PhD-iva

Was on Sirena in a PH last March on the TA to Lisbon. HAD A FABULOUS TIME. All good! Perfect?, no. Fabulous, yes! I generally write up a travel diary but this was a TA, so lots of sea days. I’m booked in August on Sirena again, so clearly no issues! IMG_8254.mov I found the entertainment staff to be so sweet, so cute, so talented! There was a Country Fair one day. Everyone had fun. Here are the so cute dancers!

If you could modify your profile to include your country, that could help us to understand/advise you. Different countries have different policies….. Enjoy your cruise!

Thx for this information.

Nice review, thx!

Previously that was the policy, but it appears to have been unsustainable in the current financial environment.

The deposit is refundable, subject to a $150 pp cancellation fee.

Be careful what you wish for. For example, passengers residing in the UK are able to cancel for a full refund or future cruise credit when a cruiseline makes a substantial itinerary change. One way cruise lines recoup this cost is to change their policies. It is my understanding that in the UK, deposits are nonrefundable. That is not the case here. The OP is upset about a $150 per person cancellation fee. We are talking about $300 here.

As stated by the OP in the first post, the deposit was refunded only subject to a $150 cancellation penalty per person. Let’s keep the details straight.

Again, I might not like it, but I agreed to it when I made the deposit. As explained above, the cancellation policy serves a legitimate business purpose. Everyone needs to make their peace with each cruise line they sail with. Don’t like it? Spend your dollars elsewhere. I am actively looking for O alternatives. Am open to suggestions……

Cruisers who reserve an itinerary and later cancel are holding up inventory, meaning other potential pax cannot make their vacation plans with that cabin/ship. Later when cruisers cancel, cruise lines must scramble to fill those cabins, often at discounted prices. A cancellation policy helps to weed out those “window shoppers.” Won’t stop me from making a deposit if I’m serious about the itinerary. I have canceled in the past anyway when “life happens”. I agreed to the cancellation fee in advance. I might not like it, but I can understand it.

IIRC, the OP objected to Oceania imposing the $100 pp cancellation policy. I might have the amount slightly off. Sorry, but seems reasonable to me. YMMV

I have my email listed in my signature line, and I have received personal email correspondence from CruiseCritic posters who would like to follow up on a specific situation with me. The 29 November 2023 Riviera Holy Lands cruise snafu comes to mind.

LOVE these tips (especially the tailor!).

This is SO very helpful to me. I wash All of my nice clothes on delicate and then I line dry them or lay flat. I never put my clothes in the dryer (unless they are my 35 year old sweatpants).

Yipes! Can you provide a link to a report so I can read the (juicy) details? Thx!

Seabourn’s pricing does not include excursions, is that correct? Thx.

I’m still in shock about how O (finally) offered those affected cruisers the ability to transfer to another itinerary, or IIRC an FCC. Then w no warning offer was yanked by O. I was booked on that 29 November cruise thru the Suez Canal, but luckily I cancelled early to do a land tour instead. I am actively looking for my next home. I currently have 2 active reservations on O and am trying to find a different cruise line to replace my 2025 ressy. Will also look at land tours.

Sorry I can’t remember, but your included wines may vary from other ships/itineraries…..

Was Regent flexible for your cancellation? Can you share some details? My friends canceled an October Holy Lands cruise and were disappointed they only were offered 25% FCC. Thx.

Same thing for me 14 months ago on Mariner. If I didn’t like what was on offer, I asked for one or two others which I knew I liked. Servers were always happy to fetch my selection for me.

I guess I missed that post. Thx.

As Vallesan has also posted, you have an invoice (from the PAF) that you are responsible to pay. This should be sufficient documentation for your insurance claim (perhaps you have to first pay the invoice). If Oceania also paid some monies, they will have to chase down their own refund - you will have settled the bill directly. If Oceania later tries to collect from you, you will be able to document that the bill has been paid (directly to PAF), and they’ll have to chase down their own refund. I hope this helps.

I love Mariner! Enjoy!

I expect the NCL pax (outside of The Haven) are more tolerant of cold food (which should be served warm), slow/poor service and “nickel/diming”. Additionally I expect cruisers who avoid the mass market line cruiselines to be more afluent which is often/sometimes positively correlated with the probability of a well educated, interesting conversationalist…… But I could be wrong (and often am….)