New To Oceania With Questions

[Daniel A]

DW & I are considering booking a cruise next summer R/T New York to Bermuda.  We are looking at the Vista Suites but have a few questions we couldn't find answers to on Oceania's web site.

 

The ship would be Insignia, and it appears that there are only 4 Vista Suites onboard.  They all appear to be on the bow with the balconies forward facing.  Does anybody know if those balconies are suitable while the ship is underway?

 

Does anybody know if the casino stays open while docked in Bermuda?  I have read elsewhere that Bermuda permits cruise ships to open their casinos at night.

 

With the OLIFE option can you opt out of the air for a reduced price?  (We live in NY so we wont need air travel.)

 

With OLIFE, can you upgrade the beverage package to the Prestige Select for a reduced amount?

 

Where would the cruise depart from in New York? (Manhattan, Brooklyn or Bayonne?)

 

Any other helpful ideas are welcome!

 

 

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, Daniel A said:

DW & I are considering booking a cruise next summer R/T New York to Bermuda.  We are looking at the Vista Suites but have a few questions we couldn't find answers to on Oceania's web site.

 

The ship would be Insignia, and it appears that there are only 4 Vista Suites onboard.  They all appear to be on the bow with the balconies forward facing.  Does anybody know if those balconies are suitable while the ship is underway?

 

Does anybody know if the casino stays open while docked in Bermuda?  I have read elsewhere that Bermuda permits cruise ships to open their casinos at night.

 

With the OLIFE option can you opt out of the air for a reduced price?  (We live in NY so we wont need air travel.)

 

With OLIFE, can you upgrade the beverage package to the Prestige Select for a reduced amount?

 

Where would the cruise depart from in New York? (Manhattan, Brooklyn or Bayonne?)

 

Any other helpful ideas are welcome!

 

 

Oceania ships have a casino? (Just kidding)

You can do O Life and take an air credit.

The O Life booze can be upgraded to Prestige for $20/person/day.

Usual NY Port is West side Manhattan.

 

FWIW, I hope you used a TA who is a top seller of Oceania and is, at least, covering your gratuities (but preferably also sharing commissions).

 

BTW, the best Oceania cruises (for the complete experience) are the long ones (at least 3+ weeks)

Edited August 27, 2020 by Flatbush Flyer

[Daniel A]

15 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

BTW, the best Oceania cruises (for the complete experience) are the long ones (at least 3+ weeks)

At this point we're only considering cruises that don't require a plane or a train...  Short trip to the West Side for us.  

 

How would they figure out the air credit?

 

We haven't booked yet.  At this point, we are doing our due diligence.

 

Our next step would be to contact a TA to get a quote.

[LHT28]

Oceania  air is not part of the O Life  

You can take the air off for  a discounted price  usually about $400 pp   but  in the "New Oceania" it may be different

 

If you take the O life perk  yes you can upgrade   both parties must  take the same perk but  both parties do not have to upgrade  unless you want to

I would  do the math  to see if it is worth taking the O life perk vs  cruise only & pay as you go  for drinks

 

Usually the ship leave from Manhattan pier 88

Cannot recall if the casino was open in Bermuda or not hopefully someone will have the answer

 

 

 

[LHT28]

7 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

How would they figure out the air credit?

 

 

 Ask the TA to quote  without  air  also with & without the O life perk

 

[Hawaiidan]

Well...... if you like wind... Vista is for you...  Lets see, the ship sails at 15-18 kts  about 25 miles an hour   then to that ships try to sail into the wind ... lets say its a modest 10 to 12 mph...  Bingo you have  35-40 mph blowing direct on you.     Many times underway crew will tie down the furniture.

My experience...... its the windiest place on the ship   Great view  but for me only usable when not underway.

[ORV]

The North American air credit that I've seen in the last year or so has been about $250. 

 

Don't quote me on this but I believe that Norwegian is one of the companies that has an agreement with the Bermuda government to keep the casinos on the ships open. I don't know if that extends to Oceania but they are both under the same parent company. 

[Noxequifans]

We have twice been on that Bermuda cruise from NY. The Vista suites do have an issue when the ship is moving forward ...  our butler said the furniture is then tied down because of the wind.  Also the view was not attractive for us as it overlooked various ship equipment below on the deck. We found the Owners suites aft (rear) meets our needs. 

[Paulchili]

7 minutes ago, Noxequifans said:

Also the view was not attractive for us as it overlooked various ship equipment below on the deck.

Don't you also have to close the curtains at night so the light from your cabin does not interfere with the bridge?

[Twiga]

I do not recommend the Vista Suite for your NY/Bermuda cruise.  In my prior experience with sailing from NY to Bermuda the weather was bad and the seas were extremely rough. You would not be able to use the veranda.  Also, the motion at the very front of the ship is greater than farther back.  Even in fairly good weather there may still be too much wind to enjoy the veranda, as HawaiiDan pointed out.  

[Mura]

We were in a VS on Insignia back in June 2006 on an Iceland cruise and don't recall a problem with using the veranda, but given the cool weather (and the port intensive cruise) we probably did NOT try to use it.  We've been Visas on Marina several times and again did not perceive the wind problems others mention. My memory could well be faulty!

 

Yes, you have to be careful to turn all lights off (and make sure the curtains are closed) because these suites are forward.  The only time we had a problem in this respect was on Marina when the housekeeping staff didn't quite close the curtains in the living room.  We received a call asking us to turn off the deck lights but they were not on. ( I often have said that you need a Ph.D. in light switches when in a suite on Marina/Riviera.)

 

As to the departure port, there was one -- ONLY one -- cruise a couple of years ago (maybe three) where at the last minute the port was changed from Manhattan to Brooklyn.  Not everyone got the message in a timely fashion ... But that was only one time as far as I know.

 

Others have told you that you can get a credit (not a great one recently) if you opt out of the "free" air.  It depends on the route.  Being in NYC we usually book our own air, but on a few occasions we have used O's air.  These days we prefer biz class which is prohibitively more expensive on O that doing it on your own.  On one or two cruises O offered PE at a reasonable price which we did use.  Not that such would be pertinent to a Bermuda cruise from NY!

 

 

 

 

[Flatbush Flyer]

OP: lots of overgeneralized answers about the air credit. The amount depends on the embarkation port. If in the US, it could be $250-400 pp. If intercontinental (for US resident), it could be $1500+\- pp.

It's easy to figure out: On the O website, pick the O Life fare for your preferred cabin. On the next screen, there's a choice of with or without air. If you select "no air," your preferred cabin will now show a lower price. The difference from first to second page prices is the air credit pp.

[Flatbush Flyer]

42 minutes ago, Mura said:

We were in a VS on Insignia back in June 2006 on an Iceland cruise and don't recall a problem with using the veranda, but given the cool weather (and the port intensive cruise) we probably did NOT try to use it.  We've been Visas on Marina several times and again did not perceive the wind problems others mention. My memory could well be faulty!

 

Yes, you have to be careful to turn all lights off (and make sure the curtains are closed) because these suites are forward.  The only time we had a problem in this respect was on Marina when the housekeeping staff didn't quite close the curtains in the living room.  We received a call asking us to turn off the deck lights but they were not on. ( I often have said that you need a Ph.D. in light switches when in a suite on Marina/Riviera.)

 

As to the departure port, there was one -- ONLY one -- cruise a couple of years ago (maybe three) where at the last minute the port was changed from Manhattan to Brooklyn.  Not everyone got the message in a timely fashion ... But that was only one time as far as I know.

 

Others have told you that you can get a credit (not a great one recently) if you opt out of the "free" air.  It depends on the route.  Being in NYC we usually book our own air, but on a few occasions we have used O's air.  These days we prefer biz class which is prohibitively more expensive on O that doing it on your own.  On one or two cruises O offered PE at a reasonable price which we did use.  Not that such would be pertinent to a Bermuda cruise from NY!

 

 

 

 

Yes - NEVER NEVER NEVER use O's bizclass. Even their air department will tell you to NOT do it. Why? You must have taken the O Air to get a bizclass quote and if you take the offer you are not credited the value of the economy tix for which you've paid. In essence, you end up buying two airfares per person.

 

We NEVER take O air. Instead, we mix the air credit with our own FF points plus cash balance and DIY bizclass.

 

FWIW: Had we booked air with O for this past February Cape Town - Singapore (that ended up going to Dubai), itvwoukd've been nice to have them doing the air rebooking for us. BUT, more than one person told us that their O rebook got screwed up. So, I'm glad that I still believe that "if you want something done right, do it yourself."

So, why then do we use TAs for the bookings? Actually we make almost all our bookings onboard and then transfer to a TA. In that way, we make all the upfront choices/decisions and then do the transfer to get the TA added perks.

[orchestrapal]

13 hours ago, Hawaiidan said:

Well...... if you like wind... Vista is for you...  Lets see, the ship sails at 15-18 kts  about 25 miles an hour   then to that ships try to sail into the wind ... lets say its a modest 10 to 12 mph...  Bingo you have  35-40 mph blowing direct on you.     Many times underway crew will tie down the furniture.

My experience...... its the windiest place on the ship   Great view  but for me only usable when not underway.

IN additIon the two  Vistas on deck 6 get  any and all noise from the stage right below them. Rehearsals in the afternoon and then you would be treated to the even louder version in the evening.

Edited August 28, 2020 by orchestrapal

[ORV]

Just in case the jet flew over some heads; the OP does not need air of any type, whether DIY or Oceania. They'll be driving to the port. Only discussion concerning air here to avoid confusion should be about the air credit. 

[tooleman56]

We recently booked the July 16 cruise. We live in Pennsylvania and always drive to the Manhattan Cruise Terminal. The air credit for this itinerary was $350 per person.

[Flatbush Flyer]

32 minutes ago, ORV said:

Just in case the jet flew over some heads; the OP does not need air of any type, whether DIY or Oceania. They'll be driving to the port. Only discussion concerning air here to avoid confusion should be about the air credit. 

I disagree. Many who follow CC threads, particularly Oceania ones, are geezers like me who (for a variety of reasons) prefer bizclass. Knowing the O policy about bizclass adds a necessary dimension to the explanation of O air for OP and/or in reply to other posts that mention air cabin classes.

It's just a matter of time before someone asks how the policy applies to Premium Economy. That's why it's called a "forum."

In any case, if one additional/important piece of information "confuses" someone, they've got bigger problems than understanding cruise ship policies.

So, once again: If anyone is wondering about taking the air credit vs the air tix, and you're wondering how the option of bizclass works, NEVER NEVER take the O bizclass add-on.

[ORV]

1 minute ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

I disagree. Many who follow CC threads, particularly Oceania ones, are geezers like me who (for a variety of reasons) prefer bizclass. Knowing the O policy about bizclass adds a necessary dimension to the explanation of O air for OP and/or in reply to other posts that mention air cabin classes.

It's just a matter of time before someone asks how the policy applies to Premium Economy. That's why it's called a "forum."

In any case, if one additional/important piece of information "confuses" someone, they've got bigger problems than understanding cruise ship policies.

So, once again: If anyone is wondering about taking the air credit vs the air tix, and you're wondering how the option of bizclass works, NEVER NEVER take the O bizclass add-on.

Still has nothing to do with the question the OP asked, and just clutters up the thread, pretty much like I'm doing now. So we'll just disagree. 

 

I do agree that it's good information, just that no one asked for it here. 

[Daniel A]

1 hour ago, tooleman56 said:

We recently booked the July 16 cruise. We live in Pennsylvania and always drive to the Manhattan Cruise Terminal. The air credit for this itinerary was $350 per person.

Do you recall how much parking cost?

 

The airfare information might be helpful if we keep sailing with Oceania. 

 

Thanks to everyone responding.  You are all so helpful.👍

Edited August 28, 2020 by Daniel A

[Flatbush Flyer]

14 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

Do you recall how much parking cost?

 

The airfare information might be helpful if we keep sailing with Oceania. 

 

Thanks to everyone responding.  You are all so helpful.👍

For local parking in that area, I'm guess at least $40/day with a max stay limit. 

If you do decide to use a parking lot, make sure that, when you return, the battery in your car is still the same one as before you parked 👀

(I ❤️ NY)

[njhorseman]

33 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

Do you recall how much parking cost?

 

The airfare information might be helpful if we keep sailing with Oceania. 

 

Thanks to everyone responding.  You are all so helpful.👍

 

14 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

For local parking in that area, I'm guess at least $40/day with a max stay limit. 

If you do decide to use a parking lot, make sure that, when you return, the battery in your car is still the same one as before you parked 👀

(I ❤️ NY)

Yes, $40 per night with a maximum charge of $400 for up to 14 nights. The price includes all taxes. There's no additional charge for SUVs , vans or pick up trucks, unlike most garages and lots in the city. Payment is due upon entry, by cash, Visa, or MasterCard only. 

 

Flatbush Flyer...I've parked there more times than I can count and i would say it's about the safest place to park in NY City. The lots are on the roofs, or rooves if you prefer, of the cruise terminal buildings and there's no access to the lots on days when ships are not arriving or departing. It's self parking, so you lock the car and take your key, unlike most garages and lots in NYC, which hold the keys because they have to be able to jockey the cars.

[Flatbush Flyer]

4 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

...

Flatbush Flyer...I've parked there more times than I can count and i would say it's about the safest place to park in NY City. The lots are on the roofs, or rooves if you prefer, of the cruise terminal buildings and there's no access to the lots on days when ships are not arriving or departing. It's self parking, so you lock the car and take your key, unlike most garages and lots in NYC, which hold the keys because they have to be able to jockey the cars.

I know it's safe.

Just reminiscing about the spate of battery switching ripoffs in midtown building parking lots a few years back.

[Daniel A]

I think you have all talked me into a car service.  If I'm going to spend that much, I might as well let someone else do the driving!

[njhorseman]

1 minute ago, Daniel A said:

I think you have all talked me into a car service.  If I'm going to spend that much, I might as well let someone else do the driving!

We both drive and use car service, with the decision normally depending on the economics, but sometimes weather is the deciding factor. This won't affect you on a summer Bermuda cruise, but in the winter I now take a car service even if it is more expensive just to avoid the possibility of coming home to find my car buried in snow...which has happened to us in the open-air lots at both the NY and Bayonne cruise terminals.

 

One down side to taking a car service...it will take you longer to get into the car and on your way home upon disembarkation. The cars services can't wait anywhere in the terminal so they have to wait on the surrounding side streets. Most car services tell you that when you disembark and have cleared customs/immigration you call the car service dispatcher to let them know you're ready to be picked up. If you happen to be returning on a busy day with multiple ships in port NY City police often don't permit the car services to enter the terminal complex at all and you have to cross 12th Ave. to be picked up on the northbound side of the avenue or on a side street. It's a real pain when that happens. 

 

On the other hand when you park at the terminal it's a quick elevator ride to the rooftop lot and you're on your way home a couple of minutes after clearing customs.

[Flatbush Flyer]

4 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

One down side to taking a car service...it will take you longer to get into the car and on your way home upon disembarkation. The cars services can't wait anywhere in the terminal so they have to wait on the surrounding side streets. Most car services tell you that when you disembark and have cleared customs/immigration you call the car service dispatcher to let them know you're ready to be picked up. If you happen to be returning on a busy day with multiple ships in port NY City police often don't permit the car services to enter the terminal complex at all and you have to cross 12th Ave. to be picked up on the northbound side of the avenue or on a side street. It's a real pain when that happens. 

Ain't that the truth. What a mess that can be.

 

Another item worth mentioning - even when you live close enough to easily/quickly drive to a cruise or air port- is to think about staying overnight(s) "close in" before air or cruise travel.

 

Here's a pic worth its weight in gold as a lesson about always having precruise time buffers: 

We were waiting for our driver to transport us to SFO for a same day transpacific flight. He often crosses this bridge for the trip. Fortunately, that day, he came from a different bridge. Traffic on the pictured bridge was held up for several hours due to falling concrete from roadbed above.