jonthomas

I haven't found anything as reasonable. Now granted, it is a very weird hotel.some rooms much better than others and you never know what you are going to get.

Very interesting stuff. My eyes and ears are open.

As an update. I was able to speak to someone in Customer service. She was able to do what the O rep said could not be done. She put us on the wait list in the same category that we are in, B5 and sent a notice to our TA to that effect. I am grateful for that and hope that in the two years a regular cabin in that cat comes up. As an aside, I was quite surprised at the number of emails I have gotten from people who say they would be very happy to be in an accessible cabin even though they dont need it, since it is almost twice the size. Guess nothing should surprise me.

O no longer charges a deviation fee for going a day or two earlier, but will charge if you want a specific flight. What I don't know is if you lose the included transfers. I also don't know if they will still provide the prem air if you paid for it. Need to call their air dept if there is such a thing. With 5 O cruises I am still a novice.

Thank you for your thoughtful comments. If those of us who do not need an accessible cabin, refuse to take them, it would make them more available to those that do. But first you have to be clear at time of booking that even if that is the last cabin in the cat, you will not take it. That is where I made my mistake. I didn't pay attention to the type of cabin I was given. Lesson learned.

and what you wrote "kirtihk" was the only thing that made sense to me.... to call customer service, appraise them of the situation , that I was given an accessible cabin without my approval, once I realized what it was I was stuck in a category that I could not wait list for...and keep calling them.... hate to do that since I value my O rep, a wonderful fellow who in this case made a mistake... just cancelling accomplishes nothing, nothing for me, nothing for anyone who NEEDS this cabin, as probably someone will take it for its size and it does not prevent O from doing the same thing over and over again....so not even a small policy change... policy changes do not happen when someone like me cancels a cruise.... yeah maybe you are laughing, that who does he think he is to hope to change policy, yeah I hear you... but at least I have to try....

coke zero?

I guess this is more difficult to understand than I thought. The TA can not wait list us for the cat we are already in. O obviously can't give us a cabin they don't have. I booked it on opening day to get the cat I wanted. Since all except HC was gone, the O rep should have given us a choice at that time. At that time we would have given deposit to be on a wait list in that cat. There was no wait list, we would have it by now. Now the wait lists for both lowest categories are huge. You are correct, our only option is to cancel.

Yup also gave deposit right away. And you are correct, I should have checked out the cabin before giving deposit. However the O rep should have made us aware that it was an HC cabin. It should not be assumed that anyone will take a cabin like that without any hesitation. Yup some say wait, let your agent do their job and some say cancel right away. I will wait knowing that without taking any other action, waiting will get me nowhere.

Yes many.

I was also thinking of writing to guest relations but sometimes if you get a negative response and you take it further, you are told the matter has been answered and is now closed. Then my only option would be to cancel.

May then be easier for you to deal directly with O. Most of the time they won't talk to you when you have a TA. Please let me know what you will do. It's helpful to know I am not alone in this.

Just re read your post. NO OTHER CABINS were available in the same cat, but he should still have asked us before putting us into it and losing our chance of getting on a wait list.

I don't want the O rep to get into hot water. He is a really good guy. We have dealt with him for a long time. He meant well, but I don't see any other way to get out of this mess. You have given us some very good advice here. It will also be our 15th O cruise, so hope it holds some weight.

Patty, you are also 2 years away. What is your TA telling you to do?

Well that certainly applies to us. I have been in touch with the O rep, he knows he put us in that cabin without our consent. We have turned the booking over to a TA. She said she now has us waitlisted for the same cat we are in. So I checked with our O rep, he said NO, we can't be waitlisted for the same cat we are already in.

All I can hope for is a sale with the reduced prem econ air, but it is on a new ship so a sale is not likely to happen, besides it is selling very well. I put it on roll call, letting others know that I have HC cabin and don't need it. No responses but it is very early. Even if someone needed it, how would O unravel it, when nothing is available for the 2 lower categories, with huge wait lists. Sure two years away, but with the situation as it is, I can't see that I have any options. The O rep has put us on the huge wait list for one cat up, since you can't go on a wait list when you are already in that cat. This totally defeats why I booked on opening day. This wait list cat is close to 1400pp more.

I would do that as well...but having the low air with O, complicates it.

Yes at opening day, that was all that was available. He said all the big agencies booked the rest first. Because of our prem air deal at 199 and now 649, we are stuck...a much stronger word is needed here. We will have to pay a great deal more to get into a diff cat, or cancel. Too bad that this time booking on the opening day of availability has put me into this muddle. But as everyone says, you have 2 years, so move on.

Not sure I understand this. The b5 and b4 are fully booked and waitlisted. We did not request this cabin only the category. O rep booked it. Only realized it was HC when I checked. I immediately told him it was a no go. He said don't worry about it, it is two years away.

As long as you have recently sailed on both Viking Ocean and Oceania. If not then not sure what the opinion is based on.

that is the only thing good about Viking, awful food...boring lectures, nothing else to do...just off april 3....

yes agreed....but if quiet means no steel bands by the pool, no kids screaming and running around, I will take that any day....but of course we all enjoy our cruises differently....

Happy to be on O where I dont have to pay for others to drink. We dont drink anything alcoholic. So that side of cruising has no interest to us at all. Never developed a taste for wine or beer. Nope. As for things to do, the O ships, no matter the size keep us quite busy with all kinds of activities. On the last cruise in Jan, on the Riviera, people were so friendly, I gave up time to the activities in favour of socializing. We dont find it sleepy. But if you dont drink, you have a very different perspective on what is fun and what is sleepy. I really dont understand how others can spend so much time at the bars, always a drink in hand. But I know we are in the minority.

Thank you for that.