Compensation for Riviera Nurovirus Cruise

[roger b]

Last night we were informed by the captain that the ship was clear of all outstanding gastric issues.

At lunch time to day it is back again with one person reporting to the medical center with GI.

 

As there will be a 72 hour wait for the ship to be clear again, so the ship might not be clear by the time it is scheduled to leave Miami.

 

For me the final straw came today my wife had soup from the Buffet in the terrace restaurant and produced a large piece of paper from her mouth.

On calling the food and beverage manager he took it away with a look of horror on his face, he did not come back to us with any explanation, I then asked the restaurant manager to call him for me.

After about 15 mins he was sighted again he did not come to me !! I had to get up to question him.

He came to the table with the chef who explained that whilst carrying the soup with a paper towel it fell in to the soup and he retrieved it leaving a piece that ended up in my wife's mouth YUK !! YUK !! YUK !!

No wonder they still have on going problems

[gigianne]

Oh Roger - so sorry to hear the latest news and a piece of paper towel in your wife' soup - disgusting! Even more so that you had to chase down the manager for an explanation!

[dibel]

I would have thought they would throw the soup out and bring you a fresh bowl...not good!

[kazu]

Last night we were informed by the captain that the ship was clear of all outstanding gastric issues.

At lunch time to day it is back again with one person reporting to the medical center with GI.

 

As there will be a 72 hour wait for the ship to be clear again, so the ship might not be clear by the time it is scheduled to leave Miami.

 

For me the final straw came today my wife had soup from the Buffet in the terrace restaurant and produced a large piece of paper from her mouth.

On calling the food and beverage manager he took it away with a look of horror on his face, he did not come back to us with any explanation, I then asked the restaurant manager to call him for me.

After about 15 mins he was sighted again he did not come to me !! I had to get up to question him.

He came to the table with the chef who explained that whilst carrying the soup with a paper towel it fell in to the soup and he retrieved it leaving a piece that ended up in my wife's mouth YUK !! YUK !! YUK !!

No wonder they still have on going problems

how very kind of you to share the potential issue for those embarking shortly RogerB

 

uggh on the paper towel.

 

Sadly having to get up to chase down the restaurant manager is all too reminiscent of our cruise as well.

 

So, did I understand this right? A paper towel fell in, they retrieved it and STILL served the soup? Disgusting.

[grandmaa]

Hello All...

Just to let you know that I just received an e mail from our travel agent that the 12/12/15

cruise on the Riviera will have a "thorough turnaround sanitation protocol prior to your

embarkation in Miami" that is the language in the e mail. So no boarding until after

1:00PM.

[hypercafe]

Funny how the world turns. I have read here many times how Oceania passengers are basically educated, upscale people. Now I read where they can not wash their hands after using the rest room. I have read where NCL is, you know sort of low budget but good enough in a pinch if you hold your nose. On our October trip on the Gem I had a foreign object in a dish in the Italian restaurant. Called over the waiter who got the manager. He replaced the dish, offered to get medical if I wanted, chef came over to apologize, manager called my room next day to see if I was OK and both sent wine and goodies to room. Also with 100 days on NCL I never heard the word noro spoken. Guess I'll stick with the lower crowd.

[Cruzin Terri]

I have my first Oceania Cruise on the Marina booked for August. I have been reading this board and especially this thread with great interest.

 

I keep saying to myself that it is going to get better. However, it seems to be getting worse. I am really at the point of cancelling my cruise. I am getting a sinking feeling in my stomach. and that is not good.

 

Last summer we took a cruise on HAL. I had the same feeling before going on that cruise. I kept feeling that we should cancel, but could not put my finger on why. I kept quiet and we went. Well, I didn't feel right during the whole cruise with a swollen foot and just an overall feeling of not feeling well. The cruise itself left a lot to be desired as well.

 

After I returned home I became very ill. I had DVTs in my left leg and Pulmonary Emboli (blood clots in my lungs). I almost died. i should have paid attention to my feelings.

 

At this point, with my compromised health, the last thing I need is to get sick on a cruise. Oceania is not giving me a warm fuzzy feeling of anticipating a wonderful adventure. Rather a dreadful feeling of hoping I don't get sick. This is not the way I want to go on a cruise.

 

The descriptions of the unhygienic practices are making me wonder. I have heard so many good things about O that I could not wait to try this cruise line. Now I am scared to death.

 

I really hope that O gets it act together.

 

Is this the way it has always been? Is this an anomaly? Or is this the effects of the NCL takeover?

 

Terri

[LHT28]

Is this the way it has always been? Is this an anomaly? Or is this the effects of the NCL takeover?

 

Terri

Lack of communication has always been an issue

this cruise seems like out of the ordinary cruise

 

Cannot comment if it is from the merger of NCL

 

Only you can decide to go or not

 

[kazu]

I have my first Oceania Cruise on the Marina booked for August. I have been reading this board and especially this thread with great interest.

 

 

 

I keep saying to myself that it is going to get better. However, it seems to be getting worse. I am really at the point of cancelling my cruise. I am getting a sinking feeling in my stomach. and that is not good.

 

 

 

Last summer we took a cruise on HAL. I had the same feeling before going on that cruise. I kept feeling that we should cancel, but could not put my finger on why. I kept quiet and we went. Well, I didn't feel right during the whole cruise with a swollen foot and just an overall feeling of not feeling well. The cruise itself left a lot to be desired as well.

 

 

 

After I returned home I became very ill. I had DVTs in my left leg and Pulmonary Emboli (blood clots in my lungs). I almost died. i should have paid attention to my feelings.

 

 

 

At this point, with my compromised health, the last thing I need is to get sick on a cruise. Oceania is not giving me a warm fuzzy feeling of anticipating a wonderful adventure. Rather a dreadful feeling of hoping I don't get sick. This is not the way I want to go on a cruise.

 

 

 

The descriptions of the unhygienic practices are making me wonder. I have heard so many good things about O that I could not wait to try this cruise line. Now I am scared to death.

 

 

 

I really hope that O gets it act together.

 

 

 

Is this the way it has always been? Is this an anomaly? Or is this the effects of the NCL takeover?

 

 

 

Terri

 

 

Terri, I was talking to a lot of O cruisers and they said it was not a typical O cruise but it seems to have continued on to the next sailing.

 

You have time so why not watch the reviews and the board and see if it has changed or not?

 

I know, it wasn't at all what we were expecting. The ship is beautiful, rooms wonderful - it's just consistency (even in the same restaurant) and service and maybe that will come together by the time you are sailing.

 

I would watch and listen.

 

Don't jump the guns, but no one knows if this is a new direction or an anomaly. Not yet, at least.

 

I truly hope it is an anomaly.

[RJB]

Hello All...

Just to let you know that I just received an e mail from our travel agent that the 12/12/15

cruise on the Riviera will have a "thorough turnaround sanitation protocol prior to your

embarkation in Miami" that is the language in the e mail. So no boarding until after

1:00PM.

And food and drink for the people that show up on time?

[StanandJim]

And food and drink for the people that show up on time?

11AM is the earliest boarding time during the best of circumstances.

Do you really believe that a two hour delay warrants catering? :cool:

[Mura]

I am an Oceania loyalist (although I can bear reading criticisms, have even made some myself, nothing is perfect). And I experienced the Noro outbreak on Marina last spring.

 

But my first question would be: which ship? I'm not saying because it hasn't happened before on the "R" ships that it never will, but so far it hasn't. And so far there have been outbreaks on Marina and Riviera, which have not been solved after the first cruise but I think that is understandable. But it certainly has not been a pattern on Oceania cruises and I'm not even considering cancelling the two we have booked.

 

As to NCL, we survived our two cruises on NCL and while it definitely isn't my favorite line (sure hate the paint jobs) I'm with Don Horner -- it does a decent job. I won't try any of the larger ships ... 2300 passengers if big enough for me!

 

We had reasons to complain about some things on NCL -- but not enough to say we'd never sail on the line again. Likewise with Cunard.

 

You do have to make up your own mind. But it has not been Oceania's history to have repeated problems with Noro. Let's see if things go back to normal.

 

I do agree that things could have been handled better on the Riviera cruises. No question about that.

 

One last thought: I doubt the merger has anything to do with this. The former head of Oceania, who created it, is now the head of the three lines. He doesn't want to see his prized baby diminished. Maybe the problem is that he is no longer directly in control, but that's no more than a weak guess.

 

I agree with others that I hope management has been reading this thread because much of it is instructive.

 

Mura

[kazu]

Hello All...

Just to let you know that I just received an e mail from our travel agent that the 12/12/15

cruise on the Riviera will have a "thorough turnaround sanitation protocol prior to your

embarkation in Miami" that is the language in the e mail. So no boarding until after

1:00PM.

 

11AM is the earliest boarding time during the best of circumstances.

Do you really believe that a two hour delay warrants catering? :cool:

 

the post said after 1 PM. If they are going to a thorough turnaround sanitation protocol then that probably means deep cleaning.

 

If that is the case, boarding will be closer to 2 pm at the earliest. I don't know how it works in those circumstances, but I would guess they go in order of priority so some will be waiting longer. And yes, at the very least a sandwich/water/pop should be provided for the guests if boarding is delayed.. It's done on lesser "quality" lines t ;)

[Paulchili]

I have my first Oceania Cruise on the Marina booked for August. I have been reading this board and especially this thread with great interest.

 

I keep saying to myself that it is going to get better. However, it seems to be getting worse. I am really at the point of cancelling my cruise. I am getting a sinking feeling in my stomach. and that is not good.

 

Last summer we took a cruise on HAL. I had the same feeling before going on that cruise. I kept feeling that we should cancel, but could not put my finger on why. I kept quiet and we went. Well, I didn't feel right during the whole cruise with a swollen foot and just an overall feeling of not feeling well. The cruise itself left a lot to be desired as well.

 

After I returned home I became very ill. I had DVTs in my left leg and Pulmonary Emboli (blood clots in my lungs). I almost died. i should have paid attention to my feelings.

 

At this point, with my compromised health, the last thing I need is to get sick on a cruise. Oceania is not giving me a warm fuzzy feeling of anticipating a wonderful adventure. Rather a dreadful feeling of hoping I don't get sick. This is not the way I want to go on a cruise.

 

The descriptions of the unhygienic practices are making me wonder. I have heard so many good things about O that I could not wait to try this cruise line. Now I am scared to death.

 

I really hope that O gets it act together.

 

Is this the way it has always been? Is this an anomaly? Or is this the effects of the NCL takeover?

 

Terri

 

Terri,

Take a few deep breaths - you'll be fine (if only you allow yourself to be :)).

I have 19 Oceania cruises under my belt and several more booked. I have never been on a cruise like this - it is definitely an anomaly. We just got back from a wonderful 25 day cruise on the Marina from Lisbon to Cape Town - everything was as good as it has always been (i.e. no "NCL effect").

The Riviera TA sounds like a very unfortunate experience for all involved but not unique to Oceania. I would have to be a masochist (which I am definitely not) to keep sailing Oceania if this was the "norm" for them.

Think of how many Oceania cruises there have been since 2004 year after year after year and I have not seen or heard of anything quite like this in all those years. It's kind of like one plane crash in hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of safe flights does not make flying unsafe.

Cancel if that will make you feel more comfortable but, FWIW, I am not cancelling my next 4 cruises on O. I have sailed on NCL (in Haven) just a couple of months ago and Celebrity, HAL and others before and I have no desire to return to any of those (unless they have a truly unique itinerary).

To each their own.

[Cruzin Terri]

Terri,

Take a few deep breaths - you'll be fine (if only you allow yourself to be :)).

I have 19 Oceania cruises under my belt and several more booked. I have never been on a cruise like this - it is definitely an anomaly. We just got back from a wonderful 25 day cruise on the Marina from Lisbon to Cape Town - everything was as good as it has always been (i.e. no "NCL effect").

The Riviera TA sounds like a very unfortunate experience for all involved but not unique to Oceania. I would have to be a masochist (which I am definitely not) to keep sailing Oceania if this was the "norm" for them.

Think of how many Oceania cruises there have been since 2004 year after year after year and I have not seen or heard of anything quite like this in all those years. It's kind of like one plane crash in hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of safe flights does not make flying unsafe.

Cancel if that will make you feel more comfortable but, FWIW, I am not cancelling my next 4 cruises on O. I have sailed on NCL (in Haven) just a couple of months ago and Celebrity, HAL and others before and I have no desire to return to any of those (unless they have a truly unique itinerary).

To each their own.

 

Thank you for the encouragement.

 

I hope you can understand my concerns. I just went through a life-changing event. My health is very important to me and I never again want to go through the hell I have faced since August. I will take precautions when flying with compression stockings and moving around on the plane, but I have been told that if I get sick, it will take me a very long time to recover. I have to be very careful.

 

I will keep following the boards. The penalty phase for my cruise begins in February and final payment is in March. We do have insurance, which covers pre-existing conditions.

 

I really want to do this cruise but want to be safe. Up until these reports I have been happily reading these boards and learning as much as I can about O.

 

I should be reasonably recovered by August and am looking forward to having a good cruise. That is what I want to anticipate not a fear of becoming ill.

 

Terri

Edited December 11, 2015 by Cruzin Terri

[ORV]

If it's any consolation I was on this cruise and am not canceling any of my booked Oceania cruises.

 

It was our 11th on Oceania, and once the sanitation procedures started quite different from any I'd been on before. It was the only cruise out of 26 or 27 I've been on that I was ready for it to be over and go home.

 

Let me sum up that from my perspective the biggest issue was lack of communication from those in charge.

[RJB]

11AM is the earliest boarding time during the best of circumstances.

Do you really believe that a two hour delay warrants catering? :cool:

I really believe that it will be much more than a two hour delay if this last cruise is any indication of how long it takes to clear the ship and do another deep cleaning. And even if it is not, better to be safe than sorry. Even if you, (S & J) don't care very much for the people boarding most of us do. Can't be the cheerleader for Oceania when they are clearly wrong.

[hondorner]

...One last thought: I doubt the merger has anything to do with this. The former head of Oceania, who created it, is now the head of the three lines. He doesn't want to see his prized baby diminished. Maybe the problem is that he is no longer directly in control, but that's no more than a weak guess.

 

I agree with others that I hope management has been reading this thread because much of it is instructive.

 

Mura

Sadly, I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that while NCL has had little or no influence on Oceania, it nevertheless is changing -- and not for the better. I agree with you weak guess -- it's a stronger guess from me -- the genius who created Oceania and made it what it is, is now apparently at too great a distance to have any effect on today's day-to-day management (who, in my opinion, is either not reading this or doesn't care or has been advised by the legal department to not speak -- none of which would have happened when Frank was in direct control).

 

I miss Frank. There are several policies regarding on board credit in lieu of gratuities and access to self-funded onboard credit with which I don't agree. I guess I'll have a good chance to see how many differences there are over the next 6 months or so...I'll report here from time to time and will definitely let everyone know my feelings next July.

[RJB]

Sadly, I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that while NCL has had little or no influence on Oceania, it nevertheless is changing -- and not for the better. I agree with you weak guess -- it's a stronger guess from me -- the genius who created Oceania and made it what it is, is now apparently at too great a distance to have any effect on today's day-to-day management (who, in my opinion, is either not reading this or doesn't care or has been advised by the legal department to not speak -- none of which would have happened when Frank was in direct control).

 

I miss Frank. There are several policies regarding on board credit in lieu of gratuities and access to self-funded onboard credit with which I don't agree. I guess I'll have a good chance to see how many differences there are over the next 6 months or so...I'll report here from time to time and will definitely let everyone know my feelings next July.

I would hope that Mr. FDR still reads these boards as he did in the past. I remember seeing his posts about things that were wrong and that he would get them corrected. Not too late to start again. :):):)

[LHT28]

I would hope that Mr. FDR still reads these boards as he did in the past. I remember seeing his posts about things that were wrong and that he would get them corrected. Not too late to start again. :):):)

He no longer has the time to read or respond to posts here

He is working for the shareholders now

 

I miss him too

[LHT28]

I really believe that it will be much more than a two hour delay if this last cruise is any indication of how long it takes to clear the ship and do another deep cleaning. And even if it is not, better to be safe than sorry. Even if you, (S & J) don't care very much for the people boarding most of us do. Can't be the cheerleader for Oceania when they are clearly wrong.

The last cruise they had many sick people to disembark & clean the terminal before letting others off

Plus they had the CDC inspection from coming back from Europe

 

this embarkation will be quicker as they do not have a load of sick people

Edited December 11, 2015 by LHT28

[Travelcat2]

Hello All...

Just to let you know that I just received an e mail from our travel agent that the 12/12/15

cruise on the Riviera will have a "thorough turnaround sanitation protocol prior to your

embarkation in Miami" that is the language in the e mail. So no boarding until after

1:00PM.

 

That does not sound like a "thorough turnaround sanitation protocol..........". When Regent's Voyager had a similar experience two years ago (fewer people ill but the ship needed to be sanitized). Passengers could not board until almost 5:00 p.m. Passengers were taken to a hotel for lunch. The Riviera is considerably larger than the Voyager so I wonder how they could a proper sanitation so quickly.

[Cellen]

On a recent Celebrity cruise we were all refunded $114 for a missed port - Istanbul.

 

Also, I had norovirus on a Celebrity ship and was given free medical care and medication - do Oceania do this?

[kazu]

On a recent Celebrity cruise we were all refunded $114 for a missed port - Istanbul.

 

Also, I had norovirus on a Celebrity ship and was given free medical care and medication - do Oceania do this?

 

no refund on the missed port and medical care excluding initial assessment and medications were NOT free.

[RJB]

He no longer has the time to read or respond to posts here

He is working for the shareholders now

 

I miss him too

I think you could say that reading these is good for his shareholders. By taking care of some of these problems he could make more money for the company. It is important that he knows what the people think as in the past. That to me is also working for his shareholders. :):)