Jump to content

Oceania Website Problem?


DaisyUK
 Share

Recommended Posts

Anyone having trouble with Oceania's website? I am trying to book shore excursions etc and keep being directed to an 'error' page. I have emailed customer services but not received any response as yet, and I have just tried to call them but they are closed on Sunday. I am wondering whether there is a generic problem at the moment, or whether it is just me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Jay. I have now managed to at least get a list of the excursions by going out of our booking and into the general description of our cruise. I will look through these for now, and hopefully Oceania will sort out the problem tomorrow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Daisy - the shore excursions are very expensive. And in most cases you can do things quite easily on your own. Bermuda, for example - you can buy a day bus/ferry pass for about $16 and then travel everywhere. Madeira - there are taxi companies that offer sightseeing. Gibraltar - if you want the dolphin safari cruise I have an e mail address and have been asked to e mail them about 5 days before we get there to see how the "sightings" are in the bay and also how the winds are. I would be happy to pass this on to you. I do not know Gibraltar but I certainly do know Bermuda and if I can help e mail me directly at Thompson then the at Verbier and then the dot and then ch

Gerry

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Been happening to me for quite some time for our Australia / NZ cruise coming up on Feb 12. I finally bit the bullet to book the ONE O excursion I wanted and was told it was wait listed... :(

 

Some in our roll call said it didn't affect them while it did others. Not sure what is going on with their site...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Been happening to me for quite some time for our Australia / NZ cruise coming up on Feb 12. I finally bit the bullet to book the ONE O excursion I wanted and was told it was wait listed... :(

 

Some in our roll call said it didn't affect them while it did others. Not sure what is going on with their site...

 

Thanks for the feedback. Oceania have told me they have 'issues' with their website but are unable to tell me when it will be fixed. They have, however, sent me an email copy of the list of excursions and told me I can book over the phone. I had thought that the dining reservations section of their website was not working consistently either, because I was unable to make dining reservations for one section of our back to back cruise. However, it transpires that the reason I am unable to do so is because our travel agent has not paid Oceania in full yet and dining reservations can only be made after full payment has been received. Not happy, especially considering I paid our travel agent a month ago:mad:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just an FYI - I went on site two days ago and easily booked the excursions we wanted on the "Your World" package.

 

I think the topic of self-generated tours vs. ship's tours has been beaten to death on this forum, just MHO as someone who still utilizes the ship's tours when I want to. I hope we don't get into THAT little briar patch again!

 

Donna

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the feedback. Oceania have told me they have 'issues' with their website but are unable to tell me when it will be fixed. They have, however, sent me an email copy of the list of excursions and told me I can book over the phone. I had thought that the dining reservations section of their website was not working consistently either, because I was unable to make dining reservations for one section of our back to back cruise. However, it transpires that the reason I am unable to do so is because our travel agent has not paid Oceania in full yet and dining reservations can only be made after full payment has been received. Not happy, especially considering I paid our travel agent a month ago:mad:

 

Am surprised at the fact you paid your TA and they took payment and didn't simply send your credit card info directly to Oceania. Realize you are in the UK but, the normal process at lease in the US is to give your credit card number to the TA who then provides the number to the cruise line so that payment is close to instantaneous. It is highly frowned upon by most people to let the TA charge your credit card or pay by cash or check make out to the TA. There is protection from the cruiseline that doesn't exist if payment is made directly to the TA and especially when using a credit card. Would NEVER pay with cash, check, or debit card as no protection, at least in the US and believe credit card protection is universal.

 

There is absolutely NO reason for the TA to not send the payment immediately unless they are in financial trouble or are trying to make money on the "float", earning interest on money from others. I always expect an invoice from the TA as well as cruise line within a day or two and a month holding the money indicates to me a potential problem with your TA.

 

Good luck and hope there is no issue and the money is paid quickly,

Link to comment
Share on other sites

However, it transpires that the reason I am unable to do so is because our travel agent has not paid Oceania in full yet and dining reservations can only be made after full payment has been received. Not happy, especially considering I paid our travel agent a month ago:mad:

 

Well hope you are on the phone to your TA ASAP

 

AS Dave said the TA should just be sending your CC information to the cruise line on or before final payment day

 

Do you not get updated invoices from TA/Oceania after the payments?

Mine always sends new invoices for any payment or changes made

 

 

Lyn

Edited by LHT28
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, I have expressed my dissatisfaction to our TA and told them that their late payment to Oceania is unacceptable. They tell me that they have now paid, but apparently it will not clear until Friday (tomorrow) at which point I will be able to make my dining reservations. I am concerned about future bookings with them (we have 2 other Oceania cruises booked which are not yet due for payment) and will have to find a way of ensuring that this does not happen again - or take the bookings away from them if I am at liberty to do this. What is rather strange is that this is a back to back cruise, and the second part of it commencing on 1st April has been paid in full but the first part - starting 22nd March - is the one that has not. Our TA asked for payment for both cruises in October, but I questioned this and they agreed that it was too early. I finally paid them at the beginning of December. It's a worry.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My TA emails me a week before FP is due as a reminder ...maybe you need to email your TA a week ahead

 

Some longer cruise 15days+ are due 150 days out so maybe that is the difference in FP dates

Just a thought

 

Lyn

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wanted to add I also cannot view or add/modify my culinary class reservations ... :confused: I sent a message to Oceania and maybe they'll have some info as to why. It only seems to be affecting this cruise - my other cruise I have booked works fine...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

FYI - Here's the response I received from Oceania technical team:

 

Thank you for contacting Oceania Cruises.

 

You had come across an error on our website that our web team is working diligently to resolve. We currently estimate it to be resolved sometime next week.

 

Meanwhile you can always contact your travel agent or our Reservations Department at 1-800-531-5619 to assist you with your booking.

 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thanks again and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

FYI - Here's the response I received from Oceania technical team:

 

Thank you for contacting Oceania Cruises.

 

You had come across an error on our website that our web team is working diligently to resolve. We currently estimate it to be resolved sometime next week.

 

Meanwhile you can always contact your travel agent or our Reservations Department at 1-800-531-5619 to assist you with your booking.

 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thanks again and I hope you have a wonderful day!

 

I HOPE they are working "diligently" to resolve the problems. I (and others) are waiting to book cooking classes on our cruise, just 81 days away. There is a lot of "ghosting" going on - hypertext links appear and disappear - with the cooking class reservations. Sometimes you think you might be getting there... and then !oops! you are not.

 

Will try again tomorrow...and the next... and the next. Don't know why I have so much patience! And I HAVE contacted Guest Services. They also don't know exactly when the classes will be posted.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Will try again tomorrow...and the next... and the next. Don't know why I have so much patience! And I HAVE contacted Guest Services. They also don't know exactly when the classes will be posted.

 

Sounds like a staffing issue to me. It would be wrong to Post the Class, and then have passengers pay to fill it, if the Instructor has not been assigned yet.

 

With the exception of Chef Kelly, I've never felt that the Cooking Class teachers did not have other responsibilities around the ship; and adding another body would seem to be a last resort in this type of situation.

 

Give it some time, they will iron it out.... :o

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds like a staffing issue to me. It would be wrong to Post the Class, and then have passengers pay to fill it, if the Instructor has not been assigned yet.

 

With the exception of Chef Kelly, I've never felt that the Cooking Class teachers did not have other responsibilities around the ship; and adding another body would seem to be a last resort in this type of situation.

 

Give it some time, they will iron it out.... :o

 

Then why not have the chef instructors do more classes? They certainly are popular enough and generate decent income.

On another note, my TA contacted O and was told that they are awaiting Chef Kelly's input and will be posting by the end of next week if not sooner. We shall see.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

O is still having troubles. Their system wouldn't le me log in today. Main page comes up fine, but once I tried to log in to my account the entire site went down.

 

Maybe sometime next week. Glad I'm wanting to book a cruise on line, but actually my TA would just call them and do it by phone

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Then why not have the chef instructors do more classes? They certainly are popular enough and generate decent income.

 

I believe that you missed my point, Deb, If they can't rustle up enough staff to teach the classes as they are now, adding more classes would be going in the wrong direction.

 

There is a large manpower commitment for each class; -and not just the Instructors, Sous Chefs, cooking assistants and cleaning staff also play a part in the scheduling game.

 

If we were talking about a Zumba class, where the team only worked within the gymnasium, I would agree with you. But on the Culinary side, some of these guys have pretty onerous duties to attend to, elsewhere.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lucky you. Here are DaisyUK and I still waiting to know what cooking classes are available (and to sign up!) and we are under 80 days out... I don't want to make Spa reservations until I sign up for cooking. (One must have ones priorities straight...) But as of today, still no classes on the site for a TA cruise with oodles of sea days.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lucky you. Here are DaisyUK and I still waiting to know what cooking classes are available (and to sign up!) and we are under 80 days out... I don't want to make Spa reservations until I sign up for cooking. (One must have ones priorities straight...) But as of today, still no classes on the site for a TA cruise with oodles of sea days.

 

Odd since they are offering a Culinary tour in Funchal you would think there is a Chef onboard

Link to comment
Share on other sites

FYI - Here's the response I received from Oceania technical team:

 

Thank you for contacting Oceania Cruises.

 

You had come across an error on our website that our web team is working diligently to resolve. We currently estimate it to be resolved sometime next week.

 

Meanwhile you can always contact your travel agent or our Reservations Department at 1-800-531-5619 to assist you with your booking.

 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thanks again and I hope you have a wonderful day!

 

Tried to log into my account today and got the wonderful error message. Guess the sometime next week isn't here yet!:(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...