Eddie Ireland

Thanks!

Hi All,

I'm travelling on OTS on Monday out of Civitavecchia Port. Boarding time is 12:30. I was planning on being parked up in the port at 11:30, giving me an hour to play with. 

Is there any reason I would need to be there earlier, like in airports for example they tell you to arrive 2 or 3 hours early for check in and all that. I've already checked in online and have my set sail pass.

Any update, I'm intrigued?

18 minutes ago, GatorCruiser said:

Try harder 

Man, I'm going to have to cancel all the shore excursions at this rate!

47 minutes ago, twangster said:

Just twice?

A day

Now im wondering is it possible to try every drink they serve on the boat twice.

Well shit, this just keeps getting better! The drinks package was actually pretty cheap too, €40 per person per day. I called them up to see if they could give me a deal and they said they had a special offer on for Europe. 

Final question, let's just say this friend of mine wanted to make it a double and he had a tip, is that also cool? Or do I need to keep ordering a another drink everytime. Shit, I mean my friend, will he have to order seperate drinks.

From the second i get on!? Whoo-we! I've never been on a cruise, now that it's getting close I'm starting to get excited about this whole all you can eat and drink malarkey. 

And let's just say you wanted to kick start your day and have a drink with breakfast... is that cool? Asking for a friend .....

Like, can I order a drink once I'm checked in and got to my room, or do you have to wait until it sets sail for the cruise to officially begin?

I'm sailing on Oddessy in September. I called up on the phone and got it for €42 when booking the cruise. She said that's only for European customers though, which I thought was odd.

I love to get dressed up. Any excuse to put on a suit. How do I know how many formal nights are on the cruise and when? I can't seem to find any info about it on the cruise planner. 

4 hours ago, YOLO said:

I think there is confusion between pre-paying gratuities (before you cruise) and pay as you go gratuities (during the cruise) on a day-by-day basis.  The 18% auto-pay gratuities are required by everyone, unless you argue against it.  And arguing against it is a whole other story and probably a whole different thread.

I'm a newbie so maybe I'm mixing it up, but to me it didn't seem like the prepaid gratuities were required at all. I was asked would I like to, I asked what's the best way, what's the benefits of prepay etc. And the person advised me there was no need to sign up to the prepaid gratuities at all if I'd rather pay on board.

A further question while on this topic. I did decide to go for the prepay option. But how will the person serving me know that I have already paid the tips? Or will the staff just not know who has paid tips at all so it seems to them like you are only tipping on the occasions when you are giving an extra on board tip in addition to the prepay?

4 hours ago, CruiseGus said:

Some of the mix and even sometime the drink of the day are pre mixed in bottles.  In almost every case the Liquor is added.

What I have noticed, since capacity has started to increase is that almost inclusive tip or not most bartenders are watching there pours more carefully.  I have even seen some, at least from my viewpoint (i could be wrong) not even fill the jigger completely. 

I think that throughout the fleet there is more emphasis on controlling costs in the beverage area

I've never been on a cruise so I don't know, but is it possible to order double's when you have the unlimited drinks package? That might help to get around the small measures of alcohol they are using. I live in Ireland, here our shots are 37.5ml at a minimum and I always drink doubles so I'm used to 75ml per drink. I'll be all day trying to get my buzz on with crappy little measures.

According to the online cruise planner we will be in Athens on 22/09 and Santorini on the 23/09.

However, when I check the port schedule for Athens it says Odyssey of the Seas is not booked into port until the 23/09 and the port schedule for Santorini says Odyssey of the Seas is booked in for 22/09.

So either RC are wrong, or the port schedule is wrong. My problem is that I am booking shore excursions externally from local operators and I'm hiring a car from a local operator, so I need to be sure that if RC says we are in Athens on 22/09 and Santorini on the 23/09 that we are actually there for those dates because I'll have rental cars / bikes paid for. 

I spoke with a guy from RC on the phone and he told me the RC itinerary is up to date and correct and that there must be a problem with the port schedules website, but he doesn't fill me with confidence. 

Have any of you ever experienced this?

Regards,

Eddie

I didn't know there was an app until I saw your reply. That's handy, my check in opens August 5th. Thank you both.

On 6/25/2022 at 9:26 PM, WAAAYTOOO said:

A lot depends on how many “extra” people we’re talking about.  Of course, @Mattis correct…the official answer is “no”, but if you are just looking to have 1-2 people join you for a show, my guess is that you will be accommodated.  More than that ?  It would put the Genie in a very uncomfortable position of having to really bend the rules.  Don’t be “that guy”.

From my experience, when you ask the Genie this question, he/she will recite you official policy and tell you that only Star Class passengers will be entitled to SC amenities.  They will never put anything in writing or even over the phone, that contradicts official policy.  But when you speak with them personally, they will let you know what they can and cannot do for you and the other passengers.  My experience has been that the reserved seating for an extra person or 2 has never been a problem.  
 

Regarding food and drinks in the suite - this will not be a problem.  More likely than not, you will have waaay more food and beverages in your suite than you and 25 people could ever consume.  We have yet to be in SC when we did not have to tell them to STOP with the food and drinks !  It just keeps coming and coming and coming !  They do not care who comes to your suite nor what they eat or drink. I have had as many as 35 people in the suite for which food and beverages were provided.  You do NOT need to worry about this one…

I agree with @twangster.  Leave the bears at home.  They will be constantly trying to climb on the railings of the balcony and are likely to scare your neighbors.  . …and the tip you would have to give your suite attendants for cleaning up after them would be prohibitive.

You can fit 35 people in a suite and have enough booze for them!? Jesus Christ, how big are the suites? Also, are any of you fancy pants suite people cruising on Oddessy of the Seas in September... me and my wife are great fun at parties when invited  

I'm sailing on 19th September. I can't check in yet, is that normal. How far ahead do they usually start allowing you to check in?

It's my first cruise so apologies if it's a stupid question. Thanks for any info.

Hi All,

I'm doing a Greek Isles cruise for 10 days in September with my wife. We are 35, quite used to travelling but it's our first cruise. I don't think I would enjoy the group excursions because firstly, they don't seem like good value for money and secondly I prefer the freedom of planning things myself, so we will opt to do our own thing on most port days.

After considering different ways around navigating Mykonos and Santorini I thought to myself that renting a quad would be a great way to be independent and see what we want in addition to being time efficient and not having to deal with getting local taxi's / busses etc. 

Has any body else done it this way before? Would you recommend?

@FionaMG - thanks very much for taking the time to do this. I appreciate the effort. I'm doing this exact cruise with my wife in September, it will be our first cruise and I got lots of useful information from this. Thanks again.

Thanks for this, my wife and I are taking our motorhome to Italy for 2 months in August, Cinque Terre is on our list. We are going to stop in La Spieza for a few days and do the full hike. It's nice to see the pictures and hear good feedback.

I'm on the Oddessy of the Seas for 10 nights in September. I got the drinks package for €43 per day, however, I called them to book the cruise and pretended like I was questioning whether I could afford the cruise along with all the drinks etc. and then the person offered to include the drinks package half price. If you want to book it online now it's around $90. 

A friend of mine told me that's how he always does it. Might be worth giving it a go next time.

Wow, all of yours seem very expensive in comparison to mine. I'm paying €42 per day for my deluxe drinks package. Leaving on 19/09/22 from Rome to the Greek Isles. 

I got that rate after I called the company to book they cruise and they added it to the rate. When I look at the online offer, it's a lot more expensive.