Has Oceania ever changed a turnaround port?

I am scheduled on Riviera sailing Oct. 25 from Barcelona. With the scattered industrial actions (work stoppages) going on there related to local politics, the port of Barcelona could be closed for a day due to no workers showing up.

Has anyone ever seen Oceania change to another turnaround port? The closest port to Barcelona that could handle the ship is Valencia. if they decided to do this how much warning would be given? I will be in Barcelona from Oct. 23 so I would have 3 days to get to the new sailing port if it were to change. Biggest problem would be for Riviera pax arriving that morning Oct. 25 to a different port instead of Barcelona as they would all miss their flights.

After Sandy, NYC was changed to Boston. Things happen all the time, the amount of juggling that has to take place is amazing.

I've never heard of a change due to labour problems but in some rare cases ports have been closed due to hurricanes and ships have been diverted. Buses were used to transport passengers back to the port city where their cars were parked or to airports. Booking air through the cruise line or having insurance helps in these cases.

If it is only 1 day the cruise line could dock in the original port a day late and taking a day off the cruise or transfer passengers to the new port. Without a definite 100% info on whether Barcelona will be open it's hard for O to plan but they need to have a contingency in the works. Make sure they have a current mode of contacting you and that you are checking it for any updates.

Numerous cruises originating and disembarking in Istanbul a couple of years back got changed, primarily to Athens.

For those that bought their own air, they had to pay to get to the new port.

We are wondering about this since we're supposed to arrive in Barcelona on November 21st and we are flying out of there on the 23rd. If the "troubles" continue, we could get to another airport ... I guess this would be where travel insurance comes in handy because with our flights we can't change them. Since we're flying business class a change could be expensive.

But we have the time if we need it which is the most important thing.

The potential problem with Barcelona port being closed is that the one day work stoppages are not being announced very far in advance. This is not a labor problem, it is a political one where Catalonians all walked away from their jobs Oct. 2 for the day for supporting their cause of separatism. There may not be time for O to make alternative arrangements if some thing happened only 1 or 2 days before the ship was due in Barcelona. There is also the possibility of civil war and the Spanish military coming into Catalan and Barcelona if things get violent and out of hand.

How would this work if O decided to go to Valencia instead for turnaround and may pax were already on the ground in Barcelona. Would O pay for buses and train tickets to get the people from Barcelona to Valencia? Or would people be on their own to make their own arrangements? I can just see 1200 people in Barcelona all trying to get to Valencia at the same time. Just in case, I have looked at the train schedule from BCN to Valencia; there is one every 30 minutes and it is a 3 1/2 hour trip. The second port on this cruise is Marseilles and that could also be an alternate, accessible from Barcelona by train.

I have provided contact info on my account but I booked through a TA. O would not contact me directly, but would go through the TA and I would be at their mercy as far as being notified timely. I get the impression that if you don't book the cruise and the air with O they aren't going to be very helpful when things go wrong. I called O customer service to ask about this possible scenario and was told that O wouldn't be notifying me or doing anything to help me get to the ship, they would only notify my TA who would have to track me down in Europe to notify me there had been a change to the departure port. If that were to be the case i predict a half empty ship.

I would make sure your TA has your email & check it daily while you are in Barcelona

I would get a different ta if you think you would be “at their mercy. My ta would find me

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My TA does have my email and cell phone number. Unfortunately I can only get texts in Europe, not calls. I will have wifi at my B&B in Barcelona so I can check email everyday. And I will be on the ground and able to sense the direction of the political winds, what is happening. This could turn out to be quite an adventure if the s#*t hits the fan.

How would you know how a TA would handle something like this until it happens? I have had numerous other vacations and travel plans disrupted due to political unrest, terrorism, civil war, but never at the beginning a cruise. I have always made all the alternative emergency arrangements myself and got the travel insurance to cover the costs. I have never asked a TA for any help for anything, just use them to get discounts and OBC.

Good tas give service as well as discounts and obc. Mine would jump through hoops to find me if the departure port were to change.

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A friend was on a Oceania cruise where the port of Barcelona was changed to Tarragona from Barca. I forget the reason. I don't think Barcelona was an embarkation or disembarkation port when the port was changed. Tararagona is closer to Barcelona and has dock facilities.

Better find out now how to get from Barcelona to Valencia/Taragona and vice versa, fast train or bus service? It gives you peace of mind in case someone drops the ball. It's plan C.

With several large companies already on plan B for the pull out of their headquarters from Barcelona, the separatists may reconsider anyway.

Better find out now how to get from Barcelona to Valencia/Taragona and vice versa, fast train or bus service? It gives you peace of mind in case someone drops the ball. It's plan C.

With several large companies already on plan B for the pull out of their headquarters from Barcelona, the separatists may reconsider anyway.

I had already scoped out the train schedule from Barcelona to Valencia but will also look into Tarragona. Using Marseilles as an alternate likely isn't practical as it is 7 hours by train and another country. I sure hope Oceania is doing the same, working on a plan B and C and if the worst happens they won't wait until the last minute to notify pax like RC did with hurricane Harvey and port of Houston. Those people were treated very very badly.

Spain has given the Catalans until Monday Oct. 16 to announce what they will do regarding independence. The Riviera sailing prior to our departs Monte Carlo oct. 17 with an end in Barcelona Oct. 25, then we board and sail. All hell could break loose Oct. 17 based on what Catalonia says.

If the turnaround port has to be moved from Barcelona to somewhere else is it likely O would notify the prior Riviera cruise before it even departs, giving all those pax a week to make alternate plans for where they end? Or would they make the decision i the middle of the Oct. 17 cruise or at the very last minute, which affects how much time the Oct. 25 cruise has to make plans to get to the alternate port. Calls and inquiries to Oceania give no answers other than we'll let you know. I cannot find a scenario in the past where a situation like this has come up and how Oceania dealt with it.

I have a feeling people must be cancelling their cruise. The count of empty cabins has gone up since I last checked a week ago, now at 48 for the Oct. 25 cruise.

If people are cancelling they are losing a lot of money

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How many are on the waitlists ?

Some cabins could be waiting to be assigned to GTY or waitlisted bookings

How many are on the waitlists ?

Some cabins could be waiting to be assigned to GTY or waitlisted bookings

About half the categories are waitlisted, all of the penthouse and above and one inside category. All of the veranda and concierge verandah and ocean view are available. I am still getting upsell offers with less than 2 weeks before the cruise.

I know that many on our roll call have had a cabin change, moving up because they took the upsell offer.

if someone had cancel for any reason insurance they would not lose all of their money. I doubt many people get this type of insurance as it is very expensive.

I wonder how this turned out for Susie?

I wonder how this turned out for Susie?

I would guess the ship left on time from Barcelona yesterday. Have not heard any different.

there were no problems for anyone on the cruise, us included!

there were no problems for anyone on the cruise, us included!

Have a good safe cruise. We will be on in about 5 weeks.

Much ado about nothing ;)

Much ado about nothing ;)

Yes as it turned out, but it might not have been that way. Need to be prepared if you can.

Based on today's events looks like the Barcelona issue will not be resolved anytime soon. Spain imposing drect rule and Catlonia declared independent. Then there is the issue if you want to give your tourist money to a country (Spain) that is oppressing its own people?

Based on today's events looks like the Barcelona issue will not be resolved anytime soon. Spain imposing drect rule and Catlonia declared independent. Then there is the issue if you want to give your tourist money to a country (Spain) that is oppressing its own people?

What a silly concluding question.

Boycotting Spain as a tourist destination will hurt the locals 10x more than it would ever hurt the central government: In the case of Barcelona, if cruise ships started bypassing the port because of passenger boycotts, the people who get hurt are the local guides, the vendors, the tourist traps, and the pickpockets on Las Ramblas. And if it meant more stops in Valencia, Cadiz, etc., the central government wouldn't even notice.