Cancellation of cruise in the Middle East

[ORV]

1 hour ago, Rhett789 said:

Well, we made it home from this Istanbul to Dubai cruise.  I also was told that there were 450 passengers, and then over 20 left in Cyprus.  Needless to say the service wax excellent and the crew was wonderful.  We enjoyed the ease of attending shows, high tea, etc with so few people.  We enjoyed the cruise even though it was not what we purchased.  Other than the itinerary changes our biggest complaint was over the air booking.  We certainly learned a lesson to NEVER let the cruise line book your flights.  We paid $9400 over the O Life price (that included economy air fare).  Oceania apparently booked the cheapest flights imaginable.  Initially when Oceania offered to let passengers  cancel and transfer for FCC, we were told that our business class upgrade would be our penalty.  I checked with the airline and they had no record that tickets were purchased for us.  I called back Oceania and they insisted they were purchased, they could not under any circumstance (even with an added charge) be transferred to other flights.  I tried to find out if we could still use the flights if we cancelled out on the cruise.  No one could answer this question.  No calls back.  Then you all know that Oceania rescinded the offer to transfer to FFC.  So we decided to go.  

There are direct flights from Washington DC to Istanbul, as well as home from Dubai, but they booked flights with layovers in them.  The flight from DC was delayed for 3 hours due to a mechanical, so we missed the flight in Munich to Turkey.  We spent almost 2 hours trying to get a flight to Turkey (no help from Oceania).  We had to take an economy flight to get there that day.  We got in late of course and there was no one to pick us up at the airport in Istanbul.  I called several times and was told someone would come, but they didn't.  I called again and was told just take a taxi.  I had to fight to get reimbursed for this, and they did credit us back.  But I was told that they did not have knowledge as to which flight we were on.  (They booked the flights.)  I told Oceania that I felt we were due a refund for at least the difference between economy and business class.  They told us to file a claim with the airline.  I asked how much the ticket cost so we would have an amount to claim.  We were told their "contract" pricing was privileged and they would not tell us.  Then going home, when I tried to check in in Dubai, I was told my flight was cancelled.  It took nearly 45 minutes to straighten that out, and we didn't get seats together.  We then had to go to Frankfurt with a 7 hour layover.  Again we had the worst seats; the last row in business with families with children.  NEVER let the cruise line book your flights.  Other than all this, we enjoyed what we did, we enjoyed the relaxation on the trip, the entertainment was very good, the food was as good as it always was on Oceania.  You could eat in the specialty restaurants whenever you wanted.  (Some were closed some days, but that was not an issue.) The staff was wonderful.  But, the bottom line, we will NEVER sail with Oceania, Norwegian, or Regent again.  NEVER. And as far as any extras for the itinerary change we were told on board that we would not even get "one free drink."  And they certainly kept their word on that one!

 

Yep, traveling is just becoming a nightmare all around. Sorry you had so many problems. I'm giving strong thoughts to just traveling in the US to places I haven't been, by car. 

[Psoque]

6 hours ago, Rhett789 said:

Well, we made it home from this Istanbul to Dubai cruise.  I also was told that there were 450 passengers, and then over 20 left in Cyprus.  Needless to say the service wax excellent and the crew was wonderful.  We enjoyed the ease of attending shows, high tea, etc with so few people.  We enjoyed the cruise even though it was not what we purchased.  Other than the itinerary changes our biggest complaint was over the air booking.  We certainly learned a lesson to NEVER let the cruise line book your flights.  We paid $9400 over the O Life price (that included economy air fare).  Oceania apparently booked the cheapest flights imaginable.  Initially when Oceania offered to let passengers  cancel and transfer for FCC, we were told that our business class upgrade would be our penalty.  I checked with the airline and they had no record that tickets were purchased for us.  I called back Oceania and they insisted they were purchased, they could not under any circumstance (even with an added charge) be transferred to other flights.  I tried to find out if we could still use the flights if we cancelled out on the cruise.  No one could answer this question.  No calls back.  Then you all know that Oceania rescinded the offer to transfer to FFC.  So we decided to go.  

There are direct flights from Washington DC to Istanbul, as well as home from Dubai, but they booked flights with layovers in them.  The flight from DC was delayed for 3 hours due to a mechanical, so we missed the flight in Munich to Turkey.  We spent almost 2 hours trying to get a flight to Turkey (no help from Oceania).  We had to take an economy flight to get there that day.  We got in late of course and there was no one to pick us up at the airport in Istanbul.  I called several times and was told someone would come, but they didn't.  I called again and was told just take a taxi.  I had to fight to get reimbursed for this, and they did credit us back.  But I was told that they did not have knowledge as to which flight we were on.  (They booked the flights.)  I told Oceania that I felt we were due a refund for at least the difference between economy and business class.  They told us to file a claim with the airline.  I asked how much the ticket cost so we would have an amount to claim.  We were told their "contract" pricing was privileged and they would not tell us.  Then going home, when I tried to check in in Dubai, I was told my flight was cancelled.  It took nearly 45 minutes to straighten that out, and we didn't get seats together.  We then had to go to Frankfurt with a 7 hour layover.  Again we had the worst seats; the last row in business with families with children.  NEVER let the cruise line book your flights.  Other than all this, we enjoyed what we did, we enjoyed the relaxation on the trip, the entertainment was very good, the food was as good as it always was on Oceania.  You could eat in the specialty restaurants whenever you wanted.  (Some were closed some days, but that was not an issue.) The staff was wonderful.  But, the bottom line, we will NEVER sail with Oceania, Norwegian, or Regent again.  NEVER. And as far as any extras for the itinerary change we were told on board that we would not even get "one free drink."  And they certainly kept their word on that one!

 

I’m sorry about the whole flight problems.  We’ve only booked a flight with a cruise line once (since this was a very wide open jaw (fly to Chile, return from Florida) that costed a lot otherwise), many years ago (with a luxury cruise line) and figured out that the whole scheme was not customer-friendly, and downright irresponsible.  Our home airport was fogged in and we called the “customer hotline” for those booked flights with this cruise line.  The person on the phone told me that I am calling her “way too early in the morning” and that she is not really hired to help us find alternative flights.  Not sure what she was paid to do, but we just bought a last minute one-way ticket to the port of embarkation, and had the concierge onboard to book us the return flight home.  It took about 3 months or so to get our out-of-pocket cost reimbursed, after sending 3-4 letters in total after multiple denials.  After this experience we never book air with a cruise line, regardless of the cruise line or the destination.

 

My assumption is that buying airfare from the cruise line is a huge gamble, and house always wins, regardless of which cruise line you are dealing with.  They buy the most restrictive “consolidator” airfare, and somehow they can continue to swap out the itineraries for the lowest bidder until the day of the flight.

[Hlitner]

All cruise lines are not alike, when it comes to dealing with air issues.  But, thanks to some online guidance from Flatbush Flyer, we were very cautious when handling air for our upcoming O cruise.  We simply took the offered O air price reduction ($1000 pp) and booked our own air directly with our chosen airline. 

 

Some of the more respected online air experts have long advised against using cruise-line arranged air because of the issues if anything goes wrong.  I would never consider letting any cruise line choose my flights, but we are still fine with using several of the CCL cruise lines (i.e. Seabourn, Princess, etc) air options because they offer an online booking engine that lets folks choose their own flights (with no extra fees fromt he cruise line).

 

Hank

[Tranquility Base]

For info:

Carnival have announced the decision to re-route itineraries for 12 ships across 7 brands which were scheduled to transit the Red Sea through May 2024.

Edited January 30 by Tranquility Base

[GeezerCouple]

17 minutes ago, Tranquility Base said:

For info:

Carnival have announced the decision to re-route itineraries for 12 ships across 7 brands which were scheduled to transit the Red Sea through May 2024.

 

Is there a link?

 

I'm really curious about how they do this/what they do...

There wouldn't be time to skeddadle all the way around the Africa...

So are they making *major* changes to the itineraries so that any cruise that was planning a Suez transit is now staying entirely on one side or the other?

What about lengthy world cruises?

 

Of course, *our* concerns are First World Problems if ever there were any!

 

GC

[Tranquility Base]

3 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

Is there a link?

Just google ......Carnival press release Red Sea.

Various business related news sites have picked it up.

 

Re your World Cruise question.

One Princess World Cruise and one Cunard World Cruise (both westabout) are proceeding via Capetown.

Another World Cruise is still a work in progress.

Edited January 30 by Tranquility Base

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, Tranquility Base said:

Just google ......Carnival press release Red Sea.

Various business related news sites have picked it up.

 

Re your World Cruise question.

One Princess World Cruise and one Cunard World Cruise (both westabout) are proceeding via Capetown.

Another World Cruise is still a work in progress.

 

...and there's already a post on the Holland America board showing their revised itinerary.

 

[clo]

On 12/27/2023 at 7:10 AM, ORV said:

Yep, traveling is just becoming a nightmare all around. Sorry you had so many problems. I'm giving strong thoughts to just traveling in the US to places I haven't been, by car. 

We have a small motorhome and that's what we did for three years over covid. Awfully nice.

[clo]

On 12/27/2023 at 5:16 AM, Rhett789 said:

But, the bottom line, we will NEVER sail with Oceania, Norwegian, or Regent again.  NEVER. And as far as any extras for the itinerary change we were told on board that we would not even get "one free drink."  And they certainly kept their word on that one!

I appreciate your honest report. I haven't made any decision yet but I've been watching this for a while. Not much good news, is there? Thanks.

[Tranquility Base]

On 1/31/2024 at 9:11 AM, cruisemom42 said:

 

...and there's already a post on the Holland America board showing their revised itinerary.

 

Seabourn have announced cancelations for sailings in March / April through the Red Sea. 

[roninman]

So sad.   Also noteworthy is the silence from all those who disparaged passengers expressing sincere concern here over Red Sea traverses not too long ago.

 

 

[jonthomas]

  In November 2023, O changed the itin for a 14 day, in October, 2024  turkey , greece, israel to almost all Italy....

 

 we cancelled as we have been to most of Italy but not so much Greece and Turkey. 

[cruiserchuck]

I am curious about what happened with the folks that did not take the Middle East cruises, and tried to do a charge back with their credit card company due to the itinerary changes.  I wonder if they were successful in getting their money back.

[1 EastEnder]

Hello.  In answer to your question, I did go through my credit card company and I also filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.  Because of these two actions, I was able to get some money back via the credit card company and also received a Future Cruise Credit.  Whilst I didn't get all of my money back, I think I fared better than some.  

[clo]

43 minutes ago, 1 EastEnder said:

Hello.  In answer to your question, I did go through my credit card company and I also filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.  Because of these two actions, I was able to get some money back via the credit card company and also received a Future Cruise Credit.  Whilst I didn't get all of my money back, I think I fared better than some.  

Was there any explanation why you didn't get it all back? Just curious.

[1 EastEnder]

Initially we were told, and I use Oceania's exact words, "you take this cruise or you lose your money". This trip was for myself and my two daughters.  The entire trip cost $30,000 but that was the entire trip.  The cruise part cost $21,000.  I wrote letters to the CEOs (Messrs. Sommer and Del Rio) to no avail.  Also letters to a couple of newspapers.  Oceania would not communicate with me.  I was forced to go through my credit card company and on the advice of my son-in-law, filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and that is how a settlement was reached.  I considered myself fortunate in getting some money back and a future cruise credit.  I believe others were not so lucky.  I would also add that the Oceania staff and TAs did their best, but they had to go by company decisions.  I believe these decisions were short sighted to say the least.  I understand war - I spent my childhood and formative years during WWII - I just didn't understand the executives' cavalier attitude towards its passengers. 

[clo]

2 hours ago, 1 EastEnder said:

I just didn't understand the executives' cavalier attitude towards its passengers. 

Nor do I. It continues to look like a major marketing mistake.

[Snaefell3]

7 hours ago, clo said:

Nor do I. It continues to look like a major marketing mistake.

I can see O's thinking:  "If each of those ports had been fogged-in, we'd have skipped them with no compensation, and this way you're getting replacement ports".

 

Such will certainly have an effect, but I'm not sure it's a "major marketing mistake". 

 

It means O will have trouble filling any cruises near a worry zone for the foreseeable future, but I'm not sure that's a bad thing since I don't book excursions to see active volcanoes, either. 🫣

[roninman]

8 hours ago, Snaefell3 said:

d this way you're getting replacement ports".

 

Such will certainly have a

 

8 hours ago, Snaefell3 said:

I can see O's thinking:  "If each of those ports had been fogged-in, we'd have skipped them with no compensation, and this way you're getting replacement ports".

 

Such will certainly have an effect, but I'm not sure it's a "major marketing mistake". 

 

It means O will have trouble filling any cruises near a worry zone for the foreseeable future, but I'm not sure that's a bad thing since I don't book excursions to see active volcanoes, either. 🫣

According to reports, Oceania indeed originally offered passengers some compensation, with a decision deadline for accepting some weeks in the future, and then unilaterally without warning, snatched that offer off the table, leaving passengers high and dry for believing Oceania's offer.   And then Oceania completely ignored passengers asking for an explanation.    

 

Difficult to see how such behavior would not be a major marketing mistake.

 

[Snaefell3]

3 hours ago, roninman said:

 

According to reports, Oceania indeed originally offered passengers some compensation, with a decision deadline for accepting some weeks in the future, and then unilaterally without warning, snatched that offer off the table, leaving passengers high and dry for believing Oceania's offer.   And then Oceania completely ignored passengers asking for an explanation.    

 

Difficult to see how such behavior would not be a major marketing mistake.

 

*THAT* would be a mistake. 

 

However, O's weakness --ashore and afloat-- is silence when they should be communicating.  I wasn't paying much attention at the time, but IIRC there was a lot of "I'm sure that…" discussion that morphed into "O will…" because O was silent.

 

[MMarianne]

Ah…memories! We were on that 11/29 Istanbul to Dubai cruise. The pulling back of the offer to cancel for a FCC was just plain wrong. Oceania hid behind their legalese rather than take care of their customers. 
 

I really believe the management-level crew were silenced by the Oceania lawyers. “We are within our rights! Do not act too nice or give any perks! We don’t want to appear that we did anything wrong!”

 

I recall looking at the Oceania website after they changed the itinerary and name. Wish I had taken a screen shot bc I clearly recall seeing incredible deals, prices, free drink packages offers for last-minute passengers. So many empty cabins to fill! But nothing special for those who paid full price.  
 

As I said earlier, we had an ok time. Just not worth even half of the price we paid. 
 

[clo]

18 hours ago, Snaefell3 said:

I can see O's thinking:  "If each of those ports had been fogged-in, we'd have skipped them with no compensation, and this way you're getting replacement ports".

 

Such will certainly have an effect, but I'm not sure it's a "major marketing mistake". 

 

It means O will have trouble filling any cruises near a worry zone for the foreseeable future, but I'm not sure that's a bad thing since I don't book excursions to see active volcanoes, either. 🫣

I see the US has issued travel advisories for the Bahamas and Nassau. I wonder if that will have any effect.

[AMHuntFerry]

24 minutes ago, clo said:

I see the US has issued travel advisories for the Bahamas and Nassau. I wonder if that will have any effect.

Meh, level 2. No worse than Belgium or Italy.

[clo]

4 minutes ago, AMHuntFerry said:

Meh, level 2. No worse than Belgium or Italy.

Actually Jamaica is level 3, don't remember Bahamas. And have no idea effect on cruise ships. I pay attention to those things for our independent travel.

[cruisemom42]

Just saw a post on another forum indicating that Virgin Voyages just changed itineraries of three upcoming cruises that were scheduled to be in the Suez/Red Sea area this spring.

 

Unlike Oceania, they are doing the right thing. 

 

Guests on any of the three former sailings will have guaranteed spots on the new sailing at no additional cost. Guests who do not wish to sail the new itinerary can receive a future voyage credit based on their paid balance or a full refund.