Oceana next to go?

[Cristaltips]

Friend of OH just got off Azura and apparently Captain announced at one of the “do’s” that Oceana was up for sale! Anyone else heard this? 

[Presto2]

1 hour ago, Cristaltips said:

Friend of OH just got off Azura and apparently Captain announced at one of the “do’s” that Oceana was up for sale! Anyone else heard this? 

 

If he did and it is true it wasn't very wise !

To be honest I think she will be the next one to go (it will be a sad day for us). We have a cruise booked on her in August 2020 and I can't see her going any time soon.

[L751]

Ive got a cruise booked in march a bit worrying 

[majortom10]

8 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

 

If he did and it is true it wasn't very wise !

To be honest I think she will be the next one to go (it will be a sad day for us). We have a cruise booked on her in August 2020 and I can't see her going any time soon.

They said that about Oriana and look what happened to her. If she is for sale and they get a genuine offer then they will do like they have always done sell her and cancel whichever cruises are affected.

Edited October 26, 2019 by majortom10

[Dorset cruise fan]

I hope not before October next year as we've got 3 weeks on her. She's not our favourite but has much that we like, particularly Cafe Jardin which is a great spot.

[Presto2]

7 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

They said that about Oriana and look what happened to her. If she is for sale and they get a genuine offer then they will do like they have always done sell her and cancel whichever cruises are affected.

 

I would have thought that they will make a massive loss if they do as she is the only one doing the Fly / Med  cruises 2020 and they are doing Venice so am not sure what could replace her. Then again, they may have a contingency plan. Very sad if she leaves. She was our first P&O cruise ship (after a week on OV2) and we fell in love with cruising after that.

[majortom10]

We cruised with Cunard many years ago on Caronia but at time of cruise she had already been sold to Saga and been leased back to Cunard to fulfill certain cruises and rest booked after that agreed date were cancelled. She went on to become Saga Ruby and I now believe she is now baked bean cans.

[terrierjohn]

11 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

 

I would have thought that they will make a massive loss if they do as she is the only one doing the Fly / Med  cruises 2020 and they are doing Venice so am not sure what could replace her. Then again, they may have a contingency plan. Very sad if she leaves. She was our first P&O cruise ship (after a week on OV2) and we fell in love with cruising after that.

But she ceases the med. fly cruises after 2020, so maybe after the 2021/2 winter fly cruises are complete, and with Iona2 due sometime in 2022 she could become surplus.

[Presto2]

4 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

But she ceases the med. fly cruises after 2020, so maybe after the 2021/2 winter fly cruises are complete, and with Iona2 due sometime in 2022 she could become surplus.

 

That's what we thought :-(

We've booked a fly / med on Azura for 2021 and to be fair we really liked her last April. Not the same atrium though ….. oh well, what will be will be ….

[besberry]

I think she's next for the chop, but probably not until the ship after Iona is well underway.

[AndyMichelle]

3 hours ago, majortom10 said:

They said that about Oriana and look what happened to her. If she is for sale and they get a genuine offer then they will do like they have always done sell her and cancel whichever cruises are affected.

As long as its not in the next 2 weeks, we are having a 'cheapie', taking advantage of the good prices caused by the Gulf cancellations. 

Never been on her, so glad to get on before she becomes bean tins... 

Andy 

[Presto2]

4 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

As long as its not in the next 2 weeks, we are having a 'cheapie', taking advantage of the good prices caused by the Gulf cancellations. 

Never been on her, so glad to get on before she becomes bean tins... 

Andy 

 

Ah don't say that ----- I'll cry every time I see a baked bean ;-)

[Cristaltips]

I’ve got a cruise booked on her for March, never been on her before. Be sad if she goes, some of us like the smaller ships 

[LondonLad60]

Whenever senior officers are asked questions regarding the sale of ships the standard response seems to be, "I/we are not aware of any plans to sell <insert ship of choice>". Some go on to say, "Although Carnival are hardly likely to tell us if there are any such plans", so I was surprised to read that the Captain of Azura announced that Oceana is up for sale. I was on a cruise when a senior officer was asked during a Peninsular club lunch how the plans to sell Oriana were going; as there were so many rumours circulating that she was being sold, and he gave the standard response. A lady on the same table said, "Oriana has been sold." Someone else asked her, " Are you saying she IS being sold, or HAS been sold?" She replied, "Oriana HAS been sold - and that's all I'm saying". Within two weeks, the sale was announced...

 

There is also a rumour going around that when Iona's sister ship enters service in 2022, Arcadia will be going. At a peninsular club lunch on a recent Arcadia cruise, the officer on our table said that Arcadia has a good ten years life left in her. What WASN'T said was how many of these ten years Arcadia would be spending with P&O. The trouble with rumours though is that there are probably more rumours circulating on a ship at any one time than there are passengers aboard.

 

Bob

[jeanlyon]

When Adonia went, we were booked on a cruise on her which was cancelled.  They just cancel them if the ship is sold.

[terrierjohn]

I would have thought that if Oceana was to leave the P&O fleet that Carnival would find a place somewhere in one of their other lines for her, she is after all the youngest Sun class ship and all the other 3 are still operating with either Princess Australia or P&O Australia.  So unlikely the term "up for sale" would be used.

Edited October 27, 2019 by terrierjohn

[LondonLad60]

I'm with you there Jean. We lost two cruises when Adonia was sold, and P&O's explanation was not  only absolutely  pathetic,  it was ridiculous . The only reason we continue to cruise with P&O is that they offer small to mid size adult only ship.. Perhaps the time to look else where, methinks.

[Monorail Orange]

Given her age - combined with the second Excellent class ship on order, I wouldn't be surprised if they did retire dear old Oceana.

 

That being said.. it'd be a real shame if they got rid of her. For one, she's a "small" ship - something that is becoming a rare breed. There's no doubt that the company is moving towards the over-sized ships, but not everyone wants that.

 

Maybe she can extend her service if they convert her to adults only - but some how I doubt that (which makes me think that's another category that's being phased out by Carnival).

[Britboys]

I've long thought that Oceana is likely to be the next to leave the fleet and certainly by 2022 when Iona 2 arrives.  I hope that Arcadia is not being feted for an exit as that would leave me with only Aurora that I would wish to sail on.

[jeanlyon]

Yes me too.  Not sure where we would go then.  I am not keen on Fred O and they are way more expensive.

[Britboys]

14 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Yes me too.  Not sure where we would go then.  I am not keen on Fred O and they are way more expensive.

Have you tried CMV yet Jean?  Nowhere near as 'sophisticated' as Oriana, Aurora or Arcadia but good value traditional cruising.  They also sail regularly out of Avonmouth.

[terrierjohn]

42 minutes ago, Britboys said:

I've long thought that Oceana is likely to be the next to leave the fleet and certainly by 2022 when Iona 2 arrives.  I hope that Arcadia is not being feted for an exit as that would leave me with only Aurora that I would wish to sail on.

Arcadia is the newest of the smaller ships so IMO unlikely to go before the other 2. However as long as  P&O passengers are willing to pay the premium prices that certainly Aurora and Arcadia command and they continue to sail full, I can see no justification for P&O/Carnival to sell them, especially since most of their passengers seem unlikely to transfer over to the larger ships.

[AchileLauro]

On 10/26/2019 at 2:17 PM, majortom10 said:

They said that about Oriana and look what happened to her. If she is for sale and they get a genuine offer then they will do like they have always done sell her and cancel whichever cruises are affected.

Highly possible and likely.

They cancelled our family cruise on Aurora when they sold Oriana and converted Aurora to adult only. They even had the nerve to send us a letter informing us of the change starting with the line " you will be pleased to hear that Aurora is going adult only".

Well I can tell you that we certainly weren't pleased. 

Customer relations and Carnival just don't go together.

[Denarius]

21 hours ago, LondonLad60 said:

I'm with you there Jean. We lost two cruises when Adonia was sold, and P&O's explanation was not  only absolutely  pathetic,  it was ridiculous . The only reason we continue to cruise with P&O is that they offer small to mid size adult only ship.. Perhaps the time to look else where, methinks.

For a single gentleman of a certain age such as myself the new Saga ships, with only 1000 passengers and 80 single cabins, look an attractive proposition!

[Britboys]

2 hours ago, Denarius said:

For a single gentleman of a certain age such as myself the new Saga ships, with only 1000 passengers and 80 single cabins, look an attractive proposition!

Me too - apart from the prices, which whilst they include a lot that P&O do not, are pretty eye-watering.  A much higher quality cruise however.