Live from Regatta June 12-19, 2018--Vancouver to Seattle family cruise

Prince Rupert pics

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June 18, 2018–at sea headed toward Seattle

Another smooth sailing night. We awoke to bright sunlight, little wind, and temps around 60F but felt warmer with the sun. George and I took advantage of the beautiful weather, walking on the top deck for an hour.

The entire boat turned out for the big jackpot bingo game which was over $4000. We didn’t win, but it was fun anyway.

After lunch in the MDR, which I prefer on sea days as it is much calmer than the Terrace, George went and played blackjack and won! He is quite a bit ahead on this cruise. Back in the room, suitcases were out, so I spent some time packing, then went up to the top deck to watch my son and DIL in the shuffleboard tournament which my son won with what the guy managing it said was the highest score he had ever seen in shuffleboard. We also saw lots of whales all afternoon swimming beside the ship.

Trivia was much better today with a 2nd place finish. Redemption of O points—George got a T-shirt and ball cap, so he was happy.

Dinner service in GDR was quite slow. Food was excellent, just lots of time between courses. I realize it takes longer for a table for 6, but this was ridiculous. We almost missed the magic/comedy show, but got a seat in the back.

June 19,2018-disembarkation in Seattle

We were to be out of our rooms at 8:00 with disembarkation to start at 8:00. So the plan was to disembark at 8:00. We got down to deck 5 to disembark at a little before 8:00. It hadn’t start yet, but we were early, along with a bunch of other people. 8:15–no disembarkation. 8:30- they made an announcement that the ship had not been cleared by US customs yet and it would be another 15 minutes. Mind you, everyone disembarking was to be off the ship at 9:00 at the latest. 8:45–we were allowed to move through and proceed to the gangway to collect luggage, but customs wasn’t open yet. They don’t open till 9:00. All the agents were there just goofing off, but wouldn’t let anyone through. 9:00–they opened the lines and wave everyone through with a cursory glance at the passports.

Very inefficient. If customs doesn’t open till 9:00, which is an apparently known and normal thing, don’t tell us we can disembark at 8:00. Just give us the real time. I understand they want us out of the rooms by 8:00, but we would have hung around in the Terrace or elsewhere eating breakfast if we had know we couldn’t get off the ship till 9:00.

After that, we grabbed an Uber and made it to the airport by 10:00. Getting through security took a while. I would not suggest planning a flight before noon.

Will post final thoughts in a few days. The disembarkation mess has me sour right now. There were people with drivers there to pick them up who had to wait over an hour.

Rachel, I understand your frustration. Unfortunately Oceania is at the mercy of US Customs (or whatever country) and when they decide to clear the ship.

After experiencing a number of disembarkation where Customs appeared to be less than prompt or helpful, we have found that for us this works......

Request first disembarkation luggage tag.

Breakfast in Terraces first thing.

Out of the room by or before 8:00 a.m. so those hardworking stewards can get room ready.

Find a comfy seat in the lounge and patiently wait for our time to be called, but plan on that time being delayed.

Never book a flight before noon.

This has greatly eliminated disembarkation stress and works

for us;)

Thank you for your wonderful report and pictures. We love the Regatta and Alaska. We are busy checking off other Oceania cruise destinations before Alaska trip number three in 2020 so your report really helped!!!

I echo what alaskaca says re: day of disembarkation schedule.

We had a very long wait at port of Miami returning from ATW16. People had relatives waiting for several hours to see the returning cruisers, some with the cruisers' pets.

We were at the mercy of Port authorities who said they were overwhelmed with the number of large cruise ships that came in the same time we did.

I remember the GM just pacing and muttering...but what could he do?

When we finally were given permission to disembark, we found our luggage, which had been organized extremely well by O crew, pulled it toward the various govt desks and were waved through (waived through?) and were in the town car approximately 5 minutes later.

All the worries about listing our purchases, bottles of alcohol, ...of no importance! But there was absolutely nothing O could have done about the situation.

Sounds like Seattle customs agents were trying it on

Never heard of this nonsense in Miami

often we had to be in the lounge at 7:30 am to see the agents & get our passports returned

People have been at the airport by 9am on some trips

we get off before 9 am & on our way

In the Miami situation I just wrote about everybody that i know missed their 11-12:00 flights; many got a late afternoon flight but the ones headed west spent the night and flew out the next morning.

It was a mess.

Our worst experience was also in Miami coming in after trip from Buenos Aires through Panama Canal to US. I don't know if there were several ships also desembarking at the same time, but port authorities quite slow. There was mass confusion on the ship caused by a combination of folks in a hurry to get off and lack of control by ship's personnel. The reception area, hallways and stairs were packed with people all jostling to get a better position. I really felt sorry for several disabled and elderly people who simply had to sit on their luggage as couldn't stand any more. We are loyal O cruisers, but I agree with Rachel, it leaves a distasteful final expression.

Palakika--

I agree that Miami is among the worse, and S Fla travelers agree with you.

Your experience sounded like ours...but definitely the blame was on the port people--whether it was something THEY could change is open to discussion!!!

We always tell family and friends not to schedule a plane for noon, but instead try for 2:00 or 3:00--yes you might get home late at night, but at least you're home!!!

That way you are pleasantly surprised if you get off in a timely fashion and for we SFla people we can arrive home early!!!

Have a great summer solstice!!!

Ah..the summer solstice..beautiful sunrise here in Bend. We're getting ready for a lovely hike in the Fall River area. Back to Miami..we were on Marina so many annoyed cruisers! Think the O folks would have to share some blame as no announcements or updates about what was going on. Communications again

Francie

Our worst experience was also in Miami coming in after trip from Buenos Aires through Panama Canal to US. I don't know if there were several ships also desembarking at the same time, but port authorities quite slow. There was mass confusion on the ship caused by a combination of folks in a hurry to get off and lack of control by ship's personnel. The reception area, hallways and stairs were packed with people all jostling to get a better position. I really felt sorry for several disabled and elderly people who simply had to sit on their luggage as couldn't stand any more. We are loyal O cruisers, but I agree with Rachel, it leaves a distasteful final expression.

We have only had 1 problem in Miami with the port people after a panama cruise

we were delayed because there was something going around the ship so they had officials onboard

then the taxis were not allowed in because of some over zealous port people

we finally were off after 9:30 am but could not get a taxi until after 11 am due to travel agents blocking the taxi line up that went by the front doors of the port building :eek:

people in line could not see past them to see the line had move up

The crowding in the public areas by the gangway is due to people who cannot follow instructions

It happens every cruise no matter what port

They stand in the way with bags in tow blocking the route for those that colour/number tags have been called

when asked if they in line "no just waiting for our number to be called"

Then we had some lady pushed & shove to the front of the line because her tag had been call 30 mins prior

not always Oceania's fault

JMO

Great report, thanks for taking the time. We're cruising next April thur Alaska but on Regent. Your report makes me want to go now. Thanks again it was an enjoyable read.

Ron Rick, you will love Alaska on Regent.

I am not at all blaming Oceania for the late disembarkation. What I do fault them for was not communicating that we wouldn’t be allowed through customs, and it was just a wave through, till 9. Apparently the customs people don’t start working till 9 in Seattle, so if that is the case, we should know up front and make plans accordingly.

Just tell us we need out of our rooms at 8 but won’t be let off the ship until 8:45 or later. I really felt sorry for people who were telling their prearranged drivers to wait, but they didn’t know how long.

And we were the only ship in port, so that excuse by customs is not valid.

Ron Rick, you will love Alaska on Regent.

 

I am not at all blaming Oceania for the late disembarkation. What I do fault them for was not communicating that we wouldn’t be allowed through customs, and it was just a wave through, till 9. Apparently the customs people don’t start working till 9 in Seattle, so if that is the case, we should know up front and make plans accordingly.

.

funny just read on the west coast forum here that some people were off their ship & on their way just after 8 am

Maybe customs have special days they start at 9am :confused:

funny just read on the west coast forum here that some people were off their ship & on their way just after 8 am

 

Maybe customs have special days they start at 9am :confused:

Well, they were just sitting drinking coffee. We could see them inside, but they wouldn’t open the gate till 9:00

Well, they were just sitting drinking coffee. We could see them inside, but they wouldn’t open the gate till 9:00

maybe it was their "work to rule" day like casual Fridays at the office :D

It does not sound like it happens all the time

Just saying

maybe it was their "work to rule" day like casual Fridays at the office :D

 

It does not sound like it happens all the time

 

Just saying

Well, to me it was really disgraceful. A terrible example of government workers. If people were lined up outside my office, we would be checking them in and getting things going. But hey, i have to actually work to get paid. And I get paid according to the number of patients I see.

Well, to me it was really disgraceful. A terrible example of government workers. If people were lined up outside my office, we would be checking them in and getting things going. But hey, i have to actually work to get paid. And I get paid according to the number of patients I see.

I'm not a civil servant but heads would certainly roll in my company if the front line started overstepping like that.

What about the budget?

Stan works on the financial side of Human Resources, and he has asked me to remind you that it was almost certainly above the pay grade of those workers to improvise their working hours based on the availability of clients seeking their services.

I'm not a civil servant but heads would certainly roll in my company if the front line started overstepping like that.

What about the budget?

What about working for the people paying them (the public) and giving them benefits that are in significant excess to what most people in the private sector get?

And if heads would roll for going out of my way to support my customers, that is a company that doesn't deserve proactive employees who by being proactive are working to improve the ultimate profits.

What about working for the people paying them (the public) and giving them benefits that are in significant excess to what most people in the private sector get?

 

And if heads would roll for going out of my way to support my customers, that is a company that doesn't deserve proactive employees who by being proactive are working to improve the ultimate profits.

In an informal situation, I might agree with you that service is the ultimate goal, but in larger businesses, as well as the Government, labor laws prohibit employees from working without compensation and on the fly self determination of starting time sounds like a potentially expensive recipe for chaos.

Another question: would it also be permissible to close the office, whenever the waiting room is empty?

The bottom line is Customs didn’t open until 9 am and O messed up by scheduling an earlier debarkation time that did not coincide with the time Customs opened. The Customs folks cannot be held accountable for O’s oversight nor should they start work early just because folks are showing up early because of O’s scheduling error. JMHO

The bottom line is Customs didn’t open until 9 am and O messed up by scheduling an earlier debarkation time that did not coincide with the time Customs opened.

Why does the customs open later for Oceania than with other ships that dock there??

Does it always open at 9am or was this an anomaly?

so this person got off Celebrity recently so if Customs open at 9 am how did they get off earlier?

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=56321327&postcount=12

Why does the customs open later for Oceania than with other ships that dock there??

Does it always open at 9am or was this an anomaly?

 

 

so this person got off Celebrity recently so if Customs open at 9 am how did they get off earlier?

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=56321327&postcount=12

It doesn’t matter. On that day Oceania should have checked with Customs to find out what time they open. From what I understand the Regatta was the only ship in port that morning. Maybe they only scheduled one shift that day. Who knows. But it was O’s fault not Customs.

As far as the Celebrity ship goes, that was probably a much bigger ship and Customs adjusted their schedule to meet the demand for that day. Maybe there were multiple ships in port that morning. Who knows.

In general we’ve always been told to never book flights before noon because “stuff” does happen on disembarkation day. The ship arrives late, doesn’t clear customs in a timely manner, long lines getting through Customs, traffic, long security lines at the airport, etc. For those that book flights before noon, I have no sympathy if they wind up missing their flight. As far as the Uber drivers go, that’s the risk they take. I’m sure there were plenty of taxi drivers waiting in line to take those folks to the airport, who did not prepay O to arrange transfers for them.

It doesn’t matter. On that day Oceania should have checked with Customs to find out what time they open. From what I understand the Regatta was the only ship in port that morning. Maybe they only scheduled one shift that day. Who knows. But it was O’s fault not Customs.

yes Oceania must be to blame I am surprised you did not blame FDR as well

I see most of the cruises in Seattle dock at 8 am will be interesting to see what time the customs open on those cruises

We were docked at 7:00. Oceania documents asked what time we wanted to disembark, giving the choices of 8:00, 8:15, 8:30, 8:45, or 9:00. The documents said that we must be out of our cabins by 8:00, and the latest disembarkation time, everyone off the ship, was to be 9:00.

As I have said before, I absolutely understand why Oceania wants us out of our cabins and preferably off the ship. But they need to give us realistic times for disembarkation. I don’t personally book flights before noon because stuff happens. But customs and Oceania need to talk with each other.

I suspect they had only one shift scheduled because we were the only ship in port, so one shift would be able to handle embarkation as well as disembarkation.

I agree the individual customs agents can’t decide their schedules, but a supervisor, with any brain at all, could look out and see this huge line of people forming and tell 2 guys to start work 15 minutes earlier and they could get off 15 minutes earlier. The customs people were all there, just standing around drinking coffee and visiting with their buddies. And it wasn’t like they even were checking anything, just waving us through when they finally opened the line.

The port employees were all there and working as soon as we got off the ship.