Reduced port stays

[Wasasalad]

4 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

For me, ships are a convenient way to see the world. They are floating hotels that travel at night. No need to pack/unpack every few days. No time wasted to move from city to city in the middle of the day while this time can be used to see places. No guessing and researching hotels and restaurants. 

I fully agree!

[Tranquility Base]

5 hours ago, Buckwheel said:

As I mentioned earlier, we are still on this cruise and so far, 5 of our 9 ports have had reductions of time spent in port. 

You are currently cruising Japan & South Korea I guess.

Can you share with us the revised timings in a couple of the ports which affected you most please.

Thanks.

[CurlerRob]

38 minutes ago, Wasasalad said:

I feel the exact same way about Viking! My local travel club talked me into going on a cruise December 2023! I had to pay for it over a year ago! Never again! It’s a group that I do theater trips with and they caught me on a weak day!

Also they did not want to take a credit card payment! They wanted a wire transfer of funds! No way! When I said credit card or cancel they finally took the credit card!

 

In the interest of accuracy, Viking has no problems with credit card payments. They also offer a direct payment (what you called a wire transfer) that provides a 3.3% discount. Always your choice. 🍺🥌

[sofietucker]

51 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

For me, ships are a convenient way to see the world. They are floating hotels that travel at night. No need to pack/unpack every few days. No time wasted to move from city to city in the middle of the day while this time can be used to see places. No guessing and researching hotels and restaurants. 

Just so.

[ORV]

1 hour ago, pinotlover said:

We are neither senile, mobility limited, nor tied to only Mommy Oceania’s offerings. We are seriously looking at :

 

1. A combo Via- Rocky Mountaneer journey from Quebec to Vancouver.

 

2. An Amtrak ride to Flagstaff, followed by a tour to the various canyon lands national parks in Utah including the Grand Canyon. A couple days finale in Vegas before flying home.

 

 

 

Have you been on an Amtrak trip in the last few years? 

9 minutes ago, CurlerRob said:

 

In the interest of accuracy, Viking has no problems with credit card payments. They also offer a direct payment (what you called a wire transfer) that provides a 3.3% discount. Always your choice. 🍺🥌

So basically they charge you an upcharge for using a credit card. I noticed a lot of restaurants on the Gulf Coast have started doing this in the last few years. To be legal they couch it as a cash discount, but it's really a way for them to not pay the CC transaction fees.

[YoPhilly]

On 3/26/2023 at 1:38 PM, LHT28 said:

It may be time  to move on to another line  there are so many to choose from

Yes, there are, but one of the unique things we love about O is that the food is served onto plates by staff in the Terrace Cafe.  Eliminates thousands of hands touching those serving utensils.  🤢  Now that I'm used to it, the thought of going back to a regular buffet line gives me the willies! 😁

[pinotlover]

5 hours ago, Buckwheel said:

I am currently on Nautica. Prior to our cruise we received a “Sail & Sustain” email reducing time at two of our nine ports. Since we’ve been on the cruise three additional port times have been reduced with only one announcement made ahead of time.

 

And by ahead of time, I literally mean the morning we were supposed to dock at an earlier time, they announced we would be arriving an hour later due to the port contacting them and advising them the port was too congested. It’s plausible this port reduction was unavoidable. 

 

We found out about one of the reduced port stays from an independent tour operator who contacted us to rearrange our tour schedule after seeing that Nautica was leaving an hour earlier than planned. 

 

We found out about the second reduced port stay by reading our port schedule in Currents. 

 

As I mentioned earlier, we are still on this cruise and so far, 5 of our 9 ports have had reductions of time spent in port. 

 

This is our first Oceania cruise and most likely our last. 

We are currently booked on the Riveria for Tokyo to Tokyo next April. A significant group of us on that cruise are closely monitoring all your schedule changes and port changes.The cruisers could obviously care less, we travelers are already having second thoughts. Continue keeping us informed please.

 

As merely a hypothetical, how long do posters believe Oceania will be able to legally sell cruises with stated port times and schedules and then be allowed to alter port times at will after full payment and cancellation penalty?

[pinotlover]

2 minutes ago, YoPhilly said:

Yes, there are, but one of the unique things we love about O is that the food is served onto plates by staff in the Terrace Cafe.  Eliminates thousands of hands touching those serving utensils.  🤢  Now that I'm used to it, the thought of going back to a regular buffet line gives me the willies! 😁

Excellent point. 🥂 However, some of us don’t do/enjoy self service and already avoid the buffet. The joys of ordering ones food and having the meals delivered to you is part of vacation for us. It’s kind of like not having to wash or own dishes. 

[Jayne E]

5 hours ago, Buckwheel said:

I am currently on Nautica. Prior to our cruise we received a “Sail & Sustain” email reducing time at two of our nine ports. Since we’ve been on the cruise three additional port times have been reduced with only one announcement made ahead of time.

 

And by ahead of time, I literally mean the morning we were supposed to dock at an earlier time, they announced we would be arriving an hour later due to the port contacting them and advising them the port was too congested. It’s plausible this port reduction was unavoidable. 

 

We found out about one of the reduced port stays from an independent tour operator who contacted us to rearrange our tour schedule after seeing that Nautica was leaving an hour earlier than planned. 

 

We found out about the second reduced port stay by reading our port schedule in Currents. 

 

As I mentioned earlier, we are still on this cruise and so far, 5 of our 9 ports have had reductions of time spent in port. 

 

This is our first Oceania cruise and most likely our last. 

So sorry, about reduced port times and failure to timely advise passengers.

Seems like O is on a mission to do this on all their cruises.

Could you advise your reduced hours?  We're booked on Riviera 12 day Japan next year. Not looking good. The hours needed to fly there and back may be more than the hours in port. 🙂

 

[YoPhilly]

1 minute ago, pinotlover said:

Excellent point. 🥂 However, some of us don’t do/enjoy self service and already avoid the buffet. The joys of ordering ones food and having the meals delivered to you is part of vacation for us. It’s kind of like not having to wash or own dishes. 

Yes, I hear you.  It's a trade-off.  We do enjoy having dinner out on deck some nights.

[Jayne E]

10 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

As merely a hypothetical, how long do posters believe Oceania will be able to legally sell cruises with stated port times and schedules and then be allowed to alter port times at will after full payment and cancellation penalty?

Is anyone aware of name and address of an authority that governs cruise lines?

Might be time to make complaints???

[LHT28]

16 minutes ago, YoPhilly said:

Yes, there are, but one of the unique things we love about O is that the food is served onto plates by staff in the Terrace Cafe.  Eliminates thousands of hands touching those serving utensils.  🤢  Now that I'm used to it, the thought of going back to a regular buffet line gives me the willies! 😁

They do have dining rooms  where you are served on most ships don't they ??

[CurlerRob]

16 minutes ago, ORV said:

So basically they charge you an upcharge for using a credit card. I noticed a lot of restaurants on the Gulf Coast have started doing this in the last few years. To be legal they couch it as a cash discount, but it's really a way for them to not pay the CC transaction fees.

 

Every seller I know builds CC transaction fees into their pricing, certainly including the cruise lines - you may term it an upcharge, but it's just one more cost of doing business and needs to be recovered in pricing.

 

I fail to see how this kind of option that passes the savings back to the client is a bad thing. 🍺🥌

[ORV]

9 minutes ago, CurlerRob said:

 

Every seller I know builds CC transaction fees into their pricing, certainly including the cruise lines - you may term it an upcharge, but it's just one more cost of doing business and needs to be recovered in pricing.

 

I fail to see how this kind of option that passes the savings back to the client is a bad thing. 🍺🥌

I won't argue the point with you, but I think many merchants take a credit card to make it convenient for the customer, and if I pay cash it's the same price. 

[LHT28]

12 minutes ago, CurlerRob said:

 

Every seller I know builds CC transaction fees into their pricing, certainly including the cruise lines - you may term it an upcharge, but it's just one more cost of doing business and needs to be recovered in pricing.

 

I fail to see how this kind of option that passes the savings back to the client is a bad thing. 🍺🥌

Years ago they made it illegal in Canada  for Merchants to charge extra for goods  if you pay by CC  which is basically what Viking does

 

[CurlerRob]

7 minutes ago, ORV said:

I won't argue the point with you, but I think many merchants take a credit card to make it convenient for the customer, and if I pay cash it's the same price. 

I think we're in violent agreement. 

 

Certainly merchants accept CCs to better serve their customers - but they most definitely build the transaction fees into their pricing. If you pay cash at the same price, which may be your preference, then the merchant has made some additional profit on the transaction (they don't have to pay the CC fees).

 

I wasn't being critical of your point, just noting that if a merchant doesn't incur the CC fees due to the payment method, it's reasonable not to charge the customer for that item - similar to the a la carte approach that many Oceania pax like. 🍺🥌

[CurlerRob]

13 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Years ago they made it illegal in Canada  for Merchants to charge extra for goods  if you pay by CC  which is basically what Viking does

 

Yes, and all that did was force pricing to the highest common denominator - everyone pays for everything at the price that includes the cost of CC transactions, regardless of payment method. If you believe that somehow you are not paying for the cost of CC transactions when you buy something, you are sadly mistaken.

 

Which is not to be confused with Telus' recent try - which is essentially a double dip in lieu of a rate increase ... https://www.canada.ca/en/radio-television-telecommunications/news/2022/12/crtc-rejects-telus-request-to-charge-credit-card-processing-fee-for-regulated-home-telephone-services.html

 

🍺🥌

[LHT28]

1 minute ago, CurlerRob said:

Yes, and all that did was force pricing to the highest common denominator - everyone pays for everything at the price that includes the cost of CC transactions, regardless of payment method. If you believe that somehow you are not paying for the cost of CC transactions when you buy something, you are sadly mistake

 

No illusions here

 

[CurlerRob]

2 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

No illusions here

 

Sadly true ... and unfortunately your post reminded me that the law changed last year, allowing merchants to charge a CC transaction fee over and above the price 🤬, although so far, the level of uptake is spotty ... https://www.forbes.com/advisor/ca/credit-cards/who-pays-credit-card-fees/#:~:text=You've likely never noticed,0.92% for a basic Mastercard.

 

🍺🥌

[jazznruby]

2 hours ago, Wasasalad said:

1. I did the Rocky Mountaineer train trip July 2022. Definitely different! To me it was like being on a bus that you can’t get off of for 16-18 hours! I was in the deluxe gold leaf double decker with separate dining room! 
Eight hour days stretched to 16-18 hours because whenever a commercial train comes along you get to pull to the side and wait and wait and wait!

Two bathrooms for a train full of people. I can’t imagine the regular seating! They ate on trays at their seats! 
The way to go is by motor home! I saw thousands of them because the train tracks follow the highway!

The Fairmont Hotels were amazing! A couple overnights were in motels that I would never have chosen! 
I don’t like sea days but now I’d rather an extra sea day with a whole ship to explore rather than a double decker gold leaf train with a rather small outdoor deck. 
2. Just fly to the canyon area and rent a motor home! We traveled cross country three trips and by motor home it was an amazing trip! Nothing comes close! 

3. We did Amtrak Boston to California via the Chicago route! Amazing trip but tedious! 
Just my opinion! 

!!!Thanks!!!

[jazznruby]

2 hours ago, Wasasalad said:

I feel the exact same way about Viking! My local travel club talked me into going on a cruise December 2023! I had to pay for it over a year ago! Never again! It’s a group that I do theater trips with and they caught me on a weak day!

Also they did not want to take a credit card payment! They wanted a wire transfer of funds! No way! When I said credit card or cancel they finally took the credit card!

!!!Thanks!!!

[jazznruby]

2 hours ago, Wasasalad said:

I fully agree!

!!!Thanks!!!

[susiesan]

16 hours ago, ak1004 said:

 

I'm curious what would be your alternative?

A number of regular O cruisers are moving over to Azamara including me. I booked one of their Croatia intensive cruises for Sept. 2024. On similar cruises from Oceania the port times are considerably less. Example: for Dubrovnik AZ has me there from 8:00am to 10:00pm. O has their ship there from 7:00am to 4:00pm.

[ak1004]

24 minutes ago, susiesan said:

A number of regular O cruisers are moving over to Azamara including me. I booked one of their Croatia intensive cruises for Sept. 2024. On similar cruises from Oceania the port times are considerably less. Example: for Dubrovnik AZ has me there from 8:00am to 10:00pm. O has their ship there from 7:00am to 4:00pm.

 

Funny that you mentioned Azamara as I was just looking at their itineraries yesterday.

 

To me the issue is that I'm not crazy about R class ships (older ships, small cabins, ridiculous showers, less dining options etc) This is why when sailing on O, we prefer Riviera/Marina (and now Vista will be another option). Also the food on O is better in my opinion.

 

So it basically a tradeoff between the ship experience and the shore experience. 

 

But if the trend continues, Azamara is definitely on the table.

 

btw, we cancelled our May 2024 on Vista and replaced with SS cruise. Dubrovnik on O was 7am-5pm, SS 9am-10pm.  Corfu on O 8am-7pm, SS 9am-11pm. 4 ports were till 10-11pm on SS, O most ports till 6-7pm. 

[pinotlover]

Azamara was/has been long differentiated by both its longer port stays including over nights in ports. Dubrovnik is just lovely at night, especially after all the cruise ships leave. A wonderful opportunity to enjoy a delicious dinner of local cuisine and wine. What we travel for.