Assigned Boarding Time?

[itzfitz]

For those who have cruised recently, how far in advance does Oceania assign a boarding time?

[basor]

9 minutes ago, itzfitz said:

For those who have cruised recently, how far in advance does Oceania assign a boarding time?

When you do your online check in, you choose the time you want for check in....

[pinotlover]

31 minutes ago, basor said:

When you do your online check in, you choose the time you want for check in....

A bit more detail please. We all know that the ships are sailing <50% full, so perhaps now it not as important. Won’t always be the case. Just guessing, but if one is in a B3, I’m guessing 12:00 isn’t one of the options.

 

Not knowing what cabin category you were in, what options were you given? 

[Queen of DaNile]

48 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

A bit more detail please. We all know that the ships are sailing <50% full, so perhaps now it not as important. Won’t always be the case. Just guessing, but if one is in a B3, I’m guessing 12:00 isn’t one of the options.

 

Not knowing what cabin category you were in, what options were you given? 

You can do your on line check-in at 21 days.

We're in a B-2 and our first option was 12:30PM  - 1:00 PM. Last option was 3:00 PM - 3:30 PM.

6 PM scheduled departure.

[basor]

50 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

A bit more detail please. We all know that the ships are sailing <50% full, so perhaps now it not as important. Won’t always be the case. Just guessing, but if one is in a B3, I’m guessing 12:00 isn’t one of the options.

 

Not knowing what cabin category you were in, what options were you given? 

Online check in is available to everyone onboard 21 days prior to sailing so access to boarding times is not based upon cabin category.   We went online and completed the online check in as soon as it was availble.  It showed  boarding times starting at 11AM and then every 30 minutes for the next several hours.  We are in an A1 and had the same options available as friends in a PH1 and B1.   There are over 700 on this sailing.   I believe they are using this to limit the number of people in the embarkation area and for the COVID testing.  It was all done very smoothly.

[itzfitz]

2 hours ago, pinotlover said:

A bit more detail please. We all know that the ships are sailing <50% full, so perhaps now it not as important. Won’t always be the case. Just guessing, but if one is in a B3, I’m guessing 12:00 isn’t one of the options.

 

Not knowing what cabin category you were in, what options were you given? 

We are sailing in an A2 cabin, concierge.  This is our first cruise on Oceania.  I see that you get priority noon check-in but don't know if that's still the situation with the Covid protocols.

 

[Jancruz]

2 hours ago, pinotlover said:

A bit more detail please. We all know that the ships are sailing <50% full, so perhaps now it not as important. Won’t always be the case. Just guessing, but if one is in a B3, I’m guessing 12:00 isn’t one of the options.

 

Not knowing what cabin category you were in, what options were you given? 

RVA sailing to Miami has over 1100 on board..

Jancruz1

[pinotlover]

10 minutes ago, Jancruz said:

RVA sailing to Miami has over 1100 on board..

Jancruz1

Interesting that Oceania has altered its procedures and boarding is now first come first at sign up instead of by cabin category. When will this announcement be made an advertisement altered?

 

Does this mean it will be like dining reservations with the entire 1100 trying to log on at 00:00 (12:00 a.m EST) to get a boarding time?

 

Times they are a changing. Another elimination of a perk difference between Concierge and Veranda. 

[cruisingxpert]

We just did the 21 day prior online check in for Riviera.  We had an Oceania Suite, an A1 concierge and a B1 . They were all offered check-in times starting at 11am.  I am guessing that as more people log in to do the online check in, some of these time frames will disappear.

So, as pinotlover mentioned, it appears first come first serve is the new procedure.

[pinotlover]

Looks like Oceania needs to remove, from its advertising,

”priority boarding times “ as a cabin category perk for all its Suites and Concierge Class cabins. 

Edited November 15, 2021 by pinotlover

[piscean]

Just returned  from Riviera Trieste to Marseille…A2 concierge.

we were offered only 1 time slot…3.00-3.30pm.

I assumed this slot  was offered on the flight/transfer time and to allow for pre testing.

It was well organised. The cruise was lovely.

the nightmare was all the PLF’s/BA /uploading /scanning documents and apps….Don’t bother with BA VeriFLY app!

Carol

[Queen of DaNile]

4 hours ago, Jancruz said:

RVA sailing to Miami has over 1100 on board..

Jancruz1

What happened to controlled capacity? 

 

Sail Safe : " What is the new ship guest capacity? We  will  initially  control  capacity aboard each  ship  to  provide  even more space per  guest."

 

Some other lines currently sailing in the Caribbean (Disney, MSC, RC) are well below 50% - most more like 25%.

I know you can only report what you are told but sorry Jan, this is a bit troubling and disappointing.

 

 

Edited November 15, 2021 by Queen of DaNile

[cruisingxpert]

5 minutes ago, Queen of DaNile said:

What happened to controlled capacity? 

 

Sail Safe : " What is the new ship guest capacity? We  will  initially  control  capacity aboard each  ship  to  provide  even more space per  guest."

 

Guess it depends on what "initially" means😁

[ronrick1943]

4 hours ago, cruisingxpert said:

Guess it depends on what "initially" means😁

 

4 hours ago, cruisingxpert said:

Guess it depends on what "initially" means😁

I agree, right now I wouldn’t want to cruise on a near full ship.  But that’s just my opinion.

[Mrs f.]

I always liked our priority boarding.  Their ads still list that as a perk.

[cptxcpl]

I too was surprised when filling out the on-line checkin form for our Oeania 12/1 cruise that I was asked when I wanted to board. I would love to know how many passengers will be on board. 

[mauibabes]

OK folks, cut O some slack. We are on Riviera and are in Naples, getting ready to head for Civitavecchia. The Rome to Miami segment will be Riviera’s 4th sailing since her return and YES the passenger count has been gradually increased to the point where we are reportedly sailing to Miami with approximately 1100 aboard. I believe all along the projections were for 60%, 70%, 80%, etc.  capacities so the 1100 is right on target.  
There are a lot of medical contractors on board for weekly crew testing and of course Guests so fewer staterooms are available. About 50 new crew are getting aboard too and they will undergo a 10 day quarantine.

Yesterday all the crew were tested and all was well.  Today the 440+ B2B guests were tested as well as anyone needing tests to be able to fly to their homes.  All has gone well and it has been quite well organized. 
All we can say is sailing on Riviera has been great fun and no one should feel ill at ease with the Oceania protocols. Sailing has never felt safer and IMHO, it has been great because the usual coughs and colds, etc. have been pretty much non-existent, perhaps due to the mask wearing or jabs or boosters or flu shots, etc.  

We are really looking forward to our TA.

Ciao,

Mauibabes

[ORV]

For the cruise lines to return to profitability they are going to have to increase passenger load, if they can. It looks like Oceania might be able to. Not sure about the mass market lines. 

[shepherd really]

1 hour ago, mauibabes said:

OK folks, cut O some slack.

Respectfully, no.  I'm paying as much for my cruise as a new car and I expect as much value as I pay.  If O can't deliver that value I'm going to demand it, give them an opportunity to provide it and if they fail I'll take my business elsewhere.

 

This isn't a trivial purchase, the expectations are appropriately high.   O either meets those expectations or it fails. 

 

Now stand by for the cheerleader telling us that we are just rounding errors on O's balance sheet, to which I will preemptively reply "If O feels that way, they have already failed".

[LHT28]

Last Spring  I saw an interview with FDR  he said the first 60-90 days  would be limited capacity  50-60%  depending on  Covid  & capacity would increase  after that  depending on the covid situation

 So maybe now  things are getting better in some place with Covid  so capacity is increasing

 

I do not think any cruise line promised limited capacity forever

JMO

[edgee]

On 11/15/2021 at 3:09 PM, pinotlover said:

Looks like Oceania needs to remove, from its advertising,

”priority boarding times “ as a cabin category perk for all its Suites and Concierge Class cabins. 

If they are going to keep up for quite a while with boarding times on first come first served basis, I agree with you. I see this as a form of false advertising. When Delta airlines began boarding back to front in coach, I felt I was not getting the perk of early boarding promised me as a holder of their cobranded AMEX card. Some consumer advocates complained this was a little more serious than false advertising since it could run afoul of banking laws. Anyway, if it was such an important "safety" measure due to Covid, why the hell did they still allow first class passengers to board early? Anyway this practice has stopped and they have returned to normal boarding procedures. Wonder when Oceania will do the same?

Edited November 16, 2021 by edgee
fix error "back to front"

[jagoffee]

7 hours ago, shepherd really said:

Respectfully, no.  I'm paying as much for my cruise as a new car and I expect as much value as I pay.  If O can't deliver that value I'm going to demand it, give them an opportunity to provide it and if they fail I'll take my business elsewhere.

 

This isn't a trivial purchase, the expectations are appropriately high.   O either meets those expectations or it fails. 

 

Now stand by for the cheerleader telling us that we are just rounding errors on O's balance sheet, to which I will preemptively reply "If O feels that way, they have already failed".

Is your comment in reference to the assignment of boarding times or passenger capacity? 
 

Edited November 16, 2021 by jagoffee

[jeno]

We boarded in Marseille and are in a B3 cabin.  When I checked in I was offered an 11:00 boarding time and took it.  We were checked in at the port and boarded by 10:45.  I made our LaReserve reservation for 12 people and left that reservation desk by 11:06. Extremely nice if you could get the 11:00 boarding and make it work for you.  Many people were being transferred from Nice or Monte Carlo by Oceania and were at their mercy for arrival at the port times.