OCEANIA CRUISES HAS DONE THE PASSENGERS OF RIVIERA AND NAUTICA VERY TERRIBLE IN CHANGING CRUISES FOR iSTANBUL TO DABAI

[ORV]

7 hours ago, Cruzin Terri said:

There comes a point where one just stops reading.

 

That was weeks ago. 

[Doctorpee]

We are booked on the Riviera from Barcelona to Dubai and furious that Oceania has cancelled all ports of call between Turkey and Dubai, is wasting time in the COLD Greek islands and then we are stuck on the ship for 9 days and nights until Dubai. This cruise should be cancelled like many other lines have done for passenger safety. Oceania refuses to even discuss future cruise credit or refund, threatening 100% loss  for cancellation. The Holy Land and Arab countries are the only reason we booked this cruise and it has been ruined by Oceania. WE DO NOT WANT TO GO ON THIS CRUISE! Oceania  is not listening. We must sail through the Red Sea past US warships where cruise missiles have been shot down in recent days. Oceania  is only interested in having us pay their bills to get the ship to 
Dubai. I ( and everyone else who has posted here ) will scream loudly and frequently on all social media programs about the terrible treatment by Oceania. I hope fewer people are  victims of their greed in future.

[FlyerTalker]

34 minutes ago, Doctorpee said:

We are booked on the Riviera from Barcelona to Dubai and furious that Oceania has cancelled all ports of call between Turkey and Dubai, is wasting time in the COLD Greek islands and then we are stuck on the ship for 9 days and nights until Dubai. This cruise should be cancelled like many other lines have done for passenger safety.

 

So, a couple of questions.  1)  Just what is unsafe about your current itinerary?  Are you worried that one of those "cruise missiles" will strike your ship.  2)  So what should Oceania do for those folks who are booked on 2024 cruises on the Riviera that are in Asia?  Should those be cancelled to?  3)  If those would be cancelled because of your wishes, what you you say if YOU were booked on that and had your vacation plans cancelled?

 

36 minutes ago, Doctorpee said:

The Holy Land and Arab countries are the only reason we booked this cruise and it has been ruined by Oceania.

 

There is a simple rule.  If you absolutely want to go somewhere, don't do it on a cruise.

 

Another question.  What if you had booked a land tour for Israel at this time - and the airlines have cancelled all of their flights to TLV.  Ruined?

 

 

[Doctorpee]

If I had a land based visit to Israel I would cancel the tour and flight. Oceania refuses to refund or offer Future Cruise Credit. This part of the world is in turmoil and should be avoided; numerous cruise lines think so and have cancelled sailings through the Dead Sea. Countries in the Middle East are lining up on either side of the war; Yemen declared war a few days ago. 

Yes, I truly believe this part of the world is best avoided at this time, and Oceania should allow rebooking or cancellation. Their "compromise" itinerary is a joke; 9 days and nights at sea instead of all the best ports of call. They simply want us to pay the bill for getting the ship to  Dubai. This is an expensive cruise and is a write off for us, and most who are posting here. 

[brdgplay22]

On 10/25/2023 at 8:59 PM, brdgplay22 said:

These two ships were sailing identical itineraries from Istanbul to Dubai  in late November 2023.   19 day cruise. 

Due to the war in Israel, All the ports in the middle east were canceled and changed to greek islands instead then 9 sea days to Dubai.  At first they were offering

free cruise credit if you booked another cruise by Nov 30th.  Today they pulled the plug on that offer.  Executive decision we told.   Now. it is take the tour of the Greek islands in DECEMBER and then the 9 day repositioning cruise to Dubai or loose your money entirely.   NCL and Regent (same company) still going at a similar time frame with original ports.  Was told it was for our safety.  Obviously, they are not worried about passengers on NCL or Regent or that we will still be going thru the Suez canal and Red Sea.    Something is terribly wrong with this whole scenario.     They company has forever lost my business.  Be careful what you book.   

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2023/11/02/oceania-cruise-refunds-israel-hamas/71406253007/?fbclid=IwAR36z5-_bsLqDUeNBGVWF76cbTVJupRKE0r83StKdbPRu45UzUs2Obup1K

 

New story from USA on our cruise from Istanbul to Dubai Nov 29, 23.  We need all the publicity we can get to get Oceania to change and give us FCC or a full refund,   Thanks  Joe & Janet

Edited November 3, 2023 by brdgplay22

[RD64]

6 hours ago, Doctorpee said:

We are booked on the Riviera from Barcelona to Dubai and furious that Oceania has cancelled all ports of call between Turkey and Dubai, is wasting time in the COLD Greek islands and then we are stuck on the ship for 9 days and nights until Dubai. This cruise should be cancelled like many other lines have done for passenger safety. Oceania refuses to even discuss future cruise credit or refund, threatening 100% loss  for cancellation. The Holy Land and Arab countries are the only reason we booked this cruise and it has been ruined by Oceania. WE DO NOT WANT TO GO ON THIS CRUISE! Oceania  is not listening. We must sail through the Red Sea past US warships where cruise missiles have been shot down in recent days. Oceania  is only interested in having us pay their bills to get the ship to 
Dubai. I ( and everyone else who has posted here ) will scream loudly and frequently on all social media programs about the terrible treatment by Oceania. I hope fewer people are  victims of their greed in future.

As I am sure you have been told - never book a cruise because there is one must see port that you have to go to, and the rest of the cruise is irrelevant. 

[RD64]

5 hours ago, Doctorpee said:

If I had a land based visit to Israel I would cancel the tour and flight. Oceania refuses to refund or offer Future Cruise Credit. This part of the world is in turmoil and should be avoided; numerous cruise lines think so and have cancelled sailings through the Dead Sea. Countries in the Middle East are lining up on either side of the war; Yemen declared war a few days ago. 

Yes, I truly believe this part of the world is best avoided at this time, and Oceania should allow rebooking or cancellation. Their "compromise" itinerary is a joke; 9 days and nights at sea instead of all the best ports of call. They simply want us to pay the bill for getting the ship to  Dubai. This is an expensive cruise and is a write off for us, and most who are posting here. 

And if you did not have a REFUNDABLE airfare booked, would Air Canada ( or whoever) be refunding your flights? AC will be resuming flights to Israel shortly I believe so your refund would be doubtful.

[joanne Cottell]

I totally agree!

[edgee]

7 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

There is a simple rule.  If you absolutely want to go somewhere, don't do it on a cruise.

You make a valid point that is generally applicable to cruise vacations. However this horrible war presents the cruise industry and guests with an unprecedented situation. Some cruise lines have chosen to step up and go beyond just their contractual obligations. Oceania has not. And reniging on authorized verbal promises to make things right goes beyond acceptable corporate behavior. Their behavior is NOT ok.

[Damicom]

21 hours ago, edgee said:

You make a valid point that is generally applicable to cruise vacations. However this horrible war presents the cruise industry and guests with an unprecedented situation. Some cruise lines have chosen to step up and go beyond just their contractual obligations. Oceania has not. And reniging on authorized verbal promises to make things right goes beyond acceptable corporate behavior. Their behavior is NOT ok.

Which cruise lines are offering refunds? I haven’t found any.

[Damicom]

10 minutes ago, Damicom said:

Which cruise lines are offering refunds? I haven’t found any.

Never mind, I found it. Yes, it looks like all the cruise lines are offering credits. I imagine the pressure on Oceania will ultimately be successful. 

[Vineyard View]

Should not take going to these levels to do the right things, even if they do. Taking it to the NYT etc should never have had to happen. It says a lot about the management/President IMO. 

[mybagsarepacked]

On 10/31/2023 at 1:52 AM, Damicom said:

It’s not just Oceania. Other cruise lines are doing the same thing. Itineraries have been altered. They obviously can’t take ships in to a war zone. Other lines have been adhering to the same cancellation policy. This is why they offer travel insurance with pretty much every communication they send you once you book your cruise.  

 

They do offer insurance, but the people in the USA Today article were told by Oceania that their trip insurance would not cover the cruise in this case because Oceania had made the decision to alter the ports and the insurance would not cover them. Period. So... trip insurance is great, unless Oceania just says "No, not this time."  It is unbelievable the way they are handling this.

 

It isn't the fact that it is a war zone, and they are making careful decisions. We all understand there is a war going on. It is how they are handling the communications and how they are treating this that makes us all shake our heads. There are about a thousand better ways they could have handled this, and they chose none of those ways. They offer FCC, then reverse their decision. They waited way too long to decide to cancel, instead of doing it when the war actually started.  Waiting until two weeks prior to the cruise is ridiculous. It doesn't exactly make us feel like valued customers when we are all told, "Too bad, so sad," end of conversation. That is the issue here.

 

If they are so concerned about our welfare, why in the world would they take us through the Suez Canal, through the Red Sea, and through the Bay of Oman? It seems disingenuous to say they are concerned about safety, then turn around and take us down waters right off the coast of ports they are bypassing.  Do they think only terrible things happen on land? They clearly have forgotten all about the Achille Lauro (1985). 

[mybagsarepacked]

4 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

Should not take going to these levels to do the right things, even if they do. Taking it to the NYT etc should never have had to happen. It says a lot about the management/President IMO. 

 

I agree wholeheartedly. Which is why, regardless of the outcome, I have decided to cancel my future cruises with Oceania and move to one of our other favorite lines. They have handled this very poorly.

[davencl]

30 minutes ago, mybagsarepacked said:

 

They do offer insurance, but the people in the USA Today article were told by Oceania that their trip insurance would not cover the cruise in this case because Oceania had made the decision to alter the ports and the insurance would not cover them. Period. So... trip insurance is great, unless Oceania just says "No, not this time."  It is unbelievable the way they are handling this.

 

It isn't the fact that it is a war zone, and they are making careful decisions. We all understand there is a war going on. It is how they are handling the communications and how they are treating this that makes us all shake our heads. There are about a thousand better ways they could have handled this, and they chose none of those ways. They offer FCC, then reverse their decision. They waited way too long to decide to cancel, instead of doing it when the war actually started.  Waiting until two weeks prior to the cruise is ridiculous. It doesn't exactly make us feel like valued customers when we are all told, "Too bad, so sad," end of conversation. That is the issue here.

 

If they are so concerned about our welfare, why in the world would they take us through the Suez Canal, through the Red Sea, and through the Bay of Oman? It seems disingenuous to say they are concerned about safety, then turn around and take us down waters right off the coast of ports they are bypassing.  Do they think only terrible things happen on land? They clearly have forgotten all about the Achille Lauro (1985). 

So what did the insurance company say?  Oceania does not provide trip insurance.  The insurance is provided thru Allianze(sp?) or was.  I am watching this closely to make future decisions.  Too early for me to jump ship yet.

Edited November 4, 2023 by davencl

[mybagsarepacked]

25 minutes ago, davencl said:

So what did the insurance company say?  Oceania does not provide trip insurance.  The insurance is provided thru Allianze(sp?) or was.  I am watching this closely to make future decisions.  Too early for me to jump ship yet.

In the article it states the trip insurance was through Oceania. No idea what was actually said, just what was communicated to the clients. 

 

 

[jakes47]

Our recent Oceania cruise experience has forced us to become Oceania refugees - but I do pop in here from time to time out of habit 😉.

IMHO Oceania is cost cutting and has no Good Will policy - it is all about what they can get out of us for as little cost to them and they are not discreet about doing this.

Our last cruise price was reduce dramatically after our final payment date and there was nothing we could do about it - nor did we receive any compensation.  Not a nice way to start our cruise vacation.

This whole situation is no surprise to me and only confirms we have made the right decision to use another cruise line.

[EJL2023]

4 minutes ago, jakes47 said:

Our recent Oceania cruise experience has forced us to become Oceania refugees - but I do pop in here from time to time out of habit 😉.

IMHO Oceania is cost cutting and has no Good Will policy - it is all about what they can get out of us for as little cost to them and they are not discreet about doing this.

Our last cruise price was reduce dramatically after our final payment date and there was nothing we could do about it - nor did we receive any compensation.  Not a nice way to start our cruise vacation.

This whole situation is no surprise to me and only confirms we have made the right decision to use another cruise line.

Good decision for you. But I’ll continue with them. 

[GeezerCouple]

3 hours ago, davencl said:

So what did the insurance company say?  Oceania does not provide trip insurance.  The insurance is provided thru Allianze(sp?) or was.  I am watching this closely to make future decisions.  Too early for me to jump ship yet.

 

This is another reason to get *separate* third-party travel insurance. 

But even then, I have no idea how this is covered.  In the Travel Insurance section of CC, there is a discussion about this being a "terrorist" event rather than war, but I am not sure how that has played out...

 

However, if one springs for the Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) add-on coverage (yes, it "costs"), then there should be no problem... although at least the type we get only gives 75% back.  But at least it is 75% back in *cash*, not in some credits that must be used with a particular company, and probably with a time limit.

 

As for how it works, one just decides they don't want to go.  To us, the Cancel For Any Reason is more like Cancel For NoReasonAtAll.  I suppose one shouldn't (??) mention that the underlying reason one is "changing one's mind and prefers to do something else or just stay home, and maybe watch the school play or whatever" is actually because of the <event-not-covered-by-the-regular-insurance>, but I'd also want to check with an insurance agent/broker about how to handle this.

 

I haven't read/re-read the specific terms of the CFAR coverage recently (Covid has made all of this moot for too long now, alas), but when I did read it a few years ago, I remember that it would cover situations that would *not* have been covered by the regular policy, and there didn't seem to be any "exceptions" to that.  Otherwise, what does CFAR really mean?  (Time to check with the experts about this, I think!)

 

Meanwhile, this situation is a mess, and Oceania is making it worse.

[Can't a cruiseline get special insurance for "really, really bad events such that they'd want to refund everyone who wants it"?  After all, it wouldn't be invoked that often, or so one hopes (!).  But yeah, that would cost more...]

 

I'll be very interested in how this all plays out, with Oceania and the other cruise lines.  Will they all end up doing pretty much the same thing, or will some lines refund, and others still play hardball?

 

And regardless of the above, making an offer and then rescinding it without notice!??

This all reminds me of a billboard I saw years ago:

 

"People only remember one thing more than good service.

BAD SERVICE."

 

GC

[davencl]

37 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

 

Meanwhile, this situation is a mess, and Oceania is making it worse.

[Can't a cruiseline get special insurance for "really, really bad events such that they'd want to refund everyone who wants it"?  After all, it wouldn't be invoked that often, or so one hopes (!).  But yeah, that would cost more...]

 

I'll be very interested in how this all plays out, with Oceania and the other cruise lines.  Will they all end up doing pretty much the same thing, or will some lines refund, and others still play hardball?

 

And regardless of the above, making an offer and then rescinding it without notice!??

This all reminds me of a billboard I saw years ago:

 

"People only remember one thing more than good service.

BAD SERVICE."

 

GC

Yes they sure are making it worse.  Regarding insurance I know my homeowners policy doesn't cover really really bad events like war and nuclear disastor so it's likely the cruise line can't get that type of coverage.  I'm hoping Oceania utlimately choses to refund but they get a solid "F" grade from me for how they've handled communication and action it so far.

[Beagle5]

49 minutes ago, jakes47 said:

Our last cruise price was reduce dramatically after our final payment date and there was nothing we could do about it - nor did we receive any compensation.

Just curious- do you book through a Travel Agent? This  happened on our two previous O cruises (big drops 2 weeks after final payment). In each case our Melbourne TA was able to get O to offer us a choice of either cabin upgrade, OBC, and in one case a FCC. 
still annoying, but it kept us loyal (for now).

[Jayne E]

1 hour ago, Beagle5 said:

Just curious- do you book through a Travel Agent? This  happened on our two previous O cruises (big drops 2 weeks after final payment). In each case our Melbourne TA was able to get O to offer us a choice of either cabin upgrade, OBC, and in one case a FCC. 
still annoying, but it kept us loyal (for now).

We had a cruise reduced $1,000 after Final Payment. TA got us $1,000 SBC. We were satisfied as we were entitled to nothing. I’ve purchased clothing, furniture, etc. that eventually went on sale for less and no refund or credit. That’s business. We’ve met people who only book cruises after Final Payment and reduced prices. All good if you’re willing to take any cabin and book very late.

[jakes47]

1 hour ago, Beagle5 said:

Just curious- do you book through a Travel Agent? This  happened on our two previous O cruises (big drops 2 weeks after final payment). In each case our Melbourne TA was able to get O to offer us a choice of either cabin upgrade, OBC, and in one case a FCC. 
still annoying, but it kept us loyal (for now).

Yes - we booked through a TA cruise specialist and there was nothing they could do due to the timing we were lock into. The cruise was reduced $4000 AUD each.  On other cruises the reductions were picked up well in advance and TA was able to get the cheaper deal. This reduction was done well after we had made the final payment and only for one leg of our B2B cruise. 

[roninman]

13 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

[Can't a cruiseline get special insurance for "really, really bad events such that they'd want to refund everyone who wants it"?  After all, it wouldn't be invoked that often, or so one hopes (!).  But yeah, that would cost more...]

 

Of course businesses and shipping lines can get insurance.   The original Lloyds of London insurance company was formed way back in the 1600s precisely to insure shipping.  Or businesses can simply self-insure against the real world risk of loss from untoward geopolitical events.

 

But why would a corporation incur the cost of extra insurance, or the effect of placing claims, if it can pass on its own business risk to compliant customers, who can then be admonished to "read the contract!"

 

 

[susiesan]

I booked a Baltic cruise on Norwegian Dawn for Aug. 2021 that included 2 days in St. Petersburg. Then the Ukraine conflict broke out and NCL had to drop St. Petersburg and substituted an extra day in Helsinki and added Visby. This was before final payment so many people cancelled the cruise because they wanted to go to St. Petersburg. To encourage people from not canceling they offered  a huge discount to keep the cruise. I saved over $1500 for 2 of us. Why O isn't doing this for the people willing to take these particular sailings doesn't make sense because NCLH has done it before.