pinotlover

Part of the answer lies as to which ship you are on. We were on the Nautica, a R ship, and went to the port closest to town. The O ships don’t go that far up river, thus the longer bus ride. Even though one poster believes “ details aren’t necessary “, in this case they very much are. Which ship are you on?

Bermuda is a lovely country with both great restaurants and lovely scenery. It is also a very easy flight, or connection from the U.S. Personally, it’s the prototypical destination that I wouldn’t cruise, or attempt to cruise, to. I would rather fly there, and be fairly ensured of arrival, than losing the two days, each way, getting there on a ship. One will find many great restaurants throughout the islands, so no need of ship’s food. For ease of exploring, we did change hotels once, three days in each of the main islands, but that was a personal choice and not mandatory.

I believe our cruise was the third cruise, in a row, of the same identical itinerary. My assumption was that there were few if any carry over passengers. This was further enforced by the GDR being dark and unoccupied at the normal lunch time for any carry overs. I don’t contend that locking off the area is normal policy, but they did on our cruise. Additionally, no one is guaranteed full time cabin accessibility. Though again perhaps not common, I have seen ports with mandatory zero counts where passengers weren’t let back on until general boarding.

None of the high end restaurants I consult for offer prime rib. As pointed out by @Woofa, it’s a thing of the past, much like Jacques menu. I probably haven’t seen lobster Thermidor on any menu ( other than Jacques) in 35-40 years. People don’t eat that much cream and butter anymore.

Agreed! Best to Ray, my favorite CD🥂! Unfortunately, an often held position by many posters.

We have no idea what you mean or what you’re talking about. If you believe Oceania made a mistake, please define the mistake. I might readily agree with you. Otherwise, it merely sounds like speculation.

For? Medium rare is the most popular selection. If all the MR is gone, it’s either gone for the evening or until the next roast is finished. How long you willing to wait for; 1. The next roast being done, or 2. Them deciding to tell you there will be no more MR? They can cook most steaks to order, but as you yourself pointed out, prime rib is a different beast. My guess is they got MW because all the MR and medium was already gone.

Well, this topic has once again been beaten to death! 🙄

Long story short, prime rib is gone on Vista and I don’t expect it on my booked Allura cruise either. At this point, the only question is “ How long will it continue being served on the other ships?”

Hopefully so for you. It’s like the stock market: Past performance doesn’t ensure future performance. Time will tell. What happened last September has no bearing on next September.

Without knowing any details, it’s impossible to say. Was he made an offer impossible to match? Were other irreparable issues , behind the scenes, occurring? We don’t know, and wild unsubstantiated speculation doesn’t resolve anything. My favorite Oceania CD has chosen to explore new possibilities. I wish him the best. He won’t be easily, or readily replaced.

Waiters told us Costs and tremendous waste. They can do a 4-6 Oz filet, which is all many can and/or do eat, but not that small a prime rib. You’d be shocked to see the amount of waste created, in upscale restaurants, produced by leftover meat dishes. People take 2-3 bites and pitch the rest. Even with the new Tomahawk veal steak, I’ve watched people do the same. Order the 32 chop to take only a couple bites. Some see it as their right, but the prime rib is disappearing.

Even though I wouldn’t recommend Oceania for anyone under 60, I believe the flat statement “ there is nothing for them to do” is quite stretching. Like us, many of them are on shore excursions when at port. Does that count as something to do? What I observed, on the rare sea day, was that the under 18 crowd utilized the often deserted putt putt, shuffle board, pickle ball, and golfing areas far more than the regular passengers. An evening and sea day event was the ping pong table. To get the table, the challenger had the beat the reigning champion. Kids, as well as adults, would be lined up to take him on! Cheering erupted when the 15/16 year old was finally dethroned! 😂 I think it was mostly from exhaustion. 🙄 Then the battles resumed with a new champion with plenty of challengers. Just because many of the Oceania regulars never venture past the loungers in the shade doesn’t mean there aren’t activities for the youth. Every cruise on a sea day, my DW and I have a putt putt match as a sort of tradition. It’s amazing to me how often the area sets completely empty. Out of sight, out of mind is equal to not existing..

Yep, many O cruisers only want Merican food. None of that Etalian, Mexican ( it’s the same as Spanish right), Frenchie, or other feirun stuff, just Merican. They paid good money to just eat Merican or Americanized food. No use suggesting Spain or Barcelona has some amazing food, it’s not Merican and they’re not interested. All the posts proclaiming how exciting it is to get roasted Turkey on Embarkment Day in the TC! 🙄 Roasted Turkey! 😂 Allow those that cherish Boardamania have their own, along with the often chaotic TC Merican lunch. Meanwhile, we’ll experience the delightful specialties of the countries we visit, and show up after Boardamania is clearly over. My unfortunate Tokyo early boarding brought back the horrible experience/memories of Boardamania. I plan on giving lots of time forthwith for Boardamania lovers to enjoy the experience. Each to their own. Boardamania is a choice. We chose poorly in April. Make your choice and go with it, it’s your choice.

So after you purposely ignore the continued announcements of the senior officers to not enter those areas yet, what do you expect of a lowly room attendant? In fact, even if she likewise said NO, I doubt that you’d adhere to her request! 🤬 Best option was in April when all the entrance hallways were sealed off an locked. The crew could get the cabins ready for everyone without interference from the few.

Remember that some cruisers go for the ports and itinerary while others go primarily for the ship. I have met plenty of kids on port intensive cruises that have loved the experiences of new lands, new exotic food, and new experiences. Their actual time on the ship mostly rotated around getting cleaned up for dinner, even if just in the TC, a few video games or talking with other newly minted friends aboard ship, and going to bed to get ready for another day. I believe the question made above primarily applies to those parents that cruise mostly for the ship and only infrequently, and for short periods, go ashore. First, I’ll comment that on Oceania, I have met very few parents, bringing youngsters, that do that. Oceania is indeed not geared toward that crowd. In reality, except for the occasional sea day, we aren’t on the ship then either. On Oceania and Uniworld we have never met ill behaved children that the 0.002% of some posters here seem so horrified of. Perhaps they should really consider Viking that doesn’t allow children.

There are continual announcements not to do so. Like most other officer announcements, some ignore them. On our last Riveria cruise in April all the decks were barricaded and sealed off until the deck was officially opened.

The only door knocking episodes we’ve encountered were from a dementia passenger whose wife allowed him to roam freely. Seems a decade earlier he had stayed in the cabin next door, and short term memory being what it was ( or wasn’t) he kept returning late nightly to pound on that door, and then yelled, to get in. I’d vote to ban dementia passengers far quicker than children.

Additionally, drinks on the bar menu “ for that bar”! Drinks may appear on the Martinis drink menu and be available at 2 for 1 In Martinis. However, that same drink might not appear on the Horizons bar menu, thus not being 2 for 1, even if made.

I have no experience with the Tokyo Cruise Terminal only Yokohama. One would also need to do the comparison of going to Tokyo Central and catching the train there versus Yokohama.

I’d suggest American through Charlotte. American may go MUN-MIA, direct depending upon season.

On a previous thread, I have recommended the use of Blacklane , in Tokyo, for transportation from the airport to hotel and from hotel to cruise terminal. They provide wonderful services and their prices are competitive. I likewise choose the option of having them meet us as we exit the baggage area into the main terminal as opposed to meeting in other areas. Since you will be in Tokyo for a week, a taxi from your hotel to port is another option. Upon arrival though, Blacklane is the best option. As I pointed out, and Hank reiterated, upon disembarking ensure you tell the taxi driver you need the Shinkansen Yokohama train terminal. The taxi ride was between $20-$25 US ( I paid by credit card in Yen) to the train station. Taking a bus from the cruise terminal to the local station, then a subway to the Shin station, with luggage, isn’t worth the money savings for us. The Shin station in Yokohama isn’t very large and finding your Track will be easy. Kyoto is a large but the distances there in are still relatively short when compared to Tokyo Central. Likewise, as discussed before, I believe flying into Haneda is far superior than Narita. The distance and transportation costs from Narita far exceeds that of Haneda.

1. Since EWR was mentioned, it sounds as if United is the chosen carrier. 2. Frankfurt airport can be a pain in the hinter. 3. I have GE, thus precheck, so the U.S. immigration regime isn’t difficult. 4. If my luggage doesn’t make my all my flights , I’d rather have them left in the States than Europe. 5. I would make the non stop from Munich to the States, then the connection to Miami.

Adding a bit of precision. Upon boarding your train, one is in a common area of bathrooms, storage,etc. one then enters, through the door, into the large compartment with all the seats. It is in this compartment, behind the rear seat and the wall, where the space to store luggage exists. Just roll your suitcase into the area. Any space overhead will not accommodate suitcases of any size.

Allow me to first back up the process with some tips. We arrived in Tokyo a few days pre cruise. I opted to find a Japan Rail office, at the nearest large subway station, and pre purchased our rail tickets. We went into the office, sat down with a helpful agent, and bought first class tickets with seat reservations for all of our planned Shinkansen travel. This primarily meant we didn’t have to figure out the kiosk system for each leg thus making travel easier. I would recommend you do the same. If not arriving first in Tokyo, one can do the same at any of the railway stations. Otherwise, go to the rail office at the Yokohama station. I had a question there and found the English speaking line short and efficient. Yokohama actually has two distinct stations, one handles the local trains only and the other also does the Shinkansen trains. Catch a cab, at the port, and tell the driver “ the Yokohama Shinkansen Station “. Otherwise, you’ll be taking a short subway ride between the two. We traveled with large suitcases. At the major Shinkansen stations, you will always find either ( or both) escalators or elevators to take you from one level or the other. One doesn’t have to haul luggage up stairs. Two other great works of engineering with the system now. First, your ticket will have a car and seat number. On the floor of the passenger tracks will be numbered areas/spaces that correspond to the car one is in. Find that space and wait. Unlike European or American rail, the Shinkansen trains always stop precisely aligned with the numbered spaces. There is no running to find your car. Second, the cars open at ground level. One can almost just roll their suitcases onto the cars. There isn’t the lugging and tugging of getting the suitcases up the stairs of the train. Once aboard, at the rear of the car, there is space, between the rear seat and the wall, to place your large suitcases. One can pay for and reserve lockers, for the suitcases, but we never found that necessary. The train system is easy to use, as is the subway and street cars. Watch the screens as announcements are rotated both in Japanese and English. Kyoto has several stations. Ensure you go to Kyoto Central or the main station and not get off early. Enjoy your travels.