Change in itinerary........

[loulou942]

for Capetown to Singapore. Oceania please clarify. some posts state the we have omitted some ports and added new ones. Please let us know. Thank you

[LHT28]

Why not contact your TA to confirm

[Jancruz]

Why not contact your TA to confirm

 

LOL makes sense

Jancruz1

[al468]

Why not contact your TA to confirm

 

We all have contacted our TAs but conflicting information is being received and Oceania seems to be holding back on releasing a major change.

[JimandStan]

 

Wow, that is an AMAZING Trip :D

 

There was an Oceania sponsored contest, about a year ago, where we were asked to suggest "new" cruises, and "Cape town to Zanzibar" was one of my entries. To be honest, however, the addition of Sri Lanka AND four ports on the Malay Peninsula make this cruise FAR SUPERIOR to my suggestion.

 

I understand completely your feeling protective over this trip, just as it is laid out now. I also become heavily invested in any itinerary that I purchase. Having a port changed can cause angst.

 

For their part, remember that Oceania has already made preliminary berthing and provisioning arrangements. They have also gone to the expense of producing and distributing promotional materials based on this itinerary.

 

NEITHER SIDE WANTS A CHANGE AT THIS POINT.

 

That being said, one must be realistic about what can and cannot be set in stone.

 

Oceania is a (hopefully) for profit business, and as such, they MUST avoid trouble of any kind, but you can rest assured that they do not make such changes lightly. If they do drop a port, you are most likely better off out of there, whatever its' attractions.

 

If a change is made, and you cannot live with the change, the options are still all yours. You may cancel without penalty until 120 days out, and if you represent that your cancellation is the result of an itinerary change it will probably be waived even closer in.

 

Have a marvelous and safe cruise~

[Jancruz]

I am so sorry to hear about your frustration, I understand completely. I just spoke to Oceania and they told me they will not have a definite decision for a few days. I kniw its easy to say but hang in there.

Jancruz1

[plimsol]

We have received the Oceania INFOGRAM from our TA. This outlines the

reasons for the changes, any refunds owing procedures and a copy of the revised itinerary.

[Jancruz]

New itinerary

 

11-Dec-10 Sat CAPE TOWN S. AFRICA

12-Dec-10 Sun CAPE TOWN S. AFRICA

13-Dec-10 Mon AT SEA

14-Dec-10 Tue EAST LONDON S. AFRICA

15-Dec-10 Wed DURBAN S. AFRICA

16-Dec-10 Thu RICHARD'S BAY S. AFRICA

17-Dec-10 Fri MAPUTO MOZAMBIQUE

18-Dec-10 Sat AT SEA

19-Dec-10 Sun AT SEA

20-Dec-10 Mon MAYOTTE FR COMORE

21-Dec-10 Tue NOSY BE/NOSY KOMBA MADAGASCAR

22-Dec-10 Wed AT SEA

23-Dec-10 Thu POINTE DE GALETS REUNION

24-Dec-10 Fri PORT LOUIS MAURITIUS

25-Dec-10 Sat AT SEA

26-Dec-10 Sun AT SEA

27-Dec-10 Mon MAHE SEYCHELLES

28-Dec-10 Tue MAHE SEYCHELLES

28-Dec-10 Tue LA DIGUE SEYCHELLES

29-Dec-10 Wed LA DIGUE SEYCHELLES

29-Dec-10 Wed PRASLIN SEYCHELLES

30-Dec-10 Thu AT SEA

31-Dec-10 Fri AT SEA

01-Jan-11 Sat MALE MALDIVES

02-Jan-11 Sun MALE MALDIVES

03-Jan-11 Mon AT SEA

04-Jan-11 Tue COLOMBO SRI LANKA

05-Jan-11 Wed AT SEA

06-Jan-11 Thu AT SEA

07-Jan-11 Fri AT SEA

08-Jan-11 Sat YANGON MYANMAR

09-Jan-11 Sun YANGON MYANMAR

10-Jan-11 Mon YANGON MYANMAR

11-Jan-11 Tue AT SEA

12-Jan-11 Wed PHUKET THAILAND

13-Jan-11 Thu PENANG MALAYSIA

14-Jan-11 Fri PORT KLANG (Kuala Lumpur) MALAYSIA

15-Jan-11 Sat SINGAPORE SINGAPORE

 

Jancruz1

[2kiwis]

We received this letter today with the new itinerary

 

Dear Travel Partners and Guests,

We wish to provide you with an important update to the itinerary of the December 11, 2010 aboard

Nautica. Due to recent security concerns in regards to the Mozambique Channel and the southern edges

of the Somali Horn, we are amending the course of the voyage in an abundance of caution.

 

Our calls in Dar El Salaam, Zanzibar and Mombasa have been cancelled and replaced with Pointe De

Galets, Port Louis and La Digue. A detail of the new day-by-day itinerary is below for your reference.

Please note that the itinerary beyond the call in La Digue remains unchanged.

 

Full refunds will be issued for all visas, land programs and excursions applicable to the changed ports of

call that have been purchased through Oceania Cruises. New excursions are currently being finalized and

we will notify you as soon as they are available for purchase.

 

The Oceania Cruises website will be updated with these revisions tomorrow.

 

We thank you for your understanding with this change as the safety and security of our guests is always

our number one priority.

 

Sincerly,

Oceania Cruises

[triviascribe]

LOL makes sense

Jancruz1

Jan:

 

We're on the above cruise. There is a travel warning for the Ivory Coast. The independent tour operator we are using has canceled this port. Can you find out Oceania's position? I've had no luck.

 

Nina

[frqttrvlr09]

You area now talking about a different cruise (for which there has also been a change by Oceania in the itinerary, though due to a completely foreseeable and publicly known sacred Muslim holiday). There are elections underway at the moment in the Ivory Coast and unrest is going on as a result. The ship arrives there on Nov. 29 so hopefully the situation will have calmed down by then.

[frqttrvlr09]

Revision to my recent post: the elections in Ivory Coast have been pushed back to October 31. US State Dept. has posted a travel advisory. Another "wait and see." My independent tour operator is not arranging a shore excursion in Abidian at this point in time for me (or others) and does not advise traveling alone, assuming the ship docks.

[dre5116]

Dear Fellow Nautica Dec 11th Cruisers,

 

Has anyone been able to get any compensation from Oceania regarding this itinerary change? We are very upset as you can imagine, and when we ask Oceania for a full refund they say that they have the right to make changes as listed in the cruise contract. I have seen other lines offer waived cancellation fees or additional shipboard credit perks when they make such drastic changes.

 

Has anyone had any luck getting compensation, and with whom did you speak with? Names, titles and contact info would be great.

 

DRE

[JimandStan]

Dear Fellow Nautica Dec 11th Cruisers,

 

Has anyone been able to get any compensation from Oceania regarding this itinerary change? We are very upset as you can imagine, and when we ask Oceania for a full refund they say that they have the right to make changes as listed in the cruise contract. I have seen other lines offer waived cancellation fees or additional shipboard credit perks when they make such drastic changes.

 

Has anyone had any luck getting compensation, and with whom did you speak with? Names, titles and contact info would be great.

 

DRE

 

How could this possibly apply since the cruise is still 100% refundable?

 

The cancellation fee for cruises of over 20 days does not kick in (thru Oceania) until 150 days out.

 

I suspect that this is yet another instance of a non USA Travel Agency reaming its' clients by blinding them with misinformation.

[pondnana]

How could this possibly apply since the cruise is still 100% refundable?

 

The cancellation fee for cruises of over 20 days does not kick in (thru Oceania) until 150 days out.

 

I suspect that this is yet another instance of a non USA Travel Agency reaming its' clients by blinding them with misinformation.

 

 

Check your calendar fellows! Final payment was made a while ago.;)

[dre5116]

How could this possibly apply since the cruise is still 100% refundable?

 

The cancellation fee for cruises of over 20 days does not kick in (thru Oceania) until 150 days out.

 

I suspect that this is yet another instance of a non USA Travel Agency reaming its' clients by blinding them with misinformation.

 

The sail date is Dec. 11th 2010. I know this year has flown by very quickly but... and not sure what a travel agent has to do with anything.

 

 

Not really sure if you have read the Guest Cancellation schedule that is clearly seen of the confirmation that came directly from Oceania, but penalties begin at 150 days prior to sail date. Between 120 - 91 days before sailing, the penalty is 50% of cruise fare, 90 - 61 days is 75% penalty, and less than 60 days 100% penalty.

[Mura]

We aren't on this cruise but given the reason for the itinerary change, I think I would be grateful ... I can understand wanting a refund (etc.) with such a change, but given what happens in that area -- or can happen -- I think I'd accept the cruiseline's judgment.

 

Back in November 2005 we were booked on the Libya cruise (Barcelona-Lisbon as I recall) and Kaddaffi made a lot of noise about not letting Americans off at the two ports. In the end the change was quite last minute so this may not be comparable. But I do recall that lots of us were upset at itinerary changes (and non-internet people boarded the ship knowing nothing about them) but I don't think anyone asked for refunds because we didn't go to Libya.

 

Again, a different situation and a different time ... and my memory may be faulty!

 

I did fault Oceania at the time for not notifying the non-internet-capable passengers of the itinerary change. I knew because I was a member of the yahoo board and CC. But many people did not. And I was very surprised when we boarded not to see a notice in the lobby as to the itinerary change. Many people boarded the ship not knowing exactly where they were going when.

 

That shouldn't have happened. As it was, we lost a couple of private tours -- they weren't entirely lost, substitutes were obtained ... but they weren't really adequate in at least one case. But that's the luck of the draw. Instead of going to Casablanca and Tangiers on the "wrong" day, we might not have gone there because of a monsoon. And a couple of replacement ports were most enjoyable.

 

My apologies if I misunderstood the post that is unhappy about the itinerary change.

[dre5116]

Oceania should/have been calling clients and travel agencies today regarding the itinerary change. We got a call from Manual (I think his name was) double checking with us to make sure we have received and understand the itinerary change. I again asked for compensation, but all he could recite was that the change was for the safety of the guests and we would receive a full refund of the tours and Visas we paid to Oceania.

 

I totally understand why they made this change, I'm just not sure if I think its right.

 

I guess we have to start seeing the bright side, I've heard Mauritius, Reunion Island, and more of the Seychelles will be nice, so I'll have to keep my chin up;)

[Mura]

I'm not at all sure that I understand this comment:

 

I totally understand why they made this change, I'm just not sure if I think its right.

 

If you understand, how is it wrong? I have to say that if I were on this itinerary I would be accepting Oceania's decision. Obviously I am missing something!

 

I'll reiterate that when we had the itinerary change in Nov '05 because Libya was no longer possible, some of the changes we really enjoyed because they were new to us ... one or two were not because we'd already been there a couple of times. But this was a Med cruise which isn't all that unusual (except for Libya!) and you have a new itinerary. And the changes were because of a government's hostility, not because of possible physical dangers to the ship.

 

I do understand your disappointment ... but you do have a month's long cruise and you are going to be adhering to MOST of the ports, are you not?

 

Am I wrong about that? How much of the itinerary has really been changed?

 

Despite my questions, I AM sympathetic!

[LHT28]

I totally understand why they made this change, I'm just not sure if I think its right.

 

I guess we have to start seeing the bright side, I've heard Mauritius, Reunion Island, and more of the Seychelles will be nice, so I'll have to keep my chin up;)

Whether you think the changes are right or not is another matter

Safety comes first.

I would join the Roll Call for your cruise & maybe you can find others to share tours with in the new ports

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=422

 

Hope you enjoy the cruise in spite of the set backs

Lyn

[frqttrvlr09]

Mura, LH and other Oceania Apologists:

 

You just don't get it. If you were actually booked, for a year, on this cruise, and word leaked out over the internet that Oceania had gutted it, 1) but you and/or your TA repeatedly got stonewalled by Oceania , as did your TA if you had one, for over a week with denials (clearly the reason being that Oceania was lining up shore excursions; it would have been better to let the passengers know first rather than let everyone worry and steam); 2) the "safety" reasons for the port cancellations are not "new"; this itinerary has been in place for almost a year, as I booked it onboard Insignia the day it was released to existing passengers; if there are safety concerns due to activity in the water, it should not have been devised to begin with, and certainly should have been changed before now; 3) Oceania's substitute ports are not only more islands (and not the reason most of us signed up for this trip), we are hopping around from island to island with a few hours here, a day there, a few hours somewhere else, making it difficult to do anything on shore; 4) Further, and inexplicably, Oceania has drastically shortened the port time in two key ports: Nosy Be and Yangon (as it did when it recently significantly and belatedly revised its itinerary for the preceding Enchanted Africa cruise which I am also on), you would be upset, unhappy, and more, just as the OPs are. My loyalty to Oceania is gone. The way this has been handled has been awful. Its guest relations and management should be taking stock of how unhappy its passengers are over what they've done and how, as well as the timing of "why."

[Jancruz]

How could this possibly apply since the cruise is still 100% refundable?

 

The cancellation fee for cruises of over 20 days does not kick in (thru Oceania) until 150 days out.

 

I suspect that this is yet another instance of a non USA Travel Agency reaming its' clients by blinding them with misinformation.

 

Jim and Stan this itinerary was paid in full on July 14, 2010

Jamcruz1

[JimandStan]

Jim and Stan this itinerary was paid in full on July 14, 2010

Jamcruz1

 

I'm going to blame my rapidly aging eyes, Jan-

I was thinking 2011 ((Blush))

 

I have sympathy for the OP

I can see where missing a series of ports can be hard to swallow

But who wouldn't rather be safe than sorry?

 

[LHT28]

Mura, LH and other Oceania Apologists:

 

You just don't get it. If you were actually booked, for a year, on this cruise, and word leaked out over the internet that Oceania had gutted it, 1) but you and/or your TA repeatedly got stonewalled by Oceania , as did your TA if you had one, for over a week with denials (clearly the reason being that Oceania was lining up shore excursions; it would have been better to let the passengers know first rather than let everyone worry and steam);

 

You are assuming WE do not GET IT ...we do & sympathize with you.

 

 

Yes I agree Oceania should have notified the passengers first that there is something going on & will update them as things are worked out

It is too bad that cruise lines handle things in this manner....Oceania is not the only line that has to cancel ports.

 

As already noted in the fine print they do have the right to change ports...

It is not what passengers want to hear when they have booked a cruise to visit certain ports of call..... but stuff happens

 

They probably would have like to do the itinerary posted & are scrambling to make something out of itinerary to suit the cruisers rather than sea days

They just cannot pull up to another port..... they have to work with the officials in these Countries.

 

I do hope the cruise will work out for those onboard

 

Sometimes you just have to make lemonade;)

 

Enjoy

 

Lyn

[Mura]

Mura, LH and other Oceania Apologists:

 

You just don't get it. If you were actually booked, for a year, on this cruise, and word leaked out over the internet that Oceania had gutted it."

 

 

I also DO "get it" and I'm sorry you think that we are apologists for Oceania because I certainly don't think I am.

 

I have a suggestion though. Rather than venting here, write directly to the big brass at Oceania. That's what we did with non-Libya when word first got out about our itinerary change. This was a few months prior to departure date and I believe also after the pay-up date. Then we wrote to Frank Del Rio but now it might be better to write to Bob Binder.

 

Even though both of these cases involve a changed itinerary the reasons for that change are different -- ours was because of the threat not to let American passport holders off the ship in Libya, yours is quite different. But we DID get results when we wrote our letters to FDR. Unfortunately, at the last minute the sabre rattling started up again shortly before departure and so the change had to be made. (Please note that we, too, booked more than a year in advance and we chose the itinerary solely for Libya, and we didn't get to go there. We did enjoy our cruise, but we would not have booked it if we'd known that we would NOT be going to Libya.)

 

I did say that I didn't think Oceania had handled it as well as they might have in our case, and I agree that they haven't done any better in your case -- probably worse. But these are the risks of travel, as Lyn has said.