Woe With O ---Marina 12/1 Changes

[jazcat]

It is also very odd, Puerto Montt, Puerto Chacabuco, cruising the fjords, then back north to Puerto Chacabuco again before heading down around the cape. Almost like they're trying to waste a couple days getting from the west to the east coast.

[LGW59]

1 minute ago, jazcat said:

It is also very odd, Puerto Montt, Puerto Chacabuco, cruising the fjords, then back north to Puerto Chacabuco again before heading down around the cape. Almost like they're trying to waste a couple days getting from the west to the east coast.

If one loves sea days, as I do, could be a nice relaxing vacation.  Then again I’m not booked on this, so there is that.

 

[Carraig]

We were going on the 12/19 and have now cancelled.

 

We were hoping that Peru would be put back on.

 

If you are still going my traveling companions and I wish you all the best of times onboard!

[ak1004]

Just now, Carraig said:

We were going on the 12/19 and have now cancelled.

 

We were hoping that Peru would be put back on.

 

If you are still going my traveling companions and I wish you all the best of times onboard!

 Did you get a refund or FCC?

[jazcat]

2 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

If one loves sea days, as I do, could be a nice relaxing vacation.  Then again I’m not booked on this, so there is that.

 

Yes, we were booked on the Jan. 8 departure that is still supposed to do a drive by of Antarctica but we canceled because of the poor/no communication from Oceania regarding the IMO Polar Code changes. I am still interested in what Oceania is doing as it will certainly effect how I book with them on future cruises.

 

Sea Days are nice sometimes but not, for me anyway, in the Drake Passage.

[Hlitner]

We finally, exactly 3 weeks prior to the original 12/1 cruise, received notice that O has changed the debarkation port to Santiago, Chile.  We immediately instructed our cruise agent to cancel our booking and push our request for a full refund (O is only offering a time limited FCC).   The change in debarkation ports would add about 3 hours to the flight time (just to Miami) and to obtain lay flat seats similar to what we had from Lima would add about $3000 per person.   Hardly worth it and the cruise ending in Chile is an itinerary we never would have considered.   

 

Hank

[Carraig]

10 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 Did you get a refund or FCC?

We are asking for a full refund.

 

No idea yet if they will offer it.

[pinotlover]

Provides for lots of wine tasting opportunities from Montevideo. I have also heard that the town across the River from BA, but in Uruguay , is a great visit. It’s typically done from Montevideo because of traffic and border patrols.

[Hunding]

Could someone kindly tell me, or explain to me, what a "Technical Stop" is?  I infer that work will be done in/on or around the ship...but will, for instance, passengers be allowed to debark during the stop?  It seems to me that in addition to Ecuador and Peru, we have also 'lost' Panama. 

 

This is all a bit disheartening, isn't it?  Ah, well...decisions to be made.

[LHT28]

52 minutes ago, Hunding said:

Could someone kindly tell me, or explain to me, what a "Technical Stop" is?  I infer that work will be done in/on or around the ship...but will, for instance, passengers be allowed to debark during the stop?  It seems to me that in addition to Ecuador and Peru, we have also 'lost' Panama. 

 

This is all a bit disheartening, isn't it?  Ah, well...decisions to be made.

usually it is just a stop in a certain Country to adhere to the rules of  stopping at a foreign port  sometimes they will bunker

Pax are not usually allowed off unless on a ship's tour  that will be picked up at the next port stop EG Hellesylt Norway to Geiranger

[Hlitner]

As we mentioned, we immediately cancelled the 12/1 cruise upon receiving today's e-mail from O.  But we do agree with a few of the other posters on loving sea days.  We had actually thought about keeping the booking for the sea days but our issue is that getting home from the Chile is a real pain and could even cause us some health issues due to increased DVT risks.  A flight from Santiago to Miami takes 3 hours longer then the same flight from Lima.  And to keep lay flat seats on the Santiago flights would cost us several thousand dollars more, per person, then the nice Delta One seats we had originally booked from Lima.   And there is also the issue that we lost some of the best ports of the cruise (much of the reason we booked it in the first place).  So to quickly summarize, O was offering us a cruise substantially different from what we booked with the final debarkation port being moved about 1500 miles (longer then Maine to Florida).  It was just not acceptable.

 

Hank

[ak1004]

We cancelled as well. 8 straight sea days plus extra 3 hours of flight not to mention the extra cost for the flight just doesn't make sense.

 

We replaced this cruise with Dec.13 cruise on the Riviera which has basically the same ports except Panama (which looks like the Marina cruise lost as well), so will be transferring half of the credit from the Marina cruise to the new cruise and keep half for the future cruises.

 

We don't mind getting the FCC because we already had 3 O cruises booked for 2022-2023, but I think it would be appropriate for O to provide a refund. 

[Hunding]

34 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

usually it is just a stop in a certain Country to adhere to the rules of  stopping at a foreign port  sometimes they will bunker

Pax are not usually allowed off unless on a ship's tour  that will be picked up at the next port stop EG Hellesylt Norway to Geiranger

 

LHT28, thank you very much. 

So after Costa Rica, it's a straight sail for seven days to Chile, excepting the Canal transit and the "probably-bunkering" stop in Panama, as you suggested.  

We love the sea days, truly...but missing Lima...the Nazca/Pisco Lines...Inca...? 

And two days in Ushuaia?  I hear Johnny Carson's affectionate references to "beautiful, downtown Burbank!"  And another two days in Montevideo?  

 

Maybe we'll sleep on it........................

 

[LHT28]

3 hours ago, Hunding said:

 

LHT28, thank you very much. 

So after Costa Rica, it's a straight sail for seven days to Chile, excepting the Canal transit and the "probably-bunkering" stop in Panama, as you suggested.  

 

I looked at the itinerary & looks like you overnight  there  so must be some tours  maybe the trip through the canal on the small boat or train 

So many changes for these cruises  hope all goes well

Lyn

[cptxcpl]

3 hours ago, Hunding said:

 

LHT28, thank you very much. 

So after Costa Rica, it's a straight sail for seven days to Chile, excepting the Canal transit and the "probably-bunkering" stop in Panama, as you suggested.  

We love the sea days, truly...but missing Lima...the Nazca/Pisco Lines...Inca...? 

And two days in Ushuaia?  I hear Johnny Carson's affectionate references to "beautiful, downtown Burbank!"  And another two days in Montevideo?  

 

Maybe we'll sleep on it........................

 

We certainly don't like the changes but will still go. We are already planning a trip to Peru/Machu Picchu later in 2022. 

[pinotlover]

18 minutes ago, cptxcpl said:

We certainly don't like the changes but will still go. We are already planning a trip to Peru/Machu Picchu later in 2022. 

Our 2020 Marina cruise that included Manchu Picchu was canceled. We are now booked for a combo upper Amazon/Manchu Picchu combo trip with Uniworld . Actually a better itinerary .

[watercruise]

16 hours ago, pinotlover said:

Provides for lots of wine tasting opportunities from Montevideo. I have also heard that the town across the River from BA, but in Uruguay , is a great visit. It’s typically done from Montevideo because of traffic and border patrols.

I have booked three private wine and food tours in Montevideo, Punta del Este and Santiago. More people would be fun. 
if interested email me bweiner153@gmail.com and I will provide all the details. I have done the Punta del Este tour around 10 years ago and it was great. 
barbara weiner

[edgee]

Just now, watercruise said:

I have booked three private wine and food tours in Montevideo, Punta del Este and Santiago. More people would be fun. 
if interested email me bweiner153@gmail.com and I will provide all the details. I have done the Punta del Este tour around 10 years ago and it was great. 
barbara weiner

This should be posted on the roll call for your particular cruise. 

[kirtihk]

On 11/3/2021 at 11:46 PM, Flatbush Flyer said:

The port of San Antonio, Chile is about 60 miles SOUTH of Valpo. 

We took a public bus; it was a decent ride.

[kirtihk]

On 11/6/2021 at 10:50 AM, pinotlover said:

So thus the cruise industry is in perilous straights. A significant number of posters on this board have made it exceedingly clear that, for a multitude of personal reasons, they are not sailing until at least 2023. Some are not going again until late 2022. Their money, their decision to hunker.

 

We sailed in Europe this past summer and had a wonderful time. Low passenger counts equals incredible personal service aboard ship! Levels not to be expected when normalcy returns. We are also booked on one of those S.A. Oceania cruises in January and looking forward to it. Our personal decision is to not stay hunkered.

 

As reported on a different thread, Oceania missed it quarterly earnings projections quite badly. They are missing those projections not because of imposed capacity limits, but because they underestimated the number of ( past or ex) cruisers that have opted to stay hunkered. Our ship has availability in most all categories. 
 

Oceania is willing and bringing ships on line, strike up the band. Not enough people are wanting to dance. Missed earnings, missed cash flows, and subsequent increases in debt can’t continue indefinitely. People will either have to stop hunkering or they soon will have less to hunker from. It takes two to tango.

Vacationing these days is pure gambling.  The same person will say "a perfect vacation" after one of them and "a total nightmare" after another one.  We absolutely lost any control of handling the situation - I lost a count how many changes, cancelations, rebooking we have so far since February 2020 - at least 17, and for each such a change we spent dozens of hours (as if it's my new full time work) to search, read reviews, rebook a cruise, a resorts, air, a hotel (prior and after a cruise) even with our cruise agent's help who works for last 20 months more hours per day (between 12-18 literally) every day (including Saturday and Sunday) than before without any pay so far.  And I don't blame any cruise line (they are not those who are responsible for this chaos).

[Hlitner]

3 hours ago, kirtihk said:

Vacationing these days is pure gambling.  The same person will say "a perfect vacation" after one of them and "a total nightmare" after another one.  We absolutely lost any control of handling the situation - I lost a count how many changes, cancelations, rebooking we have so far since February 2020 - at least 17, and for each such a change we spent dozens of hours (as if it's my new full time work) to search, read reviews, rebook a cruise, a resorts, air, a hotel (prior and after a cruise) even with our cruise agent's help who works for last 20 months more hours per day (between 12-18 literally) every day (including Saturday and Sunday) than before without any pay so far.  And I don't blame any cruise line (they are not those who are responsible for this chaos).

I want to pose a question for all?  Suppose you book a cruise from San Pedro, CA through the Panama Canal that ends in Ft Lauderdale.  A few weeks before your cruise the cruise line tells you that your cruise has been changed to an itinerary from San Pedro to Yokohama!   And that cruise line says if you don't like this change we will give you a time limited credit for a future cruise.  You would likely argue that the change constitutes a new cruise.  My point is that at some point we cross a line between a reasonable change in itinerary vs a significant change that makes it an entirely different cruise.  And this is what we think has happened with the 12/1 cruise.  The cruise line has simply done what they had to do to keep the Marina operating but in doing so they have completely changed that 12/1 cruise.  Having to disembark in a port that is about 1500 miles distant from the original port, is certainly a significant change.  Cruise lines like to fall back on their "passenger contract" which gives them the right to change itineraries but that is not without some kind of limitation (an issue cruise lines will avoid).  

 

While we do not question that "O" did their best to keep their scheduled itinerary ....they failed!  Many other cruise lines faced with similar issues in South/Central America simply cancelled their entire season in those waters.  But O has apparently made the decision to continue with the Marina's season and make whatever changes are necessary to keep the ship sailing.  That is certainly O's prerogative but they also should reasonably offer cruisers the option for a full refund.  In the early days of the pandemic cruise lines would offer some decent FCC incentives as an alternative to refunds, but ultimately left it up to the cruiser to decide whether they wanted their money back or a FCC.  The current policy of O is not to offer the cruiser any option but accept a FCC (not even enhanced) or take the cruise.  We do not find this policy reasonable. 

 

By the way, we did instruct our "cruise professional" (the terminology used by "O") to cancel our booking and it has been done.  

 

Hank

[edgee]

18 hours ago, Hunding said:

 

LHT28, thank you very much. 

So after Costa Rica, it's a straight sail for seven days to Chile, excepting the Canal transit and the "probably-bunkering" stop in Panama, as you suggested.  

We love the sea days, truly...but missing Lima...the Nazca/Pisco Lines...Inca...? 

And two days in Ushuaia?  I hear Johnny Carson's affectionate references to "beautiful, downtown Burbank!"  And another two days in Montevideo?  

 

Maybe we'll sleep on it........................

 

Hard to disagree with your point. However, Ushuaia is beautiful. No "downtown Burbank." We were "stuck" there overnight 10 years ago when Antarctica portion of a Celebrity cruise was cancelled due to weather. Like an Alaskan port town but much more interesting with a more international flavor. Some great restaurants. Great natural beauty, of course.

[Hunding]

16 minutes ago, edgee said:

Hard to disagree with your point. However, Ushuaia is beautiful. No "downtown Burbank." We were "stuck" there overnight 10 years ago when Antarctica portion of a Celebrity cruise was cancelled due to weather. Like an Alaskan port town but much more interesting with a more international flavor. Some great restaurants. Great natural beauty, of course.

 

edgee, this makes me slightly more sanguine about our decision to "stay the course," despite the lingering wariness...which is inevitable, I suppose.  Thank you.

[cruisingxpert]

@Hunding   There might be some very nice upsells on this cruise for those who are staying the course.

All the great Deck 7 PH are open now plus something in all the high end suites.

[Jockocruiser]

57 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

I want to pose a question for all?  Suppose you book a cruise from San Pedro, CA through the Panama Canal that ends in Ft Lauderdale.  A few weeks before your cruise the cruise line tells you that your cruise has been changed to an itinerary from San Pedro to Yokohama!   And that cruise line says if you don't like this change we will give you a time limited credit for a future cruise.  You would likely argue that the change constitutes a new cruise.  My point is that at some point we cross a line between a reasonable change in itinerary vs a significant change that makes it an entirely different cruise.  And this is what we think has happened with the 12/1 cruise.  The cruise line has simply done what they had to do to keep the Marina operating but in doing so they have completely changed that 12/1 cruise.  Having to disembark in a port that is about 1500 miles distant from the original port, is certainly a significant change.  Cruise lines like to fall back on their "passenger contract" which gives them the right to change itineraries but that is not without some kind of limitation (an issue cruise lines will avoid).  

 

While we do not question that "O" did their best to keep their scheduled itinerary ....they failed!  Many other cruise lines faced with similar issues in South/Central America simply cancelled their entire season in those waters.  But O has apparently made the decision to continue with the Marina's season and make whatever changes are necessary to keep the ship sailing.  That is certainly O's prerogative but they also should reasonably offer cruisers the option for a full refund.  In the early days of the pandemic cruise lines would offer some decent FCC incentives as an alternative to refunds, but ultimately left it up to the cruiser to decide whether they wanted their money back or a FCC.  The current policy of O is not to offer the cruiser any option but accept a FCC (not even enhanced) or take the cruise.  We do not find this policy reasonable. 

 

By the way, we did instruct our "cruise professional" (the terminology used by "O") to cancel our booking and it has been done.  

 

Hank

Hank, I agree with you.  O is not reasonable in their attempt to say this is the same cruise as you booked.  O changed the cruise itinerary and final destination point.   1,500 miles and different counties proves the fact that this is not the same cruise originally offered, booked, and paid 
 

Oceania should provide a full 100% refund to the original form of payment. If you paid via Credit Card and O won’t refund,  you should dispute to the card company - in writing - and with proof of different itineraries. Copy your attorney.

 

 

Edited November 10, 2021 by Jockocruiser