Jayne E

When you have a “must internet” situation, go to the computer room to log in.  Almost always able to connect. We use this for anything of importance and no difficulties.  

Choices for soups, salads And entrees in MDR all noticeably less.  Oceania tried to sell this concept as being better but those who have cruised O know it’s def not. 

MDR now closed most port days and when it is open, it’s the same food being served in the buffet....just plated and served. Very disappointing.....lunch on sea days had been a very hi-end experience with wonderful choices. 

Terri, I’m not in that cruise with you

1 hour ago, Cruzin Terri said:

We are doing a Caribbean on Feb 14 and then in Oct 2020 from Lisbon to Miami.  We have done the Med with Oceania and have been very pleased.  This will be our fourth voyage on the Riviera.  We did one on the Insignia and liked that very much.  Actually I liked the small ship but the itineraries that we have enjoyed have been on the Riviera.  Enjoy your cruises and I hope we meet one of these days.

Terri

Hi Terri,  Glad to see you're well and still cruising!! Enjoyed the 2 previous cruises with you (Europe/Caribbean).  As your husband suggested, we both now own our own snorkel gear!  We have 4 cruises planned......despite a few cutbacks, O still provides a very good product.

Regarding internet, emails have showed up days later. Oceania had a Memorial Day Sale while we were onboard and email dated 5 days earlier loaded when sale was over. Two of our upcoming cruises were included in sale and we def would have upgraded to PH.

Spoke with O and asked for sale offer due to their poor internet and told sorry, sale is over.  Did expect it, but worth a call!

20 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I'm still confused. We sailed on 6 different O cruises last year and 2 the year before, all with the OLife option, and had no issues getting the NCL Shareholders Benefit added to each of the cruises. What type of special promotion are you folks referring to? 

 

With regards to ropomo's comment, we received $900 OBC last year from the shareholders benefit and $500 the previous year and were quite happy to get it as it paid for some of our O excursions.

I booked a cruise without OLife and was offered a “promotion” whereby for $100 pp we would get OLife and we took $600 OBC. $200 cash for $600 OBC a good deal. So in this case, OLife is a promotional issue.

Ken, same as you, we have received hundreds of dollars from shareholder benefits and more to come.  Ropomo, if you cruise often with Oceania, that’s a very large “dividend” for a 100 share cost, and not taxed......and shares have appreciated in value. 

$100 Stockholder OBC costs O virtually nothing.   Last cruise we upgraded to a PH due to a sale, so they removed our $450 on board booking discount.  

Their customer loyalty program is virtually worthless with all the cutbacks.  Any opportunity to remove a perk!

If you have a Shareholder program it should be awarded to ALL shareholders regardless of the booking details.  

Be Aware!

i received $250 Shareholder OBC on my last cruise. 

For my next 10 day cruise I sent in the same paperwork on 9/3 and received no reply. 

I called and was told that I was getting a “Promotion” rate, so no shareholder benefit. 

They were steadfast!  

Our promotion was to spend $200 for $600 OBC, a $400 benefit, but then reduced its value $100 by denying Shareholder benefit. 

Makes no sense as one has nothing to do with other.

We have $1,000 OBC for the cruise, so the add’l $100 is meaningless......just more cutbacks by Oceania, added to the huge cutbacks for loyalty program as of this November. Our loyalty OBC drops from $400 to $250. Giving a hat in place of $$ cut back 👎

Egypt is an amazing country....worth taking precautions.....def not DR!  Furthermore, the port that Oceania is using in Puerta Plata next year is owned and operated by Carnival Cruise Lines.  Carnival built and uses it for their Carnival cruises.  Obviously Oceania got a cheap price for docking there and removed St. Martin.  Google the port. See what you think.

For those who say that next time they will stay on the ship, or go ashore and eat/drink nothing..... let Oceania know what you think of DR being added as a "new port".  Otherwise Haiti will be the next stop!!

Several years ago Oceania was stopping in Lesbos, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and the negative feedback to Oceania was heard. 

Oceania’s Caribbean cruises for late 2020 into 2121 are no longer visiting Philipsburg, St. Martin, a popular port. Instead many itineraries are stopping in the Dominican Republic.

Sure you all are aware of the suspicious deaths there lately, besides a very high crime rate. 

Tourism has fallen 74% in one month and airlines are permitting flight cancellations with no penalty. Obviously, there’s a problem there!

Oceania should remove this destination immediately!  We book an Oceania Caribbean cruise each winter season but will not book for next year, unless Dominican Republic is removed. 

24% Greece. Vat amount for entire cruise. It is set by the departure country. 

Not a web error. Those benefits are included until November 2019. Our cruises prior show $400 OBC and the cruises after are $250 OBC, bottle of wine, Cap & Bag. Benefits should have been grandfathered in to nothng less than benefits reached by past passengers.

I like your thinking, ORV. We will be Silver by the end of 2018. :D

Received confirmation for a 2020 cruise. We are Silver. $250 OBC, a bottle of wine, a hat and a tote bag. Oceania’s new “Transformation” is to reduce Loyal Member’s benefits. O’s website now doesn’t give any amounts for OBC....just says “EXTRA shipboard credit”. Are they keeping the original amounts for booked cruises prior to change date? Just went from Bronze to Silver and “EXTRA” $50. You are not a Valued Member as they say, but a highly Devalued Member! Back to Tauck!

Well Jane...timing is everything and late july/august in the med brings on a "Whole" different crowd, lots of europeans on vacation with their kids, Spanish, Italian and French folks can be , well very "active , aggressive and entitled" and practice the art of dumping ones kids free to run about. Drinking and party all night is a religion to those I have seen. Its the culture and the timing you experienced.

The Med is an attractive target for those folks. Its their carribean like brits at Costa Del Sol can pretty out of hand.

I would suggest not taking trips during summer /holiday /vacation time ( France all but shuts down in August and heads south to the Mad...er Med ..

All the med cruises I have taken have been before mid MAY or after September. and were not port intensive, over 14 days and on R ships.... Stack the deck in your favor......timing is the thing

Thanks for advice but your assumptions are completely wrong. I didn’t want to call out a particular group, however as you mention “Europeans” I will tell you that the unruly, loud and often inebriated group were Americans and with a Wine Club group. Their children were very well behaved. We have been cruising summers for years due to work schedule and from beginning of O until 2 years ago virtually no children. Last 2 cruises numerous children. I have no issue with the children, though IMO they should be on a ship with child/teen amenities. Its the the adults I described we want to avoid and DJ at pool. We no longer work and can cruise anytime but these passengers can be anywhere. Wish it was as simple as scheduling.

Does not sound good. Where was this cruise?

Athens to Barcelona

BTW, service and food still great. Just a very different atmosphere.

dont get too wound up....the upgrade to O will still provide you with considerable wow and pleasure over the line you came from... There is much more that will also impress, low key, non nickel-dime, 1/4 the passengers, Ambiance and manners and demeanor of fellow passengers There man be changes but there will be changes too in the line from which you are switching from..... Thats life and dont get all that worked up over something that will be a wonderful new and superior experience

Returned from Riviera 8/3, 9th O cruise. Have previously experienced what you describe, but def not on this cruise. Ambiance, manners and demeanor of large number of fellow passengers was more like a “Fun Ship”. Men jumping into pool and women screaming at them as they jumped. They took over entire pool. Many families. Majority in 40’s & 50’s. On sea day, DJ spinning loud music at pool. I asked if this was the “new norm” on sea days (next O cruise has 4). He said passengers wanted pool environment “spiced up”. I completely understand younger passengers want a different experience.....maybe we have to consider a different cruise line. Seems O is marketing to families and not the usual “older passengers”. A plus was that families dine earlier and we were able to get late rez in specialty restaurants most nights. Also very disappointed that MDR closed for lunch most port days. We often returned for a relaxed lunch, especially at ports previously visited.

Not disputing just don't understand. By "despite entire ship open" do you mean that in in all categories, or more to the point, the B4 category had availability and one could book and choose a cabin? Or does "entire ship open" mean that the B4 was listed as GTY and so still open to accepting booking?

 

My confusion is if the "entire ship open" how could you book a GTY. I know some other lines one can book a specific cabin or also buy a GTY within a category. But on O on their website I could only book a GTY when O no longer offered bookings where I could select my cabin. (does that make any sense)

Not making sense. This is simple. Guaranty was a very low price offer to sell cabins. This cruise had 100's of empty cabins up to 1 month prior in ALL categories. They sold B4, A4 and even PH3 Guaranty at different times. So many PH empty that we didn't take the 1st upsell.....TA said def a 2nd offer and maybe 3rd. We were able to choose our cabin and PH1 & PH2 offered at same upsell price.

I recently booked a guarantee veranda cabin on the Marina for the June 2 sailing out of Southhampton. I was surprised to be assigned a cabin within days. This was at the end of December. if my research is correct the lower cabins are listed as waitlisted but there is still lots of inventory brim B1 upward.final payment is March 4. Could I still possibly receive an upgrade or upswell offer.? I usually pick my cabin but this was too good to pass up. Happy with the midship cabin location just curious whether it is Now "cast in stone" ie.cabin number or other options may be offered Thanks for any insight. My understanding was always that guarantees were last minute fill ins. Not the case here so puzzled. Thanks again.

I was also assigned a B4 Guaranty cabin within days and 5 months prior to cruise date, despite entire ship open. They did allow me to move the cabin but within the B4 category only. However, you will still get an upsell offer if targeted. We accepted the offer and are now in a Suite.

I know that. I was referring to people who have done 10 B2B cruises.....that's 20 credits and a free cruise.

Like Terrier, we have been burned by the Grand Voyage situation, so much so that we will no longer allow it to happen and finally, our TA has figured out the benefit to booking two separate cruises. For our next longer cruise we have two booking numbers, made about 6 weeks apart (one while onboard Sirena so got that extra benefit too).

 

Since that happened, several benefits have showed up for the portion of the cruise that is not so desirable, including extra OBC, and we would not have received those if booked at the Extended Voyage advertised in the Oceania materials. Our TA even has a 'group' discount on one portion and we got that too. Again, that would not have happened if we only had the Extended Journey booked.

 

Dining rez don't open up for a while but I foresee no problems since I have two distinct bookings, both of which I can access.

Grand Voyage just an excuse not to give 2 credits!!

Our med cruise last summer was $1100 more if booked separately with 2 credits. O told TA up to us what we wanted. Couple we met on cruise we're getting 2 credits but not aware how much more they had paid. Price discount amounts to "old" B2B pricing but without 2 credits. I think that too many were booking ten B2B cruises and getting free cruise after ten cruises.

So you booked a B4 & they gave you a B4 cabin ..not sure what the gripe is or were you thinking they let others book the specific cabin numbers & then close to sailing you get an upgrade :confused:

 

my understanding with O is if you book a GTY but cabins are available in that cat they will assign you one only when they are booked up then you take the GTY status you are guaranteed to be on the ship

I could be wrong

According to O you are wrong...they can do whatever they please. Do not have to be booked up....cruise is wide open in all categories. BTW, I have no gripe at all....sale was well worth going down to B4!! Just think their process makes no sense.

And of course I always book on board....price reduction protection is eliminated when switching to a subsequent sale price and loyalty discount also, but that 3 day sale was amazing and not offered again.

Just my own feeling.....liked it better when first price best but competition has resulted in most cruises not filling up quickly and therefore price adjustments.

Were there actually cabins available when you booked?

Was it just GTY status available for B4's ?

There were over 250 cabins available last September. There are still over 100 cabins available.

The terms of my gty was B4 or higher. Had I gotten a B4 within "45 days" from sailing I would be fine with it.

When I asked why they locked me in to a B4 five months before sailing, the answer was that I had gotten the Labor Day weekend sale price......and obviously they wanted to punish me for taking advantage of their sale.

I have found that there have been small petty changes since Norwegian bought Oceania. The former excellent customer service is no longer. And the old adage that you get the "best possible price" by booking early is no more. It's become a price game and booking early more expensive. Just my opinion. However, the ships, restaurants and on board personnel are still excellent!!!

I also believe that Oceania should take into consideration the loyalty of their customers when deciding who receives an upgrade. If everything else is "apples to apples" than returning clients should be upgraded first.

 

This will be my first Oceania cruise. I certainly couldn't argue if someone who has cruised numerous times on Oceania receives an upgrade before I do; assuming that we paid relatively the same amount of money for the same category cabin.

This will be our 9th O cruise and 1st Carib and 1st Gty. All other cruises were 14-22 days. I also thought some upgrade consideration would go to a repeat customer but like I said....B4 Gty and B4 assigned last September for 2/2017 cruise that is still wide open. Don't really care but don't understand why cabin assigned so far out. Probably will never do again.

This is the exact wording on the Oceania Website when booking a guarantee cabin.

 

Guarantee

A guarantee booking is confirmed for the category selected. Your specific suite or stateroom will be assigned within 45 days of embarkation, and possibly not until embarkation. If you prefer to select your suite or stateroom now, please choose a category marked "Available," or Contact Reservations or your Travel Agent for assistance.

 

It clearly states that Oceania has the right not to assign the stateroom until embarkation. They did not deceive you in any manner or promise you something that they are not delivering. You simply did not read the legal disclaimer.

 

Unfortunately, saying that it is "unacceptable" to be assigned a cabin on the day embarkation is on "you" and not on Oceania.

Booked a B4 Gty last September for a February 2017 cruise. It was a previous booking and we gave up our assigned B3 cabin due to a very big price difference. Two weeks later we were assigned a B4 cabin, while Oceania has continued to sell the B4 Gty for months and the cruise still has over 100 empty cabins. As only 22 B4 cabins, those booking after us are obviously being upgraded. We were never "in the game" for a possible upgrade. That is completely contrary to O's statement of cabin assignment within "45 days of sailing." O's reply to my call was that we paid less than the current Gty price.

I'm very satisfied with our cabin location and cost!!! However looks like we were punished for getting such a low price 😀

We were on Regent's Explorer for the Christening the night before the attack in Nice (14 miles away). Both Regent and Oceania have temporarily cancelled excursions in Nice and Monte Carlo. Since they know a lot more than we do, I respect their decision.

Nice is probably one of the safest European cities to be in now. Terror is not spread by attacking the same city 3 weeks later. We will purposely travel from MC to Nice next week....city needs tourist support.

I don't think O "knows anything". If enough people cancel or do not book excursions to Nice, cruise line will cancel those tours.

I'm in Penn Station (NYC) 8x per week...high terror alert and huge police and military presence there and numerous other NYC areas. Unfortunate part of life now.....but terrorists succeed when people stop traveling and economies that depend on tourism are hurt.