Vineyard View

Stuff happens. Ports are skipped, technical occurs. It seems a pattern higher on O than others based on reading here as well as the other book face. It occurs to me that how a company responds when stuff happens is important. I read on the other book face that there was a technical issue with a SB port recently. I don’t recall the details. What stood out - All were provided an apology, a $250 OBC, and a 10% off future cruise if booked within 30 days. Not the only time I have read similar on SB, or other boards. Viking comes to mind as well. I do not read very much about O responding in a positive way when stuff happens - skipped ports or shortened ports. Maybe a new thread highlighting when/if that does occur would be helpful for those of us who hesitate booking, in large part, because of how O has negatively handled so many instances.

Solemn promise!

Thank you for that clarification. I thought it was only on sea days, as it is on other lines, but I wasn’t sure. Either way, good info to have.

I guess that does make good sense. We have never sought out trivia, so never noticed. We only seek out lunch when sailing on sea days as we are most always off ship on port days. Thanks for the heads up though. I wish all the trivia players great times!

Exactly our problem as that is our go-to as well with many, not all meals. They tried their best for sure. But A++ for effort on SB staff!

We had the same experience auldlassie. We are a bit picky with wines. We found a couple complimentary we liked okay (not special for certain), we brought some on board as well as buying some from the list. One additional comment is that we found that once servers found what we liked in a particular venue, they tended to remember and they had it available, along with offering anything new we might like to try that had been brought on board. Example the MDR after the first night knew I liked to have a taste of cognac after dinner. After that first night, which did take some time, they apparently had a bottle available. That was impressive.

Is this normal for other cruise lines, as in standard operating procedures in the industry? I sincerely do not know.

Is this normal? Why would Miami be making these calls? Shouldn’t these changes be due to the port authorities, or weather/safety decisions made by the captain?

That is a lot of Trivia players. I had no idea. It’s never been a draw for us, but clearly it’s a pretty big deal!

No one under 18 on Viking. No casino either. Good points netpj. We travel when school is in session for a reason! But honestly, SB isn’t really set up for kids, although I did see some posts over the Alaska season with a small number sailing.

We tried the MDR for breakfast and found the same. Small menu. The food was fine, but we also found ourselves gravitating outside of the Collonade at breakfast. We would grab a pre plated serving of fruits and then order what we wanted from a server after we were seated, rather than self serve at the buffet. The food was much better in our opinion and sitting outdoors was just lovely.

We actually commented on just that friendlyfifer. The age group on our sailing was a wider range than we found on Viking. We really enjoyed the people we sailed with and yes, there was a greater representation of people outside of the U.S. We appreciated what that brings to the table a lot. It was refreshing to us. I will also say that both lines have outstanding crew.

I can only compare to Viking, which we sailed multiple times, but not since Covid. We took our first SB cruise last year and loved it, but as Stan01 mentioned, we all have different preferences. For us, the plus on SB - staterooms are far superior in comparing a veranda on SB to PV on V MDR - we do not care for the bench seating in much of V. Food also better for our tastes on SB No extra for gratuities or alcohol when and what time you would like size of ship - we were on Quest and really enjoyed the smaller size not paying for ‘included excursions’ which were simply a bus ride or walking tour in our fare Smaller ports and efficiency of the tender operation to explore them pre-payment policy is reasonable compared to V Plus on Viking - retractable roof over the pool spa area with amenities for anyone to use at any time Promenade deck for sea days I believe that overall, you have a superior experience/product on SB. The current cost per day on Viking post Covid has positioned them in the luxury cruise segment, and we do not feel that they are a ‘luxury’ product when we compare our experience on SB. That said, if those ‘included’ excursions on Viking are attractive and suit your travel expectations, then the additional cost of excursions on SB will sway your total cost pp/pd by quite a bit. We are DIY or private tour people, so it is not part of our decision process. If there is an itinerary on SB tat attracts you, then go for it. I sincerely doubt you will be disappointed.

I may be wrong, but most cruise lines I have looked at that include Antarctica include a higher per diem for the fact that they are traveling to Antarctica. For a number of valid reasons. So if a person is willing to pay that extra per diem to visit Antarctica, and the title of the itinerary is Antarctica, that is a realistic expectation. I sincerely believe it is reasonable to expect at the least a FCC for this specific change in itinerary. Reasonable even is a refund on the deposit from an ethical viewpoint.

Yes. Wrong verbiage. Thank you for clarifying.

I agree that all lines change ports or itineraries due to weather, politics, ets from time to time. No travel is without issues regardless of whether by land or sea. I am looking closely at Oceania and Seabourn for 2025 and have narrowed down to a couple itineraries with Oceania as well as SB. We only book balcony cabins. We would upgrade to the prestige drink package, and Oceania charges daily room service charges. We are independent travelers, so the included excursion credit with O is a moot point for us. With Seabourn we don’t need to pay daily room service fees nor upgrade our drink package. Their standard balcony are really suites. They are a lovely line to sail. When I pencil it out, for our preferences and what we pay for, there isn’t much difference in per day costs with current Oceania prices. Each person has their differentiators in cruising, and those add to the bottom line of the total cost comparison for each cruiser. Seabourn does not, at least so far, have a cancellation policy that would have affected this substantial itinerary change this far out (no penalty 121+ days in advance). I have watched and sailed on Viking multiple times. I have seen that they often offer FCC with many situations, which seems the least that Oceania could do with this specific one. But to the OP’s reason for this thread If this were me, if my TA had no success in assisting me (with what I believe is a deserved refund or FCC for this itinerary), I would likely write letters as recommended in this thread. If that failed I would without a doubt dispute it with my CC.

Just read a review on the other media site, including pics, of their exoerience at Solis. It was a very positive report. I thought it was pretty encouraging. I totally agree that entrees for two does seem a bit heavy in offerings - for the reasons discussed here - but hopefully this new dining experience ends up being a great choice. I would love to see pics of the outdoor seating. That could be a real bonus!

OP appears to be MIA……

Agree. Not a big deal. Happens all the time when traveling.

This is really informative. Thank you for sharing. This is so much more flexible than Viking used to be. They didn’t allow you to change pricing unless you cancelled and rebooked. Not sure if that still stands, but it would not surprise me if it did. So ‘wave’ pricing with Oceania isn’t the do all end all. We booked last year under the extraordinary sale and were happy with it. Now I know more after this informative post, so thank you.

Interesting analogy. Thank you. So maybe unless one is really concerned about a specific itinerary selling out, might not hurt to just hold for a bit…..

We were in 748 on Quest this past Spring. Loved it. No noise whatsoever.

Has anyone done any 2025 itinerary comparisons with the new pricing vs old? I was looking at two different sailings in May but didn’t save the pricing from last month. Rookie move on my part m

Pretty darned clever Stan01!

That sure helps me understand the restaurant ratings we have been noticing . Thank you.