Cutting corners?

[sammiedawg]

That is untrue.

To begin with, there is only one restaurant on those River boats, and they use it for crew meetings in between mealtimes.

 

Each meal has "set" Dining hours, something like "Breakfast will be served from 7AM to 9Am", and passengers assemble as they choose, during that window. Additionally, there is typically an anytime coffee and tea station in the lounge, which serves light snacks (think cookies and/or crackers).

 

It might be worth mentioning here that passengers are NOT encouraged to remain on those River Boats during a port stay. If either you or your spouse are "sleeper inners", it may not be for you.

 

Riverboats have one restaurant, limited fixed dining times and greatly limited food selections compared to what is offered on Oceania or any ocean cruise. There is no Waves or afternoon tea sandwiches and other assorted goodies. Stan and Jim are correct, if you are hungry you can look around for cookies, apples or crackers that may be picked over or completely gone. Everyone eats dinner at seven pm. It is open seating. First come first choice of tables but they were all six and eight tops.

 

It wasn't as easy as it sounds to go back and forth from the river boat to the port area because the boat may be moved somewhere else during the day. They do this to facilitate getting through the locks. It happened several times to us. On those days passengers were told they had to stay in town and ride the bus to the new docking location. Some river ports were within walking distance or short cab rides to the docking area.

 

River cruises deal with low water issues every summer, passengers may be bused to the scheduled ports if the boat cannot sail, some of the rides are lengthy. If low water levels persist there may be a riverboat switcheroo, all passengers pack up and switch to a different boat on the other side of the bottleneck. This happened to us.

 

River boats lack space, there are not a lot of rooms to occupy. The sun decks are closed whenever the boat travels under low bridges, our sun deck was closed for four of fourteen days.

We were on Viking, not our first choice but we had some logistical issues that pointed us to Viking. Of course there are nicer River cruise lines providing better food and service but some issues are common to all of them.

Edited September 12, 2015 by sammiedawg

[2552phxcrzr]

Agreed.

However, having cruised with Oceania for 10 years now with many cruises behind us, we have never encounter these types of massive changes - this is a new phenomena and possibly a trend. In the past I was comfortable trusting O that the itinerary I paid for would be the one I would sail (unless last minute changes were warranted due to safety or weather related issues). This is a different matter altogether and I am not so sure I can trust them going forward on my future booked cruises.

That and the lack of communication/satisfactory explanation from O are the upsetting parts.

 

Ditto

 

For those who say O can change its itineraries, just like other cruise lines can ... I don't think anyone has a problem with the occasional change to the published itinerary, or missing ports due to security or weather concerns. But what's happening now is an entirely different matter and quite disconcerting ... and more than a little sneaky IMHO. I have a hard time believing that these changes could be last minute changes due to tides or whatever when they are on such a massive scale and pax are all notified of them after final payment. One cruise here, one cruise there ... yeah, perhaps. But so many cruises ... nah!

[2552phxcrzr]

P N N,

While I understand what you are saying (I think), I wonder why you even bother cruising.

By definition, cruises will visit ports for a very short time (and getting shorter as we speak :)), which is not sufficient for the type of in-depth experience that you prefer.

Also, even though Baltic cruises are "regional", they visits such unrelated places and countries like Russia, Germany, Sweden and Estonia and several others ("a mish mash of too many disparate destinations"?) - sort of like the bus trip that you didn't like :confused:.

Anyway, everyone should travel when and where and how they prefer - vive la différence :)

Sorry for being OT

 

Not PNN ... but we also enjoy in-depth visits. For example, for our upcoming Civitavecchia-Istanbul cruise, we opted to base ourselves in Rome alone for three weeks pre-cruise, doing a few day trips outside the city by train and bus, but focusing on places in Rome mostly. That said, we also enjoy cruising and view the port-intensive ones sort of as a taster's plate where we get to see and briefly explore several places, out of which we pick a couple to return to for more in-depth exploration. Cruises that are not port-intensive allow us to relax for a while, with the occasional port adding variety to a string of days at sea ... these cruises are the only ones where I can happily sit still ... perhaps that the ship is on the move makes me feel like I am actually doing something instead of just chilling LOL!

 

But back to the topic at hand ... while I find the discussions about river cruises and travel styles interesting (and have contributed to the latter), we're straying off topic here ... in the sense that if we want Oceania to hear "unhappy voices" about their en masse post final payment itinerary changes re: hours lost, aren't we diluting that message with these alternate discussions? Just a thought.

Edited September 12, 2015 by h2so4

[Pet Nit Noy]

But back to the topic at hand ... while I find the discussions about river cruises and travel styles interesting (and have contributed to the latter), we're straying off topic here ... in the sense that if we want Oceania to hear "unhappy voices" about their en masse post final payment itinerary changes re: hours lost, aren't we diluting that message with these alternate discussions? Just a thought.

 

Unless new posters share their displeasure, I honestly don't see what more folks who already have voiced their irritation can add at this time, especially cruisers who have made their final payment. If someone cancels a partially-paid, existing reservation and posts about it, that would be useful. Otherwise, Oceania is just going to have to watch its reservations and hear our voices -- or more precisely lack of voices -- that way. At this time, is there truly anything more folks who have expressed their outrage can add on the topic?

 

FWIW, I don't think the posts about river cruising and styles of cruising did much to diffuse the anger over the port call problem. When some posters effectively said, "Oceania may be shortening port calls with depressing frequency and in a manner that is stacked in their favor, but suck it up. Oceania is better than anything else out there." Introducing ocean cruise fans to other options gives them information that may be useful in the future when the time comes to vote with their pocketbooks.

Edited September 12, 2015 by Pet Nit Noy

[Goldmann]

Math error....a port change and two separate port time reductions totaling five hours reduced port times advised approximately one month before embarkation for 9/24

[MVPinBoynton]

We certainly would look forward to seeing you on the cruise.

 

The reason for our hesitation is twofold ... we're not big on the Caribbean for starters, but many of these ports would be new to us, so that is a plus.

 

We considered this because friends are on it ... but they may be switching.

 

And lastly, we are wait listed for our preferred cabin. We have no idea if it will come up or not! So we paid our deposit to enhance our chances, but right now we don't know what will be happening.

 

Since we had to cancel the NCL cruise that left Boston today (!) because of DH's eye surgery we are still looking for a spring cruise ... so far I haven't found anything that really grabs me, but traveling with our friends (and of course YOU) was tempting.

 

I'll let you know ...

 

Mura

 

Since we live in the Caribbean, those cruises normally don't appeal to us either; but like for you, we have several ports we haven't been to. Plus it is always a pleasure just to be on the Riviera. :)

 

I do hope we get to meet you. If not on this cruise, perhaps another. On the plus side, the itinerary for this cruise has not changed their port times. :D

[kazu]

Looks like my private tour operator was right! (despite my phone call to O where they denied it).

 

Our Bermuda time has been cut back from 6 pm to 4 pm.

 

Sure am glad I listened to my private operator and set a different time for this catamaran ride!

 

edited to say - no email from O (yet). I have simply been checking the itinerary on a regular basis because of this thread.

Edited September 12, 2015 by kazu

[cbb]

As I asked before, are these shortened port times limited to O, or are the Regent and NCl lines also affected?

 

Across corporate lines or restricted to O?

[LHT28]

As I asked before, are these shortened port times limited to O, or are the Regent and NCl lines also affected?

 

Across corporate lines or restricted to O?

If you check the NCL forum I believe they are affected as well with many changes

not sure if port times are one of them

did not look at Regent

Edited September 12, 2015 by LHT28

[BenMurphy]

An hour here and there, not a big deal. But taking away the entire evening in Monte Carlo???

 

Itinerary Update

Dear Valued Guests and Travel Partners,

 

We would like to advise you of an update to your voyage aboard Riviera on November 7, 2015.

Please note the arrival and departure time changes listed below:

 

08-Nov-2015 Venice, Italy:

Departure time has been changed from (8:00 PM) to 6:00 PM < I would say that 6 may be a better option as you will do lifeboat drill before you sail away down the Grand Canal in Venice ,not to missed as you will still have some daylight left and then time for a meal before leaving the lido for the open sea.

 

10-Nov-2015 Kotor, Montenegro:

Arrival time has been changed from (9:00 AM) to 10:00 AM < Again not all bad as the sail into Port is not to be missed and this can take up to two hours.It's a lovely experience.

15-Nov-2015 Monte Carlo, Monaco:

Departure time has been changed from (11:00 PM) to 7:00 PM

 

We look forward to providing you with a memorable cruise experience.

Warmest Regards,

Oceania Cruises

Hi See my answers above,some of the changes do work in your favour

Regards

Josie

[cbb]

Have been looking at NCl board intermittently because we have a cruise scheduled late 2016 for Hawaii and have never sailed with them.

 

You're right....they are upset about many things since a change in leadership but haven't found the port time changes mentioned.

 

Haven't seen anything mentioned in Regent boards either....which is why I asked.

 

Either it isn't worth mentioning, they haven't noticed, or it is not happening with those 2 lines.

[kazu]

Have been looking at NCl board intermittently because we have a cruise scheduled late 2016 for Hawaii and have never sailed with them.

 

You're right....they are upset about many things since a change in leadership but haven't found the port time changes mentioned.

 

Haven't seen anything mentioned in Regent boards either....which is why I asked.

 

Either it isn't worth mentioning, they haven't noticed, or it is not happening with those 2 lines.

 

I have mostly sailed HAL as of recent and earlier port times are a complaint on the boards, but they are on the itinerary up front. My favourite ship normally has longer port times and intriguing itineraries. I have NEVER received a notification of shortened port times after final payment. And HAL is just a mass market line. Everyone is cutting back somewhere, but port times are one of the things I look at when I am deciding on my cruise.

[Christine Frances]

Riverboats have one restaurant, limited fixed dining times and greatly limited food selections compared to what is offered on Oceania or any ocean cruise. There is no Waves or afternoon tea sandwiches and other assorted goodies. Stan and Jim are correct, if you are hungry you can look around for cookies, apples or crackers that may be picked over or completely gone. Everyone eats dinner at seven pm. It is open seating. First come first choice of tables but they were all six and eight tops.

 

It wasn't as easy as it sounds to go back and forth from the river boat to the port area because the boat may be moved somewhere else during the day. They do this to facilitate getting through the locks. It happened several times to us. On those days passengers were told they had to stay in town and ride the bus to the new docking location. Some river ports were within walking distance or short cab rides to the docking area.

 

River cruises deal with low water issues every summer, passengers may be bused to the scheduled ports if the boat cannot sail, some of the rides are lengthy. If low water levels persist there may be a riverboat switcheroo, all passengers pack up and switch to a different boat on the other side of the bottleneck. This happened to us.

 

River boats lack space, there are not a lot of rooms to occupy. The sun decks are closed whenever the boat travels under low bridges, our sun deck was closed for four of fourteen days.

We were on Viking, not our first choice but we had some logistical issues that pointed us to Viking. Of course there are nicer River cruise lines providing better food and service but some issues are common to all of them.

 

The dining options on Uniworld look pretty good:) https://uniworld.com/ca/why-uniworld/hallmarks?tab=Unique

[hypercafe]

There were some port time changers on NCL however the ships sail the same literary over and over so once it's done its done for the season. We are taking a trip on them in Oct and the arrival time back in NYC was changed from 8 to 10 am. They canceled a whole season of published and open trips on four ships so they could redeploy them to more profitable places.

Edited September 12, 2015 by hypercafe

[Cruzin Terri]

We have walked away from HAL for the very reason of shortened port times. At least they do it up front. Also we were finding their food and service to be lacking.

 

We have one O cruise booked and unfortunately we have insurance paid because of pre-existing conditions so cancelling would cost us a good amount of money. We have not yet made final payment and will be taking care of our own air. We are a bit concerned about this turn of events and really don't know how to handle it.

 

We do have the O-Life promotion and most of the shore excursions that we booked are transfers that then allow us to do our own thing when we get to the town. We figured it would save us taxi fare.

 

However this bait and switch tactic being used by O is giving us pause and making us wonder whether we will ever sail with them again. We were expecting that O would become our new cruise line of choice. Now we are not sure.

 

As for river cruises. We have done only one and it was with Tauck. It was five-star all the way. It would put most ocean cruise lines to shame. The food was over the top and local wine and beer were served with both lunch and dinner. Now all drinks are included as well. They also have an alternative restaurant. Tours were included and there were no additional options sold on board. It certainly was hard to go back to HAL after that experience.

 

Terri

Edited September 12, 2015 by Cruzin Terri

[Paulchili]

We have walked away from HAL for the very reason of shortened port times. At least they do it up front. Also we were finding their food and service to be lacking.

 

We have one O cruise booked and unfortunately we have insurance paid because of pre-existing conditions so cancelling would cost us a good amount of money. We have not yet made final payment and will be taking care of our own air. We are a bit concerned about this turn of events and really don't know how to handle it.

 

We do have the O-Life promotion and most of the shore excursions that we booked are transfers that then allow us to do our own thing when we get to the town. We figured it would save us taxi fare.

 

However this bait and switch tactic being used by O is giving us pause and making us wonder whether we will ever sail with them again. We were expecting that O would become our new cruise line of choice. Now we are not sure.

 

As for river cruises. We have done only one and it was with Tauck. It was five-star all the way. It would put most ocean cruise lines to shame. The food was over the top and local wine and beer were served with both lunch and dinner. Now all drinks are included as well. They also have an alternative restaurant. Tours were included and there were no additional options sold on board. It certainly was hard to go back to HAL after that experience.

 

Terri

 

I don't think you will be disappointed with the onboard experience on Oceania - so far it has been as superb after the "merger" as it was before.

It should be well above your HAL experience and hopefully as good as your Tauck.

I hope you will enjoy your O cruise.

[wripro]

Seems like the longest cuts in port time are in the most intriguing (and most expensive?) ports like Rio and Monte Carlo. What a shock!

 

As for river boats there are now lines like Scenic that have several alternative restaurants as well as the main one. Crystal's new river boats will have them as well and I believe Tauck and Uniworld and AMA also do.

[Pet Nit Noy]

As for river boats there are now lines like Scenic that have several alternative restaurants as well as the main one. Crystal's new river boats will have them as well and I believe Tauck and Uniworld and AMA also do.

 

"Tauck and Uniworld and AMA"... You've just listed the top three rated-river cruise lines in descending order. Avalon and Viking hold positions four and five.

Edited September 12, 2015 by Pet Nit Noy

[Paulchili]

Deleted

Edited September 12, 2015 by Paulchili

[kazu]

First Bermuda (not the end of the world) and NOW Cartagena - now that is a big deal. they have made arrival time later.

 

We are planning a trip to Murcia and this will make things tighter and lessen free time at the end. And yes, I've had to email my guide and see about timing and ability to still do everything and change our meet time.

 

I am NOT impressed since this is a TA and ports are not that many.

 

I won't let it ruin my cruise but it's certainly giving me pause.

[Cruzin Terri]

First Bermuda (not the end of the world) and NOW Cartagena - now that is a big deal. they have made arrival time later.

 

We are planning a trip to Murcia and this will make things tighter and lessen free time at the end. And yes, I've had to email my guide and see about timing and ability to still do everything and change our meet time.

 

I am NOT impressed since this is a TA and ports are not that many.

 

I won't let it ruin my cruise but it's certainly giving me pause.

 

Jacqui,

I hope it works out for you. I know how much you are looking forward to this journey.

 

Terri

[kazu]

Jacqui,

I hope it works out for you. I know how much you are looking forward to this journey.

 

Terri

 

Thanks Terri :)

 

Of course, it's the only Spanish port we have a tour in :rolleyes: We do a lot of Spain on our own, but we know when we need transportation to get a guide. We tried to get to Murcia once when we were visiting Spain on land by bus and the bus changed the schedule. We got off and were warned that the next bus was the last (so much for the schedule) and it left in 20 minutes. So a three hour ride for 15 minutes there.

 

Murcia is the original capital of the area and we really want to get there this time with time to see the magnificent cathedral and other things and enjoy.

 

I am still growling. I have never seen this last minute change before and if there was one for weather, safety, whatever, we have always had an email BEFORE the itinerary was officially changed. Sorry, a tad grumpy right now.

[Goldmann]

Re earlier question about what has actually changed. Just received final e docs for 10/4 Marina trip. Only change is one hour port time added versus original itinerary.

[Travelcat2]

Have been looking at NCl board intermittently because we have a cruise scheduled late 2016 for Hawaii and have never sailed with them.

 

You're right....they are upset about many things since a change in leadership but haven't found the port time changes mentioned.

 

Haven't seen anything mentioned in Regent boards either....which is why I asked.

 

Either it isn't worth mentioning, they haven't noticed, or it is not happening with those 2 lines.

 

I also read the NCL board intermittently and they have been upset from the day FDR became CEO and are not interested in hearing from Oceania or Regent passengers. It seems that the three cruise lines are being run quite separately - even though they are owned by the same company. NCL changes have not affected Oceania or Regent and apparently the port time changes are not affecting NCL or Regent. There have been some port time changes but no more than usual.

 

FDR has a difficult job and he seems to be managing it well. Things may be different in some ways however, based on rumors I heard when Sheehan was CEO for a short time, Oceania and Regent would have changed dramatically had he stayed. Rumor has it that the first thing he wanted to lower was food costs on Oceania. Can you imagine what that would have done?:eek: Hopefully the port time changes will settle down. In the meantime, there are few choices for those of us who enjoy Oceania and/or Regent.

 

As a side note....... when PCH purchased Regent, the first year was absolutely horrendous. Regent did lose customers and many of us were ready to bail. We are happy that we stayed while they worked through some issues. From a Regent perspective, this purchase has been much easier - fewer changes, etc. I just wanted to show another side of the story.

Edited September 13, 2015 by Travelcat2

[cbb]

I, too, thought it interesting how many things were being blamed on Mr. FDR.

 

finally someone pointed out that when the previous NCL CEO began his time in office many people on line hated him and what he did, as well.

 

I'm also interested in the Insignia roll calls in which several people are writing how happy they are with OLife, while many on the regular O board are not.

 

Keeps us coming back to ccritic for more!!