calicakes

5 hours ago, hcat said:

hi there.. how are you both doing?

Doing well. Although we're currently in marco island florida waiting out the hurricane. We leave on a four day virgin cruise on october second from miami. Hope you both are doing well.

On 9/18/2024 at 7:30 PM, Jim_Iain said:

 

The staff and crew are very engaging.    They even have an LGBQT cocktail hour and the Martini Bar.    We have never been into living in the gay ghetto and rarely if ever would go the LGBTQ meet and greet.    I think in today's world gay couples on cruises and travel in general don't blink an eye --- also as a male couple they never make the assumption we are gay.   

 

Just walking around using Gaydar I would say there are about 6 or more other same sex couples and a couple singles.

 

Chiming in as a female same sex couple.  We've taken 2 cruises on Oceania and were treated very well.  Same with celebrity.  I've never felt any homophobia from any staff. 

6 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

All worked out pretty well.   Iain said we should have booked the later flight... I would never hear the end from him if I booked a 6 AM flight. 

 

 

Julie and I missed an Alaska flight to Fort Lauderdale one year.  We arrived at the airport 15 minutes too late for our bags to make it on.  Since that was the only non-stop flight that day, we had to spend 8hrs in the Seattle airport* we had to fly there from LA) waiting for a red eye to take us to FL. We now arrive at the airport 2hrs ahead of our flight.  We just hang out in the airline lounge.  Once you miss a flight, you aim to never miss another. 

Both my wife and I love having clean clothes on a cruise( and land vacations).  We usually do our wash a few times on an Oceania cruise. We make sure everything is clean before we go home as well.  They have Celebrity beat with that.   We're not Elite on X so we don't get free laundry.  

9 hours ago, tarhoosier said:

An alert to those who may consider visiting Canada for any reason. A DUI/DWI charge or conviction can prohibit entry to Canada. Drunk and drug charges are more serious legal events in Canada. I know someone who was denied entry because of this*. If one goes to "canada" dui" "immigration" or other such search terms you will see the result. Think now before you go. 

 

*He was on the hydrofoil from Seattle to Victoria and they required him to wait in the entry hall for the immediate return trip. The other couple continued their day trip without him and his wife.

and ironically, AA is holding their international convention in Vancouver next January.  I'm sure a lot of people will not be able to attend. 

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

Hi Jim, I am a little late on here, but now will be following your virgin Oceania cruise. We have our first Oceania cruise next March for 18 days on the Marina around Soth America. So far, the Regatta looks beautiful from your pictures.

Wow, you also jumped ship from Celebrity!!

15 hours ago, lj77346 said:

 Also at lunch there was no Humphrey Slocombe ice cream, just vanilla, chocolate, Neapolitan, pistachio and rainbow sherbet.

That is really sad.  Another thing that set Oceania apart from X is now no more. 

4 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Rule number one.  Listen to @calicakes

Sorry I jinxed you. 

You are brave, flying in the day of the cruise.  

wow, 20k steps a day?  Impressive. Thankfully, I can walk 10k steps again after my broken ankle in Feb 2024.   

Can you please post your itinerary? 

Hi Jim

Late to the party but I'm following along. We jumped ship from X to Oceania in Feb 2022.  We had a wonderful Caribbean cruise on Marina.  The food was great, the service was fantastic as well.  We were in a lower level suite.  The cruise only had 348 people.  

Our second O cruise was a year ago, on Insignia.  It was a Bermuda cruise and I found a few things to have declined in quality since Feb 2022.  I noticed a definite downgrade in quality.  I did vlog about that cruise. 

We have 1 more X cruise booked and that is Galapagos on Flora in 2025.  I really want to take the TA on Cunard.   

I have a 300.00 bar tab included with my 4 day cruise and I don't drink any alcohol.  Can I buy specialty coffees?  What else can I use it for? Thanks. 

5 minutes ago, pathdoc said:

He was definitely the hero of the cruise.  She'd never used it before but the cruise staff was very helpful in setting it up for her.  The cold water from the Humboldt current was a bit unexpected, so she forgot to tighten the wrist attachment to the extension handle.  The whole situation made for interesting conversations at dinner.  

She did the follow up excursion to Machu Pichu and had a wonderful time.  Most people slept well at altitude the first night, not so much the next few nights as a little hypoxia set in.  There are some medications that can help as well as taking gingo biloba in advance.  All in all, she had a wonderful time and would do it again.  I was stuck at home reading Darwins "The voyage of the beagle".  It's a great read if you get the chance to read a copy.

I'm sorry you couldn't go on that bucket list cruise.  I broke my ankle in Feb, 10 days before our Great Barrier Reef cruise.  It was so, so disappointing to cancel.  Thankfully, we had travel insurance. 

Safe trip home.  How did the laundry work on the cruise?  Did you have any laundry picked up and washed? 

35 minutes ago, shirazcruiser said:

In the past when we booked a future cruise on board, we received OBC for the sailing...is that what you received for the Galapagos? I read that since everything is included that it would be hard to use OBC.  Thanks for any info you can can provide as I was getting ready to book our Galapagos sailing, but since we'll be sailing on the Apex next month, I could wait to book it then if there is more of an incentive. 

No OBC.  I just checked the invoice.  We did get 750 PP flight credit on Flights by Celebrity from selected gateways.  We're in a sky suite.   Here is what I copied from the invoice.  We put down 2656.00 deposit in Nov 2023.

Cruise Fare 16599.00 16599.00 0.00 0.00 33198.00
Flights by Celebrity Promotion with Air Credit up to $750 p/p from select gatewa
20% Savings combinable with Loyalty, and Fly Galapagos
Pre Cruise Package
Post Cruise Package
Vacation Protection Plan(Declined)
Taxes, fees, and port expenses

0.00 -3320.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
120.00
0.00 -3320.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
120.00

0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00 -6640.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
240.00
Total Charge 13399.00 13399.00 0.00 0.00 26798.00
Amount Paid 2656.00
Balance Due 24142.00

Final Payment is due by 21 JUN 2025, 5:00 PM EST

as far as extra light for the restroom, I always bring some battery operated tea lights and a set of battery operated fairy lights( I put those in a drinking glass on the desk area for mood lighting). 

17 hours ago, shirazcruiser said:

All cabins are suites…just some are larger and more expensive. How could they price you a package with airfare when flights/prices aren’t available until 330 days out? We’re looking at the Oct 10, 2025 11 night Inner Loop in a Premium Infinite Balcony for just under $22K without airfare. 

I'm not sure.  We booked while on board.  I hope it includes air from LA to Quito.  That was what I understood it to include. 

On 8/29/2024 at 7:45 AM, Rewind said:

 

What are you having for lunch?  Is it a buffet?  Is pizza available? 

On 8/29/2024 at 7:45 AM, Rewind said:

I do want to share a bit of the booking process for anyone who is thinking of doing this trip in the future. I am a fairly detail oriented person when it comes to booking cruises and have planned many trips in the past so I thought this would just be a super easy process and I could handle everything myself and just book the simple 7 night cruise and take care of all the other aspects on my own.  While I wasn’t wrong, I will say that it wasn’t wise.

 

You have to factor in quite a bit more if you book the cruise only package.  First off you don’t want to just fly into Quito and not see Quito.  And by spending a day in Quito, you will need a hotel, and you have to get to that hotel.  So there is the transport cost from the airport to the hotel, the night in the hotel, the cost of the independent tour, meals, a second night in the hotel, and then transfer back to the airport.  Then you also need to book airfare for Quito to Baltra (which isn’t direct and also doesn’t specify that the rates on the website are for Locals and you will need to pay extra for being a tourist).  From what I can tell, once you land in Baltra, the ship will meet you there and take over the rest of the process.  But then on the way back, you need the return flight to Quito, and then depending on plans, maybe another night in a hotel or just hanging out at the airport for 8 hours.

We're booked on this trip for October 19, 2025.  We booked while on board a year ago.  I was under the impression that the only way this cruise is booked is with an all inclusive.  Airfair, hotel before and after, transfers, etc.  I will say we paid(well, not fully yet) around 26,798.00.  That is for a suite. 

22 hours ago, MamaFej said:

It was fantastic! However, it was one of those very underbooked cruises after the restart in 2021, so our experience was certainly not typical. The ship had a cpacity of about 300, and we had 113 passengers onboard. We had a day in Papeete, Tahiti, a cruise throughout French Polynesia, then 5 days in an overwater bungalow on Moorea, followed by another night in Papeete, all at start-up prices, traveling with our very good friend who is also our travel agent. The trip required 5 Covid tests, but it was worth it!

 

It was our first small ship experience. We've had more than a dozen Celebrity cruises and a few Princess cruises since then, but we are leaning toward the small ships pretty strongly now. 

We cruise Oceania in Feb 2022, we had about 120 on the cruise, it was like sailing on a private yacht.  The crew were tripping over themselves to help.  The food was great too.  Our second Oceania cruise last year was not the same.  Big decline in food quality. 

On 7/19/2024 at 5:41 AM, Judyrem said:

I have not been on a cruise since the covid debacle.  Most of the time I go on land vacations but  when  I went to Tuscany and Sicily for two weeks with four other women recently , we all realized our struggles with suitcases, and steps were becoming problematic for us, ergo cruises or private group tours.

 

I can't always find women to go with because they still have husbands and can not travel as easily as I fortunately able to do.

 

BTW, in one week my friend and I are on Queen Mary 2 for a TA to Hamburg and five days Hamburg.

 

I have a "solo" on Beyond in October, a solo Western Caribbean on Constellation in Jan, a March Infinity sailing from Greece and an October sailing on Apex to Portugal and the Canaries.

Will you vlog that TA to Hamburg?  My wife and I( same sex) want to do a TA on Cunard from NY to Southhampton.  We're thinking Jan 2026. 

5 minutes ago, hcat said:

Hope you are doing well now..any cruises booked.?

 

I am doing so much better.  I did get a blood clot 2 weeks after I was cleared to start walking.  We're actually going on a land vacation in 2 weeks( D.C and FL) and then a 4 day virgin cruise in October.  Galapagos on Flora in Oct 2025.  We want to go to Australia in 2026, but not on a cruise.  

We booked Galapagos for Oct 2025, while we were on a cruise in Oct. 2023.  We were given a reduced deposit.  We did transfer the booking to our TA.  They are giving us refundable OBC. 

Sorry this happened.  I broke my ankle( and had surgery) 10 days before we were to leave for Australia for our Edge cruise.  I hope you're not in too much pain.  

13 hours ago, mauimary said:

I would have been very disappointed too. A similar thing happened a few years back to me and we had to cancel a week before we left when I ended up in surgery and we had to cancel our Greek Cruise!  At least we had insurance. 
 

Sounds like it worked out for the FB group. 

We have insurance!!