Cancelled Ports

[jonthomas]

If you love a cruise line, my first response when there is something troubling is not to abandon all that I love about it, but to see if I can bring it to their attention. Just as some of you did with the cookies issue. Not to compare cookies to missed, shortened ports.

No sane person would compare not entering a war zone port to a possible weather event.

[Cruisedreamer1]

We took a Caribbean cruise just after things opened up after Covid. One of the islands was closed to cruise ships until October. Several of us tried to get Oceania to confirm that the island was off the itinerary. We called and also had a travel agent inquire. All reported the island was still on the trip even though Oceania's own Covid government documents reported otherwise. Poor corporate communications!!! One of the guests was friends of the hotel director and she emailed him who advised that indeed the island was off the itinerary. Only those on the roll call had first knowledge about this change. Many people had made plans and incurred deposits which had to be changed on the ship when it was more difficult to communicate.

 

[marieps]

On 10/5/2023 at 5:41 PM, susiesan said:

Yes, it's common on Oceania cruises  to cancel ports. It's more common for them to sell an itinerary and then after final payment is made to start lopping off an hour or two on a number of the ports, reducing the time in port and altering the itinerary from what you bought.

That certainly happened to us on our Riviera cruise in February.

[d9704011]

1 hour ago, ak1004 said:

Well, if this is the way some people feel, they probably shouldn't book Oceania. There are always choices. I'm sure some people will now blame O for cancelled ports in Israel..

I don't 'feel' that at all or believe anything like it would happen.  I simply suggested a (highly unlikely) scenario where a cruies line could save a few bucks by missing ports of call.  I'd suggest though, that the real reason(s) for canceling port calls are due to bad weather and sea conditions, civil and labour unrest and safety/medical emergencies and not opportunities to pinch the fuel budget.

[jonthomas]

25 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

I don't 'feel' that at all or believe anything like it would happen.  I simply suggested a (highly unlikely) scenario where a cruies line could save a few bucks by missing ports of call.  I'd suggest though, that the real reason(s) for canceling port calls are due to bad weather and sea conditions, civil and labour unrest and safety/medical emergencies and not opportunities to pinch the fuel budget.

But why more so with O than other lines?

 

No one seems to know the answer. Must be a well guarded secret.

[1985rz1]

16 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

But why more so with O than other lines?

Could you share the statistical data to support that?

Edited October 7, 2023 by 1985rz1

[shepherd really]

15 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

But why more so with O than other lines?

 

No one seems to know the answer. Must be a well guarded secret.

The plural of anecdote is not data, you are making a non-fact based assumption.

[osandomir]

1 hour ago, jonthomas said:

If you love a cruise line, my first response when there is something troubling is not to abandon all that I love about it, but to see if I can bring it to their attention. 

In this case, I’m afraid that you’re just wasting your time complaining so many times about the same things. Whose attention you are trying to bring it to? As they say: Love it or leave it.

Edited October 7, 2023 by osandomir

[jonthomas]

6 minutes ago, 1985rz1 said:

Could you share the statistical data to support that?

And could you show the stats to support otherwise?

I am going by what consumers are saying here and on other sites. No one is saying that other lines are shortening and cancelling more than O.

[jonthomas]

1 minute ago, osandomir said:

In this case I’m afraid that you’re just wasting your time complaining so many times about the same things. Whose attention you are trying to bring it? As they say: Love it or leave it.

Ty for your opinion, it is my time to waste.

I can also say, you are wasting your time by telling me that and I just did.

[osandomir]

2 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

Ty for your opinion, it is my time to waste.

I can also say, you are wasting your time by telling me that and I just did.

That’s true. I have to agree.

[lackcreativity]

14 minutes ago, shepherd really said:

The plural of anecdote is not data, you are making a non-fact based assumption.

Great line! If you don't mind, I may quote you in the future.

[shepherd really]

1 minute ago, lackcreativity said:

Great line! If you don't mind, I may quote you in the future.

Sure, I stole it myself 😁 so you're welcome to it.

[jannray]

We are taking a port intensive 11 day alaska cruise on Regatta next May and I have several longer excursions scheduled. This thread gives me concerns..My question is, are there any specific ports that tended to be shortened or canceled more routinely or is it random? How does that effect simply more excursions? I'm new to O.

[AMHuntFerry]

25 minutes ago, jannray said:

We are taking a port intensive 11 day alaska cruise on Regatta next May and I have several longer excursions scheduled. This thread gives me concerns..My question is, are there any specific ports that tended to be shortened or canceled more routinely or is it random? How does that effect simply more excursions? I'm new to O.

Alaska itineraries haven't had the port cancellation issues. Last May Astoria was skipped but that was weather related (they don't call it "the graveyard of the Pacific" for nothing). Other ports will likely see time changes (not necessarily shorter). Keep checking the Alaska port schedules at https://claalaska.com/?page_id=1250 or the latest updates on when the ports are expecting the ship to be in port. 

Edited October 7, 2023 by AMHuntFerry
wrong link

[SophieM]

15 hours ago, BarbaraM said:

According to a GM on a recent cruise, port fees are not refunded should a ship decide to cancel last minute. Canceling is not done lightly, and not done for cost savings if this is true. 

Had a similar conversation with a GM. He also indicated they all hate missed port stops and don’t save money by missing them. As my experience in captaining a “ship” is a 22’ runabout on an area lake, I’m not going to second guess the Cap. I have to agree with others that if you have this amount of distrust, it may be time to explore other cruise lines. 

[PhD-iva]

2 hours ago, AMHuntFerry said:

Alaska itineraries haven't had the port cancellation issues. Last May Astoria was skipped but that was weather related (they don't call it "the graveyard of the Pacific" for nothing). Other ports will likely see time changes (not necessarily shorter). Keep checking the Alaska port schedules at https://claalaska.com/?page_id=1250 or the latest updates on when the ports are expecting the ship to be in port. 

My Tokyo to Vancouver cruise in APR2025 has already has been shortened by 1 day and several ports rearranged. When I posted my notes, I was informed I was missing several other changes.

Of course, with this much advance notice one can modify private excursions…….

[jonthomas]

1 hour ago, PhD-iva said:

My Tokyo to Vancouver cruise in APR2025 has already has been shortened by 1 day and several ports rearranged. When I posted my notes, I was informed I was missing several other changes.

Of course, with this much advance notice one can modify private excursions…….

 

cant blame that on the weather or tides or whatever....

 

so what it the reason? Victoria is a lovely port, No reason given why it is scrapped?

 

of course there is advance notice so you can show your displeasure with a cancellation....

 

to those looking for data....you can file this one...

[PhD-iva]

30 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

 

cant blame that on the weather or tides or whatever....

 

so what it the reason? Victoria is a lovely port, No reason given why it is scrapped?

In the email we received, a reason was given for the change. Something like, no berthing facilities available on the scheduled disembarkation day, so have to arrive a day earlier. Don’t quote me - in one ear and out the other.

I guess some of the other port changes were from a cascade effect of having to arrive earlier. However, there seems to be lots of changes - my scribbles don’t reflect all of them….. And people on the roll call were disappointed to lose Dutch Harbor.

Edited October 7, 2023 by PhD-iva
Edit

[jonthomas]

Have never experienced changes like this in over 60 cruises. Not with celeb, rcl, azamara, nor 7 with O.

I understand issues with Panama canal, all cruiselines are dealing  with it. But this seems bizarre.

A friend just received an email from O, cancelling an entire cruise on the Riviera in July 2024. He was told the ship is being chartered. 

After some research, he learned that the whole ship was booked by the Atlantis cruises.

Seems very unusual to me, but I am not as savy about O as some others here. Perhaps this is quite normal for O.

It is a great deal of notice, but according to him "still sucks".

[1985rz1]

58 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

A friend just received an email from O, cancelling an entire cruise on the Riviera in July 2024. He was told the ship is being chartered. 

After some research, he learned that the whole ship was booked by the Atlantis cruises.

Seems very unusual to me, but I am not as savy about O as some others here. Perhaps this is quite normal for O.

Happens on other lines, too.  If you search for Oceania FB pages, you can find a long thread.

[1985rz1]

2 hours ago, jonthomas said:

so what it the reason? Victoria is a lovely port, No reason given why it is scrapped?

to those looking for data....you can file this one...

I think @PhD-iva covered the reason. 

Edited October 8, 2023 by 1985rz1

[jonthomas]

45 minutes ago, 1985rz1 said:

Happens on other lines, too.  If you search for Oceania FB pages, you can find a long thread.

If you search for Oceania, how do find other lines too?

I don't do those pages.

 

Several have said it happens more on O than other lines.

[jonthomas]

47 minutes ago, 1985rz1 said:

I think @PhD-iva covered the reason. 

What Ph said is that the reason given is not clear.

Perhaps O is releasing their itineraries for booking way ahead of the research they need to do to make sure that the times in ports and the ports themselves are available.

Maybe that is the problem, itineraries are sold before times in port or the ports themselves are made certain.

Really can't imagine they would do that. But also don't understand why there would be SO many changes. Add to that all the weather possibilities, tides, waves etc and PH might as well stay home.

[ak1004]

10 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

What Ph said is that the reason given is not clear.

Perhaps O is releasing their itineraries for booking way ahead of the research they need to do to make sure that the times in ports and the ports themselves are available.

Maybe that is the problem, itineraries are sold before times in port or the ports themselves are made certain.

Really can't imagine they would do that. But also don't understand why there would be SO many changes. Add to that all the weather possibilities, tides, waves etc and PH might as well stay home.

O doesn't release itineraries any earlier than other lines. In fact, most lines already had the 2025 itineraries at least 2-3 months before O. And other lines have changes too.