very disappointed with room change

[Paulchili]

Im sorry, I dont understand your concern..there have been two changes out of thousands of bookings and one was resolved already..

Jancruz1

 

..more like hundreds of thousands of bookings (if not more over the years) :D

Edited October 12, 2015 by Paulchili

[wripro]

Not even ONE cabin should be changed without the permission and consent of the person in that cabin. It's a breach of trust and the height of arrogance to assume someone will happily accept a different cabin without first asking. But then maybe they'll be so preoccupied dealing with the shortened port times after final payment they won't care.

[Charlie Chan]

After a long weekend of frustration, we were finally able to speak with someone from Oceania yesterday. They have assured us they did not make the cabin change and are working with the travel agency and the cruise wholesaler to find out what has happened.

 

We are very relieved that Oceania was not involved and I will start a new thread apologising to them when I have more concrete information. Our enthusiasm is returning!

 

On the other hand, there are no free cabins left at our level or higher and it is certainly not really fair to expect others who have booked in good faith to move. So we will make the best of the situation. It does, however, raise many questions as to the origin and accuracy of comments we were originally given regarding the change. Explanations are certainly needed.

[Leejnd4]

Well...I'm happy that you are talking to them and they seem to not be responsible, but I'm baffled how it could have happened without their knowledge or involvement. So are you saying that it appears to have been caused by the TA and/or cruise wholesaler?

 

I'm sad for you that you are not going to get your original cabin back. I think it's lovely that you are willing to let it go so as not to disrupt someone else's cruise...not sure I would feel so magnanimous, especially since you booked before they did. I would probably be feeling like I want MY cabin back, and while I'd be sorry for the other cruisers, one of us is going to have to be unhappy and hey, I had it first!

 

But if this ends up being the fault of the TA or cruise wholesaler, at least that makes me feel more secure in my own booking. I've worked with my TA for years and she knows exactly how hard I worked to select my cabin.

 

Kudos to you for sticking with it to find out what happened, and I hope you do get those explanations. And I wish you a fabulous cruise!

[Jay23]

Certainly is a very unusual situation. I hope everything works out well for you.

 

I am sure all of us are as keen as you to get the whole story. Have a great cruise.

[kazu]

After a long weekend of frustration, we were finally able to speak with someone from Oceania yesterday. They have assured us they did not make the cabin change and are working with the travel agency and the cruise wholesaler to find out what has happened.

 

We are very relieved that Oceania was not involved and I will start a new thread apologising to them when I have more concrete information. Our enthusiasm is returning!

 

On the other hand, there are no free cabins left at our level or higher and it is certainly not really fair to expect others who have booked in good faith to move. So we will make the best of the situation. It does, however, raise many questions as to the origin and accuracy of comments we were originally given regarding the change. Explanations are certainly needed.

 

I am glad you found some information at least. Hopefully you get a full explanation.

 

I admire your attitude. Giving up the cabin of your choice is very altruistic indeed!

[TERRIER1]

After a long weekend of frustration, we were finally able to speak with someone from Oceania yesterday. They have assured us they did not make the cabin change and are working with the travel agency and the cruise wholesaler to find out what has happened.

 

We are very relieved that Oceania was not involved and I will start a new thread apologising to them when I have more concrete information. Our enthusiasm is returning!

 

On the other hand, there are no free cabins left at our level or higher and it is certainly not really fair to expect others who have booked in good faith to move. So we will make the best of the situation. It does, however, raise many questions as to the origin and accuracy of comments we were originally given regarding the change. Explanations are certainly needed.

 

 

When our cabin was switched without approval or notification Oceania said it wasn't them and to speak to my TA. My TA was not ever notified and had nothing to do with the switch which is why our documents and invoice still had the original cabin number. When we boarded the ship we were given the key card to our original cabin and it did not work since we were now assigned to another cabin. It turns out Oceania switched the cabin due to an alumni group sailing with them.

Edited October 13, 2015 by TERRIER1

[ronrick1943]

No one can change your cabin except "O". They have the record-it had to be in the "O" office. And so what if they have thousands of bookings---it your booking that counts.

Rick

[LHT28]

We have been on several cruise with Alumni groups but never noticed they were all booked in one section ..they seemed to be in different cabin cat throughout the ships

 

In any case Oceania has the control over the cabin allocations ..if a passenger had one confirmed & a group or someone else wanted that cabin the original passenger should have been asked if they would change

(with some compensation added )

 

[titong]

No one can change your cabin except "O". They have the record-it had to be in the "O" office. And so what if they have thousands of bookings---it your booking that counts.

Rick

 

Plus 111! I totally agree with you. It had to be Oceania, and it looks like they are playing the "pass the buck game." Not classy on Oceania's part.

[dundeene]

I agree that there are questions of responsibility.

If you have a wholesaler/TA selling a alumni group many rooms. . . . and they tell Oceania that Joe Smith needs to switch cabins with Jack Jones, wouldn't Oceania assume that the TA representing both parties has approval. I doubt they would call Joe Smith personally and ask his permission.

 

I, like everyone else, does not know the answers to all the questions that have been asked. I think we can agree that a company that frequently does this would upset its customer base. Oceania does not have a history of this type of thing but rather isolated stories in the past. These instances seem rare and the cruisers were compensated with upgrades, OBC etc.

I would venture a guess based on history that Oceania will either give this cruiser his originally booked cabin, or try to make him happy with other means.

To the OP. . . . please share the outcome with us.

[Charlie Chan]

The silence is deafening. We waited patiently (?) all day yesterday but still have had no response.

 

I really do not think that Oceania had anything to do with this change. In fact, from the limited amount of information we have, I think there was a problem with this booking right from the start even though the paper work from day 1 paper work shows the original cabin. How it was changed/who selected the new number is still a mystery. I do think there was some sort of stuff up in the way the cabin was booked in the first place, but who was responsible will not clear until we receive the promised phone call.

 

As it seems more likely to have been human error somewhere down the chain rather than a deliberate move, I don't feel as resentful. I want to look forward to the cruise - not spend the remaining time trying to fix the impossible. I'm not trying to be a martyr at all - just being realistic. In fact, I felt rather ashamed when I saw pictures of refugees in Europe struggling through the rain and cold last night and I was stressing over a room change. First World Problems.

 

I'll update when we receive some answers.

[wally_bushy]

The silence is deafening. We waited patiently (?) all day yesterday but still have had no response.

 

I really do not think that Oceania had anything to do with this change. In fact, from the limited amount of information we have, I think there was a problem with this booking right from the start even though the paper work from day 1 paper work shows the original cabin. How it was changed/who selected the new number is still a mystery. I do think there was some sort of stuff up in the way the cabin was booked in the first place, but who was responsible will not clear until we receive the promised phone call.

 

As it seems more likely to have been human error somewhere down the chain rather than a deliberate move, I don't feel as resentful. I want to look forward to the cruise - not spend the remaining time trying to fix the impossible. I'm not trying to be a martyr at all - just being realistic. In fact, I felt rather ashamed when I saw pictures of refugees in Europe struggling through the rain and cold last night and I was stressing over a room change. First World Problems.

 

I'll update when we receive some answers.

 

I like your outlook and the perspective on the whole matter:)

[Charlie Chan]

I have held off posting until I was sure I had all of the correct information and all loose ends were tied up.

 

It was the TA who made the mistake. She appears to have entered a room number when we made our first telephone enquiry. For some reason, this was not changed properly when we visited the agency and selected the room we wanted. 'Our' cabin must have just dropped out of the system at some stage and reverted to the one the TA originally entered. This was never picked up so all following documentation from the TA still showed the room we believed we had booked.

 

Many apologies to Oceania for thinking that they had changed the room. The reasons we were originally given (by the TA) were certainly misleading.

 

The agency seemed to think an apology was all that was required. DH told them fairly bluntly that they should be making amends as we had paid for the higher level cabin to secure the location we preferred. As a result, we have received very generous compensation which will certainly help to enhance the cruise.

 

Again - thank you to everyone who was so helpful and patient. Our excitement is back again and we are really looking forward to our first Oceania experience.

[Jay23]

Great news!! You must be pleased that you pursued this to the end. J

[StanandJim]

Plus 111! I totally agree with you. It had to be Oceania, and it looks like they are playing the "pass the buck game." Not classy on Oceania's part.

 

Any comments Titong?:p

[latitude 22]

I was going to say, I don't think it is Oceania's fault.

 

We are dealing with the issue that we NEED an accessible cabin

 

The able bodied passengers that are in the cabins won't be moved by Oceania unless those passengers personally agree to be moved.

 

OP, this situation might be a blessing in disguise, because honestly being right in the middle of a group that you are not part of could be a real nightmare when it comes to noise at all hours, congregating in the hallway, etc etc.

[m1k2s3]

I have held off posting until I was sure I had all of the correct information and all loose ends were tied up.

 

 

 

It was the TA who made the mistake. She appears to have entered a room number when we made our first telephone enquiry. For some reason, this was not changed properly when we visited the agency and selected the room we wanted. 'Our' cabin must have just dropped out of the system at some stage and reverted to the one the TA originally entered. This was never picked up so all following documentation from the TA still showed the room we believed we had booked.

 

 

 

Many apologies to Oceania for thinking that they had changed the room. The reasons we were originally given (by the TA) were certainly misleading.

 

 

 

The agency seemed to think an apology was all that was required. DH told them fairly bluntly that they should be making amends as we had paid for the higher level cabin to secure the location we preferred. As a result, we have received very generous compensation which will certainly help to enhance the cruise.

 

 

 

Again - thank you to everyone who was so helpful and patient. Our excitement is back again and we are really looking forward to our first Oceania experience.

 

 

As a relatively newcomer to Oceania, I've been following this thread to see what happened. OP has the right attitude and I hope you have a fabulous time on your cruise!