Vallesan

I asked Oceania a similar question before we booked this cruise. I have sailed up the river into Saigon before on Seabourn Encore, 42,000 tons, and wondered if the Riviera, 66,000 tons, would do the same. I was told that it will but to be honest I have my doubts. The Encore also sailed into the centre of Bangkok but the Riviera is docking in Laem Chabang. I think it may be a case of ‘wait and see’ but fingers crossed we do!

So clearly, whilst piracy may not be an immediate threat, ships are still, sensibly, taking precautions. It amazes me sometimes that people book cruises having no idea of the dangers in an area. I choose not to travel from west to east purely because of the safety issues.

Piracy had been an issue for many years in the Red Sea and Straights of Hormuz although the threat seems to have lessened in recent years. In all truth, if you have any fears of piracy or sudden outbreaks of hostility you shouldn’t plan cruises in such an unpredictable area!

Don’t know if this was your first cruise with Oceania but it would seem a little drastic to stop sailing with them over one spoilt meal! Think you might fast run out of cruise lines. Nothing in life is perfect!

I understand your concerns but I suggest you contact Oceania directly. Anybody on these boards would just be guessing.

Your perogative!

Seems from your comments SM isn’t for you. Fine. Don’t sail with Oceania!

Good luck!

I think you may be on shaky ground here. Lots of things are included in the package but not refundable if you don’t use them breakfast/lunch/afternoon tea/dinner/speciality dining. If you paid extra for dining then that may be a different story. However, in the grand scheme of things your complaint is probably not priority especially given all the port changes all cruise lines have been forced to make recently.

I agree! Can’t see another option but don’t leave it because the penalty rises as the cruise gets closer. Also take a look at your Oceania invoice as often TA’s ask for final payment weeks before it’s due to Oceania so you might still be in the $150 penalty bracket. P.S. We were waitlisted a couple of months ago. We weren’t ‘Priority Waitlist’ when you pay a deposit, but we did get an email to say a cabin was available. The email said we needed to ‘confirm the booking with a deposit’ otherwise we wouldn’t be booked. Check your email again just to see exactly under what terms your TA made the booking. You may not be liable.

Amazing! Having been involved in businesses all my life I guess I’m no longer at all surprised at people. I can see how people are upset at Oceania’s treatment of them recently, despite the ‘legalities’ of the contracts. I can also see from Oceania’s point of view that refunds would have escalated out of control. The whole business is neither the fault of Oceania nor the passengers. Whichever way you look at it both Oceania and the passengers are ‘stuck between a rock and a hard place’. Looks like insurance won’t cover this situation in the majority of cases. So, hard as it may seem, it looks like it’s cruise or lose your money! Oceania isn’t the only line to be taking what appears to be a hard line. At the end of the day the choice to cruise or not cruise with a line again I’d purely personal.

No!!! Somebody actually tried to claim a full refund for that. My guess is that they enjoyed the cruise before complaining! I guess if you get sent the wrong item of it’s faulty when it arrives it’s relatively straight forward … everything else enters the world of murky waters!

Ahh! I was making the assumption that ‘goods’ were involved rather than services. As you say, with cruises you are buying a ‘service’ to get you from A to B, unfortunately the A and/or B can change as well! I had never realised how insecure my cruise bookings were. Maybe because, so far, I have always been transported from the stated A to the stated B!

Even if their claim is legitimate?

No problem!

You do have to wonder if there’s more to this than meets the eye. Maybe they are constant complainers….. but before somebody else jumps down my throat …. maybe not!

It’s a rolling programme. Some contracts are longer than others. You always see new staff boarding at ports maybe 10 or 20 but the whole crew doesn’t change en masse. 9 Oceania cruises and counting and I can say, that overall, the staff have been wonderful.

I think they may not be available “at the moment”. I found it odd that you could book tours online but to cancel you had to ring Oceania. My guess is that the excursion credits will eventually be available when they have sorted out new tours for the replacement ports. I also think they are likely to be sorting out the closest cruises first. So tours for spring next year may be a while off yet. Oceania have always said that the excursion credit couldn’t be used as OBC but, given the circumstances at the moment, it might be easier for them to do just that.

No we had a place in a Valle San Lorenzo … hence the name!

Ring your TA and get them to try for the reduction.

We had difficulty disembarking in Valletta due to lack of wheelchair assistance and whilst this was down to the Port Authority, rather than Oceania, we felt the staff were really uninterested in our plight. I wrote to Oceania and it was several weeks before we had a response. I think I was just venting because we were made to feel like … you’ve disembarked, no longer our responsibility, no need to even be helpful! I think a lot depends on your ‘complaint’ as to how quickly they answer, if at all!

We were in Kusadasi in September but there had been rain and Ephesus was deemed unsafe because of the road surfaces. So you can never be sure of visiting certain places even if the ship does dock! Land trip might be surer.

I agree. Some things are just hard to quantify especially ambience. I’ve always found Oceania special. I put it down to the small ship atmosphere. I’ve found similar on Seabourn and Silversea.

Las Palmas, Gran Canaria to Barcelona April 14th, 24, 12 nts

Yes I agree. We have just booked a Mediterranean SB because it was better value than either Oceania or Silversea. We sailed SB in September, first post covid with them, and I rather liked the slightly more laid back atmosphere. They’ve relaxed the dress code a little and it was more like Oceania, well maybe “O” on steroids! Brilliant service second to none, and the food was quite good too.