Suggested New Itineraries For Regatta 11-5-05 (Lengthy Post)

[douganswerphone]

Hi All:

 

 

There’s been much recent discussion on this board about the changed itinerary for the 11-5-05 Regatta sailing. Since the uproar started, Oceania has emailed me to say that the cause of this change was the Tunisian authorities informing Oceania on Aug 27, that there would be no dock space available at La Goulette on the scheduled day of Saturday, Nov 12.

 

 

I was one of many that were indignant about the schedule changes, and felt there had to be a better itinerary than the changes O was proposing. Being a put-your-money-where-your-mouth-is kind of guy, I spent a couple days working out different possibilities, using www.distance.com as the source of port-to-port distances. The first thing I discovered, is that several of the distances involved are much larger than I imagined, and this greatly affects the possible itineraries on a 12 day cruise.

 

For anyone that wants to try their own hand, or check my results, below are some port pairs where I looked up the distances (in nautical miles):

 

Barcelona-Benghazi 1020

Barcelona-La Goulette 466

Barcelona-Valletta 664

Barcelona-Tripoli 731

Benghazi-Tripoli 352

Benghazi-La Goulette 560

Tripoli-Valletta 196

Tripoli-La Goulette 316

Tripoli-Gibraltar 1074

Valletta-La Goulette 226

Valletta-Benghazi 356

La Goulette-Gibraltar 789

La Goulette-Algiers 379

La Goulette-Almeria 646

La Goulette-Cartagena 572

La Goulette-Oran 575

Almeria-Gibraltar 150

Cartagena-Gibraltar 237

Oran-Gibraltar 235

Algiers-Gibraltar 412

Gibraltar-Casablanca 191

Casablanca-Cadiz 190

Cadiz-Lisbon 250

 

I used these distances, divided by the ship’s published cruising speed of 18 knots (she can do over 20 if the O is willing to spend extra fuel), then added a couple of hours on each leg (to allow for entering / leaving port, navigational difficulties, etc.) to determine required transit times between ports. The times I used assume fair seas; heavy seas will affect the ship’s cruising speed and ability to enter / leave port. It’s important to understand that, although the sea state in the Med is generally calm, more than a few hours of bad weather will probably result in skipping a port call.

 

Taking Oceania’s statements at face value, the non-availability of La Goulette on Nov 12 creates a large scheduling problem, which O responded to by deleting Gibraltar as a port call. After reviewing the situation, I incorporated the following preferences into finding alternative itineraries:

1. Maintain the originally scheduled 4 port calls in North Africa.

2. Maximize total time in port, especially North Africa.

3. Maximize total number of port calls, originally scheduled as 9, then reduced to 8 by Oceania.

4. Any itineraries with less than 4 port calls in North Africa, and 8 total, would be unacceptable.

 

Due to the constraints of transit times, it became quickly apparent that one of the original ports must be skipped; ruling out North Africa, and realizing that Cadiz is directly enroute from Casablanca to Lisbon, the only choices of ports to eliminate are Gibraltar or Valletta; the itinerary works better if Valletta is the skipped port.

 

All this being said (and a good deal left unsaid), I came up with 6 alternatives, all of which I believe are superior to Oceania’s revised itinerary, and several of which I believe are an improvement on the original itinerary. They are listed below; the only difference in the first four is on Day #9, with choices of 3 different ports (Oran, Almeria or Cartagena) or a sea day. The fifth involves a different port call order for the first part of the cruise, and the sixth involves a port call at Valletta rather than Gibraltar.

 

Itinerary #1A

Port Arr / Dep

Barcelona 18:00

At Sea

At Sea

Benghazi 07:00 / 16:00

Tripoli 14:00

Tripoli 17:00

La Goulette 12:00 / 20:00

At Sea

Oran 08:00 / 18:00

Gibraltar 09:00 / 18:00

Casablanca 08:00 / 17:00

Cadiz 07:00 / 16:00

Lisbon 08:00

 

Total Ports: 9 / Total Port Time 81 hrs / Total Port Time in North Africa 63 hrs

 

 

Itinerary #1B

Port Arr / Dep

Barcelona 18:00

At Sea

At Sea

Benghazi 07:00 / 16:00

Tripoli 14:00

Tripoli 17:00

La Goulette 12:00 / 20:00

At Sea

Almeria 10:00 / 20:00

Gibraltar 08:00 / 18:00

Casablanca 08:00 / 17:00

Cadiz 07:00 / 16:00

Lisbon 08:00

 

Total Ports: 9 / Total Port Time 82 hrs / Total Port Time in North Africa 53 hrs

 

 

Itinerary #1C

Port Arr / Dep

Barcelona 18:00

At Sea

At Sea

Benghazi 07:00 / 16:00

Tripoli 14:00

Tripoli 17:00

La Goulette 12:00 / 20:00

At Sea

Cartagena 08:00 / 18:00

Gibraltar 08:00 / 18:00

Casablanca 08:00 / 17:00

Cadiz 07:00 / 16:00

Lisbon 08:00

 

Total Ports: 9 / Total Port Time 81 hrs / Total Port Time in North Africa 53 hrs

 

 

Itinerary #1D

Port Arr / Dep

Barcelona 18:00

At Sea

At Sea

Benghazi 07:00 / 16:00

Tripoli 14:00

Tripoli 17:00

La Goulette 12:00 / 20:00

At Sea

At Sea

Gibraltar 08:00 / 18:00

Casablanca 08:00 / 17:00

Cadiz 07:00 / 16:00

Lisbon 08:00

 

Total Ports: 8 / Total Port Time 72 hrs / Total Port Time in North Africa 53 hrs

 

 

Itinerary #2

Port Arr / Dep

Barcelona 18:00

At Sea

La Goulette 08:00 / 18:00

At Sea

Benghazi 08:00 / 16:00

Tripoli 14:00

Tripoli 18:00

At Sea

At Sea

Gibraltar 08:00 / 18:00

Casablanca 08:00 / 17:00

Cadiz 07:00 / 16:00

Lisbon 08:00

 

Total Ports: 8 / Total Port Time 74 hrs / Total Port Time in North Africa 55 hrs

 

 

Itinerary #3

Port Arr / Dep

Barcelona 18:00

At Sea

La Goulette 08:00 / 18:00

Valletta 11:00 / 18:00

Tripoli 08:00

Tripoli 14:00

Benghazi 12:00 / 20:00

At Sea

At Sea

At Sea

Casablanca 12:00 / 17:00

Cadiz 07:00 / 16:00

Lisbon 08:00

 

Total Ports: 8 / Total Port Time 69 hrs / Total Port Time in North Africa 53 hrs

 

Out of all the above choices, my personal preference would be #1A (which includes Oran), followed by #1B (which includes Almeria), followed by #1C (which includes Cartagena). None of these ports has been visited by Oceania previously, which creates some challenges in arranging port calls, but with nearly 7 weeks it is doable if Oceania is motivated. Obviously, we’d like the opportunity to visit Algiers, but Almeria is a nice little port (used on several Ren itineraries), and with a 2 hour drive each way, it’s possible to spend a few hours in Granada. Cartagena would be OK too.

 

These 3 choices involve restoring a 9th port call (to make up for losing Valletta). The remaining choices all involve adding a 4th sea day, which is less desirable in my view.

 

I’m hoping that everyone with a stake in this will vote on their preferred itinerary(s); hopefully Oceania will take note and act accordingly.

 

[Andee]

WOW--I am really imnpressed with the thought and effort you put into this. If you get Oceania to change the itinerary by increasing port time and eliminating a fourth sea day, I am going to be first in line to buy you a drink! My name is Andee, and I'm the one saying, "Life is good" at every pleasant moment.

 

My preferences might be slightly different than yours; maximizing time in North Africa isn't as important to me, because that's not why I selected this cruise. I would like full days in each port whenever possible. Since I've been to Valletta, I chose Gibraltar over Valletta.

 

Since I don't know anything about Oran, Almeria or Cartagena, I can't voice a preference between them, so I guess 1A, 1B, or 1C would be OK with me.

 

If Oceania had put as much effort into this as you have, they'd have come up with a better solution!!

[douganswerphone]

Andee:

 

Thanks for your kind words. There are MANY possible itineraries; Oceania's original itinerary had 3 sea days, which is the minimum you can have for this trip. I didn't include any itineraries that had 5 or more sea days, or that produced less time in Libya.

 

I intend to forward the above to Oceania; while I'm sure they're working on further itinerary revisions, one can hope that with a bit of feedback from us the final result will be more to our liking.

[Jancruz]

Hi Doug,

 

You should hear the new itinerary on Monday..Oceania has been working on it for weeks..Itineraries all depend on where they can dock and what day ...Im sure you will be happy with the changes

..

Jan

*****

[Mura]

Thanks to Jan's message yesterday I was all agog and received the new itinerary today. I had thought it would have been announced here already but apparently it hasn't been ... I did have trouble logging on this afternoon so maybe that is why.

 

At the risk of being repetitious -- basically the itinerary is restored. The original dates and times for Libya are back. Tunisia is in the afternoon rather than the morning and on November 11th rather than the 12th. Gibraltar has returned to the itinerary as originally scheduled, Casablanca is the original date and time. The major change is that Malta is out and Alicante, Spain is in on November 13th.

 

Check out the yahoo board if you haven't seen the itinerary yet. I posted it there today.

 

I am one who wasn't wild about seeing Gibraltar again but I know many people were very disappointed when it disappeared. I'm very disappointed to lose Valetta but I'm placated with the offering of Alicante. At least we are back to 3 sea days which is another plus for me. (I didn't mind the three but wasn't happy about four.)

 

I have emailed thank yous to Frank Del Rio and Lisa Auguste because I imagine they have been working their tails off for the past three weeks.

[Andee]

I was also very happy when I saw the new itinerary posted on the Oceania website this morning. I think they did an amazing job of listening to passengers and getting as close to the original itinerary as possible. I called Oceania this morning to thank them, hoping it would be nice to receive a compliment after all the complaints they've had.

 

We've already been to Valletta, and as much as I was looking forward to seeing other parts of Malta, we've never been to Gibraltar, so I'd rather go there. Just goes to show, you can't please everyone.

[drwong]

Impressive work, Doug! Nice to think your contribution had some effect on Oceania's trip planners!

 

In doing preparatory research, I discovered that in Tunisia, the TGM, a suburban rail line runs between La Goulette and Carthage, with an additional stop in Sidi Bou Said. It's a single line, with Tunis at one end and La Marsa on the other, so there's not much of a chance of getting on the wrong train. The TGM makes several stops in "Carthage" - the Salaambo station deposits you at the Tophet and harbor view, and the Hannibal station is nearest to the Antonine baths. From there, Tunis' Marine Station is 30 minutes back into town, and from there you can take the light-rail line to the Bardo Museum. Don't know if anybody is planning to tour Tunisia independently, given the uncertainty over passports and booking independent shore excursions.

 

Also, I read that Tunisia frowns upon passports bearing Israel stamps - given that we were given the same warnings about Libya, I hope everybody obtained "clean" passports by now.

[Andee]

I think it's very interesting that there were a lot more messages and a lot more passion when people were unhappy with the revised itinerary and extremely angry with Oceania than there are now that Oceania has listened to passengers and practically duplicated the original itinerary.

[Trece]

Andee, Just to speak for myself - While I'm delighted with the revisions and the fact that Oceania listened to us, I'm not quite ready to forgive & forget what happened. It's been a stressful three weeks of being unhappy, feeling ripped off and unappreciated, and, more importantly, spending valuable time re-arranging private shore excursions as well as the Libya excursions booked directly with Oceania. Occasionally I feel in the minority here but DH and I are still employed and this has been downright aggravating and time-consuming. Right now my credit card is a mess from three different Libya credits, repurchases, credits, repurchases etc. etc. though I think an additional half hour on the phone this morning with them has resolved the fact that Oceania overcharged me almost $500 in the course of booking & rebooking the Libya excursions. Of course then there's the worry every time one uses a credit card with Oceania that the surcharge is going to appear! Then there's the matter of the non-refundable tickets to a Malta museum which we purchased several months ago. While I recognize that purchasing them in advance was a risk I took and bear, no one is ever happy to throw money away.

 

So, at the risk of sounding unappreciative, right now I personally feel overwhelmed by the situation. I am certain by the time I get to the airport I'll be a lot more mollified. Underneath I'm pleased, excited, and extremely elated - but I have to work myself back mentally to that level and it's going to take some time under the circumstances! You know when you have a good friend & they do something that lets you down? You get over it eventually, but it takes you time to work through in your mind what happened? That's the way I feel right now. I know I'll get over the worst of it, I just need time. :D

[Andee]

"You know when you have a good friend & they do something that lets you down? You get over it eventually, but it takes you time to work through in your mind what happened?"

If a good friend lets me down, but then makes it right within a few weeks and listens to what I need, I find it pretty easy to forgive and forget.

 

"It's been a stressful three weeks of being unhappy, feeling ripped off and unappreciated"

I guess that I didn't get as emotionally distraught as many others. I decided that it would be better for me to focus on the positives. When I can't control the things that happen to me, I feel empowered by having some control of how I react to things. After the first itinerary change, Oceania said they were working on improving it, so I decided to put the issue aside and wait to see what happened.

 

"Right now my credit card is a mess from three different Libya credits, repurchases, credits, repurchases etc. etc."

Although Oceania had mistakenly double charged us for the cruise, and then credited the correct amounts in odd increments, so I didn't quite understand my Visa bill, all it took was one phone call to our TA, and she made sure it was right, and that I understood it.

 

"spending valuable time re-arranging private shore excursions as well as the Libya excursions booked directly with Oceania."

We hadn't booked any private shore excursions, and didn't do anything to change the Oceania excursions we had booked in Libya. I figured that we would still be going on the Libyan excursions.

 

"Of course then there's the worry every time one uses a credit card with Oceania that the surcharge is going to appear! "

Worrying about things that may or may not happen, and that I can't do anything about in advance is just a waste of effort to me!

[shoshona2]

Hi Andee,

 

Hope you and I meet on a cruise someday -- we share the same philosophy on life!! "Stuff" happens and I refuse to hold a grudge since it effects my health. With the number of young people in Iraq coming home in body bags and thousands of people without homes, you have to put everything else that happens in its place. I had a problem with Oceania after our first cruise -- wasn't ever going to give them my business if they didn't "fix" it. My husband and I were in the right legally, but Oceania refused to believe it. A letter to Frank (who I have never met) cleared it all up and a "check was in the mail". I guess my husband writing the letter on his letterhead did help, but the bottom line was it was "fixed". We are now going on our third cruise in March 2006.

 

Sheila

[Andee]

Hi Sheila,

 

Thanks for the kind words. If you meet me on a cruise, I'll be the one smiling and saying, "Life is good."

 

Our family, like so many others, has experienced real tragedy, and that reminds us to think of most of life's irritations as minor. Now, that doesn't mean that I'm happy to be in the 9th week of a 5 week bathroom remodel, with the end not in sight!

 

I'm glad Oceania made things right for you.

 

Andee

[PurpleCow]

Andee, care to join us LA to Miami in January '07? If O changes the itinerary and we end up sailing around the Horn instead of passing through the canal, you and I can relax on deck sipping Mimosas while the sky fills on Chicken Little.

[Andee]

Thanks for the invitation!! Cruising through the Panama Canal is a great trip.

 

So far, winter travel is still reserved for ski trips. But we're 55 & 57, and don't expect to be 75 year old skiers.

[Jancruz]

Andee, care to join us LA to Miami in January '07? If O changes the itinerary and we end up sailing around the Horn instead of passing through the canal, you and I can relax on deck sipping Mimosas while the sky fills on Chicken Little.

 

 

Hi Purple Cow..(love that name) Stu and I are going Miami to LA in January 06..we will fill you in on all the fun things to do..we cant wait!!

Jan

*****..

[PurpleCow]

While you're on the ship, will you check to see if there's a Mah Jongg set in the game room? We're looking a a lot of sea days and I'm hoping I can drum up a game.

[Andee]

That's definitely too heavy to carry with you!!

[Jancruz]

Of course I will check...but if I remember correctly I looked last time and there was none..

Jan

*****

[PurpleCow]

Thanks, Jan! You're right, Andee, my old bakelite set weighs a ton. They make small travel sets, but so much of the ambiance of Mah Jongg is the feel and sound of the tiles.

[douganswerphone]

We were out of town much of last week, so I just reviewed the revised itinerary today. As Mura said, essentially the revision sticks close to the original, changing the port day for La Goulette, and swapping Alicante for Valletta. All in all, I'm pleased with these changes, which happens to nearly duplicate the itinerary(s) I was pushing for. The only significant difference between my proposal and O's is that we get Alicante rather than Cartagena, Almeria or Oran. (Although I'm sure my suggestions came along long after O started working on the latest itinerary.)

 

Having spent a great deal of time analyzing possible itineraries, I can assure one and all that what O has set up maximizes the port time and port calls, while still remaining as faithful to the original itinerary as possible.

 

So I would like to extend my thanks to all who made this happen; Jan for interceding at O, FDR for listening, and all the folks at O's back office that made it happen. In my opinion, O fumbled badly with their first revision, but they listened to what their customers were saying and recovered well.

 

My faith in Oceania has been restored. Looking forward to seeing everyone on November 5th.

[douganswerphone]

We were out of town much of last week, so I just reviewed the revised itinerary today. As Mura said, essentially the revision sticks close to the original, changing the port day for La Goulette, and swapping Alicante for Valletta. All in all, I'm pleased with these changes, which happens to nearly duplicate the itinerary(s) I was pushing for. The only significant difference between my proposal and O's is that we get Alicante rather than Cartagena, Almeria or Oran. (Although I'm sure my suggestions came along long after O started working on the latest itinerary.)

 

Having spent a great deal of time analyzing possible itineraries, I can assure one and all that what O has set up maximizes the port time and port calls, while still remaining as faithful to the original itinerary as possible.

 

So I would like to extend my thanks to all who made this happen; Jan for interceding at O, FDR for listening, and all the folks at O's back office that made it happen. In my opinion, O fumbled badly with their first revision, but they listened to what their customers were saying and recovered well.

 

My faith in Oceania has been restored. Looking forward to seeing everyone on November 5th.

[Jane110]

Doug,

 

I'm happy to hear that.

 

Thanks for posting.

 

Jane

[Jane110]

Doug,

 

I'm happy to hear that.

 

Thanks for posting.

 

Jane