ak1004

We are doing a very similar itinerary in November 2024 on the Marina, but ours also includes Casablanca. And yes, I noticed that Azamara is on average more expensive probably due to more inclusions. But we don't drink, and sometimes get gratuities from our TA (and they will be free after 10 cruises), so O is a better value for us. But some of the Azamara itineraries are intriguing.

And how would you compare Azamara with O R ships in terms of overall ship experience? Also I'm curious - I believe Azamara had more interesting itineraries and longer port stays even before the recent changes on O, so why only twice on Azamara and 4 times on O?

Funny that you mentioned Azamara as I was just looking at their itineraries yesterday. To me the issue is that I'm not crazy about R class ships (older ships, small cabins, ridiculous showers, less dining options etc) This is why when sailing on O, we prefer Riviera/Marina (and now Vista will be another option). Also the food on O is better in my opinion. So it basically a tradeoff between the ship experience and the shore experience. But if the trend continues, Azamara is definitely on the table. btw, we cancelled our May 2024 on Vista and replaced with SS cruise. Dubrovnik on O was 7am-5pm, SS 9am-10pm. Corfu on O 8am-7pm, SS 9am-11pm. 4 ports were till 10-11pm on SS, O most ports till 6-7pm.

For me, ships are a convenient way to see the world. They are floating hotels that travel at night. No need to pack/unpack every few days. No time wasted to move from city to city in the middle of the day while this time can be used to see places. No guessing and researching hotels and restaurants.

I don't disagree.. on the contrary.. I cruise to see the world, not to spend time on the ship. I want as few sea days as possible. But I also want a great ship experience. Not willing to go back to crowds and lines and mediocre food of Celebrity/Princess etc. So what's left if we still want to continue cruising? Regent is way too expensive for us, not willing to pay that kind of money. SS and SB have some good deals from time to time, but overall they are also much more expensive than O. Viking is not an option for me - just don't like the idea of giving someone an interest free loan for 2 years, plus their itineraries are limited and repetitive. What's left? Azamara. Great itineraries, but the ship experience is not as good. There is always a tradeoff of course. We are not married to any cruise line, but at this point there are not too many alternatives that provide a similar overall experience at reasonable price.

I'm curious what would be your alternative?

We got Perrier in the stateroom and table service, no issues. Also don't forget about all specialty coffees and teas, and nice bonus as well.

There is a HUGE difference between the overall positivity of Facebook groups and overall negativity of CC topics (this applies to all lines, not only O - just read SS forums). Interestingly enough, there was another "live from Riviera" topic, from the same cruise, where the OP preferred to focus on their overall cruise experience, not just one aspect of it (amount of compensation for missed ports). The other OP mentioned their disappointment from missing Bermuda, but also described the service, the food, the ship (which was recently renovated) etc. including some very nice photos. He didn't describe the cruise as perfect, but provided a very objective and balanced picture. In my opinion, those typed of topics are much more valuable. Personally when I see a title like "NEVER AGAIN", or "AWAFUL", or "CRUISE TO HELL" (yes, most of them are usually all capital to make it more dramatic), to me they lose most of their credibility right away. But that's just me, obviously everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

But port cancellations and reduced port times are two different issues. We are very concerned about reduced port times - in fact, we cancelled our Vista cruise next May and replaced it with similar itinerary on SS, partially because SS has longer times in ports (same ports O departs at 7pm while SS stays till 10-11pm). This is the plan, yes - but I don't believe that cancelling ports is. That said, I do agree with @LHT28 regarding communication not being the strong part of O experience.

To me it's not "Those that cruise for the ship versus those cruising for the ports". It's those who have realistic expectations and know that itinerary changes are one of the biggest risks of cruising and you need to accept them versus those who claim that those changes are made on purpose to save money. It's those who enjoy their cruises even if things don't not always go according to the plan versus those who always find a reason to complaint and blame the cruise line for anything, even things that are beyond their control.

Well, I can talk for myself - I'm NOT a brand loyalist. We sailed on 11 different lines, and currently are booked on 4 different lines for the next 2 years. The issue is with facts, not opinions. For example: "Oceania knew that March is not a good time to go to Bermuda, they scheduled this cruise as bait and switch, knowing that Bermuda in March will not happen" - this is an opinion. "Other ships did dock in Bermuda in March, and the next Oceania cruise actually docked in Bermuda too" - this is a fact. When many people on SS forums attached SS for cancelling almost half ports on our World Cup, I defended SS. Not because I'm SS loyalist (this was our first SS cruise), but because it's common sense.

Do you have any guarantees that other lines won't miss ports? On our last SS cruise almost half ports have been changed, including 3 nights in Doha for the World Cup (they had to rename the cruise). I cruise for the ports, we have now booked on 6 different cruises with 4 different lines, including O. There is zero evidence that O cancels ports more than other lines.

It might be different for Canadians, but for European cruises, a typical difference between cruise only and oLife is $2,000 CAD, which includes air and oLife around $500 CAD. So the air itself is around $1,500 CAD, which is more expensive than the average flight price to Europe from Toronto, not to mention the potential deviation fee.

If you assume that the Ambassador office is open at least 5 hours every day, and it takes 30 minutes to to the booking, and there are two of them, that's 20 bookings per day or 180 bookings on a 10 nights cruise. Assuming a full cruise, it means that 30% of the guests made a new booking while on board.. some probably made more than one.

Most of the time O air is not a good deal, you can usually book cheaper on your own. Some cruises have special rate for PE, this might be a good deal.

My logic tells me to base my decisions on the overall cruise experience, not the level of compensation for missed ports. My logic also tells me to have the same expectations regardless of the level of cabin I booked. And lastly, my logic tells me that missed ports are the risk I take when cruising, and I don't expect any compensation for the missed ports (although it would be obviously nice). Of course your logic might tell you different things, and I respect it.

I think the decision should be based on level of compensation. Something like this: 0-500 - NEVER AGAIN 500-1000 - NOT LIKELY AGAIN 1000-1500 - MAYBE AGAIN 1500-2000 - LIKELY AGAIN 2000-3000 - SURE, LETS GIVE THEM ANOTHER TRY 3000+ - THE BEST LINE EVER!!!!!!!!!! P.S. I just read that December is not a good time to visit Greece - and yet Silversea has cruises to Greece scheduled in December. NEVER AGAIN Silversea!

Probably many people booked based on "shoot first, ask questions later". When they started asking questions, they realized that paying $600/night for a 215 sqft cabin (or $800/night for a cabin comparable to SS or SB entry level) for a first sailing on an unknown product might be not the best use of their money, with so many good options available on other ships.

The NEVER AGAIN was based on level of compensation. If level of compensation was different, maybe the NEVER AGAIN would change? Maybe he expected to be treated differently because he was in a suite? In this case he probably confused Oceania with Celebrity.

Call me naïve, but I do NOT believe that Oceania (or any other line) would schedule a cruise to somewhere knowing in advance that this is not a good time to sail there. The fact is that as others mentioned, other ships did call Bermuda few days before or after. It is also my understanding that OP was offered compensation, he just did not consider it appropriate, based on the fare he paid. Maybe this compensation would be appropriate for someone who sailed in the inside cabin but not one of the upper suites? As for lack of communication - well, we don't know the whole story. In one of the recent reviews someone gave the Marina 1 star because they cancelled a port and did not call him at midnight to let him know.. they announced the change at 7am (if you don't believe me, here is the review - https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=697149) So basically the whole "NEVER AGAIN" comes to the amount of compensation that OP expected based on the amount of money they paid.

Here is another absurd review - https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=697153 The reviewer gives the ship 3 star rating because "There is great disorganization and red tape going through customs." How exactly this is Oceania fault? And another one - https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=697149 1 star because O cancelled a port and did not call him at midnight to let him know.. Unreal.. would anyone take any of those reviews seriously??

Personally I wouldn't. We sailed on O in inside, balcony and suite - we always knew that the only thing we get for being in a suite is extra space (plus extra reservations in specialty restaurants). That's it. O is not Celebrity when you get a different service and different food for being in a suite.

We learned to accept the fact that entertainment and activities are not O strongest areas. This is why we believe that O is suited better for port intensive itineraries. We intended to take this cruise (had to cancel for family reasons), but were prepared to entertain ourselves. And I agree that psychologically people who paid more might have higher expectations, but this is really not O fault. Unlike Cunard/Celebrity and other mainstream lines, on O you pay for more space when you book a suite (and couple other small perks), otherwise everyone is treated equally. Having realistic expectations is one of the most important factors in cruising.

I think that asking for 30% FCC is completely unrealistic. I don't think ANY line would provide such FCC. The best we got in all our cruises was 10% FCC from SS, which I thought was VERY GENEROUS. @brobin111 I would be curious to read your overall impressions from the cruise except for missed ports, lack of compensation and bad communication. How would you describe the service, the food, the crew, the ship etc?

Thanks for the photos! Where is the extra space compared to regular OV? Probably between the sofa and the window? Is the shower manageable? We sailed on R ship on Azamara in OV and it was tight.