Reduced port stays

[osandomir]

7 hours ago, Psoque said:

I agree that Oceania will only respond to booking or lack there of.  However, if none of us complain about it, Oceania will have no idea why the booking was affected.  If you read my post again you might understand exactly what I meant.

Please, give Oceania some credit. I hope they have qualified analysts on their team to figure out what affects the bookings. All of us together won’t make them reverse their decision.

 

Now, we also have some port times reduced for our upcoming cruise. I’m neither the deepest pocket here, no I’d no matter what defend Oceania, but look around - we all have much more serious problems than port time reduction. Well… when it comes to canceling ports altogether while already on board the ship for an undisclosed, not well explained reason other than the weather condition, that’s the different story. I will be also disappointed as much as anybody else here, but still that won’t prevent us from booking the future cruises.

[Psoque]

4 minutes ago, osandomir said:

Please, give Oceania some credit. I hope they have qualified analysts on their team to figure out what affects the bookings. All of us together won’t make them reverse their decision.

 

Now, we also have some port times reduced for our upcoming cruise. I’m neither the deepest pocket here, no I’d no matter what defend Oceania, but look around - we all have much more serious problems than port time reduction. Well… when it comes to canceling ports altogether while already on board the ship for an undisclosed, not well explained reason other than the weather condition, that’s the different story. I will be also disappointed as much as anybody else here, but still that won’t prevent us from booking the future cruises.

You, too, should read my earlier posts before posting this.  These well-qualified analysts would probably like to know how many of us have figured out the lies behind the port time reduction e-mail.  If we don’t call out the lies, Oceania will continue to assume we are too stupid to know the difference.  That’s the only point I’m making.  I’m not encouraging anyone to cancel/not book a cruise on Oceania.  That’s none of my business.  I’m not even saying that we should organize some sort of a protest or a letter-writing campaign.   We just need to let the businesses we patronize know that we (or at least some of us) are well-informed consumers who prefer honest and straight-forward transactions.  That’s all.

[alainciao]

I'm afraid to post here since I'm not sure I have read all of Psoque's posts.

[Robjame]

We are presently on a cruise (Riviera) that has changed 2 of the 4 destinations from “docked” to “tendered”. We have not yet visited these ports.

 

Is this normal?

Is this a new part of Oceania’s dedication to “save the environment”? (i would not dare suggest it was the latest money-saving effort)

[LHT28]

14 minutes ago, Robjame said:

We are presently on a cruise (Riviera) that has changed 2 of the 4 destinations from “docked” to “tendered”. We have not yet visited these ports.

 

Is this normal?

Is this a new part of Oceania’s dedication to “save the environment”? (i would not dare suggest it was the latest money-saving effort)

What ports  were changed?

At least you got to the port   & not a sea day 😉

 

Could be  too many ships  in port 

Cozumel is always  a crap shoot   most of out stops there we docked  but sometimes not at the pier listed  in the Currents

 

[tripperva]

Which ports were switched to tender?

15 minutes ago, Robjame said:

e are presently on a cruise (Riviera) that has changed 2 of the 4 destinations from “docked” to “tendered”. We have not yet visited these ports.

 

 

[Robjame]

1 hour ago, tripperva said:

Which ports were switched to tender?

Honduras and Belize.

‘Perhaps they are always tendered but they were not marked as such in the original booking. This change has happened since we are onboard.

[ak1004]

4 minutes ago, Robjame said:

Honduras and Belize.

‘Perhaps they are always tendered but they were not marked as such in the original booking. This change has happened since we are onboard.

I just checked our booking from Dec.2021, and those 2 ports were tendered.

 

[maccrate]

We are on Regatta for a LA to Tokyo cruise in October '23.  Got a notification of changes in port stays also.  Counted them and came up with 7 less hours total.  However, for two of the ports on the Japanese islands, an extra hour was ADDED.  Also, what was originally a sea day has been replaced by a 7:00 am - 4:00 pm stop in Otaru.

 

This seems to be a positive adjustment by Oceania.  I appreciate the opportunity to see another city in Japan, especially as it actually replaces the original stop in Russia, which was on the original itinerary before the war.

[Robjame]

1 hour ago, ak1004 said:

I just checked our booking from Dec.2021, and those 2 ports were tendered.

Just returned from Destination Services and 

Honduras Anchored was a printing mistake on Shore Excursions - it was always docked they say

and Belize has been a physical change back from anchored to docked.

So all is well. We don’t do tendered.

[SophieM]

3 minutes ago, Robjame said:

Just returned from Destination Services and 

Honduras Anchored was a printing mistake on Shore Excursions - it was always docked they say

and Belize has been a physical change back from anchored to docked.

So all is well. We don’t do tendered.

Oh, whew! 

[sofietucker]

Pretty weird about Belize. We've been there many times on different ships, and have always tendered. They weigh anchor pretty far out from shore too, due to the reefs. I can't imagine that Riviera could squeeze through to dock at the pier (we were on her last year).

Edited January 25, 2023 by sofietucker

[Jancruz]

12 hours ago, osandomir said:

Please, give Oceania some credit. I hope they have qualified analysts on their team to figure out what affects the bookings. All of us together won’t make them reverse their decision.

 

Now, we also have some port times reduced for our upcoming cruise. I’m neither the deepest pocket here, no I’d no matter what defend Oceania, but look around - we all have much more serious problems than port time reduction. Well… when it comes to canceling ports altogether while already on board the ship for an undisclosed, not well explained reason other than the weather condition, that’s the different story. I will be also disappointed as much as anybody else here, but still that won’t prevent us from booking the future cruises.

Oh my gosh Sanity at last...

Jancruz1

[Mariastreby]

27 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

I just checked our booking from Dec.2021, and those 2 ports were tendered.

 

Belize ALWAYS has to be a tender port, due to the fragile coral reef closer to land. So no mega ships call there. Not sure why O made that error in not marking it with an anchor. We were just in both those ports (not Bahamas) with Viking, on our way down to the Panama Canal. Roatan has two docks, but after docking at one and seeing the other, they only had room for 4 ships, perhaps 5. So I’m thinking your ship got bumped, but why wouldn’t they know that way ahead of time?

 

We are Viking “people”, but are looking forward to our first O cruise on the Riviera to the eastern/southern Caribbean in March. Yup, we’ve had several port time changes too, and hope that one of our affected excursions won’t be shortened terribly, with the same cost.
 

But I am a bit perplexed - so many of you seem convinced that Oceania has usually had more port time than other lines, other than Azamara. Sorry, but I haven’t noticed anything longer than most of the posted port times on similar V itineraries. Couldn’t tell you about other lines, because I haven’t looked. But I think V and O appeal to a very similar demographic, that’s why I’m referring to them. And why we are trying Oceania soon!

[Robjame]

6 minutes ago, sofietucker said:

Pretty weird about Belize

Destination services did add,  “unless things change again.” Lol

 

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, Robjame said:

Honduras and Belize.

‘Perhaps they are always tendered but they were not marked as such in the original booking. This change has happened since we are onboard.

Belize is always tendered except for the New Harvest Caye  which is docked usually

 Roatan  sometimes

Last couple of cruises pre covid  we docked at Mahogany Bay  which is the Carnival port

 

On another forum it looks like Carnival is no longer  renting space to other lines only Carnival Corp lines

Grand Turk & Roatan  are 2 that I checked 

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, Robjame said:

We are presently on a cruise (Riviera) that has changed 2 of the 4 destinations from “docked” to “tendered”. We have not yet visited these ports.

 

Is this normal?

Is this a new part of Oceania’s dedication to “save the environment”? (i would not dare suggest it was the latest money-saving effort)

 

1 hour ago, Robjame said:

Honduras and Belize.

‘Perhaps they are always tendered but they were not marked as such in the original booking. This change has happened since we are onboard.

 

38 minutes ago, Robjame said:

Just returned from Destination Services and 

Honduras Anchored was a printing mistake on Shore Excursions - it was always docked they say

and Belize has been a physical change back from anchored to docked.

So all is well. We don’t do tendered.

 

21 minutes ago, sofietucker said:

Pretty weird about Belize. We've been there many times on different ships, and have always tendered. They weigh anchor pretty far out from shore too, due to the reefs. I can't imagine that Riviera could squeeze through to dock at the pier (we were on her last year).

 

1 minute ago, LHT28 said:

Belize is always tendered except for the New Harvest Caye  which is docked usually

 Roatan  sometimes

Last couple of cruise pre covid  we docked at Mahogany Bay  which is the Carnival port

On another thread  it looks like Carnival is no longer  renting space to other lines 

Grand Turk & Roatan  are 2 that I checked 

I think I may have the answer to the Belize situation. 

I suspect you're not going to Belize City, which is always a tender port.  You're going to Harvest Caye, NCLH's "private island".

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

1 hour ago, Robjame said:

We are presently on a cruise (Riviera) that has changed 2 of the 4 destinations from “docked” to “tendered”. We have not yet visited these ports.

 

Is this normal?

Is this a new part of Oceania’s dedication to “save the environment”? (i would not dare suggest it was the latest money-saving effort)

Ports are crammed right now.   I'm not totally surprised. Maybe the ports have been forced to "overbook" their berths right now.

 

I'm watching what happens with my cruise later this year.   There were about 5 ships that I "watched" go to one port where we're supposed to tender. All five docked, including the O ship I'll be on.  So I'm hoping we'll dock there.  I don't mind tendering, but it DOES complicate things a little.

 

Edited January 25, 2023 by IWantToLiveOverTheSea

[LHT28]

9 minutes ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

PBut I'm curious which ports have been changed to tendering on Riviera.

 

See post #107 & 110  above

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, Robjame said:

Jand Belize has been a physical change back from anchored to docked.

So all is well. We don’t do tendered.

Are you going to Harvest Caye?

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

I forget what port it was, but there's another situation in which ships cannot go where they used to go. 

 

And now Barcelona seems to have two different port websites - one for Costa and other relatives, and one for everyone else.

 

Things are a little confusing right now!  And then of course there's Venice - extra confusing.

[LHT28]

1 minute ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

I forget what port it was, but there's another situation in which ships cannot go where they used to go. 

 

And now Barcelona seems to have two different port websites - one for Costa and other relatives, and one for everyone else.

 

Things are a little confusing right now!  And then of course there's Venice - extra confusing.

Several places are now banning larger cruise ships  or cruise ship in general

Key West /Bar Harbour  are a couple

[SophieM]

8 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Are you going to Harvest Caye?

Yes

[LHT28]

14 minutes ago, SophieM said:

Yes

Are you on Riviera now?

 

[Robjame]

1 hour ago, njhorseman said:

I think I may have the answer to the Belize situation. 

I suspect you're not going to Belize City, which is always a tender port.  You're going to Harvest Caye, NCLH's "private island".

Exactly - thank you!