Port Stop Time Reductions

[aquidneck1]

Very discouraging that Oceania would knock 1-2 hours off 90% of the port times just the day after final payment was due.  I have been so impressed with our previous cruises but this is really discouraging.  This particular cruise is in the Caribbean on the Riviera but none of the ports were affected by the hurricane.  I will have to think very carefully about booking with them again.  Most of our plans are now ruined.  Maybe they can't sell their own excursions as this may be the only option with such short port stops.  

[mmssnb]

Have you considered that there are many factors that may contribute to port time, such as tides and when the port can accommodate the ship movement etc, and if it changes at even one place it can domino things!? I know staff appreciates longer days so they can get off the ship, some ship tasks are easiest done in port as well.they also stand to have more revenue from more tours, not less. I’m pretty sure in all the “moving parts” of a port call private tours considerations are probably low on their list. 

I hope you can reschedule your tours and if they were Oceania tours another interesting option will be available.

 

[ropomo]

We also just received notice of shortened port times on a cruise mid-Oct (3 out of 9 ports).  As example, one port, Key West (don't really care but it's the principle) was changed from 8:00am - 5:00pm to 7:30am - 12:30pm.  A reduction from 9 hours to 5.  At 5 hours, why even bother (once able to disembark and having to be back on board at least 30 minutes early, that's 3.5 - 4.5 hours).  I understand that Key West can be seen in a short time, but if we had wanted to arrange a day trip for example to Dry Tortugas or someplace else, it's now not feasible. I understand the comments from mmssnb regarding other factors, but the changes in our itinerary seem a bit excessive and across the entire cruise.  We are on Regatta which is now in dry dock.  Raises questions whether there are issues with projected speeds to make ports or if it's another O effort to cut costs with slower cruising speeds.

[Waynetor]

High and low tide timing is predictable within a few minutes a long time in advance so that should not be an issue.  A lot of ships with a much larger draft than O ships use the port so a small difference in tide should not affect an O ship.

 

I would be tempted to think that with the closure of Cuba (known for sometime now) and now Freeport that there may be a lot shuffling of itineraries  and the port is needed by another ship in the afternoon.  Certainly not nice and if early in a cruise would not explain other changes. You can google 'whats in port' to see if another ship is arriving after 1pm for the day involved but it may not be up to date for recent changes. 

 

Also 1 of the berths used in Key West is in the naval yard.  I don't know if there could be an issue related to the Navy needing a berth.

 

 

[Mura]

I'm probably going to be accused of being a cheerleader but I don't think I am ... I agree with OP that losing so much time in Key West makes the stop unuseable.  I'd be just as unhappy.

 

I'll also say that our last cruise was in May of 2018 so my comments may not be of use to anyone!  I understand that. But we've rarely had such reduced times in port.  For us, it was usually an hour, maybe two.  And they would tell us why.  (It seems to me that usually these notices were last minute, which is another factor I cannot explain.)

 

I also remember when a few years back we arrived in Istanbul for our planned port time but a Carnival ship refused to leave and so we had to wait to.  In our case that wasn't much of a factor because we were going to be staying on in Istanbul for 3 more days but I'm sure it was a factor for people who were flying home the next day.  We were delayed several hours in getting to our dock.

 

Do we know that this might NOT be a factor here?  I'm not saying that it is ... I'm just wondering.

 

When these changes become significant and right after final payment -- yes, I do understand passengers' unhappiness!  I would be with them.

[kitty9]

We just got a notice that our time in Roatan will be shortened during our December cruise on Riviera.  This looks more like some kind of pattern. 

[Mura]

In that case I would be bothered as well.

 

When an itinerary is established they SHOULD stick to it.  There can be times when that can't happen ... such as weather problems.  But when you are making final payment months in advance, then you shouldn't suddenly discover new port times.

 

I'm a long time fan of Oceania -- since the very beginning -- but if this becomes systematic, I too would consider switching.

 

Of course, it's easy for me to say since it looks like it's going to be a long time before I CAN cruise, given my husband's problems ... but we never know.

 

[aquidneck1]

Our changes include arriving at noon instead of 10:00AM in 2 ports.  Departing at 3 instead of 4:00 or 5:00.  I am not ready to choose a cruise to just stay on board.  I also enjoy planning my time ashore.  I don't want to go to the beach for an hour which is what the ships excursions will have us do in order to accommodate the time change.  I'm going and will have fun but will be very hesitant to book a future cruise with Oceania.  Too many choices out there. 

[donaldsc]

I have just booked my first Oceania cruise.  The cruise is in the Black Sea and the Greek Islands.  Is cutting the time in port something that Oceania typically does.  Most of my recent cruising has been on Azamara and they almost never do that.  I plan to book private tours in most of the ports that we visit but that will be hard to do if I can't count on port times.

 

I understand that the cruise company can do anything that it wants according to the cruise contract and I also understand that occasionally stuff happens but is this a pattern w Oceania?

 

DON

Edited September 8, 2019 by donaldsc

[sunnies]

46 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

I have just booked my first Oceania cruise.  The cruise is in the Black Sea and the Greek Islands.  Is cutting the time in port something that Oceania typically does.  Most of my recent cruising has been on Azamara and they almost never do that.  I plan to book private tours in most of the ports that we visit but that will be hard to do if I can't count on port times.

 

I understand that the cruise company can do anything that it wants according to the cruise contract and I also understand that occasionally stuff happens but is this a pattern w Oceania?

 

DON

 

Hi Don,

We are on the same cruise of the Black Sea and Greek Islands. We have been devotees of Oceania since 2007 and rarely have port times been shortened on our cruises. 

[TexEm]

Thanks for the heads up on the port time reductions.  We haven’t reached final payment date yet, but have reached the date for our deposit being refundable.  I just checked our port times and two out of 9 have been shortened.  We were scheduled for Bonaire from 7-3, now it’s 7-2, and Grenada from 1-11, now 2-11.  As far as Bonaire, we’ve arranged for a non-Oceania golf cart rental, but the company doesn’t open until 9 a.m., so the reduced port time makes for an even shorter drive around the island.  On Grenada we’re doing an Oceania excursion, which is now scheduled to leave 1/2 hour before the new ship arrival time.  I checked all the Oceania tours on both islands, and many of them haven’t had their times updated yet, showing tours starting before the ship arrives, and ending after the ship leaves.  I’m sure these will be corrected soon.

 

Seems like Oceania should notify booked passengers about the changes in port times.  Since I don’t check our itinerary every day, I wasn’t aware of these changes.  I do check occasionally to see that they haven’t changed the actual ports—especially after they changed Havana to Key West (come to think of it, they didn’t notify us about that, either).

 

I'm going to post the port time info to our roll call but there are few people on the roll call.  I’m also going to check if ships in port have changed, which may account for our port times being changed.  BTW, our cruise doesn’t go to the Bahamas, in fact not very near to it at any point, and the cruise is in late December.

[ricka47]

We had reductions as well in our upcoming October cruise.  This is our first cruise on O and, at first, it didn't seem to be a big deal.  But, as it appears to be a trend now, I have to wonder what is the reason for so many port time reductions.

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, TexEm said:

Seems like Oceania should notify booked passengers about the changes in port times.  Since I don’t check our itinerary every day, I wasn’t aware of these changes.  I do check occasionally to see that they haven’t changed the actual ports—especially after they changed Havana to Key West (come to think of it, they didn’t notify us about that, either).

 

 Seems like  some were notified of the changes  usually I get  a notice for my TA if there are port changes

Did you book direct?

Maybe contact Oceania  to make sure your email is on file with them

[ropomo]

54 minutes ago, ricka47 said:

But, as it appears to be a trend now, I have to wonder what is the reason for so many port time reductions.

 

If it is a systemic action on O's part, it would provide more time between ports enabling them to cruise slower and consume less fuel.  Cutting cost at the expense of the passenger.

[TexEm]

LHT—thanks for the advice.  We booked directly for our Riviera cruise 12/22.  We get emails from Oceania on an almost daily or every other day basis, so I think they are able to contact us about port changes of any kind.

 

 We’ve cruised before on Oceania and other lines, and this isn’t our first port or time change, but those were usually relative emergencies that happened during our cruises (hurricane in the Pacific causing us to go out to sea and miss Puerto Vallarta, for example, or other passengers’ medical emergencies forcing time chances at ports) or a change in government regulations (Cuba).  I did check for ships in port for this cruise, and there are still the same ships for Bonaire (just Riviera).and Grenada (just Riviera and one other ship).

 

Is this just happening with Riviera?  Or across the fleet?

 

BTW,  I’m actually not upset about the changes themselves, just curious about the reasons for the changes and the lack of notifications—- any cruise for us is a good cruise, and we’ll enjoy ourselves—first time on Riviera.

 

 

[bbtondo]

If the change in port times is due to Hurricane Dorian, I would think that other cruise lines port times would be shortened?

[ropomo]

21 minutes ago, bbtondo said:

If the change in port times is due to Hurricane Dorian, I would think that other cruise lines port times would be shortened?

 

We received email notification of changes before Dorian became an issue and our cruise isn't until mid-Oct.  All shortened ports are immediately before or after sea days.  Also, not headed anywhere near or towards Bahamas 

Edited September 8, 2019 by ropomo

[LHT28]

23 minutes ago, bbtondo said:

If the change in port times is due to Hurricane Dorian, I would think that other cruise lines port times would be shortened?

Not sure what other Islands were affected by Dorian other than the Bahamas  

but some in the Southern Caribbean were not  so the reason for changing the port times is  something only the powers that be  at Oceania know

But either way  it is not a good move

 

Maybe the "bean counters" have caught on to Oceania's  spending

 

[Shawnino]

Odd how it's always shorter, never longer.

[Jancruz]

Im going to check and see what they say to me..if I hear anything I will let you know..

Jancruz1

[clo]

I checked from when I booked and when I made our final payment and it's all remained the same.

[Lady Meer]

11 hours ago, donaldsc said:

I have just booked my first Oceania cruise.  The cruise is in the Black Sea and the Greek Islands. 

 

DON

 

Hi Don

 

Sorry to go off topic but could you tell me the date and ship for this cruise. We have been waiting for one to the Black Sea but can’t find it on the UK website.

 

Thanks.

 

Brenda

[aquidneck1]

1 hour ago, Jancruz said:

Im going to check and see what they say to me..if I hear anything I will let you know..

Jancruz1

 

Thanks so much.  

[bigmjh]

1 hour ago, Jancruz said:

Im going to check and see what they say to me..if I hear anything I will let you know..

Jancruz1

Jan - As you probably know, your Dec Sirena cruise is affected (Santa Barbara day shortened by 2 hrs) also the following cruise (San Francisco day shortened by 2 hrs). This seems to have popped up as SOP with 'O for the last couple of weeks. BTW - also, both of our Oct Insignia cruises have had some ports shortened by 2 hrs.

[floridatravelersforlife]

Our Jan 2020 Sirena Southern Caribbean cruise is coming up for final payment.  I am going to check tomw with my TA if there are any short sheets on our port  days and then after payment.  Since Oceania knows about this now, I think we have a class action suit coming if they pull this stunt on a Southern Carribean cruise.