Reduced port stays

[ak1004]

1 minute ago, susiesan said:

Yes, but what is the price difference? What is the cheapest fare on each line for a cabin wit ha window?

Ironically, on those specific sailings, Oceania is actually more expensive when you consider all inclusions. I know usually this is not the case.

[mamaclark]

We choose Oceania because it is destination centered. We have no desire to float around and overeat. Our times in port have been shortened as well. It makes planning particularly difficult in Alaska.

[Wasasalad]

1 hour ago, mamaclark said:

We choose Oceania because it is destination centered. We have no desire to float around and overeat. Our times in port have been shortened as well. It makes planning particularly difficult in Alaska.

Yes! I’m not happy about it! I’m there for the ports! I booked because of the long port days! To me the ship is my taxi! I’m there to see destinations!

[Move]

Ok, silly question, but do Oceania give OBC/compensation if they cancel ports, eg Myanmar 2 overnights coming up in May, Nautica? (not cancelled yet but they will).

[natshala]

On 1/23/2023 at 11:50 AM, marieps said:

Until the "somebodies" include China and India, these tiny contributions to sustainability are meaningless, IMO.

And Brazil and Russia. Why do so few understand this?

[Mrs f.]

6 hours ago, Move said:

Ok, silly question, but do Oceania give OBC/compensation if they cancel ports, eg Myanmar 2 overnights coming up in May, Nautica? (not cancelled yet but they will).

We recently had 3 ports cancelled while on an O cruise. No compensation. 

[MEFIowa]

7 hours ago, Move said:

Ok, silly question, but do Oceania give OBC/compensation if they cancel ports, eg Myanmar 2 overnights coming up in May, Nautica? (not cancelled yet but they will).

Read your contract: No, they don't. (Had one port each cancelled on Riviera 12/21 and Sirena 11/22.)

[sofietucker]

Our excellent external insurance reimburses us $100 pp for each missed port... On one cruise not long ago, it was 2 ports in a row (seas)

[LHT28]

9 hours ago, Move said:

Ok, silly question, but do Oceania give OBC/compensation if they cancel ports, eg Myanmar 2 overnights coming up in May, Nautica? (not cancelled yet but they will).

if they cancel  usually they give a refund on tours booked with them  otherwise  no refund in port fees etc..

[Mariastreby]

2 hours ago, sofietucker said:

Our excellent external insurance reimburses us $100 pp for each missed port... On one cruise not long ago, it was 2 ports in a row (seas)

Our Allianz policies always have that $100 per port missed coverage. But I was just wondering what kind of proof/paperwork you got from ship staff to mail to the Claims department.

[sofietucker]

1 hour ago, Mariastreby said:

Our Allianz policies always have that $100 per port missed coverage. But I was just wondering what kind of proof/paperwork you got from ship staff to mail to the Claims department.

I think we just submitted the daily or the note from concierge (captain) to that effect, which we had retained... One time our TA did it for us when we mentioned it to her after we got back--don't think we had any documentation that time. 

[pinotlover]

We missed 3 of 9 ports. We were informed one was being cancelled, 16 days later when we boarded. Oceania also cancelled our Manchu Picchu post cruise tour. Lots of very unhappy passengers. Far too many sea days and am happy to be getting off the ship. Since Oceania is content on flippantly canceling ports, a number of us will be canceling entire bookings when we get home. That’ll leave plenty of availability for all those Cruisers that just care about the ship and not the ports. 

[MEFIowa]

14 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

We missed 3 of 9 ports. We were informed one was being cancelled, 16 days later when we boarded. Oceania also cancelled our Manchu Picchu post cruise tour. Lots of very unhappy passengers. Far too many sea days and am happy to be getting off the ship. Since Oceania is content on flippantly canceling ports, a number of us will be canceling entire bookings when we get home. That’ll leave plenty of availability for all those Cruisers that just care about the ship and not the ports. 

This potential trend makes me a bit nervous. Booked our B2B in the Med (Oct-Nov) in early 2022 exactly for 18 ports in 20 days, only 1 sea day in each 10-night block. Had 1 port cancelled in our E Caribbean cruise 11/2022 and I damned near went insane on 3 consecutive sea days.

[shepherd really]

18 hours ago, pinotlover said:

We missed 3 of 9 ports. We were informed one was being cancelled, 16 days later when we boarded. Oceania also cancelled our Manchu Picchu post cruise tour. Lots of very unhappy passengers. Far too many sea days and am happy to be getting off the ship. Since Oceania is content on flippantly canceling ports, a number of us will be canceling entire bookings when we get home. That’ll leave plenty of availability for all those Cruisers that just care about the ship and not the ports. 

But other than that, how was the cruise?

[Pizzasteve]

On 1/23/2023 at 5:35 AM, ABoatNerd said:

Here we go, using the bogus green scam as a cover to reduce the product offering to the customer. 

Since Oceania advertises that they are an itinerary focused cruise line, this is disgusting. Our travel agent even sent an email to his customers advising about this, he is beyond mad and this is significant because he used to be in mgmt on Oceania!

Hummmm, not a good trend.

 

Hope Oceana management reads this thread and stops.  My family are spending like $50k for an upcoming holy land cruise this summer.  If the stops are reduced Oceana which was becoming my preferred line will lose our business and I will cancel our later booked Regent cruise.

[mnocket]

Why does it seem everything degrades over time?  Why can't a perfectly good product/service seem to endure time?

[SophieM]

16 minutes ago, mnocket said:

Why does it seem everything degrades over time?  Why can't a perfectly good product/service seem to endure time?

You know, I ask myself that question every time I look in the mirror these days.

[Buckwheel]

I received an email this morning from a tour operator who we had booked an excursion with asking me to change plans due to Oceania reducing our port time by one hour. 

 

We received an email 1/13/23 advising of reduced port times as part of their Sail and Sustain that listed two ports which were affected. After receiving my email from our tour operator this morning I checked CruiseMapper and confirmed not only was our tour operator correct about a reduced time in their port but there was another port where Oceania is leaving early. 

 

Our cruise embarks March 23, 2023. Oceania should have enough courtesy to notify passengers each and every time there is a port change. Continually reducing port times after advertising port stops and hours coupled with not notifying passengers is unethical. 

 

At this point we have four of eight ports with reduced port times! 

 

We were looking forward to our first time cruising with Oceania and if this is how they choose to operate we will  make our choice to not stick with them. 

 

 

[LHT28]

33 minutes ago, mnocket said:

Why does it seem everything degrades over time?  Why can't a perfectly good product/service seem to endure time?

I think  in this  post covid start up many lines are having issues

Check some of the other forums for Luxury lines  ..they do not seem immune to the poor food & lack there of

[SophieM]

10 minutes ago, Buckwheel said:

I received an email this morning from a tour operator who we had booked an excursion with asking me to change plans due to Oceania reducing our port time by one hour. 

 

We received an email 1/13/23 advising of reduced port times as part of their Sail and Sustain that listed two ports which were affected. After receiving my email from our tour operator this morning I checked CruiseMapper and confirmed not only was our tour operator correct about a reduced time in their port but there was another port where Oceania is leaving early. 

 

Our cruise embarks March 23, 2023. Oceania should have enough courtesy to notify passengers each and every time there is a port change. Continually reducing port times after advertising port stops and hours coupled with not notifying passengers is unethical. 

 

At this point we have four of eight ports with reduced port times! 

 

We were looking forward to our first time cruising with Oceania and if this is how they choose to operate we will  make our choice to not stick with them. 

 

 

I think the good news here is that the tour operators, who are dependent upon cruise ship business, follow the port times closely and adjust their tours accordingly.  We have typically been notified by Oceania of planned port time changes. For the most part, none of the changes have materially affected our tour plans. 

[sofietucker]

12 minutes ago, Buckwheel said:

I received an email this morning from a tour operator who we had booked an excursion with asking me to change plans due to Oceania reducing our port time by one hour. 

 

We received an email 1/13/23 advising of reduced port times as part of their Sail and Sustain that listed two ports which were affected. After receiving my email from our tour operator this morning I checked CruiseMapper and confirmed not only was our tour operator correct about a reduced time in their port but there was another port where Oceania is leaving early. 

 

Our cruise embarks March 23, 2023. Oceania should have enough courtesy to notify passengers each and every time there is a port change. Continually reducing port times after advertising port stops and hours coupled with not notifying passengers is unethical. 

 

At this point we have four of eight ports with reduced port times! 

 

We were looking forward to our first time cruising with Oceania and if this is how they choose to operate we will  make our choice to not stick with them.

 

 

 

"Sail and Sustain": Hey, that emperor ain't got no clothes on!

 

Our 12-day western Europe cruise this May has cut at least 1-2 hours in all but 2 ports (Bordeaux cut on both ends, even though we dock in LeVerdon, two hour-drive ONE WAY from Bordeaux). And yes, a couple of those port changes crept in after their initial letter to us. We hastily readjusted our non-ship's excursions, had to cancel one. (And wow, now THAT's a way to insure pax use the cruise shorex: make arrival/departure times moving targets. But surely they didn't intend that...) But I haven't checked in a couple of weeks; thanks for this reminder to do so immediately.

[njhorseman]

49 minutes ago, mnocket said:

Why does it seem everything degrades over time?  Why can't a perfectly good product/service seem to endure time?

 

24 minutes ago, shepherd really said:

Bad/greedy management.  Next question.

 

14 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

I think  in this  post covid start up many lines are having issues

Check some of the other forums for Luxury lines  ..they do not seem immune to the poor food & lack there of

Very simply the major cruise line holding companies have yet to return to profitability after the pandemic shutdown. They have billions in debt, a shortage of cash, and have been teetering on the brink of insolvency. They're hoping for a return to minimal profitability later this year, but even then it's going to be years before they'll be able to return to some sense of normalcy in their operations and product quality. Inflation certainly hasn't helped either, nor has an apparent labor shortage that is leaving the ships understaffed.

[susiesan]

I have already decided that after my Sirena cruise Sept. 2 to the Canary Islands that I won't be cruising for a while, and especially not on Oceania. This cruise had time shortened in 3 out of 6 ports. This is unacceptable to me. I won't be surprised if O drops more time off the ports the day after final payment is due, that seems to be the way they are operating now.

 

For 2024 I'm looking at land trips in Ireland, Japan, and Croatia with a small ship trip like this: https://cruisecroatia.com. These boats carry only 38 people. Has anyone done one of these trips?

 

[janecambridge]

No SusieSan but we have booked for next summer. solentrichard has a great blog on the very ship we will be on . Zagreb to Dubrovnik. Could be worth a read. 
just Google his name and lady Eleganza.

[Buckwheel]

1 hour ago, njhorseman said:

 

 

Very simply the major cruise line holding companies have yet to return to profitability after the pandemic shutdown. They have billions in debt, a shortage of cash, and have been teetering on the brink of insolvency. They're hoping for a return to minimal profitability later this year, but even then it's going to be years before they'll be able to return to some sense of normalcy in their operations and product quality. Inflation certainly hasn't helped either, nor has an apparent labor shortage that is leaving the ships understaffed.

I agree with you completely. 

 

What seems like a sham is Oceania advertising one product then delivering another. Everyone knows it saves money to reduce port stops and times. IMHO, Oceania would have more support if they had accurate port stops and schedules when they released  cruise itineraries. Routinely changing schedules down the road, including sometimes after final payment is fraudulent.

 

Of course, they are unable to predict weather. If a port must be skipped due to extreme weather that is the correct decision to keep safety in the forefront.