pmatawan

This confirms for me that Oceania can not effectively communicate to their guests about issues that are important to us. We are not even receiving notice on Riviera as others have. Only way to find out about port change times is to compare previously posted schedule with times published in Currents. Sad to see a Cruiseline with such great food and service fail in guest relations and communications.

They are cutting our upcoming port visit by 4 hours in Manila on our Riviera cruise. A total of 14 hours affecting every port except 1. They canceled every ship tour except 1. It would t be so bad if they made these changes in advance of cruise, but we ate receiving notification only a day before cruise segment begins and only by reviewing schedule published in Currents, no other notification. No one can convince me that they can't do a better job of communicating these pre planned port reduction times well in advance. I do understand that weather conditions can impact ship operations, but this is not the case.

Nothing wrong with ship. It seems to be the norm lately as I have read here about these issues on cruise critic and Facebook. I'm guessing it is a cost saving issue. When I say Miami makes these decisions its a direct quote from cruise director and others on board. On a multi segment cruise, crew knows nothing about future segments. Can't even book a ship tour on next segment yet. So planning for upcoming ports is difficult without firm information of port arrival and departure times. I canceled a private excursion going to Hanoi as I anticipate we will depart 1 hour earlier than what's currently on the schedule.

The only rational given in the official notifications say " Due to operational issues". If you enquire at the services desk you can sometimes get a more detailed explanation. As for the shortened port schedules, it's Miami main office making these decisions. The slower the ship, the less fuel is used. I have heard elsewhere it may be for environmental reasons as faster ships injure domains and other sea creatures? What is most bothersome is the fact that these seem to be decisions with little advance notice. The " Final cruise vacation summery" supplied just prior to cruise does not reflect what happens on board.

Crew says Miami tells ship what speed to cruise at and other navigational issues and this information is only provided to them a day or 2 before segment of cruise starts. On board changes due to weather conditions are made by the captain

Currently on Riviera. Just started another section of a grand voyage. Received notice through a revised schedule published in Currents that they have shortened port times in every port stop with the exception of 1. Later port arrival and earlier departure times. They cut 4 hour off of stop in Manila. Really screwing up private excursion bookings. Crew on board says that take direction from main office in Maimi and only get notified a day or so before start of segment so hard to plan in advance for rest of cruise.

Will do.

Can anyone who sailed on Oceania recently tell me if the ship tendered into port or docked at the new cruise port terminal?

Same on Riviera, specialty restaurants are available if you are willing to share. Just ask at the reservation desk. We were asked also as we entered the main dining room. Our ship is only about 80% full now, probably no so easy when ship is full. Riviera has the upgraded wifi, but doesn't seem any faster then pre- StarLink internet. Maybe it's because 2 logins per cabin are allowed?

Expect to pay $12. +20% gratuity for a Mai Tai or similar drink.

On Riviera now, they are in terrace Cafe and I've seen them around the ship, but I fill mine from the water left in the Vero water bottle in cabin. Shame that they didn't buy insulated bottles.

Not sure, I heard it was $99.

You are correct in all you assumptions.

It's my understanding that the issue with India customs is not new and either Oceania or Luggage Forward should have know and advised me. Customs does not allow 3rd parties to collect freight. Only the recipient can claim with passport.

That is the crux of my dissatisfaction with Oceania. If they had advised me at the time of booking or sometime sooner than a month before boarding, I would have made the appropriate travel arrangements.

Yes, but it might be cheaper to pay the additional bag fee. It appears they discount the charge for overweight/additional bags if you pay online rather then at the airport. Another interesting point: I may be wrong, but it appears their weight allowance of 20kilos can be used to check 2 bags if they both weigh less then 20k total.

Thanks for the info. I found out about the luggage weight limits, I'll be paying for extra kilos I guess.

Next segment begins 20 days later.....

Yes, they have a laundry and we will survive this 1st world problem.... my point is we were promised a service, never notified that Oceania and their 3rd party providers couldn't deliver on their promises. I relied on information provided by Oceania on every invoice and planned accordingly. Oceania let me down, no excuse for poor communication.

Need to pack for warm weather and not so warm weather. We were planning on shipping 3 large suitcases for the 2 of us and each traveling with a carry bag on for our pre-cruise.

It's a 72 night cruise.

I've emailed a member of upper management to ask his team to find a solution rather then the obc they offered and did not receive a response yet. First 4 ports are in India, so the same custom issues probably exist there also.

We have an early flight out of Newark so we are flying out of our home town airport up a day early and spending the night at an airport hotel. I asked if I could check my baggage through and was told no as an overnight was involved. Then we fly to Delhi for a pre trip visit to Agra to visit Taj Mahal. We have a tour reserved, but the sedan will not fit our luggage so we will check cruise luggage into storage facility and pick them up before our flight from Delhi to Mumbai. All my plans were made thinking we would be traveling with a carry on only. The friend who was to drive us to the airport can't because of the luggage, so we will likely take a car service. Oh, excess baggage charges also.

I tried luggagetoship and they can not provide service to port in Mumbai either. I know it's a customs issue, but shouldn't Oceania have known about this? Shouldn't someone have advised me that an advertised amenity is not available? I'm resigned to the fact that I'll be lugging my bags though 4 different airports and paying excess baggage fees and extra fees for hiring vans instead of sedans for transfers. These costs well exceed what has been offered by Oceania.

Yes and I'm sure there is a clause about errors and omissions also.