thetravellingta

34 minutes ago, MarianneBD said:

I am on this cruise and have not seen nor heard any of the negative behavior described. Every encounter I have had with other passengers and crew has been very polite. Any references to the changes has been humorous. Not sure what the goal here is with the repeated negative postings about other passengers. 
BTW I will disagree with the statement about no promises were broken. A promise was made to me by Oceania on October 23 and subsequently broken. Not whining, so don’t go there with another posting. Just stating a fact. 

On my end, Mostly I have not seen or heard any complaints, except for the first day when there was someone complaining to the general manager, the reception desk, and to people around them in regards to the changed itinerary.

8 minutes ago, Linda Deenen said:

Not really fair to those people who paid full

price for Pv now is it?

Ok?

Just like with any other form of travel, extra inventory will be sold at a discount.

In part, you paid for the guarantee of the room you wanted.

I didn't but got lucky that this cruise is empty and space is available. 

4 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

Not so sure it is impressive. I think the detail that is missing as to whether it is a great deal on such an empty ship…..the original booked category. For Instance if you were in an OV and received a $1,000 upgrade for PV that might be. If you were in a CV, not so much. I would hope that Oceania is stepping up and this analogy is Oceania actually doing the right thing. 

B1 basic veranda stateroom to penthouse for $1000.

10 hours ago, susiesan said:

Since there are so many empty cabins all of you should ask to be upgraded, start filling the ship from the top suites and work down. I can't believe O won't do anything special for you. An open bar would go a long way to keeping everyone in a happy mood.

Upgrades have been available at the reception.

$800 to concierge veranda, $1000 for penthouse suite which we took. 

Sorry to hear about your luggage 

I luckily escaped my luggage getting soaked, but my brand new hardshell suitcase was broken instead.

Asked about the starlink. Internet director does not know when it will be up, could be this cruise could not be.

Just now, GeezerCouple said:

 

There is no chance in the world that you - or any of us - would possibly know what the security measures really are.  Some of those actions may be a bit more obvious or easier to figure out, but some of it will be kept as secret as possible, lest "the enemy" learn of the details and thus make efforts to defeat them.

 

GC

Very true. I was able to find another post of someone on Regent that will be going through suez canal in the coming days and then through the red sea, hopefully through them I can find out what security measures end up being taken.

1 minute ago, PhD-iva said:

There are likely security measures that we will never know about - they won’t be published or known in advance. A link to an article about the hijacked cargo ship IIRC, mentioned that the Suez Canal transit will be made at night…..

Given all your informed sources (versus uninformed/misinformed Americans), I’m surprised you thought the area was stable enough and would remain stable enough for you to join this cruise …… voluntarily I might add….

I hope you got a GOOD discount!

The suez canal and subsequent red sea transit is one of, if not the most, transited areas by cargo ships and other vessels in the world. 

Ever since the issues with somalian pirates, various safety measures were put in place that reduced piracy to insignificant levels in the area, such as a internationally recognized corridor for all ships to go in essentially a straight line together with navy ships of various countries keeping watch.

So at the time of booking (oct 27th), I did feel confident in the safety of the passage. It is only with the, quite surprising in my opinion, seizure of a boat yesterday that my safety assessment changed.

To answer your question about discount;
approx a quarter of current published fare.

3 hours ago, Skivaulter1 said:

We're currently on the Regent Navigator and will be going through the Suez Canal on Wednesday. Had our security drill this morning. Am 100% sure the Captain and crew are aware, although it hasn't been mentioned. Pretty much guaranteed the US  Navy ships that are currently in the Red Sea will be very close. 

Very interested to hear updates on your voyage! Going to be on an oceania ship going through the suez canal and then through red sea and would love to have confirmation of us navy ships protecting you.

Hello all.

I am yet another cruiser on the nov 29th oceania riviera sailing doing research on what my options are in terms of cancellation etc.

Unlike most, I booked my cruise after the change of itinerary that resulted in the days in greece followed by 9 sea days. I was going to be nearby in rome anyhow finishing up a month long trip a few days before this ship sailed, and me and my fiancee had yet to travel to Greece and were vary interested.

In terms of safety concerns, I was not concerned about going through the suez canal and red sea. There is a clear difference between stopping at a port and going through international waters in terms of safety in the area. I also contacted a family member who works high up in USAID, with specific knowledge of Africa & Middle East. At the time (around oct 24th) they also had no concerns about transiting through the area, which brought peace of mind.

I purchased travel insurance through Oceania (which unfortunately does not have a cancel for any reason clause) and proceeded, with the idea that if things got worse and the state department specifically recommended a level 4 avoid travel to an area the ship was going through, the travel insurance would be usable.

However, the hijacking by Houthi Rebels from Yemen of a car carrier a day ago in the red sea has flipped things around for me.

My current thoughts & knowledge; I am very curious to hear from fellow cruisers going on the same voyage as me on their thoughts:
1) Iran & Iranian backed groups have targeted ships before. A ship by the same Israeli businessman that partially owned the company that owned the car carrier had another ship in 2021 that was blown up off the coast of Oman by suspected Iranian's. Iran has targeted ships off its coast, and its been cargo ships, mostly oil, in response to U.S. sanctions, never cruise ships. 
2) One of the only times a cruise ship has had an attempted hijacking in recent memory, was off the coast of somalia by somali pirates, but the quick thinking of the captain and the faster more maneuverable cruise ship (in comparison to cargo ships) ment that the ship got away. The Houthi situation is different. What U.S. officials have said, is that the rebels came down from a helicopter and took control of the ship that way, which is a completely different situation that the speed of a ship cant due much of anything for. 
3) From looking at cruise mappers, there are some cruise ships that have recently went through this very passage, and have come out unscathed.
4) The Houthi's have stated that any Israeli owned ships are targets. Oceania is not israeli owned per my knowledge, and will fly no israeli flag (however, neither did the car carrier, and it was being managed by a japanese company with no israeli crewmembers onboard). This could in theory give me piece of mind, but that would mean I would trust the Houthi rebels to follow their word, and I most certainly do not. 
5) there are hundreds of cargo ships passing through the same area at this very moment, seemingly without issue, but I dont want to be the random ship chosen by these groups.


With all that in mind, the situation is, uncertain. What would give me piece of mind, is to know what security measures Oceania will be taking in the area. After the attack of a cruise ship off the coast of somalia (2005) I have heard that other nearby cruise ships in the following days were then escorted by U.S. military ships through the area. If I knew that the same would be happening for oceania, that would bring me much needed piece of mind. 

The Hebridean Sky passed through the area on nov 17th, and if anyone per chance knowns anyone on the boat, it would be interesting to know what the line did security wise (of course it went through the area before the car carrier seizure)