pinotlover

😂. Oh come on! That has to be funny even for a Brit!

FF; Two things “ We are all rounding errors. Oceania’s games of cutting port times, before the cruise even begins, is not a safety issue. Surprisingly that seems to be beyond your grasp.

As faith would have it, I got an email today from a couple booked on one of my shore cruises for Japan. They are canceling the cruise. Said Japan is too important to them to see and too expensive to waste time and money with. To many port cancellations and shortenings. They will keep their purchased air fare and do a land program. I can, without doubt, say that Oceania is losing past customers because of the new program. I suppose they don’t care. Try to replace them and others with a future SALE!

There exists Cruisers and Travelers, with a ( very) few in the middle, that typically talk past one another. It constantly amazes me, even after all these cruises, the number of O passengers that rarely, if ever, get off the ship. Some that do, only do so for a couple hours and back to the ship for lunch.Totally acceptable for them to do that, and it’s their money to do as they please,; however they display zero understanding of we travelers that believe time in port or missed ports is a big deal! To them it’s no big deal to lose 2-3 hours port time, because if they chose to get off the ship it would only be for a couple hours. Brings to mind a fellow passenger on our recent Marina cruise, after another dubious port cancellation, saying “ I don’t care if we have 20 sea days, I’m just here to enjoy the ship!” Yes, the New Oceania is missing a lot more ports and cutting a lot more port times than the old one. The double rubber surf, no turf may not be enough to pull in the travelers in the future. Time will tell. Meanwhile, the cruisers are obviously still happy, except for that SM thing.

Depends upon the port. Some ports will not allow one into the port area and/or into the Terminal until their assigned boarding time on their boarding passes. Otherwise, one of two things typically happens. 1. If on a ship with a large B2B contingent and only a few hundred boarding, things will go smoothly for early arrivals. 2. On those cruises with 85+% new passengers and 700-800 people showing up early, it creates boardamania. Long lines and waiting. Particularly pleasant to watch when there is little to no shade for all those early arrivals to stand in. I am never entranced with lunch in the Terrace so avoiding possible boardamania and boarding later always works for us.

We typically book upon new cruise release. Only aboard once when that occurred and ended up booking through our Travel Agent because of massive computer problems aboard ship. Our TA got us prebooked and the cabin we wanted. The OCA couldn’t get the cruise requests in time for all aboard ship. It was a disaster. Some of the cruises sold out before the OCA could input the cruise requests .

Not sure what the question is. Do you just want to see the wine by the glass menu? There is only one wine list for everyone, not a separate one for the SM package. There will be people sailing into early 2025 still on the original OLife package. The wine by the glass and beer list included in the package is the same.

We currently have two threads going, for two different ships , discussing cancelled ports and shortened port times. Our past three cruises had both of these that were non weather related. So my question. Is Oceania going to release real accurate cruise itineraries in its up coming release, or will it knowingly print itineraries to lure passengers in, already having plans to cut the itineraries once people board?

Not so sure about this. Not typical Oceania protocol. Somewhere in that schedule will be the release of the 2026 ATW along with some Grand Voyages. I think we’ll see the Allura itinerary before Labor Day. Not long afterwards will be the 26 ATW and GVs. Probably mid month or before. The Allura is a sister ship to a vessel already sailing that has a plentiful supply of available cabins on near term cruises. Outside of the rush for new with some, it’s entering a competitive marketplace. The “A” Class ships are overall really nice, but even medium term it has to have the itinerary to draw the crowds. That plus facing the headwinds of a grand new SM program that may or may not be popular. It’s going to be extremely interesting watching the future of Oceania unfold over the next 60 days. Where are the A Class going? Where are the O Class going? Which ship inherits the ATW? Which R ships start disappearing first? We learn all this by mid October or before! The future of Oceania developing before your eyes! 🥂 Not to be a party pooper, but!! There was nothing, in today’s business climate, unusual about the rollout of the Vista. I was on Cruise #4, of what was released as cruise # 9 or so. Personally, I wouldn’t consider a cruise before # 9 or 10? The shipyards are still behind!

Daniel; 3 to 1. The people Travel Agents try to quickly dump are those that book a cruise, get help arranging air and ship shorex, and then cancel. They do a lot of work with zero compensation. 3 to 1, bookings to cruises taken, often means Travel Agents are firing the more offending customers more than vice versus.

Far too often posters here interchange Travel Agent and Travel Agency as if they are the same causing confusion or misconceptions. I wish people would be more exact and differentiated between the two in posting.

Well, not so fast! The devil is in the details. How about those of us that have effectively cancelled a cruise and then immediately rebooked to obtain new pricing or perks? By reading this, it will now cost us $150-$500 each to do so. The devil is always in the details! 🍷🍷

There is an entire thread on this subject right on the front page. Why do we need two identical threads. I suggest this thread be merged with the other Allura thread with over 20 replies.

I want to know the cancellation policy when one has booked a cruise with a stated itinerary and then Oceania changes that itinerary for their convenience? At that point, you are not canceling your cruise, Oceania has already done that, and is attempting to substitute something in its place. Are you still on the hook for the cancellation fee? Oceania: Enjoy your double dip of ice cream here. Customer: I‘LL take a double dip and pays! Oceania brings out a single dip Customer: I ordered a double dip! Oceania: We’re now only serving single dips. Customer: I want part of my money back for what I didn’t get! Oceania: We charge by what you order, what we deliver doesn’t matter.

Industry average 3 bookings per actual cruise taken. You now have to pay to play. No real surprises, and as Lyn said this really won’t slow down most of Oceania’s cruisers. Chump change to most as is the deposit. The Travel Agents are still betting SM shore tour dollars will soon only become available for use after final cruise payment. The practice of some booking 5-6 cruises per year upon release and then settling later upon 1-2 finally has small consequences.

To start with absolutely none of the tour companies gives you a guarantee about anything, including the ones Oceania uses. Second, all the professional tour companies know exactly when the ships depart and do everything in their ability to get you back with time to spare. I don’t know where the myth came from “ if you’re on a ship tour, you won’t get left!”

1. Avoid all panoramic tours. Nothing but riding around on a bus listening to “ on your left, on your right, blah, blah, blah. 2. Due to manpower limitations, Oceania hasn’t done a good job of updating their tour descriptions. This was a common complaint on my last three cruises. Sights shutdown for various reasons, or more recently under crowd sizing restrictions and not available to your bus. 3. The biggest reason we avoid Oceania tours, while some of the tours are excellent and go well? Too high a percentage, especially at the cost, are busts. A percentage of Oceania passengers refuse to read the tour descriptions or specifically pay any attention to the section about mobility. Tours will specifically say one will walk two miles on uneven pavement. People that can’t walk 100 yards sign up expecting to be facilitated. The group stands, and stands, and waits, and waits often being herded back to the bus and ship before seeing all the sights. So you’ve traveled halfway around the world, paid big money, and you’re cut off at the knees by your fellow passengers. Taking mostly 6-8 hour O tours, this is not a 1 in 10 occurrence, but probably closer to a 4-5 in 10 occurrence. 4. Oceania, even after multiple complaints from fellow passengers, allows the same people to trash tours day after day. I’ve seen walkers and wheelchairs in tours where it says they aren’t allowed! I had to help a tour guide carry a passenger about 200 yards because they couldn’t manage it with a wheelchair. I’ll never do that again. Therefore, if good private options exist, I don’t risk it on O tours. To your question. Petra is an incredible visit. It also involves two long bus rides and extensive walking over uneven terrain. It is exactly the type of tour I would never entrust with Oceania . A large number of private tours, at half Oceania’s price, exist. I would choose one of those.

They were not held on our Vista cruise. However, check out the new Founders Bar on Deck 6.

The OP only asked the first part of of a big question for future O cruises: 1. Where is Allura going? 2. which ship will do the 2026 ATW? 3. Which R ships, and at what schedule, will start leaving the fleet? 4. where do the O ships go? the next 60 days will unveil a very interesting picture. Grab your popcorn!

Turkish Airlines is outstanding. We booked our flights ourselves on Turkish for our recent Vista cruise. Easy to book, easy to get seat assignments if Business Class. Turkish is not your problem, and probably neither is your TA. I learned years ago to do my own flights. Having to ask help for Jancruz should be an embarrassment for O Air, if embarrassment was possible for them. A lesson for the future. Oceania Air is a profit center. If their customer service is poor, don’t use them and pay for crappy service. We booked Turkish Airlines Business Class round trip ourselves and had a wonderful experience and flights.

If O has paid for the tickets, you can call Turkish Airlines yourself, at their U.S. offices, and get your seat assignments. The first seven words above is the ringer. Getting O to pay for the ticket.

😂. I in now way related the two meats. Dog is far leaner, closer to venison. What I did relate was that the kennels the dogs were raised in were much like a small hog operations. Nothing like the big time hog farm barns, but the small time operators.

They claim “best cuisine at sea” not best corporate communications! 😂 Not an O strong suit. I believe the complexities are there and it’s just difficult to maintain any one size fits all strategy. You just have to ask. On this topic, I would like to give a huge heads up to all for a wonderful new venue on Vista. That is Founders Bar adjacent to the Casino. The bartender is a great Mixologist offering a wide selection of new cocktails for your delight. Most of those cocktails are not included in the Premium Package. Ask first, but be sure to drop by, get out of the rut, enjoy something new! 🥃🥂

A lot better than anything we’ve ever had before! It can still slow down quite a bit during times of heavy useage. The next test comes in October when everyone can be on at once.

The best solution, probably the only solution, is to just ask your waiter or bartender when ordering. Sometimes a specific cocktail will be on the 2fer list , and package list, in Martinis, but not in Horizons. In the Terrace, O will often run special beers or wines of the day. Warning, they are often not on the different drinks package. Always ask first! Your Cognac example is a good one. Remy Martin XO might be in the package, but a similar priced Cognac may not be. Ask first! I was on a cruise in Oct and the Remy XO was on the package. In March, on a different cruise it wasn’t. My reward for assuming, and not asking first, was a bill far stiffer than the drink! Ask your waiter or bartender before ordering. Don’t depend upon some list someone pulls out from months or years ago.