Just returned from Libya-less 11-5-05 sailing

[Trece]

:mad: Just a brief post to fire the opening salvo about Oceania's handling of the removal of Libya from our itinerary. I do have volumes more to say about it - but I want the people who are going to repeatedly remind me that Oceania's only legal obligation was to transport me from Point A to Point B and I had no right to expect the itinerary to resemble what I booked & what I paid for to get it out of their system now, say what you need to say so then I can go on to relate the facts as they occurred, and what our feelings were about them. Since it may take a while for these people to do so, and it's going to take me a while to gather my thoughts and post them - my only urging would be for anyone who has booked a cruise including Libya who is approaching final payment to think very long & very hard about it & my suggestion would be to CANCEL unless you are a) very very sure you don't care about what ports you see and b) very very sure you don't care about what DAY you see them on (this is important as it relates to privately booked guides as we were not in ANY port on the day we were supposed to be except Cadiz as well as embarkation & disembarkation).

 

Please fire away about the legal issue! Then I'll tell you how Oceania handled the situation.

[brian_uk]

Forgive me....but you seem to be inviting an argument on here.

 

Why not avoid playing games and tell us why Oceania cancelled Libya and then invite comments.

 

Brian

[Trece]

Brian, I've been home less than 12 hours from two weeks away and flight problems (non-Oceania related) that resulted in me being delivered to one airport far from the location where we left our car at another airport. I'm sorry if my post led you to believe I was playing games with anyone, I only wanted to indicate to anyone whose final payment might be pending in the immediate future that it was my suggestion that they think seriously about it, until I gathered my thoughts & could post clearly and in the absence of jet lag. Also, I was aware from past posts that there are some who feel that the legal issues outweigh the moral ones and that the time between embarkation and disembarkation is a blank canvas for the cruise line to do what it wishes and I just wanted to head that off. I apologize for any and all offense.

[ClaudiaF]

When you get your thoughts together.. hard after that flight and what sounds like marathon to get home.. would love to know just where they took you..

[Jancruz]

Trece..were you on the SFO flight that was delayed 5 hours..

Jan

*****

[sandbag7]

I'm not an apologist for cruise lines, and I cruise generally based on itinerary, But:

With recent piracy issues (Seabourn and other non cruise vessels), Coast Guard and US and foreign watch lists and just plain fear of litigation, itineraries are subject to change more than ever. On a recent round the world land tour, one of my friends had a stop in Uzbekistan (Samarakand and Bukhara) changed to Armenia, a poor substitution, apparently based on local terrorist concerns. Libya will always be a risk as a tour stop until the U.S. invasion, which is currently scheduled for 9-17-08.

I assume Oceania was less than forthcoming in providing information on their revised itinerary. I look forward to your follow up post.

[brian_uk]

Trece

 

Get a good nights sleep.......get over the jet lag.....and tell us all what happened to you.

The world is getting smaller but the terrorists and potential threats are growing and as far as I am concerned, irrespective of how much I may be looking forward to a destination.....the safety of my family comes first.

 

I recall visiting Alexandria and being wary of a 3 hour coach trip to Cairo and the dangers.......we took the trip which was fantastic......the date

 

9/10

 

I doubt that we would have docked a day later !!!!

 

Safety first

 

Brian

[Portolan]

I think the next Oceania cruise to Libya (not counting the one at sea right now) is the one we are booked on in May, so the cancel without penalty date is 2+ months away. I am VERY interested in your experience, particularly as it relates to those things that Oceania had control over given that the basic situation wasn't of their doing (and we could have a thread unto itself about the Libyan failure to understand the economic cost of their actions). So, please take your time and then give us the details to make an informed decision about next year. Thanks.

[Trece]

..so might as well get this post going. Just to quickly answer Jan's question about the SFO flight, no, we weren't involved in whatever situation that was. I understand on the way over there was at least one big delay (Amsterdam airport, maybe?) where a number of passengers did not come aboard until 11-11:30 p.m. and we did not sail until close to midnight (five hours late). I did overhear one person on that delayed flight say that Oceania kept the kitchen open for them & they were able to get a hot meal immediately upon boarding (whether room service or dining room, I have no idea) which I thought was considerate.

[Jancruz]

Yep..those were the people..I spoke to them several times that night at the SFO airport where their flight was delayed 5 hours so that they missed their connection..I am very happy that Oceania reacted so well by holding the ship and keeping the dining room open..I knew about the ship but not the food..

Jan

*****

[Trece]

I think I have been under a cloud ever since I booked this cruise. I thought with the return flight problems I was out from under it. Then this morning I got up at 6 a.m., unable to sleep, wrote a very lengthy post about this subject and was happy with it - and the power in our house failed, which caused me to lose the entire post! I just can't seem to win here! :)

 

So I will begin again and type with crossed fingers.

 

Three consecutive days in Libya made for a great selling point for the 11-5-05 Regatta sailing. The US had prohibited Americans from traveling there for years and suddenly the country was open to us, not only with its lure of Roman ruins & other exotic sights, but also frankly with its allure of being a new frontier for travelers as well as an opportunity to be a mini-ambassador for our country. These were our reasons & seemed to be shared by virtually everyone we talked to on board.

 

But should Libya have ever been included in this itinerary? And should it have been included for three consecutive days on its first itinerary?

 

My information that Libya was in jeopardy came from Cruise Critic and from no other source (how passengers were notified, or I should say not notified, is a topic unto itself & one I will get to eventually). Oceania's explanation that the US had refused entry to a Libyan diplomat and therefore Libya was retaliating against Americans was interesting, but it just could not be verified. There was anecdotal evidence that American passengers on MSC and Costa were not being allowed off their ships. But there was also anecdotal evidence that American tourists with individual tourist visas (vs. the group visa we were supposedly going on) were being allowed in. Despite referring to the US state department website, as well as googling, yahooing, and all the other tricks, neither I nor anyone else I spoke with could find any corroboration for this explanation. While I'd like to believe Oceania's explanation, let's face it - we left home with the THIRD VERSION of our itinerary since booking tucked in our documents (the itinerary we actually sailed being in fact the 4th version). Oceania had already lost much if not all credibility with me and DH based on those revisions. All I wanted to do was read about the situation somewhere other than in a writing from Oceania.

 

Unable to verify independently before the cruise, I decided to ask people who I thought might know in some of the countries we visited. These are countries that have had relations with Libya all this time and are much closer in proximity.

 

In Malta, I asked our private, non-Oceania guide what she thought. She indicated she had no knowledge of any immediate problem - no headlines blaring "Libya shuns American cruise passengers" or anything like that. However - she did say that Libya pulls stuff like this ALL THE TIME. Libya denied entry to Italians at one point, for example. In other words, what happened to us has happened before, and not just to Americans. I got the impression she was telling us that Libya can take offense at the drop of a hat.

 

In Tunisia, I asked an ex-Marine in a position of authority at the American cemetery in North Africa what he thought (for those who don't know, there is a cemetery in Tunisia where all the WWII Americans whose bodies did not come back to the US are buried - similar to Arlington or Normandy - a beautifully kept place that our private guide took us to, and on Veterans Day no less - what a touching experience). He too had no specific knowledge of this current incident - but he too indicated Libya was unpredictable with tourists from many countries including our own. He indicated this unpredictability was likely to continue as long as the current government is in power.

 

I asked a few of our other guides and while they were more noncommital on the subject, NO ONE seemed surprised.

 

I almost got the impression there wasn't a lot of fanfare about the subject in European media because it's NOT all that unusual!!

 

I'll admit my little "question & answer" sessions are not scientific or verifiable - but neither is the information Oceania provided, which refers to no state department bulletin or other official source.

 

But - based on the information I did obtain - the question remains: Should Oceania have even created an itinerary with three consecutive days in Libya? My personal evaluation is NO. As long as the current regime is in charge, it seems that any itinerary with Libya in it is going to be subject to change at short notice. I think Oceania jumped the gun in an attempt to market a novel itinerary to "been there, done that" passengers without having done its homework. We were the guinea pigs and we got screwed.

 

What would my suggestion have been? For this trial run, only one day in Libya should have been planned - with a firm backup plan in place just in case. With only one day in Libya, and a backup plan, the itinerary would not have suffered the wholesale butchering it got (only one day, along with embarkation & disembarkation ports, remained the same ports on the same days - every single other port was changed to new dates, new times). Maybe it would have been better to have avoided the "group visa" situation and had us purchase individual visas like the land tour groups did, since it appears they were allowed entry. Considering the investment in this cruise, which for (relatively) younger working stiffs like ourselves was considerable, I'd have been happy to have purchased a visa if it gave more assurance that I'd have gotten into the country.

 

I've read some posts that were done while we were away that some have raised the question about whether Oceania actually purchased the group visa it was supposed to have gotten for us. I admit that thought crossed my mind more than once, but difficult as it is to obtain reliable information about diplomatic relations with Libya, there sure ain't no way we could find out anything about THAT possibility. Sadly, it does reflect badly on the level of trust we have in Oceania.

 

In my opinion, Oceania was foolish to create and market this itinerary, and we as passengers and consumers should not necessarily believe that what happened is a one shot occurrence that is never going to happen again. If I were booked on a future cruise with this itinerary, and it was Libya I really really wanted to see, I would cancel.

 

P.S. Part II will deal with what Oceania did as far as notifying us of the changes and schmoozing its very disappointed passengers. Hint: it's going to be a VERY brief post. Can anyone tell me how to scan in a document we received on the ship so that it can be included as part of that post?

[drwong]

We're aboard the Insignia and our two Libyan port calls were cancelled, with a 1.5 day port call in Alexandria substituting for them.

[LHT28]

In my opinion, Oceania was foolish to create and market this itinerary, and we as passengers and consumers should not necessarily believe that what happened is a one shot occurrence that is never going to happen again. If I were booked on a future cruise with this itinerary, and it was Libya I really really wanted to see, I would cancel.

 

If Libya is so fickle...maybe they had assured the cruisline that they would be allowed to dock then changed the plans.

It sounds from your research that they do in fact change policy at their whim.

I would be interested in hearing from more pax on this cruise to see if they thought O did a good job considering the circumstances.

[drwong]

The passengers on our cruise don't seem to be too upset - some disappointment, to be sure, but nowhere close to a mutiny. ;)

 

We've encountered heavy seas between Alexandria and Malta, putting us 6-7 hours behind schedule and leaving us with a 3-hour port call in Malta tomorrow. Consequently, Oceania has cancelled all the scheduled shore excursions, refunding the charges, and is providing a COMPLIMENTARY two-hour bus tour for any passenger who signs up by 9 pm tonight! How's that for customer service!!!

[Trece]

I guess the short answer would be, well, NOTHING. But that's not entirely fair so here's the longer answer.

 

As mentioned, I was aware Libya was almost certainly off the itinerary when I boarded the ship ONLY because I was reading the message boards & continued to do so at our Barcelona hotel, which had free (and fast) internet access. At that point, my distress was still more focused towards Libya and/or the US government and less focused towards Oceania because I still basically believed this was an out of the ordinary occurrence. However, I did have expectations that the issue would be addressed from the moment I entered the check-in process. To my surprise, not a word about the itinerary changes was uttered, no documents were handed to us - nothing. At that point, my heart leapt, because I assumed that all was well and hurrah, we were going to Libya as planned! As we walked away from check-in, my curiosity got the best of me, and I approached the "meet & greet" person and asked if we were going to Libya. Even though we were out of earshot of just about anybody else, she turned me away and WHISPERED to me that no, we were not going to Libya, but a wonderful & exciting itinerary awaited us instead. I could not for the life of me figure out why she was whispering, but at that point reality set in, and for the first time in my life I boarded a cruise ship and CRIED for the first hour in my cabin, where the printed version of the new itinerary (the one I expected to be handed at check-in) was on the bed. Stupid to be crying? Yes, undoubtedly. BUT - not only was the highlight of our cruise (1/4 of the itinerary) gone, but every other port had changes to date & time. The additions to the itinerary (the reason why I cannot say Oceania did NOTHING) were, to me, unexciting, especially when I've read what the other cruise lines substituted, or even Insignia's sailing which had Egypt added. Our expensive & anticipated cruise now consisted almost entirely of Spain & Morocco, with a day each in Malta, Tunisia, and Gibraltar.

 

On each cruise, I'm continually surprised at the number of people who have no clue that message boards exist. I guess we get immune to the fact that we have such a wealth of information at our fingertips and we forget that most people aren't computer literate or don't use their computers the same way we do. The reason for this comment is that it quickly became apparent that most people boarded the ship totally unaware of any possibility of an itinerary change! Admittedly, I have no way to quantify the word "most." But apparently I'm not far off base, because in a letter addressed to passengers dated November 8 (this is the one I want to post if anyone can tell me how) and left on our beds, Oceania claims to have notified "via email and fax...all travel agents and their clients booked on the Regatta November 5th voyage." Well, my TA didn't receive it, and based on the amount of promotional material I get for future Oceania cruises, I full well know that Oceania has my e-mail address, and I didn't receive it - so I fully believe that Oceania's statement that "many of you did not receive this communication and were first advised of the change upon your arrival at the ship" actually means just about everyone was blindsided when they boarded.

 

One example - a TA we became friendly with on the cruise, who obviously booked herself, received no notification via fax or e-mail. As mentioned, the topic was thoroughly avoided at check-in, and when she & her husband arrived at their cabin, they immediately got on line for alternate dinner reservations and didn't read anything left on their bed. It was only while standing in line and overhearing other conversations that they learned that Libya was no longer on the itinerary and that the new itinerary bore no resemblance (as to dates & times) to what they had booked. That's pretty pathetic. I might add that she wrote such a scathing mid-cruise evaluation that she was called down for a private interview, and from what she gathered people were mighty unhappy.

 

In that same letter, Oceania rehashed the reasons for the elimination of Libya and reiterated "we are equally frustrated with this situation that is completely outside of our sphere of influence and control." Well, you can re-read Part I for what my own thoughts are on that subject.

 

So on to Portolan's question about what Oceania DID do to help us make lemonade out of lemons. The answer to that question is basically NOTHING.

 

I would say for the passenger who had only planned on doing Oceania excursions or "on your own" wandering around cities, they probably were not that affected. I am speaking only for myself and how these changes impacted us. I know as time goes on and other passengers return home (I know many are still in Lisbon) they will present their own feelings which may bear no resemblance to mine.

 

SO - OK, I'm on board. We are younger than the average passenger age & have parents & family at home who are concerned about our safety, and who also like each day to look at a map and see where we are. We left home having handed them all copies of our latest itinerary (version #3, that is). Does Oceania think that maybe we'd like to notify our families that we aren't going to be where we are supposed to be? Maybe one free phone call or a free e-mail message? They could even have had a message prepared with the new itinerary & allowed each passenger one shot at sending it to one person of their choice. Even criminals get a phone call! No, this courtesy was not extended to us.

 

Let's move on. Maybe a few free drink coupons? Bottle of booze to blunt our disappointment? Nope.

 

How about some shipboard credit? Nope. Free gratuities? Perish the thought. We don't gamble, but maybe some would have liked a bingo card or some money to gamble with? Nope. OK, how about a free photo? Nope.

 

I know! Several years ago DH & I had booked a cruise and many months before sailing, a port had to be eliminated (also for political reasons) and another one substituted. We were notified immediately and for our "troubles" we were given a free shore excursion in that new port. Surely Oceania would do something like this, given the fact that the port that was the highlight and main marketing point had been eliminated? Nope.

 

Basically, IMHO, Oceania took the low road and hid behind their assertion that this was beyond their control and they owed us nothing - which technically they probably didn't. But, as I said in Part I, there's a big difference between what's legal and what's moral. I own my own business and I would call it a day before I treated my customers the way we were treated, no matter whether I was legally in the right or not.

 

The differences between itinerary #3 and itinerary #4 (what we sailed) were as follows:

 

Barcelona -- Barcelona

At sea -- Palma de Mallorca

At sea -- At sea

Benghazi, Libya -- Valletta, Malta

Tripoli, Libya -- La Goulette, Tunisia

Tripoli, Libya -- At sea

La Goulette, Tunisia -- Alicante, Spain

At sea -- Gibraltar

Alicante, Spain -- Casablanca, Morocco

Gibraltar -- Tangier, Morocco

Casablanca, Morocco -- Cadiz, Spain

Cadiz, Spain -- Cadiz, Spain

Lisbon, Portugal -- Lisbon, Portugal

 

The impact of the itinerary change and the ports that were substituted:

 

Starting in February when I booked this cruise, I began arranging private excursions in the ports we'd be visiting. Some of them were difficult because they were unusual ports, but I was able to find people I thought would do a good job, and hooked up with several couples from these boards (and I love all of them to pieces & therefore won't include their names in case they don't want to be associated with this post!). Life was good! Then came revision #1 to the itinerary, around Labor Day as I recall. I contacted all the guides with the new dates & times, cancelled our Malta excursion since Malta had been eliminated (we took a financial loss on this change, since tickets had been prepurchased for us), and everything seemed to be under control again. No, wait - then Oceania changed the itinerary to a 3rd version! So I contacted all the guides AGAIN and re-arranged things. I could sense some of them were getting a little testy this time (like - what is this flaky cruise line these people are on?). We had a few shaky moments but by the week before departure, all appeared to be OK.

 

Then came the information (again, not from my TA or directly to me from Oceania, but only from this board) that the itinerary might POSSIBLY change again to version #4. Now what? It wasn't definite that the changes were going to be made, Oceania held out the hope that we might be able to sail version #3. What to do now? Freak out these guides again or wait until we board and deal with it then? I opted for the latter.

 

Well, it was only downhill from there, because once on board and the itinerary changed in every port but one, and with not one iota of internet time provided as a courtesy, it fell to our little excursion group to handle all the changes at our expense. I use the word "our" loosely because while I had the painful and blood-pressure-raising experience of spending hours in Oceania's internet room trying to contact these guides using internet that is so painfully slow I can watch my nails grow, they footed the bill for it - which amounted to several hundred dollars in internet charges (for something that would probably take an hour to handle on a cable or DSL connection). Didn't I say these were wonderful people? At the same time, I also tried to locate private guides in the replacement ports (which was impossible to do in the case of Mallorca, which we visited on our 2nd day). Our Tunisia guide blew us off completely, probably so aggravated by being asked to revise our tour for a 4th time.

 

Eventually I'll come up with a financial summary of what these changes cost us out of pocket, also some reviews of the guides we had.

 

The totally new ports of Palma de Mallorca and Tangier were better than I expected they would be, except that we arrived in Palma on a Sunday and while tourist areas were open, not much else was. Tangier was considerably more interesting than I expected, however, this was mostly due, I believe, to the wonderful guide I managed to snare over expensive Oceania internet. The date change for Gibraltar meant that we arrived on a Saturday afternoon, when most shops begin to close for the weekend. The extra day in Cadiz meant we got to go to Seville on one day as well as our originally planned tour of Jerez on the second day and that too was a positive experience. I was happy to return to Malta for the 4th time, however, I don't really count that as an addition since Malta was on the itinerary of the cruise I booked in February (version #1).

 

This doesn't change the fact that the new additions were basically just in Morocco and Spain, making this itinerary something that could probably have been sailed on any other cruise line doing Europe at far less expense. I note that drwong has just posted saying mutiny is not imminent on Insignia. This could be because Egypt, to me, is a far more exotic and interesting substitution for the loss of Libya than another Spanish & another Moroccan port. I'm also happy to read that they are being provided a FREE two hour excursion of Malta courtesy of Oceania! WOW! While I feel badly that their time in Malta is being shortened due to weather (because it's a great port), isn't it a little inconsistent of Oceania to say political concerns are beyond their control but weather is a "compensable" issue??

 

I PROMISE I will truly say all, or almost all, positive things in Part III - with the caveat that the good things about the cruise were far LESS to do with Oceania and MORE to do with the people we met, the places we saw, and other good things. In my opinion, Oceania basically handled this sailing very badly starting in September with itinerary version #2, and it went downhill from there.

[cruiseyguy]

Where do you think the breakdown in communications and customer service occurred in Oceania--on the ship or shoreside? Did you or anyone else discuss this matter with the ship's Customer Service folks and ask for any type of compensation or credits? Did you ask for complimentary internet or phone service to advise your relatives of the itinerary change? If so, what was the response? Have you written a letter to Oceania shoreside management?

[emmalbrent]

We are booked on this cruise ONLY for Libya. If by final payment this is not settled, we will cancel and move our insurance to another cruise...but not Oceana. I truly feel Oceana pushed this itinerary and cannot provide it now or ever.

 

We are on November 22, 2006 Nautica Istanbul/Singapore and hope nothing stops that.. Who knows about Turkey and a few other ports by then.

[Trece]

Cruiseyguy, I don't have an honest answer for you. I just don't know where the "breakdown" comes from. Did I personally discuss my issues with anyone "in the flesh"? No I didn't. I'll tell you why in a minute (besides the fact that I spent a lot of time the first 4-5 days re-arranging those shore excursions on that OOOHHHHH SOOOOO SLOOOOOWWW internet, and I really was trying to have a good time). Did other people make requests such as those you inquired about? Yes. Did anyone get them? Not to my knowledge. I filled out my mid-cruise survey. I was not summoned to appear in person based on my comments, but several people were. I did not fill out my final survey because I have so much to say that I decided to take the option of mailing it in (the address is provided) and this way I can type it and say a lot more. Plus I wanted some time to reflect and really make a balanced evaluation.

 

For the reason I didn't bother approaching anyone personally, this is an incident that occurred in the main dining room on our first (maybe 2nd?) night. The gentleman sitting next to me requested shrimp cocktail as an appetizer for himself & his wife. The waiter in no uncertain terms told him he could not order shrimp cocktail because it was not on the main dining room menu. If he wanted shrimp cocktail, he would have to go to Polo. The passenger reiterated he wanted shrimp cocktail and the waiter again told him "no way Jose." The passenger requested his supervisor, who appeared immediately and repeated that he could not be served shrimp cocktail. When the passenger asked why, he was told it was "company policy" that items not on the Grand dining room menu not be served in the Grand dining room. The passenger asked that the order be presented to the chef for his decision and the supervisor repeated that the chef too was under orders not to serve anything that wasn't on the Grand dining room menu due to "company policy." Waiter & supervisor then left the scene, leaving the two Oceania newbies with their jaws in their laps. They were NOT happy campers.

 

So - given that little interlude over a damned shrimp cocktail, and given the fact that at that point I was really upset and did not want to make an idiot of myself - no, I did not address anyone personally because I figured I'd get the "company policy" response too! While I think I understand that you are probably trying to say that these things are best addressed on the spot, and you're right, there just wasn't time to engage in what would probably be useless battles with the staff while trying to salvage what we hoped to do in port.

[PurpleCow]

Yikes! Maybe I can understand requesting something that's not on the menu (though I'm afraid I'd be too timid to do it) but I can't imagine demanding it and then making a fuss when my demand wasn't met. Is this something that's commonly expected?

[ShirleyZ]

Please forgive me if my message repeats itself, the boards seemed to have swallowed my first posting. I will try to recreate my post.

As a fellow passenger on what I now call the Magical Mystery Cruise I would like to corroborate Treces' perceptions. We too learned of the possible cancellation of the 3 days in Libya both from these boards and from our TA just prior to our trip. As in Treces' case the multiple itinerary changes resulted in cancellations and attempted re bookings of private excursions and cars as well as some monetary losses. The Libyan tours I had prepaid for in August were of course cancelled. While I have not recieved the credit back to my credit card as of this date I do not expect that to be an issue. Since the final itinerary/port times was still up in the air until just prior to sailing I finally gave up and hoped for the best. We too spent time on the very very slow internet trying to book a car rental. That ended up costing about $29. I do not fault Oceania for Khadaffis' illogical and short sighted diplomatic tit for tat. We were traveling with four friends and we made the best of the less exotic itinerary. The food, service and ship facilities were excellent.Oceania provided a lecturer on libya and a wonderful flamenco dance troup in Cadiz. We like to dance and enjoyed the orchestra, although playing time was quite limited and few people danced. The juggling and comedic acts were not impressive. Libya had definitely been the hook for everyone on this cruise.I do appreciate the difficulties re routing a ship at such short notice. However, this would not have been my choice of itinerary for this time of year without the Libyan ports. What I found peculiar was a lack of acknowledgement of the passengers disappointment in the itinerary changes. ANY small effort/acknowledgement that we had all been bested by the "Madman" would have been appreciated, a "Free Libya" drink of the day, a bottle of wine at the table, an extra chocolate on the pillow, simple empathy from ship staff. Instead, silence. Almost as if we didnt talk about it it didnt happen. I know as I write this it sounds strange but I get the sense from Treces' post that she felt the same atmosphere . You can also imagine the extra disappointment of the non-american passengers who could have gone ashore. In the future, unless I knew and accepted an alternate itinerary should Khadaffi get "upset" ahead of time, I dont think I would book a cruise with Libyan ports.

[Andee]

We were on the 11/5 sailing of Regatta. On Oct 28, we received an e-mail from Oceania and one from our TA notifiying us of the Libya-less itinerary.

 

We may have been the only people on board who didn't book this cruise because it was going to Libya. We had loved our first Oceania cruise last year, and just wanted to cruise them again, preferably to ports we hadn't visited before. In fact, I had very mixed feelings about going to Libya.

 

For me, the challenge was having to research additional ports on short notice, during a short time period when I had no time to spare.

 

I do think it would have been good customer service for Oceania to offer passengers some token to ease unhappy feelings--even a small shipboard credit might have helped.

[Portolan]

quote=emmalbrent]We are booked on this cruise ONLY for Libya. If by final payment this is not settled, we will cancel and move our insurance to another cruise...but not Oceana. I truly feel Oceana pushed this itinerary and cannot provide it now or ever.

 

We feel the same way, but I can't think of what could transpire that would prove this to be "settled". First, to preempt some comments, I realize that Libya could pull a stunt like the one precipitating this any time. But what would even begin to make us feel more comfortable. I don't believe that ANY ship from any line is scheduled to call in Libya (or, at least between now and February when the final payment is due), so the best we can hope for is ??? A letter from Oceania saying Libya has assured them everything is OK???

 

I'm about at the point where the only acceptible answer (assuming Oceania doesn't give up on Libya altogether) is the planned itinerary with Libya and an up-front, alternative itinerary with assurances that the backup itinerary is exactly what will be used in case of another problem.

 

The fault for losing the Libya port calls can't be blamed on Oceania (well almost...sure would like to find some confirmation of some of the details). The way they reacted as being distressingly described IS their fault and under their control. I find it amazing that they didn't offer any recompense or cruise perks. My understanding is that Libya is not a cheap port call (they are milking the still limited access for high port fees), so the new itibnerary may have saved Oceania money to boot.

 

Realizing the obvious apples-oranges comparison (well, 5-star vs. 6-star), when our Radisson cruise last May had to skip Victoria, BC due to weather, we got what amounted to an 8% credit for the cruise (it was one day out of 12, one port out of 6 not counting embark/debark ports). I stated it as a percentage because I think that appropriate comparison for the similar length Oceania cruise would have been a similar proportional credit...probably in the $150-200pp range.

[brian_uk]

I have tried to make sense of all these reports about the cancellation of Libya as a stop and I am not quite sure if by giving a shipboard credit of say $100 all the fuss would have died dowm................but if that is the case what a shallow bunch of passengers there were onboard.

If Libya was cancelled for security reasons then so be it........if Gadaffi wants to get stroppy with Americans then all you have to do is read the newspapers to know ahead of time the type of destination you may be visiting and decide if that instability is for you.

Was Oceania at fault in choosing Libya in the first place.....probably.

 

As far as a Passenger demanding to be served Prawns............how rude. Would they carry on like that in a restaurant at home.....doubt it.

A restaurant has a menu with various choices which can generally be seen ahead of time and there is normally enough choice for most people to put together a decent meal.

 

Why should Oceania have waiters running all over the ship trying to find alternatives from another kitchen. I have always found that a word with the Maitre d ahead of time goes a long way in getting tose little extras.

 

In conclusion I would say again that safety is the most important issue and of you are let down its better than the alternative.

 

Brian

[Portolan]

The Libyan tours I had prepaid for in August were of course cancelled. While I have not recieved the credit back to my credit card as of this date I do not expect that to be an issue.

 

Oceania provided a lecturer on libya and a wonderful flamenco dance troup in Cadiz.

 

Shirley,

While I wouldn't worry about getting the cancelled trips refunded, I'd be interested to know if Oceania is savvy enough to do so before they process your onboard charges.

 

A lecturer on Libya? Ouch! The flamenco dancers make sense, but wasn't the lecture salt in open wounds???

 

BrianUK: yeah, pushing hard on the shrimp cocktail probably went too far, but Oceania is pushing to be a 5+ star line (good start...loved the ships when they were Rennaissance and know they've been upgraded). Reasonable attempts to "go outside the box" is what separates the >5 star lines (actually, with the 6 star lines, extraordinary efforts to satisfy the customer are the norm). Since we haven't been on Oceania yet I don't know if shrimp cocktail is on the room service menu. If it is, then this request should have been honored (I'd have asked the waiter to order it from room service delivered to my table!). Loud, obnoxious behavior is never appropriate, however.

[ShirleyZ]

FYI, Portolan, I have been billed for the shipboard charges and I havent received my cancelled tours credit, which is substantial since we had a private van booked for Libya. Lets see, 3 day turnaround to bill and almost three weeks so far to credit. Looks like another fun call to Oceania is in my future. We enjoyed the lecturer, topics other than Libya were included.

 

I never expected, nor asked for compensation, but this particular cruise had been very difficult in terms of itinerary changes (not just Libya) since one week after final payment. Any small acknowledgement would have been welcomed, good guest relations and would have diffused the onboard situation.