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3 strikes and your out


Hawaiidan
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1 year ago I booked a cruise Monte Carlo to Rome and paid in full... 6 months latter they cancelled the cruise without warning or Agent notification till after the fact made it a Rome to Monte Carlo cruise. and begged to passengers to re book on the new cruise so they did.

 

Then 3 months pass and then they inform everyone so sorry we are chartering now, dont let the cabin door hit you in the rear...Thank you for your understanding, Too bad for all the non refundable Air, car hotel expenses you went through 3 months ago but at least you can eat those all over again Strike 2

 

Strike 3.....pending we will book you on several already fully booked cruises in higher cabins and give you $1000 if your dumb enough to to book the 3rd time for a similar cruise I considered it but am waiting for freezen weather forecast in hell to be broadcast , before I book anything again.

 

Has any one heard the phrase Fool me 1 time shame on you Fool me 2nd time shame on me....

Has anyone experienced the same cruise being created, cancelled, re organized and then cancelled again? Its A first for me...and a last !

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I don’t understand how they can do this to passengers especially after final payment, after booking flights and planning etc. I’d say adios too.

 

Not sure we know all the facts or both sides of the story here (including the reason for the first cancelation/change):

1 Not clear that this was after final payment; if so, I am sure O would refund the money

2 Car, hotel reservations are (or shouln’t be) non-refundable - mine never are.

3 I am pretty sure that Dan’s flight was for miles so at most he would have to pay for miles deposit - this can be covered by his CC insurance or at no cost if he is elite

4 those that took O air would be refunded in full

5 $1000 credit and 1 cat upgrade is not bad if you can change your plans. If not, I would think a full refund would be given.

It’s not an ideal situation and is most certainly not the usual practice of Oceania.

Everyone has to decide for themselves how they would want to proceed if faced with this situation.

FWIW - our Viking river cruise was cancelled 2 weeks before the cruise due to low water levels (long after final payment and flights). I had to deal with it and I did. I was compensated more than adequately by Viking.

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Dan

Maybe book with the wine group & not have to change the air/hotel plans

 

Maybe see if you can be a expert lecturer for a discounted fare with them

Not sure why you would pay in full for a cruise in May 2019 but it should be fully refundable at this point

 

As Paul noted your hotel/air can be refunded or you might get some compensation from Oceania if they cancelled the cruise (not sure about that) to cover the some costs

I am sure you can work something out

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not sure we know all the facts or both sides of the story here (including the reason for the first cancelation/change):

1 not clear that this was after final payment; if so, i am sure o would refund the money

2 car, hotel reservations are (or shouln’t be) non-refundable - mine never are.

3 i am pretty sure that dan’s flight was for miles so at most he would have to pay for miles deposit - this can be covered by his cc insurance or at no cost if he is elite

4 those that took o air would be refunded in full

5 $1000 credit and 1 cat upgrade is not bad if you can change your plans. If not, i would think a full refund would be given.

It’s not an ideal situation and is most certainly not the usual practice of oceania.

Everyone has to decide for themselves how they would want to proceed if faced with this situation.

Fwiw - our viking river cruise was cancelled 2 weeks before the cruise due to low water levels (long after final payment and flights). I had to deal with it and i did. I was compensated more than adequately by viking.

+ 1

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For those of you who have travel insurance in this type of situation, you may want to consider the option of transferring the insurance to another trip and eating any costs associated with own air, hotel, etc. cancelation. I have found that it was cheaper to pay for the returned miles and transfer the insurance to a revised trip with Travelguard. They will let you use the money for a future trip within two years if they don't have to pay out anything for the canceled trip.

 

Mary

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For those of you who have travel insurance in this type of situation, you may want to consider the option of transferring the insurance to another trip and eating any costs associated with own air, hotel, etc. cancelation. I have found that it was cheaper to pay for the returned miles and transfer the insurance to a revised trip with Travelguard. They will let you use the money for a future trip within two years if they don't have to pay out anything for the canceled trip.

 

Mary

 

Our policy has this transferable feature, but requires that there NOT be any loss already incurred on the original trip.

 

So as long as everything is fully refundable, we've several times transferred the policy to a different trip.

 

(Thus far, only one cruise line we've used does not allow any refund of the deposit, which was annoying as the deposit was a not-so-small percentage of the cruise price. CFAR would be especially helpful with that, given that we often book 1-2 years in advance.)

 

GC

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Our policy has this transferable feature, but requires that there NOT be any loss already incurred on the original trip.

 

So as long as everything is fully refundable, we've several times transferred the policy to a different trip.

 

(Thus far, only one cruise line we've used does not allow any refund of the deposit, which was annoying as the deposit was a not-so-small percentage of the cruise price. CFAR would be especially helpful with that, given that we often book 1-2 years in advance.)

 

GC

 

You can have a loss, you just can't ask the insurer to cover that loss. For example, let's suppose you paid $1400 for insurance and you have a loss of $175 to put miles back in your account but your cruise deposit was fully refundable. You have a choice of asking the travel insurer to compensate you for that $175 loss, in which case you have used the insurance benefit, or you can pay the $175 out of pocket and apply the $1400 to a future trip within the next two year (at least with Travelguard). Just run the numbers to decide.

 

Mary

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You can have a loss, you just can't ask the insurer to cover that loss. For example, let's suppose you paid $1400 for insurance and you have a loss of $175 to put miles back in your account but your cruise deposit was fully refundable. You have a choice of asking the travel insurer to compensate you for that $175 loss, in which case you have used the insurance benefit, or you can pay the $175 out of pocket and apply the $1400 to a future trip within the next two year (at least with Travelguard). Just run the numbers to decide.

 

Mary

 

We were required to assert that there had been no loss.

 

Because we had not had any loss, we didn't question that, but we certainly remembered as it caught us by surprise.

This happened each time we transferred a policy to another trip.

We do need to look into this further, however. But given that it happened more than once...

I would have assumed it to be the way you describe it, definitely.

 

(But it doesn't make any sense otherwise, because IF there were to be a loss claimed, it's more than obvious that one can't *then* transfer the policy, as it would have been used already.)

 

GC

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Not sure we know all the facts or both sides of the story here (including the reason for the first cancelation/change):

1 Not clear that this was after final payment; if so, I am sure O would refund the money

2 Car, hotel reservations are (or shouln’t be) non-refundable - mine never are.

3 I am pretty sure that Dan’s flight was for miles so at most he would have to pay for miles deposit - this can be covered by his CC insurance or at no cost if he is elite

4 those that took O air would be refunded in full

5 $1000 credit and 1 cat upgrade is not bad if you can change your plans. If not, I would think a full refund would be given.

It’s not an ideal situation and is most certainly not the usual practice of Oceania.

Everyone has to decide for themselves how they would want to proceed if faced with this situation.

FWIW - our Viking river cruise was cancelled 2 weeks before the cruise due to low water levels (long after final payment and flights). I had to deal with it and I did. I was compensated more than adequately by Viking.

 

Yes you read right I cannot trust or rely on O in the future... basically 3 stick it too you in 90 days... With that record what rational person would go forward ?? Would you???

 

I asked if I could get on the charter group...O said NO, Would they tell me who the charter group was...so I might join? NO..no way. Tried every way to get some answer or help... NO every time . O was not the least interested in helping and made that very clear..." we dont have to...see our contracts" they said.. Got it

 

My agent beat his head against O, and he is a top O agent... all he got was NO. Compensation..HA ! NO Consideration....why. Zero, Zilch, Nein, Nada... A WE could care less attitude prevailed.

 

I booked with miles but for several people, not elite and booked 4 tickets so 4 change fees/ redeposit 2 times that not covered by any insurance I know. Hotels and land deposits were not part of the cruise and thus not part of the primary trip... independent and would not

be covered and for all sorts of little hole in the wall things. Not easy or possible to get those back.

 

Yes I get a full Cruise fare refund but not AIR or any land loss Plus they will NOT issue a check only back to my cc resulting in even more loss of points/ status level too! It just compounds the loss.

 

Besides in 30 years I had never ever had a problem that could not be worked out.. When have you seen 2 almost 3 cancels/ changes in 90 days???? Thats my question. Is the industry entering a new phase ? We can do anything any time without any care or consideration of its effect..... Thats not the O I knew..

 

I normal pay in full when I book as I have the funds when I book and what it dedicated to that expense.

 

So, in summary, it appears that a new management style is or has emerged in O headquarters its now" your world BUT... OUR WAY"

I would be over the top angry if it was not so sad for myself and my guests that I had invited. It was not just me hurt.

 

AND I bet, just a hunch that a lot of others who endured this double trouble and got burned lie me feel the same...I was not the only one who they did this to..

That Amigos is not a good business plan going forward .

 

Me.... I just dont need this sort of stuff

Edited by Hawaiidan
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Are you saying goodbye to Oceania?

 

After all the corporate, we can do what we want..its our privilege attitude..it is clear that what was once is not now and can not be relied on in the future except more of the same. What sane person would want to endure such a company.

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After all the corporate, we can do what we want..its our privilege attitude..it is clear that what was once is not now and can not be relied on in the future except more of the same. What sane person would want to endure such a company.

No sane person. No matter what Oceania (or any preferred cruise line) does there are some diehard loyalists who will always defend and excuse them.

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Yes you read right I cannot trust or rely on O in the future... basically 3 stick it too you in 90 days... With that record what rational person would go forward ?? Would you???

 

I asked if I could get on the charter group...O said NO, Would they tell me who the charter group was...so I might join? NO..no way. Tried every way to get some answer or help... NO every time . O was not the least interested in helping and made that very clear..." we dont have to...see our contracts" they said.. Got it

 

My agent beat his head against O, and he is a top O agent... all he got was NO. Compensation..HA ! NO Consideration....why. Zero, Zilch, Nein, Nada... A WE could care less attitude prevailed.

 

I booked with miles but for several people, not elite and booked 4 tickets so 4 change fees/ redeposit 2 times that not covered by any insurance I know. Hotels and land deposits were not part of the cruise and thus not part of the primary trip... independent and would not

be covered and for all sorts of little hole in the wall things. Not easy or possible to get those back.

 

Yes I get a full Cruise fare refund but not AIR or any land loss Plus they will NOT issue a check only back to my cc resulting in even more loss of points/ status level too! It just compounds the loss.

 

Besides in 30 years I had never ever had a problem that could not be worked out.. When have you seen 2 almost 3 cancels/ changes in 90 days???? Thats my question. Is the industry entering a new phase ? We can do anything any time without any care or consideration of its effect..... Thats not the O I knew..

 

I normal pay in full when I book as I have the funds when I book and what it dedicated to that expense.

 

So, in summary, it appears that a new management style is or has emerged in O headquarters its now" your world BUT... OUR WAY"

I would be over the top angry if it was not so sad for myself and my guests that I had invited. It was not just me hurt.

 

AND I bet, just a hunch that a lot of others who endured this double trouble and got burned lie me feel the same...I was not the only one who they did this to..

That Amigos is not a good business plan going forward .

 

Me.... I just dont need this sort of stuff

 

You expect a cash (via check) refund for something you charged to your credit card?

You wouldn't be getting any "loss of status". You'd have exactly the status per the amount you *really* spent (total charged minus refund).

 

GC

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Yes you read right I cannot trust or rely on O in the future... basically 3 stick it too you in 90 days... With that record what rational person would go forward ?? Would you???

 

I asked if I could get on the charter group...O said NO, Would they tell me who the charter group was...so I might join? NO..no way. Tried every way to get some answer or help... NO every time . O was not the least interested in helping and made that very clear..." we dont have to...see our contracts" they said.. Got it

 

My agent beat his head against O, and he is a top O agent... all he got was NO. Compensation..HA ! NO Consideration....why. Zero, Zilch, Nein, Nada... A WE could care less attitude prevailed.

 

Food and Wine Trails. http://foodandwinetrails.com/purecru2019

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You expect a cash (via check) refund for something you charged to your credit card?

You wouldn't be getting any "loss of status". You'd have exactly the status per the amount you *really* spent (total charged minus refund).

 

GC

 

Not correct... some cards give you affinity status base on how much you charge during a given time and thus life time status..it all counts. Refunds subtract from accruals and benefits earned. So yes it burns you if your a dedicated point/mileage collector.

 

NOW.... up date ..... been working to find out WHO chartered... and I found a Wine group... cool...

 

They welcomed me.. however, THEY just got notified like me, yesterday to Pack-sand and were kicked off. in favor of another more lucrative charter.... it just gets better and better........ stay tuned who will be next??? What if the charter can not fill the ship and O wants to put it out to sell again???

. In the meantime...O sits like the Tar Baby...and wont say nothing... What a great company.. I tell you. Its now Our world to the highest bidder... as money talks to us louder than anything or one....

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1 year ago I booked a cruise Monte Carlo to Rome and paid in full... 6 months latter they cancelled the cruise without warning or Agent notification till after the fact made it a Rome to Monte Carlo cruise. and begged to passengers to re book on the new cruise so they did.

 

Then 3 months pass and then they inform everyone so sorry we are chartering now, dont let the cabin door hit you in the rear...Thank you for your understanding, Too bad for all the non refundable Air, car hotel expenses you went through 3 months ago but at least you can eat those all over again Strike 2

 

Strike 3.....pending we will book you on several already fully booked cruises in higher cabins and give you $1000 if your dumb enough to to book the 3rd time for a similar cruise I considered it but am waiting for freezen weather forecast in hell to be broadcast , before I book anything again.

 

Has any one heard the phrase Fool me 1 time shame on you Fool me 2nd time shame on me....

Has anyone experienced the same cruise being created, cancelled, re organized and then cancelled again? Its A first for me...and a last !

 

Greetings, Hawaiidan, from South Beach. You have had a nasty disappointment, no doubt. There are so many cruise lines to choose from, you will find another to your liking. It is surprising that your TA was unable to arrange an acceptable alternative for you. You may need another agent. Enjoy the search for Oceania's replacement.

 

Mary

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Greetings, Hawaiidan, from South Beach. You have had a nasty disappointment, no doubt. There are so many cruise lines to choose from, you will find another to your liking. It is surprising that your TA was unable to arrange an acceptable alternative for you. You may need another agent. Enjoy the search for Oceania's replacement.

 

Mary

 

Mary, I have spent years narrowing down a cruise line that is what I like O was it.. I have run out of options... And it appears that the good times of the past are now memories. time to find not another cruise line but an other activity.There is more to life, in life that ship travel.....and easy to move on. Too bad,

 

It is not my agent he is a miracle worker, got things I never dreamed of getting. However, He is just as frustrated, as I. My takeaway is that in the last year there has been a big shift in the way O is run and by who. Lots of changes and none good lie down the road.

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