“LIVE FROM” 2019 Oceania Insignia World Cruise, Jan. 11-July 11

[Go-Bucks!]

Some local Thai people set up a food stand at the port yesterday (Phuket) and I think nearly all the crew and half the passengers ate lunch there!  Including me.... had delicious crab fried rice...huge portions!  Also had many, many booths selling handicrafts, clothes, purses.

[palakika]

That fried rice looks delicious!!  I remember the two times we were in Phuket there were lots of vendors selling stuff including Rolex watches and "designer" clothes!  A fun shopping experience.

[Motnoside1]

Will be joining you all in Dubai and then just to Rome.  Have secured a guide for both days in Jerusalem.  He will have a van and driver to pick us up at the port, tour Masada, and Jerusalem then drop my wife and I and another couple from the cruise in Jerusalem in old city on day 1 at our privately arranged accomodations.  We are staying at Ecce Homo convent.  Other couple at another location.  He will pick up in morning of day 2 and provide touring of Jerusalem and then return us to ship for departure.  We have room for one more couple.  We will be sharing the $2,000 for guide, driver, transportation, and  tours.  If interested let me know and I can provide more details.  My email is tomredison@gmail.com.  

[bob brown]

Yangon pilot’s aboard.

[bob brown]

Golden glory of Yangon tour...

[bob brown]

[no fuss travel]

Oh do your pictures bring back memories.  Say hi to everyone from Bob and I.

Edited April 30, 2019 by no fuss travel

[Senior Citizen]

On our last trip (of three) to Myanmar, we stayed overnight in town.  The following morning, we boarded the circular train that slowly made its way around Yangon.  We boarded the non-AC cars with the windows wide open for a little breeze and a view of daily life as we chugged along.  At the various stops, people would board with their items to sell at the markets, some of which were trackside.  After a couple of hours, we got off and negotiated a taxi ride back to our hotel.  It was a great experience!

 

Each visit, we have seen Myanmar change.  On our last visit, they were building a 5 star high rise condo!

[Love2cruise77]

This is gonna sound weird, would you be able to take a picture of room 4010 or any of the connected oceanview room (in regard to the room layout and where the connected door is located)...

4008-4018 or 4009-4021

Thanks in advance for your help!

[Paulchili]

3 hours ago, Senior Citizen said:

On our last trip (of three) to Myanmar, we stayed overnight in town.  The following morning, we boarded the circular train that slowly made its way around Yangon.  We boarded the non-AC cars with the windows wide open for a little breeze and a view of daily life as we chugged along.  At the various stops, people would board with their items to sell at the markets, some of which were trackside.  After a couple of hours, we got off and negotiated a taxi ride back to our hotel.  It was a great experience!

 

Each visit, we have seen Myanmar change.  On our last visit, they were building a 5 star high rise condo!

We too have visited Myanmar 3 times - the first time was in 1998 (in fact, we stayed at The Strand hotel pictured above).

Last time we spent the day in Yangon with a former Oceania employee that we befriended (and stayed in touch with) on a cruise several years ago when he still worked for Oceania - that was a pretty special experience and a wonderful "tour by local" 

Lots of changes over these 20 years.

[HilsTas]

On 4/27/2019 at 2:49 PM, HilsTas said:

I can still offer two places on an exceptional wine tour in (Medoc) Bordeaux on Monday June 17th.

This tour is now full

[bob brown]

A monsoon?🤔

[cbb]

5/1/19:  weather.com reporting:

 

"Tropical Cyclone Fani is making its anticipated turn in the Bay of Bengal.

Fani is predicted to make landfall by sometime Friday along the coast of eastern India.

Life-threatening storm surge flooding, rainfall flooding and destructive winds are expected."  https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/2019-04-28-tropical-cyclone-fani-india-bangladesh

 

equivalent now to a Cat 3 Hurricane and expected to head inland

[Go-Bucks!]

19 hours ago, cbb said:

5/1/19:  weather.com reporting:

 

"Tropical Cyclone Fani is making its anticipated turn in the Bay of Bengal.

Fani is predicted to make landfall by sometime Friday along the coast of eastern India.

Life-threatening storm surge flooding, rainfall flooding and destructive winds are expected."  https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/2019-04-28-tropical-cyclone-fani-india-bangladesh

 

equivalent now to a Cat 3 Hurricane and expected to head inland

 

Staff said (and Weather Underground reported) that it will be up near Bangladesh by the time we leave port and is no longer near where we'll be sailing.  Good news for us...not so much for the Bangladeshis. We did have some showers in the late afternoon today here in Yangon. 

Edited May 1, 2019 by Go-Bucks!

[jaxw17]

i am loving this and following every post. We have cruised a lot and been to a lot of the places but would love to do an around the world cruise at some stage.

Too long to leave my fur babies at the moment but some time in the future.

What sort of rough budget would you set to do this in a balcony cabin. Nothing specific just a ball park figure. Sorry if that is personal just wanted to know if it will ever be attainable.

off to Spain for a week on Saturday. Will still be following along.

thanks to you all for taking the time to share

[Go-Bucks!]

19 hours ago, jaxw17 said:

What sort of rough budget would you set to do this in a balcony cabin. Nothing specific just a ball park figure. Sorry if that is personal just wanted to know if it will ever be attainable.

 

Do a mock booking on the Oceania website or on a travel agency website and you'll see the cost of each category. 

[Mura]

I don't think you even need to do a mock booking.  If you go to the website and search for one of the ATW itineraries you should immediately see the prices pp for each cabin category.  Even if a category is sold out or wait listed, you should see the cost.

 

My one reservation to my comment is if they have changed the system.  But whenever I have searched for a cruise, that was the  first thing I saw.

 

From my perspective the main benefit of a mock booking is to see what rooms are available in the categories that interest you.

 

If you have a TA, you could also call that person and just ask ... at least I would think so!

 

Mura

 

[ShopperfiendTO]

49 minutes ago, Go-Bucks! said:

 

Do a mock booking on the Oceania website or on a travel agency website and you'll see the cost of each category. 

 

I am guessing the question being asked is the total budget for an ATW (e.g., excursions, beverages, souvenirs, meals ashore), not just for the cabin.

 

The good thing is that on most ATWs, I think the tips are included, not just on O?

[Love2cruise77]

5 hours ago, jaxw17 said:

What sort of rough budget would you set to do this in a balcony cabin. Nothing specific just a ball park figure. Sorry if that is personal just wanted to know if it will ever be attainable.

 

This is the price (per person) for the 180 days cruise for 2020:

[Mura]

2 hours ago, ShopperfiendTO said:

 

I am guessing the question being asked is the total budget for an ATW (e.g., excursions, beverages, souvenirs, meals ashore), not just for the cabin.

 

The good thing is that on most ATWs, I think the tips are included, not just on O?

You may be right, but how can anyone answer that question with that detail?  Those "extras" are individually chosen, no?  Maybe you want a drink package, maybe you don't drink alcohol.  Maybe you're happy with ship's tours, maybe you want private tours.  Maybe you want a combination. If I were asking the question, I'd just want to know the base price for my cabin.  Beyond that, I'd have to calculate what I want to do. 

 

(Not that I'll ever take an ATW.  Our pets wouldn't stand for that!)

 

[jaxw17]

18 hours ago, ShopperfiendTO said:

 

I am guessing the question being asked is the total budget for an ATW (e.g., excursions, beverages, souvenirs, meals ashore), not just for the cabin.

 

The good thing is that on most ATWs, I think the tips are included, not just on O?

It was more around the total cost. i do appreciate that everyone does different thing. for instance on a cruise say of 14 nights with 10 ports we would do a mix of ships excursions and on our own. i have stopped buying a larger gifts and things years ago.

when I book a shorter cruise i factor in the cost of the cruise, the cash we will spend and money for trips etc . It just seems so much to multiply it by that amount of months.

This would be our choice of cruise line as i think they are fantastic.

So if I won £100,000 thats about $124,000 could i go and book.

Thanks for the replies. i cant wait to check in every night to see where you all are and once again thanks for posting.

[RJB]

38 minutes ago, jaxw17 said:

It was more around the total cost. i do appreciate that everyone does different thing. for instance on a cruise say of 14 nights with 10 ports we would do a mix of ships excursions and on our own. i have stopped buying a larger gifts and things years ago.

when I book a shorter cruise i factor in the cost of the cruise, the cash we will spend and money for trips etc . It just seems so much to multiply it by that amount of months.

This would be our choice of cruise line as i think they are fantastic.

So if I won £100,000 thats about $124,000 could i go and book.

Thanks for the replies. i cant wait to check in every night to see where you all are and once again thanks for posting.

You know the old saying....."If you have to ask than you can't afford it"   But it is a nice dream to have.  

[cbb]

take into account that on the ATW cruises you do get free laundry, internet, medical, gratuities, and a certain number of shorex.  Alcohol package could be included if you don't choose the shorex option

 

If you can limit yourself to the # of shorex that are "free" then your additional costs would only be purchases ashore and/or an onboard bar bill.   However.....(and isn't there always a 'however')

 

O has some wonderful opportunities in the Overland offerings that are ADDITIONAL costs; Taj Mahal, Angkor Wat, Beijing overnight, Machu Pichu, etc.  Even if you do those with private tours from the Rollcalls you still must pay for them!

 

 

Edited May 2, 2019 by cbb

[bob brown]

Captain announced at noon that we had taken a more southerly route through the Andaman Sea, before crossing the Bay of Bengal, to avoid Cyclone Fani.  He said we will still arrive Kochi on schedule.🙂

[jaxw17]

22 hours ago, RJB said:

You know the old saying....."If you have to ask than you can't afford it"   But it is a nice dream to have.  

Yes I know the saying i will dream for a bit longer. Satisfied at the moment dreaming along with the present company.