Silenus_09_faq

What is included in the cruise price? All ocean transportation, shipboard accommodation, complimentary economy class air flights from 20 major gateway cities, all onboard meals, complete onboard service, daily and nightly entertainment, onboard wine seminars and winemaker dinners. The cruise price does not include government taxes, air taxes, trip insurance, on-board medical services, spa packages, laundry and dry-cleaning, wines and liquors. What determines the different prices? Each price listed corresponds to a different cabin category. On this cruise there are suites, oceanview cabins with a private balcony, outside cabins with an oceanview, as well as inside cabins. Deck plans for all Oceania ships can be viewed on their web site www.oceaniacruises.com. Pricing is based on two people per cabin. Single occupancy rates are available upon request. Some cabins can accommodate three or four people. These cabins and pricing for the third and fourth passenger are available upon requested. What are the taxes? On this cruise there are government taxes, air taxes and a fuel surcharge that will be added to the cost of your cruise. As these amounts are subject to change, you will need to check with your Travel Consultant amount of these costs. Do I need trip insurance? To safeguard your trip investment, we strongly recommend you purchase travel insurance. It is our policy to send every traveler a travel-insurance application, so please contact us immediately if this is not received within 7 days of your sending us this registration form. Be advised that by not purchasing insurance you assume all associated risk of loss. What documents do I need to travel on this cruise? All persons must carry a valid, government- issued passport, which remains valid for six months AFTER your return date to the United States. All travel documents issued by the cruiseline and airlines must reflect your name exactly as it appears on your passport. Please check how your name(s) appear on the deposit confirmation invoice for accuracy and notify our office immediately with any changes or corrections. Frequently Asked Questions 1 Are visas required for this sailing? No. Are inoculations necessary for this sailing? Since immunizations recommended and other health precautions often change, we suggest that you consult with your physician, the local health department or the Center for Disease Control and Prevention at (877) 394-8747. Do I need to check my passport now? YES! Please take a moment to check your passport to make sure it is valid and will not expire for six months from the end of the cruise. Should you need to renew your passport, we strongly suggest you begin this process immediately. To apply online, go to: http://www.us-passport-service-guide.com/us-passport-office.html IMPORTANT – Guest Registration Form (GRF): Please be advised that your final payment will not be processed and your cruise documents will not be delivered until a GRF is completed and submitted to Oceania Cruises. Due to Homeland Security requirements, all cruise lines now need to receive completed GRF’s from their travelers. Items on this form include your passport information, your name, address and phone number and emergency contact information. The GRF can be found on the cruise line’s website at www.oceaniacruises.com/pif, and you will also need your cruise booking number and a valid passport number. HMS can provide you with the booking number. Please visit the cruise line’s website at your earliest convenience to complete this form. What is a guarantee reservation? A "Reservations Guarantee" is simply a measure that enables guests to reserve a specific category of accommodation or fare when no specific stateroom assignments are available at the time the reservation is made. Please note that a "Reservations Guarantee" does not constitute an additional discount nor should it be construed that an upgrade will be provided. As existing options expire and accommodations become available, reservations on Guarantee status are automatically converted to stateroom assignments. As this process is an automated one, this can happen at any time, from only hours after the reservation is confirmed up until the time of sailing. If at the time of sailing there is no stateroom available in the category Guaranteed, the Guest will be berthed in the next highest category stateroom available — at no additional charge. What are my airline tickets options? There are three options: 1) Oceania Cruises Free Air Program – Oceania Cruises will determine the routing and carriers used for the free air program and flights are booked to coincide with the sailing dates of the ship. Schedules will be available approximately three weeks prior to departure. This option inhibits the advance seat assignments often involve multiple carriers and double connections. Frequently Asked Questions 2 To avoid an undesirable flight schedule, ask your travel consultant to submit an air deviation request to the cruise line. This will allow you to specify a particular airline and even a specific flight. If you plan to extend your stay in Europe either before or after the cruise, you will be required to submit an air deviation request. There is a non-refundable $100 per person fee for this service. There may also be additional costs associated with requesting a preferred flight schedule. Your travel consultant will go over the fees with you. Once you accept the flight schedule proposed by Oceania upon your deviation request, the deviation fee becomes non-refundable and any additional costs will be charged to your credit card. If there is an additional surcharge and you elect not to accept the deviated flight schedule, you will not be charged the $100 fee. Oceania air taxes are subject to change until ticketed. Oceania also offers discounted business and first class airfares. Please ask your travel consultant for upgrade prices. Independent Air Arrangements - As a full service travel agency, HMS Travel Group / Food & Wine Trails will be happy to research air for you to determine the best routing and lowest fare. If you opt to book your air independently, Oceania will provide a $1000 per person air credit. This offer can be withdrawn or changed by Oceania at any time. You book your own air independently. This is not recommended, as we will be unable to coordinate any problems or changes that would affect your ability to reach the ship on schedule. What are the 20 gateway cities included in the free air program? Twenty air gateway cities are offered – Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, JFK, Newark, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, Toronto, Vancouver, Washington. Air transportation is available from 130 additional U.S. and Canadian gateways. Supplemental fees may apply for non-primary gateways. How do I get my airline seat assignments? We are happy to affect your preferred seating request but seat assignments cannot not be guaranteed and may be cancelled or changed at the airlines discretion. Airlines hold back better seats for higher-fare passengers and these seats are frequently released closer to the departure date. We encourage you to call the airline directly to try to improve your seating and/or to check-in early to request a better seat on the day of your flight. Does Oceania offer children’s programs or baby-sitting services onboard? Although Oceania Cruises accepts Guests of all ages, the unregimented lifestyle and upscale ambiance onboard are designed for adults and do not provide for the care, entertainment, or supervision of children. Will there be special group only, wine and food focused shore tours available on this cruise? Food & Wine Trails has designed exclusive food and wine focused shore trips designed especially for your group: In a few months you will received a booklet of available tours. Frequently Asked Questions 3 These tours and programs sell out quickly, so please watch for this information in the mail. Examples of previous tours are available on the map page on: www.foodandwinetrails.com How do I get to the ship in Civitavecchia (Rome) Italy? Oceania Cruises offers an airport transfer from the airport to the pier for $105 per person for Oceania air passengers and $115 per person for passengers who did not use the free air included with the cost of the cruise. A representative from Oceania Cruises will meet you outside baggage claim and direct you to a waiting motor coach for transfer to the ship. This service is only available on the day of embarkation. It is 50 miles from the airport to the pier. If you decide to arrive, you will need to make alternate arrangements for transportation to the pier. Your travel consultant can assist you with these arrangements. How early can I board the ship? Guests booked in concierge level cabins, penthouses or suites can board the ship at 11:00 AM. Guests book in all other staterooms can board the ship at 3:00 PM. How do I board the ship? Upon your arrival at the pier, Oceania cruise staff will collect your passport at the check-in facility and give you an Oceania WorldCard embarkation card. This card serves as your stateroom key, onboard charge card and the ID required to embark and disembark the ship. After check-in, you may proceed directly to the ship’s gangway where you are required to show the Security Officer your Oceania WorldCard along with a photo ID. Once you are onboard, ship’s staff will be available to escort you to your stateroom. Luggage is delivered directly to your stateroom at least one hour prior to departure. If your luggage has not been delivered to your stateroom one hour prior to sailing, please notify the Reception Desk. A Mandatory Lifeboat Drill takes place within 24 hours of departure. The purpose of the drill is to familiarize guests with routine safety procedures such as life jacket use, muster stations and lifeboat locations. The Muster Station specific to each stateroom is posted on the back of each stateroom door. The time of the Guest Lifeboat Drill is listed in Oceania Currents, the daily newsletter placed in each stateroom. How do I get to the airport from the ship in Venice, Italy? Oceania Cruises offers a transfer from the ship to the airport for $105 per person for Oceania air passengers and $115 for non-Oceania air passengers. A representative from Oceania will meet you at the pier to direct you to a motor coach bound for the airport. This service is only available on the day of disembarkation. It is 11 miles from the ship to the airport. If you plan to extend your trip, you will need to make alternate arrangements for transportation to the airport. Your travel consultant can assist you with making alternate transportation arrangements. What are the onboard dining options? Each ship features four open-seating restaurants: The Grand Dining Room, Toscana, Polo Grill, and the Terrace Café. Seating is open. Additional dining venues include Waves Grill and in the evenings, Tapas on the Terrace. Dining times will be listed each day in Oceania Currents. Frequently Asked Questions 4 Are reservations for dining required? Reservations are required for Toscana and the Polo Grill. Our winemaker's dinner will be held in Toscana. For assistance with additional reservations for either of the specialty restaurants, please visit the Concierge Desk on the day your board the ship. Is there onboard room service? Complimentary room service is available 24 hours a day. When is wine included? Your winery hosts will serve wine during the winemaker's dinner and during the group only wine tastings. Wine or other alcohol is additional and the financial responsibility of individual passengers. Is there a corkage fee? Wine sales are important to cruise lines, just as they are for hotels and restaurants. Oceania, however, is one of the few cruise lines that allow us to bring wine onboard. Enjoy shopping for rare vintages while in port, but realize there is a $15 corkage fee if bottles are consumed in a ship restaurant or bar. There is no fee if enjoyed in our cabin. Oceania has a different wine list for each of the four restaurants, but if we find a wine we like at one restaurant, we can order it from another. Read all the wine lists, including a reserve wine list that has to be requested. This $15 corkage fee is special for our group members only - you must identify yourself as a F&WT group member to receive this special price. Is there a dress code? All Oceania ships have a country club-casual dress code, which means no tuxedos or gowns are required. Is smoking allowed onboard the ship? Yes - but only in officially designated smoking areas. Smoking is expressly forbidden in all Staterooms and Suites and verandas. Guests choosing to disregard this policy will be disembarked at the next port of call and may also be subject to additional fees that will be imposed to cover the costs associated with any damage to and the required cleaning of furnishings, verandas and surrounding deck and accommodation areas. What type of electrical outlets will be on the ship? There are several electrical outlets in each stateroom and bathroom. Available current is both 110v and 220v. You may use personal appliances from the U.S. without the need for electrical converters or transformers. Due to safety reasons, irons may not be used in your stateroom but are available in the self-service laundry facility. What should I pack? In all evening dining venues, we request that guests adhere to the appropriate country club-casual dress code. Shorts, jeans, t-shirts, athletic footwear or sandals are not permitted in the Grand Dining Room, Polo Grill and Toscana. As Tapas on the Terrace exudes a resort-casual ambiance, dressy shorts and casual shirts may be worn in the evenings. Tank tops and swimsuits are not appropriate attire for any onboard restaurants at any time. Frequently Asked Questions 5 How are money matters handled onboard? Oceania offers a cashless system on board. All onboard purchases and services will be billed to your onboard account. You will simply present your Oceania WorldCard whenever purchases are made. To activate your onboard account, you will be required to visit the ship’s Reception Desk and register a credit card imprint. Oceania Cruises accepts American Express, MasterCard and Visa. Personal checks are not accepted. If you wish to settle your account with traveler’s checks or cash, you will be asked to make a cash deposit at the Reception Desk. The U.S. dollar is the standard currency for all transactions onboard. Cash advances are also available at the Reception Desk. A daily limit of $500 per registered credit card can be billed to your credit card for a 5% transaction fee. Where can I exchange money? In order to realize the best exchange rate overseas, we suggest that you take advantage of the ATM machines located in many of the ports of call. What is the policy regarding tipping? For your convenience, gratuities of $12.50 per Guest per day are automatically added to your shipboard account. An additional $4.50 per Guest per day will be added for those Guests occupying a Penthouse, Vista or Owner’s Suite where Butler Service is provided. Will I get seasick on a cruise ship? If you are prone to motion sickness, here are a number of preventive tips: Select a cabin on one of the lower decks, the higher you are on a ship, the more motion. Several things may trigger seasickness – looking through binoculars for anything longer than a glance; reading a book, looking at a compass, doing detailed work or staring at one point. Try to keep your peripheral vision out on the horizon. There are several drug remedies that may reduce the effects of seasickness. We do not endorse any of these products and you should read the product instructions carefully before use. The most common drugs are Dramamine, Dramamine II, and Bonine that are all essentially antihistamines. They are available over-the-net or over-the-counter at most pharmacies. Antihistamines will make most people drowsy and Dramamine will almost certainly have that effect. Dramamine II and Bonine are non-drowsy formulas but they still put some people to sleep for a few hours. Lastly, and most importantly, all cruise ships are equipped with stabilizers. Stabilizers are in essence like big 'wings' that stick out of the left and right side of the ship, below the waterline. They help keep the ship from swaying to the left or right. In addition, if you are cruising in the Mediterranean, for example, generally the waters are calm and therefore, the ship will experience very little motion. Can I make and receive phone calls, send and receive text messages and email? You can stay in touch with loved ones and business associates back home using your personal mobile phone or telephones provided in your stateroom. Oceania Cruises now offers SeaMobile voice and data services for all GSM mobile phones and GPRS devices like Blackberry®. You can make and receive phone calls, send and receive text messages and use other data services. Frequently Asked Questions 6 You will be billed by your home mobile phone provider and calls or messages will appear as roaming charges on your bill. International maritime roaming rates will apply. The cost for calls is US$1.99 to US$3.99 per minute, depending upon the country zone you are calling. You can also send and receive text messages for US$0.40 per message. Data services are US$0.08 per 10 kilobytes of data transmitted. Billing will be in 10 Kilobyte increments only. This equates to less than US$0.40 to transmit the typical digital photograph (33 KB) of your favorite cruise memory. These are base rates and taxes, fees, and other charges may be added by your home wireless service provider. Our ships are also equipped with C-Band satellite telephone services that can be direct dialed from the stateroom and billed directly to the guests’ folio. Rates will be approximately $9.50 per minute for voice. E-mail is available through our Internet Café with assistance available. (Note: If the timing is right, Connexion WiFi service could be added here.) Is Internet access available? Email and Internet services are available 24 hours a day in Oceania@Sea, located on Deck 9 and the Library, located on Deck 10. Wireless Hotspots are available in the Library, on the Pool Deck and in the Upper Hall, located on Deck 5. Prior to embarkation, you were issued a unique email address for your use while onboard. This email address was printed on your Cruise Ticket. If you have lost or forgotten your email address, the Oceania@Sea staff can provide it to you. A complete fee schedule for internet services is available at Oceania@Sea, and charges will be billed to your shipboard account. Internet pricing: 95 cents per minute with no package; inbound messages up to 200K are $2 per message. Package pricing: 100 minutes = $80, 200 minutes = $140, 500 minutes = $300. Rates are subject to change without notice. Wireless Internet Services - WiFi is available in many locations throughout the ship. How is disembarkation handled? Disembarkation will begin as soon as possible after arrival in your final port of call. Times vary but are generally no later than 9 AM. One or two days prior to the end of your cruise, an informational briefing will be hosted by the Cruise Director and will cover disembarkation procedures, including preparation of luggage, airport transfer options that are available for purchase or that are included in your cruise package, and the return of your passport (which was collected at embarkation). The time and place of the briefing will be listed in Oceania Currents. Approximately three days prior to the end of the cruise, you will receive a preliminary statement of your onboard account. Please review the statement carefully and contact the Reception Desk if there are any questions. A final statement will be delivered to your stateroom on the morning of disembarkation. Your credit card will automatically be billed for all onboard charges or you may settle your account in cash prior to disembarkation. Accounts must be settled by 7:30 AM on the morning of disembarkation. Frequently Asked Questions 7 F I R S T - T I M E C R U I S E R G L O S S A R Y
The guest's personal expression of thanks (tips) to the ship's service personnel for The amount of baggage, generally consisting of a guest's personal effects, carried by the cruise accountability found in the cruise ticket. Onboard guest services and information center Commonly the ship's steering wheel, but more Dock, pier or quay (key); or, the bed or beds consisting of the wheel and rudder and their The outside shell of the ship from the main The measurement of the ship's speed. One knot Measurement in feet from waterline to lowest The side of an island or ship that is sheltered In or toward the middle of the ship; the Measurement of distance equal to six feet. longitudinal center portion of the ship. Toward the fore or bow (front) of the ship. The left side of the ship when facing forward. Ramp or stairway between the ship and the An assessment which also includes port taxes, collected by the cruiseline and paid to a local Frequently Asked Questions 8 A port at which the ship anchors and guests are allowed to disembark. PORT TAX A charge levied by local government authority to be paid by the guest. In some air/sea packages, port taxes are included in the final price. ROLL The side-to-side movement of the ship. SAILING TIME The actual hour at which the ship is scheduled to clear the dock and sail. SHORE EXCURSION Optional off-the-ship tours at ports of call that can be purchased at an extra charge. STARBOARD The right side of the ship when facing forward. STERN The back end of the ship. TENDER A small boat used to transport passengers from the ship to the shore. Tenders are used when the harbor is not deep enough for the ship to dock. TRANSFERS Transportation between the ship and airports, hotels, or departure points for shore excursions. WINDWARD The side of an island or ship against which the wind is blowing. Frequently Asked Questions 9

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