Marina Refurb…..Added May 2024 Sailing

[the more ports the better]

Marina added a May 18 to June 1 2024 sailing.  Now the break in the schedule is only April 29 thru May 18.  
 

Does anyone remember how long the Riveria refurb was.  The break on Marina, 19 days, now looks more like a charter than a refurb.  Could be a sign of some major financial problems with O if they forgo a Marina refurb in 2024 especially after all the positive feedback with Riveria.  I do not see any other breaks in the schedule thus far with released itineraries.

 

Very disappointing!

Edited July 12, 2023 by the more ports the better
Missed date

[EJL2023]

I recall seeing it mentioned in another thread not too long ago that the downtime for Riviera was pretty much the same amount of time as the current gap for Marina you noted above. 

[LHT28]

There was  an announcement several months ago  about the  new refurb date  would be April 2024

 

 

No conspiracy theories  needed

 

 

[pinotlover]

Shouldn’t this be merged with the thread of the exact same topic?

[grifdoglover]

@the more ports the better I would contact O directly to verify rather then guessing and relying on hearsay or if you use a third party TA they must contact for you.  Also if you have concerns about the financial stability of a cruise company I strongly recommend travel insurance (not the cruise lines insurance). 

[the more ports the better]

I always have annual insurance so no worries there.  I do have 10 or so sailings booked with O so I hope all is well.

 

Back to my original question.  Does anyone remember how long the Riveria refurb was?  This break is less than three weeks and I just can’t remember at all how long Riveria took.

 

My TA books only O so she is poking around.  If she finds anything out, I’ll post for sure.

[EJL2023]

15 minutes ago, the more ports the better said:

I always have annual insurance so no worries there.  I do have 10 or so sailings booked with O so I hope all is well.

 

Back to my original question.  Does anyone remember how long the Riveria refurb was?  This break is less than three weeks and I just can’t remember at all how long Riveria took.

 

My TA books only O so she is poking around.  If she finds anything out, I’ll post for sure.

Per Cruise Critic article when announced. Riviera was to be dry docked for 20 days.  And at that time Marina was to be dry docked for 22 days, but of course that never took place. Assuming article mentioning the days probably actually the number of days there were between last and first post rehab cruise. So maybe actual refurbish a bit less.  But this would seem to be inline with the current gap in cruises.

Edited July 12, 2023 by EJL2023

[1985rz1]

2 hours ago, LHT28 said:

No conspiracy theories  needed

Amen!  Too many on social media, CC included, have an automatic knee-jerk reaction of "conspiracy," and speculate without any facts.

[Vineyard View]

We are booked on this cruise. I have watched this timeframe for several months and this showed up not very long ago. 
I asked our TA to check with O on the refurbishment before we booked last week. She wasn’t given an exact date but was told sometime between April and June 1. 🤷‍♀️. 

[EJL2023]

4 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

We are booked on this cruise. I have watched this timeframe for several months and this showed up not very long ago. 
I asked our TA to check with O on the refurbishment before we booked last week. She wasn’t given an exact date but was told sometime between April and June 1. 🤷‍♀️. 

And that fits perfectly with the current time with no cruises, April 29th - May 17th, sounds good for you to be on the relaunch cruise to me!!!

[Vineyard View]

That is our way of thinking…..long as all goes as planned! But that said, we always have insurance so if it goes differently then I would think we would know before the last minute!

[pinotlover]

One of the many mysteries of Oceania Cruise Line: How they abhor corporate communications. 
 

Why the big secret? It’s obvious the upgrades are not going to be done this Fall. Why not just announce when it’s currently scheduled/planned to be done?

 

Is this just Jr. , following in Daddy’s footsteps, wanting to inexplicably keep people in the dark for no apparent reason? 🙄

[EJL2023]

1 hour ago, pinotlover said:

One of the many mysteries of Oceania Cruise Line: How they abhor corporate communications. 
 

Why the big secret? It’s obvious the upgrades are not going to be done this Fall. Why not just announce when it’s currently scheduled/planned to be done?

 

Is this just Jr. , following in Daddy’s footsteps, wanting to inexplicably keep people in the dark for no apparent reason? 🙄

LHT28 indicated above they made an announcement for April 2024.  I have not been able to locate the announcement.  

[Vineyard View]

I just called O to try to get an PDF of the excursions prices and updated listing for our 5/18/24 booking. He looked it up and said, well, it looks like they are not posted yet. I responded that was my experience when logging in, but that the O website has them listed but no details including prices, so could he forward them to me. He forwarded the request to excursions, so we will see. 
 

I then asked him about the refurbishment. He said it was completed 4/20/20. I explained that there was another planned and would he look it up please. He didn’t find one for 2023. I asked him to check Spring 2024 and specifically April/May. He could not find anything. I explained that there is a window of no cruises scheduled during that time, with the 5/18 being first one showing. He did not see that window of no cruises. So IDK. I looked on the website again, and don’t see what he is apparently seeing. 
 

I don’t have the history with Oceania that you all have so I cannot comment on whether this is typical or no, but it certainly wasn’t informative. 

Edited July 13, 2023 by Vineyard View

[LHT28]

OMG 🙄

[1985rz1]

1 hour ago, Vineyard View said:

I just called O to try to get an PDF of the excursions prices and updated listing for our 5/18/24 booking. He looked it up and said, well, it looks like they are not posted yet. I responded that was my experience when logging in, but that the O website has them listed but no details including prices, so could he forward them to me. He forwarded the request to excursions, so we will see. 
 

I then asked him about the refurbishment. He said it was completed 4/20/20. I explained that there was another planned and would he look it up please. He didn’t find one for 2023. I asked him to check Spring 2024 and specifically April/May. He could not find anything. I explained that there is a window of no cruises scheduled during that time, with the 5/18 being first one showing. He did not see that window of no cruises. So IDK. I looked on the website again, and don’t see what he is apparently seeing. 
 

I don’t have the history with Oceania that you all have so I cannot comment on whether this is typical or no, but it certainly wasn’t informative. 

There have been many posts on multiple threads saying that the reps at O are often clueless.

Edited July 13, 2023 by 1985rz1

[Vineyard View]

23 minutes ago, 1985rz1 said:

There have been many posts on multiple threads saying that the reps at O are often clueless.

Well,  not sure what to say to that but maybe tomorrow I will call and see if I can find a rep with clues! Will post here info find out anything. 

[1985rz1]

3 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

Well,  not sure what to say to that but maybe tomorrow I will call and see if I can find a rep with clues! Will post here info find out anything. 

Let us know.  Some folks said they called several times before they got an O agent who "was in the know."  Seems like a pain. But we have always used a TA, who got us straight answers from their dedicated agent rep, if there were any answers, so we have had no experience dealing with O directly.

[Vineyard View]

Thank you for this further info. I was trying not to bother TA with this, but if my next call isn’t successful I will engage her. She asked once and just got a generic overview sent to her of the categories. Not really helpful. 
should be easier. 

[pinotlover]

I can think of no reason I’d ever again do 1-800-Dial-a-Clerk. I suppose some people are just bored and that’s how they enjoy spending their time.

 

A very strong possibility exists that what the clerk sees on their computer, and you can’t on yours, are instructions to give you the run around and not a definitive answer. 🥹

[edgee]

58 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

I can think of no reason I’d ever again do 1-800-Dial-a-Clerk. I suppose some people are just bored and that’s how they enjoy spending their time.

 

A very strong possibility exists that what the clerk sees on their computer, and you can’t on yours, are instructions to give you the run around and not a definitive answer. 🥹

Pretty cynical view of the world, but unfortunately, you may be correct.😏

[Vineyard View]

55 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

 

A very strong possibility exists that what the clerk sees on their computer, and you can’t on yours, are instructions to give you the run around and not a definitive answer. 🥹

Why in the world would they do that?  I can’t quite understand what the point would be. 
As a non excursion couple, and two very crowded port days on this itinerary, it would helpful to have  some answers on whether the  $1000 SM shore excursion credit brings us any options of interest before I research private. I think that’s a logical way of thinking. 

[pinotlover]

Perhaps the real reason is they just haven’t been posted yet!

 

We’ll play make believe and give Oceania some credit. On our Vista cruise, multiple people were very unhappy, and very vocal about it, because their tour description didn’t match up with what happened on the tour. Two big items rang out: 1) sights listed that were closed to the public and had been for a couple years ; and (2) far more listed sites than visited.  Maybe Oceania is trying to slowly rectify these issues, and ten (10) months out aren’t ready to publish the tour guide yet.

 

Personally, I’d rather get an accurate shore tour listing at 8-9 months out than a basically worthless one at 11-12. But, that’s just me.

[pinotlover]

As to that time gap. A charter is always a possibility. The Vista now has a charter of Swingers aboard. I heard that the cruise is sold out. Perhaps another such group took the ship for that time period and O just isn’t advertising what’s going on.

 

Again, I don’t understand why they don’t say Charter or Refits, but that’s O!

[Vineyard View]

There are excursions listed in the general website for the cruise. No pricing. Not listed in individual records. l think mostly I am trying to understand what is typically the price pp for the small group and specialty - are they $300, $400, etc. so I have a general idea how far the SM credit will go and have an idea on the places I want to start looking for privates when we don’t DIY. 
I would not be happy if that happened as you described on Vista. I don’t blame them one bit. I am sorry that is happening to them.