Disembarkation in Miami: "C'MON MAN !"

[wristband]

Dawg's post claims a CC group was trawling for others to get a pow wow with the Capt. Think about this.

 

If true, it adds more evidence to confirm how widespread the negative feelings were about the cruise? If pax were motivated to organize a group to complain, that says a lot!

 

And if this mysterious "group of CCers" actually met with Capt. Gunner, that is even more of an indictment. As the cruise progressed, the onboard experience went from bad to worse to terrible!

 

So a meeting with the Capt failed to achieve what was intended - and showcased how tone deaf & indifferent management was.

[RedneckBob]

I think Redneck was referring to his own disembarkation instructions since he posted that it would be from 8:30 to 9:15. I don't think it was a dig at Lyn's post but the fact that disembarkation cannot be done in the 45 minutes that he was told.

 

Exactly.

 

Oceania posted in their disembarkation instructions that the boat would be emptied in 45 minutes ! Oceania must think I am stupid even though I am Redneck :D

[LHT28]

The sad part is that, of course, this had nothing to do with customs. It's IMMIGRATION for foreign nationals that has to take place on the ship - US citizens do not need to see immigration officials on the ship before disembarkation. Customs is later in the terminal.

Ignorance is bliss for some :D

Sorry Paul this was a few years back & she was a US citizen

Us non us citizens had been cleared in the lounge before 8am

She was suppose to pay duty or something on her purchases as she must have gone over her allowance

Her friends were trying to tell her just go & pay the extra $$ as she was holding up the line

[LHT28]

I understand that Oceania has no control when the disembarkation starts or how long it will take but don't insult my intelligence telling me that every passenger on our cruise will be off the boat in 45 minutes.

 

no comment

[RedneckBob]

no comment

 

Sorry for the misunderstanding but I was referring to Oceania insulting my intelligence about disembarkation.

[rallydave]

Sorry Paul this was a few years back & she was a US citizen

Us non us citizens had been cleared in the lounge before 8am

She was suppose to pay duty or something on her purchases as she must have gone over her allowance

Her friends were trying to tell her just go & pay the extra $$ as she was holding up the line

 

And, what this inconsiderate woman and many others don't realize is that just because you buy something that is duty free, that only applies at the point of purchase. US citizens have a limit of what they can purchase out of the US and those purchases include duty free as well as items that are not bought duty free and duty upon entering the US is due on anything over their allowance.

 

In other words, the duty free nomenclature is applicable to the price of the item when purchased to not include duty in the particular country where it is purchased and had absolutely nothing to do with any duty due upon entering the US.

[LHT28]

And, what this inconsiderate woman and many others don't realize is that just because you buy something that is duty free, that only applies at the point of purchase. US citizens have a limit of what they can purchase out of the US and those purchases include duty free as well as items that are not bought duty free and duty upon entering the US is due on anything over their allowance.

 

In other words, the duty free nomenclature is applicable to the price of the item when purchased to not include duty in the particular country where it is purchased and had absolutely nothing to do with any duty due upon entering the US.

exactly

 

Non US citizen do not have to pay duty on purchases when returning to the USA UNLESS they are leaving the item in the USA

[Hawaiidan]

Bob o'l pal you can put a boat on a ship, you cant put a ship on a boat...Oceania ...dont have any boats...their all ships..

[RedneckBob]

Bob o'l pal you can put a boat on a ship, you cant put a ship on a boat...Oceania ...dont have any boats...their all ships..

 

Sorry from the misunderstanding but any vessel that's smaller than my yacht off Monaco I consider to be a boat.

 

Or would you believe my 20 ft bass boat outback on the lake :D

[RJB]

Bob o'l pal you can put a boat on a ship, you cant put a ship on a boat...Oceania ...dont have any boats...their all ships..

Have a lot of lifeboats, I hope :):):)

[BillPizzaiolo]

It is interesting to note that all the bad ilk is being posted around the time when the 10best dot com online voting is taking place in all categories. Which in itself seems biased to the lines with largest passenger load either per ship or overall. I wonder if they take that into account. Is it something worthwhile to base a travel decision? I think face to face word of mouth based upon real experiences trump any online forums. Some folks are very entertaining in their creative writing.

[ORV]

Dawg's post claims a CC group was trawling for others to get a pow wow with the Capt. Think about this.

 

If true, it adds more evidence to confirm how widespread the negative feelings were about the cruise? If pax were motivated to organize a group to complain, that says a lot!

 

And if this mysterious "group of CCers" actually met with Capt. Gunner, that is even more of an indictment. As the cruise progressed, the onboard experience went from bad to worse to terrible!

 

So a meeting with the Capt failed to achieve what was intended - and showcased how tone deaf & indifferent management was.

 

I personally never thought things progressed to terrible, but for the folks commenting about how it wasn't a certain way or people are guilty of creative writing, if you weren't on either of these cruises then frankly as we say here in The Ozarks, you got no dog in this hunt.

 

I had ten wonderful cruises on Oceania, until this crossing. Things were always good until they weren't. I think there were probably some folks on board that really didn't understand what was going on and were oblivious that there was a problem.

 

But to address these so called meetings, I was an active member of the Roll Call, went to the M & G, the cabin crawl, played trivia with Roll Call members, dined with other Roll Call members, including a group of 16 in La Reserve right in the middle of the worst of the outbreak, and visited with quite a few other Roll Call members at various functions, and NEVER did I hear anyone mention trying to put together any meeting as has been alluded to. I'm not saying it didn't happen, I just never heard anything about it. I wouldn't go so far as to say some might be trying to discredit other's experiences, but if you weren't there you had no idea of how this impacted the Transatlantic sailing.

 

I wasn't on the Dec 2nd sailing but I did meet one of the vocal posters from that cruise that was also on the TA and have no doubt that what he is saying happened.

 

As I've stated before I haven't cancelled any future cruises on Oceania and plan on enjoying them as I have in the past. Oceania has been and hopefully will be our favorite cruise line, but the lack of communication on board was unacceptable. For any future Oceania cruisers I hope nothing like this ever happens on one of your cruises.

 

Our Transatlantic sailing on Riviera in 2013 was one of our favorite cruises of all time, and the one in 2015 was one of our worst. It was the only cruise I've ever been on that I was glad when it was over and I could just get off the ship.

 

Just my .02 cents, take it for what it's worth.

[TheDarkestBlue]

One couple said "cruise critic members" were walking through public areas like the pool trying to round up "all cruise critic members" to meet immediately to discuss on board problems. Multiple meetings were called.

The other couple heard a cruise critic group was demanding a meeting with the captain.

They were reading some of the Live threads and disagreed with the "dramatic tone", their words not mine. I have no idea if they are reading this thread about disembarkation.

These four people were on the transatlantic, traveling as separate couples.

 

Personally, I heard or saw nothing like that. And I was by the pool a fair bit.

 

I was speaking to a number of CC members along with other passengers on the cruise and nothing like this was EVER mentioned.

 

I do believe someone is pulling your leg!

 

Or another group was doing something. It wasn't any CC members I was aware of. And I saw no such other activity by any other group either.

 

Nearly sounds like someone is trying to put the roll call in a bad light which is undeserving.

 

Maybe it has something to do with this quote from your review, Jackie?

 

a letter requesting a meeting with the GM was sent to discuss issues. We receivede a form letter back and were unsuccessful at a meeting

[kazu]

Maybe it has something to do with this quote from your review, Jackie?

 

I don't think so.

 

I have always been honest in my reviews and the letter that was sent was from DH (not I) nor any CC group.

 

It was DH's choice to send it. DH is probably the most easy going guy, not a complainer and never upset about anything. For him to send a letter speaks volumes.

 

In the future, I don't think I will do live threads of new boards that don't know me. Especially if my words are being twisted. I never said that was a CC letter. I simply made a comment.

 

The entire roll call was invited to participate. The fact that the mysterious "four" chose not to speaks volumes IMO.

 

I am sorry if that simple post which has been "snipped" has been taken out of context. It was a simple fact and NOT a CC letter. The fact it would be interpreted as that when I never said it was is a sad fact indeed.

[DOJO466]

I don't think so.

 

I have always been honest in my reviews and the letter that was sent was from DH (not I) nor any CC group.

 

It was DH's choice to send it. DH is probably the most easy going guy, not a complainer and never upset about anything. For him to send a letter speaks volumes.

 

In the future, I don't think I will do live threads of new boards that don't know me. Especially if my words are being twisted. I never said that was a CC letter. I simply made a comment.

 

The entire roll call was invited to participate. The fact that the mysterious "four" chose not to speaks volumes IMO.

 

I am sorry if that simple post which has been "snipped" has been taken out of context. It was a simple fact and NOT a CC letter. The fact it would be interpreted as that when I never said it was is a sad fact indeed.

 

I have sat back and watched all of these posts. I do believe all that Jacqui has said and the posts from others. And yes, You would call me a "cheerleader" most times. I am dismayed that my favorite line missed the "boat " on this one (please Hawaiidan , don't give me the specifics of boat v ship).

I have been on O where I too have witnessed a lack of communication and I can see where this may have happened on this most unfortunate TA. I do not understand why someone in the "upper levels" can't address this. I am not talking about FDR, I am talking about the people they have hired to deal with this sort of thing. Where are they?

On the other hand on a much lighter note as far as service goes. My hub on the first night of sailing while in the GDR asked for his favorite..Creme Brulee, server says I am sorry "that is not available tonight" So DH feigning dejectedness says "Oh well, I really wanted it". We thought nothing of it and let it pass.

The next evening the Food & Bev manager came to our table to inform my husband that his Crème Brulee would be available to him in any venue for the duration of the cruise. To be honest, we both were embarrassed..we did not want to make a stink but that shows service....and perhaps the new servers on the Riviera were not up to par, the General Manager or Food and Bev person should have been there. And that is where O major management needs to come in to address this obvious wrong.

Hopefully this will be addressed and it will return to "normal" as I too think this was a 1 or 2 off starting overseas with new crew etc.

But it is time to let this go. No one is going to get a "rebate,refund,discount,future cruise credit" and to be honest, unfortunately no apology from O

[RJB]

I don't think so.

 

I have always been honest in my reviews and the letter that was sent was from DH (not I) nor any CC group.

 

It was DH's choice to send it. DH is probably the most easy going guy, not a complainer and never upset about anything. For him to send a letter speaks volumes.

 

In the future, I don't think I will do live threads of new boards that don't know me. Especially if my words are being twisted. I never said that was a CC letter. I simply made a comment.

 

The entire roll call was invited to participate. The fact that the mysterious "four" chose not to speaks volumes IMO.

 

I am sorry if that simple post which has been "snipped" has been taken out of context. It was a simple fact and NOT a CC letter. The fact it would be interpreted as that when I never said it was is a sad fact indeed.

from reading the post it sounds like you did say it. It is O.K. if you did, just let us know what your words did say if not that?

[kazu]

from reading the post it sounds like you did say it. It is O.K. if you did, just let us know what your words did say if not that?

 

I am always honest in my posts. And I stand behind them.

 

First of all this was NOT in my live thread. I actually had to go check. It was in another thread when another CC member posted he tried to get problems addressed and I told him we tried to get a meeting as well and failed.

 

It was WE - as in DH and I - not a CC meeting, not a CC group and never ever did I imply such a thing. anyone can search my posts and see it.

 

I simply agreed that we had the same issue.

 

How that got twisted to be interpreted to a CC thing is beyond me if that is how it was perceived. In any case, second hand information like sammie dawg is giving is nothing but hear say IMO. There is no confirmation, no post by the people. I take more credit in those that have the courage to post and the honesty to come forward. I guess it's a matter of facts versus fiction.

 

I guess I need to grow thicker skin for this board End of vent.

Edited December 31, 2015 by kazu

[Paulchili]

On the other hand on a much lighter note as far as service goes. My hub on the first night of sailing while in the GDR asked for his favorite..Creme Brulee, server says I am sorry "that is not available tonight" So DH feigning dejectedness says "Oh well, I really wanted it". We thought nothing of it and let it pass.

The next evening the Food & Bev manager came to our table to inform my husband that his Crème Brulee would be available to him in any venue for the duration of the cruise. To be honest, we both were embarrassed..we did not want to make a stink but that shows service....

 

Deb, we had a similar experience just recently on the Marina. Our favorite dessert at tea is Paris Brest.

http://parisbymouth.com/five-great-paris-brest/

We missed it by one day (we did not go every day) and asked the manager when it would be served next. The very next day at tea we were told that they had prepared FIVE pieces of Paris Brest just for us (we shared it with our friends who loved it). Now, that is the kind of service we have experienced more often than not on Oceania rather than what was happening recently on Riviera.

[DOJO466]

Thanks for the link Paul. Have never tried this. Will be on the lookout on our upcoming Marina cruise.

[Paulchili]

Thanks for the link Paul. Have never tried this. Will be on the lookout on our upcoming Marina cruise.

 

The one they make on O looks like #2 or #4 in the link.

It's the best - enjoy!

[sammiedawg]

I am always honest in my posts. And I stand behind them.

 

First of all this was NOT in my live thread. I actually had to go check. It was in another thread when another CC member posted he tried to get problems addressed and I told him we tried to get a meeting as well and failed.

 

It was WE - as in DH and I - not a CC meeting, not a CC group and never ever did I imply such a thing. anyone can search my posts and see it.

 

I simply agreed that we had the same issue.

 

How that got twisted to be interpreted to a CC thing is beyond me if that is how it was perceived. In any case, second hand information like sammie dawg is giving is nothing but hear say IMO. There is no confirmation, no post by the people. I take more credit in those that have the courage to post and the honesty to come forward. I guess it's a matter of facts versus fiction.

 

I guess I need to grow thicker skin for this board End of vent.

 

I dont make things up.

We met two couples sailing on Regatta who were on the TA.

I like Oceania a lot but I don't work for them or own their stock.

Some of the previous threads included rants about many things besides Noro including tea bags, exercise equipment, food complaints, sizes of sneeze guards, butlers, etc. One of the couples noted all the rants and felt the threads were a little dramatic.

 

I assure you the couple who told us about the attempts to call ad hoc meetings (plural, we verified with them plural) were salt of the earth people. We had dinner with them several times. We only talked about the TA the first time and the conversation started with typical icebreaker topics, where are you from, have you cruised before, etc. Both husband and wife said they heard the cruise critic members walking through public areas calling others to meetings that were happening "right away". This couple agreed service levels were reduced because of staff illness but they did not feel the problems were anywhere as dire as described in the other threads. They felt bad Ray Michaels and some others were singled out for specific criticism.

 

The other couple told us CC members had demanded a meeting with the captain.

[RJB]

I dont make things up.

We met two couples sailing on Regatta who were on the TA.

I like Oceania a lot but I don't work for them or own their stock.

Some of the previous threads included rants about many things besides Noro including tea bags, exercise equipment, food complaints, sizes of sneeze guards, butlers, etc. One of the couples noted all the rants and felt the threads were a little dramatic.

 

I assure you the couple who told us about the attempts to call ad hoc meetings (plural, we verified with them plural) were salt of the earth people. We had dinner with them several times. We only talked about the TA the first time and the conversation started with typical icebreaker topics, where are you from, have you cruised before, etc. Both husband and wife said they heard the cruise critic members walking through public areas calling others to meetings that were happening "right away". This couple agreed service levels were reduced because of staff illness but they did not feel the problems were anywhere as dire as described in the other threads. They felt bad Ray Michaels and some others were singled out for specific criticism.

 

The other couple told us CC members had demanded a meeting with the captain.

Seams to be enough on this topic. Beating it to death with not much more to gain. Lets all have a happy new year and happy cruising in the future.

[blacksmith]

Seams to be enough on this topic. Beating it to death with not much more to gain. Lets all have a happy new year and happy cruising in the future.

 

 

I second that!!! Happy new year.