Oasis Cancellation-March 31, 2019

[teacherman]

I have found a Holland America cruise that will work for us.  We would have to get from Orlando to Tampa on Sunday morning and back on the next Sunday.    is there a shuttle service or would we have to rent cars?

[Clarea]

15 minutes ago, teacherman said:

I have found a Holland America cruise that will work for us.  We would have to get from Orlando to Tampa on Sunday morning and back on the next Sunday.    is there a shuttle service or would we have to rent cars?

 

Ask about tany potential shuttle service on the Florida Departures forum: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/386-florida-departures/

 

One way rental cars (depending on size) would not be that expensive.

[LXA350]

4 hours ago, cruisinforabruising said:

It’s such a huge maintenance issue that they need to wait 3 months to fix it. Let’s call it what it is. The oasis was scheduled to dry dock in 2019 for upgrades. They probably had an open spot for dry docking and that’s what they chose. Either way their alternative sail dates are absolutely awful. We had a booking for this oasis sail date.  We had 2 connecting balcony rooms. How do you offer a alternative that’s basically sold out.  I’m currently sitting on the Allure and even the staff here is baffled on how they are handeling the situation.  They don’t even have a Quads for families on the 3/31 allure sailing.

 

The drydock of Oasis will take place in 2019 however in Cadiz, Spain (Europe) and as far as I recall for around october

 

Edited December 8, 2018 by LXA350

[MacMarauder]

2 hours ago, orville99 said:

Doubtful for two reasons: 1) there's nowhere this side of the pond where she can dry dock(other than the Newport News Naval Shipyard), and 2) Her amped upgrades aren't scheduled until after she does her summer European tour. More likely it is something that they need to accomplish while docked in PC or in Freeport. We're on her next month and will ask around and see if we can find out any details.

 

Yes I'm booked on Oasis next Dec (actually sail one year from today, so close lol) which I chose partially to see how Oasis looks after the "amped" drydock.  The upgrades are at the end of her Med season and I believe she is offline for six weeks which includes the trip across the Atlantic.

 

That being said taking her off for a week during spring break is puzzling and hopefully you can get some more info on what is going on!

[orville99]

11 minutes ago, MacMarauder said:

 

Yes I'm booked on Oasis next Dec (actually sail one year from today, so close lol) which I chose partially to see how Oasis looks after the "amped" drydock.  The upgrades are at the end of her Med season and I believe she is offline for six weeks which includes the trip across the Atlantic.

 

That being said taking her off for a week during spring break is puzzling and hopefully you can get some more info on what is going on!

When we were on her in September, they were dismantling and removing several balconies (literally removing the entire balcony structure from the sliding glass doors outward) on the starboard side of the ship. I wonder if they found more structural issues with the balconies that would require additional disassembly and replacement.

Edited December 8, 2018 by orville99

[Thorben-Hendrik]

3 minutes ago, orville99 said:

When we were on her in September, they were dismantling and removing several balconies (literally removing the entire balcony structure from the sliding glass doors outward) on the starboard side of the ship. I wonder if they found more structural issues with the balconies that would require additional disassembly and replacement.

Wow - sounds like real trouble in paradise....if they need to cancel cruises for that!😱

[ugagal07]

15 minutes ago, Thorben-Hendrik said:

Wow - sounds like real trouble in paradise....if they need to cancel cruises for that!😱

But why wait until the end of March?  Wouldn't that warrant a much earlier drydock?  My TA said it was a charter... Figures.

 

Looking at MSC, Carnival, NCL, and AI options now.  Oasis to Rhapsody isn't an 'even' trade and we are locked into spring break week.  Sad that the only true option for people requiring that week was the Rhapsody.

[Thorben-Hendrik]

They can't find an ealier slot at a shipyard.....

Will be interesting to watch if they black out cabins from now until March!🤔

Seems as if they blocked all suites???😱

I seriously doubt they would cancel because of a charter on such a short notice!😱👎

Edited December 8, 2018 by Thorben-Hendrik

[teacherman]

I want to thank the person who started this thread.  Since we had already booked our air fare and due to job commitments this was the ONLY week we could be together, we have booked a HAL cruise out of Tampa for the same days.  We can still fly in and out of MCO, but just have to get from MCO to Tampa and back.  MY problem was that we are leaving early tomorrow morning for a cruise and if I did not find out about this until I returned it would have been difficult to make other arrangements.

[Gatordad815]

4 minutes ago, teacherman said:

I want to thank the person who started this thread.  Since we had already booked our air fare and due to job commitments this was the ONLY week we could be together, we have booked a HAL cruise out of Tampa for the same days.  We can still fly in and out of MCO, but just have to get from MCO to Tampa and back.  MY problem was that we are leaving early tomorrow morning for a cruise and if I did not find out about this until I returned it would have been difficult to make other arrangements.

 

I’m glad it all worked out for you!  I don’t take too much credit as I’m sure if I hadn’t started it someone else would have! Enjoy your trip and safe travels!

[Ourusualbeach]

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

When we were on her in September, they were dismantling and removing several balconies (literally removing the entire balcony structure from the sliding glass doors outward) on the starboard side of the ship. I wonder if they found more structural issues with the balconies that would require additional disassembly and replacement.

 

They were doing the same thing in March.

[anoth]

This is such a disappointment. I got such an amazing deal on this sailing and talked two new families to RC into joining me. I was so excited to introduce them to the Oasis class. Now instead they are aghast at the horrible customer service we’ve encountered and are unwilling to ever try Royal again.  And the fact that the email notification was sent at 6 pm on a Friday? It’s shady to say the least. 

[mugtech]

And the shady thing about 6PM  Friday emails is?

[Gatordad815]

9 minutes ago, anoth said:

This is such a disappointment. I got such an amazing deal on this sailing and talked two new families to RC into joining me. I was so excited to introduce them to the Oasis class. Now instead they are aghast at the horrible customer service we’ve encountered and are unwilling to ever try Royal again.  And the fact that the email notification was sent at 6 pm on a Friday? It’s shady to say the least. 

 

Yeah the service is abysmal. The last person I spoke with today pretty much agreed with me that when management makes him stay stupid things about their technical rules that exclude most people from just being able to take a similar vacation the same week for a similar price, it’s just their inflexible corporate BS poor uncaring customer service. It’s penny wise, pound foolish. They have 3 other ships leaving Florida (Symphony, Harmony and Adventure) that would provide a comparable vacation the same week that actually have availability for families of 4 (unlike Allure which never did). And while I wouldn’t expect them to give the same price for a 9 night on harmony, to ask people to pay today’s price is ludicrous. We could have booked any of those cruises at much better prices during the year they held our money for the Oasis trip.

 

At first I wasn’t too upset, but the more I think about how indifferent their management is to their customers, the more I really dislike RC, which is a real shame as I wanted to love them (and pretty much did before this). They have some pretty easy avenues to recover some customer goodwill that wouldn’t bankrupt them, but just aren’t willing to do it because they really don’t care about making people who got a good price a year ago happy when they can charge someone else twice as much today.  I’m not shocked, but definitely disappointed.

[Ourusualbeach]

8 minutes ago, Gatordad815 said:

 

Yeah the service is abysmal. The last person I spoke with today pretty much agreed with me that when management makes him stay stupid things about their technical rules that exclude most people from just being able to take a similar vacation the same week for a similar price, it’s just their inflexible corporate BS poor uncaring customer service. It’s penny wise, pound foolish. They have 3 other ships leaving Florida (Symphony, Harmony and Adventure) that would provide a comparable vacation the same week that actually have availability for families of 4 (unlike Allure which never did). And while I wouldn’t expect them to give the same price for a 9 night on harmony, to ask people to pay today’s price is ludicrous. We could have booked any of those cruises at much better prices during the year they held our money for the Oasis trip.

 

At first I wasn’t too upset, but the more I think about how indifferent their management is to their customers, the more I really dislike RC, which is a real shame as I wanted to love them (and pretty much did before this). They have some pretty easy avenues to recover some customer goodwill that wouldn’t bankrupt them, but just aren’t willing to do it because they really don’t care about making people who got a good price a year ago happy when they can charge someone else twice as much today.  I’m not shocked, but definitely disappointed.

 

Curious as to what you paid.  A balcony cabin for 4 on Harmony for the 9 nights is currently $3917.  An inside for 4 is $3209.  Oceanview $3593

Edited December 9, 2018 by Ourusualbeach

[anoth]

22 minutes ago, mugtech said:

And the shady thing about 6PM  Friday emails is?

I have to imagine the decision was made earlier, but the communication was sent at a time when fewer people would be checking emails, and TAs might not be working to quickly react to the change. By the time many knew of the cancellation, the few quads left on Allure were gone. 

[cruisinforabruising]

26 minutes ago, mugtech said:

And the shady thing about 6PM  Friday emails is?

 

Take this for what you will everyone. I am curious to know the date that everyone booked this cruise. I booked my oasis cruise in May. My father and I spoke to the customer resolution department and when it was mentioned how they were doing this to thousands of customers on spring break he stated “they actually knew about this a few months ago and stopped taking bookings for this sailing”. If this is true than there is your shady business practices. 

 

FYI everyone if you are able to the Anthem of the seas is sailing out of NJ and I was able to get 2 connecting balconies for 500 less than the oasis and 100 dollars of obc for each room. The quad rooms are still more than the Oasis though. 

[cruisinforabruising]

1 minute ago, anoth said:

I have to imagine the decision was made earlier, but the communication was sent at a time when fewer people would be checking emails, and TAs might not be working to quickly react to the change. By the time many knew of the cancellation, the few quads left on Allure were gone. 

 

See my reply above. I am currently on the Allure and the Staff are all puzzled and disgusted with how this is being handled. 

[Ourusualbeach]

4 minutes ago, cruisinforabruising said:

 

Take this for what you will everyone. I am curious to know the date that everyone booked this cruise. I booked my oasis cruise in May. My father and I spoke to the customer resolution department and when it was mentioned how they were doing this to thousands of customers on spring break he stated “they actually knew about this a few months ago and stopped taking bookings for this sailing”. If this is true than there is your shady business practices. 

 

FYI everyone if you are able to the Anthem of the seas is sailing out of NJ and I was able to get 2 connecting balconies for 500 less than the oasis and 100 dollars of obc for each room. The quad rooms are still more than the Oasis though. 

 

I know someone who booked this cruise a month ago.  

 

When sailings get closed for booking someone usually posts here pretty quickly asking why.  The post Friday about it being cancelled was the first post about this sailing.  I don’t believe that you received entirely accurate information.  

[Gatordad815]

4 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Curious as to what you paid.  A balcony cabin for 4 on Harmony for the 9 nights is currently $3917.  An inside for 4 is $3209.  Oceanview $3593

 

Oceanview Balcony for 4 with kids sail free was $2447. An amazing deal I know, but it’s the deal I paid for and I booked another RC cruise in November 2019 with the savings. I don’t expect the Harmony sailing for that price since it’s 2 nights longer, but I’m not paying another $1500 for an itinerary I consciously chose not to book (because as great of an itinerary as it is, it was inconvenient for me). I compared the options and purposely booked the Oasis which was much more convenient.  

 

I even had the Adventure booked on a refundable fare the same week (the itinerary looked great to me) but I cancelled it for this Oasis sailing for convenience. RC is of course unwilling to reinstitute that booking...

[Ourusualbeach]

2 minutes ago, Gatordad815 said:

 

Oceanview Balcony for 4 with kids sail free was $2447. An amazing deal I know, but it’s the deal I paid for and I booked another RC cruise in November 2019 with the savings. I don’t expect the Harmony sailing for that price since it’s 2 nights longer, but I’m not paying another $1500 for an itinerary I consciously chose not to book (because as great of an itinerary as it is, it was inconvenient for me). I compared the options and purposely booked the Oasis which was much more convenient.  

 

I even had the Adventure booked on a refundable fare the same week (the itinerary looked great to me) but I cancelled it for this Oasis sailing for convenience. RC is of course unwilling to reinstitute that booking...

 

 

That was a fantastic deal.  Sorry it didn’t work out. Unfortunately being this close to sail date and how full these ships are even if they had opened up another couple ships there still wouldn’t have been enough cabins to make everyone happy.  It’s probably a safe bet that most booked in a suite on this cruise won’t be able to find a replacement. Doesn’t make it right but just reality that many are going to feel screwed ( and rightfully so)

[Gatordad815]

1 minute ago, Ourusualbeach said:

That was a fantastic deal.  Sorry it didn’t work out. Unfortunately being this close to sail date and how full these ships are even if they had opened up another couple ships there still wouldn’t have been enough cabins to make everyone happy.  It’s probably a safe bet that most booked in a suite on this cruise won’t be able to find a replacement. Doesn’t make it right but just reality that many are going to feel screwed ( and rightfully so)

 

Yeah it was a great deal. We were excited about it. Our daughter turns 6 that week and she’s so excited about her birthday cruise (she was talking about it all day today and I didn’t have the heart to tell her as I’m still hoping to work something out). And it’s the last week for several years my kids will be in the same Adventure Ocean group for the week. And the Disney condo I booked today was $600 more than it would have been a month ago when they were running some amazing specials.

 

Of course none of that is Royal Caribbean’s concern, and I wouldn’t expect it to be, but it’s real to me. And when RC has real options that could make this right and are too greedy to work with people, it leaves a terrible impression and makes me think hard about finding new options for this family’s next 15 years of twice-yearly great vacations. I guess RC is fine losing that future business so they don’t take a small hit today (of course they are-they’ll just fill those cabins with someone else-they definitely don’t care how I feel about them). 

[Thorben-Hendrik]

7 hours ago, Gatordad815 said:

Of course none of that is Royal Caribbean’s concern, and I wouldn’t expect it to be, but it’s real to me. And when RC has real options that could make this right and are too greedy to work with people, it leaves a terrible impression and makes me think hard about finding new options for this family’s next 15 years of twice-yearly great vacations. I guess RC is fine losing that future business so they don’t take a small hit today (of course they are-they’ll just fill those cabins with someone else-they definitely don’t care how I feel about them). 

+1👍

[ugagal07]

9 hours ago, Gatordad815 said:

 

Oceanview Balcony for 4 with kids sail free was $2447. An amazing deal I know, but it’s the deal I paid for and I booked another RC cruise in November 2019 with the savings. I don’t expect the Harmony sailing for that price since it’s 2 nights longer, but I’m not paying another $1500 for an itinerary I consciously chose not to book (because as great of an itinerary as it is, it was inconvenient for me). I compared the options and purposely booked the Oasis which was much more convenient.  

 

I even had the Adventure booked on a refundable fare the same week (the itinerary looked great to me) but I cancelled it for this Oasis sailing for convenience. RC is of course unwilling to reinstitute that booking...

 We must have booked near the same time as you Gatordad, $2200 for 4 in a Central Park balcony.  We also prepaid grats, booked our shows, drink package on special, shore ex on special, and dining on special. Customer service assured us all would be refunded for us to rebook to the new sailing we chose, at the prices they are today.

 

So not only do we get a crappy option to sail spring break week-Rhapsody, we would also get to pay a higher rate for all the extras we had already booked and paid for. 

[Waycoolrob]

We were in the same boat (pun intended) I called and was initially told Allure was completely sold out, and sorry but Rhapsody is just not an option. We too travel on Spring break so are dates are also not up for negotiation. The friends we travel with were told the same. We looked at other cruise lines, and nothing really looked good. So I thought I would call back and beg too see what they could do. First they will absolutely not give you the rate you have on another ship not listed. However all of a sudden they had rooms on Allure, it was a lot of time on hold and calls backs but all of us are on Allure for the same date same class of Cabin. I guess what I am trying to say is call, if they say no call again. The final payment date for this cruise is fast approaching so I think there might be more cancelations in the near future.