pinotlover

ORV;

We got ours last week for our 4/1 cruise. Besides the tags you have shown, there was also a multi page brochure on the Riveria. None of our cruise information was included, just a fancy brochure on the Riveria with pictures of all its cabins and dining venues. Other venues such as the pool and croquet court was also featured.

Apps seem to be the way of the future, and sometimes the present. We were recently in an upper end restaurant in Nashville. A hostess seated us and showed us the QR for the menu. No wait staff, you ordered via the app. One person seemed to clean tables and refill water glasses. Some one from the kitchen brought the food out and disappeared. If you wanted another glass of wine, order it one the app. At the end of the meal you went to check out and gave them your table number to pay the bill. Seems some had the ability/know how to pay it from their phone at the table. Check out lady said they gave up on continuously trying to hire and train wait staff. Now they don’t have to. I’m guessing this will soon be common place, especially as AI improves.

If one doesn’t have a cellphone, they’d have to go elsewhere. No paper options were offered. One interesting aspect was there was no waiting to order. If you know what you ( and everyone else wants) order. If someone can’t make up your mind, then you sit and wait until they do. No waiter to push you. Order your drinks and think about it. Order the appetizers and think about the main course.

The worst yet are those at the Repeater’s Party that try to drown out the OCA while they are trying to talk. The main offenders are often lead by the Platinums that come to every one just for the free booze. 

2 hours ago, Steelydad2021 said:

Yes, indeed the staff do serve from the buffet Techno123.

 

And yes, that removes the horror of the great unwashed reaching, leaning, breathing, coughing, maybe putting items back ... yechhhh. 

 

And they serve quickly, can answer dietary questions, its generally service w/ a smile and maybe they help over doing it at the ice cream bar so we don't lose that number ... on the ole scale.

Plus, don’t forget, they are fairly fluent in English. What this means is that no pecking in the glass while making subhuman guttural grunts and indistinguishable noises are necessary. Nor is sticking one’s arm under the shield to point directly into the food looked favorably upon. A simple “ May I have some bacon please?” gets one very good service with a smile.

Is Tex Mex really Mexican?

Is Italian food, without all the appropriate herbs and spices, really Italian food?

Is Asian Fusion in any way Asian, or just mostly Americanized foods for people not wanting the real thing?

While I could give you some helpful hints, including giving your TA a list of several cabins in order of preference and use a well connected TA, the real answer is no one actually knows. The IT people establish a set of algorithms that eventually takes over. There is also some evidence that the algorithms are modified occasionally to meet goals specified by O management of which we are all clueless. As an example, on some cruise releases in the past, it appeared the system gave preference to cruisers new to O getting their choices while on other releases cruisers status seemed more important. It’s all in the algorithms, and the IT people don’t talk.
 

A couple of observations. The 2025 ATW was initially fully subscribed and Oceania did a huge press release on how quickly it sold out. By about a week after the deposit was due, there was available cabins in most categories. It’s nearly two years until your cruise, watch for new Availability of cabins starting soon.

22 minutes ago, Snaefell3 said:

"It is the difference of opinion that makes horse-races"

— Mark Twain

Matter of opinion. How about how do equate a simple cheese pizza masquerading as a Marguerite Pizza on the Vista and the real thing with the actual ingredients on shore? Is that an equal analysis? 

1 hour ago, TRLD said:

From what you have stated the scope of your research appears to be a data set of 1 all inclusive resort located in one lower price country.

Where is the cost analysis of missed ports and cut port times in those analysis? To hard fast cruisers they may be negligible. To others it’s massive. Until that is quantified in the analysis, it’s useless.

I believe for us land based are typically less expensive. The primary reason is food costs. In the ship, I’m paying the pro rated costs of the average costs of meals served on the ship. On land, I’m charged for what we ordered. I’m taking a wine group to Italy in September. We won’t eat American food in Italy, so any comparison of what that highly Americanized meal costs in Italy isn’t really a comparison at all. Some nights, our dinners at very high end venues may be more that that prorated average cruise meal. Other nights it will be considerably less. For us, local fresh cuisine with local herbs and spices at land based restaurants  have most always proven better than cruise food. We can likewise save a mint buying extremely good quality wine, to accompany that meal, at that local restaurant versus onboard. If we just choose to do pizza one night or a charcuterie selection, it will be a lot less than the prorated meal cost onboard.
 

The analysis additionally doesn’t quantify any costs for missed ports or reduced port stays. I pay the cruise line a lot of money to take me to X location, so I can see the area. I believe there is a significant cost to me when Oceania opts to cancel a port. I have never yet experienced a land cruise on Oceania that costs less than a private tour that does the exact same itinerary. Oceania is typically 2-3 times the cost. 
 

We cruise for the ports, not the ship. I understand I am paying a price for convenience in getting me to other wise hard to reach locations such as island hopping in the Canary Islands. Overall, with many itineraries, cruising is not less expensive for travelers. Perhaps so for cruisers however.

11 hours ago, oskidunker said:

Not this year. Cruises are heavily booked.  

If this was true Oceania would not be running sales continuously to fill cruises that have been released for nearly two years! Additionally that is/was sale after sale after sale to get to this point.

Cellphones have indeed become contentious objects. It’s now considered rude to take any pictures of any items, or any people, at private functions without the host expressed consent. Same with taking pictures of people without their consent. Of course though, there are a lot of rude people. 

45 minutes ago, TRLD said:

And he based them on the German Autobahn system. Recognizing both the military and commercial benefits.

It was indeed a great advancement for the US. One aspect, which didn’t follow the German Autobahn system, has proven problematic over the years. For political reasons they ran the systems right through the middle of downtowns in major cities instead of natural by passes. Ripping out homes and industrial areas to build the roads into and through major cities like Atlanta, KC, Denver, etc. was poor planning at the time. Then , she those earlier roads became commuter routes along with national highways, problems developed. Rip out more homes and more industrial areas to widen or increase the size of the highways became the only option. Then, what was homogenous neighborhoods became very divided and self segregating communities. 

20 hours ago, oskidunker said:

Polo Grill last night. Filet mignon and onion soup were very good. Bothe the carib lobster and maine were bad. The blt salad was not very good  The most under ripe tomatoes I have ever seen. Stop featuring tomatoes out of season. The dressing was like stewed tomatoes. Three Romaine leaves, bacon bits and very little cheddar cheese. The Baked Alaska desert had no taste. 

Fwiw, it’s been posted here multiple times, by multiple cruisers, that lobster on Oceania is typically best avoided. I see you have learned that for yourself.

14 minutes ago, clo said:

ME ME ME 🙂 If I'm going to a new restaurant to me I'll certainly look at their menu before I make a res. Just to see if it's to my general liking. But then I won't look at it again until I'm seated at the restaurant.

The discussion is the GDR, not some new restaurant. The GDR posts its menu daily in the mid afternoon for dinner. One can see a sample menu months in advance.

25 minutes ago, Harters said:

The 1.30 - 2.00 was the earliest that was on the drop-down menu. 

My guess is Oceania knows the ship is arriving at port later than normal and it needs the extra turnaround time.

Most hotels will hold your bags while you explore the town. I’d do so in lieu of possibly just sitting in a crowded cruise terminal.

Just thinking outside the box for a moment.

On a personal level, I’ve never gone hungry in any cruise ship, so what the GDR will serve next Thursday or a week from Friday was never must know information. On Oceania, I’m always fairly assured I’ll find something I’ll like. I suppose other Inquiring Minds like to know weeks in advance.

The current SOP of Oceania is a familiarity of menus between the GDR and the buffet. So if one didn’t like the GDR offerings, then outside of the buffet grill they may not like the Terrace Cafe offering either. Options: the Specialties. Here’s the catch though: the other Lines mostly charge for Specialty reservations while Oceania doesn’t. Therefore, if one doesn’t like the menu for a week from Tuesday, on another line, they can PAY, to do something different. Oceania may not want that long 08:00 lineup at the Specialties Reservations Desk, based on the posted menu, for something they’ll make no money on. Therefore, you learn the dinner menu after lunch when any and all Specialties reservations are typically gone.
 

As Forrest Gump would say “ Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’ll get until you open the box!” Some of us can handle that just fine, as a bit of mystery and surprise enhances life. Others want to know exactly what’s in the box and precisely where each chocolate is located within the box before they buy it. For us, Oceania spending the money to develop and maintain an app that tells me what the GDR will serve a week from next Tuesday would be a waste of funds. Others feel differently.

Which boarding time did you request? Just a guess. If Oceania gave you a later boarding time, as a Concierge, perhaps that means they know the ship is arriving at port later than normal, thus….

I don’t have another A ship booked until our 25 day Alura cruise. Not sure we’ll book Ember again. Ho-hum food and loud.

We have learned to avoid lobster on any Oceania ship. Plenty of good food otherwise and the chances of getting an overcooked rubbery lobster is to great to mess with them. 

Getting us prepared for higher prices with the new April release.

Don’t worry Mauibabes, the price hike on existing non selling cruises will be followed by a April Fools Day sale, then Mother’s Day Sale, then Memorial Day Sale, then etc.

8 hours ago, ak1004 said:

 

But this is very easy to check.

 

Azamara who has similar size ships is listing the port charges separately.

 

I just checked few European sailings, here are some examples:

7 ports - $160 CAD

10 ports - $226 CAD

9 ports - $219 CAD

 

So on average, it's around $20-25 CAD or $15-18 USD per port. Pretty insignificant compared to all all the revenues they lose from the excursions. Not to mention all the extra food people consume while on board instead of on shore.

 

And if they cancel on the last minute, I'm not even sure they get those port fees back..

I believe these are the dollars AZ will reimburse one for a missed port, nothing to do with actual port fees.

1 hour ago, ak1004 said:

 

My point was that any decision must have a reason behind it. What's their reason to do it as a policy?

I would love to have a recording, or better yet the transcript, of Captain Max’s lunch time messages on the costs of port fees for the ships. It was exorbitant, and far surpassed any earnings the ships may make for the stops. The ports are there for the itineraries to draw customers. Everything beyond that is expense.

With our multiple cruises on Oceania, we have reasonable expectations on what to expect. We know which foods they generally do well, and what to avoid. Therefore, even though we still get some excellent meals, some mediocre, and some poor ones; we generally trend to very good because we don’t reorder those that have proven substandard. We only rarely see less than great service, but it does occasionally happen. They are wine stewards, not sommeliers. Expect no more.

Overall, as far as food and services go, I don’t believe Oceania has declined much since Covid. Destination Services has always been a train wreck, so we try to book our own private tours. I believe the greatest difference between now and pre Covid on O is the number of ports now missed and or the number of port hours cut. It went from a rare occurrence, to happening most every cruise. Outside of the debt issues and saving money, this no longer has anything to do with Covid.

Reflecting on some earlier comments, we attended a future cruise OCA event in probably 2016 or 2017. The OCA asked the crowd, after the presentation “ what cruise(s) would any of you like to see or do?” Hands shot up and the first reply was “ A circumnavigation of Japan!” Lots of applause followed.

The OCA laughed and said they hear that every time the question is asked, but don’t see it happening in the near future. We’re at 6-7 years later, and Oceania still hasn’t shown interest in it. Personally believe they’d quickly sell out even an O or A ship if they only would offer it. I’m guessing it’s beyond the limits of their current Logistical Supply system.

This isn’t difficult. We had people on O cruises that signed up for three walker ship tours that couldn’t walk 50 yards without a break. We had people reserving loungers and leaving the ship for tours. We’ve had neighbors that are deaf that play their tv on extra loud. While Oceania chooses not to adequately address these issues, the primary problem is actually the quality of attitudes of fellow cruisers not Oceania. Does YWYW mean you can blast your tv 24/7? Seems to be a point of contention. Where is the difference between someone that puts down personal belongings on a lounger at 07:00 and doesn’t show up again until 14:00, and someone turning their tv on full blast at at 05:30 and may or may not turn it off all day? I have a descriptive adjective for both and it doesn’t vary . Separating Oceania short falls from horribly rude passengers is a crapshoot. Define YWYW.