Hurricane Florence- Insignia cruise now

Hi. My parents are onboard Oceania Insignia Cottages, Coves and Coast that left NYC on Sept 3 and is scheduled to be in Bermuda on Monday. How can I find out if their itinerary will be changed due to Hurricane Florence? They do not have a cell phone. Thank you.

Hi. My parents are onboard Oceania Insignia Cottages, Coves and Coast that left NYC on Sept 3 and is scheduled to be in Bermuda on Monday. How can I find out if their itinerary will be changed due to Hurricane Florence? They do not have a cell phone. Thank you.

You could call Oceania for starters.

That said, I've got to ask: How does anyone in this day and age not have a cell phone -particularly if they're traveling?

Perhaps you could e-mail them - hoping that they'll go the the computer center to check for e-mail (a long shot given the missing phone).

I did call Oceania. They referred me to our travel agent. I have not heard back from her yet. I was just hoping that someone might have some advice. I know it seems crazy to you but my parents are not technologically savvy. To each their own!

Monday is a long way off

things can change by then

mtadk, I am not sure how current these instructions are from "All Things Cruise", but give it a try.

Oceania Cruises

How do I contact a passenger directly on Oceania Cruises?

If you live in the U.S. or Canada, call (866) 242-7447; the person(s) calling will need the ship’s name and stateroom you are in, and a credit card for payment.

Oceania Insignia: 1#

Oceania Marina: 2#

Oceania Nautica: 3#

Oceania Regatta: 4#

Oceania Riviera: 5#

Rates will be approximately $6.95 per minute for voice (subject to change). Calls are limited to 10 minutes.

Your parents should be fine. Oceania will not knowingly put passengers in harms way. When the captain has decided on the correct course of action, he will inform the passengers if there is a need for changing the itinerary. That may be a same day decision. The advantage of being on a ship instead of at a resort is that a ship can move to a safer location. Consider whether it is worth alarming your parents with a phone call over this.

Mary

I am on the same cruise. No word yet on whether our itinerary will change. We leave Halifax at 11pm tomorrow night. I would think they will need to make a decision before we leave Halifax and head towards Bermuda. I will post again if/when I hear something

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Thank you so much, Gbits. I appreciate the information.

from what I see now on the National Hurricane website it will miss Bermuda but could be pretty rough out there in the ocean. I am sure Oceania will avoid as much rough weather as they can. :):):)

here is my go-to guy for all things hurricane-related. Bryan Norcross helped south Florida through Hurricane Andrew. (google his name for all his work history)

https://www.local10.com/weather/hurricane/unusual-path-for-florence-has-east-coast-on-alert

O is NOT going to put their passengers, crew, and ship in danger. We circumnav Australia in Jan and Capt got weather reports of cyclonic activity so we spent an unscheduled over night in Fremantle/Perth --we were all fine.

btw...i bought my mom a flip phone and put my phone # in it on "speed dial" so all she had to do was push the 2 button and the green button (looked like an old fashioned phone receiver) and she got me. I also put her sister's # and AAA on it. She was not tech savvy at all.

2 weeks later she walked out of Publix, her car was dead. She pushed 5 and green button and AAA help was on the way. She cried. (I lived hundreds of miles away)

small enough it fit in her pocket all day, and on her bed side table at night. She was thrilled and said it was her best friend ....so just a thought for your parents.

FYI, we were on Sirena in October 2016 heading for Bermuda when a hurricane hit the island. We had some rough seas the day before (but I've been in worse!) but we docked at Bermuda as scheduled. We saw some damage to homes and vegetation that day, but basically everything seemed fine and we had beautiful weather to boot.

Not sure what category storm that one was -- probably a low level hurricane given the damage we saw.

Mura

OP:

Insignia is docked about 75 yards from my window. I asked some cruisers passing under my balcony if there are itinerary changes.

They said nothing so far.

Itinerary has been changed, no more Bermuda. Sea day tomorrow then St. John Canada on Sunday. Portland on Monday - Tuesday. We will arrive back in NY on Thursday night @ 7.

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Insignia’s position can be tracked here: http://www.cruisemapper.com/?imo=9156462

Better safe than sorry! Actually, if I were on board I wouldn't be unhappy with the changes. But if your parents had their hearts set on Bermuda, disappointment will reign ...

Mura

We were on Insignia exactly one year ago, September 10 departure. We were diverted from Bermuda due to impending weather, which was the appropriate decision.

Oceania will not risk passenger safety. They also try to avoid rough seas, if feasible.

Was down at guest services before and some idiot was complaining about not going to Bermuda and wanting compensation for missing the port ~ threatened to cancel his other booked O cruises. Guess he doesn’t subscribe to the better safe than sorry motto ~ you just can’t fix stupid [emoji13]

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Was down at guest services before and some idiot was complaining about not going to Bermuda and wanting compensation for missing the port ~ threatened to cancel his other booked O cruises. Guess he doesn’t subscribe to the better safe than sorry motto ~ you just can’t fix stupid [emoji13]

Maybe he should just fly to Bermuda & enjoy the storm

:eek:

I'd rather be in a storm in North Korea than be in Saint John though.

I feel for him.

I'd rather be in a storm in North Korea than be in Saint John though.

I feel for him.

Have a good trip. I am sure you will love North Korea, if they ever let you out. Very smart move by O making the changes. Stay safe.

here is my go-to guy for all things hurricane-related. Bryan Norcross helped south Florida through Hurricane Andrew. (google his name for all his work history)

 

https://www.local10.com/weather/hurricane/unusual-path-for-florence-has-east-coast-on-alert

 

O is NOT going to put their passengers, crew, and ship in danger. We circumnav Australia in Jan and Capt got weather reports of cyclonic activity so we spent an unscheduled over night in Fremantle/Perth --we were all fine.

 

btw...i bought my mom a flip phone and put my phone # in it on "speed dial" so all she had to do was push the 2 button and the green button (looked like an old fashioned phone receiver) and she got me. I also put her sister's # and AAA on it. She was not tech savvy at all.

 

2 weeks later she walked out of Publix, her car was dead. She pushed 5 and green button and AAA help was on the way. She cried. (I lived hundreds of miles away)

 

small enough it fit in her pocket all day, and on her bed side table at night. She was thrilled and said it was her best friend ....so just a thought for your parents.

What a wonderful thing to do for you mom!

You could call Oceania for starters.

That said, I've got to ask: How does anyone in this day and age not have a cell phone -particularly if they're traveling?

Perhaps you could e-mail them - hoping that they'll go the the computer center to check for e-mail (a long shot given the missing phone).

Having a cell phone and having it work constantly on a cruise ship are two different things. I have enabled my plan to work overseas at a daily rate but it won't work on the ship. Having it do so is not worth the expense and trouble when you can get on wifi with it and other devices. We always tell our kids to email (which we check daily) and give them the ship phone number in case of emergency.

To the OP: As everyone has said, O will not put your loved ones in danger. Bermuda should be okay but they will watch for the rough seas and modify if necessary.

Have a good trip. I am sure you will love North Korea, if they ever let you out. Very smart move by O making the changes. Stay safe.

IDK about N. Korea. Appears no one living there can say a bad thing about it...

...but there are nicer places to go than Saint John ... extra day in Halifax, Bar Harbor, Boston, etc.

Maybe he should just fly to Bermuda & enjoy the storm

 

:eek:

+1 [emoji1]

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IDK about N. Korea. Appears no one living there can say a bad thing about it...

 

 

 

...but there are nicer places to go than Saint John ... extra day in Halifax, Bar Harbor, Boston, etc.

St John is taking the place of our 2d sea day so it’s really just an extra port because we don’t need the travel time. Portland is substituted for Bermuda, not exactly an even swap but I much prefer that to sailing in, through or around a hurricane and the attendant rough seas that would come with it. If anyone has been to St John or Portland and has any DIY tour ideas (that do not include food lol) would appreciate hearing about them [emoji1]

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