Land & Sea - LIVE from Spain as we sail & compare HAL to Oceania

[serendipity1499]

Kazu...Hope you get out OK on LH or another carrier ..It's a mess when flight crews decide to strike..We've been in the same boat.. LH has been known to take excellent care of their psgrs..Hope it still does..

 

We've done two cruises on one of the older ship's "Regatta" & the service was incredible.. Have never had anything like it with the exception of the service on our favorite "Prinsendam"..

 

We'll keep up with you for a couple of days but must get done with our clothes, as we board the Eurodam next Sunday.. Will be with our Good Friends, their Kids & another couple for the first week & then just our Friends for the second week..We'll be celebrating our Friends 60th Anniversary on board..

 

Hope you & Jose have a wonderful cruise on "O" .. Will catch up on your cruise wen we get back..

 

Stay well!

 

Betty

[Vict0riann]

Hope all your planes are flying today, Kazu! Bon voyage.:)

[kazu]

thanks all. We are in Montreal. Website said the flight was cancelled - when I called they said it was going.

 

Montreal airport has a great website that you log into to get wifi and they list ALL the departures. Our flight is still there - I will be watching like a hawk ;)

[ski ww]

Hi Jacqui, looking forward to read all about your cruise and the comparison between the two lines. I too have looked into doing a cruise with Oceania. have a good flight and fair winds & smooth seas on your cruise. Say hello to Jose.

Allan & Marlane

[kazu]

Hi Jacqui, looking forward to read all about your cruise and the comparison between the two lines. I too have looked into doing a cruise with Oceania. have a good flight and fair winds & smooth seas on your cruise. Say hello to Jose.

 

Allan & Marlane

 

 

thanks Allan & Marlane :)

 

Our best to you both.

[kazu]

Kazu...Hope you get out OK on LH or another carrier ..It's a mess when flight crews decide to strike..We've been in the same boat.. LH has been known to take excellent care of their psgrs..Hope it still does..

 

We've done two cruises on one of the older ship's "Regatta" & the service was incredible.. Have never had anything like it with the exception of the service on our favorite "Prinsendam"..

 

We'll keep up with you for a couple of days but must get done with our clothes, as we board the Eurodam next Sunday.. Will be with our Good Friends, their Kids & another couple for the first week & then just our Friends for the second week..We'll be celebrating our Friends 60th Anniversary on board..

 

Hope you & Jose have a wonderful cruise on "O" .. Will catch up on your cruise wen we get back..

 

Stay well!

 

Betty

 

Have a great cruise Betty :) Glad I was able to do your Bon Voyage before leaving!

 

I spoke to a roll call member who has done a number of O cruises and she placed the Prinsendam a smidge below Oceania and above Azamara believe it or not. I was delightfully surprised.

 

Hope all your planes are flying today, Kazu! Bon voyage.:)

 

Thanks Ann - keep sending the karma our way. It seems to be working so far (knock on wood).

[kazu]

deleted to retry. sorry.

Edited November 9, 2015 by kazu

[phabric]

Will be interested in your comparison.

[kazu]

Want to know who the Captain, CD are, etc. on your ship? No need to do a post on the boards - O sends you a blue book with most information that you could possibly need including the who the key staff are, information on your room, general information and yes, LUGGAGE TAGS!

 

 

 

Remember the days when we used to get those nice blue holders from HAL & all the goodies. It takes me back to those days but this is much bigger ;) and no holder - but that's ok, I still have some HAL holders and one is in my purse as we speak keeping the different currencies and stuff separate.

 

 

 

No arts and craft project of Kazu this time.....luggage tags are in the carry on

 

 

 

Ok, bear with me & I will try one more time for this post to work and then do some pics of the blue book (Names hidden to protect the innocent - DH ;))

 

The blue book - just some highlights - front cover:

 

 

who are our officers...

 

 

 

 

Our luggage tags

 

 

 

 

 

hoping this works this time.

 

Edited November 9, 2015 by kazu

[kazu]

Sitting in the lounge in Munich and I have had a chance to update the live thread a bit and posted a bit of food porn. I know you are asking how can you have food porn on a flight? It IS possible :) It looks like our flight to Bilbao is a go and other than being quite tired it looks like we will arrive as planned.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Loving your update.

That is great that Oceania sends you the Blue book of the who is the captain, etc. and your luggage tags.

[kazu]

We are in a PH suite. Don’t get carried away by the term Penthouse – it’s a room, nicely laid out that is between the size of a Signature Suite and Neptune Suite on HAL. There are a number of these on the ship.

 

 

 

 

It’s not the top category by any means. There are nicer, huge, expansive suites above us, but we wanted to find what we thought would be a fair comparison and something we knew we would be comfortable in with our number of days at sea.

 

 

 

 

 

The PH come with a butler. I’ve got a bit of a grasp on what the butler does, but the main thing seems to be bringing your room service, re-stocking your mini bar/fridge, etc. In a PH, you can order from the room service menu or any of the specialty restaurants for dinner. Not just the MDR, but any specialty restaurant.

 

 

 

 

I was advised on the O board to listen to the butler when he introduces himself (I think they are only men?) and what services he offers and ask any questions. I plan to heed their sage advice.

 

 

 

The PH comes with access to the Executive and/or Concierge Lounge. A bit similar to the Neptune Lounge with coffee & soft drinks as I understand it, but I don't think it is quite the same. Time will tell

 

 

 

 

 

Internet on O is much more expensive than on HAL. O is adding some minutes of internet (which they call “free”) for certain categories now but it doesn’t come into effect until after my cruise. Fortunately, unlimited internet was added to my sailing when O had a special and my TA got it for me. Fingers crossed.

 

 

 

I can't find my pic on the internet prices so I will have to post that later.

Edited November 10, 2015 by kazu

[1of4]

Looks very comfortable. I love the chairs/ table at the end of the bed. Very happy you posted the update about flights.

 

Disney sends all paperwork in a book that we were told all they would do is scan the bar codes in the book and check in at the pier would be fast and painless. Well I think we got the worst check in agent -she complained non stop that I had not done the on line process at home, which of course I had. She said I was supposed to bring printouts of the electronic check in which I was told by my TA not to bring because of this booklet. She had no record on DS :eek: and at one point said he would not be allowed to board. We were not impressed. But all that to say that O blue book looks so much nicer.

 

Enjoy. You made it! :D :)

[AZNative2000]

Have a great trip Jacqui! :):) And thanks for posting.

 

That blue book is impressive.

 

We, too, are looking forward to your comparison as we've been eyeing Oceania for awhile now

but there are always questions when a change is considered.

 

And, as you said, their PH seemingly compares well (size, etc) to the HAL Neptunes.

 

Looking forward to all you will post. Hope your flights go as scheduled!

 

Cheers!

Edited November 10, 2015 by AZNative2000

[Lizzie68]

Glad you made it to Europe on time, now you have other options to make it to your destination if there are any more work stoppages. I must say from the photo of the cabin on O it looks like the way to cruise! Very nice.

Edited November 10, 2015 by Lizzie68

[cruisingxpert]

 

Here is pic of Internet prices. It is towards back of Blue Book. If you are in a Penthouse, there is a 10 or 20% discount

 

 

 

(Quote)I can't find my pic on the internet prices so I will have to post that later.[/size]

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Edited November 10, 2015 by cruisingxpert

[kazu]

thanks AZNative & Lizzie :)

 

To quote a friend of mine ......"the Eagle has landed" and we are in Bilbao :)

 

We are tired but doing a happy dance & trying to stay up until 10:00 pm. Spain time to try to get ourselved "in sync" with the time here. Tomorrow - Casco Viejo (Old Town) & Guggneheim Museum I think. We are reviewing and are leaving things up in the air until tomorrow but it looks like that is the plan. Jose really wants to go down Calle Ledesma.

 

I will be posting info on the live thread about Bilbao since it is a port stop and a very pretty city so far. Our hotel is across the street from the park and there are lots of dogs outside doing agility training, playing, and regular training.

 

So, it's nice to see for us :) silly dog lovers that we are :)

[cruisingxpert]

Following along with great interest on both threads. Loved the airplane food pictures. I want to travel on Lufthansa now - was it with Aeroplan?

[cruisingxpert]

Deleted

Edited November 10, 2015 by cruisingxpert

[kazu]

 

Here is pic of Internet prices. It is towards back of Blue Book. If you are in a Penthouse, there is a 10 or 20% discount

 

 

 

(Quote)I can't find my pic on the internet prices so I will have to post that later.[/size]

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

 

oh thanks so much for doing that. Now don't have to take another pic.

 

Much appreciated :)

[kazu]

Following along with great interest on both threads. Loved the airplane food pictures. I want to travel on Lufthansa now - was it with Aeroplan?

 

 

yes it was an Aeroplan reward ticket - but here's the catch. Lufthansa doesn't open up their first class tickets to reward tickets until two weeks out now - so you do have to pay a change fee of $203 + change and give up some more miles.

 

The mileage was going up big time (to me) for next year for First class so I figured if it came up why not? I knew we had long wait times and trust me, if there is a First Class lounge, there is a BIG difference between a first class lounge & a business class lounge with LH :)

[POA1]

Have a great trip!

[shrimpboat123]

So glad to hear you finally made it to your destination without any disruptions.

 

Beautiful day at home today. 13c and calm. :)

[ger_77]

Well, Jacqui, how's this for a headline:

Lufthansa: Airline Cancels 930 Flights on Wednesday After Failing to Stop Flight Attendant Strike

 

I guess timing is everything - certainly glad you and Jose made the trip when you did!

 

Smooth Sailing ! :) :) :)

Gerry

[Lizzie68]

Wow, looks like you dodged a bullet, Jacqui! Good thing you went a little early, even with the stress of the threatened strike.