Boarding procedures/PH1?

Not so to the last two posts. The doors are not sealed; they are always available for opening. We were in the deck 7 PH, 7135, and went to our cabin when addressed!

Perhaps not at 11 AM as I don't think we've boarded that early but yes there are places where suites are ready when you board. No matter! Now that I know the procedure we'll get used to it. On first hearing about it I was just disappointed but I'll live!(LOL)

Looking forward to a lovely cruise! I actually do more land trips than cruises so who knows when we'll be back on Oceania??

Perhaps not at 11 AM as I don't think we've boarded that early but yes there are places where suites are ready when you board. No matter! Now that I know the procedure we'll get used to it. On first hearing about it I was just disappointed but I'll live!(LOL)

Looking forward to a lovely cruise! I actually do more land trips than cruises so who knows when we'll be back on Oceania??

Before I tried Oceania last December, I had many years on Princess and Celebrity where NO ONE (even those in suites, which is usually what I sail in) gets to go to their cabin until ALL cabins are ready.

So, when on Oceania, I was also surprised that although we got to board the ship, we couldn't go to our cabin right away....reminded me of years ago on Carnival! :')

We boarded at 12:30 pm, parked ourselves at a nice table in the buffet, enjoyed lunch then got to go to our B1 cabin at 3pm. I also hate keeping my carry on with me, but not really a big deal.

For my next cruise, I'll have a PH1, but will spend the day touring Los Angeles until 2-3pm. Then we can just go right to our suite.

New to Oceania. I understand that with this cabin we can board early at 11 AM.

I was surprised to read on the thread about lunch on embarkation day that our suite may not be ready when we board. Does that mean that we cannot drop our carryon in the cabin ? We don't need it to be completely ready but we don't like dragging suitcases around with us and had expected suites to be ready if we can board early!

Disappointed if this is not the case.

Hi riffatsea-

Oceania's website and our cruise documents state that PH suites have priority boarding at 12:00 noon, not 11:00 am. Higher level suites get the benefit of 11:00 am boarding.

Do you have different info to the contrary?

EDIT TO POST (I couldn't delete it):

OOOPS. I see you are on a R-ship, while we are on an O-Ship. They have different boarding times for PH suites, and it is 11:00am for the R-Ship. I missed that!

@LHT28,

<sigh> You have been quite helpful to me and so I find your reply surprising.

No of course it wouldn't be better to sit in the terminal instead of having lunch!

Can you not understand that since suites are allowed the privilege of boarding early I thought that we'd also be able to access our cabins??

Since you are an old hand at Oceania of course you knew that this wasn't possible but for new folks like us it was an unhappy surprise.

We will deal with it.

Greetings from South Beach, riffatsea. We have sailed b2b's and been aboard on de/embarkation days. The pressure to prepare for new passengers is intense. Considering the size of the job, it is amazing that staff always pulls it off. We understand that we can access our stateroom when it is ready. Getting it that way is tough enough without us getting in the way. With O's resort casual dress code, unpacking is easy, and all is usually accomplished before muster. Our next cruise is our seventh with O, and our third on Riviera. We are surely looking forward to it.

Mary

Thanks for all of your encouraging replies!

I explained the situation to DH . He's not happy about it because he just feels more secure when he can get into his cabin but we also like being on board early soooooooo we'll just manage.

If you are really dealing only with carry-on, we've never had a problem! I can certainly understand not wanting to bother, even with a few small items, but it is do-able.

I would myself never cancel a cruise just because I couldn't immediately access my room! That's the least reason I would cancel ...

Recently we've been in high suites that were available upon boarding. When we've been in a PH we had to wait a bit, but never for very long.

Glad you could soothe your DH!

Mura

@Mura, I have been reading that higher suites like the Vistas , on Insignia, have balconies you cannot use while the ship is moving. They also say that since they are forward right under the bridge that they are not particularly private. Do you have any opinions/knowledge about this??

We were in a Vista Suite on Sirena (another "R" ship) in October 2016. I've read a lot of these comments that you can't use the veranda while under way but quite frankly I haven't noticed that myself. Perhaps because I didn't happen to go out there with the intention of staying for a while (as I usually do in an aft suite). But I have indeed gone out there and not had a problem.

When we were on Marina several years ago a cocktail party was held in a Deck 8 Vista during sailaway. True, we were mostly still in the harbor but a large group of us stayed out there a long time watching the view. In the open seas the wind could well be a bigger problem than we encountered that night.

So the truth is that I can't answer you absolutely! But I've always had the feeling that these comments are somewhat overstated. There ARE times when the furniture is tied down ... which may give an indication of what *could* happen!

Mura

Thanks for your opinions Mura. We have always preferred mid ship . It is hard to picture watching the wake and where we've been in an aft suite. I know many love them. I can imagine being forward and watching where we are headed. Still considering switching form our PH1 to the Vista forward but just not sure about it?? Soo when in doubt, do nothing-is my motto.

Sounds like a motto I could live by as well.

I will say that the space in the Vista is beautiful. So we happy to have the room to move around in even if we don't use the veranda much!

Mura

@Mura, I have been reading that higher suites like the Vistas , on Insignia, have balconies you cannot use while the ship is moving. They also say that since they are forward right under the bridge that they are not particularly private. Do you have any opinions/knowledge about this??

We were in a Vista suite on Insignia in July of 2017 from Miami to Iceland. We loved the size of the suite and the size of the forward facing veranda. There were many times we sat out on the veranda while the ship was moving. Sometimes the furniture was tied down but not always. We never felt like we were missing anything. If the furniture was tied down it probably was too windy to be out there; having said that, we did get out there frequently.

While we loved the cruise and the Vista suite on the Insignia, our preferred ships are the Mariner and the Riviera; they just are a bit larger and offer more, in our opinion. We stay in Oceania suites on deck 12 on the “O” ships. We are not big fans of the aft cabins. This once again proves “to each his own opinion”!

Hope you enjoy your cruise.

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The views from the forward facing Vista Suites can be intoxicating

These were taken from 6002 on the Regatta.

Thanks for all the info about the suites! I have e mailed my TA to see the price differential and to see which ones are available for our cruise. I am very tempted to make the change since I see they are more than double the size of the PH1!!

Don't forget what many of us have said before ... once you indulge in a top suite, it's hard to go back! When we took the upsell to an OS (simply because I always wanted to be in one and it was a bargain last-minute upsell) I thought it was a one-time thing.

Okay, we haven't done another OS since then, and that was 12 years ago. But we have done Vista and Oceania Suites multiple times now. A PH used to satisfy us ... (And we're happy to be in one if a higher suite isn't available!

We didn't even mind the downsell we took a couple of years ago to a B1 on Nautica. That bathroom that I remembered as impossibly small no longer seemed so bad. In fact I thought it was nice and snug!

I wish I could say it was because I'd lost weight ...

Mura

Thanks for all the info about the suites! I have e mailed my TA to see the price differential and to see which ones are available for our cruise. I am very tempted to make the change since I see they are more than double the size of the PH1!!

looks like some available on your cruise

only $3000 pp more

looks like some available on your cruise

 

 

 

only $3000 pp more

I'll never understand why anyone would need anything bigger than an A or B, which are plenty bigger than what you'd see on any yacht under 60 feet.

That's true enough for those of you who sail on yachts and smaller vessels ...

When we did the Galapagos in 1989 we ended up on a motor cruiser that carried 12 passengers. We were in a room smaller than a closet that had bunk beds which crossed each other. Only one person could put clothes on at a time.

So I prefer the bigger rooms! Not just because of that trip which was unusual, I will agree!

Mura

I'll never understand why anyone would need anything bigger than an A or B, which are plenty bigger than what you'd see on any yacht under 60 feet.

I believe that your view of yacht interiors is slightly antiquated. This is the main salon and master bedroom of a 58 footer:

I believe that your view of yacht interiors is slightly antiquated. This is the main salon and master bedroom of a 58 footer:

 

 

 

 

Hardly an antiquated view - actually, let's call it realistic.

As I said, an A or B Oceania cabin is plenty big.

Look at the actual cabin in the yacht picture you provided. A 60' yacht's "salon" is a shared space for ALL cabins and often serves double duty in that it includes (or is immediately adjacent to) its galley, nav. station et al.

Recognize, as well, that there is/are at least one to two other smaller cabin(s) sharing that single salon.

I am also surprised that cabins are not ready upon boarding. While I hadn't been on a cruise in 6 years, I did find that on our cruise last week Holland America still has all of their cabins ready for passengers at 11:30.

We were also allowed to remain in our cabins until our assigned time to disembark. We enjoyed a last room service breakfast and then we disembarked promptly at our assigned time of 9:30.

I am also surprised that cabins are not ready upon boarding. While I hadn't been on a cruise in 6 years, I did find that on our cruise last week Holland America still has all of their cabins ready for passengers at 11:30.

 

 

 

We were also allowed to remain in our cabins until our assigned time to disembark. We enjoyed a last room service breakfast and then we disembarked promptly at our assigned time of 9:30.

That’s hard to believe. IME, the service carts are in the hallways servicing cabins till about that time even on a regular day. On a turn-around day it would take a lot longer to get the cabins ready for new clients with thourough cleaning and change of sheets, etc - things that don’t usually have to be done during the cruise. Especially if you had breakfast in your cabin that morning and didn’t leave it till 9:30 (your assigned time).

That said, you may be correct about HAL but that has not been my experience on other lines (nor do most cruise lines offer room service on disembarkation day).

That’s hard to believe. IME, the service carts are in the hallways servicing cabins till about that time even on a regular day. On a turn-around day it would take a lot longer to get the cabins ready for new clients with thourough cleaning and change of sheets, etc - things that don’t usually have to be done during the cruise. Especially if you had breakfast in your cabin that morning and didn’t leave it till 9:30 (your assigned time).

That said, you may be correct about HAL but that has not been my experience on other lines (nor do most Cruise lines offer room service on disembarkation day).

Maybe they don't do a thorough cleaning.

Maybe they don't do a thorough cleaning.

They do a thorough cleaning. They just have a good system. There are many that leave early and those cabins get done first. They also get some stuff ready in the cabins ahead of time, like the bathrobes, and make up the beds while you are at breakfast. There are not many that wait until 9:30 to leave. The majority leave earlier.

There are times that the cabins are not ready until noon, but that is the exception. Most of the time the cabins are ready by 11:30 am and they are thoroughly clean. That being said, I have decided not to sail on HAL anymore for other reasons.

Terri

I am also surprised that cabins are not ready upon boarding. While I hadn't been on a cruise in 6 years, I did find that on our cruise last week Holland America still has all of their cabins ready for passengers at 11:30.

 

 

 

We were also allowed to remain in our cabins until our assigned time to disembark. We enjoyed a last room service breakfast and then we disembarked promptly at our assigned time of 9:30.

yes I found that on HAL as well

we were not allowed on the ship until after 2pm so just thought that was normal for the rooms to be ready (ours were chartered cruises)

Other days the rooms were not cleaned & made up until late in the morning or even mid afternoon which was annoying

Makes you wonder how well the rooms are turned over if people can stay in the until 9:30am & new pax get in before noon :confused: