I was speaking with Linda Litteken about a question regarding DOLPHIN, and she casually mentioned that she and Ron were booked on an 18-day Oceania cruise from Santiago to Papeete over New Year’s on the Marina.

We've wanted to try one of Oceania’s new ships and see for myself what the experience would be like. We are especially interested in trying the food at the numerous dining venues. We also figured that this was an excellent way to experience this unusual itinerary.

The ship departs Santiago December 28th. See Pacific Paradise Cruise.

The cruise itinerary is similar to the first portion of the Regent cruise that Ngaire escorted a few years ago from Santiago to Sydney. It stops at Robinson Crusoe Island, overnights at Easter Island, and also stops at Pitcairn Island. Going East to West also means one gains hours during the cruise, which is always nice.

We’re doing this cruise “on the cheap” having booked just a standard verandah cabin. The cruise has a number of nice promotions including free Internet, free gratuities, and a $500 cabin shipboard credit. The fare came to a little over $6K per person (not counting the BK rewards or any adjustment for the special promotions). It includes Economy air, and we easily obtained exactly the flights we wanted to Santiago for just a deviation fee of $150 per person, which we would have paid anyway to get in a day early. (Oceania is still apparently negotiating the return flight from PPT.)

By comparison, Silversea has an almost identical 17-day cruise in the reverse direction, leaving Papeete on November 3 for $11K per person (including their Economy Air). I realize that this is somewhat comparing apples and oranges, but I think it is useful information.

If you’re looking for something interesting to do over New Year’s, join us.

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Eugene and Gail