fire onboard Insignia

[xrvlcruiser]

I have sent luggage from the US out of the country with Luggage Free and there are rules: items which cannot be included, a list (very general) of what is in the case - that sort of thing. I don't know if the rules apply to Canada. And don't remember the details of can/cannot.

Clearly this will complicate the situation since the owner did not pack his/her case.

I am not making an excuse for anyone - O or LF - just some very general information.

Peggy

[Paulchili]

rubric,
I am guessing that this also has to do with frequency and availability of flights.
I am thinking that there are more flights (and airlines) flying out of Miami to US destinations than Canadian or foreign ones. With fewer flight options it is harder to find space at last minute.
Just guessing here.

[LHT28]

[quote name='Wendy The Wanderer']Why? As a Canadian, I'd also feel slighted by this. Yes, peoples' lives were lost, and that's a tragedy. That doesn't obviate the complaint.

[/QUOTE]

Wendy ..we were not there so have no idea how the situation was handled

I do know that some Americans were on a last buses & Flights out of St Lucia
Buggins has already stated she was on flight #5 of 5

A perceived slight is different than actual facts

[buggins0402]

Ok, I'll jump in with my thoughts on how it was done.

The earliest busses for the small first flight had a high percentage of higher number cabins with just a few lower numbers. Perhaps those were handicapped cabins (the handicapped cabins on R's are mostly lower cabins, I believe, correct me if I'm wrong).

In our last group there were very few 7000 and 8000 cabins. We were concierge, but had done some very good value upgrades along the way. As Lyn, said I know of two other American couples on our bus (about a 20 seater).

I'm sure they did a combo of things, revenue, blight times from Miami etc.

And, I do not have a problem with it being done based on cabin price paid...it wasn't like we were going down with the ship and there was no life boat for us.

[Bowie MeMe]

Unfortunately there will always always always be somebody last or near last. If you feel lucky to get first do you go through all the reasons they might have chosen you? No you accept it as your Blessing of the Day. When the opposite happens it is probably no more deserved than the good luck was. Hope you are closer to the head of the line next time.

I would be at the back of the line with you -- no matter which line I stand in it immediately goes slow to stop:rolleyes:

[no fuss travel]

After being on another cruise where my luggage did not make the connecting flight, we had to wait over a week to get our luggage. It was a busy time of the year and individuals flying on the actual flight got preference for their bags being on the flight. Our biggest hassle was dealing with a rather nasty female custom officer who demanded to know what was inside our suitcases (allowed to call her nasty as I am a female too) and we simply did not remember what was in them as we arrived home sicker than dogs. There was a nasty virus going around the ship and we were one of the last to catch it. The airlines and cruise ship companies do the best they can in the circumstances and in a few years time, this will make an interesting tale of your many travels. Our flight back from Athens to Vancouver is one of my better stories from the many trips I have taken.:D

[buggins0402]

Sorry, for all the typos in the previous post....I'll put my glasses on now so I can see what I've typed.

Another thought, the lower cabins would have had more smoke earlier in the day when they were trying to get into safes. They could have left those cabins for last, after the air had cleared a bit. We were deck 7 and far forward, which kind of debunks that theory, however.

Also remember that the first group ended up being very unlucky if the report of the plane sitting on the runway for a few hours is true.

[seasoned]

rallydave had an excellent point about customs and who actually packed the bags. In terms of efficiency, O probably shipped the “easiest” (U.S.) bags first, then tackled the non-U.S. ones. It’s hard to imagine all that Oceania was dealing with, and overall it was handled well, at least from my distant view. Also, in my experience with LuggageFree domestically, they transport overland and not by air, so flights are not involved at all. Not sure about Canada. A couple of times I’ve shipped a bag to Asia via LuggageFree. In those cases I believe the bags were trucked to the most economical airport from which they could be sent by air.

-Sukey-

[Minoushka]

When Celebrity got my suitcase from somone who took it by mistake they fedexed it to me at my expense ..it came a week later in a big box .....so patience

[HotRoot]

[quote name='mmemichele']When Celebrity got my suitcase from somone who took it by mistake they fedexed it to me at my expense ..it came a week later in a big box .....so patience[/QUOTE]

That happened to us with Regent. They didn't even put it in a box. Just slapped the Fedex tag on the suitcase. Of course, the suitcase was not locked. We also paid for the FedEx.

[RJB]

[quote name='LHT28']Wendy ..we were not there so have no idea how the situation was handled

I do know that some Americans were on a last buses & Flights out of St Lucia
Buggins has already stated she was on flight #5 of 5

A perceived slight is different than actual facts[/quote]
Very well said.

[Mura]

Just a couple of thoughts about how the luggage is being sent home.

First of all, it seems to me to be a logistical nightmare to be getting so many people on flights to just about everywhere as quickly as possible. And if U.S. citizens were given preference (I'm not saying they were since I don't know), two factors could be that most of them were closest to home and that there were more of them. (Again, just guessing since I don't know the demographics of this particular cruise.)

While Oceania often gives preference to people in the more expensive cabins, I wouldn't assume that happened here since there were SO many people that had to be accommodated.

If it were my job to get people to their homes as efficiently as possible, I'd look first to how many people were going where which I would consider far more important than how much they had spent on their cruise.

I also would think that getting people home quickly was of a greater priority than getting the luggage home immediately -- it would be nice if they could have done so, but shipping things at this time of year is already difficult. Plus, as others have mentioned, there could well be customs difficulties since passengers didn't pack their own luggage ... not to mention the difficulties the people packing said luggage must have been having, what with no power on the ship.

As usual, just guessing ...

Mura

[Waynetor]

No official word from Oceania but LuggageFree has cancelled luggage pickup next week for the world cruise stating the Jan 10 date has been pushed back.

[nana541]

[quote name='Waynetor']No official word from Oceania but LuggageFree has cancelled luggage pickup next week for the world cruise stating the Jan 10 date has been pushed back.[/QUOTE]


Opps what a bad way to hear this!!


Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Aussie Gal]

Apparently Luggage Free made a mistake in their wording of that statement and have apologised.

Here is what they have to say:


[COLOR="Red"]I am writing a follow-up to my email sent earlier this afternoon, I would like to apologize for the confusion. While we were asked by Oceania to push back the December 22nd luggage pickups, my comments related to the January 10 embarkation date being pushed back was a mistaken assumption by me.
Once again I apologize for the confusion by my statement. Oceania will be in touch when a final decision has been made.[/COLOR]

Jennie Edited December 19, 2014 by Aussie Gal

[buggins0402]

TA called today. Start looking for your credits on your CC accounts!

[RMLincoln]

[quote name='buggins0402']Our muster station was indoors in the theater. During the drill we were led outside to the lifeboats...I don't remember that being done on Marina this past summer, but we may have been.

We were in port and it just didn't occur to us to bring our vests...but I do recall some had them. Leaving our cabin, I had gotten halfway down the hall when I heard someone in another cabin doorway say get your meds...so I ran back to DH a who was still in the cabin and put the Meds in the handy dandy O bag.

Back home today. We beat the luggage. I was kind of worried that it would be delivered while we were still in Miami and no one could sign for it if they needed a signature. We hide a condo key and had our maintenance man hide another in case the first had gotten misplaced. DH had the foresight to not take the car keys (we didn't drive to the airport). Even my work keys are with the luggage (ok, I was really stupid to have those with me) but, manged to get another set when I went in for a few hours today. The issues with keys was another thing many of us learned. Only take what is necessary and put those in the safe.[/quote]

Many thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. I'm trying to learn and envision the process, knowing that even though every emergency is unique there are commonalities, which is why we train, train, train in Fire and EMS.

So happy that all the passengers are safe and recovering, luggage on it's way no less - very impressive I think; but so sad for the lives lost, the grave burden on their families and for all the crew including the officers; it's traumatic to all.

Oceana may be lucky the ship was in port and avoided the long, drawn out misery of other ships with engine fires while at sea, but they will be scrutinized for having been warned by similar previous events. Time will tell but we may never hear the full tale.

Again, Blessings to all involved. m--

[hmh1212]

Just learned that the 50% discount on a future cruise means 50% of what you paid for the Insignia cruise, not 50% of the new cruise you book. To me, the 50% off a future cruise promised by O implied the discount would be for the price of the next cruise. Am I being naive or did others think as I did?

[Mura]

Actually, I think my reaction was betwixt and between. But it makes sense that the 50% discount relates to what you paid to begin with.

Let's say you had a "C" cabin on the Insignia cruise but want to book a VS on a future cruise. Should you get 50% of what the VS would cost or 50% of what you actually paid (or the level you originally booked? And I assume the number of days on the two cruises would also be a factor.)

Seems reasonable to me that it would be the latter. You are still ahead, even if you book a higher level cabin than you are used to or book a longer cruise that the one you lost.

Mura

[nana541]

[quote name='hmh1212']Just learned that the 50% discount on a future cruise means 50% of what you paid for the Insignia cruise, not 50% of the new cruise you book. To me, the 50% off a future cruise promised by O implied the discount would be for the price of the next cruise. Am I being naive or did others think as I did?[/QUOTE]


This has been a offer made often (or similar) other lines and it has ALWAYS been 50% based on what you paid for "This Cruise". So it did not create any confusion for me at least!


Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[hmh1212]

Logically, both of the previous posts make sense, but the letter from O was ambiguous and could be read to suggest otherwise.

[PaulMCO]

[quote name='hmh1212']Just learned that the 50% discount on a future cruise means 50% of what you paid for the Insignia cruise, not 50% of the new cruise you book. To me, the 50% off a future cruise promised by O implied the discount would be for the price of the next cruise. Am I being naive or did others think as I did?[/quote]


Beats the 25% O is giving the people for the cancelled 17th Amazon cruise.

What's worse it is only good if you buy another cruise on O. Edited December 20, 2014 by PaulMCO

[RJB]

[quote name='Aussie Gal']Apparently Luggage Free made a mistake in their wording of that statement and have apologised.

Here is what they have to say:


[COLOR=Red]I am writing a follow-up to my email sent earlier this afternoon, I would like to apologize for the confusion. While we were asked by Oceania to push back the December 22nd luggage pickups, my comments related to the January 10 embarkation date being pushed back was a mistaken assumption by me.
Once again I apologize for the confusion by my statement. Oceania will be in touch when a final decision has been made.[/COLOR]

Jennie[/quote]
Interesting. Sounds that the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing. Hope they get it straight and can go on time or at least close.

[Floridiana]

Isn't Luggage Free a different company and the e-mail writer assumed something that Oceania did not say and therefore created the wrong message all by himself?

[LHT28]

[quote name='Floridiana']Isn't Luggage Free a different company and the e-mail writer assumed something that Oceania did not say and therefore created the wrong message all by himself?[/QUOTE]

I think the letter posted was for the RTW passengers & seems the Luggage free people got it wrong
that is how I read it

YMMD

The people from Insignia were getting the luggage delivered by Federal Express Edited December 20, 2014 by LHT28