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pinotlover
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Everything posted by pinotlover
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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.
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Seize the Day! 😇
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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.
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Yes, if the credit shows on your account. Remember that TA provided OBC typically doesn’t show up until boarding.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Questions re Specialty Dining Reservations
pinotlover replied to MarkWiltonM's topic in Oceania Cruises
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.
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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.
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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.
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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 .
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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.
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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!!
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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.
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Let me explain where the problem is magnified. Let’s take an example where a Star Alliance partner ( or one world) is involved. Your first leg may be on United or AA and you get your cc luggage benefits on departure. HOWEVER, your return is on a partner flight and they could care less about cc benefits. Your ticket t&c rules. That Citi AA or Explorer card buys you have means nothing on their airline. You pay baggage fees to board. It’s a mess and not OSFA.
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Super true! I worked with South American tour operators on twice cancelled cruises that are no longer in business. Their vehicles taken for lack of payment. Two years of zero revenue does that to a business! One of our guides, on an upcoming European cruise this summer, wrote me that bus drivers are at an extreme shortage. The license to drive a bus is different from that of driving a van. Those with the higher level license can make far more than tour companies can afford to pay. Keep your group below either 12 or 16, and in a smaller van, and the problems are less. Oceania’s traditional line of tour bus at the dock are a problem waiting to happen. Expect cancellations.
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A big issue for some. Some people are happy listening to Anne Murray, Perry Como, and Olivia Newton John sitting by the pool regardless of where the ship is. Some of us would rather have an occasional steel band, German Umpah Band, or Greek minstrels depending upon where the ship is sailing. A bit of lively entertainment would be good occasionally.
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Questions re Specialty Dining Reservations
pinotlover replied to MarkWiltonM's topic in Oceania Cruises
I’ll post this here instead of starting a new thread. Passengers are about 100 days from the Inaugural Cruise of Vista. Final payment is due soon. That means those in a PH and above are about 25 days from booking their Specialties. Has there been any clarity yet on which, and how many, of the restaurants will be open for early reservations? Perhaps Jancruz can provide some insider info. -
I’m taking it that you were on a U.S. domestic flight on a bulk rate discount ticket without luggage. A lesson learned. Oceania air, since the 2014 merger with NCL , is actually ran by NCL. Tens of thousands of airline tickets booked monthly . They don’t pay for them individually. Actually, with those bulk tickets, the buyer sometimes pays for an allocation of tickets, then later adds the names to the roster of who is actually flying. This process can be very unlike passengers buying individual tickets from A to B.
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Be advised that while technically true, Oceania often adds to and subtracts from that initial listing of tours found at the 365 day mark. Consider it like airline schedules at even 330 days out. The final schedule may not resemble what first appeared.
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As I posted, I believe that steward was untrained and Oceania will correct the situation.
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For international flights, the discounted bulk rate fare on United includes 1 free bag each. On domestic flights it doesn’t necessarily unless Oceania pays for it as part of the package. If the poster was trying to check more than one bag on an international flight then someone had to pay. Oceania does indeed make bulk payments to airlines for bookings on an itemized invoice. They don’t make individual payments for each flight. Fwiw, I do both international and domestic wine tours and do the same thing. There is a process to booking those fares and trying to individually pay for each doesn’t make sense within the system. On United, nearly all the ticket mileage credit now comes from ticket costs plus status multipliers. I believe had the poster paid a deviation fee , and paid any ticket price in advance , they may have gotten Oceania to buy the tickets on their card. If they just remained in the ticket pool, they got pool treatment.
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Yes! Sorry about the confusion. Consumption of personal beverages in your cabin is obviously fine. The comment was directed to those bringing personal beverages to public venues without paying the corkage