. In Tokyo ( Yokohama), we just walked off the ship. We had already cleared Japanese Immigration previously as described above.

1 hour ago, Sthrngary said:

@pinotlover I fully understand your position on this.  For me, when I am on a cruise, my focus is completely different then if I go to a local restaurant.  On a cruise, I am in no rush for anything.  It is the only time I can allow myself simply to chill out and relax. If the server in a local restaurant did not immediately ask my party what drinks the wanted, I would be disappointed. On a cruise, I give more time for service.

 

That said, part of my job on a cruise vacation is to be a travel agent of sorts for my wife and guests.  I am NOT a travel agent, I just want everyone in my party to have the time of their lives.  My wife wants wine, right away.  Our best friends wife wants a vodka, cranberry, and soda right away.  So, I make sure I make our needs know without taking staff away from other guests.  My needs should never effect other guests needs so I attempt always to be sensitive to that.  

 

Cruising is doing it your way and this is not an OLD McDonalds commercial.  How a guest approaches any aspect of a cruise is up to them.  Just have a plan, work your plan and enjoy this very rare time we all have to be treated like Rock Stars for 7-10 days a year.  Rare in deed. 

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

Gary;

I understand totally. For me, it’s like rating wines. I evaluate what’s actually in the glass, not what I hope or expect to be in the glass. If I have to get up and go get a wine steward to place an order, don’t expect an outstanding rating for service from me.

I do try to be fair and comprehensive. With wine, I may say that the wine had very pretty aromas with nice fruitiness of cherries and strawberries on the fore palate, but a very weak disappearing finish. For those mostly enjoying upfront fruit, that’s fine. While I may compliment the wait staff, I might say wine service was horrible. Those never drinking alcohol would be totally unaffected and be happy to hear about the remaining wait staff. Details matter.

3 minutes ago, Harters said:

That seems to me to be inflicting punishment on yourself. I simply would not sit there for 30 minutes, waiting to order a drink, without doing something to hurry it up. 

I understand your position. I just prefer to allow the standard of service play itself out and be self demonstrating.

Sometimes Sales are very regional specific as they attempt to draw in new cruisers from around the world. I’ve seen very nice sales in German publications directed to German, Austrian, and the Swiss. Same goes for the Aussies and Chinese. Oceania will run very attractive sales in those regions that aren’t available in the U.S.  Sometimes, it’s just the opposite, and we get the offers. 

15 hours ago, pilgrimage said:

.  I have had to chase down a sommelier on occasion, I just tell them what I want, point out the table and carry on to the buffet.  No problems, then they usually come back to offer refills after that.

 

 

I never chase down a wine steward. If I was so compelled to do so I would rate it as exceedingly bad/poor service. I check out the menu, decide what I want to eat, and which wine I want with it. I then sit and wait for the wine steward to make their rounds. The overall level of service reported is directly related to the amount of time I have to wait. 1-5 minutes = very good; 10-15 minutes = mediocre to poor; 20 minutes or longer = horrible. This sometimes upsets the regular waitstaff in the Terrace, watching me sit there and not getting food, however I’m never hungry while aboard, and choose to allow the issue play out on its own merits. There has been times, in the Terrace that’s been 1-2 minutes; and times exceeding 30. I wait. Sometimes a manager may even appear.

For us, they didn’t board the ship. Everyone had to leave the ship and go through the terminal and immigration.

This nearly caused mayhem. We were scheduled to depart port at 5:00 and at 4:30 ( all aboard time) several still hadn’t left the ship and gone through immigration. This after postings in Currents and all day CD announcements instructing people to do so. Finally, the Captain came on the PA system and ordered the Misfits, by name, to report to Deck 5. They were escorted by ship Security to Immigration. Butler told us later that Japanese immigration had told the Captain they were closing at 17:00. If everyone hadn’t cleared,the ship would remain at dock until the next day and they cleared when immigration reopened. Our Butler said had we spent the night, all those Misfts would be left on the dock the next morning, kicked off the ship. This was almost surreal. The Ship’s Captain came on the system, read out all the names for everyone to hear, and ordered ( not requested) them to proceed to Deck 5 and the gang plank!
 

Hopefully all goes well with your stops there. Some are merely arrogant and don’t believe the rules apply to them.

To address a couple points.

1. Everyone during the course of the day, must exit the ship and go through immigration even if they have no tour set up.

2. Everyone will be fingerprinted digitally and have passports checked and cleared. This process can take awhile, so if planning on an early tour, exit the ship early and get in line.

The amount of time required depends upon when and how you hit the process.

30 minutes ago, ORV said:

The official line from the CEO is that there are no plans to phase out the R ships. Anything else you read here or elsewhere is idle speculation.
 

Of course things could change. 

What FDR did say is : There will be no more major upgrades or refurbishments done to the R ships.

How long each of the ships can individually sail without one is yet to be determined. So indeed no current plan may exist.

Of course things could change.

2 hours ago, mlmdaisy said:

It could take an hour with traffic, maybe more.   

In that the vast majority of we seasoned cruisers fly in at least a day, or more, pre cruise, whether 30 minutes or an hour isn’t a big deal. I can get really inexpensive nonstop flights , from my home airport , directly into Orlando. Easy to burn a day or two there or in Tampa on either/both ends of a cruise. 

10 hours ago, ronrick1943 said:

People will be flying in, after all how many times would you want to sail that area living in Florida.

Don’t forget that small 😂 airport nearby in a town called Orlando!! How many flights/day does Air Canada make there? Cruisers already fly into there by the drives for cruises out of Cape Canaveral .