LindaAndBillTravel

That's good news. Thanks for the quick responses!

We are staying in an Oceania Suite for the first time. I understand we will be able to select a bar setup of 6 bottles. If we select wine, can we take it/have it sent to a restaurant for dinner? Will the corkage fee apply in this case?

Our ill-fated Star Pride cruise, which started in Colon, also did the canal at night. Our itinerary said 2:00pm - 11:59pm, so we had expected at least part of the transit to be in the daylight. We did not enter the first lock until right about sunset though, so it was dark by the time we were done with that lock. They had announced the timing the previous night and many people were very upset.

At this point I would file a claim with the travel insurance carrier and let them surrogate against Windstar's insurance carrier. If the goods are ever recovered then they would belong to the insurance company. Their job is to make you whole.

 

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I filed a claim right away (we were also stranded at Miami on the way back due to various weather problems all over the country that day -- fun trip all around), but my insurance company has told me repeatedly that they cannot do anything until Windstar puts in writing that they will not be returning our belongings and not compensating us for the loss. I'm not terribly happy with the insurance company either, and will probably not select them as a provider ever again, but I can understand their position better than I can understand the lack of information form Windstar at this late date.

Didn't they say everything had been bagged and airfreighted to Seattle for sorting weeks ago? It is unbelievable that nothing more has happened.

4 weeks ago, I was told that they were working serially -- cruise fare refunds first (we received at week 4), then airfare refunds, then onboard account refunds (we received at week 9), they were currently working on missing items, and post-cruise hotel refunds would be handled last. Since then, the only response has been an email saying they don't have any information, but will let us know when they do. I'd be perfectly happy with an email saying our stuff is gone forever and they aren't doing anything for us, because then my travel insurance will pay me. I don't really have a preference between getting my stuff back, getting reimbursed by Windstar or getting reimbursed by the travel insurance. I just want to be done with this.

It's now been 3 months, and still no update from Windstar about missing belongings. All they will say is that they don't know anything, but when they do they will let me know. Has anyone else received any information? Or better yet, their missing belongings?

They weren't going to pay. This is out of network, and I was still quite a ways from out of network deductible. All they needed to do was send the EOB with Zero payment so I could send it to Travel Guard. All this time, and salaries paid so they could tell me they didn't have to pay. No wonder our deductibles are so high. Been hearing the ICD-10 delay excuse for 6 months!

I have had this problem over and over again with Cigna. I think they have a department of people just to come up with lame and incorrect excuses as to why they won't process my out-of-network claims.

We will be in Athens for a couple of days post-cruise, and I'm not sure if it is worth getting a guide for the Acropolis or not. I am not necessarily trying to save money by not hiring a guide, not I don't want to feel like I threw money away if I do.

A little Googling turned up the email address specialservices@oceaniacruises.com. They were very prompt to reply and let me know they had added my request to our reservation.

Thanks everyone!

Thank you, everyone. How do I contact Special Services? Is there an email address?

We will be taking our first Oceania cruise in a couple of months. I see from some previous posts here that the pillows and duvets will be feather/down. Is there a way to request feather-free alternatives prior to the cruise? DH's allergies are severe enough that it is best if they aren't in the room to start with, as opposed to asking the cabin attendant to change them out after we board.

AIS is now saying she was in Port Everglades on 2/19, but is now back off Freeport.

Now, if only they could track my missing stuff....

8 weeks and still no information about our missing belongings or refunds for shore excursions. Has anyone else received any information on missing items?

Some more of my favorites:

St. Petersburg: The Bronze Horseman, and City of Thieves

Stockholm: Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Greece: Corelli's Mandolin

Italy: The Secret of Santa Vittoria, and The First Man in Rome

Antarctica (very loosely): Where'd You Go, Bernadette

Scotland: Outlander

Wales: Here Be Dragons

London: Neverwhere, and The Other Bolelyn Girl

Alaska: Alaska, and The Snow Child

Chicago: Devil in the White City

Maine: The Secret Life of Lobsters

New York: Elizabeth Street, and The Golem and the Jinni

Love Shadow of the Wind. When we finally made it to Barcelona, I had to track down all kinds of sites in the book. Awesome read to accompany a trip to Spain!

This past January we where going through the Panama canal and our ship the Regatta past the Windstar Pride empty of passengers what happened?

On December 22nd, Star Pride ran aground off the coast of Isla de Coiba, Panama. Passengers were offloaded onto Isla de Coiba and then eventually picked up by two other cruise ships in the area. As we were waiting on Isla de Coiba, we could see the ship listing more and more through the course of the day. We were told there were 5 holes in the ship's hull and that the engine room was taking on water. I'd say it was leaning about 10 degrees or so by the time we left. The Pride was eventually towed back to Balboa and later through the canal. Not sure exactly where it is now, but Windstar has cancelled cruises on Pride though June 9th now.

I finally decided to try them again, and had to cancel my upcoming cruise today, as a family member going with us has been told by her doctor not to travel to any Zika infested regions.

 

So, I have now lost money again, though this is not Windstar's fault.

Someone on another thread (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2311341) is reporting that Windstar is allowing people to change cruises due to Zika. Hopefully you can get some help with your cruise.

Guess I can buy bottled water to drink while in port but I'm not sure I want to bath in it either.

You can get bottled water at the bars. No charge.

We are missing several items, and not full suitcases, but it might still be worth contacting the port. It can't hurt, right? I think the ship is actually in Colon though. Some folks had posted pictures of it being towed through the canal.

We were told there were 5 holes in the ship's hull and the engine room had taken on water. The date for it to go back into service has been moved several times. The change to June 9th seems to be a new thing; it had been April 9th up until recently. Having one of their ships out of service for half a year must be causing them some severe financial hardships and I am beginning to fear that they might go under without resolving all issues. In addition to the missing items, they also haven't refunded shore excursions and other pre-paid items to folks on our cruise.

Thanks for all the contact info. I'm curious as to why you listed the VP of Marketing as the primary contact?

Wow, it looks like the Pride cancellations have advanced from through April 9th to through June 9th. I'm sorry you are being impacted by this. A lot of us are dealing with problems due to the grounding and unfortunately you aren't alone.

Actually, the cruise contract says "We are not liable forany loss or damage to baggage or property unless caused by our negligence or misconduct". Since the grounding was caused by their negligence, its seems they are liable.

I'm having a very frustrating experience right now with Windstar. We were on the Star Pride when it ran aground on December 22nd. Passengers were evacuated to land and the crew packed our luggage for us. We were missing several items. We notified Windstar immediately, filled out their claim form, and told them in writing exactly where everything was in the cabin. It's over 6 weeks later and the only thing Windstar will tell me about our missing belongings is that they have no information. The can't (won't?) tell me if they recovered anything from my cabin, where the recovered belongings are (other than that they are not in Seattle), when they will have any information, when they will declare the items as unrecoverable, or if they will be reimbursing us if the items never show up (I'd hope so). There seems to be only one person handling everything related to the grounding, and that person's responses have only been that she knows nothing. Requests to speak to a supervisor have been refused. Emails and voicemails to the general customer relations contacts on their website have gone unanswered.

My insurance won't do anything until Windstar puts in writing that the items are lost, but the policy also says all supporting claim documentation needs to be completed in 90 days. Half of the 90 days has already gone by and I have no confidence that I can get an answer one way or the other from Windstar given the communication so far.

Does anyone know of any regulations that apply to this situation? Is there a governing body that I can make a complaint to?

We are also long-time Royal Caribbean brand cruisers (D+) who recently tried our first Windstar cruise. Our impression of Windstar matches pretty closely with yours. We also found the food and most of the staff (the folks at lower levels who you interact with most frequently) to be great, but communication and some senior staff members were appallingly bad.

Seems like your insurance is more flexible than mine if they only want confirmation that you notified Windstar. I wonder if an email read receipt would work for you? My insurance wants something in writing from Windstar stating that the items are lost and that Windstar will not be reimbursing me before they will pay out.