How Often Does Oceania Change Route In Bad Weather

[deus]

Private Tours Booked But Oceania Changes Route

Our first cruise with Oceania we took all ship excursions and our next one in April we are again taking all ship excursion – well except one. We are taking a back to back cruise – Chile to Papeete and then Papeete to Papeete January 2019 and we have decided to try our hand at non ship tours. We actually really enjoyed our Oceania tours – they were never crowded – the buses were ¾ full.

The reason for my enquiry is that I was reading Hoopster’s fantastic review of French Polynesian and I am not sure if he said it or someone else said that “when the ship was going to encounter bad weather the captain altered the route”. What happens if you have booked non ship tours - group private tours for yourself? Does this happen very often? I am now thinking I may have made a mistake in booking these private tours. I only booked these tours because I noticed the Oceania snorkeling tours were not that long 2 to 3 hours.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Paulchili]

Changing port due to a number of reason can happen occasionally.

You should check with the private tour operator what are their rules for occasions like this - when the ship cannot dock/tender in the specified port.

Are you responsible for the cost of the tour or not in such a case. Do you have to pay a deposit or pay in full ahead of time? If so, what are the refund policies. Then you can decide if you want to book the private tour or not.

If there is no prepayment then there should be no problem.

[LHT28]

weather happens good & bad

the captain will not risk the ship or the live of pax & crew

 

I agree with Paul check with the tour operator what their cancellation penalties are if you have to prepay

One port we had a 50% penalty for a prepaid tour when the ship could not make port

[edgee]

While weather can mean itinerary changes on any cruise, I will point out that based on my experience, Oceania is more prone to cancel ports than other cruise lines. I have cruised six times on Oceania and only once in those six cruises have we docked in every port on the itinerary. So I am 5 out of 6 in cruises which miss ports on Oceania. On the other hand, I have cruised over 30 times on 5 other cruise lines and among those cruises, only once did I experience an altered itinerary and that was a Celebrity cruise to the Antarctic.

[Caroldoll]

If you are on a ships tour they refund you. Recently we had a significant change as another passenger was about to expire and they needed to get to a port with a more substantial hospital. We had a day planned for six of us that cost close to $2000. We lost all of that. That is the way the cookie crumbles. The place we were going would not refund even part of the money. Be aware.

[JudiK]

This happened to me on a cruise from Papeete Feb14. In retrospect it was a brilliant decision since we went in the opposite direction of the bad weather . The cruise before ours had nothing but rain🙁 I booked all but one through local tour owners. I had to scramble since it was last minute but it all worked out- lost one booking( got refunded) but was given a contact for another tour.

[deus]

Thanks Paulchili and LHT28

 

Does this happen very often?

[deus]

Thank you for your comments Caroldoll & JudiK.

 

I never even thought about this happening. The deposits are only about $300.00 so far - not that much. However, I don't want to be in these fantastic ports, and not see all I could have seen. I have also read that if you don't book ship's tours before you get to FP, they are usually all sold.

 

Thanks again everyone for your info.

[ellbon]

I do about half private and the rest either thru ship or just walk around on my own.in FP I did a mix as always.

[LHT28]

Thanks Paulchili and LHT28

 

Does this happen very often?

If you are in a force 9 gale in the Irish sea you probably will miss a port

 

if in hurricane or cyclone season the ports can be changed or missed

reading the Live thread here they missed a port in thr Azores

 

I am sure if they could predict the weather in advance it would not be a problem

 

We have missed a few ports over the years

 

if you really want to see a specific place do a land vacation there

JMO

[airtana]

This is the “LIVE” poster and as LTH28 reiterated above we did miss our Azores port the other day. The Captain tried 3 times to dock but the winds and high seas made it impossible and unsafe. We did have an independent tour set up there but as they did not require a deposit we did not lose any money. Most of the legitimate tour operators you will find by researching sites such as trip advisor, etc. clearly state their cancellation policy and in our experience, most will not penalize you if your ship can’t get into the port. It does take a bit more work to find tours on your own, but both my DH and I are not too fond of the big bus ones and prefer something more personal. We have yet to have a bad experience in many years of cruising. Good luck on whatever you choose to do.

[Sea42]

Deus

You may want to look into trip cancellation insurance. We usually only have a medical/evac policy for our vacations but sometimes it is worth getting the cancellation protection too.

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

Family member reports that the only times they've missed a port on Oceania (10 or 11 cruises) were:

 

Easter Island due to sea conditions on second of two days - great disappointment, but some ships don't make it at all (tricky port, with long tender. Other ports (Fakarava, etc.) were fine. On EI, 2 people were overnighting on the island. Doubt you'll do this, but if you do, I'd make sure Oceania has cell phone number and know where you're staying!

 

Grand Turk - Captain tried twice, but just too rough to dock

 

(If it matters, they take about 1/4 ship excursions, 1/4 arranged non-ship excursions, and half DIY stuff like rent a car, use taxis/Uber/public buses. If they take non-ship excursions, they make sure they know what the cancel policy is, especially if the ship doesn't make port. For Easter Island they did an arranged excursion, and the vendor refunded half of the cost, minus a bit for admin/van rental costs.)

 

Personally, I would not be afraid to book your own excursions. Don't expect the worst, but be flexible, and remember - a missed port is an excuse to go back!

Edited April 7, 2018 by IWantToLiveOverTheSea

[ShopperfiendTO]

Yes, please make sure you read or get and understand the tour operator's cancellation policy before deciding booking with them. They are all different and this way you know what you're getting into if the unfortunate situation does arise. This is another "peace of mind" benefit of booking through the cruise line directly.

 

For the Mediterranean ports the operators are usually very good with not charging you if the ship does not call, but it is different for the other ports in the world.

 

Re: missed ports, it is random depending on the weather but certain ports are more prone to being missed than others due to the very nature of the location of the port, so you would have to weigh that as well.

[azam71209]

I always assume that there can be missed and changed ports. On our Hong Kong to Bangkok, there were port changes that were actually an improvement, DaNang and up the river at Bangkok. We missed a port in Greenland because of ice, which is not considered unusual. Almost didn't get into Prince Wilhelm (?) sound on that cruise because of ice. On an Alaska trip, major time changes in one port because a Celebrity ship has rammed the dock a few days before. No problem for us because we had booked ship tours and when we did arrive, the vendors were there at the dock. Not so for some private tours. On that same trip Regatta got all the way to Hubbard Glacier despite the ice and fog. Watched a much larger ship turn around and miss the great sights when we got there-fog cleared, lots of calving on the glacier. I do think Oceania captains make a serious effort to get us to ports but also keep us safe.

 

Private tours are great but I would not schedule with any vendor that would not issue a refund if the ship couldn't make the port. We got OLife and I have been surprised at the quality of the ship tours. A few more people than small groups arranged through cruisecritic roll call but then you don't have to deal with people who want to cut the private tour short so they can get to trivia. :-)

 

Mary

[deus]

Thank you for all the great advice and tips!!

 

FYI Sea 42 - we always travel with cancellation insurance.

 

I will as IWANTTOLIVEOVERTHERE...said, book a few private tours, a few ship tours, and DIY may one or two.

 

Lauren

[Sea42]

Thank you for all the great advice and tips!!

 

FYI Sea 42 - we always travel with cancellation insurance.

 

I will as IWANTTOLIVEOVERTHERE...said, book a few private tours, a few ship tours, and DIY may one or two.

 

Lauren

That's great Lauren. I checked ours and they do cover costs incurred with missed ports but not all do.

[deus]

Sea42 - I was not that concerned about losing my deposit, but I had been thinking that Oceania might get into ports not on the schedule day and therefore, I wouldn't get my full day of excursions. I guess the thing to do if this happens is to contact the the tour company right away and let them know and may be they could fit us in if we circle around and come back to the places we missed on a different day. Or Oceania might just miss the port altogether - which isn't great but happens.

 

I never even thought about getting my refunds back from my insurance company - I will have to check that.

 

Thanks again.

Lauren

[Toranut97]

Sea42 - I was not that concerned about losing my deposit, but I had been thinking that Oceania might get into ports not on the schedule day and therefore, I wouldn't get my full day of excursions. I guess the thing to do if this happens is to contact the the tour company right away and let them know and may be they could fit us in if we circle around and come back to the places we missed on a different day. Or Oceania might just miss the port altogether - which isn't great but happens.

 

I never even thought about getting my refunds back from my insurance company - I will have to check that.

 

Thanks again.

Lauren

 

 

 

Ne other thing - times when we sailed and there were port changes/cancellations- we were encouraged to contact the Concierge for assistance in contacting tour operators if necessary. Some folks said they did get good help.

 

Donna

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[deus]

Toranut97 - Thanks for the info. I never thought Oceania would help with private tours - that is great to know.

Lauren

[Mura]

Oceania DOES know that they can't accommodate every passenger on a ship's tour. So as long as they aren't losing business ...

 

When we book private tours we try our best to book those that don't take deposits to begin with. Of course, you can't always do that! But many groups will refund your money when you can't make port. It pays to ask their policies.

 

Mura

[deus]

Mura - Thanks for taking the time to pass on your info. I will definitely remember for next time if I book a non ship excursion.

 

Lauren

PS I seem to have lost my first post here - I don't know what I did.

[roothy123]

I just thought I'd add that if you've booked a non-O excursion and the ship is or will be late getting into port, don't worry about the vendor thinking you're a no-show and going home. I suppose you could call, text or email them, but most likely they'll know you're going to be late. Most of them, at least in Europe, Canada, etc., monitor the ship's progress.. Sites like marinetraffic.com or vesselfinder.com make it easy to see where a ship is and when expected arrival will be.

 

We usually do purchase travel insurance, but I've never actually lost any money on an excursion because the ship didn't make port. I'd be curious to find out if those folks who have experienced that actually got their money refunded by the insurance company. In looking at policies, I've never actually seen anything that clearly states that something like that is covered.

[findacruise]

Slightly off topic, but we had trouble with not being able to take a private tour when the company decided to stop their service. We had paid for the deposit on our Visa and were able to get a refund through them. I don't know how it work with a canceled port, but it might be worth checking for those who have Visa.

[LHT28]

Slightly off topic, but we had trouble with not being able to take a private tour when the company decided to stop their service. We had paid for the deposit on our Visa and were able to get a refund through them. I don't know how it work with a canceled port, but it might be worth checking for those who have Visa.

That may be a different situation

 

If the tour company took your $ & not provided a service that could be a good reason for the reversal

But if the tour company is there & you are not then they held up their end

 

some guides are more forgiving than others when a ship cannot make the port

 

They may have turned down other bookings so they are now out of pocket for a day's work

best to get the cancellation details in writing before booking