Jumping Ship!

Yes, after many voyages on Viking Cruise Line and continued disenchantment with guest services from same, we have decided to experience another small, luxury cruise line – Oceania. It will be the first time we have worked with a travel agent in years. Generally, we prefer to do all our own booking, direct with the vendors. Our new agent is a participant in the Virtuoso program. This program often provides additional perks, such as pre-paid gratuities and on-board credits. It’s been a bit of a tug and pull relationship so far. We prefer to do most of our communications in writing. We’ve asked several questions which have not been answered. We’ve had to repeatedly refer to past emails and re-ask our questions in an attempt to get the answers so we can make decisions. Not exactly the level of guest services we are used to.

But. we are excited to partake of this new experience. We’ve chosen a bow-facing cabin, located on the deck below the bridge, on a concierge level. This level of travel provides us with a few perks, including free WiFi, priority boarding, champagne welcome and more. There is a choice of complimentary beverages, excursions or on-board credits (OBC). We’ve decided to take the complimentary OBC’s. We’ve already looked into what the ship is offering and are excited in a couple excursions that the OBC’s will pay for.

Our itinerary will sail on the Pacific Coast, round-trip Los Angeles. We will be heading out 2 weeks before Christmas and are looking forward to seeing the holiday decorations on the ship and in port.

Watch for our trip review, wrapped in pretty paper and a bow for Christmas!