Oceania Marina refurb

[VidaGrae]

Does anyone know when Marina is going into dry dock for refurbishment?

[Vallesan]

Late April 2024. First cruise, after refit, due 18th May 2024. Fingers crossed!

[VidaGrae]

Thank you Vallesan & hope that is the case.We are booked on 18th May from Barcelona and heard a lot of rumblings that proposed refit may get postponed again (was to be done in Oct 2023 originally) or disappointingly it wont get refurb and we go on a tired Marina.  Its our 40th wedding anniversary so have everything crossed it will be as good as our other 2 Marina cruises - both pre Covid and now reading lots of gripes about how Oceania is disappointing guests with cost cuts and struggling staff issues. 🤞

[ORV]

4 hours ago, VidaGrae said:

heard a lot of rumblings that proposed refit may get postponed again

Where have you been hearing these rumblings and what source did the rumblers say it was coming from?

[SophieM]

We just sailed on the Marina and found her to be in great shape, even though the refurb will be welcome—especially the redone bathrooms! We had NO major complaints, and even the minor ones were hardly an issue. We are sailing again on her in November and January. Please remember comments are very subjective, even mine. 😊 Go and have a good time. Happy Anniversary!

[VidaGrae]

Have spoken to 3 different Oceania Australian staff on 3 separate occasions and been told:

1.  Yes refit in April and first sailing May 18

2.  No we have no information on a future refit for Marina

3. Marina was refurbed in April 2023??!.

So who do you believe & hence our confusion?  Also seen a number of comments on Cruise Critic a few months ago and our TA has also had conflicting stories so she has now requested "in writing" from American HO as we have planned our whole celebrations and tours around the booked cruise dates and it will be a huge hassle and expense if cruise gets cancelled or not the refurbed ship that we were told about when we made the booking.  We have cruised on Marina twice and it was getting tired back in 2019 when we were last on her.  I also asked Oceania on a Facebook comment and that was months ago and no response to my query or any of the other 6 questions from other guests on same page.  Seems that Oceania doesnt like to reply to much at all when you view the same complaint here on CC.

 Not good PR😔

 

PS  Thank you SophieM🤞.

Edited September 29, 2023 by VidaGrae

[Vineyard View]

We are booked on this same cruise. I called Oceania directly a couple months back and was confirmed on these refurbishment dates. I haven’t checked since. At that time it was the only cruise in May for Marina so I felt comfortable that would in fact occur. I honestly have no idea how to find out if this will change but like you, it is important to us.  This is the first I have heard that it might be different. 

[basor]

4 hours ago, VidaGrae said:

Have spoken to 3 different Oceania Australian staff on 3 separate occasions and been told:

1.  Yes refit in April and first sailing May 18

2.  No we have no information on a future refit for Marina

3. Marina was refurbed in April 2023??!.

So who do you believe & hence our confusion?  Also seen a number of comments on Cruise Critic a few months ago and our TA has also had conflicting stories so she has now requested "in writing" from American HO as we have planned our whole celebrations and tours around the booked cruise dates and it will be a huge hassle and expense if cruise gets cancelled or not the refurbed ship that we were told about when we made the booking.  We have cruised on Marina twice and it was getting tired back in 2019 when we were last on her.  I also asked Oceania on a Facebook comment and that was months ago and no response to my query or any of the other 6 questions from other guests on same page.  Seems that Oceania doesnt like to reply to much at all when you view the same complaint here on CC.

 Not good PR😔

 

PS  Thank you SophieM🤞.

Oceania does not monitor any of the FB pages so you will not get any response from O on FB

[edgee]

18 hours ago, VidaGrae said:

Thank you Vallesan & hope that is the case.We are booked on 18th May from Barcelona and heard a lot of rumblings that proposed refit may get postponed again (was to be done in Oct 2023 originally) or disappointingly it wont get refurb and we go on a tired Marina.  Its our 40th wedding anniversary so have everything crossed it will be as good as our other 2 Marina cruises - both pre Covid and now reading lots of gripes about how Oceania is disappointing guests with cost cuts and struggling staff issues. 🤞

Look at the Marina's schedule. No cruise scheduled between April 29 and May 18. This is the time period she is supposed to get her refurb. Of course plans can always change, but would love to know what the "rumblers" think the ship is going to be doing at that time besides getting its refurb.

[VidaGrae]

Edgee I hope that is the case but apparently it can get postponed still & at the last minute?  I guess that as customers, we will be the last to know anything.  We have also read a lot of complaints about shuttle buses not be provided by Oceania at a lot of ports that are a fair distance from the towns.  All this negative talk doesnt make it pleasant when you just want to look forward to your cruise.  It would be nice if Oceania allied some of this as surely they must have someone who sees it on various sites - if they cared??  We have loved our past 2 Marina cruises and hoping this is all being worried about nothing,🤞

[shepherd really]

1 hour ago, VidaGrae said:

 

 All this negative talk doesnt make it pleasant when you just want to look forward to your cruise. 

Simple solution; stop consuming all that "negative talk" from questionable sources.   

[Vallesan]

2 hours ago, VidaGrae said:

Edgee I hope that is the case but apparently it can get postponed still & at the last minute?  I guess that as customers, we will be the last to know anything.  We have also read a lot of complaints about shuttle buses not be provided by Oceania at a lot of ports that are a fair distance from the towns.  All this negative talk doesnt make it pleasant when you just want to look forward to your cruise.  It would be nice if Oceania allied some of this as surely they must have someone who sees it on various sites - if they cared??  We have loved our past 2 Marina cruises and hoping this is all being worried about nothing,🤞

The Riviera and Marina were originally due for a refit in 2020/21 but we all know what happened!
Both the Riviera refit and the Marina were put back. The Riviera was refurbished in November 23 and the Marina is due in May 24. I can’t see any reason why that would be put back especially as the ship has no sailings between the end of April and May18th. My only concern was that refit might run over!
As others have said don’t listen to the grumblers. You have had 2 cruises on the ship that ‘you loved’ so why should this be any different?

I think there are many people still comparing ‘what was’, pre March 2020, to ‘what is’ now. It’s a fruitless exercise. All cruise lines, without exception, have changed. We have ‘what is’ and if it doesn’t suit then the only alternative is to stop cruising!

[VidaGrae]

Shepherd really - I wouldnt have considered Oceania staff a "questionable source"?  

 

Thank you Vallesan for your polite, helpful response.

 

This topic can be ended now, thank you. V

[shepherd really]

10 hours ago, VidaGrae said:

Shepherd really - I wouldnt have considered Oceania staff a "questionable source"?  

 

Was this staff member in the department that actually oversees the schedule for the refreshments or just some low-level person with no direct knowledge?

 

Yeah, that's what I thought.

[VidaGrae]

I thought it best to close this query due to benile & unnecessarily unpleasant responses. Sad when most people are helpful & their responses appreciated.
The End. 

[chengkp75]

"Refurbishment" and dry docking are two totally different things.  Dry docking is a statutory requirement to maintain the ship's certificates to sail, while "refurbishment", as understood by cruisers, is a voluntary repair of the front of house of the hotel.  "Refurbishments" happen during dry dockings because the ship has to be out of service anyway due to the docking, but may be deferred or cancelled due to financial decisions by the cruise line.  The only way a "dry docking" can be postponed is if the ship is "taken out of service" (i.e. cannot sail at all, whether with passengers or not), and the ship's certificates are suspended.  This is what happened during Covid.  The Marina is due for a bottom survey in May of 2024, but this was originally an "intermediate" survey, which could have been completed by divers, without taking the ship out of service.  However, since the 2021 dry docking was cancelled, and the ship taken out of service, this 2024 survey now requires an actual dry docking, and this cannot be postponed.  This is from the Lloyd's Register database for Marina, and my knowledge of ships' classification societies based on 46 years going to sea.  And, based on my experience working with cruise ship "staff" (especially front of house hotel staff), their knowledge of what actually goes on on the ship, from a technical standpoint, or a future scheduling standpoint, is minimal to be generous.

Edited October 2, 2023 by chengkp75

[shepherd really]

12 hours ago, VidaGrae said:

I thought it best to close this query due to benile & unnecessarily unpleasant responses. Sad when most people are helpful & their responses appreciated.
The End. 

If I knew what "benile" meant...  

I just checked; it appears in the Urban dictionary.  😆 

[1985rz1]

1 hour ago, shepherd really said:

If I knew what "benile" meant...  

I just checked; it appears in the Urban dictionary.  😆 

 

It's what comes just before cenile  (alternate spelling).

[shepherd really]

1 hour ago, 1985rz1 said:

It's what comes just before cenile  (alternate spelling).

then what follows is denile 

[luvtofloat]

Can’t wait until you get to P. 
 

[MarkWiltonM]

I have a Marina cruise booked for November 2024 but we have an alternate cruise booked on another line as a backup in case the refit doesn't happen. Penalties start on 05/31/2024 so I should know if the refit happened before then. I do like the itinerary on the Marina cruise and we also really enjoyed Riviera after its upgrade, especially the redesigned bathrooms in veranda cabins. I had not sailed on Riviera or Marina before Riviera's refurb, so I'm not sure if Marina without refurb would be enjoyable or not.