One piece of the marketing campaign.

[KS&JW]

 

[Jancruz]

Enjoyed this thanks for posting,

Jancruz1

[KS&JW]

I hope that Oceania does the touchless checkin that was shown as well.   Even before all of this I never liked Oceania's way of scanning your card while getting on and off the ship.  The Security person would always take it from you then hand it back.  I just sanitized my hands before getting on board and now I have to touch this card that was handled by someone who has handled hundreds of other cards.  It never seemed very sanitary before and now I really don't like that. 

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, KS&JW said:

I hope that Oceania does the touchless checkin that was shown as well.   Even before all of this I never liked Oceania's way of scanning your card while getting on and off the ship.  The Security person would always take it from you then hand it back. 

The last couple of cruises they just would hold up the scanner  & you stick your card in front of it

at least that was my experience

[KS&JW]

33 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

The last couple of cruises they just would hold up the scanner  & you stick your card in front of it

at least that was my experience

 I cruised in January 2020 and I would hold my card, barcode up, close to them and the handheld scanner and 90% of the time they would take it from my hand.  I supposed it depends on who is doing the scanning.  Glad to hear that going forward it will likely be touchless.  

[ORV]

For years I haven't let them take it. I hold it and have them scan it. Always made sense to me. Just like I never have did the handshake at the repeaters party. I hope no one's offended, but I just don't want to shake hands with people that have shook hands with everyone else. 

[pinotlover]

My only question, which will only be answered once cruising begins, is what happens when hundreds ignore their assigned boarding times, and show up at will between 10:00 and 12:00?

 
They have been conditioned for years that assigned boarding times don’t matter. I’ve witnessed many that show up to board before 09:00 and every one has Disembarked.

Edited April 19, 2021 by pinotlover

[Redtravel]

Most people will go along if they understand the procedure is meant to protect and make embarkation easier. Other lines do it and it works.  My favorite was on Azamara being given 3 pm checkin time. At first, it seemed rather late. I was wrong. Turns out it was perfect.  Got to take a long tour before embarkation.  Our baggage was picked up before the tour and delivered to our cabin.  Enjoyed a full day seeing the sights and arrived at the pier at our time.  Tour ended at the pier.  No waiting to embark. Agents checked us in and we immediately embarked.  Walked on and went directly to our cabin.  
After that I do not go to the ship early. Why wait on the pier or on the ship for your cabin to be available?   Assigning arrival times works if people are willing to go along.  
the only problem could be if Oceania Olife air with transfers drops lots of people at the ship way ahead of their checkin time.  Oceania could offer embarkation tours and arranged arrival times.  

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 hours ago, Redtravel said:

After that I do not go to the ship early. Why wait on the pier or on the ship for your cabin to be available?

People want their 'free lunch'!

[clo]

7 hours ago, Redtravel said:

Why wait on the pier or on the ship for your cabin to be available?  

I'm with you on that. Our last cruise was out of Rio on a Saturday. We did the typical Saturday lunch of feijoada with a couple of caipirinhas, boarded around 3 IIRC and crashed in our cabin. Had room service of a burger for dinner. A perfect start to a holiday.

[Redtravel]

9 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

People want their 'free lunch'!

Tour included a lunch stop.  

[ORV]

18 hours ago, clo said:

I'm with you on that. Our last cruise was out of Rio on a Saturday. We did the typical Saturday lunch of feijoada with a couple of caipirinhas, boarded around 3 IIRC and crashed in our cabin. Had room service of a burger for dinner. A perfect start to a holiday.

Sounds like you wasted your first day on board which you were probably paying $500 a day or more for. 

[Redtravel]

18 hours ago, clo said:

I'm with you on that. Our last cruise was out of Rio on a Saturday. We did the typical Saturday lunch of feijoada with a couple of caipirinhas, boarded around 3 IIRC and crashed in our cabin. Had room service of a burger for dinner. A perfect start to a holiday.

Sounds like you had a great day.  Having a day in port and checking in late are a good way to start a cruise.  Too often people rush to the ship early.  They wait to checkin, eat lunch, and wait again for cabins to be available.  By then, not much time to get out and see sights. You can always get food.  Room service 24/7.  

[clo]

21 minutes ago, ORV said:

Sounds like you wasted your first day on board which you were probably paying $500 a day or more for. 

What would we have done on the ship during that time?

[clo]

7 minutes ago, Redtravel said:

Sounds like you had a great day.  Having a day in port and checking in late are a good way to start a cruise.  Too often people rush to the ship early.  They wait to checkin, eat lunch, and wait again for cabins to be available.  By then, not much time to get out and see sights. You can always get food.  Room service 24/7.  

Yep. That's been our MO .

[ORV]

8 minutes ago, clo said:

What would we have done on the ship during that time?

I would have a drink or more. I would see about getting into one of the Specialties that night, as there are frequently openings on boarding day. We unpack our bags and organize our room to have it out of the way for the rest of trip before Muster drill. I'd have a cigar and another drink. If we didn't get a specialty we would eat in the MDR that night. We generally don't eat in the room unless we have at least a PH for room. Since I know the ships I wouldn't really spend any time exploring them, but if I was on a ship I hadn't been on before I would be exploring it. I might try to find some ice cream. 

 

To me there's a line between being one of the first lined up to get onboard and missing half of the first day on board. Since I don't wait to board(priority boarding) I just show up when it's convenient for me. This will probably change when they do assigned boarding times. If I had to sit and wait to be processed and board the ship no way I'd show up early. 

 

Everyone has to do what works for them, and I'm not opposed to touring the port town on embarkation day, I've done it many times myself. But, I'm not paying $500 to $1000 a night for a room/ ship experience to just sleep. But the beds are comfortable. 

[clo]

18 minutes ago, ORV said:

I would have a drink or more. I would see about getting into one of the Specialties that night, as there are frequently openings on boarding day. We unpack our bags and organize our room to have it out of the way for the rest of trip before Muster drill. I'd have a cigar and another drink. If we didn't get a specialty we would eat in the MDR that night. We generally don't eat in the room unless we have at least a PH for room. Since I know the ships I wouldn't really spend any time exploring them, but if I was on a ship I hadn't been on before I would be exploring it. I might try to find some ice cream. 

 

To me there's a line between being one of the first lined up to get onboard and missing half of the first day on board. Since I don't wait to board(priority boarding) I just show up when it's convenient for me. This will probably change when they do assigned boarding times. If I had to sit and wait to be processed and board the ship no way I'd show up early. 

 

Everyone has to do what works for them, and I'm not opposed to touring the port town on embarkation day, I've done it many times myself. But, I'm not paying $500 to $1000 a night for a room/ ship experience to just sleep. But the beds are comfortable. 

Well, I don't pay nearly that much on land but I also use the room for sleeping. So to me it's the same. And I'll be having that food for quite a while so I'd rather have 'ethnic' food on shore.

[ORV]

18 minutes ago, clo said:

Well, I don't pay nearly that much on land but I also use the room for sleeping. So to me it's the same. And I'll be having that food for quite a while so I'd rather have 'ethnic' food on shore.

They have ethnic food on the ship also. I do like local food, but I hate to pay for something I've already paid for. 

[clo]

3 minutes ago, ORV said:

I hate to pay for something I've already paid for. 

And I don't. I guess that the difference. Yeah, we had a Brazilian meal on the ship. I'm sure everyone loved it. I thought it had no flavor or texture.

 

[Tranquility Base]

One way to encourage passengers to turn up at their allocated afternoon check in time is to remove the embarkation lunch option.

 

The ports / countries will dictate what procedures are required to be undertaken on turn around day.

The crew workload on that day may be such that lunch is not possible.

 

Easy to justify based on new Covid health and safety protocols. 

[Redtravel]

1 hour ago, Tranquility Base said:

One way to encourage passengers to turn up at their allocated afternoon check in time is to remove the embarkation lunch option.

 

The ports / countries will dictate what procedures are required to be undertaken on turn around day.

The crew workload on that day may be such that lunch is not possible.

 

Easy to justify based on new Covid health and safety protocols. 

Please don’t suggest cutbacks. For some, the first day is hectic especially if they have been traveling far.  They may just want to get onboard, eat , and unwind.  There are options that work for everyone.  Taking away food service on embarkation would be a bad move.

[Tranquility Base]

2 hours ago, Redtravel said:

For some, the first day is hectic especially if they have been traveling far.

The health authorities at the port don't care about that.

They care that all their health procedures have been carried out to the required standard.

The cruise lines will also be very focused in making sure those standards are met or exceeded.

If the crew needs to be redeployed to accomplish this, something else may have to go.

 

If there are problems during a turnaround day the port could even mandate a turnaround overnight.

A possibility depending on a country's disembarking Covid testing requirements.

 

If you plan to cruise in the first few months of international passenger, multi-country itineraries many things will be different to what they were in 2019.

 

 

Edited April 20, 2021 by Tranquility Base

[clo]

8 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

One way to encourage passengers to turn up at their allocated afternoon check in time is to remove the embarkation lunch option.

 

Ooh, like that idea.

[DeanoNorthPerth]

13 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

One way to encourage passengers to turn up at their allocated afternoon check in time is to remove the embarkation lunch option.

 

That can work for those of us "common folk" but it might be difficult when dealing with those who pay the big $$$'s to be in suites. They can board much earlier than us.

[clo]

9 hours ago, DeanoNorthPerth said:

That can work for those of us "common folk" but it might be difficult when dealing with those who pay the big $$$'s to be in suites. They can board much earlier than us.

Well, give them a limited menu and a bottle of Champagne 🙂