On Regatta now

[pinotlover]

21 minutes ago, ORV said:

If I remember correctly there was another circumnavigation of OZ a couple of years ago on Regatta that everything went sideways on. Must not have been 19 as Geezer's seemed to be fine. Maybe it was 18 or 20. 

Not to answer for him but getting a business class on that route is a real unicorn. I was fortunate enough to be able to do it a few years ago, but I started out with my wife and I booked on separate flights, but by the time we flew things had changed to the point where we were together. 

As ORV said, we will be trying to use ff miles , but no guarantees. Last trip to OZ we could get ff tickets there, but not home. Then one way tickets back home were as expensive as a round trip ticket. Had to pay to put miles back in our bank, then buy a round trip ticket!

[GeezerCouple]

9 minutes ago, ORV said:

If I remember correctly there was another circumnavigation of OZ a couple of years ago on Regatta that everything went sideways on. Must not have been 19 as Geezer's seemed to be fine. Maybe it was 18 or 20. 

 

Sorry... I should have mentioned that our 2019 cruise wasn't on Oceania.  It was our first on HAL, and we were surprisingly pleased with it.  But then, we also had a wonderful cruise on one of Hurtigruten's older ships, not one of their new, fancier ones.   (Huge mobs on huge ships, "I don't think so", however!).

But this current biofouling situation seems to have caught ships from several cruiselines very recently.

 

9 minutes ago, ORV said:

Not to answer for him but getting a business class on that route is a real unicorn. I was fortunate enough to be able to do it a few years ago, but I started out with my wife and I booked on separate flights, but by the time we flew things had changed to the point where we were together. 

 

We use an awards service.  My first attempt at long-haul F awards travel was an immediate success:  2 F ticket to Tokyo.  "Easy peasy", thinks I.  HA!  "Never again", quoth me... 😉 

We found a service on FlyerTalk.  The first service worked well the first time, but then we got someone else the next, and that was it with them.

We found a second service that is amazing.  He's also a luxury traval agent, so he also books our hotels.  (He's not a cruise specialist, but we do book through him by choice.)

 

He has found us routings that we wouldn't have thought of.  And by now, he's learned what we do - or do NOT - prefer.  It's completely worth the relatively modest fee, which is only if a suitable flight is found anyway.  [He now has all of our account info on file, and permission in most cases so that "IF you find something you know we'd like, just grab it while it's still available, please!!! 🙂. Worst case, which has not happened, is the we'd incur a small fee to re-bank the awards. ]

Being flexible by a day or two can make all the difference.

 

It's getting hard to get F seats, but J on the top international airlines are more than satisfactory in most cases.  We don't need one-on-one staffing.  We just want a comfortable and *flat* bed, one that doesn't feel like a coffin, plus some "space" in general.  Good food is a plus.  (Thus far, Singapore's "Book the Cook" takes the biscuit.  I had something like short ribs for one meal, and they were so tender and deliciously seasoned that I would order it again in any upscale restaurant, and if only I could actually do so...!)

 

All of those top seats/beds are getting more and more rare, but fortunately, the J seats/beds are in most top airlines getting better than the F's from not too long ago.

 

GC

 

[LHT28]

35 minutes ago, mnocket said:

Thanks for the link. It explains the regulations, but I'm still left wondering why all of sudden this has become a problem.

must be  a recent problem  with some invasive species

 

[mnocket]

12 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

must be  a recent problem  with some invasive species

 

That would be my guess as well, but I've not seen any confirmation.

[mnocket]

36 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

Sorry... I should have mentioned that our 2019 cruise wasn't on Oceania.  It was our first on HAL, and we were surprisingly pleased with it.  But then, we also had a wonderful cruise on one of Hurtigruten's older ships, not one of their new, fancier ones.   (Huge mobs on huge ships, "I don't think so", however!).

But this current biofouling situation seems to have caught ships from several cruiselines very recently.

 

 

We use an awards service.  My first attempt at long-haul F awards travel was an immediate success:  2 F ticket to Tokyo.  "Easy peasy", thinks I.  HA!  "Never again", quoth me... 😉 

We found a service on FlyerTalk.  The first service worked well the first time, but then we got someone else the next, and that was it with them.

We found a second service that is amazing.  He's also a luxury traval agent, so he also books our hotels.  (He's not a cruise specialist, but we do book through him by choice.)

 

He has found us routings that we wouldn't have thought of.  And by now, he's learned what we do - or do NOT - prefer.  It's completely worth the relatively modest fee, which is only if a suitable flight is found anyway.  [He now has all of our account info on file, and permission in most cases so that "IF you find something you know we'd like, just grab it while it's still available, please!!! 🙂. Worst case, which has not happened, is the we'd incur a small fee to re-bank the awards. ]

Being flexible by a day or two can make all the difference.

 

It's getting hard to get F seats, but J on the top international airlines are more than satisfactory in most cases.  We don't need one-on-one staffing.  We just want a comfortable and *flat* bed, one that doesn't feel like a coffin, plus some "space" in general.  Good food is a plus.  (Thus far, Singapore's "Book the Cook" takes the biscuit.  I had something like short ribs for one meal, and they were so tender and deliciously seasoned that I would order it again in any upscale restaurant, and if only I could actually do so...!)

 

All of those top seats/beds are getting more and more rare, but fortunately, the J seats/beds are in most top airlines getting better than the F's from not too long ago.

 

GC

 

I've got 300,000+ miles in my Chase Reserved account that can be transferred to a bunch of airline mileage accounts.  My problem is the whole process of finding/booking F award travel seems overly complicated.  I'm intrigued that you seem to have found a solution to this.  Do you mind if I email you?

[pinotlover]

2 hours ago, mnocket said:

I've got 300,000+ miles in my Chase Reserved account that can be transferred to a bunch of airline mileage accounts.  My problem is the whole process of finding/booking F award travel seems overly complicated.  I'm intrigued that you seem to have found a solution to this.  Do you mind if I email you?

You’ll be lucky now to get one (1) round trip Biz Class ticket to OZ or Japan with only 300K miles. 

[Mrs f.]

We're not moving again...uh oh... there's a tugboat there.  

 

 

[Mrs f.]

7 minutes ago, Mrs f. said:

We're not moving again...uh oh... there's a tugboat there.  

 

 

Captain just came on ... because of weather last night, cleaning could not be completed. So divers are preparing to clean today.   How many more ports will we lose?   Oceania is offering nothing.  Princess offered some fcc 

[Zebra Cruiser]

3 hours ago, Mrs f. said:

Captain just came on ... because of weather last night, cleaning could not be completed. So divers are preparing to clean today.   How many more ports will we lose?   Oceania is offering nothing.  Princess offered some fcc 

What a devastating end to our trip.  They are giving us almost no information.  😢😡

[LHT28]

3 minutes ago, Zebra Cruiser said:

What a devastating end to our trip.  They are giving us almost no information.  😢😡

SOP  for Oceania

They rarely tell the PAX what is going on

[Mrs f.]

53 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

SOP  for Oceania

They rarely tell the PAX what is going on

I think what is more disturbing is that as we sit next to people either in restaurant or on deck or in the lounge, we keep hearing from people that they will not cruise Oceania again.  

[LHT28]

10 minutes ago, Mrs f. said:

I think what is more disturbing is that as we sit next to people either in restaurant or on deck or in the lounge, we keep hearing from people that they will not cruise Oceania again.  

yes  when things go pear shaped  during the cruise  you will hear that  a lot

but wait!   then they book another cruise

 

 Too bad about your situation  there  not sure it could have been prevented or not 

 

Seems like the authorities there  are cracking down  but I wonder how many lines have divers onboard & can go down to check what is growing on the hull  when at sea ??

Just thinking out loud

[Zebra Cruiser]

So now the ship is MOVING but we have no info.  I would doubt they can dive and clean while the ship is moving?  The worst of this is the complete lack of communication.  I spent years of savings for this trip and am paying nearly 200% as I’m traveling solo so all of the disruptions are upsetting but to not even know what’s going on is pretty disrespectful… yes, some things are unavoidable but we have no idea….

[carld]

We have loved Oceania on past cruises but this is our worst cruise with them by far.  I think the Regatta is a little shop worn and needs to go into dry dock for a refurbishing.  I think Oceania has neglected some maintenance issues, (our break down for 3 hours and normal hull cleaning) and it is coming back to bite them.  The fact they offered free drinks as compensation for 3 hours floating around with no functioning toilets for part of the time and no explanations as to when we might get power was laughable.  I asked about getting future cruise credit or getting some cruise credit on this trip and was told that was a decision only headquarters in Miami could make.  This is supposed to be a luxury cruise line but we are being treated very poorly so I can see why some people are upset.  I do understand that the captain does not want to panic people but not giving us real time information as to what is happening makes us feel like we are being treated as children.  Not a good feeling.  Just tell us what is going on and pay us for our missed ports. 

 

[Mrs f.]

1 minute ago, LHT28 said:

yes  when things go pear shaped  during the cruise  you will hear that  a lot

but wait!   then they book another cruise

 

 Too bad about your situation  there  not sure it could have been prevented or not 

 

Seems like the authorities there  are cracking down  but I wonder how many lines have divers onboard & can down to check what is growing on the hull  when at sea ??

Just thinking out loud

No transparency of what is going on is only part of the problem.  Inconsistent food is also an issue.  We have found this ourselves .  We love Oceania and we have another cruise already booked.  

[Flatbush Flyer]

3 hours ago, mnocket said:

I've got 300,000+ miles in my Chase Reserved account that can be transferred to a bunch of airline mileage accounts.  My problem is the whole process of finding/booking F award travel seems overly complicated…..

When it comes to FF miles tix, there’s something to be said for brand preference and understanding its idiosyncrasies.

Quick example: If you search United’s website for points tix, whether you sign in (or not) can make a significant difference in what availability you see. Even then, whether points, cash or a combo, having higher FF status (and the phone number that goes with it) can get you availability/pricing that is not displayed on the airline website (particularly when Star Alliance connections are involved).
Nonetheless, you need to do your homework (particularly in terms of knowing where to look and who to call).

Of course, with “dynamic pricing” also now the standard for FF points flights, your search efforts are aimed at a moving target. A 300K points bank might get you a bizclass ticket today but “bupkus” tomorrow.

[GeezerCouple]

1 minute ago, mnocket said:

I've got 300,000+ miles in my Chase Reserved account that can be transferred to a bunch of airline mileage accounts.  My problem is the whole process of finding/booking F award travel seems overly complicated.  I'm intrigued that you seem to have found a solution to this.  Do you mind if I email you?

 

Please... that's why we show our super-special e-address in our signature! 😉

(Please put "CruiseCritic" or "Awards air tickets" or such in subject header to distinguish yourselves from some other uses, and from spam/etc.)

 

There are never any guarantees that there will be flights available, of course.

Also, given the sudden "return to travel", I would guess that nice awards seats will be harder to find than usual for some time.

However, these services do have special software to monitor various availabilities (I suppose we could, too, if we wanted to pay, and spend the time monitoring!), and because they are often doing this for more than one party, they are "looking" a lot more than I would ordinarily do, etc.

Some of the "good seats" can get taken quickly, which is why we made that arrangement for our agent to "just grab 'em" if there was something he was pretty sure we'd like.

 

I admit that when I first tried this, especially that very first time, I was mighty suspicious... 

With our current agent, after one set of awards tickets, he had also booked some of our hotels, so he knew where we'd be, and realized we'd have some overlap in one city.  So we got to meet him, which was my chance to decide he wasn't a "bot".  (That had become a sort of joke!)

 

F is becoming more and more hard to get, even for cash tickets, and more and more planes are dropping it entirely, alas.  Our favorite thus far was Cathay Pacific.  Those F beds are 33 inches wide.  That's almost a regular twin bed!  I think that was the first time that DH *really* slept on a flight.  Of course, that meant he missed some of the goodies... 😉 

I have my sights on the new Singapore Suites doubles, but I suspect that's useless wishing.

For example, even Cathay recently restricted F to only one award seat per flight.  First time we did that, it was the two of us, one other person, 3 empty beds, and 3 flight attendants.  But NOTE:  We had to book 1F and 1J, and wait until 2 weeks out to see if they released another F.  Apparently they don't even do that anymore.  Last time (2019), we had one F and one J.  All 5 other F seats were empty, but they wouldn't let us upgrade for *any* amount of points.  Sigh.

But an awards agent can help with strategy, at least to the extent that any strategy can help.

 

We try to accumulate points using AAdvantage Citicard (American Airlines) and Amex Membership Rewards.  They each have their own group of airline partners, and there's not much overlap in the two networks, so we get access to most airlines we'd be interested in.

 

As mentioned above, the number of awards points needed can get really high.  I'm not sure if "dynamic pricing" has been adopted by all carriers; we hadn't encountered it, but we haven't flown since Dec, 2019.

 

To get more points, do consider opening new charge cards for the bonus points.  Those can really add up.  It's worth a fee for a year or two at $99 (and the first year might be waived) if one can get 60k to 100k points.  (Then cancel the card or reduce it to a no-fee version.)  Rinse and repeat with a different carrier/airline network, etc., and then start again.  Just time the applications so that you have reasons to do the required "spend", which could be a few thousand in the first few months.

Note:  Do NOT get an "authorized user" card for spouse, because that might interfere with their own "new" card with that large bonus.

 

[sorry for length...]

GC

[Tranquility Base]

To those onboard Regatta, please keep us updated as you are doing.

It is appreciated.

Hopefully the dive team completes their job soon, and you are given an update as to the upcoming plan.

Hopefully people here will assist the information flow by staying on topic for this thread.

[Flatbush Flyer]

33 minutes ago, Zebra Cruiser said:

So now the ship is MOVING but we have no info.  I would doubt they can dive and clean while the ship is moving?  The worst of this is the complete lack of communication.  I spent years of savings for this trip and am paying nearly 200% as I’m traveling solo so all of the disruptions are upsetting but to not even know what’s going on is pretty disrespectful… yes, some things are unavoidable but we have no idea….

I know this may not make you feel any better but:

Would you REALLY prefer the “play by play” announcements when the next announcement you hear might reasonably be “Well, that didn’t work.”

 

What many cruise passengers, even seasoned ones, may not understand is that solving operational (including navigational and engineering) problems in a maritime environment, particularly when key controls may lie with local authorities, can be complicated, fluid and subject to far more variables than you or I realize.

Add to that passenger misconceptions about things like the cost to the cruise line of missed and/or replaced ports. I always chuckle at folks who want their missed port fees automatically returned (though O may still be required to pay for the tugs, labor et al. logistics while also paying costs associated with any replacement port). 

 

Can Oceania be better about communication? Absolutely, but not with “your play by play.” The normal Captain’s daily reports should be sufficient to provide layman’s detail of the most key issue causing any major actual or anticipated change in the itinerary and the action(s) required to correct them. As tasks are completed (and only when they are completed), passengers should be informed during those regular Captain reports and/or by his/her written communication distributed to cabins.

 

Will Oceania “make things right” for your inconvenience (even if it didn’t cause the problem)? In my experience: In most cases yes. But, like the above items, it would best not be done as “play by play.” 

[pully8]

Sorry people are having this issue across a few cruise lines now. 

Seems remarkable that hull cleaning seems to be done at short notice.

Perhaps these new rules are not well known.

Reading with interest.

Disappointing and expensive to fly long haul to find the experience is not as expected. 

Have had that a few times with European river cruises, low/high water and minimal notice or communication.

we like Oceania albeit we have not yet cruised post travel restrictions from Australia.   

Thanks to all for up to minute updates. 

[Zebra Cruiser]

3 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

I know this may not make you feel any better but:

Would you REALLY prefer the “play by play” announcements when the next announcement you hear might reasonably be “Well, that didn’t work.”

 

What many cruise passengers, even seasoned ones, may not understand is that solving operational (including navigational and engineering) problems in a maritime environment, particularly when key controls may lie with local authorities, can be complicated, fluid and subject to far more variables than you or I realize.

Add to that passenger misconceptions about things like the cost to the cruise line of missed and/or replaced ports. I always chuckle at folks who want their missed port fees automatically returned (though O may still be required to pay for the tugs, labor et al. logistics while also paying costs associated with any replacement port). 

 

Can Oceania be better about communication? Absolutely, but not with “your play by play.” The normal Captain’s daily reports should be sufficient to provide layman’s detail of the most key issue causing any major actual or anticipated change in the itinerary and the action(s) required to correct them. As tasks are completed (and only when they are completed), passengers should be informed during those regular Captain reports and/or by his/her written communication distributed to cabins.

 

Will Oceania “make things right” for your inconvenience (even if it didn’t cause the problem)? In my experience: In most cases yes. But, like the above items, it would best not be done as “play by play.” 

There are LOTS of conjectures and misinformation going around due to lack of communication (I don’t know that anyone has asked for a “play by play”). During his daily noon report the captain has just announced we will be arriving in our next port on time tomorrow.  Fingers crossed.

[Flatbush Flyer]

2 minutes ago, Zebra Cruiser said:

There are LOTS of conjectures and misinformation going around due to lack of communication (I don’t know that anyone has asked for a “play by play”). During his daily noon report the captain has just announced we will be arriving in our next port on time tomorrow.  Fingers crossed.

And, that conjecture and misinformation would be even worse if less than complete/“final” info was communicated. It’s that “less” that travels like wildfire, morphing each time it is passed on.

The Captain just announced tomorrow’s “port arrival on time.” Simple, accurate and not subject to misinterpretation.

Enjoy tomorrow.

We’ll be on Regatta in February.

[Zebra Cruiser]

3 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

And, that conjecture and misinformation would be even worse if less than complete/“final” info was communicated. It’s that “less” that travels like wildfire, morphing each time it is passed on.

The Captain just announced tomorrow’s “port arrival on time.” Simple, accurate and not subject to misinterpretation.

Enjoy tomorrow.

We’ll be on Regatta in February.

Glad this works for you and hope you have a good trip in February as well.

[JDincalif]

9 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

I wasn't able to find when these regulations went into effect, or perhaps when they started to be enforced, since this seems to have caught several ships off guard.

A quick web search indicates that such regulations in NZ were initiated in 2014, with detailed guidance available for significant changes that became effective in May 2018.

 

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.00390/full

 

Of course, a lot has happened since then...

Edited January 9, 2023 by JDincalif
Added link

[CurlerRob]

21 minutes ago, JDincalif said:

A quick web search indicates that such regulations in NZ were initiated in 2014, with detailed guidance available for significant changes that became effective in May 2018.

 

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.00390/full

 

Of course, a lot has happened since then...

 

This is the November 2018 NZ document. It sets out a number of the rules, as well as how biofouling is assessed.

 

As @JDincalif says, this would have only been in play for a while before the Covid shutdowns in that part of the world, and we are really only in the beginnings of the resumption.

 

I can't speculate as to whether inspection / enforcement has increased or not, but it's clear that the issue is catching a number of cruise lines off guard. One piece of encouraging news for upcoming pax - the restrictions call for cleaning within 30 days of NZ arrival - so the next couple of trips should benefit from the pain of those recent pax affected. 🍺🥌

 

Biofouling-CRMS-20181115.pdf