pinotlover

Jim and Stan;

The term wealthy is highly subjective, and may have carried a bit more weight on a Carnival Cruise Line Forum as opposed to an Oceania one, where the cruiser profiles are a bit different. ;)

I believe that Jim and Stan are giving us a very lawfully correct version of the story, not what actually often happens in practice. I emailed my Aussie friend on this issue.

As I earlier stated he lived in the US for 5 years as a National Sales Mgr for an Aussie firm. He has been back in OZ for about 4 years. While in the US he used then, and continues to use, the same TA as I. He had an Aussie passport then as now, but booked everything through our TA. He was treated like everyone else living in the US, with the same booking, etc. opportunities as we all had. His Aussie passport didn't affect his bookings. About a year before being reassigned back to Oz, he changed his address for mailing purposes to a UPS Store close to his house in San Diego. He still maintains that address today. He continues to book cruises on O, as well as other lines, using the same TA as I do. His O cruise club membership lists his San Diego address. The Consolidators in Oz see nothing of his bookings, and do not take part in the process.

He confirms that he has multi friends that operate basically the same to escape the Aussie overlords.

So there are the two sides of the equation: (a) Jim and Stan's precise rendering of the Law and: (b) What actually occurs for some/many.

I was skipping the obvious when I posted the question. A lot of us use UPS Store services and addresses to achieve many things our individual States make difficult. For me it's primarily the delivery of wine. I once did a lot of business with the US Sales Mgr of an Aussie firm. Upon being reassigned back down under, he obtained such an address in San Diego which he still maintains for a various number of reasons. He told me the practice was common.

There has been discussions about waiting to book cruises because the ships have not been selling out. River boat cruises were listed as being the same. I think that is a very broad statement, and doesn't address the facts as they are. I'll use several examples. Last summer we took the Baltic Cruise in July - Copenhagen to Stockholm. the ship was completely sold out and we were offered very tempting offers to change to other dates and/or cruises. We had great weather and great cruising. The same (reverse) in late September went half empty and they had rain and cold the entire trip. Logically, the experienced traveller is not going to book a cruise to St. Petersburg in late September. If you want to book a trip to this locale in prime season, you'd better book early. If you enjoy walking around the Peterhof Gardens in cold rain/sleet in late Sept, you can book when you want.

Same goes for some of the Med cruises. Having lived in Europe, you go to the Med for the beach. In the middle of the day, it's seista time, when shops typically shut down from 1-4 p.m. What experienced traveler would want to go and sightsee in Athens, Instanbul, an places in between in the middle of July or August in these locales. The ships don't sell out, well DUH! However, look at the shoulder months when the climate is more moderate, the ships are full.

We are taking a Viking River Cruise on the Rhone in mid September 2014. We booked and paid for the cruise in late June of 2013. That boat and most all the other Viking boats during that time frame were completely, or near so, sold out and paid for in full by early August of 2013. If you wanted to go in cooler, rainer April of this year, one could probably still make reservations to do so today.

So if one considers it a deal to walk around St. Pete in 40 degree weather in the rain and sleet, or sight see Athens in August, there are probably deals to be had by waiting, otherwise, you'd better book early, imo.

Oceania Marina makes one sidney to Auckland trip per year. It's in February. Try booking the Feb 2015 trip today. While it may come available again in Nov, it a chance many of us choose not to make.

Why could Aussies not use an American TA with O experience? The internet can be a powerful tool!

Like Terrier1, we will embark there next February. I love O, but one of my greatest complaints about them is the horrendous places they dock in most locales. Most of the better lines dock in the nice facilities close to town, while O is always in the middle of nowhere. The pits was last summer when we docked next to the power plant, miles from town. We had the slag pit of the power plant on one side of the ship and a dilapidated warehouse on the other side. Really scenic spot, and we sat there until about 9 that night.

Was planning on doing this cruise in 2015. Will not go near Russia, or any Russian controlled port, for the foreseeable future. They don't get one dime from me.

Hiawaiidan;

My TA says she never seen anyone banned for to many reservations and cancellations, however, as a TA, if O or the other cruises thought it a problem they would contact her first to resolve the proble. I didn't mean to imply that people were booking all 6 cruises in a year solely on O.

FWIW, the only people I've seen banned from O was for unacceptable behavior on board.

I agree with only booking what you honestly believe you will do, however, unfortunately a lot of folks don't do that. The turnover of bookings on these cruises is incredible. We wanted to do the 2014 AU and NZ cruise. Much like the 2015 cruise, it was booked out early and taken down off the site. Before being taken down, we asked about being wait listed for an A2, and they told us we would be #15 for an A2 and 20 for an A1 .In Oct or Nov of last year, when money was due, the crise popped back up again with availibility throughout the boat. The cruise was advertised as available until the day it sailed. We had already booked the 2015 cruise and couldn't change our schedule to accomodate the 14 sailing that late. A hell of a lot of people are booking cruises early and cancelling.

As to your latter point. If they received 5% dividends on $1500 for the 9 months to hold the reservation, it would have paid a whopping $56.25. Chump change in the big scheme of things. For many the question : Do I lock in a PH or Concierge Suite for a cruise I may want to take in 15 months? Cost of money $56.25. Chump change. Wish for the very popular single cruises O makes they would raise the cost of the deposit, but I guess FDR is a lot smarter guy than I. :p

If you are serious about going, especially on single ran tours, the answer is immediately upon opening. We're on the 2015 Sydney to Auckland on Marina. The cruise was first offered in Sept 13. We signed up first day to get our cabin. Everything Concierge and above was waitlisted or sold out by Nov 13, the rest of the ship by Jan 14. If you go to the Oceania website, the cruise is not offered for sale, and doesn't pop up as even being a listed tour, and we're still 11 months out.

My TA books a lot of Oceania, as well as other, cruises and has a lot of cruise customers. She tells me she has multiple customers that will book and reserve up to six (6) cruises a year, and then cancel up to four or so of them as they work out their schedules during the year. Usually they don't cancel until the lastest date possible to not lose any of their deposits. $1500 isn't a lot of money for many of the O passengers, especially when they would only be getting 0.05% with the money sitting in the bank. It's easy for them to look at the brochures and say " I might like to do that, and place the call." Locks many people out of those itenaries that can't do extended cruises without more than 120 day planning. But, that's life and the real world.

Once the Wait List gets to a certain size, O puts it as Sold Out.

However, as has been detailed in the Roll Calls, I'm not certain how much of this is marketing strategy to get one to say "Look! this cruise is selling out, we'd better make our reservations NOW!"

I've seen O cruises listed as sold out, taken down off the site, and then everything pop up as available on the boat, except maybe the OS, three months before sailing.

If there is a cruise you're really interested in, and have the flexibilility to schedule a cruise 60-100 days out, I'd say watch the site and let your TA know you want to do it, so to talk with O. Chances are overwhelmingly in your favor of getting on the ship in at least Concierge and perhaps PH. Below those rooms the odds increase yet again.

Floridianna;

Chill out! A lot of people do river cruises as B2B with Oceania, just like they do the pre and post Hotel packages with the O. Is that off-limits to you also? On our last Baltic trip we had a big group that had done the Moscow to St. Pete River Cruise. Know a group that, this fall, is taking O air deviation, flying into Lisbon 2 weeks early, doing the Douro River Cruise and then back up to Lisbon to get on O and to S.A. on an ocean crossing. If the Viking boat isn't sold out, I may join them.

It's all part of the travel excitement and adventure cruise packages. :D

Alexandra Cruiser;

When considering the B2B with Viking, we were going to do it in Sep. Scenic only runs Budapest to Burcharest April - Jun and I didn't want to do Istanbul and Athens in July :eek:, to darn hot!

So if Putin continues to be a bad boy and we skip the O Black Sea portion , we may look at doing the June Scenic Tour BudaPest to Bucharest.

St. Pete is only an issue because one's tourist dollars are going to the same guy that is causing all the trouble in the Black Sea! :mad:

AS explained by edgee, and they will tell you that in the sales office likewise, one is better off booking a specific cruise and then later cancelling and rolling the deposit to another chosen cruise, than booking an open cruise. One doesn't lose any of their deposito r other benes such as obc. by doing so.

It is always better to mention your TA, but they advertise up front that the TA will still get credit. When they looked up our account, at the beginnings of the last such discussions on board, the first question was ;"Do you want your current TA to get credit for any sale". They know where their bread is buttered!;)

I had planned on the Oceania Black Sea cruise in 2015, I was going to do it as a B2B with the Viking River cruise some else mentioned from Budapest to Bucherest. But will not do the O cruise now. I have no desire to financially facilitate Putin and his band of thugs. The same goes for going to ST. Pete to me, I've already been there, but If not I would not give even one (1) of my tourist dollars to the outlaw nation.

Karsa;

Tuxes are absolutely overkill, and rarely seen on O. Not sure about the comment about people ignoring the dress code? I have seen people turned away from the specialities and GDR for obvious violations of dress codes, particularily on the Marina. They either go to the Terrance or go change clothes. Showing up in flip flops, shorts, and a T-shirt will not typically get one in the door at a speciality, even though I have witnessed some try repeatedly.:eek:

Having belonged to multi country clubs around the country due to work reassignments, I can state that country club casual, in most clubs, involve the gentleman wearing a jacket in the main dining room. The clubs all have 19th Holes, or other named casual eating and drinking facilities, where appropriate golf or similar (not swimsuit) attire is allowed. On O we would call the later the Terrance. It would be incorrect to suggest that "country club casual" only involves the dress code of the lower tiered facilities, it much more comprehensive than that. I believe that Oceania tries to strike a compromise, at the dinner hour, between the very casual side of the lower tiered cc facilities and the strict jacket requirements for men in the upper tier restaurants.

Mura;

Typically the crew have 9 month contracts, from what thy have told me. Our last cruise's captain term was 4 months, he told us, but it was short because he had a young wife and young kids! ;).A world cruise is 180 days, I believe that is well within a reasonable time frame that many would stay on board. A very good friend of mine works as the Doctor on Board for a cruise line. He negotiates his terms as what works for him, which seems to vary all the time. He's done 3 month stints and 9 month stints, and most everything in between.

If your in the PH, you should have access to the Executive Lounge or at least the Concierge Lounge. You will find internet speeds far faster in those Lounges than in your room. You'll burn up a lot of your minutes waiting for connects and downloads from your room/suite! :eek:

I have meet the 59er couple likewise. They have done numerous 7 and 10 day cruises in the Carrribe, Alaska, Baltic, Med, and cruises such as NYC to Montreal also. Many have not been 14 dayers. Still a lot of cruises!

My final comment on this thread, and back to the original question.

Your husband will not be disallowed, by rule, in any of the restaurants for wearing cargo pants. Except for the Terrace, he will find himself in a very small minority if he so chooses to do so. If he won't feel self concious being in that small minority, then he should feel free to follow that path. Jackets are only used by some, not nearly 50%, for dinners, however wearing cargo pants to any of the specialty restaurants, and on many cruises (perhaps excluding those to the Carribe) to even the GDR would put him in the < 5% range.

Hope that helps. Enjoy your cruise. :D

True, there pre and post hotel rates are extreme.

Remember that typically pick up at the airport to the hotel and then delivery to the boat from the hotel is included in those prices 9or vice versa). At some ports this makes the rates somewhat comparable, at others it's still extremely high.

1. It is Oceania, and the wine was grossly overpriced. Most wine sold for 3-4X retail by the bottle + 18%. So when O marked it down 30%, it is still grossly high.

2. We always do the premium drink package and the wine selections do fine with the meals.

3. I was amazed at the poor beer selections on board. While visiting Germany, even on the premium package, one had to pay $5+ to have a German beer. I believe we only drank a beer one hot day down at the pool bar.

4. I'm not sure about actual policy, but since I always do the premium drink packages for my wife and myself, some of the somms don't charge us corkage when we bring our own wine into the restaurants. Especially when you share abit with the somm! Shhh;)

First let me say, I have not been on an O cruise in the Carribe.

I believe that many of the posters here have given a fair representation of how the majority of people dress on O cruises and the different venues. Some people push the bare minimums to the farthest extremes they can get away with, while others dress far more formally than required. The minimualist seem to get excited when it is pointed out, what clearly the majority are doing, whether required or not.

Hope these responses have been adequate for you, and enjoy your cruise. As you see, you and your husband will not be alone in whatever path you take! :cool:

Let me add another occaison when people dress up. Breakfast is typically in the Terrace. But on Sunday, a very formal Brunch is served in the GDR. Much like dinners at the specialties, people were generally much better dressed for this occaison. Those wanting to dress more causally, or that had early tours to catch, typically skip this event and eat in the Terrace or other venues. The Brunch itself is typically exceptional.

I believe Oceania has a program where you can roll your paid reservation to another cruise. This way you are effectively extending the time period for your paid reservation. So find a cruise our farther in the future, you may be ineterested in, and roll your current paid reservation to that cruise.