Regatta 4/26 - 5/6 --- not the Oceania we'd come to love

Cruise #11 on Oceania and biggest disappointment. Not sure if/when there will be #12. Ten day cruise with virtually five sea days as a result of questionable decisions by the captain..on first sea day there was medical emergency which should and did receive top priority. However, captain chose to stop at Turks & Caicos which was ill-equipped to handle emergency care. According to ocean club ambassador Cella, patient taken via our tender elsewhere for treatment. We sat still for more than five hours necessitating missing st kitts. Perhaps better planning by Miami/captain would have given better care to patient and allowed us another port. Captain's "explanation" ended with "sorry for the inconvenience." (3 sea days). Next stop, San Juan, originally Tortola when booked. Changed with no explanation given, prior to departure. Our tendered stop in Samana, DR required walking onto platform from ship to outboard motored "speedboats", often uncovered, holding somewhere near 30 people. Our final stop in Nassau scheduled for 9:30 arrived close to 1 pm, due to "rough" seas. We have been on cruises with drawers slamming open and still made ports on time. Back to ship at 4:30 for departure to Miami. Each delay/annoyance/inconvenience was met with a perfunctory "sorry for the inconvenience." Wonder what was really going on that caused us to travel more slowly. There was more to this than what we were told.

Oceania club ambassador, cella, poor. Destination services abysmal. Fewer choices in terrace cafe. Only saving grace - staff everywhere OUTSTANDING!!! Where are you Frank Del Rio? Saw you on first cruise to Cuba. Is this the Oceania you envisioned?

how rude of someone to have a medical emergency & ruin YOUR time in port

Perhaps there was not another port close enough for the person to be evacuated to??

I love when the experts onboard second guess the Captain

how rude of someone to have a medical emergency & ruin YOUR time in port

Perhaps there was not another port close enough for the person to be evacuated to??

 

I love when the experts onboard second guess the Captain

I know, the nerve of some people! And you would think the captain would take a vote, for goodness’ sake!

Sigh.

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Cruise #11 on Oceania and biggest disappointment. Not sure if/when there will be #12. Ten day cruise with virtually five sea days as a result of questionable decisions by the captain..on first sea day there was medical emergency which should and did receive top priority. However, captain chose to stop at Turks & Caicos which was ill-equipped to handle emergency care. According to ocean club ambassador Cella, patient taken via our tender elsewhere for treatment. We sat still for more than five hours necessitating missing st kitts. Perhaps better planning by Miami/captain would have given better care to patient and allowed us another port. Captain's "explanation" ended with "sorry for the inconvenience." (3 sea days). Next stop, San Juan, originally Tortola when booked. Changed with no explanation given, prior to departure. Our tendered stop in Samana, DR required walking onto platform from ship to outboard motored "speedboats", often uncovered, holding somewhere near 30 people. Our final stop in Nassau scheduled for 9:30 arrived close to 1 pm, due to "rough" seas. We have been on cruises with drawers slamming open and still made ports on time. Back to ship at 4:30 for departure to Miami. Each delay/annoyance/inconvenience was met with a perfunctory "sorry for the inconvenience." Wonder what was really going on that caused us to travel more slowly. There was more to this than what we were told.

 

 

 

 

 

Oceania club ambassador, cella, poor. Destination services abysmal. Fewer choices in terrace cafe. Only saving grace - staff everywhere OUTSTANDING!!! Where are you Frank Del Rio? Saw you on first cruise to Cuba. Is this the Oceania you envisioned?

Boo hoo [emoji26]

There is another thread reporting propulsion problems on Regatta, so that may be why you were travelling slowly?

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Well were u on our cruise? Medical yes understood BUT since we were at turk...then stip there. Dont just skip st kitts

Also they did hose us out of 4 hours in nassau.

I know, the nerve of some people! And you would think the captain would take a vote, for goodness’ sake!

 

Sigh.

 

 

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Folks please understand. Not least bit upset about medical emergency BUT the way it was handled. We anchored in ocean. Patient taken via tender to small boat. Why didn't we dock and take patient via ambulance ? Folks like LHT28 support oceania - no matter what. It wasn't the medical emergency that upset us. Read the WHOLE post. This cruise did not meet Oceania's standard of the past. We are silver and have praised this line repeatedly but not this time. Sad to say, we think they're resting on their laurels.

Perhaps you should have exerted your "silver" status and marched right up to the bridge and demanded to know why "we didn't dock and take the patient by ambulance?" Did you even think to complain to anyone at the company or just here?

It sounds to me as though what has really caused the OP to be so upset was poor communication regarding the delays and cancellations. When people are given proper detailed explanations, they are inclined to be much more accepting and forgiving. It is just like at airports when you get no information! There was probably a perfectly good explanation for what happened with the medical evacuation. I am sure the captain knew exactly what he was doing. However, he obviously failed to communicate matters properly to the passengers. If his English perhaps wasn’t up to it, he could have got the cruise director to do it.

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On board communication is definitely something Oceania could improve on.

As far as losing out on time in Nassau, you didn't miss much.

Folks please understand. Not least bit upset about medical emergency BUT the way it was handled. We anchored in ocean. Patient taken via tender to small boat. Why didn't we dock and take patient via ambulance ? Folks like LHT28 support oceania - no matter what. It wasn't the medical emergency that upset us. Read the WHOLE post. This cruise did not meet Oceania's standard of the past. We are silver and have praised this line repeatedly but not this time. Sad to say, we think they're resting on their laurels.

Dock? Dock where and when (unscheduled stop), by who (unscheduled pilot), etc.

Combo of tender and boat was probably far faster.

Perhaps you should have exerted your "silver" status and marched right up to the bridge and demanded to know why "we didn't dock and take the patient by ambulance?" Did you even think to complain to anyone at the company or just here?

Where all the bullies and harassers reside? Warm. Really.

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Folks please understand. Not least bit upset about medical emergency BUT the way it was handled. We anchored in ocean. Patient taken via tender to small boat. Why didn't we dock and take patient via ambulance ? Folks like LHT28 support oceania - no matter what. It wasn't the medical emergency that upset us. Read the WHOLE post. This cruise did not meet Oceania's standard of the past. We are silver and have praised this line repeatedly but not this time. Sad to say, we think they're resting on their laurels.

Excuse me but yes I like Oceania but they are not perfect & I will complain when it is not

Where you scheduled to stop at Grand Turk? it is not clear in your post

But perhaps they could not dock it is not like pulling up to the ER at home & drop someone off

Sometime they off load a pax to the tender or pilot boat as it is quicker than docking

On board communication is definitely something Oceania could improve on.

 

As far as losing out on time in Nassau, you didn't miss much.

I would agree with you there

Sometimes they must think the passenger are dumb :eek:

just tell us like it is & the truth

I agree on Nassau we never get off the ship there :cool:

Well were u on our cruise? Medical yes understood BUT since we were at turk...then stip there. Dont just skip st kitts

Also they did hose us out of 4 hours in nassau.

I know you are going to be annoyed but did you read the fine print regarding port changes etc ?

If you REALLY want to see a specific place do not go by cruise ship

I think don't understand: after the patient was safely evacuated, why didn't the ship carry on?

Ditto Maryliz and ORV

Ira

I was on this cruise too. It was our first Oceania. I know the med disembarkation was quite necessary and agree it was a high priority but do not understand why we sat in the water afterward for 4 or 5 hours either. We did not go anywhere for those hours. I think they did it on purpose because they decided not to try to make up any time to get us to St Kitts. They might have been sitting there because they knew all along that they would skip St Kitts and did not want to arrive early at our next port.

Regarding the Nassau late arrival, I have cruised over 30 times in all kinds of sea conditions and did not see why we were late getting there. I know Nassau is not a wonderful port but think we were not informed of the real problem which might have been propulsion issues.

The service and food was good but I think we were left in the dark about the real reasons for the problems.

I was on this cruise too. It was our first Oceania. I know the med disembarkation was quite necessary and agree it was a high priority but do not understand why we sat in the water afterward for 4 or 5 hours either. We did not go anywhere for those hours. I think they did it on purpose because they decided not to try to make up any time to get us to St Kitts. They might have been sitting there because they knew all along that they would skip St Kitts and did not want to arrive early at our next port.

 

 

 

Regarding the Nassau late arrival, I have cruised over 30 times in all kinds of sea conditions and did not see why we were late getting there. I know Nassau is not a wonderful port but think we were not informed of the real problem which might have been propulsion issues.

 

 

 

The service and food was good but I think we were left in the dark about the real reasons for the problems.

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This was our first Oceania cruise.It will also be our last. Nothing to do with itinerary changes and medical emergency. This can’t be helped. Our problem was more with lack of attention to detail. We found the food lacking. Buffet options didn’t appear fresh (except for salad). Burgers were grisly. My husband was told shrimp cocktail was unavailable in Grand Dining Room. Ketchup served in a bottle instead of in a ramekin ( again at dinner). Veal Parma served without tomato sauce. Egg Benedict served without Hollandaise. I could go on and on.

We have been on over 30 cruises. This is the first time I have come home with unpleasant memories.

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We are not new to cruising or Cruise Critic by a long shot. We did book our first Oceania cruise for 29 days later this year. I have never seen a board so full of hate, sarcasm, and arrogance in my 45 years of sailing. This board is full of "professional poster's" that need to take a step back and read the hate they spew before posting. You are not helpful and you are certainly not special because you have

"over 5,000" posts or sailed on this line for "11 or more cruises". If you can't say something nice... well I am sure you are old enough to have passed this one on to your grandchildren. I, like many poster's have said, may be sorry we booked this cruise line. I am sure they are the minority, but like todays news, they seem to complain the loudest about "whatever". There is enough hate "out there", please don't bring it "in here". No, I didn't include how many cruises I have been on, what cruise lines, or my "status" on those lines because if your going to be rude and obnoxious, no one cares. If your are going to be helpful and friendly to fellow passengers for your VACATION, it might. I think I am going back to Windstar.

We have 16 o cruises. This sounds really bad having nothing to do with the medical emergency. The food description sounds like a different cruise line from the one we have enjoyed. This is not the first time passengers have complained about poor communication. We are seeing more and more of these negative posts. Where there’s smoke.....

We have moved over to crystal seabourn and regent for a better experience. We have only 1 o cruise booked for 2020 and that’s because we are sailing with good friends.

I think things are a changin’ and not for the better

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My husband was told shrimp cocktail was unavailable in Grand Dining Room.

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This is true

unless it is listed on the menu it is not available

it has always been that way

We had high expectations. Unfortunately they were not met.

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We had high expectations. Unfortunately they were not met.

 

 

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Food should never be a disappointment on oceania. Other things perhaps.

You have other choices.

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