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Thank you for posting this LHT28. It made me double check myself. Not knowing who you might be referring to, it made me concerned that maybe I misinterpreted what I read. I would not ever want to be in those categories. For that reason, I asked on a couple of other threads after this post to clarify. Responses were that others were offered FCC late last week. No respond by dates were provided. Within under a week their offer was rescinded when they called to accept the FCC. I feel that if a passenger was not provided a ‘valid until ‘x’ date (obviously not into infinity), and that offer was requested to be honored in a manner of days following, it is IMO, less than impressive that Oceania did not grant that. So yes, clearly a business decision. Yes, the offer was made and not immediately accepted. The thought is that when FCC was offered, there should have been a ‘valid until date’….whatever that may be that was determined by O. Instead it was open ended and people were IMO unfairly caught off guard.

I have not gone that route before so thank you for that further information. We love Italy/Med in the Springtime. I hope that works out for you. Glad to hear your DH is doing better

Thank you for posting this Terri. I am really sorry you experienced this, and hope that your husband is doing well. We generally transfer our points from Amex and Chase into our frequent flyer accounts with the airlines to become miles that we use for flights. Earlier this year, because they share many of the same lines, I transferred from both to my Flying Blue account. Is this the same/similar path that you took, or did you book using Chase travel services for your miles? I just wonder if that makes any difference. Regardless, thank you for posting this. It is a great reminder….or heads up.

Thanks again for this clarification. I appreciate it. Again, it is how I understood it to be.

Thank you. That is how I understood this.

So to clarify, you were offered a FCC. When you were offered this, were you given a deadline to respond? How many days after being offered the FCC did they rescind the offer? I want to be sure that the position I have taken with my comments are based on facts, and not on a misinterpretation of what I believed to understand after reading several posts

Were you or your TA specifically offered a FCC, then having it denied?

From several posts, there were several quests who were offered FCC. Oceania then rescinded that FCC. Did some receive it, I believe so. Others were promised, and then it was rescinded. This is being stated on several threads and on the book that cannot be named. If the later is in fact true, then that is the issue. Are their statements conspiracy theory, IDK, but it appears to have occurred to multiple guests. Hopefully some of those directly impacted will clarify here as it is actually a pretty big deal IMO.

If O decided to not offer FCC, that is their contractural right to do so. It is the fact that they went back on their commitment to the passengers that they already agreed to offer the FCC. That is a horrid business practice and outside of “part of the contract” IMO. My impression of O as a company has slipped greatly as a result. Not sure yet how that will impact my decisions moving forward.

Vis Island to Hvar in Croatia. The excursion was not only one of the worse but also a safety concern. The small, old boat used to transport passengers to and from Hvar was so packed there was no elbow room. The largest percentage of people were stuck inside smelling exhaust fumes the entire way. A smaller percentage of passengers sat outside in the back with not a spare inch of open room. It was a fairly long boat ride and I was extremely nauseated we arrived in Hvar. We opted to DIY so that I could settle my stomach. That turned out to be a great idea based on what other passengers said about the tour. We were sure to cut our time short and be early enough in line for the return to grab a seat outdoors. I did not see one single smiling face on this tour. Some passengers were very experienced sailors and expressed concerns on the safety of how overloaded the old boat was. We did notify guest services. They agreed to a smaller percentage refund. If this is offered on future stops I would certainly ask questions around the water transportation before I signed up. Otherwise, Hvar was a lovely island to visit.

To clarify my original post, I was asking what and how SB is responding to booked passengers in these itineraries through the end of this year. Most, if not all Cruise lines have pulled these ports until then. Some lines are being much more gracious in how they are responding to this situation than others, I am seeing that they range from best case and classy, to incredibly poor and unprofessional ….which triggered my question. In troubled times, how a company responds speaks volumes, and drives future decisions.

100% agree. It’s Totally unacceptable. I would love to know if Carlos would sail that itinerary with not just himself, but his family! Shows zero class as a leader, and as a business decision. Basically says that the word of him or the organization is worth a grain of salt in pulling those FCC offers.

The add on of CFAR is undoubtedly a great benefit to have. A large group of people do not, as pre-existing is the primary driver, including ourselves. Maybe this situation is a great example for more of us to pay attention to. I certainly will, so thank you for your input. As you agreed, this does not change what has been happening to these passengers and it is not okay. HOW Oceania handles this issue moving forward, and how they end up treating these passengers is on my radar as a new customer. They put out there that they will offer FCC to those feeling unsafe and uncomfortable with the revised itinerary….then to turn around and say “oh no, we changed our mind”…..that to me speaks very loudly. I am not certain how all other lines are handling this, and some may be doing the same, but I do know that there are examples in their category of lines that are showing oh so much more class. Ultimately these actions can absolutely drive future decisions…and I also realize that I am a small minnow in a large pond.

Speaks volumes. I cannot quite get my arms around why they will not, at the very least, honor those to whom they previously committed to provide a FCC. That is pretty low. If it were me, I would be furious….and I would want to find a way to make this whole “not honoring their word” a bit more widely known outside of CC. It is certainly giving me pause….

I have to say that this is not what I had hoped would be the outcome for all those who wished to change to another cruise. I truly hope that those who were previously responded to with the answer of FCC being available will be honored. If not, that speaks volumes IMO. Oceania’s competition is, so far, offering better solutions than this response.

Let me begin by saying that I realize it is impossible to understand the magnitude of what is occurring in Israel, Gaza, and surrounding areas. It goes without saying that the worries about what cruise lines are doing in response, is a blip on the radar of what is truly important. That said, how is Seabourn responding to cruises scheduled in the near future to Israel and surrounding areas? Clearly itineraries need to be adjusted, and some drastically. Some are re-routing via the Red Sea, some the Greek Islands, some mostly sea days, etc. This must be extremely challenging with the need to pivot quickly. There seems to be a range of how different lines are taking care of their booked passengers….or not…with respect to these changes. Some lines are offering FCC, some not. Some are changing initial offerings….there seems to be a variety of responses. But for those passengers who are not feeling safe or comfortable with the changes, is SB offering FCC or anything else along those lines?

When I first read that Oceania was indeed going to offer FCC for those uncomfortable with the revised itinerary, my thoughts were that was an upstanding and class act as a company. This reversal as of today is the opposite in how it is being handled IMO. After reading this on three threads this evening, it paints Oceania in a different light for me. I truly hope that this gets resolved in a manner that is satisfactory to all.

If the offer was already made to you in writing, I would think that Oceania is liable to uphold that offer. If that is the case, I would absolutely look at how to take this to the next various levels. I am not sure how Regent and NCL are going to be able to still cruise to closed ports that are in the middle of the war. Maybe I am misinterpreting this piece.

I am certainly not a lawyer, nor versed in this, but it would seem that if you have the cancellation and FCC in writing, that there is some legal justification on your part. I would think that logically Oceania has made the commitment and should be hard pressed to back out of this one. I sincerely hope that they make this whole for you.

We looked at that itinerary as well. For us, the prime time pricing for the specific ports they are traveling to did not pencil out for our interests in that region of the world. We are looking to possibly travel to the British Isles in 2025, but this one didn’t check enough boxes m The next person may say, wow, it checks so many boxes for us!

We found on both Viking Oceans and Rivers that if we did not enjoy the two wines the stewards were offering, we would ask for an alternative and they would gladly bring other options. Thanks Pinot for the feedback on Uniworld. Our TA speaks highly of them. We are actually considering another river in 2025 and they, AMA and lastly Viking are on the list.

Seabourn this year was lovely. They call for a ‘formal night’ but I truly saw a handful of formal. DH took a sport coat. No tie. Some wore no coat. Collared shirts and slacks were equal dress on formal night to jackets and suites. Easy peasy. Really enjoyed the cabin layout of their verandah over the PV on Viking, as well as food. Equally lovely staff. Much smaller ports. Missed the promenade deck for walking, but it was port intensive Tender operations are down to a science. Virtually no waiting other than maybe 10 min No included excursions but we don’t take those them All alcohol all day included as well as some top shelf offerings Price pp/pd all in equal to at best and often less for verandah vs PV The casino was the size of a small shop in an obscure area. The one time we walked by no customers We will happily sail SB again. If we can find an itinerary at the right price we will sail Viking but we have not found one for our timeframe and geographic targets post Covid.

Great to know! Thank you very much.

This sounds like something that really should be looked at from a management level. I am sorry that the OP experienced this. Coming from the west coast, most flights back with decent connections are very early flights, so we generally stay over for the night. Because of this, we are never in a hurry to leave, so I am not experienced with that first off the ship exercise. I guess that is something to be grateful for!

You made really good points. You are correct in that many people have difficulty in, shall I say, adulting? Other terms apply but how I feel about it won’t change a chatty CD. When I hear piped in music and chatty CD’s, it just reminds me of prior early days main stream lines. It was irritating even then! Ha!