pinotlover

I’m taking it that the OP booked directly with Oceania and didn’t use a Travel Agent. Most of this sounds like the conversation a professional Travel Agent would have with their client.

I agree with this. There is a huge market for inexpensive wine regardless of the quality of that wine. That’s why it’s produced in the millions of cases. If you don’t like it, yet see someone enjoying theirs, just nicely ask them if they’d like more. You’ll probably make a friend.

All aboard is normally thirty (30) minutes prior to scheduled departure.

+1 to the above. However, I believe I’ve recently read they have reinstated the mandatory drill.

The patio door not closing will affect the room temperatures! Interesting that they didn’t move you to a different cabin. The ship is not very full. The cruise starting today, and ours in 2.5 weeks are wide open with available cabins all the way back to Miami. I think any request for a different cabin would be meet. In fact, that door would probably be forced closed and kept that way.

It’s the definition of plonk. It’s neither corked nor undrinkable, it’s just a very poor quality of wine. Ours was a non descriptive white blend. If memory serves me it was a Sav Blanc, Chardonnay blend of non malolactic fruit, so mostly just flavors of grapefruit and citrus. Probably for the best, since malolactic would have killed the acidity, and the acidity was the only thing saving it. I think we took it to lunch in the Terrace on a sea day. Had some cheese, charcuterie, and apples. Boring wine which we drank what we wanted and left the rest. Chill it down to 55 degrees F, and I’ll give it a 79-80. As it warms it degrades to a 75 quickly. Plonk.

A real consideration for that early 11:05 flight that recently happened to me. The airlines have no idea if one is on a cruise ship or sitting in a hotel. You’re a name in the computer bank. What happens when at the 60 day final flight reshuffle that 11:05 flight becomes a 10:38 flight? Where and how are you in the pool of passengers to be notified of the change? What options will be left if you don’t find out until a week after the change was made? I was to be sitting in a hotel , so no big deal, I leave earlier. May not be an option from the ship.

I flew three times to Europe in 22. Coming back from Amsterdam was the worst. 3 hours from check in to gate. That’s counting from when we actually got to the check in counter, not the line for check in, and we were BC! We got there very early and it got worse. There were no “ next” flights on any of those days. Every flight we were on was overbooked with people being bounced, typically to another day.Easiest way to be bounced? Show up at the check in counter at less than an hour preflight. Automatic bounce. It may as well been two hours pre, because you wouldn’t make the gate anyway. Rome airport is a zoo. It’s even confusing on where to even get in line to drop bags and check in. Then security. If you feel lucky, then go for it. If you miss your flight, don’t blame Oceania. You’ve been sufficiently warned.

I’ve only flown out of Rome twice and both times it was a zoo. It’s about a 45 minute drive from the pier. I think you’re cutting it to close for comfort especially since on both occasions we didn’t deboard until closer to 8:30-8:45.

If you go to Waves for lunch at noon and order beer WiTH your lunch, they typically aren’t going to allow you to continuously order more beer, on the Package , until 4:00 as you dabble over the left over fries. Sorry if that offends some.

This is typically not the case. As I understand it, a ticket must be signed for gratuity credit to be earned. If the staff is quite busy, one with bib might not get a ticket to sign, but normally they do.

Seize the Day! 😇

To be precise, when you opt to upgrade , one must go to customer service, sign for the upgrade, and new room keys indicating bib will be issued.

Yes, if the credit shows on your account. Remember that TA provided OBC typically doesn’t show up until boarding.

Remember that O P.E is for the international leg only. All flights to that final international port is economy. So, for example, if your flight was LAX-EWR-fRA-ATH only the EWR-FRA leg is PE. The PE upgrade is typically only offered on European cruises not Asian or S.American itineraries.

The above is accurate. However, let me caution people about bulk rate discount tickets on airlines. They may be very difficult to upgrade, such as the example given here to PE, or that upgrade may be nearly as expensive as just buying a PE ticket originally. The confusion for many revolves around the fact that until people actually see their tickets, they don’t know ticket class and ticket rules. Is that ticket a bulk rate discount ticket from the airline pool? Was that ticket part of a negotiated block of tickets with its own set of rules? Different rules, different outcomes, cruisers just pay for the airfare blindly and work from there.

Yes, normally, within reason. There have been instances where passengers were cut off from the package. A couple examples (1) People gathering at 6:30 on the Terrace veranda and wanting to drink until closing, and (2) Waves is not a four (4) + hour lunch. Should be self explanatory, but there are those that like to push the limits.

Nope, if you read post #40, I asked the question there and solicited Jancruz’s help in finding the answer. Their silence has been deafening! 🤔 Down to close to 90 days before the Vista first sails with paying passengers.

Vacations are personally funded events that reflect how people want to spend their funds. I have friends my age that just returned from a dive trip to Honduras. Friends that take golfing vacations, fishing or hunting trips, and some that cruise. I have no friends that spend their vacation hanging out at a local assisted living home. I guess one above poster believes that’s ageism. Within the cruising community there are numerous competitors to choose from according to one’s circumstances. I don’t personally believe it’s ageist to prefer cruise lines that don’t resemble assisted living facilities. The OP asked about the “ vibe” on Oceania. Posters here are merely giving their observations on how certain Oceania cruises stack up in that regard. It appears on Oceania to be a mixed bag or as one movie character says” a box of chocolates “. You’ll never know what you’ll get until you board the ship that day.

There seems to be several acts from untrained staff that I wouldn’t take as policy. Free drinks at breakfast is not policy so don’t expect it. Reference port at dinner. A port is not always on the wine by the glass menu, so not always covered by the basic package. Oceania does usually try to have one dessert wine on that menu be it port, vin Santo, Auslese, or other.

As I pointed out 14 days can go either way. Some of the very geriatric cruises can quickly drive younger new to Oceania cruisers away. If one is 55 going on 85, they may not notice or be exceedingly happy. OTH I’ve been on O cruises where the younger 10% swear never again. Cruises can vary tremendously and people have to decide their comfort level.

An age rule of thumb. If you’re on a cruise segment that is 12-14 days or shorter, the median ages may be slightly lower. If you are on a cruise segment 14 days or longer the median age jumps rapidly. I’ve been on O cruises where the median age was 80. Many of those were not a young 80 .

We booked our overland when we booked the cruise. If you look under manage my account and the land options section they show up. The only description of the land tours are on the plan your cruise page for that cruise.

That was domestic. We unfortunately used O Air to the Baltic. O booked us to Newark on United going out. But SAS on the international leg. Coming home SAS wouldn’t recognize our Explorer benefits and Chase said they had no relationship with SAS. One bag each included, but we had an extra bag we had to pay for on the return. $100! Ouch!!

Well, someone must be clamoring for it. The pool and Lounge system seems to play her regularly. The answer to your question is the multitude of O passengers far older than you, of which there are many.