susiesan

Latest update to the saga: We are at 10 days before when we need the passports in hand to fly to Miami for the cruise. Yesterday 11/22 got an email letter from the State Department saying the passport picture for my husband was unacceptable, either overexposed or underexposed. I need to send a new photo. I contacted Fast Passport Center, they sent me another Fed Ex label and we got a new photo taken, and all was overnighted. The package was delivered in Philadelphia today 11/23 and the expediter emailed to say they have it and are processing. My passport picture was okay so I may have mine back Friday or Monday 11/28. My husbands' should be back by Wednesday 11/30. Hubby did say if for some reason I get mine and he does not he's okay with me going on the cruise alone. We would only be out half the money. I can cancel his plane tickets and redeposit the miles, and cancel him from excursions planned. Wish us luck, we are both stressed to the max over all of this running around.😩

I thought maybe partial view referred to the new edge cabins.

I am looking at booking a partial view veranda cabin cat V3 on deck 6 on Silhouette for Sept. 2023. What does "partial view" mean? What part of the view is partial? What is the obstruction? I cannot find a picture or description anywhere.

I was on a 10 day NCL Baltic cruise this past summer on Norwegian Dawn. The cruise was fine, the ship was fine, the biggest difference was the food which was oaky, I did not starve,. On a port intensive cruise with not much time on the ship I'm not as picky about my surroundings. I usually travel to visit interesting places. I never take a cruise for a ship, it's transportation for me.

I am currently booked on Sirena Sept. 2, 2023 for a Canary Islands itinerary. I just got off the phone with my TA pricing out cruises from NCL, Princess, and Celebrity. The Black Friday sales have very attractive pricing on very similar itineraries in a balcony cabin. Of course, all 3 are way below O's price. I am taking this cruise for the itinerary, never been to the Canary Islands. Plus I have family in England to visit before the cruise if it leaves from Southhampton. I can put a small deposit down and decide before final payment which of the 4 reservations I will be keeping. It also depends if I can get business award tickets to the European cities where the cruises come and go from. Right now, I cannot get to Barcelona for Sirena 9/2 cruise, there are no award seats at a reasonable rate available now. Until I return from the Marina cruise, assuming I get to go at all as long as I get the passports back, I won't make a final decision. It's possible I won't like Oceania as much as I did in the past from the onboard experience which wouldn't make it worth paying so much more for a O cruise versus one on NCL, Princess, or Celebrity. The other 3 cruises I am contemplating have far more amenities for less than the price of the O cruise and are longer. Sirena is 10 nights, the others I am looking at are 11 and 12 so a better per day value. I have to decide if it is worth it to me. I have sailed on all 3 of the other lines within the last 3 years and don't have a problem with any of them, I was happy with those cruises.

This. See post #93. Edgee gets the prize for actually reading what I have been saying.

There is no false information in my online check in form as it isn't completed. The passport info is not there as I don't have it from the new passports. It will be correct when I complete online check in.

I am taking responsibility for having a brain fart. I've done all I can to salvage the vacation by expediting the passport renewal at a very hefty cost. Lesson learned. At the same time, I was not asking O to change the rules, I was asking for an exception for a past customer. That's called good business, working with your customers to make then happy. Unhappy customers will tell 10 people about their bad experience with a corporation. I hope my experience has benefited others who may make the same mistake I did. I already heard from someone on the O FB group who was going to be denied boarding on her January cruise due to the same passport expiration date. She had no idea about this until I brought it up. She is rushing to renew their passports now. So I saved at least one couple's cruise vacation.

My passport renewal documents have been received at the office of the expediter I am using, Fast Passport Center. They are in Philadelphia which is where passport renewals are done.I spoke to them this morning and the company has begun the processing of my order. I am supposed to have the new passports back in 6-8 business days. Crossing my fingers that there are no screw ups. ToxM: My TA did print the 6 month info on my reservation, it was on page 2. They did not verbally mention anything about it. I had every intention of renewing the passports in January for a Botswana safari trip in May 2023. I just didn't realize how strict oceania was going to be about this, especially since their sister company NCL is not. You can take a closed loop Caribbean cruise on NCL without even having a passport. From NCL: For Cruises Leaving From a U.S. Port to the Caribbean, Bahamas & Florida, Bermuda, Alaska, Mexican Riviera, Canada & New England, Pacific Coastal You’re required to carry: A Valid Passport OR Proof of Citizenship (see below) AND Government-issued photo ID (Baptismal paper, hospital certificates of birth, and Puerto Rico birth certificates issued prior to 7/1/10 are not acceptable.) State certified U.S. birth certificate Original certificate of U.S. naturalization Original certificate of U.S. citizenship U.S. Consular report of your birth abroad

That pilot program ended Oct. 26. had I known about it I would have availed myself of the service. I read that the official online renewal program will commence in early 2023 as the pilot program test was a success.

Sure they do. Any business can make an exception to their policy, but Oceania is choosing not to. I owned a business for 39 years, just recently sold it. I had company policies in place but when good loyal customers asked me to make special accommodations for mistakes they made, I did what I could to make them happy. It's called customer service and it buys a business a loyal customer for life. I've had bad luck with these expedite services, 2 times in the last 20 years they have lost my documents, passports sent in for visas, causing me to scramble at the last minute and save my vacation. I'll bet the passport expiration loophole catches more people than you think. If as a very savvy global world traveller it caught me, imagine how many other "clueless" cruisers get snagged. Interesting, sister line NCL does not require a passport at all, let alone having 6 months on it. Here's their language: For Cruises Leaving From a U.S. Port to the Caribbean, Bahamas & Florida, Bermuda, Alaska, Mexican Riviera, Canada & New England, Pacific Coastal You’re required to carry: A Valid Passport OR Proof of Citizenship (see below) AND Government-issued photo ID (Baptismal paper, hospital certificates of birth, and Puerto Rico birth certificates issued prior to 7/1/10 are not acceptable.) State certified U.S. birth certificate Original certificate of U.S. naturalization Original certificate of U.S. citizenship U.S. Consular report of your birth abroad NCL eleven advertises no passport cruises they off. So yes O has the power to make it right.

My TA got through to Oceania. They will not budge. Because my passport expires 6 days after the return date O will not waive their policy and allow us to board the ship. Again, there is no regulation that says there must be 6 months left on a passport to enter any of the Caribbean countries or to return to the US. I am working with an expediting service to rush through the passport renewals within the remaining time frame. They should be doing it in 6-8 business days. This is costing me over $700 for the service plus extra for the expedited renewal fee of $208 each. If the passports make it back on time we will be on the cruise. This will be my last Oceania cruise, they have lost a long time customer due to their inflexible position on this passport expiration issue. I made an honest mistake that O has the power to make right but they refuse to do so. I know all the haters here will say it's my fault, I should have read the fine print. But how many of you have made a similar mistake with a business you purchase from and that company makes it right to keep a happy customer?

Been on hold with O for over 30 minutes. How many people work in the Miami office?

Waiting for both Oceania and my TA to open at 9:00.

The passports expire June 13, we disembark Dec. 18. The cruise is in 21 days. I do not live in a city with a passport office. There is no time to renew it now., with expedite service, especially with Thanksgiving holidays coming up and state department offices closed. I see nothing in Oceania's terms and conditions that a passport is the only form of ID acceptable for Caribbean cruises. This is what it says: Passport and Visa requirements, and regulations in regards to vaccination certificates and other health requirements vary by destination. There is nothing stating that a passport is the only acceptable ID to be used to board a cruise. If Caribbean countries don't require a passport on closed loop cruises then a drivers license should be acceptable. I cannot believe that Oceania would deny boarding to a paid in full past passenger for missing the fine print of a rule only they have by 5 days. I will call them tomorrow to see what they say. I hope they do the right thing under the circumstances. I cannot be the only person who has run into this. I've been on over 50 cruises and have never ever had this come up.

I went to check in online for my upcoming cruise Dec. 4. When I filled out the passport info, it said "All guests must travel with a passport that is valid six months after the disembarkation date." Apparently my passport expiration date is outside that time frame. So I changed the expiration date to one month later and the online check in took. What difference does it make to Oceania how many days I have left on my passport for a cruise from Miami returning to Miami as a US citizen? The US will let me back in.

Same with me. I had $500 use it or lose it credit. I wanted to book a Sept. 2023 Europe cruises but couldn't use the credit on that. So I booked Dec. 4 Marina Caribbean cruise. Not my first choice but I was not about to let O keep $500 of my money.

Even if they notice, none of the staff will say anything. Oceania treats their guests like adults and does not scold them for "breaking the rules".

These Chinese cities are now undesirable and impossible to visit as a land tourist. I'm glad I did a 2 week DIY tour of China in 2011 that included Beijing and Shanghai amongst others. So glad I went but will never ever return to China even if they allow tourism again. China is still under draconic covid restrictions until the end of 2023 so I doubt any cruises will stop there in 2023 or ever again.

Did you get a substitute amenity for the tote bags? I am due to receive one on my Marina cruise in december as I move from blue to bronze.

I will be boarding Marina Dec.4 in Miami after a TATL. I don't have a boarding time yet. because I have to check out of my airport hotel by 11:00 and have luggage, we will take an uber to the terminal and sit inside the building until we can get on. The building is air conditioned. Last time I sailed out of Miami in late Jan. 2020 we got to the terminal at noon but no one could board until 3:30. The excuse was the ship had come in late and they were getting ready for the new passengers. Turned out there had been a "virus" outbreak on the prior cruise and O was doing a deep disinfecting cleaning of the ship but that's not what we were told. In hindsight, this "virus" outbreak was likely a covid problem just before covid became an issue in the US.

I sent Oceania an email asking about the shareholder credit, they replied that it would be in my account once I board the ship. I am taking a copy of this email with me in case the $100 is not there.

I will be in St. Kitts on Dec. 15 from Oceania Marina. I wanted to take a boat tour that goes to Nevis, but the only one I can find is booked up by the cruise lines and is unavailable on Dec. 15., Blue Water Safaris. Are there any other companies doing a trip to Nevis? What about taking the ferry and going to a beach on my own? or should I just go to a beach on St. Kitts?

I will disembark in Miami after a 14 day cruise and carry off my rolling duffel and carryon bag myself. I never have my luggage collected the night before and put in the terminal to claim. Maybe someday I will need help with my luggage but not yet.

Besides, once the dress code offender sits down at their table the ripped jeans are out of view, covered by the tablecloth and napkin on their lap. Once you start eating how does this diminish your dining experience unless you are staring at the offender's lap the whole meal?🙄. You could always ask to be moved to another table where the offender is not in your sight line.🤣