Tape Delayed Coverage from Riviera, November 9 to 19, 2023, Italian Artistry and Turkish Icons

[cruiserchuck]

Rather than continuing to hijack @Sthrngary’s thread, I decided to start my own thread on our Riviera cruise, Italian Artistry and Turkish Icons, November 9 through 19, 2023.  The cruise started in Athens, and we are making stops in Kavala, Istanbul (overnight), Messina, Naples, Civitavecchia, Livorno, Marseille, and ending in Barcelona.

 

This is our first big post-Covid trip, and we were inspired to go back to Naples after visiting the Getty Villa about six months ago.  We have been to Naples twice before, visiting Pompeii the first time, and Herculaneum the second time.  We wanted to return to Naples to visit the National Archeological Museum, which displays many items found at Pompeii.

 

Like many others on this board, we are refugees from Celebrity.  Celebrity has  been our primary cruise line for many years, especially on European cruises.  We sailed with Oceania once before, on the Marina to South America in 2014.  Although we enjoyed our Oceania trip, we did not feel at that time that it was worth the premium over Aqua class on Celebrity.

 

Since we had not cruised for almost 4 years, we no longer had a preferred TA.  We found a new one on a site that lets TAs compete for your business.  In May, when I started to look at cruises that stopped in Naples, Oceania was having its Extraordinary Savings Sale, and was advertising an A3 cabin for $1,999 per person, lower than a concierge cabin would have been on a similar cruise on Celebrity.  The TA we chose advised us that the $1,999 advertised rate included $300 of onboard credit that we would be paying $300 for.  Following the TAs advice, we opted out of paying for onboard credit.  

 

So it was a no-brainer to go with Oceania at a rate of $1,699 per person.  Our TA also provided a generous amount of OBC.   We generally do not take ship tours, and do not drink much alcohol, so we were pleased that we were able to book under Oceania’s promotion that excluded those items.  We were also able to book award travel in coach on American Airlines for relatively few miles.   
 

So for us, we consider this cruise as experiencing extraordinary sights with an extraordinary deal on Oceania.

 

To be continued.

[Vallesan]

5 hours ago, cruiserchuck said:

Rather than continuing to hijack @Sthrngary’s thread, I decided to start my own thread on our Riviera cruise, Italian Artistry and Turkish Icons, November 9 through 19, 2023.  The cruise started in Athens, and we are making stops in Kavala, Istanbul (overnight), Messina, Naples, Civitavecchia, Livorno, Marseille, and ending in Barcelona.

 

This is our first big post-Covid trip, and we were inspired to go back to Naples after visiting the Getty Villa about six months ago.  We have been to Naples twice before, visiting Pompeii the first time, and Herculaneum the second time.  We wanted to return to Naples to visit the National Archeological Museum, which displays many items found at Pompeii.

 

Like many others on this board, we are refugees from Celebrity.  Celebrity has  been our primary cruise line for many years, especially on European cruises.  We sailed with Oceania once before, on the Marina to South America in 2014.  Although we enjoyed our Oceania trip, we did not feel at that time that it was worth the premium over Aqua class on Celebrity.

 

Since we had not cruised for almost 4 years, we no longer had a preferred TA.  We found a new one on a site that lets TAs compete for your business.  In May, when I started to look at cruises that stopped in Naples, Oceania was having its Extraordinary Savings Sale, and was advertising an A3 cabin for $1,999 per person, lower than a concierge cabin would have been on a similar cruise on Celebrity.  The TA we chose advised us that the $1,999 advertised rate included $300 of onboard credit that we would be paying $300 for.  Following the TAs advice, we opted out of paying for onboard credit.  

 

So it was a no-brainer to go with Oceania at a rate of $1,699 per person.  Our TA also provided a generous amount of OBC.   We generally do not take ship tours, and do not drink much alcohol, so we were pleased that we were able to book under Oceania’s promotion that excluded those items.  We were also able to book award travel in coach on American Airlines for relatively few miles.   
 

So for us, we consider this cruise as experiencing extraordinary sights with an extraordinary deal on Oceania.

 

To be continued.

That is an amazing price! Our first Oceania was a promotion and we have been hooked ever since!

Enjoy your cruise.

Edited November 13, 2023 by Vallesan

[Gracie115]

10 hours ago, cruiserchuck said:

    We wanted to return to Naples to visit the National Archeological Museum, which displays many items found at Pompeii.

 

 

 

Oh... you will be amazed at the National Archeological Museum.  Our 1st visit to Naples was also to Pompeii and the 2nd one we spent the morning at Herculaneum and the afternoon at the museum.  It was a wonderful day.  

 

Looking forward to your thoughts on the rest of your cruise.  We too are sailing Oceania next month as an alternative to Celebrity.  

[MEFIowa]

On 11/13/2023 at 4:54 AM, cruiserchuck said:

... Oceania was having its Extraordinary Savings Sale, and was advertising an A3 cabin for $1,999 per person, lower than a concierge cabin would have been on a similar cruise on Celebrity.  The TA we chose advised us that the $1,999 advertised rate included $300 of onboard credit that we would be paying $300 for.  Following the TAs advice, we opted out of paying for onboard credit. So it was a no-brainer to go with Oceania at a rate of $1,699 per person.  Our TA also provided a generous amount of OBC....

Though we did the B2B on Riviera from 10/30-11/19 and used the ESS for both, upgrading from previous sales we had used for the cruise. Our A3, the first 10 nights in Cabin 9129, cost just $1899 PP and we got $300 SBC plus an additional $125 OBC for missing Venice and getting Trieste instead. Then our B3, the 2nd 10 nights in cabin 7036, cost $1749 PP. And we got an additional $300 OB. We used the OBC to (1) pay our gratuities and (2) purchase 3 O excursions (Split, Kavala (Philippi), and Messina (Taormina).

 

That ESS was amazing!