ak1004

The NEVER AGAIN was based on level of compensation. If level of compensation was different, maybe the NEVER AGAIN would change? Maybe he expected to be treated differently because he was in a suite? In this case he probably confused Oceania with Celebrity.

Call me naïve, but I do NOT believe that Oceania (or any other line) would schedule a cruise to somewhere knowing in advance that this is not a good time to sail there. The fact is that as others mentioned, other ships did call Bermuda few days before or after. It is also my understanding that OP was offered compensation, he just did not consider it appropriate, based on the fare he paid. Maybe this compensation would be appropriate for someone who sailed in the inside cabin but not one of the upper suites? As for lack of communication - well, we don't know the whole story. In one of the recent reviews someone gave the Marina 1 star because they cancelled a port and did not call him at midnight to let him know.. they announced the change at 7am (if you don't believe me, here is the review - https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=697149) So basically the whole "NEVER AGAIN" comes to the amount of compensation that OP expected based on the amount of money they paid.

Here is another absurd review - https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=697153 The reviewer gives the ship 3 star rating because "There is great disorganization and red tape going through customs." How exactly this is Oceania fault? And another one - https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=697149 1 star because O cancelled a port and did not call him at midnight to let him know.. Unreal.. would anyone take any of those reviews seriously??

Personally I wouldn't. We sailed on O in inside, balcony and suite - we always knew that the only thing we get for being in a suite is extra space (plus extra reservations in specialty restaurants). That's it. O is not Celebrity when you get a different service and different food for being in a suite.

We learned to accept the fact that entertainment and activities are not O strongest areas. This is why we believe that O is suited better for port intensive itineraries. We intended to take this cruise (had to cancel for family reasons), but were prepared to entertain ourselves. And I agree that psychologically people who paid more might have higher expectations, but this is really not O fault. Unlike Cunard/Celebrity and other mainstream lines, on O you pay for more space when you book a suite (and couple other small perks), otherwise everyone is treated equally. Having realistic expectations is one of the most important factors in cruising.

I think that asking for 30% FCC is completely unrealistic. I don't think ANY line would provide such FCC. The best we got in all our cruises was 10% FCC from SS, which I thought was VERY GENEROUS. @brobin111 I would be curious to read your overall impressions from the cruise except for missed ports, lack of compensation and bad communication. How would you describe the service, the food, the crew, the ship etc?

Thanks for the photos! Where is the extra space compared to regular OV? Probably between the sofa and the window? Is the shower manageable? We sailed on R ship on Azamara in OV and it was tight.

Yes, I looked at the deck plans. Thank you. So basically if the regular OV is around 165 sqft, and veranda is around 50 sqft, then those "special" cabins 6004 & 6005 and 7006 & 7007 have around 215 sqft of interior space? This would be ideal for us as we don't use veranda anyway, and the regular OV cabins are a bit below our comfort level, but 215 sqft is a very respectful size. I guess for some people being so far forward could be an issue? This is why I see those cabins still available on couple random voyages that I checked.

Curious about 7006 room - only the room is bigger or the bathroom too?

We sailed on Oceania twice after Covid. Both times we had significantl itinerary changes, and we still had a great time. Yes, no extra activities on sea days, but this is expected. Oceania is not known for great activities or entertainment. Doing some research before booking would save people the disappointment. You sacrifice activities and entertainment for great food and great service. it’s actually a good thing that some people didn’t like Oceania and cancel future bookings. Otherwise it would become too crowded, and prices would go up. We want more of Oceania to ourselves. And yes, all lines have itinerary changes. Our last SS World Cup cruise cancelled 3 nights in Doha 6 weeks before the cruise. They had to rename the cruise actually..

But this was the original itinerary for both sailings. Why the first one has Le Verdon and the following week Bordeaux? I have no idea. Maybe Bordeaux was not available on that date? Underwhelming, I agree, and we will be taking an excursion to Bordeaux. Not ideal. Yes, many changes, but is this unique to Oceania? I agree that this is disappointing, I just disagree that they do it on purpose. Especially considering that most changes are communicated 12-18 months in advance, giving the guests plenty of time to cancel. SS advised us about the Doha port cancellation 6 weeks before the cruise, and I still don't believe it was intentional. Call me naïve, but I think all cruise lines are well aware that long term impact of those changes on their customers is far greater than any short term savings. That's my opinion, I don't expect everyone to agree.

Well, according to this logic, they could just go in circles the whole cruise.. but going in circles consumes fuel as well I believe? Honestly, I don't believe this was the reason. They also lost revenues from excursions and "gained" a lot of angry customers.

For the record, I'm not loyal to any cruise line and will gladly sail on Oceania, Seabourn, Silversea, Crystal or Azamara, given the right itinerary and price. I believe that at this point, O newer ships still offer the best value for money, but we go on case by case basis. That said, itinerary changes are part of cruising experience. I don't think that any line is planning those changes and/or doing them without a very good reason . No line wants angry customers. I'm pretty sure that those changes are forced and they don't really have much choice. We don't know the whole picture. We experienced some changes on many sailings with many lines, including our latest cruise with SS from Dubai where they cancelled 3 nights in Doha (many guests had tickets to the World Cup and lost a lot of money). I'm actually more concerned about reduced times in ports. This was one of the reasons we cancelled our O cruise next May and replaced it with SS sailing to the same region.

So what exactly you are saying? Oceania just enjoys to cancel ports and go around circling the ocean? They just enjoy upsetting their guests and risking losing customers? They enjoy losing the income from the excursions? Just like that, for no reason, because the captain doesn't feel like going into ports?

Accidently we will be on this sailing.. but the funny thing is that the very next sailing shows the actual Bordeaux, not Le Verdon, with overnight. So everyone can decide what they want to do, but the information is there. No misleading.

This might be true, but this is not the point. My response was to poster who claimed that they advertise Le Verdon as Bordeaux. They are not. They clearly mention that it's Le Verdon.

Some O cruises stop in Bordeaux, others in Le Verdon. Not sure the reason, could be port availability, weather etc. But it's clearly mentioned in the itinerary. Nobody should feel misled. P.S. London also has a port close to city center, but only small ships can dock there.

Looks pretty clear to me. The same way as Paris (Honfleur), London (Portsmouth) and many other ports.

And just to clarify - the same credits will be applied to the new booking.

This was exactly my point. SS and SB are level up compared to O, this is why I mentioned that paying a similar price for PH on R ships is not a good value to me because I can sail on SS or SB for that price. We sailed on SS and Crystal and still like O. Currently booked on 2 O, 2 SS and 1 SB. Choice is good.

R ships are 700 passengers, SS and SB are 450-600 passengers. Yes, PH are fine size, more than enough for me. And yes, the ships are fine. But you cannot really argue that SS and SB are more luxury than O, and for the same price, it's an obvious choice to me. I absolutely love O, but SS and SB are a step up.

I believe I clarified what I meant, would you disagree that PH on R ship gets you a smaller cabin, an older ship, less inclusions and less luxury ship?

According to one of the most connected and knowledgeable TAs, the itineraries will be released end of April.

Last year they came out mid April and booking started on May 5th if this is any indication. We purchased future cruise credit certificate. I'm pretty sure you can transfer it to TA within 30 days of the actual booking, otherwise it means that if you book 30 days after purchasing it, you cannot use a TA - which doesn't make sense to me.

There are huge gaps between how guests are treated by the head offices and how they are treated on board. This is true for all cruise lines - just read some posts on SS board. If every time I was mistreated by the head office I said "NEVER AGAIN", I would be running out of cruise lines very quickly. Just accept it that this is the current situation and enjoy your cruise.