Oceania post-cruise hotel problem!

[cynadav]

We just returned from a wonderful cruise with Oceania that went from Athens to Barcelona. The staff, with the exception of the destination services people, were wonderful. The food was fantastic. The room was very comfortable and well laid out with lots of storage space and a comfortable bed. We arranged for three nights pre-cruise in Athens and three nights post-cruise in Barcelona through Oceania. It was very expensive, but we felt it was worth it to have them make the arrangements. We booked the cruise and pre and post options a year ago. We researched the hotels before making our decision. They work with two hotels in each of these cities. In Athens everything went extremely well. We were greeted at the airport and transported to our hotel. The Hotel Grand Bretagne was wonderful. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for our post-cruise arrangements. We were dropped off at our hotel after completing a tour of the city. We wanted to be near the beach, so we chose the Hotel Arts, a Ritz Carlton property. We tried to register, but were told we did not have a reservation! Not only did we not have a reservation, but neither did four other couples from our cruise! The Oceania representative told us the hotel was at fault. The hotel and the Oceania rep. went back and forth for nearly four hours. They were finally convince to provide us with lunch while we waited. The hotel was fully booked, so they took us elsewhere. We only had three days in Barcelona and by the time we were finally in a room, it was after 5 PM. The hotel they put us in was also supposed to be a 5 star hotel, but it was not! The El Palace was built in 1919, and it looks like they have not updated the lobby and restaurants in nearly 100 years. It was in the middle of the city, not near the beach. It did not even have a swimming pool. This was not equivalent to the one we had paid for by any means. We looked up and compared the rates between the two hotels and what we had paid. We paid $2798 for the three nights in a club level room! I checked on Expedia and the junior suite that they put us in averaged $426 per night for the dates we were there, that is $1278 for three nights, a profit of $1500 for Oceania. The club level at the Hotel Arts, had they had vacancies would have been $606 per night which comes to $1818. We will never know if it was an error by Oceania or Hotel Arts, but in my mind, when you are paying that kind of money, Oceania should have confirmed our reservation in advance. I think they do have responsibility here. I will never let them book my hotel reservations again! If you are traveling with Oceania and have allowed them to book your hotel I would recommend that you verify the reservation with the hotel of your choice directly.

 

My question is, has anyone else had this experience? Does anyone have any advice or suggestions about how to get a refund from Oceania? It really put a damper on the end of our trip, used up a lot of our valuable time, etc.

[Paulchili]

cynadav,

Welcome to CC. I am truly sorry about your experience in Barcelona as that can really leave you with a bad taste after a wonderful cruise.

Unfortunately it seems that you are new to CC; most people here know not to book packages with Oceania (or any other cruise line for that matter). If you make the arrangements yourself not only will YOU have the control but you will save a bundle of money (as you saw when you checked the rates). Transfers are easy enough to arrange by yourself and are also cheaper.

As far as what you can do now - I would write to Oceania (a short, concise, to the point, polite) letter explainig your situation. If you do not get satisfaction, go up the chain of command. FDR, CEO of Oceania, frequently reads these boards and is very responsive to letters/e mails.

Unfortunately, this was a lesson learned the hard way. If you intend to continue cruising (Oceania or any other line), do follow the CC boards as they are full of invaluable information and people are eager to help.

Good luck.

[wripro]

Agree totally with Paulchili. Anyone who books hotels with any cruise line might as well open their window and throw money out. Their charges are always per person, not per room. How much trouble is it to have your TA make hotel reservations plus a car service to transfer you?

[cynadav]

Thank you Paulchili. Yes, I am new to CC. I found it right before we left on our last cruise. I will definitely continue to read and research before our next cruise. I also wrote a review of the cruise including things I wished I knew before we went. We will be writing a letter to Mr. Binder the President of Oceania.

[GrammieK]

Cynadav,

What a lousy way to end a wonderful cruise! I'm sure you knew that you paid a premium for the hotel arranged by O. I always let them arrange my post and pre cruise because it is the easy way out. A bigger problem, as I see it, was that no room was available for you. No matter who arranged it, someone dropped the ball. Sounds to me like O owes you an explanation and some $$$. Good luck!

K

[orchestrapal]

Always book your own hotels...That's the major message here.

We stayed 3 nights at the Hotel Arts in Barcelona in April before our Oceania cruise and paid $1560 for 3 night in a Jr. Suite Club level. Just shop around and you too can not only save a great deal of money but most of all retain control. Hopefully you'll have better luck next time.:)

[cynadav]

Thanks for your support and kind words orchestrapal and GrammieK. Yes, I definitely learned my lesson here. I just finished completing my eval of the cruise and a letter to the President of Oceania. Let's hope they do the right thing. I will never let anyone else book my hotel or flights ever again. Part of the reason I wanted to post this is to try to make people aware so they don't have something similar happen. I feel like a real idiot.

[orchestrapal]

Thanks for your support and kind words orchestrapal and GrammieK. Yes, I definitely learned my lesson here. I just finished completing my eval of the cruise and a letter to the President of Oceania. Let's hope they do the right thing. I will never let anyone else book my hotel or flights ever again. Part of the reason I wanted to post this is to try to make people aware so they don't have something similar happen. I feel like a real idiot.

 

Don;t feel like a "real idiot', you can't learn from mistakes you or someone else didn't make.

Hopefully your experience will also help others.:)

[happy cruzer]

hi, cynadav

 

I saw your review for Nautica, thanks for doing one.

 

Can you tell more about your dining experience?

 

Where did you have breakfast, lunch, and dinner? How was the service and the food?

 

Did you have any trouble with reservations for the specialty restaurants?

 

did you have wine with dinner? How was bar service?

 

Thanks for the review.

 

p.s. as far as feeling like an idiot about the hotel, don't worry even if you make the reservations yourself things can go wrong. It's really about the research/effort, cost and control involved. And it is up to each traveller to determine what they desire. There is not a right or wrong way just one that matches what you like.

[cynadav]

Hi happy cruzer.

 

I dislike buffets in general and usually avoid them at all costs. We did eat breakfast and lunch a couple of times at the buffet and it was okay. Getting reservations at Toscana and Polo prior to the cruise was based on your cabin type. We were allowed two reservations at each of those restaurants. However, you can put your name in on a daily basis at 1 PM and if they have cancellations and you are flexible about time and seating, you can get in sometimes. Both of those restaurants have a great menu and the food is excellent. The view from those two restaurants is also fantastic. Because it was not a buffet and because reservations were not required, we ate most of our meals in the Grand Dining Room. They were open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The menu choices were great. It was much larger than the other two restaurants, holding probably 300 people. The service in all of the restaurants, from the buffet to the specialty ones was excellent. In all of those meals we only had one server who I would rate as mediocre, the rest were fabulous. We also ordered room service twice, once for breakfast before an excursion and once for dinner following a 10 hour excursion. It was good. Not as good as in the restaurant, but good. We did have wine with dinner. My husband and I are very much into wine. The wine list was okay, not fabulous. It was a bit over priced and they add on 18% gratuity to wine and other alcoholic beverages. Since we were visiting countries and areas that had fabulous wine choices, we bought some wine and brought it back on the ship with us. There is a wine opener in the cabin and the bar gave us a couple of wine glasses to use while on the ship. What we purchased was better and a much better value. I hope this helps and that I have answered all of your questions.

[happy cruzer]

Thank you so much for the details.

 

O is currently advertising Polo and Toscana as open seating. Did you get the impression that it is? Or is it reservations only (even if the reservation was made that day)? I know I am nitpicking but it is a pet peeve of mine to always need a reservation for a restaurant advertised as open seating. I just like to know about current experiences.

 

Also did they do the wine bazaar on your cruise? We love wine each night too if makes the excellent dining even better :).

[digby]

Open seating to me means not having an assigned table at a specific time each evening as on some cruise lines. I don't see the need to reserve at specialty restaurants changes that.

[gillianrose]

Does anyone have any advice or suggestions about how to get a refund from Oceania?

 

I don't know, but I feel you are certainly due some monies from Oceania.

[cynadav]

I'm not sure, but I think they are referring to open seating at those restaurants on the new ship, not the Nautica. You do have to have a reservation for those restaurants on the Nautica. That is why we ate at the Grand Dining Room as often as we did, because it was open seating with no reservations required or accepted. No wine bazaar or wine package available. It was by the bottle or glass, and pricey at that.

[happy cruzer]

Thanks cynadav for providing all the answers.

 

My 2011 brochure lists all restaurants on all ships as open seating to me that implies no difference in seating policies between any of them. I know that in operation it is handled differently. I appreciate hearing how people experienced the dinner/wine service; thank you so much for sharing.

 

I hope you get the hotel price difference settled to satisfaction.

[hondorner]

Happy cruzer, you have posted your opinion about open seating versus reservations so frequently and strongly that I feel you are in for a major disappointment aboard any of the Oceania ships.

 

"Open Seating" absolutely refers to the fact that it is the opposite of traditional, fixed seating in which one's table is assigned and never changes, one's tablemates are not changed, and one's dining times are inflexibly fixed at the same time each evening. It has nothing to do with the reservation system, which is absolutely required at Polo and Toscana of all the ships, and will also be required at Jacques and Red Ginger on Marina.

 

Your definition may make perfect sense to you, and I may understand your meaning as well, but it makes no difference -- it is NOT Oceania's definition.

 

If this situation is a deal-breaker for you, it's possible that you should reconsider your reservation before your experience is spoiled by this fact.

 

Believe me, I'm absolutely not trying to chase you off (I don't think I have that reputation), only trying to assure that your experience is as positive as possible.

[happy cruzer]

Happy cruzer, you have posted your opinion about open seating versus reservations so frequently and strongly that I feel you are in for a major disappointment aboard any of the Oceania ships.

 

"Open Seating" absolutely refers to the fact that it is the opposite of traditional, fixed seating in which one's table is assigned and never changes, one's tablemates are not changed, and one's dining times are inflexibly fixed at the same time each evening. It has nothing to do with the reservation system, which is absolutely required at Polo and Toscana of all the ships, and will also be required at Jacques and Red Ginger on Marina.

 

Your definition may make perfect sense to you, and I may understand your meaning as well, but it makes no difference -- it is NOT Oceania's definition.

 

If this situation is a deal-breaker for you, it's possible that you should reconsider your reservation before your experience is spoiled by this fact.

 

Believe me, I'm absolutely not trying to chase you off (I don't think I have that reputation), only trying to assure that your experience is as positive as possible.

 

Your point is well taken. That is exactly why I am doing my research to know what to expect. BECAUSE if you read current literature and the website about O, you will NOT know what to expect. You will not know O's definition of open seating which is NOT the industry standard. Things do change, just because a cruise line did things a certain way a year ago does not mean they will continue to do so tomorrow. Take the soda and water for example, their policy changed there.

 

My observation was the O started marketing their restaurants differently. They NOW refer to them as all open seating; they do not call any of them specialty restaurants as they did in older literature. They do not list the number of reservations allocated per cabin until you have a booking and are trying to make a reservation which previously they did in all literature. Why did the marketing change? They do mention that Suites get priority reservations (but not how many or that they are limited) in their literature. Is it only the marketing or the actual implementation that has changed or is changing?

 

You guys who are frequent O cruisers are telling me that the onboard system remains the same, thank you (for that's the about the only way an infrequent or new cruiser will know how many reservations they are allowed and that MAY be all that can be obtained).

 

Since you have seen my many posts on the subject, you know that I posted that I intend to make the situation work and that if I am not happy on cruise; I will chalk it up to experience and vote with my feet. I enjoyed my one O cruise because I knew what to expect and worked the system. For example, I am currently exploring the always available foods in the MDR in case that's where I end up dining for 12 night of my 14 night cruise.

 

Since you advise me to drop the subject, I will (still will continue to check the actual implementation). All advice appreciated. Thanks.

[StanandJim]

I hope that the OP posts again when this matter gets resolved.

[Jancruz]

There are MANY people that want the comfort of booking with the cruise line and like to be "taken care of" not to do it on their own. I dont know about any of you that make your own arrangements but I remember making arrangements with a hotel in Rome and getting there (after shipping luggage there first) and having them tell me they were overbooked. After a lot of discussion Stu and I ended up in another hotel..so it can happen even if we do the booking ourselves. In fact 2 weeks ago I had a hotel in Vacaville, California and when I arrived there was a fire in the area and the hotel needed to house the fire department so sent me to a different hotel..I am sure if the OP has the person who booked her cruise contact Oceania something will be done.

Jancruz1

[Paulchili]

I dont know about any of you that make your own arrangements but I remember making arrangements with a hotel in Rome and getting there (after shipping luggage there first) and having them tell me they were overbooked. After a lot of discussion Stu and I ended up in another hotel..so it can happen even if we do the booking ourselves.

Jancruz1

 

Jan,

Yes, it can happen even if you book the hotel yourself.

However, you only pay a fraction of the price for the same hotel/same room (especially if it is for 3 days). You usually do not pay for the room ahead but guarantee it with a CC, so you have more options if the room is not available. If you have to change hotels (it doesn't happen often) you decide where you go and not the hotel that didn't keep your reservation.

Finally, it is usually just you and not a group of people (as was the case with OP) - so they need to find just one room and not several.

[wripro]

All great points, Paulchili. I agree with every single one. I also think may people do not realize the prices quoted for hotel rooms by the cruise lines are per person and not per room.

[Jancruz]

Jan,

Yes, it can happen even if you book the hotel yourself.

However, you only pay a fraction of the price for the same hotel/same room (especially if it is for 3 days). You usually do not pay for the room ahead but guarantee it with a CC, so you have more options if the room is not available. If you have to change hotels (it doesn't happen often) you decide where you go and not the hotel that didn't keep your reservation.

Finally, it is usually just you and not a group of people (as was the case with OP) - so they need to find just one room and not several.

 

You are correct Paul..but I am saying, it can happen to all of us and is annoying under any circumstances. WE who like to book our own hotels, cars etc..can handle the inconvenience but I cant tell you how many people I know that dont want to bother doing it on there own and do know the price is much higher and dont care. I always make it a point to tell my friends it is less expensive to book it yourself but then you also get your transfers when you book with Oceania..again, most people are willing to pay the higher price to feel taken care of..

Jancruz1

I do believe that Oceania will take care of this problem as they do everything that they are responsible for..personally I use Priceline for almost all of my hotels and have never been disappointed..

Jancruz1

[Jancruz]

All great points, Paulchili. I agree with every single one. I also think may people do not realize the prices quoted for hotel rooms by the cruise lines are per person and not per room.

 

It is listed on their invoice per person so if they look at it they know and can always cancel it..

Jancruz1

[wripro]

As my old friend, Will Rogers, said, "There's one born every minute."

 

In all seriousness, there are some people who are obviously willing to throw away money for the sake of total immersion from the travel experience and to be protected from any possible deviation from their expectations. If there weren't enough of them cruise lines would not offer hotel programs.

[Paulchili]

As my old friend, Will Rogers, said, "There's one born every minute."

 

In all seriousness, there are some people who are obviously willing to throw away money for the sake of total immersion from the travel experience and to be protected from any possible deviation from their expectations. If there weren't enough of them cruise lines would not offer hotel programs.

 

+1 - totally agree :)