No longer an Oceania Cheerleader

[LHT28]

Also, was the jitney tour a private company?

 

The tours are at the dock $20 pp for an island tour

Lots of them available ;)

[CintiPam]

Cintipam

 

What beach did they recommend in Antigua? I'm doing the same itinerary on March 28. I was hoping to do the Lobster and Champagne Catamaran but it is sold out.

 

Also, was the jitney tour a private company? Only think I've booked so far is SilverMoon Barbados Catamaran cruise with some other roll call members.

 

Catherine

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

It was Darkwood Beach, and we really enjoyed our time there. We stopped at that beach after a lovely day of sightseeing around Nelson's Dockyard. Husband is Mr. Military History, so we rented a car for the day because I knew he would want to spend much longer poking around there than most tours would. If coming from where the ship docks, Darkwood Beach only is about a 20-minute drive from the port of St. Johns, even less if not for the traffic around town.

 

The Tortola jitney tour trucks simply line up in the large parking area at the end of the dock, filling up as passengers disembark. I chose the one with the most modern-looking truck and seating. They really differed in condition so I assume each is privately-owned by the driver. Ours was very comfortable and a really excellent tour that lasted 2-1/2 hours and made several lovely stops for fabulous views and a real bargain at $20 per person IMO. There also were very well-kept restrooms available at several stops. The BVI tourism people seemed very organized.

Edited January 29, 2014 by CintiPam

[Cruiser Jane]

I found the posts regarding M&Gs interesting. I've arranged about 8 M&Gs all on Oceania ships because they don't support CC. I usually find the Head Concierge or the CD and ask for their help. I make up invitations ahead of time leaving the time, date and place blank. Then once on the ship, I find an officer to help me identify the best time to host. They respect you much better if you ask and not tell them when you want to do this. Then I fill in the info on the invitation (which has 2 to one sheet of 8 1/2 X 11 paper.) The Concierge or reception desk will make the copies for you and cut them in half. I fold over the invitation and write the name and stateroom on the top of each one. They are happy to deliver them as the work is already done for them.

 

I've never run into any problems. I think it depends on who the CD and C are. I've had great success with David Schrmet, Dotti, and Willie Aames and all of them know me. David Peterson was not much help and never made an attempt to get to know anyone, but the Concierge was great! For our next cruise - April 7 - we have Nolan Dean. We've had him as an Assistant CD, but not CD. So this will be interesting.

 

Lyn, I know if you were unsatisfied with this cruise, you claim was legitimate! It looks like we've all hijacked your thread! OOPS, Sorry.

 

Jan

[legaleaglegreen]

Re: Darkwood beach

 

There is a snack bar/bar with changing rooms which they will let you use for free. Limited shade. There are lounge chairs for rent.

[dafne]

Or would you try other cruise lines?

[LHT28]

Or would you try other cruise lines?

 

Yes I would sail Oceania again

I still have a cruise booked for 2015 & hoping their service improves by then

Most of the cruise was fine

 

 

Lyn

[Island Venturer]

I am very amused by this forum thread... the apparent disappointment with Oceania Cruises. I'm not sure what people expect any more. Let me honestly say that after many sailings with Crystal (which most believe to be the "ultimate"...), it's clear that Oceania is pretty damn good. Having recently completed another 15-days onboard Regatta, we found the food, the service, and the overall atmosphere onboard were wonderful throughout. For those who expect hyped-up perfection, perhaps you should go ahead and spend at the least twice as much money and travel with Crystal; no doubt you'll have quality food and service, but you'll also find the atmosphere far more stuffy and somewhat grand. Crystal has a bit of an attitude about 'being Crystal' which tends to effect everything. I've found sailing with Oceania to be a truly wonderful experience. So please just relax and stop looking for every little thing you can find to be a problem... just enjoy.

[pacheco18]

I am very amused by this forum thread... the apparent disappointment with Oceania Cruises. I'm not sure what people expect any more. Let me honestly say that after many sailings with Crystal (which most believe to be the "ultimate"...), it's clear that Oceania is pretty damn good. Having recently completed another 15-days onboard Regatta, we found the food, the service, and the overall atmosphere onboard were wonderful throughout. For those who expect hyped-up perfection, perhaps you should go ahead and spend at the least twice as much money and travel with Crystal; no doubt you'll have quality food and service, but you'll also find the atmosphere far more stuffy and somewhat grand. Crystal has a bit of an attitude about 'being Crystal' which tends to effect everything. I've found sailing with Oceania to be a truly wonderful experience. So please just relax and stop looking for every little thing you can find to be a problem... just enjoy.

 

That pretty much sums up my attitude for ANY cruise.

[LHT28]

I am very amused by this forum thread... the apparent disappointment with Oceania Cruises. I'm not sure what people expect any more. Let me honestly say that after many sailings with Crystal (which most believe to be the "ultimate"...), it's clear that Oceania is pretty damn good. Having recently completed another 15-days onboard Regatta, we found the food, the service, and the overall atmosphere onboard were wonderful throughout.

 

I guess you were not served uncooked chicken or food that tasted like some cleaning fluid was put on it.

We expected the same food quality & service as on our other 8 Oceania cruises

 

 

YMMD

[Travelcat2]

I am very amused by this forum thread... the apparent disappointment with Oceania Cruises. I'm not sure what people expect any more. Let me honestly say that after many sailings with Crystal (which most believe to be the "ultimate"...), it's clear that Oceania is pretty damn good. Having recently completed another 15-days onboard Regatta, we found the food, the service, and the overall atmosphere onboard were wonderful throughout. For those who expect hyped-up perfection, perhaps you should go ahead and spend at the least twice as much money and travel with Crystal; no doubt you'll have quality food and service, but you'll also find the atmosphere far more stuffy and somewhat grand. Crystal has a bit of an attitude about 'being Crystal' which tends to effect everything. I've found sailing with Oceania to be a truly wonderful experience. So please just relax and stop looking for every little thing you can find to be a problem... just enjoy.

 

I addressed similar thoughts on the Regent board. While I personally would rather sail on Silversea or Regent rather than Crystal (somewhat based on what you said "the atmosphere far more stuffy......"), I do believe that Oceania is the best of the premium cruise lines.

 

In terms of "looking for every little thing you can find to be a problem", I'm wondering if that isn't human nature? When we first sailed Regent (10 years ago), we appreciated and were wowed by everything we saw or ate. Now, many things are taken for granted (and we work hard not to allow that to happen). In my opinion, nothing is perfect, but Oceania does a darn good job of getting close:)

[tvmovielover]

We returned in a glow from our South Pacific cruise this past Sunday. I tried to write a review entitled "Everything went right!" but it did not post for whatever reason-okay because it was probably much too long. Still everything went right from flights (not perfect, Air Tahiti Nui is the friendly airline but really cramped on space), service everywhere on the ship, food (again not perfect but above what we have had on other cruises), weather , and ports. Now of course I am worried about our summer Baltic cruise because what if the second time does not measure up?

 

Sometimes, as demonstrated by Lyn's comments, everything does not go right and it can ruin the cruise. Service everywhere was so good but who knows if Marina will have as happy a group on our summer cruise (I do not expect the same crew in another part of the world) or if the food (from the comments in the favorite specialty restaurants thread, I can tell that it varies from cruise to cruise) will be as good? I was also worried about the people on the cruise being snobby like the Crystal cruisers described above. That was not the case at all. I just hope everything goes right on our summer cruise but if it does not, I hope I could write about it without causing problems. I appreciate Lyn writing about the less perfect experience as much as I appreciate hearing about the "wonderful" experiences. I hope everything goes right on your next Oceania cruise Lyn.

[pacheco18]

We returned in a glow from our South Pacific cruise this past Sunday. I tried to write a review entitled "Everything went right!" but it did not post for whatever reason-okay because it was probably much too long. Still everything went right from flights (not perfect, Air Tahiti Nui is the friendly airline but really cramped on space), service everywhere on the ship, food (again not perfect but above what we have had on other cruises), weather , and ports. Now of course I am worried about our summer Baltic cruise because what if the second time does not measure up?

 

Sometimes, as demonstrated by Lyn's comments, everything does not go right and it can ruin the cruise. Service everywhere was so good but who knows if Marina will have as happy a group on our summer cruise (I do not expect the same crew in another part of the world) or if the food (from the comments in the favorite specialty restaurants thread, I can tell that it varies from cruise to cruise) will be as good? I was also worried about the people on the cruise being snobby like the Crystal cruisers described above. That was not the case at all. I just hope everything goes right on our summer cruise but if it does not, I hope I could write about it without causing problems. I appreciate Lyn writing about the less perfect experience as much as I appreciate hearing about the "wonderful" experiences. I hope everything goes right on your next Oceania cruise Lyn.

 

It would have to be more than some bad food to "ruin" my cruise. Here's what would ruin my cruise

 

norovirus

food poisoning

my husband falling ill

no luggage

my money/passport stolen

there might be a few other things

 

There is no staff member and no meal that can ruin a cruise for me.

[orchestrapal]

It would have to be more than some bad food to "ruin" my cruise. Here's what would ruin my cruise

norovirus

food poisoning

my husband falling ill

no luggage

my money/passport stolen

there might be a few other things

There is no staff member and no meal that can ruin a cruise for me.

 

+1

You said it and I'm sure many will agree.

Edited February 2, 2014 by orchestrapal

[roothy123]

And another +1 for me!

 

To your list, I would add getting beat up while in a port. That actually happened to one person on a cruise I took. It was in Montevideo and in conjunction with a robbery. Poor woman.

[Travelcat2]

I also agree!

[bfox13]

I will be taking my first Oceania cruise in January of next year and am looking forward to it with much anticipation.

A post such as yours has me worried. I have been a faithful HAL cruiser and am finding that their product is deteriorating and am looking for something a bit more upscale.

Everyone says O is what HAL used to be so we are giving it a try.

I would really like to read your review. I have been lurking here without posting, trying to learn as much as I can about Oceania.

I would like to know what to expect.

Terri

 

 

Terri,

 

We took our first cruise with Oceania this past December on the Marina. The ship was beautiful, and the service and food were great.

 

Unfortunately I did not go through a travel agent and made my reservations directly with Oceania. Our flight to Rio de Janeiro from Dallas/Fort Worth was cancelled on the day we were supposed to leave. Oceania did nothing to help me get new flights - they never answered my emails or calls. I did get in touch with American Airlines later that evening and they rescheduled us the the next day through Miami. Fortunately the ship was in port in Rio for 2 days so we did not miss the boat. However, we arrived at the port at about 9:30 am but there was no one from Oceania to meet us and we had to wait in the sun for an hour and a half before they let us board the ship. Also, we missed our Oceania pre-paid tour that we were going to take in Rio that day.

 

We did buy trip cancellation insurance and have been reimbursed fairly for the day and night we missed on the ship but TAKE NOTE the insurance does not cover missed tours. I have emailed and tried to call Oceania to get them to refund the cost of this missed tour but am not too optimistic. I did pre-pay for the tours using my credit card, so if I don't get results from Oceania I will have my charge card bank go after it.

 

As I said before the cruise was wonderful and I would sail Oceania again but only through a travel agent.

 

Barbara Fox

[funny26]

Terri,

 

We took our first cruise with Oceania this past December on the Marina. The ship was beautiful, and the service and food were great.

 

Unfortunately I did not go through a travel agent and made my reservations directly with Oceania. Our flight to Rio de Janeiro from Dallas/Fort Worth was cancelled on the day we were supposed to leave. Oceania did nothing to help me get new flights - they never answered my emails or calls. I did get in touch with American Airlines later that evening and they rescheduled us the the next day through Miami. Fortunately the ship was in port in Rio for 2 days so we did not miss the boat. However, we arrived at the port at about 9:30 am but there was no one from Oceania to meet us and we had to wait in the sun for an hour and a half before they let us board the ship. Also, we missed our Oceania pre-paid tour that we were going to take in Rio that day.

 

We did buy trip cancellation insurance and have been reimbursed fairly for the day and night we missed on the ship but TAKE NOTE the insurance does not cover missed tours. I have emailed and tried to call Oceania to get them to refund the cost of this missed tour but am not too optimistic. I did pre-pay for the tours using my credit card, so if I don't get results from Oceania I will have my charge card bank go after it.

 

As I said before the cruise was wonderful and I would sail Oceania again but only through a travel agent.

 

Barbara Fox

 

Barbara,

 

Really glad you enjoyed your cruise. Really doubt having a TA would have helped in this case unless they recommended that you deviate and fly in earlier than the day of the cruise. Completely recommend you use a TA as there are many benefits of that relationship including discounts on your fare and other perks.

 

Another poster was on this board the day of the cancellation for the same cruise and the first thing we all told him was that your first course of action when and if a flight is cancelled or delayed is to call the airline yourself. Neither the cruise line or the TA can do any more than what you can yourself and the airline is the go to entity in this case. As you saw, they were able to get you to Rio the next day and waiting for a call back from someone who would have to do exactly the same thing as you did simply delays resolution. And, since this was a Saturday, even worse.

 

There is no excuse for them making you wait an hour and a half to board the ship and that should not have occurred and Ocenaia needs to be held to that issue. As far as your missing a paid for excursion that you missed due to the flight cancellation. Unfortunately, Oceania is technically correct in keeping your money according to the terms and conditions of your cruise but, morally reprehensible for not giving you a refund for your missed excursion.

 

Certainly hope Oceania does the right thing and provides you a refund as while I support your putting the charge in disputes with your credit card company, don't expect to get your money back that way as the terms and conditions of all cruise lines supports them in cases like this.

 

Fair winds and following seas on your next cruise and base on many reports, Oceania will most probably stone wall you on the refund and they won't respond at all until you put the charge in disputes where they are forced to respond to the credit card company.

 

Sorry I can't be more positive but, next time get to your departure point early, especially in winter when flights have more chances of cancellation and find a good TA who will be more than worth their weight in gold. Oceania loves direct bookers as they save the 17% commission they don't have to pay.

[Mura]

That Rio problem in December affected departing passengers as well. Some of our friends returning home (I believe through Dallas-Fort Worth) had flights cancelled the morning we were to leave the ship due to weather conditions. Some people didn't even find out until they arrived at the airport!

 

Needless to say, O had its hands full. I know they helped some ... not that this is a consolation if they didn't help YOU.

 

We were okay because we were going to NYC and the weather problems in Texas didn't impact us.

 

Mura

 

P.S. I don't think this is a new problem and Oceania should address it better. Back in 2006 some passengers on our Dover-Dover (via Iceland) cruise had several passengers arrive a few days late because of delays in Southern California. One couple told me at the time that Oceania had not been at all helpful or responsive, and I believe they had been using O's air -- although I could be wrong. It's quite a while since I heard the story.

Edited February 3, 2014 by Mura

[roothy123]

Barbara,

 

There is no excuse for them making you wait an hour and a half to board the ship and that should not have occurred and Ocenaia needs to be held to that issue.

 

Doesn't a cruise line need a certain amount of time to allow a person to board a ship at the beginning of the cruise - or in this case, when a particular person begins his/her cruise? There are clearances involved....which is why I assume cruise lines have to require people to board at least 90 minutes before departure. I suppose they like people on board early because of the muster drill, too, but that's likely a much smaller reason, as they do not HAVE to have it for everyone pre-departure.

Edited February 3, 2014 by roothy123

[JimandStan]

I'm still not getting your point. They arrived on the second day of the cruise so the Embarkation team had to be reassembled (they all go on to other duties, you know) and the late passengers luggage had to be screened and sent aboard while their World Cards were processed, and their Passports collected ....an hour and a half does not seem out of line to me.

If it were a DAY and a half, maybe :rolleyes:

[MVPinBoynton]

I think an hour and a half wait is unacceptable. If the ship had been notified that there would be passengers arriving that morning, it shouldn't have been a big deal. My son missed boarding a Celebrity cruise in December because Dallas airports were closed. He was flying to Miami a day early too. He arrived in San Juan and when the ship arrived there, customer relations people were waiting for them at the dock. It was a very pleasant experience and great customer service.

[funny26]

I'm still not getting your point. They arrived on the second day of the cruise so the Embarkation team had to be reassembled (they all go on to other duties, you know) and the late passengers luggage had to be screened and sent aboard while their World Cards were processed, and their Passports collected ....an hour and a half does not seem out of line to me.

If it were a DAY and a half, maybe :rolleyes:

 

Had the arrival of the OP been unexpected, you probably would be correct and I would be incorrect however, the OP as well as others who were delayed did contact Oceania on Saturday asking for help for their cancelled/delayed flights. As reported by others, there were issues with departing passengers on Sunday. Because of all of these issues, the ship should have been aware that people who had not arrived on Sunday would be arriving on Monday morning and that they should have been prepared to welcome them aboard.

 

Perhaps it was lack of communications from the home office to the ship but, that is not the problem of the OP. Even if the passengers were not expected, it seems unreasonable to not be able to get someone over to the terminal to at least let the arriving passengers into the building and have a seat.

 

As to the preparation of the World Cards, would think that they were already prepared for the previous day's scheduled arrival and if not, would not take an hour and a half to prepare the few cards need for the OP and their group.

 

Agree that an hour and a half is not a real long time compared to a day and a half but, in the Rio sun after all of the hassles of traveling a day late as well as the overnight flight it caused the issues delineated by the OP.

[JimandStan]

As to the preparation of the World Cards, would think that they were already prepared for the previous day's scheduled arrival and if not, would not take an hour and a half to prepare the few cards need for the OP and their group.

 

I disagree with you on MANY levels, but in order to keep this conversation specific, World Cards CANNOT be prepared in advance; both because a photograph of the passenger (taken at the time of boarding) is digitized onto them and because they are used as the passengers onboard credit card (as well as a stateroom key). For that second reason, the Card may not be created until the Passenger has established an Onboard Account by presenting some sort of collateral at the embarkation desk.

 

Further to my point, it is not the creation of the Cards which necessarily takes extra time when a Passenger arrives well past the scheduled embarkation, but the redeployment of the staff (who have gone on to other duties) followed by the creation of the cards.

 

Those who chose to fly in and out of the Embarkation Ports on sailing days are free to save (or spend) their money as they see fit. But when they are flying thousands of miles in the dead of Winter and it all hits the fan, pardon me for saying so, but a delay here and there should not be unexpected.

 

[bfox13]

I'm still not getting your point. They arrived on the second day of the cruise so the Embarkation team had to be reassembled (they all go on to other duties, you know) and the late passengers luggage had to be screened and sent aboard while their World Cards were processed, and their Passports collected ....an hour and a half does not seem out of line to me.

If it were a DAY and a half, maybe :rolleyes:

 

We still had our passports, luggage and everything else. They had no idea that we had even arrived!

[JimandStan]

We still had our passports, luggage and everything else. They had no idea that we had even arrived!

 

Yes, but didn't you say that after your original Oceania selected flights were cancelled by the weather that you made your own second round of flight arrangements to get to Rio?

In that case, how could the staff in Rio have known when (or IF) you would be arriving?