Compensation for Riviera Nurovirus Cruise

[RJB]

I do wish Mr. FDR would read these boards. Might make a difference. :o:o

[rallydave]

I do wish Mr. FDR would read these boards. Might make a difference. :o:o

 

IMHO, he really doesn't need to read these boards to know what is happening with Riviera currently. Would think reports from the ship as well as other Oceania staff reading these boards and reporting at meetings are occurring on a regular basis.

 

With NCLH being a public company vs. the old PCH being a private company, there are differences on what management can say publically.

[Lord H]

To answer an earlier quote by Wristband. Damien was the GM on the last cruise.

 

However, had I read how BAD Oceania were at containing Norovirus I certainly would not have chosen this Back to back cruise. It was 20 out of 24 days of troubling uncertainty. My wife was beside herself worrying that either of us would be infected. Great Holiday. NOT!!!

 

I was beginning to think that the takeover by NCL was a contributing factor by reducing standards. Apparently not.

 

How do we find out if the outbreak continues?

 

I am so pleased that we are now off of the "Plague Ship"!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was not a "one off" for Oceania. It was our 4th sailing with them, and the first two were great. The third was on the Riviera in Nov 2012, when there was also an awful Noro outbreak. The CDC reported 37 cases, but that was just the number that went to medical - there were at least ten times that! Oceania would not acknowledge what was happening until they got to that 3% number required by the CDC towards the end of the cruise. My husband was stricken early in the cruise and even passed out in the room in the middle of the night. When I called for help, they made sure I knew there was an extra charge for after hours.

 

That trip to medical cost us $677! They called it gastroenteritis, but no test was done to prove otherwise. We knew so many people who were sick but wouldn't go to medical, with charges like that. I knew someone else who was charged over $1200. Yes, some people didn't want to be quarantined, but that only lasted 24 hours. I don't remember any extra cleaning or sanitizing being done on that cruise, even after Norovirus was acknowledged. It was only the last two days that they didn't charge for a medical evaluation.

 

This cruise was so inferior and disappointing that I really believe Oceania owes us some form of reimbursement - it doesn't sound like that is going to happen.

 

It took three years for us to decide to give Oceania another try. Would you go back on Oceania, especially Riviera

[ORV]

Has the GM surfaced yet? Dominque was MIA on the Barcelona - Miami milk run. Lots of repeated public complaints were met with stony silence by management. Zippo response from him or his minions.

 

Is he hiding under a desk, avoiding upset passengers? Typically, Oceania GMs are out and about, visible and attentive, checking for stray martini glasses, cheerfully answering questions and suggestions. Present & accounted for & all that.

 

We missed you in November!

 

 

Not completely MIA, we ran into him in the hall a few times, he was at the repeater's parties, also at the Officer's Challenge on the pool deck one day. BUT, he was not as visible as he sometimes is.

[Mura]

Thanks, Paul.

 

You got it.

 

David

 

 

David, I admit I was puzzled when I saw the comment so I did NOT get it! It didn't seem like something you would say, however. Maybe next time an emoticon of some sort? It's hard to be sure of the tone of voice when just reading ...

 

Probably I should take my own advice ...

 

Mura

[Mura]

I am very surprised if it is the case that Dominique was missing in action. On our BCN-Rio cruise two years ago he was VERY present. He was even personally help load luggage and passengers unto the vans that were taking us to the terminal on debarkation day. I've never seen a GM as "in action" as he was on that cruise.

 

Maybe he was sick too! (Don't quote me, it's just a guess.)

 

Mura

[Caroldoll]

I was on a cruise with Chatkat from NY to Montreal in May. There had been a Noro outbreak and we decided no shaking hands!

 

I have a friend or some type of friendship who frequents these boards and she is right...only Clorox will kill Noro. That and hot water and soap. USE THESE METHODS.

 

Otherwise, it is your fault.

 

I do not like how Oceania is handling things in general and I guess it extends to Regent as well. After the next two cruises, we will be voting with our purse.

 

Otherwise, the deal is you know what works and don't expect the ships to be your nanny! It happens more in the winter..so even May was coming out of winter. I think things are so bad on Riviera now, it is out of control.

[sail7seas]

Reading all this and comparing it to my October trip on NCL seems Oceania could learn a few things from NCL.

 

I agree my first (only) cruise on NCL was August, this year.

It was so much better than much I have read here about the recent "O" cruises. I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked the suite experience on NCL

I sailed a ship that did not have Haven so this was the 'ordinary NCL Suite' that I experienced.

I have sailed over 80+ HAL cruises in "SA" suites (Neptune) and am very used to the suite product.

 

I read these recent "O" threads only to see what Kazu was writing as I know her from HAL forums and wanted to read her observations and opinions.

I had never been to this forum before.

 

It has been an education. :)

 

Edited December 14, 2015 by sail7seas

[Paulchili]

I agree my first (only) cruise on NCL was August, this year.

It was so much better than much I have read here about the recent "O" cruises. I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked the suite experience on NCL

I sailed a ship that did not have Haven so this was the 'ordinary NCL Suite' that I experienced.

I have sailed over 80+ HAL cruises in "SA" suites (Neptune) and am very used to the suite product.

 

I read these recent "O" threads only to see what Kazu was writing as I know her from HAL forums and wanted to read her observations and opinions.

I had never been to this forum before.

 

It has been an education. :)

 

 

I think that it is unfair to judge Oceania as a cruise line simply based on Riviera's last 2 segments, totally chosing to ignore its track record. Oceania has been sailing since 2004 and it should be judged on its performance during all that time rather than just Nov/Dec on one of their ships.

As far as to which line one chooses to sail, that is an individual decision - just as it should be. A couple of cruisers in this thread declared their preferrence for NCL over Oceania - fair enough. Everyone should sail the line they will be happiest on.

Speaking for myself, I had my first NCL experience this September in Haven. Before that sailing I had made a reservation on NCL's Star in OS (their largest suite) for 1/2 of what a veranda cabin on Insignia would cost on the same itinerary. After my cruise on NCL, I cancelled my reservation on the Star and will gladly pay twice as much for 1/3 the cabin on Insignia for what I expect to be a much better overall cruise experience FOR ME.

YMMV

[sail7seas]

I agree a ship with Noro outbreak is not the 'usual product'.

However, my opinions are based upon what I am reading about how Oceania

seems to be dealing with this outbreak.

 

Having cruised a great many times on many ships, I have encountered Noro

enough times to know how other ships have handled it and from what I have read

here, Oceania failed badly.

 

They seemed to treat the passengers as the 'enemy' rather than their guests who

expected to sail with a skilled crew equipped to handle what is not a rare situation

on a cruise ship.

 

I was not there and neither were most of us contributing to this thread but we've

read comments from enough people to be able to form a reasonable opinion.

 

Edited December 14, 2015 by sail7seas

[CruisinAddict]

I think that it is unfair to judge Oceania as a cruise line simply based on Riviera's last 2 segments, totally chosing to ignore its track record. Oceania has been sailing since 2004 and it should be judged on its performance during all that time rather than just Nov/Dec on one of their ships

YMMV

 

We are not just talking about Riviera's last two segments or Nov/Dec on one of Oceania's ships! You must have missed my post about the Norovirus episode on Riviera in Nov 2012. For me, half of my sailings on Oceania have been substandard to most of the other 50 cruises I have been on, and most of them were about half the price of Oceania. Good luck on your future Oceania cruises - I certainly won't be on them!

[RJB]

To answer an earlier quote by Wristband. Damien was the GM on the last cruise.

 

However, had I read how BAD Oceania were at containing Norovirus I certainly would not have chosen this Back to back cruise. It was 20 out of 24 days of troubling uncertainty. My wife was beside herself worrying that either of us would be infected. Great Holiday. NOT!!!

 

I was beginning to think that the takeover by NCL was a contributing factor by reducing standards. Apparently not.

 

How do we find out if the outbreak continues?

 

I am so pleased that we are now off of the "Plague Ship"!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was not a "one off" for Oceania. It was our 4th sailing with them, and the first two were great. The third was on the Riviera in Nov 2012, when there was also an awful Noro outbreak. The CDC reported 37 cases, but that was just the number that went to medical - there were at least ten times that! Oceania would not acknowledge what was happening until they got to that 3% number required by the CDC towards the end of the cruise. My husband was stricken early in the cruise and even passed out in the room in the middle of the night. When I called for help, they made sure I knew there was an extra charge for after hours.

 

That trip to medical cost us $677! They called it gastroenteritis, but no test was done to prove otherwise. We knew so many people who were sick but wouldn't go to medical, with charges like that. I knew someone else who was charged over $1200. Yes, some people didn't want to be quarantined, but that only lasted 24 hours. I don't remember any extra cleaning or sanitizing being done on that cruise, even after Norovirus was acknowledged. It was only the last two days that they didn't charge for a medical evaluation.

 

This cruise was so inferior and disappointing that I really believe Oceania owes us some form of reimbursement - it doesn't sound like that is going to happen.

 

It took three years for us to decide to give Oceania another try. Would you go back on Oceania, especially Riviera

As far as we are concerned Damien is the best GM that Oceania has. He will get all this mess taken care of, I am sure.. Glad that he is in charge. :):):)

[wristband]

Hey Crusin'Addict, we were onboard with you on that initial Riviera Barcelona - Miami crossing & the Noro ourbreak. Different captain, same result, same nonsense with the lame communication. We are done with O transatlantics. Twice bitten and all that.

 

I would say there was a big difference on this just completed 2015 cruise. The absence of ship management, the number of problems poppin gup unrelated to Noro virus, the understaffing and incompetence onboard, the poor training and absence of adult management were vastly different in 2015 vs the sailing of Riviera to a US port three years ago. But why such a difference?

 

Both cruises had that nasty virus outbreak. But the most recent t.a. sailing last month was a disgrace and left a bitter taste in so many mouths. The inane handling of the virus outbreak is one thing. But problem after problem with service and mis-execution were glaringly apparent and nothing was done.

 

New GM on board now? GM Dominique was perhaps sick with other passengers? I hope for all of you onboard Riviera there is a change in GM because what we endured was totally unacceptable and a terrible waste of time and money.

 

STINKO!

[Paulchili]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paulchili

I think that it is unfair to judge Oceania as a cruise line simply based on Riviera's last 2 segments, totally choosing to ignore its track record. Oceania has been sailing since 2004 and it should be judged on its performance during all that time rather than just Nov/Dec on one of their ships

YMMV

 

We are not just talking about Riviera's last two segments or Nov/Dec on one of Oceania's ships! You must have missed my post about the Norovirus episode on Riviera in Nov 2012. For me, half of my sailings on Oceania have been substandard to most of the other 50 cruises I have been on, and most of them were about half the price of Oceania. Good luck on your future Oceania cruises - I certainly won't be on them!

 

CruisinAddict,

You certainly have had bad luck – your Noro incidence with Oceania is 50%. I’ve had much better luck – none of my 19 O cruises had Noro. Assuming that your “substandard sailings on Oceania” were due to Noro (and things related to it), I can certainly see that in YOUR case you have no desire to return to Oceania – just like I would hope that you could see that based on MY experience, I have no hesitation in returning.

These numbers are important to us but ONLY to us as they represent OUR total O experiences. In the greater scheme of things they are anecdotal to Oceania’s incidence rate of Noro as well as to all other potential new cruisers considering Oceania.

What is more important is to look at the full picture – the true incidence of Noro on Oceania ships.

I have no idea of how many cruises O has done since 2004 but I can make some guesses. If the average cruise is 10 days and Oceania had 3 ships till 2011 when Marina joined and then in 2012 Riviera came in. Using these numbers I come up with about 2000 cruises (give or take). Admittedly this is just a guesstimate but I think a fairly good one (if anyone has the actual numbers, please chime in). The 3 incidents you cite are a minuscule percentage of total cruises. Even if one adds a couple more incidents on Marina and Riviera, we are still talking minuscule numbers. That would be a more accurate picture of incidents of Noro on Oceania ships, despite your 50% rate.

PS maybe someone from O can fill in the correct numbers for both - the total number of cruises by O and total number of Noro incidents. I suspect those numbers are available to them.

Edited December 14, 2015 by Paulchili

[wristband]

Paul - forge the Noro! Its not the Noro! Its the attitude & incompetence that infected the voyages. Hate the haters. But blame O for the product they delivered 1,100 paying pax.

 

Look, I have 10 O cruises taken and over 30 overall. This is was the very worst cruise we have experienced. Its not the virus. Its what happened onboard with poor service and absent management.

 

Do your math, feel good about the lack of an outbreak on your cruises. I am happy for you. We have had Noro 2x on Riviera. Do I blame Oceania for the outbreak alone? No.

 

Read the posts here from those onboard. Our unhappiness is much deeper & is more disgruntled than simply GI distress.

 

The issue here is far more profound regarding the state of Oceania overall as far as loyal customers (such as myself) see it.

[Paulchili]

PPS

As I had mentioned upstream, I have no problem with anyone having had poor experiences on the Riviera's Nov/Dec cruises not wanting to return to O based on their experiences - it is their prerogative. Just like it is the prerogative of others that have had positive experiences on O to return.

Everyone needs to decide for themselves rather than dictate to others.

[Paulchili]

Paul - forge the Noro! Its not the Noro! Its the attitude & incompetence that infected the voyages. Hate the haters. But blame O for the product they delivered 1,100 paying pax.

 

Look, I have 10 O cruises taken and over 30 overall. This is was the very worst cruise we have experienced. Its not the virus. Its what happened onboard with poor service and absent management.

 

Do your math, feel good about the lack of an outbreak on your cruises. I am happy for you. We have had Noro 2x on Riviera. Do I blame Oceania for the outbreak alone? No.

 

Read the posts here from those onboard. Our unhappiness is much deeper & is more disgruntled than simply GI distress.

 

The issue here is far more profound regarding the state of Oceania overall as far as loyal customers (such as myself) see it.

 

I understand your frustration and it certainly sounds like O could have done better. It may or may not have helped the spread of Noro but they could have communicated better and perhaps offered some compensation (free medical care comes to mind).

You, having sailed on 10 prior O cruises are different from those that were on their first O cruise. It would be interesting to know what your future plans re: O cruises are.

That said, I just came of the Marina after 25 wonderful days - including great food, staff, management, etc. So I cannot relate first hand to "The issue here is far more profound regarding the state of Oceania overall as far as loyal customers"

PS I don't hate the haters :)

Edited December 14, 2015 by Paulchili

[LAexNY]

David, I admit I was puzzled when I saw the comment so I did NOT get it! It didn't seem like something you would say, however. Maybe next time an emoticon of some sort? It's hard to be sure of the tone of voice when just reading ...

 

Probably I should take my own advice ...

 

Mura

 

Hi Mura,

I did put a little devil emoticon but it didn't show up very well.

I'll try to be less subtle next time I'm being sarcastic.

😏

[roger b]

Paul - forge the Noro! Its not the Noro! Its the attitude & incompetence that infected the voyages. Hate the haters. But blame O for the product they delivered 1,100 paying pax.

 

Look, I have 10 O cruises taken and over 30 overall. This is was the very worst cruise we have experienced. Its not the virus. Its what happened onboard with poor service and absent management.

 

Do your math, feel good about the lack of an outbreak on your cruises. I am happy for you. We have had Noro 2x on Riviera. Do I blame Oceania for the outbreak alone? No.

 

Read the posts here from those onboard. Our unhappiness is much deeper & is more disgruntled than simply GI distress.

 

The issue here is far more profound regarding the state of Oceania overall as far as loyal customers (such as myself) see it.

 

I go back to the original posting for this cruise, which people are chosing to forget are passengers on the B2B due for compensation ??

 

I think most posters agree that the cruise was not up to the standards expected and Oceania were at fault for many reasons.

 

Ask you yourself was there :

(1) a loss of value ( the difference of what you booked and what you got).

(2) Loss of enjoyment,inconvenience or disappointment.

(3) Out of pocket expences.

 

If the answer is yes then then O should be offering compensation not the insulting $200 that they gave to B2B passengers.

I did not accept mine as a loyal Oceania passenger I would of hoped to have been treated in a better fashion both on and after the cruise.

Thank goodness we here in the U.K we have The Sale of Goods Act and the redress of the small claims court failing a reasonable settlement.

 

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/action/how-to-claim-if-youre-unhappy-with-your-package-holiday

[wristband]

Personally, I don't want compensation. I do want Oceania to provide an experience loyal customers have come to expect based on our past cruises.

 

We all make mistakes. Accidents happen. Most long time customers will cut the company some slack if things go awry. On Riviera 80% of the pax were returnees so we had a strong foundation to compare this cruise to other Oceania offerings.

 

In many, many areas, Riviera was not reflective of prior cruises. Management knew that early on as disgruntled customers, myself included, voiced concerns. Yet, they chose not to communicate and respond in a responsible manner to their captive guests.

 

Again, the gist of most complaints here are not just the manner in which the virus outbreak was handled. There were many service & staffing problems which were widespread. Those compounded into a snowballing impact over 2 weeks. Lame-O.

 

Paul - we had four O bookings over the next 24 months. After disembarking in Miami, we cancelled one and are giving serious consideration to axe the remaining three.

[LHT28]

Probably a stupid question but here goes

 

How many have written to H.O. not just complaining on the comment cards or to staff onboard but actually written a letter of complaint with the problems besides the NORO issue ?

[roger b]

Personally, I don't want compensation. I do want Oceania to provide an experience loyal customers have come to expect based on our past cruises.

 

We all make mistakes. Accidents happen. Most long time customers will cut the company some slack if things go awry. On Riviera 80% of the pax were returnees so we had a strong foundation to compare this cruise to other Oceania offerings.

 

In many, many areas, Riviera was not reflective of prior cruises. Management knew that early on as disgruntled customers, myself included, voiced concerns. Yet, they chose not to communicate and respond in a responsible manner to their captive guests.

 

Again, the gist of most complaints here are not just the manner in which the virus outbreak was handled. There were many service & staffing problems which were widespread. Those compounded into a snowballing impact over 2 weeks. Lame-O.

 

Paul - we had four O bookings over the next 24 months. After disembarking in Miami, we cancelled one and are giving serious consideration to axe the remaining three.

 

This is very commendable that you do not want compensation, you were not on the B2B and you also did not have to spend a day in Miami waiting for HOURS with no food and drink in the terminal with 1100 other people to board and then have spend another 10 days under the same level 2 sanitation conditions.

I personally might have been willing to forgive the lapse on the TA but to compound it with another 10 days and at the end to be insulted with an offer of $200.

My holiday cost was over $20000 and I found out some guests only paid $1600 + free Grats +$200 on board credit for the second part of my B2B.

OC could not even come up with the difference to what other passengers had paid.

As a loyal OC customer with one more cruise booked.All I want is fair recognition for the failings that we had to endure trapped on the ship for 20 days.

Edited December 14, 2015 by roger b
missed word

[wristband]

That cost differential shocks me. $1,600 is less than 1/10th of our fare. Sickening. Since the ship was near capacity, and we received several buyout offers to move to another category, I am puzzled why O would discount its fares so dramatically.

 

The sound you are now hearing is my head pounding the top of the desk.

 

Please know Paul I am not critical of your compensation demand. The situation in Miami was not handled well at disembarkation (I saw first hand) and the events that followed for you and others languishing in the terminal go well beyond an "oops" with the lack of seating, food, information etc.

 

Yes, I was aboard for 14 days - not the B2B - my unhappiness lies with the company still failing to provide what they promised us all and for which we paid a premium. I want acknowledgement from management that they recognize this.

 

Personally, I don't want a $200 credit for a future cruise purchase. I want assurance senior management is aware of the glaring deficiencies so commonplace on Riviera and is, in response, taking concrete steps to ensure the many problems we experienced will not recur on future cruises.

 

Management's silence was deafening on board. We disembarked 12 days ago - continued silence speaks about their commitment to loyal customers.

 

Oceania has our email addresses. After all, my inbox is cluttered with O's sales pitches.

 

So, I completely understand your interest in getting monetary reimbursement for the aggravation and enduring a month captive to such shabby and unprofessional treatment.

[LHT28]

That cost differential shocks me. $1,600 is less than 1/10th of our fare. Sickening

Were they getting the same CAT Cabin as you??

 

 

It happens with airfare as well as cruises the closer to sail date prices drop

I would be upset also if I booked 18 mths out & someone booked a mth out got a better price

[RJB]

I go back to the original posting for this cruise, which people are chosing to forget are passengers on the B2B due for compensation ??

 

I think most posters agree that the cruise was not up to the standards expected and Oceania were at fault for many reasons.

 

Ask you yourself was there :

(1) a loss of value ( the difference of what you booked and what you got).

(2) Loss of enjoyment,inconvenience or disappointment.

(3) Out of pocket expences.

 

If the answer is yes then then O should be offering compensation not the insulting $200 that they gave to B2B passengers.

I did not accept mine as a loyal Oceania passenger I would of hoped to have been treated in a better fashion both on and after the cruise.

Thank goodness we here in the U.K we have The Sale of Goods Act and the redress of the small claims court failing a reasonable settlement.

 

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/action/how-to-claim-if-youre-unhappy-with-your-package-holiday

All three items are totally correct. Most any company,s that do not deliver what their customers pay for will give a refund or at least a partial refund. I do not know how Oceania can continue to stay silent and go on like nothing took place and all was fine and dandy. :confused::confused::confused: