Reduced port stays

[susiesan]

9 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

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.

 

 

I actually like the R ships. I got in 2 Ren cruises before they went out of business. I've been on them twice before with Azamara, 4 times with O, and my upcoming Sirena cruise in Sept. will be one more. We are not big people so bathroom/shower size is of no consequence to me.

[ak1004]

9 minutes ago, susiesan said:

I actually like the R ships. I got in 2 Ren cruises before they went out of business. I've been on them twice before with Azamara, 4 times with O, and my upcoming Sirena cruise in Sept. will be one more. We are not big people so bathroom/shower size is of no consequence to me.

 

And how would you compare Azamara with O R ships in terms of overall ship experience?

 

Also I'm curious - I believe Azamara had more interesting itineraries and longer port stays even before the recent changes on O, so why only twice on Azamara and 4 times on O?

[susiesan]

17 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

And how would you compare Azamara with O R ships in terms of overall ship experience?

 

Also I'm curious - I believe Azamara had more interesting itineraries and longer port stays even before the recent changes on O, so why only twice on Azamara and 4 times on O?

My last cruise with AZ was in 2009 when they were part of celebrity/RCCL. When they became Azamara Club Cruises the prices went up due to inclusions that I don't care about. I always book cruise only so Oceania was less expensive for the same itinerary on the same type of ship.

 

My next Sirena cruise in Sept. will be my 6th overall Oceania cruise. I looked Azamara's version of Canary Islands itineraries, AZ's either begin or end there. I would have had to fly into or out of Tenerife with my UA miles and therefore no award tickets available. So I booked with O as I fly into barcelona and out of Lisbon and have award tickets from UA for this trip.

[ak1004]

56 minutes ago, susiesan said:

My last cruise with AZ was in 2009 when they were part of celebrity/RCCL. When they became Azamara Club Cruises the prices went up due to inclusions that I don't care about. I always book cruise only so Oceania was less expensive for the same itinerary on the same type of ship.

 

My next Sirena cruise in Sept. will be my 6th overall Oceania cruise. I looked Azamara's version of Canary Islands itineraries, AZ's either begin or end there. I would have had to fly into or out of Tenerife with my UA miles and therefore no award tickets available. So I booked with O as I fly into barcelona and out of Lisbon and have award tickets from UA for this trip.

 

We are doing a very similar itinerary in November 2024 on the Marina, but ours also includes Casablanca. And yes, I noticed that Azamara is on average more expensive probably due to more inclusions. But we don't drink, and sometimes get gratuities from our TA (and they will be free after 10 cruises), so O is a better value for us. But some of the Azamara itineraries are intriguing.

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

18 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!

I've cruised five or 6 times on Viking Ocean including in August 2021.  They always took my credit card. And I've heard that you can ask for a longer time to pay, though I doubt very seriously it's as long as what Oceania gives you.  I like Viking a lot, but their limited itineraries are the primary reason I don't cruise on them more.   

[Buckwheel]

18 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

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.

A later arrival in Nagoya where we had a tour operator waiting for us. Thankfully he did wait and we were able to enjoy the rest of our tour. 

 

Kyoto - Our tour operator notified us about the change about a week ahead of time. Thankfully we were in port overnight so adjusted our schedule to meet our guide at 7 am instead of 8. 

 

Leaving Hiroshima 90 minutes early did not affect us as we were taking an O excursion that day.

 

 

Edited March 28, 2023 by Buckwheel

[Buckwheel]

18 hours ago, Jayne E said:

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. 🙂

 

Reduced port hours announced in “Sail & Sustainability” program:

Nagasaki and Shinzo, both arriving to port one hour later. 

 

Unannounced early departures so far;

Kyoto - 1 hour 

Hiroshima - 90 minutes

 

We still have 4 ports to go.

[Jayne E]

12 minutes ago, Buckwheel said:

Reduced port hours announced in “Sail & Sustainability” program:

Nagasaki and Shinzo, both arriving to port one hour later. 

 

Unannounced early departures so far;

Kyoto - 1 hour 

Hiroshima - 90 minutes

 

We still have 4 ports to go.

Thanks for update. Seems like quite a lot of reduced time so far. Hope you’re getting to see what you had planned and times haven’t been too problematic. 

I’m going to see what happens with remainder of O’s Japan ports this year.

[Jayne E]

Does anyone remember when every Oceania mailing and internet advertisements stated “OCEANIA HAS EARLY PORT ARRIVALS AND LATE DEPARTURES”

I have old itinerary cover pages. 7 AM - 7 PM was the norm in most ports. Ship was docked when you woke up and you were dining when it departed. 
Is it possible that all these sudden changes are making more people book ship excursions?  
Recently I haven’t seen much Roll Call activity. Used to be when someone posted a tour, if you didn’t move quickly, it was booked. Now it’s difficult to get a group together. JMO

[NYAS]

Ironically, our first O cruise was the Baltics on Marina in 2013, chosen because, unlike other ships’ itineraries, it had two overnights in St. Petersburg, allowing us to go to Moscow on the middle day in port. It was a great cruise and a lively CC roll call, where I arranged small group tours for several ports, including the Moscow visit. We took no O excursions.  
 

Now, our upcoming Lisbon-Amsterdam cruise on Marina has had most port stays shortened, and from recent posts on this board I am wondering if we will even make all ports (one is a tender). Because of the uncertainties for ports, we’ve booked O excursions. The concern about port stays, as well as reported shortcomings related to food quality and supplies, certainly have me adjusting expectations.

Edited March 28, 2023 by NYAS

[Jayne E]

1 hour ago, NYAS said:

Ironically, our first O cruise was the Baltics on Marina in 2013, chosen because, unlike other ships’ itineraries, it had two overnights in St. Petersburg, allowing us to go to Moscow on the middle day in port. It was a great cruise and a lively CC roll call, where I arranged small group tours for several ports, including the Moscow visit. We took no O excursions.  
 

Now, our upcoming Lisbon-Amsterdam cruise on Marina has had most port stays shortened, and from recent posts on this board I am wondering if we will even make all ports (one is a tender). Because of the uncertainties for ports, we’ve booked O excursions. The concern about port stays, as well as reported shortcomings related to food quality and supplies, certainly have me adjusting expectations.

I arranged groups of 6-8 several times. In Viet Nam the guide stayed with us 5 days and we left the ship and I booked hotel for overnight in Hanoi. I arranged a guide for Cairo and we left ship in Alexandria and overnighted in Cairo hotel. Also private guide for 3 days in St. Petersburg as you did.
We just booked O to Tokyo next year and this is the first time we took OLife. We think O’s tours are short and underwhelming but these port changes leave us no alternative. 

[CalTravelers]

So true - all aboard is another time completely!  Our Japan to SF is also changing, but does make a huge difference in this itinerary!  Life is getting too complicated!!!!!

[pinotlover]

31 minutes ago, Jayne E said:

I arranged groups of 6-8 several times. In Viet Nam the guide stayed with us 5 days and we left the ship and I booked hotel for overnight in Hanoi. I arranged a guide for Cairo and we left ship in Alexandria and overnighted in Cairo hotel. Also private guide for 3 days in St. Petersburg as you did.
We just booked O to Tokyo next year and this is the first time we took OLife. We think O’s tours are short and underwhelming but these port changes leave us no alternative. 

Jayne;

 

If you’re on the April 1st Tokyo-Tokyo sailing, I’ll probably start posting private tours soon. No need to suffer through Oceania’s shorex, especially at their prices.

 

If Oceania continues the significant port cuts, we’re bailing out. Already canceling the OZ circumnavigation, and will bail from Japan also if the cuts mount. We’ll see what they do on our Vista cruise in June.

[Jayne E]

4 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

Jayne;

 

If you’re on the April 1st Tokyo-Tokyo sailing, I’ll probably start posting private tours soon. No need to suffer through Oceania’s shorex, especially at their prices.

 

If Oceania continues the significant port cuts, we’re bailing out. Already canceling the OZ circumnavigation, and will bail from Japan also if the cuts mount. We’ll see what they do on our Vista cruise in June.

Yes, we’re on same Tokyo cruise.  Definitely interested in private excursions

We have 21 days on Riviera in May and Vista in November.  We’ll also bail Tokyo if cuts continue.  Last month on Riviera, Puerta Plata was cancelled due to “anticipated” windy weather. The wind never materialized, however staff told us that the 3 prior cruises also missed that port. 

[ak1004]

1 hour ago, pinotlover said:

Jayne;

 

If you’re on the April 1st Tokyo-Tokyo sailing, I’ll probably start posting private tours soon. No need to suffer through Oceania’s shorex, especially at their prices.

 

If Oceania continues the significant port cuts, we’re bailing out. Already canceling the OZ circumnavigation, and will bail from Japan also if the cuts mount. We’ll see what they do on our Vista cruise in June.

 

I'm curious what do you mean by "suffer on O shorex"? 

 

Our O excursions were usually well organized, on time and reasonable group sizes (25-30 people).

 

Regrading prices, most excursions are under $200, so if you take oLife, they will cost you $100. I don't think private tours in Europe are much cheaper.

[MEFIowa]

13 hours ago, Jayne E said:

... Last month on Riviera, Puerta Plata was cancelled due to “anticipated” windy weather. The wind never materialized, however staff told us that the 3 prior cruises also missed that port. 

Yet while on Sirena 11/18-28/2022 we went to Puerto Plata TWICE. The first time an unscheduled stop to drop off a sick passenger who needed a hospital. Which cost us our day in St. Kitts. Sirena's tender boat struggled for hours to get the pax onto it and into harbor. Then we did the port again, as scheduled, on the way back after San Juan. They have opened the new cruise terminal area. Loved the excursion up the mountain to the national park where there is the half-replica Rio "Jesus" and cable car that took us back down to the city. (Donated by Brazil in the mid-1970s.)

[pinotlover]

11 hours ago, ak1004 said:

 

I'm curious what do you mean by "suffer on O shorex"? 

 

Our O excursions were usually well organized, on time and reasonable group sizes (25-30 people).

 

Regrading prices, most excursions are under $200, so if you take oLife, they will cost you $100. I don't think private tours in Europe are much cheaper.

Where needed, we take the beverage package, not the shorex package. Since we generally have zero interest in 2-4 hour “ on your left, on your right “ panoramic bus tours, we rarely find under $200 tours we’re interested in. If those are the type you enjoy, they may well meet your needs.

 

Oceania does/can arrange some very good more expensive tours $200-$365, which are often terribly overpriced, but. The typical issue isn’t the outline of the tour, but fellow passengers. Those that can’t read or comprehend that if a tour has a three walker symbol, it’s not appropriate for them if they can’t walk 100 yards without a rest. Painful, to stand and wait and wait, and sometimes miss part of the schedule because of all the time standing and waiting. 
 

Painfull sitting on a bus for over 30 minutes waiting for fellow passengers to show up. Where were they you ask? The CD announced that if we were going to a certain destination we MUST have our original passports. Destination Services asked if we had our original passports before giving us our tour tickets. We were told copies were not sufficient. Finally, at the bus, the tour guide demanded to see everyone’s passports. Three people didn’t have them. Everyone had to sit and wait for them to go back to their cabins to retrieve them. We were made to sit and wait. The boo and hissing didn’t compensate for the time wasted and our actual tour abbreviated. Painful!
 

On this last cruise, we had one couple get separated and lost twice on a tour. Once was just a bathroom stop!!! Senility issues. Painful to just spend the money and sit and wait.

 

I have come to realize that I’m the problem. I’ve been on multiple Oceania shore tours and should fully recognize the risks we’re taking by merely signing up for one. It’s my fault for being lazy and not fully exploring private options. On our upcoming Vista cruise we’re doing all private tours. However, excuse me when I warn others that Oceania’s tours can be “ painful “.
 

 

 

[ak1004]

15 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

Where needed, we take the beverage package, not the shorex package. Since we generally have zero interest in 2-4 hour “ on your left, on your right “ panoramic bus tours, we rarely find under $200 tours we’re interested in. If those are the type you enjoy, they may well meet your needs.

 

Oceania does/can arrange some very good more expensive tours $200-$365, which are often terribly overpriced, but. The typical issue isn’t the outline of the tour, but fellow passengers. Those that can’t read or comprehend that if a tour has a three walker symbol, it’s not appropriate for them if they can’t walk 100 yards without a rest. Painful, to stand and wait and wait, and sometimes miss part of the schedule because of all the time standing and waiting. 
 

Painfull sitting on a bus for over 30 minutes waiting for fellow passengers to show up. Where were they you ask? The CD announced that if we were going to a certain destination we MUST have our original passports. Destination Services asked if we had our original passports before giving us our tour tickets. We were told copies were not sufficient. Finally, at the bus, the tour guide demanded to see everyone’s passports. Three people didn’t have them. Everyone had to sit and wait for them to go back to their cabins to retrieve them. We were made to sit and wait. The boo and hissing didn’t compensate for the time wasted and our actual tour abbreviated. Painful!
 

On this last cruise, we had one couple get separated and lost twice on a tour. Once was just a bathroom stop!!! Senility issues. Painful to just spend the money and sit and wait.

 

I have come to realize that I’m the problem. I’ve been on multiple Oceania shore tours and should fully recognize the risks we’re taking by merely signing up for one. It’s my fault for being lazy and not fully exploring private options. On our upcoming Vista cruise we’re doing all private tours. However, excuse me when I warn others that Oceania’s tours can be “ painful “.
 

 

 

 

I agree with you about panoramic tours, and I agree about guests being late and/or lost.

 

But how private tours solve the issue? People on private tours cannot be late? Aren't private tours usually have the same passengers from the ship? People cannot get lost on private tours?

 

As an example, thanks to @Jayne E we booked couple private tours in our upcoming cruise on Riviera in May. Those tours are 5-7 hours and cost around 70-90 euro. Riviera has very similar tours (maybe 1-2 hours less) for around $140-170. So yes, it's double, but if you take oLife, you get them for $100 and the difference becomes very small. And I suspect that O tours might even be operated by the same operator. 

 

Of course the biggest advantage is much smaller groups (14-18 people), but even with O we had some tours with only 25 people, and usually no more than 30.

[MEFIowa]

2 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

But how private tours solve the issue? People on private tours cannot be late? Aren't private tours usually have the same passengers from the ship? People cannot get lost on private tours?

Depends on meaning of "private". Wife and I did one off Sirena in Puerto Plata. There were just 4 of us for the excursion van. Two went to the beach. We were the only two who went up the mountain to the national park to the half-Rio "Jesus" replica to the cable car that took us back down.

 

We are in Istanbul and Rome in November off Riviera. We're doing our own just us, as a couple, private tour in each. And then also in Ephesus. We contact the tour operators and tell them what we want to see and do.

[susiesan]

Here's an example of a private tour:

I've arranged a tour to Granada to visit the Alhambra during my upcoming Sirena cruise, Sept. 4.

There will be 14 people from the roll call. We are being picked up at Motril, bus to Granada, guided walking tour of the Alhambra, back to the ship. 7 hours total, 99euros per person.

Oceania is offering the same excursion for these prices:

Tour Pricing
$259.00

UPC
$109.00

YWC
$194.25

 

The exact same tour, probably operated by the same company, Spain Day Tours.

[ak1004]

1 minute ago, MEFIowa said:

Depends on meaning of "private". Wife and I did one off Sirena in Puerto Plata. There were just 4 of us for the excursion van. Two went to the beach. We were the only two who went up the mountain to the national park to the half-Rio "Jesus" replica to the cable car that took us back down.

 

We are in Istanbul and Rome in November off Riviera. We're doing our own just us, as a couple, private tour in each. And then also in Ephesus. We contact the tour operators and tell them what we want to see and do.

 

Okay, this is obviously a completely different story. But fully private tour is also significantly more expensive. In Cadiz and Bilbao SpainDayTours quoted us 1,000-1,200 euro for the tours for the 2 of us. Even for 4 people it would be 300 euro each.

[LHT28]

Just now, ak1004 said:

 

Okay, this is obviously a completely different story. But fully private tour is also significantly more expensive. In Cadiz and Bilbao SpainDayTours quoted us 1,000-1,200 euro for the tours for the 2 of us. Even for 4 people it would be 300 euro each.

What if you have 10 people ?

 

 Some guides offer tours  with  a set price for the van  with a maximum number of people

I think I had 8 or 10  so just divided the cost  between us

[ak1004]

6 minutes ago, susiesan said:

Here's an example of a private tour:

I've arranged a tour to Granada to visit the Alhambra during my upcoming Sirena cruise, Sept. 4.

There will be 14 people from the roll call. We are being picked up at Motril, bus to Granada, guided walking tour of the Alhambra, back to the ship. 7 hours total, 99euros per person.

Oceania is offering the same excursion for these prices:

Tour Pricing
$259.00

UPC
$109.00

YWC
$194.25

 

The exact same tour, probably operated by the same company, Spain Day Tours.

Yes, for longer tours that are priced over $200 and cannot be part of olife the difference is significant.

 

But don't forget that there is also a certain risk, especially for tours that require long drive. We know personally at least two couples who missed the ship because the tour was late. It's not common, but it happens. An accident, bad weather, mechanical failure, passengers late/lost etc.

 

The risk is pretty small, but it does exist.

[MEFIowa]

2 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

Okay, this is obviously a completely different story. But fully private tour is also significantly more expensive. In Cadiz and Bilbao SpainDayTours quoted us 1,000-1,200 euro for the tours for the 2 of us. Even for 4 people it would be 300 euro each.

That depends entirely what you want to see and do. And how the tour operator does it. The quotes we've received just for a day in Istanbul vary greatly depending upon whether they pay for entrances to museums & buildings, how they move us about, etc. One private guide willing to meet us at the tram stop by the terminal and we take the tram all day to the places we want to go with him. Pretty reasonable price. Of course, Europe far more expensive than C. & S. America and the Caribbean.

[ak1004]

6 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

What if you have 10 people ?

 

 Some guides offer tours  with  a set price for the van  with a maximum number of people

I think I had 8 or 10  so just divided the cost  between us

 

This is probably the best of both worlds. But Spain Day Tours for example don't have that option. it's 14-18 people or private tour at set price.

 

So if you travel as a group of 6-8 people, then this is the best option. Even 1200 euro is only 150 euro per person. Otherwise you need to find random people to join the small group.

Edited March 29, 2023 by ak1004