O cancels our 14 Day Carib cruise on the Vista, Dec 5, 2024.

[jonthomas]

It was a great itinerary, The ABC, Grenada, St Vincent, Barbados, Dominica, Antigua and St Martin,

 

Instead they are offering  us a 12 Western Caribbean,  to Mexico and Roatan and 250 OBCs and an adjustment for the 2 days.

 

The 12 day itinerary does not compare to the ABCs...we would not get off the ship in Mexico.

 

We will probably be cancelling.

 

Any thoughts?

 

 

[AMHuntFerry]

Bummer! Are there other itineraries (with availability) that would be an acceptable substitute? Your TA (or you) could contact O and suggest a similar deal (OBC and adjustment) on your preferred substitute. If they say no, then cancel (or try again). Good luck!

[halfapair]

What a great itinerary you had! I would be super bummed, too, and probably cancel. The other itinerary pales in comparison.

[LHT28]

When did they cancel?

still showing on the website

 The bright side  you have time to find another cruise  that works for you 😉

 

[jonthomas]

Our TA got advanced notice and immediately forwarded it to us.

[jonthomas]

here is the new 12 day itin...

 

Below is your revised itinerary:

 

DATE                           PORT                                       ARRIVE            DEPART
December 5, 2024         Miami, Florida                           Embark             6 pm
December 6, 2024         At Sea 
December 7, 2024         Cozumel, Mexico                      7 am                 4 pm    
December 8, 2024         Roatan, Honduras                     9 am                 6 pm
December 9, 2024         Santo Tomas, Guatemala           8 am                 9 pm
December 10, 2024       Harvest Caye, Belize                 7 am                 5 pm
December 11, 2024       Costa Maya, Mexico                  8 am                 6 pm    
December 12, 2024       At Sea                                                             
December 13, 2024       George Town, Grand Cayman    7 am                 5 pm
December 14, 2024       Montego Bay, Jamaica              7 am                 4 pm    
December 15, 2024       At Sea                                     

December 16, 2024       Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas       9 am                 6 pm    
December 17, 2024       Miami, Florida                           Disembark

 

[jonthomas]

and this is what we had

 

DAY	PORT	ARRIVE	DEPART
Dec 5 Thu	Miami, Florida, United States	Embark 1 PM	6 PM
Dec 6 Fri	Cruising the Old Bahama Channel
Dec 7 Sat	Cruising the Caribbean Sea
Dec 8 Sun	Oranjestad, Aruba	10 AM	11 PM
Dec 9 Mon	Willemstad, Curacao	7 AM	10 PM
Dec 10 Tue	Kralendijk, Bonaire	7 AM	2 PM
Dec 11 Wed	St. George's, Grenada	1 PM	11 PM
Dec 12 Thu	Kingstown, St. Vincent	8 AM	6 PM
Dec 13 Fri	Bridgetown, Barbados	8 AM	6 PM
Dec 14 Sat	Roseau, Dominica	8 AM	7 PM
Dec 15 Sun	St. John's, Antigua	8 AM	11 PM
Dec 16 Mon	Philipsburg, St. Maarten	7 AM	4 PM
Dec 17 Tue	Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
Dec 18 Wed	Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
Dec 19 Thu	Miami, Florida, United States	Disembark 8 AM

Voyage Map

 

 

---

[jonthomas]

This is the letter our TA got. 

 

Notice they say that as a "courtesy" they will refund for the two days...What courtesy? Awful !!!

[jonthomas]

Dear Valued Travel Advisors,

 

We would like to provide you with an advance copy of the notification that will be going out to all guests later today. We kindly request that you reach out to them today to ensure that they are aware of these important changes.

 

VOYAGE CHANGE NOTIFICATION

 

Dear Valued Guests,

 

We would like to advise you of an important update to your upcoming cruise vacation aboard Vista. As a result of scheduling changes, your 14-day voyage departing on December 5, 2024, has been revised to a 12-day voyage.

 

As a courtesy, we will be automatically adjusting your booking on Vista’s 12-day roundtrip Miami itinerary departing on December 5, 2024, at a new lower fare reflecting the revised voyage length. You will receive an updated invoice once these changes are processed. In appreciation for your understanding of this change, we will be providing a $250 shipboard credit per suite or stateroom, which will be automatically added to your onboard account.

 

The revised voyage will explore the best of the Western Caribbean, complemented by calls on the Cayman Islands, Jamaica and the Bahamas. The destinations featured afford a wide array of adventures for every traveler, from enjoying beautiful beaches and spectacular coral reefs to exploring ancient Maya sites and island spice farms.

 

Two full days in the Yucatan Peninsula will allow for deeper cultural exploration with numerous Maya ruins or eco-adventures to some of the world’s most stunning coral reefs, rich in marine life. Likewise, Roatan offers an abundance of eco-centric tours, and from Santo Tomas, you may choose to visit the fabled and legendary Tikal. Of course, we believe our bespoke exclusive destination of Harvest Caye is a jewel in the crown of the Western Caribbean.

 

[LHT28]

just cancel if not  to your liking

At least are giving lots of notice  of the changes

 

[basenji56]

At least they didn't demand full payment for that 2024 cruise and will now only offer a voucher in reimbursement. 

 

[jonthomas]

Yes plenty of notice.

 

So they are offering us an inferior itinerary and saying

 

"As a courtesy, we will be automatically adjusting your booking on Vista’s 12-day "...

 

as a courtesy....offering us a 12 day instead of 14 day and saying they will make the 2 day adjustment, as a courtesy....there is NO courtesy, it is a shorter cruise!!!

[mauibabes]

Jonthomas,

We did your ABC cruise in May on Marina when South America was cancelled and they had to find somewhere for Marina to sail. We thought it would be an awesome Caribbean trip but IMHO, you are not missing much.  While it is a chance to sail on Vista, if you are not a beach person (Dermatologist says NO) and humidity is not your cup of tea, then your selected trip was nothing more than seeing the same thing, island after island. As you can tell, we are not Caribbean fans.  
 

Yes it is a bummer for you but you have plenty of time to identify a different itinerary. I hear there  are new 24/25 releases coming out Nov 2 and Oceania always has their Black Friday Sale so maybe it would be smart to hold tight on your booking to see if they make another offer you can not refuse. There will be lots of great itineraries offered that would be better than 14 days in oppressive humidity, JMHO. 

Ciao, Mauibabes

[jonthomas]

We have done that itinerary many times. To get away from our Canadian winters we welcome Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire as well as ST Vincent, etc. We dont welcome, Mexico, Roatan and Jamaica.

 

You cant substitute these ports for what the 14 day offered and call it equal. 

The itinerary  is just not comparable. 

 

Yes maybe wise to hold off till the Black Friday specials...but if memory serves me correctly, there really is nothing special about them. 

[LHT28]

35 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

We have done that itinerary many times. To get away from our Canadian winters we welcome Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire as well as ST Vincent, etc. We dont welcome, Mexico, Roatan and Jamaica.

 

You cant substitute these ports for what the 14 day offered and call it equal. 

The itinerary  is just not comparable. 

 

Yes maybe wise to hold off till the Black Friday specials...but if memory serves me correctly, there really is nothing special about them. 

Just  cancel & move on

 Why get  your knickers in a not over some wording in  the  notice

You are not happy with the new itinerary  so get your deposit back

it is not like it is next months cruise they have changed on you 🙄

[Croooser]

Looks like they have someplace to go that they need to start on the 17th, but no schedule yet posted. Also, curious that they did not try and shorten the original itinerary instead of deep sixing it.

 

OP, disappointing once you have plan in place, for sure. At least you have 2 years notice. Plenty of time to go shopping for a worthy substitute.

[Robjame]

This kind of change, cancellation, substitution is happening far too frequently. It would have been helpful if they had given you some kind of justification - I guess someone has just had 2 days added to their itinerary.

 

There is a lot of thought, planning and itinerary comparisons done before actually booking (at least for us there is). Once the decision is made there is an investment in that thought process. I would be just as pissed off as you!

[ORV]

I would bet it’s now a charter. 

[basenji56]

27 minutes ago, ORV said:

I would bet it’s now a charter. 

But the dates of the cruise are almost identical?  With two days dropped and itinerary changed.

[jonthomas]

All thoughts are appreciated even the ones about getting ones knickers in knots...lol....I was going to say I dont wear knickers but thats a whole other topic....lol.....

 

I just think the original itinerary is costing O too much...the ABC, St Vincent etc have huge port charges, compared to Mexico. I looked for another itin similar to what we had, could not find many, mostly Mexico now. 

 

Yes could be a charter too. 

 

Not sure about how long to wait before approaching management about what they could do for us if we booked a totally different cruise, like Alaska.  Probably absolutely NOTHING. But yes we will cancel, Mexico. Dont want to offend anyone that loves Mexico. Its just not our thing. 

[Imasima752]

We booked this 14-day itinerary last week and this afternoon we received the same notification.  I am very unhappy and plan to cancel as it's a completely different itinerary and we've already been to every country on this shortened cruise.  We researched 2024 cruises extensively to make our selection (we try to take an ocean or river cruise every year) and we were really looking forward to that particular cruise.  We were also looking forward to experiencing Oceania having already enjoying cruises with RSSC and NCL, but not now given how they have chosen to handle this. I understand these things happen, we've had cruises cancelled by NCL and Regent and a partial itinerary change by MSC in the past, but it would have been courteous if they gave us a few alternatives instead of automatically adjusting our booking to another itinerary.  I guess it's back to researching for 2024 this weekend 🙂!

[jonthomas]

New itins come out the first week in November. You will get to see what will be out for Jan and Feb. Will see if there is a similar itinerary on the Vista and how much more it will be than the one they just cancelled. 

[LHT28]

4 hours ago, ORV said:

I would bet it’s now a charter. 

yeah probably the 2 day cruise is for the staff Christmas party 😁

[Jayne E]

We will be cancelling this replacement cruise.  Can understand adjusting to 12 day cruise but not wiping out entire itinerary and replacing with very inferior ports and boring private island stops. One time in Honduras, Belize, Jamaica and Costa Maya was one time too many.  Possibility O will be offering the more appealing itinerary over Xmas/New Year at much higher rates?  For many years the first Caribbean cruise from Miami following the crossing has been an Eastern Caribbean on Riviera. 

[jonthomas]

So what is your opinion, if we cancel would they give us anything towards booking another cruise?

 

"Possibility O will be offering the more appealing itinerary over Xmas/New Year at much higher rates?"

 

Agree with you completely!!!

 

They must have realized that they can get much more for this itinerary so decided to cancel it outright. 

 

Cant imagine anyone would book the new 12 day offering unless they dont know what it replaced.