mrsfish Posted February 5, 2009 #1 Share Posted February 5, 2009 I know it is impossible to predict, but for those who have been on this route in early Spring, is this a good time for a cruise such as this? I think this is a repositioning cruise for Nautica. We are currently in a starboard room midship on deck 6. Any thoughts about that vs. portside on this route? What about being near the stairs/elevators vs. 5 cabins further back? We have never been on a small ship like Oceania and in fact have not cruised except for several times in past years around the Caribbean. We are more into adventure travel (husband and I camped by ourselves for 6 weeks around Namibia and Botswana last year). and I am looking forward to having someone wait on me for a change! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Druke I Posted February 5, 2009 #2 Share Posted February 5, 2009 There are no guarantees re weather and/or sea state. Way back in Nov 86, on the little Golden Odyssey (a 10,000 tonner), we hit the back end of a typhoon between Hong Kong and Manila. We had green water over the bridge, screws out of the water, and inclinometer pegged several times. It was quite rough. On the flip side, Mar 01, on Regal Princess (a 70,000 tonner), same general area, waters were quite smooth. Being near stairways/elevators on the R-class ships can be quite handy. I don't think there is any advantage to being on side or the other - you are usually far enough out to sea to not see an awful lot, and you never know how they are going to tie up at the pier/wharf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chlomo Posted February 5, 2009 #3 Share Posted February 5, 2009 we did the same cruise in 2007 and had great weather and calm seas . The temperatures for most of the ports of call were in the 80's or above . Out of 35 days only one or two days of rain. You are going to have a great time on Oceania and that is a fantastic cruise. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shedridt Posted February 6, 2009 #4 Share Posted February 6, 2009 As a great friend of mine said, "everything's going to be all right, I'm afraid..." And so it will be with your voyage. If you let it all go you will never sleep so soundly as you did in a rough sea...& if you get all wired up about it...poor you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsfish Posted February 6, 2009 Author #5 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Thanks for the encouragement chlomo! I think shedridt misunderstood my asking about the weather. I am not so concerned about seasickness as what the weather would be when planning shore excursions. Was hoping it would not be getting into the monsoon season! Druke I you sure had a rough sea! We are sooo excited to see some of the ports on this itinerary. Anyone out there who has any pointers about port must sees are appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CintiPam Posted February 6, 2009 #6 Share Posted February 6, 2009 We are currently in a starboard room midship on deck 6. Any thoughts about that vs. portside on this route? What about being near the stairs/elevators vs. 5 cabins further back? We have never been on a small ship like Oceania and in fact have not cruised except for several times in past years around the Caribbean. ...:) We had our first-ever cruise in a cabin right by the fore elevators/stairs on Deck Six in September on Nautica. I am very noise-sensitive and never heard a thing. It's a very convenient location. lIn fact, one day when I returned to the cabin I was very concerned because a gentleman was having a cellphone conversation right by our cabin door but I did not hear him at all when I was in the cabin. Enjoy your trip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussie Gal Posted February 7, 2009 #7 Share Posted February 7, 2009 mrsfish, We did that very same cruise last year in 2008 and it was the best cruise we have ever done. From the moment we boarded the Nautica in Hong Kong until we left the ship in Athens, every day was a bonus. We had the calmest of seas, the warmest weather without any rain, a lovely ship and the best bunch of cruisers you would ever want to meet. Be prepared for warm to hot weather. We didn't need anything other than the coolest of clothes. Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur were all hot and humid, and the rest of the ports were hot and dry. We did three wonderful excursions which will live in our memory forever. They were the 3 day/2 night excursion to Agra and the Taj Mahal. The 2 day/1 night excursion to Luxor and the one day excursion from Port Said to Cairo. We had a Starboard verandah cabin on deck 7 (we were number 3 on the waitlist for a PH but it didn't clear) and we soon got used to our home away from home. The Starboard was the best side for us and the only time that we felt we were on the wrong side was when we were going up the Suez Canal. The rest of the time is was fantastic. We were close to the Aft stairs and we were very happy with that position. If you tend to get seasick, then I would go for the centre but if you are a good sailor then you don't need to be in the middle of the ship. As I mentioned above, even crossing the Bay of Bengal we had calm seas. All the cyclones seemed to happen a day after we had been in the area. We were just blessed. If you have any questions I will be happy to answer them. You have made a very wise choice in your itinerary and ship. By the way, that cruise books up months in advance. After our final payment, Oceania was offering great incentives to people to cancel as they had so many guarantees which they needed to fill. Jennie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meow! Posted February 7, 2009 #8 Share Posted February 7, 2009 By the way, that cruise books up months in advance. After our final payment, Oceania was offering great incentives to people to cancel as they had so many guarantees which they needed to fill.In the present economic tsunami, this is no longer true. The April, 2009 voyage still has plenty of empty cabins now, and the April, 2010 voyage is still close to being empty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussie Gal Posted February 7, 2009 #9 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Meow, How lucky for those that are going this year. Maybe the price will drop and they will get a bargain! We have been lucky with our cruise in 3 weeks, we were able to take advantage of the decrease in price. Jennie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meow! Posted February 7, 2009 #10 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Good for you, and I hope they treat your A$ kindly. As from another thread, Silversea treats the GBP kindly http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=18052903#post18052903 (see copied and pasted below) I don't know whether Oceania will also be more welcoming to foreign markets now that their ships are no longer full. ----------------------------- "We have in the past always booked our SS cruises via a TA in the USA as the cruise prices un US$ were always cheaper than in British Pound. No longer! With the current decline of the Pound, SS's prices for a 2009 cruise we are looking at are about 25% cheaper than in US$ terms. The difference for a 2010 cruise on the new ship is about 17%. I have not compared what SS charges in Euro." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chlomo Posted February 7, 2009 #11 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Mrsfish whatever you do do not miss the excursion to petra/wadi rum in jordan! it was a fantastic day that ended with a feast in the desert under the stars. brilliant chlomo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsfish Posted February 8, 2009 Author #12 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Aussie Gal, Thanks for all of the great information! We will definitely look into all those excursions. My husband is particularily interested in Petra as that is a new place for him. He has been to Luxor and is also looking forward to showing me that area. Did you find the Taj Mahal trip through the ship or did you do an independent booking? You confirmed my starboard stateroom too vs. port side. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussie Gal Posted February 8, 2009 #13 Share Posted February 8, 2009 mrsfish, We had the most wonderful day in Wadi Rum and Petra. I organized a private tour for 12 of the members of our Roll Call and it was one of the best days ever. We were fortunate in that we went to Wadi Rum first and Petra after lunch. The ship's excursion did it the other way around and they found huge crowds at Petra and a dust storm in the afternoon ruined their dinner at Wadi Rum. Whereas when we got to Petra all the crowds had gone and of course we didn't have any dust storm! We did the Taj Mahal with the ship. It was impossible to try and do it privately and it was so well organized that I would do it again with the ship. We flew from Goa directly into Agra and from Agra directly back to Mumbai on a chartered plane. There were about 120 of us and we all had a wonderful experience. Agra is extremely hot and dusty but there is so much to see in that city and the surrounding area. Ask any questions, I will be only too happy to answer. Jennie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pandora1958 Posted April 25, 2009 #14 Share Posted April 25, 2009 Seems we have TWO sites for this cruise and TWO different dates. Can we all get together? I'll post this on the April 9, 2010 site too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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