Passport/ Visa Problems with Passport Exp.?

[Lido]

Have any other Cruise Critic passengers had problems with the service of Passport Express? We are on the Nautica March 31st out of Hong Kong. We elected to pay the rather stiff $395 per person to Oceania for their Visa Package to simplify life. Passport Express assured us they would have my wife's Passport back to her by March 1st. as she needed it for a work trip. Instead they got MY passport back to me (which I did not need) and she had to cancel her March 6th trip. A very costly experience in trusting someone to do what they say. Oceania has been of no help to date. Think twice before you send your passport to someone you where you have no control over the outcome. Anyone else had a problem??? Lido

[ab0si]

Lido:

 

This suggestion won't solve this problem but it will prevent a repeat. The U.S. government will issue a second passport to any passport holder who asks. The purpose of this second passport is to prevent exactly the situation your wife faced -- sent the passport away for a visa and need to tkae atrip before it is returned.

 

Paul

[sancarlos]

We too are on the March 31 cruise Hong Kong to Athens, we sent in our passports for the Oceania Visa's necessary for the cruise and have not yet received our passports or visas. My husband was told that he needed a new passport as he didn't have four blank pages in his passport so the additional cost for another passport. Still waiting, keep in touch so we can panic together.

[Jancruz]

I suggest you call your travel agent and have them help you..all my clients have gotten their passports back..

Jan

*****

[orchestrapal]

Sancarlos: Pages will be added to an existing passport by the US Passport Agency. No need to obtain a new passport.

[boxsterr]

I too used the Oceania services. I did not find Passport Express particularly friendly or helpful. Got different answers from different people on the phone. I had to do expedited on top of the regular fee for my passport, when I found out that I needed a new passport because there was an Israeli exit stamp on mine from 2000. It would have been nice to have been informed of this a little earlier so that I could have taken care of it more efficiently and less costly. Then of course I had to do expedited visa service because I didn't have my passport back to send them!!

The passport took longer than they said and the visa came back a week earlier than they said.....go figure!!

I have always used Zeirir in the past but decided to use Oceania's recommended service because of the confusion of trying to figure out which visas you actually needed. There seems to be a blanket visa for some of the countries and we only needed India. I couldn't quite figure out if the blanket visas covered you if you didn;t do it through them, so I decided to be safe rather than sorry.

I would definitely stay on top of them.....they do not seem to be the most organized group!!

Meanwhile, looking forward to a fabulous trip on the 31st!!!

Brenda

[tgg]

This is the link to the thread I started back in December five days before we were supposed to leave on an Oceania cruise and did not have our visas. My travel agent could get nowhere with Passport Express.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=449580

 

Although I wrote to Frank DelRusso about the problem, I never heard from him or anyone else at Oceania. I would have expected an apology.

[tgg]

Proofreading would have helped. I know his name is Frank Del Rio.

[sancarlos]

Spoke with Passport Express today and they told us that everything was ready but they were waiting for the visas from India, expected them in a few days and everything would be sent to us immediately. I will call again in a few days.

[Lido]

To :tgg

Your horror story certainly outdoes ours. At least it sounds like you did finally get your passports. Did Oceania provide any compensation to you for this disaster? It is hard to believe that an operation like this can remain in business with this sort of performance. But, even harder to think that Oceania would continue to use them. At the moment, I wish we had never even considered this cruise, But, those who have gone before us speak well of their experience. Possibly they just did not have to deal with Passport Express. We will post our eventual outcome. LIDO

[Jancruz]

Lido, I spoke to Oceania about your problem and I believe they are working on it..

Jan

*****

[tgg]

To: Lido

 

In answer to your question about compensation from Oceania, there was no answer to my letter to Frank Del Rio, no upgrade when we boarded the ship, not even a bottle of wine. My husband and I both felt that nobody cared.

 

We were told that Oceania was no longer using Passport Express.

[Lido]

{tgg}: Thank you for your replies. We presumed your two plus months of poor handling ended "badly". We were correct. Your link above at #7 which leads to your original thread dated Dec. 1, 2006 SHOULD BE READ IN FULL BY EVERYONE!

 

{abOsi} : Paul: Thanks for your excellent suggestion regarding obtaining a second passport. We were unaware that this option was available.

 

{jancruz1} : I wonder how you can state above that "Lido, I spoke to Oceania about your problem and I believe they are working on it" But I note on your post #26 on Dec 4, 2006 to tgg's thread above that you state "Everyone in the Florida office knows about the problem and it has been rectified" If tgg's "problem" was "rectified" it certainly appears to have been poorly handled and left a very dissatified customer. But your 1,272 posts to date certainly trump my 3. Is "jancruz1" an Oceania employee?

 

Our original post was placed on this board because we had a PROBLEM. We have taken 40 cruises over the past 14 years. All have been pleasant from 13 days in The Queen's Grill on the QE2 to a recent 4 day Carnival cruise with our 6 year old grand daughter. We have never before had a problem that was not resolved satisfactorily by either the pursor's office or the cruise line office. Only twice have we needed additional assistance from our excellent TA. This board provides a forum for some people to vent that "They will NEVER cruise on "O" again because they do not have the toy horse races" or complain that they "were not allowed to dine in flip flops", etc. etc. Replies to my thread seem to confirm that a lot of Oceania customers have had major problems with Passport Express. And it is an ongoing and continuing problem they do not appear to be resolving.

Readers of the board should recognize that posters like {tgg} and us have legitimate issues that were not handled properly by Oceania. We remain hopeful that Oceania will acknowlege their responsibility to us. We will NOT be ignored.

[Jancruz]

{jancruz1} : I wonder how you can state above that "Lido, I spoke to Oceania about your problem and I believe they are working on it" But I note on your post #26 on Dec 4, 2006 to tgg's thread above that you state "Everyone in the Florida office knows about the problem and it has been rectified" If tgg's "problem" was "rectified" it certainly appears to have been poorly handled and left a very dissatified customer. But your 1,272 posts to date certainly trump my 3. Is "jancruz1" an Oceania employee?

 

Hi Lido,

I am NOT an Oceania employee but speak on the phone to the office for several hours each day..TGG's problem was rectified..they did get their passports it may not have been with additional perks but it was taken care of..

Jan

*****

[Lido]

{jancruz1}

 

You have decided to inject yourself into the problem I experienced with Oceania and I accept your statement that you "are not an Oceania employee" but do "spend several hours on the phone with them every day" How many people spend several hours on the phone every day with Oceania discussing other cruisers business??

I think most everyone who read tgg's horror story from the link posted above would agree that their issue with Oceania was NOT properly rectified. Getting their passport back the day before they left was not acceptible. It has nothing to do with not getting some additional perks on board. No perks could make up for what they appeared to go through!

In our case, for those who have become lost in this. My wife had to have her passport back by March 1st to go to work. We paid Oceania $395 for each of our visas and Passport Express charged us an additional $105 to expedite the handling with the assurance that HER passport would be back by March 1st. Mine was sent. Not hers. She could not go to work and is losing 1/3 of a months pay. Oceania feels they have no responsibility and they only propose that Passport Express send us back $105, which I doubt we will even see without much follow up. I say again, this may be a fine cruise line but ANY ONE mailing their passports to Passport Express should be prepared for a lot of excuses, delays, and poor service. Oceania will provide you no help. THERE ARE BETTER OPTIONS OUT THERE.

 

Lido

[pmcgsan]

What are the options out there? We are on the 2008 sailing from HK to Athens and I have been checking the various countries web sites. We can get India and Vietnam in San Franciso but need to mail away to consulates in DC for others. The problem I am having is which countries do we actually need a visa for. Some state that a visitor can obtain a visa when entering but not if we are going directly from the ship to a bus. Any info would be greatly appreciated. We have a lot of time to work on this. Thanks.

[boxsterr]

Not to add fuel to the already flourishing fire, but I have to share more of my experience with Passport Express. It cost $127 to the State Department and $169 to Passport Express to get my early renewal of my passport so that there would no longer be an Israel stamp.

Then it cost an additional $150 to do expedited India visas.

Add on additional taxes to Virgin Atlantic because of increased fees after our tickets were purchased.

However, I am grateful that I have the opportunity to suffer these problems and go on these wonderful trips.

Now that I have my passport safely in hand I can see some humor, but I do believe that Passport Express does not do anything to enhance the image of Oceania.

Ultimately, anyone they recommend is a reflection on them.

Looking forward to a fabulous 35-days.....only 24 to go and counting!!

Brenda

[Jancruz]

{jancruz1}

 

You have decided to inject yourself into the problem I experienced with Oceania and I accept your statement that you "are not an Oceania employee" but do "spend several hours on the phone with them every day" How many people spend several hours on the phone every day with Oceania discussing other cruisers business??

[

You are correct..I should never have injected myself in the mix trying to help you and for that I do apologize..it will not happen again.

Jan

*****

[sancarlos]

I just received an email from my travel agent with the Federal Express tracking number from Passport Express and my passports should be arriving on Friday. Thanks Jan for suggesting that my travel agent look into the situation for me rather than contacting them again myself. Your knowledge is invaluable to this board, we know that you probably have more clients than anyone who sail with Oceania but you use your contacts with Oceania to help us on the Cruise Critic Message board with our problems. Don't ever stop.

[Jancruz]

I just received an email from my travel agent with the Federal Express tracking number from Passport Express and my passports should be arriving on Friday. Thanks Jan for suggesting that my travel agent look into the situation for me rather than contacting them again myself. Your knowledge is invaluable to this board, we know that you probably have more clients than anyone who sail with Oceania but you use your contacts with Oceania to help us on the Cruise Critic Message board with our problems. Don't ever stop.

 

 

I am very happy that all is working out well for you!! I appreciate your confidence..

Jan

*****

[tgg]

After the mess we went through, I asked some well-travelled friends what service they use for visas. They recommended ZIERER VISA SERVICE.

 

Several people have mentioned them on this board. Here is the link:

http://www.zvs.com/.

 

In response to Jan's comment "TGG's problem was rectified..they did get their passports. It may not have been with additional perks but it was taken care of." I think Jan might agree that it would have been nice if someone from Oceania had simply answered our letter and apologized for the stress we went through.

 

I think that people just want to know that someone hears their concerns and cares. The form that acknowledgment takes is less important than the fact that it happens. It's simple: I hear what you say; I'm sorry that it happened; I will try to make sure that it doesn't happen again.

[Lido]

{tgg}

 

First thank you for including the address for Zierer Visa Service. I have seen the name before and it sounds like they do a good job for their customers. Certainly better than Passport Express

 

Your final paragraph above is a concise but gentle summation. The fact that our VISAS have ended up costing us over $2400 and caused great grief was further aggravated by Oceania's position that "It's not our problem". I do NOT expect to ever see an apology note. The company seems to have an internal culture that does not understand the value of these "little things". Passport Express appears to be causing them a lot of problems and ill will with their customers. Sadly, what appears (none of our 40 cruise to date have been with Oceania) to be in many ways a well run operation could be brought down by this sort of lack of concern for us as people rather than just "revenue sources".

 

tgg, You sound like lovely people. Wish you were on our cruise.

 

lido

[Jancruz]

After the mess we went through, I asked some well-travelled friends what service they use for visas. They recommended ZIERER VISA SERVICE.

 

Several people have mentioned them on this board. Here is the link:

http://www.zvs.com/.

 

In response to Jan's comment "TGG's problem was rectified..they did get their passports. It may not have been with additional perks but it was taken care of." I think Jan might agree that it would have been nice if someone from Oceania had simply answered our letter and apologized for the stress we went through.

 

I think that people just want to know that someone hears their concerns and cares. The form that acknowledgment takes is less important than the fact that it happens. It's simple: I hear what you say; I'm sorry that it happened; I will try to make sure that it doesn't happen again.

 

I absolutely agree with you..and it is something your TA should have addressed if he/she did, I would venture to say you would have gotten something....

 

Jan

*****

[Rickey 88]

{jancruz1}

 

You have decided to inject yourself into the problem I experienced with Oceania and I accept your statement that you "are not an Oceania employee" but do "spend several hours on the phone with them every day" How many people spend several hours on the phone every day with Oceania discussing other cruisers business??

 

 

Lido

 

As I note you have only 5 previous posts to your name, it is obvious that you are unfamiliar with Jan and her reputation. As many others can testify, Jan is a well-known and respected travel agent who is extremely familiar with Oceania and has been most helpful in assisting cruisers who have had problems.

She was simply attempting to be of service to you with your problem!

[tgg]

Jan:

 

Not only did my TA address the problem, but I also wrote a letter to Frank Del Rio. My agent got nowhere and neither did I. As previously stated, my letter went unanswered.

 

The orginal thread was huge; more than 1900 viewings. Might someone from Oceania have read it and acted? You'd kind of think so. If Frank Del Rio can get involved in questions about berries, might he be interested in problems with visas? I would guess YES.

 

I'm told that Frank Del Rio was on our cruise. If so, he could have simply found us and said that he was sorry for the problem we had.

 

When we had a problem with noise from a connecting room on a previous Oceania cruise, the hotel manager and concierge had someone inspect the door seal (which was found to be defective) and move us to another room. As a goodwill gesture, we received a bottle of wine. The bottle was a way of saying "I'm sorry you had a problem."

 

This is simple public relations, not brain surgery.