Riviera-Dec.2013 disappointed in staff and O

[cruising diva]

My husband and I went on the Riviera to see if we liked O.This was our 48th cruise.We are in our mid 60's and in good shape.

 

The food is superb- ambience wonderful-waitstaff and cabin staff excellent.

 

Problem-The attitude of staff/officers from the general manager to guest relations to the concierge.

My husband had an accident boarding a tender in St.Barts with rough seas.The tender was not taut to the platform and there was NO ONE from O on the tender to help with boarding. His leg went between the platform and the tender as the tender pulled away from the platform. The tender came back to hit him in the leg.He was in the medical center 2x for the injury.

 

Unfortunately what bothers us the most was the lack of follow up by anyone other than our butler who asked each day how my husband was doing.

 

When finally being able to speak to the gm after many attempts he was condescending,indifferent,uncaring and really could have cared less. He said there was no report on the accident and he just heard of it when we mentioned it to guest relations.That is difficult to believe since most lines have a staff meeting each day to discuss problems.

 

There seems to be a lack of concern for passenger safety.

I'm truly amazed at the attitude of staff on this ship and very disappointed that O doesn't put the passenger first.

[LHT28]

Sorry to hear about your DH accident I hope he is doing ok now

 

We have always had crew there to help us on & off the tenders usually a couple on the tender & a couple on the platform

 

Lyn

[willidc]

So sorry and surprised to hear about your husband's tendering incident. I hope he is doing well as I write this.

 

Also I am surprised since we experienced some turbulence when we were tendering in Monaco this past May on Riviera. We had three or four crew members each leg of the tender trips that we made (I just checked with DH to verify). Plus we had crew at the shore and more crew at the Deck 4 platform upon return.

 

We are also in our 60s and remain active. We have always had a family boat since we both loved to water ski---then took our three boys out on the boat and taught them to water ski as well. Needless to say, we are very comfortable with getting on and off boats in choppy waters. But taking that into consideration, we felt that Oceania crew went above and beyond to keep us safe boarding and disembarking the tender boats.

 

Someone was on either side of me when getting on/off and grabbed my arm if I didn't extend my hands for help. The word 'timing' was repeated loud and often and we were told to look at the boat's position relative to the shore or ship when getting on/off to assess the right 'timing'. We were given some instructions prior to the tender leaving its position and additional instructions upon arrival prior to getting off. All of this took a lot of extra time and it wasn't particularly comfortable with a fully loaded tender sitting closed up in the humidity and hot sun of the Mediterranean. However, we understood that it was necessary for Oceania to keep people safe.

 

I now check to see how many tender ports are on an itinerary before we book sailings. We had 7 on a B2B this past Spring and it was 7 too many IMO. However, sometimes tendering is a necessary inconvenience and is the only way to see some of the lovely ports offered.

 

Sometimes the waters are so choppy that tendering is cancelled and the port is missed. In Monaco, the waters were active in the morning, but not dangerously so. After a day in Monaco, we were shocked at how rough and rocky the waters were, but Oceania needed to get people back to the ship. I can truly say that I have never experienced water that rough in a boat of relatively small size. We were holding on even though we were all sitting down in the tender.

 

But, as I have mentioned, we had more than adequate crew (IMO) and they were doing their job most conscientiously and in a serious manner. This was not the time for friendly chit chat with crew.

 

As far as the reported lack of concern by management, that should not have been. The worst injuries I have had in a rather athletic lifetime have been when hitting my shin on a bed post (turned into blood poisoning) and walking out of my girlfriend's house not realizing it was icing up in a rain and getting a quadruple fracture on my ankle. So, every injury should be treated with respect, no matter how minor it may initially appear. So it is a bit disappointing to hear your experience regarding staff and management.

 

Based on past experience, this would appear to be something out of the typical case, but things could have changed since our Spring sailing regarding crew on tenders. We sailed again in late August on a Baltic cruise, but we had no tendering. So we cannot compare experiences from early 2013 to later in 2013.

Edited December 29, 2013 by willidc
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[Tarpeian Rock]

Sorry about your husband and hope he's doing better. As HAL escapees who are booked on our first O cruise in March, I am starting to get concerned about the number of references I've seen here recently - not just yours - concerning poor attitude, aloofness, indifference, etc. on the part of senior ship's staff and especially "the desk." All the lunchtime lobster in the world isn't going to offset hitting a brick wall when assistance is needed in a special situation. Ordinarily the behavior of officers wouldn't be a concern, but it seems to be coming up in posts here often enough to be concerning.

[newbie60]

We were on the Riviera the cruise just prior to your's and the tender crew was always, always there so this shocks me! We had three tender ports and they happened to all be in calm water, but there were always staff on either side of the tender door and two more inside reaching out. I am very athletic and did not need assistance, but I got it anyway!

 

Very sorry about your husband's accident and resulting lack of concern from the staff.

[rheasue38]

Hi!

We have been on 60 cruises, 17 of them on Oceania. We have been on many tenders with Oceania and found the tender crew to be wonderful! We have always found Oceania to put the passengers' safety first. I'm so sorry to hear of your husband's accident. Hope he feels better soon.

As far as the GM, we have always found Thierry Tholon to be available and helpful to all the passengers. Reception has always been so helpful and has always followed through with a phone call to see if our requests have been met.

Tarpeian Rock, if I were you, I'd judge Oceania on your own. The food and service on Oceania are outstanding! I think you'll become a huge Oceania fan as we have.

Rhea

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Well I sure hope that you get reimbursed for medical services at least!

 

Hope your husband is now a-ok.

[Pet Nit Noy]

All the lunchtime lobster in the world isn't going to offset hitting a brick wall when assistance is needed in a special situation. Ordinarily the behavior of officers wouldn't be a concern, but it seems to be coming up in posts here often enough to be concerning.

 

My husband has very limited vision. He's lost his vision gradually so he doesn't have some of the blind mannerisms many have. All this is to say that simply looking at him few can tell he's blind until you see him move about.

 

On a recent cruise, before our first tender port, we made an appointment with the safety office. We introduced ourselves and explained the problem. The outcome was fabulous. When we arrived at the deck where we would board the tender, the safety officer left his station in the ship and walked out to the platform to work with the follows handling the boarding proces. Furthermore, the safety officer gave a very clear heads up to the fellows who were dealing with the boarding.

 

When we were out on the platform, they urged me to get into the tender, assuring me that they had things under control. And indeed they did! They provided lots of guidance to my husband about the right time to make the move and they physically hung onto to him to lift him or rescue him if the need arose. Finally, they lowered the jump seat in the seats alongside the entry way so he didn't have to thread his way through the tender benches.

 

If you are traveling with someone with physical issues and you have concerns about the tender transfers, introduce yourselves in advance of the the port call. You'll be amazed at how caring and professional the response will be.

 

That said, we as cruisers need to use common sense. We stayed on board the ship at the second and final tender port when high seas were present and the trip on the tender itself was somewhere between 30 and 35 minutes. Those conditions seemed to us to be at the safety limit of agile sighted passengers. We're both agile with good balance, but my husband doesn't qualify in the sighted category. We didn't want to place an unreasonable burden on the crew.

Edited December 30, 2013 by Pet Nit Noy