Looks like we will be jumping ship too

[albingirl]

Very exciting for you! Happy planning. Always fun to have something wonderful on the horizon.

[HeatherInFlorida]

As an "old" HAL cheerleader from way back, I can guarantee you that you will love Oceania Riviera. We jumped the HAL ship long ago for Celebrity but became disenchanted by that, too, and so we booked Oceania Riviera a couple years ago and this April we'll be on our 4th Oceania cruise on Regatta.

 

Recently we decided to give HAL another try and decided to compare 'apples to apples' by booking a Neptune suite on a 7-day Caribbean itinerary. Since we book PH category on Oceania, we felt it was only fair to compare with a Neptune suite. So I was really excited to go back and sail HAL again.

 

But today we were notified that they have canceled our itinerary. Done. Finished. No explanation. Yes they offered a $200 pp onboard credit as a consideration for our "trouble", but we have to sail by the end of 2015. Since this cruise was in November 2015, it would have been a bit more considerate to give us a few months to find another date that would work for us.

 

So even though it's a bit more money on Oceania, we've decided to go with what we already know we love and go back to on the Riviera January 2016.

 

I decided to peek here on the HAL forum to see if anyone else had been affected by Itinerary cancellations, but haven't seen any. I hope you enjoy your Oceania Riviera cruise and I'll try to remember to look for your commentary/review when the time comes.

[sail7seas]

Which Ship were you booked to sail?

[cruz chic]

Which Ship were you booked to sail?

 

I'm curious too.

[ger_77]

If you're planning on doing a blog, sign me up as a subscriber! My step-daughter and I have talked about walking the el Camino together, but that likely won't happen for a couple of years yet until she can take some extended vacation time. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the trail; please keep us posted!

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[HeatherInFlorida]

We were booked on the Nieuw Amsterdam on 11/8/15 for seven days out of Fort Lauderdale.

[cruz chic]

We were booked on the Nieuw Amsterdam on 11/8/15 for seven days out of Fort Lauderdale.

 

Well isn't that lovely because they are still showing it on the website. I was going to do this as one of two weeks. I had a rotten feeling you were going to say that. Looks like plan b. Thank you for taking time to answer.

 

Sorry for the thread drift.

Edited January 6, 2015 by cruz chic

[HeatherInFlorida]

It is still up on the website and I asked my TA about that and was told that it will be there until all the people have been notified and canceled. But if you try to book it he told me it will show up as unavailable or something like that. I guess they don't let everyone know at exactly the same time. As it is, when I went to look at the other cruises they were suggesting, the booking part of the website crashed and I was unable to look further. That may be fixed by now; that was earlier today.

[cruz chic]

Thx :)

[Cruising-along]

I was so sorry to hear this, Heather. I can only imagine how you feel. :(

I know you love Oceana but this would sure leave a bad taste in my mouth anyway. Sorry it happened.

[kazu]

Kazu, sorry for pulling up an old thread, but I have been meaning to post on this for months now to tell you something - I have a friend (Colin) who walked the El Camino and wrote an incredible book on it - if you are interested in reading it, it is The Year We Seized The Day, by Colin Bowles and Elziabeth Best. They walked it together (two authors), it gives amazing insight into the walk, what you will see along the way and the various emotions it brought to each of them. As I recall they walked the entire distance. If you are a reader, I thought you might enjoy this. It is readily available on Amazon.

 

 

thank you very much. It's actually on my list :D

 

If you're planning on doing a blog, sign me up as a subscriber! My step-daughter and I have talked about walking the el Camino together, but that likely won't happen for a couple of years yet until she can take some extended vacation time. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the trail; please keep us posted!

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

 

I don't want to disappoint you but we are not walking that much ;) We will be exploring the Basque and Galicia areas as well as the Camino. I suspect we will need a rest by the time we are ready to board in Barcelona:p

[kazu]

As an "old" HAL cheerleader from way back, I can guarantee you that you will love Oceania Riviera. We jumped the HAL ship long ago for Celebrity but became disenchanted by that, too, and so we booked Oceania Riviera a couple years ago and this April we'll be on our 4th Oceania cruise on Regatta.

 

Recently we decided to give HAL another try and decided to compare 'apples to apples' by booking a Neptune suite on a 7-day Caribbean itinerary. Since we book PH category on Oceania, we felt it was only fair to compare with a Neptune suite. So I was really excited to go back and sail HAL again.

 

But today we were notified that they have canceled our itinerary. Done. Finished. No explanation. Yes they offered a $200 pp onboard credit as a consideration for our "trouble", but we have to sail by the end of 2015. Since this cruise was in November 2015, it would have been a bit more considerate to give us a few months to find another date that would work for us.

 

So even though it's a bit more money on Oceania, we've decided to go with what we already know we love and go back to on the Riviera January 2016.

 

I decided to peek here on the HAL forum to see if anyone else had been affected by Itinerary cancellations, but haven't seen any. I hope you enjoy your Oceania Riviera cruise and I'll try to remember to look for your commentary/review when the time comes.

 

 

 

Sorry to hear this Heather. There are several threads where people have talked about their cancellations. You can't help but feel for them and their disappointment.

[mancunian]

We too have been on Riviera this year. She is the most beautiful ship we have been on and we enjoyed our cruise. You will probably need to do your own excursions because Oceania's leave HAL's looking not too bad. The other alternative is to do pretty well all ship's excursions because if you do more than 5 (I think it was 5) you get a reduction.

 

We will probably go on Riviera or Marina again if the price and itinerary is right, but at the end of the day DH and I prefer the ambience on HAL, so for this year we are back with HAL on the NA and just done a long cruise on Volendam. We are also experimenting with Celebrity on a short 5 days cruise in May

[the col.]

My wife and I walked the 500 miles in may/jun 2014 it took us 42 days--it was great--you will enjoy any --part of it you walk--

[kazu]

We too have been on Riviera this year. She is the most beautiful ship we have been on and we enjoyed our cruise. You will probably need to do your own excursions because Oceania's leave HAL's looking not too bad. The other alternative is to do pretty well all ship's excursions because if you do more than 5 (I think it was 5) you get a reduction.

 

We will probably go on Riviera or Marina again if the price and itinerary is right, but at the end of the day DH and I prefer the ambience on HAL, so for this year we are back with HAL on the NA and just done a long cruise on Volendam. We are also experimenting with Celebrity on a short 5 days cruise in May

 

Thanks - we normally do private tours anyways. In fact, I have one booked already :D

[HeatherInFlorida]

I was so sorry to hear this, Heather. I can only imagine how you feel. :(

I know you love Oceana but this would sure leave a bad taste in my mouth anyway. Sorry it happened.

 

I was disappointed. We really wanted to try HAL again hoping we could get that feeling back, but a "bad taste" is exactly what I got after thinking about it awhile. I told our TA that I didn't like the way they handled it and thought they could have given us a larger window to time to enjoy the shipboard credit. But clearly, in the end, they didn't care. So that's that. I was surprised that the TA agreed with me about that.

 

Sorry to hear this Heather. There are several threads where people have talked about their cancellations. You can't help but feel for them and their disappointment.

 

I wonder why I didn't see them ... have to look a little harder! I was wondering if this was a one time thing or whether there were more canceled. I seem to remember awhile back people complaining that often the shorter cruises would be canceled in favor or a charter. Maybe it's just me, but it just doesn't sit right with me ... like the individual doesn't matter and large groups take precedence. I understand it's a business and the bottom line is always most important, but at least a company should give the appearance of giving a damn .... like a personal note from HAL would have been nice instead of the form they sent to the TA.

 

Oh well ... such is life:)

[kazu]

I was disappointed. We really wanted to try HAL again hoping we could get that feeling back, but a "bad taste" is exactly what I got after thinking about it awhile. I told our TA that I didn't like the way they handled it and thought they could have given us a larger window to time to enjoy the shipboard credit. But clearly, in the end, they didn't care. So that's that. I was surprised that the TA agreed with me about that.

 

 

 

I wonder why I didn't see them ... have to look a little harder! I was wondering if this was a one time thing or whether there were more canceled. I seem to remember awhile back people complaining that often the shorter cruises would be canceled in favor or a charter. Maybe it's just me, but it just doesn't sit right with me ... like the individual doesn't matter and large groups take precedence. I understand it's a business and the bottom line is always most important, but at least a company should give the appearance of giving a damn .... like a personal note from HAL would have been nice instead of the form they sent to the TA.

 

Oh well ... such is life:)

 

comments on several threads. I think a lot of them pertain to the October sailing, but my memory can be short;)

 

I think it would have been nice if they gave you a larger window too. Can't blame you for the bad taste in your mouth.

[HeatherInFlorida]

Jacqui, I want to wish you a wonderful cruise on Riviera in November:). I hope you love the ship and I know you'll love the food. I really look forward to your comparisons. We all have our favorites and somewhere there's a fit for everyone. For us, right now, it's Oceania. The Riviera is a magnificent ship, but I have to say we really loved the smaller Regatta which is why we're on her in April for our 30th anniversary.

 

I look forward to your review!

[kazu]

Jacqui, I want to wish you a wonderful cruise on Riviera in November:). I hope you love the ship and I know you'll love the food. I really look forward to your comparisons. We all have our favorites and somewhere there's a fit for everyone. For us, right now, it's Oceania. The Riviera is a magnificent ship, but I have to say we really loved the smaller Regatta which is why we're on her in April for our 30th anniversary.

 

I look forward to your review!

 

Thank you Heather. We're excited about it but nervous, being "newbies".

 

The Oceania board has been a huge help and several CC'ers there have been kind enough to advise.

 

I'll certainly be doing a comparison - most likely to the Prinsendam who I feel is in a class by herself (not everyone agrees).

 

And enjoy your 30th anniversary on board:D

[RuthC]

comments on several threads. I think a lot of them pertain to the October sailing, but my memory can be short;)

My Nieuw Amsterdam October 7 Venice to Barcelona and NA October 19 Barcelona to Ft. Lauderdale were canceled, for whatever reason.

I don't know if prior cruises were also canceled.

 

The trans-At was rerouted, and rescheduled, which meant Caribbean cruises were canceled, too.

[HeatherInFlorida]

Thank you Heather. We're excited about it but nervous, being "newbies".

 

The Oceania board has been a huge help and several CC'ers there have been kind enough to advise.

 

I'll certainly be doing a comparison - most likely to the Prinsendam who I feel is in a class by herself (not everyone agrees).

 

And enjoy your 30th anniversary on board:D

 

Thank you :) ... can't wait. We were on Prinsendam years ago and I agree it's in a class all by itself. We loved it. If you love the size, you would also love Oceania's smaller ships like the Regatta.

 

We were just on Regatta in November and loved it. When I was new to Oceania I found the board so helpful, too. While some complain it's an unfriendly board and if you don't just LOVE Oceania they go after you, I didn't find it like that. But then again I loved it!!! Still my reviews of both Riviera and Regatta are not over the moon throughout because nothing is perfect all the time no matter what anyone says. Stuff happens.

 

One great story about the Oceania forum and how helpful it can be ... Our first cruise was in January 2013 (I think we embarked the 3rd). On New Year's Day I noticed in my documents that my passport good not expire within 6 months of the cruise!!! I was used to Celebrity and Holland where it was less, about 3 or 4 months I think. I panicked!! I went straight to the Oceania forum and cried "HELP!!!:eek:". People were suggesting all sorts of things including running to Miami on the 2nd and hoping that the Passport office would take me without an appointment. Remember I was a newbie to Oceania and knew no one.

. Suddenly someone posted not to worry, that she had called an Oceania executive at home (New Year's Day!!!) and he assured her that he checked my itinerary and given the ports we were visiting in the Caribbean I would be okay. She told me what to do if I ran into any problems at the pier, but I didn't.

 

I was so impressed with her and what she did for a total stranger that I did some digging, found out she was a TA and now she's mine :). But she never mentioned or hinted to that at all and if I didn't research, I never would have known. So I'm hooked in more ways than one :)

 

My Nieuw Amsterdam October 7 Venice to Barcelona and NA October 19 Barcelona to Ft. Lauderdale were canceled, for whatever reason.

I don't know if prior cruises were also canceled.

 

The trans-At was rerouted, and rescheduled, which meant Caribbean cruises were canceled, too.

 

That explains why our 11/8 Nieuw Amsterdam was canceled so evidently many more were as well which explains better why I couldn't do anything on their website yesterday no matter how I tried. My TA for Holland too me it had crashed ... that he couldn't get on either (I have a different TA for HAL because mine doesn't book it).

Edited January 6, 2015 by HeatherInFlorida

[frankc98376]

My Nieuw Amsterdam October 7 Venice to Barcelona and NA October 19 Barcelona to Ft. Lauderdale were canceled, for whatever reason.

I don't know if prior cruises were also canceled.

 

The trans-At was rerouted, and rescheduled, which meant Caribbean cruises were canceled, too.

 

I'm betting that this "re-shuffling' is due to two ships leaving this year and the new ship not online until 2016. Timing seems right.

Edited January 6, 2015 by frankc98376

[RuthC]

I'm betting that this "re-shuffling' is due to two ships leaving this year and the new ship not online until 2016. Timing seems right.

For me, the "why" doesn't matter nearly as much as the "is" canceled.

 

The transfer of the two S- ships, and the sailing of the Koningsdam have been scheduled for a long time now. I realize it takes time to arrange a new schedule before it's announced, but letting us know that our cruises would be canceled could have been done as soon as that decision was made.

There are decisions about other cruises that might have been different had I known when HAL did that I wouldn't be taking these cruises. And it's too late now. :(

[frankc98376]

For me, the "why" doesn't matter nearly as much as the "is" canceled.

 

The transfer of the two S- ships, and the sailing of the Koningsdam have been scheduled for a long time now. I realize it takes time to arrange a new schedule before it's announced, but letting us know that our cruises would be canceled could have been done as soon as that decision was made.

There are decisions about other cruises that might have been different had I known when HAL did that I wouldn't be taking these cruises. And it's too late now. :(

 

I've personally seen a lack of concern by Seattle in the last couple of years. Sadly from recent experiences the feeling I got from them has been "You're lucky we let you sail on Holland America".

 

Possibly like on board the Seattle office staff is stretched to thin. Poor "Christine Farris" must write a few thousand letters each day- everyone seems to get a reply from her :)

[kazu]

For me, the "why" doesn't matter nearly as much as the "is" canceled.

 

The transfer of the two S- ships, and the sailing of the Koningsdam have been scheduled for a long time now. I realize it takes time to arrange a new schedule before it's announced, but letting us know that our cruises would be canceled could have been done as soon as that decision was made.

There are decisions about other cruises that might have been different had I known when HAL did that I wouldn't be taking these cruises. And it's too late now. :(

 

I so agree Ruth. My plane tickets are all in place already for my trip to Spain and cruise. I would NOT be a happy camper if it were cancelled.