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We, Janet and Joe received a full refund for our cruise of Istanbul to Dubai Nov29 thru Dec. 19. Friday the day the USAToday article was posted Friday Nov 3rd, one of the managers of customers customer service, called and asked if we would like a full refund. I told him yes of course. I said great. I asked if other customers were going to get a full refund also. He stated it was not that easy. They were doing it on a case by case basis. He assured me that we were not getting a refund because we were the ones responsible for the article in USA. I was waiting for the credit to my credit card to clear before I posted anything else. I do not know if doing the charge back with American expressed helped are not. He did not want to talk about the reasons. I was happy with the full refund and decided not to push the issue. I just hope everyone else does not quit trying. Who knows you can get a refund also. Good luck to everyone. Joe & Janet Sherwood.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2023/11/02/oceania-cruise-refunds-israel-hamas/71406253007/?fbclid=IwAR36z5-_bsLqDUeNBGVWF76cbTVJupRKE0r83StKdbPRu45UzUs2Obup1K New story from USA on our cruise from Istanbul to Dubai Nov 29, 23. We need all the publicity we can get to get Oceania to change and give us FCC or a full refund, Thanks Joe & Janet

All of these comments are reasonable. Let me clarify a few things. We got a revised itinerary on 10/20 at approximately 3 PM EDT - deleting all Middle Eastern ports, adding two more ports in Greece. This now came to five ports in Greece and one in Cyprus, two from the original itinerary, two from the cancellation of Israel, and these two new ones. In all of this some ports were deleted, then added back in - but ending with six ports in Greece and Cyprus. Then nine consecutive sea days to Dubai, including cruising the Red Sea and Suez Canal. When we called on Monday, 10/23, we were told that we could get FCC as long as we made a decision by our SAIL DATE, i.e., 11/30, and we could select any cruise through 2025. We would not be able to use on more than one cruise. If it cost more than the original cruise, we would owe more; it if was less, we would receive no refund. On Tuesday, 10/24, we looked at future cruise options to decide what trip we wanted to take. On Tuesday morning, a friend notified me that Oceania had pulled the FCC offer. When we called about it, they confirmed we could no longer get an FCC, that "upper management" had rescinded that offer. That is when we wrote O and received the letter posted above, advising we could go on this now Greek Isle and repositioning cruise or forfeit the money we paid for the Holy Land and Arabian Jewels cruise. Keep in mind, the original information O provided us verbally said that we had until November 30 to make a decision about changing. They did not notify us that the date for that decision had changed. We have been on many cruises. There have been times when ports were changed. (Unfortunately, in 2016, Celebrity had to substitute an additional day in Athens because things were so volatile in Istanbul.) We have also missed ports because of various reasons. We have never had a cruise make wholesale changes to their itinerary so that it does not vaguely resemble the tour we booked and paid for. PLEASE do not misunderstand. I am in sympathy for the people of Israel. We have several friends with family there. I do not fault O for cancelling that port or the others. However, we do not want to go to the Greek Isles again, especially in December - and for the price we paid! To be perfectly honest I am concerned for our safety in Istanbul, after seeing the demonstrations there yesterday, and am also wary about going through the Canal and the Red Sea at this time. We would just like O to honor their original offer and give us an FCC on a future cruise.

They made the offer by phone last week and again on Monday the 23rd when I called and verified a couple of items. They retracted the offer totally on Oct 26th. See letter below I then receive from VP Oceania of Global services. I wrote to at least 20 excutives. this is only reply received so far. 111 #516 Posted yesterday at 12:17 PM From: Ortega, Carlos <COrtega@oceaniacruises.com> Date: Thu, Oct 26, 2023 at 9:57 AM Subject: RE: Oceania Riviera Holy Land and Arabian Jewels, November 29, 2023 To: Janet Sherwood <janet@soldbyjanet.net> Dear Mr. & Mrs. Sherwood, As we continue to monitor the situation in Israel closely, the safety and security of our guests, crew and the communities we visit remains paramount. As you are aware, we have made the decision to cancel all calls to Israel across Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, and Regent Seven Seas Cruises for the remainder of 2023. Please be advised that if you decide to cancel your upcoming voyage at this time, the standard penalties will apply. We are not offering any compensation or issuing any Future Cruise Credits for any reservations that are canceled. As all of our itinerary changes were carefully evaluated with the guest experience in mind, the revised voyages feature culturally rich and historically significant ports across Italy, Greece and Turkey, full of UNESCO World Heritage sites, unique culinary experiences and cultural treasures. We are confident these voyages will provide memorable experiences and offer you exciting opportunities to immerse yourself in the destinations. We look forward to welcoming you aboard and delivering a memorable experience on your cruise. Sincerely, Carlos E. Ortega | Vice President, Global Guest Services cortega@oceaniacruises.com | www.oceaniacruises.com Oceania Cruises 7665 Corporate Center Drive | Miami FL 33126

These two ships were sailing identical itineraries from Istanbul to Dubai in late November 2023. 19 day cruise. Due to the war in Israel, All the ports in the middle east were canceled and changed to greek islands instead then 9 sea days to Dubai. At first they were offering free cruise credit if you booked another cruise by Nov 30th. Today they pulled the plug on that offer. Executive decision we told. Now. it is take the tour of the Greek islands in DECEMBER and then the 9 day repositioning cruise to Dubai or loose your money entirely. NCL and Regent (same company) still going at a similar time frame with original ports. Was told it was for our safety. Obviously, they are not worried about passengers on NCL or Regent or that we will still be going thru the Suez canal and Red Sea. Something is terribly wrong with this whole scenario. They company has forever lost my business. Be careful what you book.