Tarwood3

1 hour ago, nwcruiselover said:

I would be interested in knowing whether those who have been canceled had assigned cabin number, or guarantee.

I had an assigned cabin ….booked 14mos ago 

9 minutes ago, Larasmum said:

We are a family with six cabins booked on the 10/24 cruise.     Three are listed as "cancelled" - three are noted as upgraded.    Of the ones cancelled, two are oceanview, one is a verandah.     The three not cancelled were verandah - now concierge.    All reservations are linked and a "lift and shift" from the October 2022 Japan cruise.      Totally baffled but trying to get answers from Celebrity.

I wonder if they are doing the cancelations in batches, so as not to overwhelm the team tasked with dealing with this issue? If they sent out mass emails…it would be chaos and mayhem? 

2 hours ago, WestLakeGirl said:

Were you given any indication where the ship will be? Will it stay in Southeast Asia? Or will it be chartered and go somewhere else?

No….she didn’t seem to want to elaborate.  We asked the question 3 different ways about the cancellation…that’s when she finally said …everyone is being canceled , ship won’t be in Japan??  So I don’t know.  We have friends on this cruise and they got an email too and are supposed to talk to the rep this morning, so we have asked him to ask her again about what she told us yesterday.  We need clarification on how they choose to cancel folks ( we booked 14 mos ago) and is everyone really being canceled, or did she. Mislead us .   We spoke with Karen…the one who the email came from. 

1 hour ago, Judy Arthur said:

I wonder whether Celebrity status comes into play?

I don’t know how they chose who would be canceled.  We are elite plus 

7 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

I think this information is also interesting from those that haven’t been cancelled on the overbooked sailings. 

We were in a veranda , booked 14mos ago 

25 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

I wonder who gets put in the oversold category and how do they determine that?

Our question exactly….we booked 14mos ago and being canceled..  when we pressed the concierge rep, thats when she told us everyone was being canceled??

4 hours ago, omeinv said:

I just got off the phone with Celebrity.  The cruises are NOT cancelled, they are OVERSOLD, so they are having to cancel and re-book certain people. 

 

Harris

Denver, CO

1 hour ago, omeinv said:

Demonstrating my selfish nature, I only asked about April 9, 2024; which is the one I'm booked on. 

 

Harris

Denver, CO

I was on the April 9th sailing as well…….

4 hours ago, omeinv said:

I just got off the phone with Celebrity.  The cruises are NOT cancelled, they are OVERSOLD, so they are having to cancel and re-book certain people. 

 

Harris

Denver, CO

It’s been very contradictory.  Email we got said overbooked, so canceling us..we booked over a year ago. But when we talked to the rep in charge of this mess, she told us that MIllenium wasn’t going to be in Japan at all …??? So who knows?

4 hours ago, Novastar said:

Which cruise were you on? We are booked for the May 15, 2024 cruise of Japan. I haven't been called and all the Japan cruises are still showing as available to book.

On April 9th sailing….email we got said that we were being canceled because of oversold reason, but when we talked to the rep in charge of these sailings, she told us MIllenium won’t be in Japan at all??? So I don’t know what to believe. 

just got a phone call from Celebrity….  Japan next spring has been canceled on Millenium.  Rep told us Millenium won’t be in Japan at all??  So I guess that means a lot of cruises will be canceled.  Offered us 2025, but we already have an Oceania 20 day Asia cruise booked…so doesn’t work for us.  We were offered a pathetic $450 future cruise credit which has to be used within one year…again, terrible.  

4 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

Thank you! Are there any of these that lines that you wouldn’t sail on again?  As I said, we have traveled Viking and love them…..will sail them again, for the right itinerary. They are expanding in various regions, which is great with their new ships and some look interesting without doubt.  Their Mediterranean sailings need a pretty big refresh though,  and that is what we are looking for 23/24. After that it’s likely time for revisiting other areas in our world. 

Only ones are Royal Caribbean. Just too many people for me. And I didn’t care for Crystal. Food and crew were good   I just didn’t like the ships themselves. They were old and didn’t care for the layout. I guess that’s a moot point now that they went BK. We will see what the new owners do with the ships. Otherwise I like all the rest   

On 12/11/2022 at 4:06 PM, Vineyard View said:

Nothing wrong with that at all. It works for you. We are happy to sail with Viking again when it has the itinerary we are looking for at the time.  I am looking at one for 2024 that is longer than our traveling friends could take with us in 2023. Maybe  we are stepping out on a limb, so to speak, with trying another line. IDK. But they both have very good reputations, so I guess we will find out. 
 

I think you will like Seabourn…we really love them.  As I have said earlier, we book based on itinerary, so not really loyal to anyone.  We seem to be happy on every line we have been on the for the most part. They are all a little different. Each has its own culture and since we love to travel and experience different places and cultures, we also appreciate something different on board with different cruise lines.  I dont want the same experience on board every single time I travel.  We have done Silversea, SEabourn , Regent, Crystal , Paul Gauguin , Oceania, Azamara, Celebrity , Holland America and Royal Caribbean. 

15 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

Just read Seabourn's newest tonnage, the Seabourn Venture, has stabaliser issues, with the stabalisers operating at reduced capacity.

 

Not a safety issue, but definitely a pax comfort issue. Will be interesting to see how Seabourn, who are owned by Carnival, deal with this issue and whether pax are notified in advance.

 

Haven't checked the Seabourn Board, but might be worth checking out. 

Long short of what I have read on Seabourn’s facebook (we just got off Venture 2 weeks ago, so follow it closely)  they were notified of Stabilizer problem at dinner , a couple hours after leaving Ushuaia. It’s a 3 week journey…. They canceled South Georgia portion because of stabilizer issue. Quite a few people flipped out because that is a major draw to that particular cruise.  Anyway, the captain turned the ship around and docked back in Ushuaia the next morning and those who wanted to leave the ship, did, and the remaining have continued on. Someone , who stayed on the ship, posted a letter which showed what compensation they were being offered. I haven’t seen what was offered to those that chose to end their journey ??  

2 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

On longer cruises, Viking offer previous pax up to $1,000 pp discount.

 

As a private company, Viking are not members of the mega ship owner's club/lobby group CLIA. As such Viking do not follow the industry norms in many areas, with no loyalty program being one of the differences.

 

Having cruised and worked for a number of cruise lines, I actually enjoyed not having the loyalty program. Once on board, every pax is considered equal, regardless of how many times they cruised with Viking and which cabin category.

 

Viking also provide every pax with many of the perks provided on some cruise line loyalty programs - wifi and laundry (self-service). Prior to leaving our previous preferred cruise line, we were at the highest loyalty level, but on our last cruise, so was more than 50% of the pax.

Oh wow,..that’s an awesome assessment! Now that’s some good info! I appreciate it! Makes sense to me now!  We are looking at a couple different Viking trips…one in Asia, one in South America, just haven;’t pulled the trigger yet. 

2 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Yes, to be technically correct, rather than saying it was dark, I should have said they were in twilight, where the amount of available light, when the sun sets, depends greatly on cloud cover. Having spent 20 yrs residing in equivalent high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, I have some experience with summer twilights and how much light is available.

 

The 24 hrs of daylight occurs in the Polar regions above 66 degrees and 33 minutes. The latitude of Ushuaia is about 54 48 S, which is about 750 miles north of the Antarctic Circle. The Viking Polaris incident was also 3 weeks prior to the Winter Solstice on 21st December 2022. Therefore, based on her position, the sun had set and she was experiencing twilight conditions, either civil or nautical, probably the latter.

 

In Ushuaia, on 29th November, sunset was 21:46, so to be technically correct, based on the ship's position, it most likely Nautical Twilight, not dark. The definition of Nautical Twilight is the sky is sufficiently dark on a clear day to see stars, but still with a visible horizon to take sights. Nautical Twilight is the middle of the 3 twilights and is when the sun is 6 to 12 degrees below the horizon.

 

Having spent many years at sea, I am reasonably confident that when the rogue wave impacted the ship, while it wasn't pitch dark, the twilight visibility was restricted by storm conditions, which was further reduced by driving spray, rain and wave action. Even in daylight, visibility in a severe storm isn't great.

Well, that was a mouthful…but since I was just there , at the same time, I can assure you, that at 1040p…it was not twilight. There was stil a lot of daylight …there were no stars or anything.  But this debate has really nothing to do with it anyway….  It’s not like they could have avoided the wave even if they had seen it…day or night…so it’s a moot point anyway. 

6 minutes ago, KBs mum said:

I know on the TV programmes about them I watched their formal nights had a lower standard of dress than Viking's smart casual. The decor was all naff gold and marble, and there were announcements and crass events in the lounges. Put us off. Reminded us of Las Vegas, fun for a long weekend once (base to go to grand canyon and Hoover dam) but won't go back there

Well to each his/her own.  Like I said, until you cruise a line, you can’t fairly judge them. Despite what anyone says about a cruiseline, we always like to try them ourselves first before rendering judgement.   Not sure you can really understand what its like to cruise by a tv program. Anyway, as long as you are happy where you are, that’s awesome. We choose our cruises based on itinerary , not cruise line. We are usually happy on most cruise lines…. We can appreciate each on their own merits. 

10 minutes ago, KBs mum said:

Opinions of quality are subjective. We discounted silversea, Regent and seabourn very early in the reasearch process. Unfortunately they seem to suffer from being part of megaship conglomerates with the same sort of resort (as in Vegas hotel, not ship) vibe as their ship within a ship concepts

Other than Viking we like the look of Hurtigruten, may not be coincidence they are another European independent

Um…way off base. That’s not true at all…if you haven’t sailed them , you clearly have no idea what they are all about.  

1 minute ago, KBs mum said:

Thing is, Viking doesn't need to discount to get repeat custom. The ships are often fully booked a year or two in advance.

I don't shop on the basis of discounts I might get sometime in the future. Good brands tend not to have heavily discounting loyalty schemes as their customers value the whole package not just the bottom line. 

We ended up with a lot of points from British Airways, despite them being our airline of last resort. We let them expire, choosing instead to book with other airlines. The discounts didn't make then worth putting up with them when there were alternatives

 I understand what you mean. Im not saying I shop or cruise based on discounts either..but every cruise line has its loyalty programs, some better than others…so I was just asking based on curiosity. You say “good brands” tend not to heavily discount… it’s not just about discounts. We sail primarily Silversea and Seabourn..excellent brands btw… and both have great loyalty programs.  We are offered percentage discounts for re booking but also free things after so many nights, whether it’s free laundry , discounts for things on board, etc….   So I would disagree…good brands do tend to reward their most loyal customers .  I’m not saying it’s gonna make or break me booking a cruise with Viking, I just doubt I would book them over Silversea or SEabourn for the exact same itinerary…

1 hour ago, KBs mum said:

Small discount off brochure price for past customers. Fortunately no tiered loyalty programmes

Hmmm…that’s a bit disappointing.   Every line offers discount to loyal customers plus the onboard discounts…

On 12/5/2022 at 8:35 PM, Heidi13 said:

 

In addition to being at night, the visibility is further reduced by probably rain, sea spray and possibly even other waves, especially when coming out the trough. It is unlikely they would get much, if any warning. The other consideration is even if they did see it coming, it probably would not provide sufficient time to analyse the situation and react.

 

Hopefully the AIBN report will answer these questions.

It’s summer and near the South Pole…it doesn’t get dark.  At 1040pm, it is still quite bright out. We just got off the Seabourn Venture in Antarctica….  The Polaris was docked next to us when we left for our cruise on Nov 25th…they left a couple hours before us.  Even when getting up at 3am to go the bathroom, it was still light out…

On 12/5/2022 at 12:07 PM, Insanityx4 said:

This is off the topic of ship design, windows breaking, Zodiac explosions, and the death of a passenger which was tragic, but I am wondering if anyone knows how and where the Polaris is being repaired and where the parts are coming from? I assume since the ship was built in Italy they would have to come from there. Also, I noticed all Octantis and Polaris cruises have just been listed as "SOLD OUT" until March. Does anyone know if there are more cancellations for safety reasons?

Thanks Andy and the Chief for sharing all of your knowledge from your many years at sea. 

While I can’t say for sure…. We were on Seabourn Venture in Antarctica. Polaris was actually docked next to us in Ushuaia. We both departed within hours of each other.  When we finished our cruise, Polaris was already back in Ushuaia and had been for about 3 days.  She was anchored in the bay…windows of course still broken. Not sure if parts are being flown in or they just haven’t decided how best to handle the repairs yet …that was Dec 5th.  I just checked Marine Traffic and it has moved down the Beagle Channel a few miles to Punta Arenas, Chile…been there since Dec 8th.   

Very sad situation….  After having just traveled the Drake Passage twice on this trip, I can say it is ROUGH! Weather is so highly unpredictable in that part of the world.  While in Antarctica, the weather literally changes multiple times in a few hours. We would go from blizzard, high winds, high swells. To an hour later being sunny, gorgeous and calm, then to rain, snow winds, high seas, then fog ….it’s crazy down there.  

How is the Viking loyalty program?  I was trying to find info on the website about it and it says something about travel credits or something like that?  For those who sail on other lines besides Viking…do you like it better or worse than other lines you sail on?  

We have been looking at booking Viking for the first time…we sail Silversea, Seabourn and Celebrity the most, with a couple Oceania tossed in there 

On 4/25/2022 at 4:18 PM, Aknayt3393 said:

It’s our first time on Oceania. We scheduled this cruise a couple years ago with three other couples. We are finally cruising only without the other couples due to schedule conflicts. I’ve not posted on this forum before but have been following off and on for a few years so I decided to post a few observations that may help others. I don’t want to post daily reports as we will be too busy - however I can try to answer questions if I’m able. We are late 50’s couple with only a couple cruises under our belt, always with other couples where other more experienced would take the lead in planning. 
 

Embarkation

I was surprised at how efficient this all went. We showed our negative test results from 72 hours prior along with our vaccine cards and were able to go through easily, no additional test needed. There wasn’t an awful line, and people seemed prepared and efficient, both passengers and staff. We only waited maybe an hour once on the ship to go to our PH room on 11. Super smooth. 
 

We asked how many passengers are on and it’s just 600, so it does feel a bit quiet but I don’t really mind.
 

Crew

So far we’ve been really impressed, most have been terrific given current conditions. 
We were a bit uncomfortable with the idea of a “butler” but figured it would be fine. He actually has been a non-event which is fine with us, but kind of funny since I thought a butler would be intrusive but we have seen way more of our room steward who has been a delight. She’s been working hard and has a great attitude. When we met the butler we asked about extra reservations at the specialty restaurants because I read on here to do that, and it was awkward - he basically said no, that he wanted to be sure other guests had an opportunity to get reservations before making second ones for us. He was nice enough about it but we did felt bad for asking and said it was no problem, we were okay without. When we eventually went to the dining room, the hostess asked if we wanted to go to Red Ginger instead and we were quite surprised. And Red Ginger ended up being maybe 1/3 full. 
 

Masks

We are all wearing masks unless eating or working out if it’s not crowded (and I’m not thinking it will be!). Not a big deal at all and I don’t have a sense of it being a problem for most. When boarding we asked about the policy and got vague and confusing answers from the reception staff, but then the cruise director made an announcement about it and I think finally everyone was on the same page. We can’t take drinks into the shows so everyone can keep their masks on, which makes sense to me. There was still decent attendance to the show given it was the first day and the ship is only half full. But everyone was still able to socially distance in the auditorium and it felt fine. 
 

Entertainment 

I was really wondering what to expect from reports on here but we went to the 930 show this evening and I think Oceania is getting back on track. The Riviera band was awesome, better than I expected with an incredible pianist. There was also a very talented 4 piece string quartet. A new team of 12 dancers and singers were introduced, along with a new assistant cruise director and social director who seems very involved in getting the singles together every day. There’s a guest singer scheduled tomorrow - I think he is supposed to be the voice of Mufasa on lion king on broadway if I’m not mistaken. 
 

I had planned to check out the casino but ended up shopping in the boutique instead. (They carry a decent selection of Lauren Ralph Lauren and Joseph Ribkoff in case anyone else is interested :}
 

Food and drink

It seems pretty good so far, better than Viking or Royal Caribbean which are my only other points of reference. I wish there was hard seltzer but that’s a pretty minor complaint. They have everything else so it’s all good. 
 

Excursions

I've been bracing myself for potential cancellations, determined to be flexible and understanding. So when there was an announcement while checking in that the excursion company had cancelled the Monaco excursions due to some conflict with a formula one electric car race, I was really disappointed since I had been looking forward to that one the most. I’d even read a book to study up on it in advance. But then we were able to schedule another tour that involves a hop on hop off bus (which my husband is NOT excited about) but I think will be even better, and we even get to spend time in the casino. 
 

That’s all I can think of at the moment. It’s just the first day but I hope this might be helpful for others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We will be on Riviera May 7th in Ravenna…so following ! Thanks for taking the time to post!  Btw we have done the hop on hop off in Monte Carlo and enjoyed it quite a bit. It’s such a small place and it hits everywhere. You will enjoy it!

1 hour ago, Hobie said:

Which transatlantic cruise are you on?

I will be on the Valiant Lady, transatlantic beginning in Barcelona on Oct. 16.  Barcelona to Miami.

We are on October 29, 2023 voyage…

Contrary to what everyone has commented so far, we are actually pretty excited about Virgin. We primarily sail on Silversea, Regent and Seabourn but have done everything from Royal Caribbean, holland America, Celebrity etc..  I don’t think V is trying to be ultra luxe as some described. I don’t think they are trying to compete with Silversea for example..more on the line with Celebrity I would say. There are so many cruise lines and sooo many ships out there, I think they are just trying to create something different and unique in a very competitive market. We rarely do Caribbean as all the islands are kinda similar.  So we were waiting for a transatlantic to really enjoy all the restaurants , ship etc. We booked a Brilliant Suite , nice to have more room on a 14 day voyage. As I have always told friends who ask our opinion on this line or that line…I just say “ try it and see for yourself”. Everyone has different likes and dislikes. You never really know  unless you experience for yourself…..