pmatawan

Probably the last cruiseline to cancel. They certainly withhold what was inevitable to the very last minute. I'm sure the decision was made months ago, just not shared with guests till now.

I'm a season cruiser, but 1st time on Oceania. Let me start by saying after experiencing the food and service onboard Riviera, I would find it difficult to go back to other mainstream lines. Yes, O is pricier, but for me, at this stage of my live, worth it.

I've been onboard Riviera for well over a month now as part of a 72 day grand voyage sailing in Asia.

On occasion, I've had some inquiries that either staff was either unable to answer or provided incorrect information.

My first inquiry was related to when tender tickets would be available  for independent  travelers at a particular port. Destination services gave me a time and I arrived 30 minutes early, but they had already given out tickets for the first 3 tenders for independent cruisers(not ship excursions).

Another example was a port listed as a tender port(Ha Long Bay), which I had heard was now available as a docking location. Again, destination services could not confirm that we would in fact be docking and not tendering. Why am I able to get proper answers from members on this site and not from onboard staff?

Another example is inaccurate shuttle times published in Currents. In Ho Chi Minh City, Currents indicated shuttle service would not be available between 11am-2pm and 5pm-7pm due to meal breaks. Totally incorrect, shuttle service was continuously available. In another port there was no mention in Currents of the port shuttle  to the gate, some guests walked toward the gate and were picked up by the but enroute. The shuttles were not easily identifiable and O staff could not direct us to them.

When I inquired at reception regarding visa services and pricing, I was again given incorrect information. One last item, due to "technical issues" O found it necessary to shorten port times during one cruise segment. They were unwilling to explain what those issues were leading to rumors of an engine issue, which turned out to be the truth. But they fixed the issue after a week, but never readjusted our port times, we just arrived hours early to the last ports on that segment. For those of us with private excursions, it required numerous updates with our tour guides. Mid cruise surveys addressing some of these issues did not receive a response.

In fairness to Oceania, this is the first time this ship has been in this part of the world, but I feel they have some communication issues that should be addressed.

On 2/13/2024 at 12:28 AM, Tranquility Base said:

Thanks for coming back with that @pmatawan

That's good info.

 

One other query if I may.

 

Did you hear any comments regarding the shuttles into Saigon from the Hiep Phuoc port ?

How long the shuttles to & from town were taking, and what time the last shuttle left from town on the first day in Saigon.

The shuttle takes less than 30 minutes but is dependent on traffic. Last shuttle is 9:30pm.

The information in Currents said shuttles don't run from 11am to 2pm and again from 5pm to 7pm to allow for meal breaks, but is inaccurate. The shuttles schedule from the bus company  shows it leaves ship on the hour and returns from the city on the half hour. That may be inaccurate also as we got on a "crew shuttle" leaving the city at 2pm.

The grill at the terrace offers the best lobster tails and grilled jumbo shrimp. Is usually always available along with steaks lambchops salmon and chicken every night except theme nights. When ship is full sometimes a 5 or 10 minute wait as they are cooked fresh.

5 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

Thanks for coming back with that @pmatawan

That's good info.

 

One other query if I may.

 

Did you hear any comments regarding the shuttles into Saigon from the Hiep Phuoc port ?

How long the shuttles to & from town were taking, and what time the last shuttle left from town on the first day in Saigon.

The shuttle was to a market area. We did not take it as we were on private tours, but the ship is returning to Siagon on Feb I8th and we will be taking it at that time and I will let you know.

On 1/26/2024 at 6:13 AM, pmatawan said:

Will do.

On 1/26/2024 at 6:13 AM, pmatawan said:

Will do.

We are docking, not tendering. 

The first few tenders are usually for ship excursions. Then a tender for independent travelers. Do get your tender ticket by showing up in the lounge when they open if getting an early tender is important. Don't rely on what the destination services folks tell you, they don't always give reliable information. After an hour or 2, you don't need tender tickets, only need them if you need to get off shortly after arrival.

Well last week Oceania changed our arrival time into Nha Trang port today from 10 am to 12 noon due to a technical issue. Today we arrived 2 hour early into port,  so I'm assuming they fixed the "technical issue".

Well some officers admit there is an engine issue affecting cruise speed. Most guests onboard that I have spoken to seem to feel that a proper explanation would have been received better then " technical issue".

Had dinner with 3 other couples last night. 2 of us are experiencing poor internet service and 2 of us having no issues with intermittent poor service, I wonder why???

I know others have posted that they had great experience with internet since StarLink was installed, but my experience has been different. At times it's pretty good, but much of the time it's no better then my previous experience on other cruiselines prior to StarLink. This is my first Oceania cruise, but have been on board over 3 weeks. Those of us old enough remember dial up and AOl, brings back those memories as it can take forever for a page to load and many times an app will simply time out. Some have said that this part of the world(Far east), may not have good service, but can someone explain why StarLink internet is poor here. The internet manager said while we were in India that they throttle the speed of cruiseships. He said StarLink doubled their bandwidth,  but now Oceania allows 2 logins per cabin, so maybe that has more to do with it. If it were a week long cruise, good internet would not be a big problem, but I'm on an Grand Voyage and some issues can't wait till I get home to deal with.

With that said, I enjoy the Oceania experience, especially the food. 

2 hours ago, Queen of DaNile said:

We finally have it in writing as to the current situation on Riviera

"It is with sincere apologies we must notify you that due to technical issue there has been changes in the itinerary".

But they have not been able to explain what the technical issue is, have they? With the issue be fixed or can we expect more port reduction times on the other segments?

23 hours ago, clo said:

I may be misunderstanding here but we have what I think would be called "multi segment" and because of Simply More I've booked excursions on both segments.

Prior to boarding I was able to book ship excursions on each of the 5 segments. Due to the changes in port arrivals and departures, I canceled several private excursions on future segments in anticipation of additional future schedule changes. I have been unable to book replacement ship tours for future segments of this cruise.

3 hours ago, Vallesan said:

How is the cruise apart from the in port time issues? We should have been on the cruise with you but had to cancel at the last moment. Would be interested to know what we are missing!

This is our 1st Oceania cruise and I'm spoiled by the food and great staff. Couldn't go back to the lesser cruiselines. Especially  impressed by the lobster and shrimp available at Terrace Cafe every night. Only other disappointment has been with the slow internet. I had expected it to be better than pre StarLink.  It has gotten somewhat better, but was not so great at start of cruise in India and Sri Lanka.

2 hours ago, Vallesan said:

Yes I would to but not sure that everyone would like hear that there was a problem with the engines!

At least we could understand why so much time has been cut from ports.

6 hours ago, Vallesan said:

Do you think passengers would be happier in the knowledge that the ship had ‘engine trouble’???

I crave truth and transparency only.

4 hours ago, Snaefell3 said:

"Slow steaming".  Could indeed be because of motor (or generator) problems, but more likely done to lower fuel costs -- you'll note we haven't been seeing Fuel Surcharges despite higher fuel costs.

I have never heard of a ship charging fuel surcharges even when fuel prices were higher then now. I asked the crew at reception why port times are being shortened and they say only " operational issues". When I followup with additional questions, they say port conflicts. When I ask are there port conflicts at 9 of the 10 ports on this segment, the answer goes back to " operational issues". So apparently, the crew is unable to communicate the truth, whatever it may be. They do deny any problem with the engine.

2 hours ago, Eloise4Ever said:

 

This is great news as previous posts indicated that Simply More shore excursion credit would simply go to waste if ports were cancelled or hours in port were shortened. I hope this is now official O policy across all their ships. It is only right that guests receive onboard credit to replace the shore excursion credit that they cannot use due to circumstances outside of their control.

Caution: my response that a canceled  excursion would be returned as refundable ship board credit was in response to post that indicated the cruiser had $600. Simply more excursion credit but spent an additional $400, of his own funds to purchase excursions.

5 hours ago, Queen of DaNile said:

My understanding is that the port times have been altered because of a engine issue.That could be why we're moving so slowly!!

If that is the case,  the changes have been made by corporate and they should give the captain permission to inform the guests rather than have us believe the changes were made for some other reason. 

Only one of my tours was canceled when we first got on board but they have since found another operation that can work with the shortened port times. 

Well, I heard that also. But the crew at reception deny there is any problems with the engine. When asked further, I was told only "operational issues", like port conflict issues. So as far as I can tell, we are not being given the truth. 

7 hours ago, clo said:

I may be misunderstanding here but we have what I think would be called "multi segment" and because of Simply More I've booked excursions on both segments.

I was able to book excursions for all 6 segments prior to boarding ship. Once on board, I can only book current segment.

4 hours ago, shepherd really said:

Interesting, but it raises a question, in my case I have an upcoming cruise with $600pp SM excursion credit but spent closer to $1000pp on excursions. 

 

So, if they cancel a couple of excursions are they going to claim that "those were the ones paid by the SM credit" based on order of booking (or some other criteria) or will they refund up to the amount I paid in cold hard cash (by credit card obviously) since that portion has nothing to do with the SM credit?

 

 

 

 

They will convert the canceled cruise excursion cost to refundable shipboard credit. 

On Riviera now and I am able to get tickets for our group, no questions asked.

3 hours ago, osandomir said:

Would you please find out what kind of refund is offered for cancelled tours booked with the Shore excursions credit. Will it be again pretty useless Shore excursions credit only to book another ship tour or some other more flexible form of refund? This information will be very appreciated and will help to choose ship tours for our future cruises.

As far as I know, under simply more program, it's use it or lose it for shore excursions only.

2 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

Can you please expand on this.

I'm trying to understand the status of ship's tours at your various ports on this current segment. 

Apart from Manila, what are some of the shortest port times elsewhere.

Thanks.

Most ports still have 7 or 8 hours in port. Hue is now 6 hours. Na Trang is 7 hours but is a tender port.

I canceled a private excursion to Hanoi as I anticipate they will shorten the port time. Not knowing till a day before cruise segment starts is the worst part.

2 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

Can you please expand on this.

I'm trying to understand the status of ship's tours at your various ports on this current segment. 

Apart from Manila, what are some of the shortest port times elsewhere.

Thanks.

They changed our departure time from Manila from 5pm to 1pm. All full day tours previously booked were canceled and will be refunded. Only 1 tour with either a 7:45am or 8:15am departure remains.