If you had a doubt, Yes they are watching

[samiam0403]

8 hours ago, PhD-iva said:

I’m surprised you didn’t include this in your opening post. As you stated, the error was acknowledged and an apology was immediately forthcoming. 

The one person who reproached him repeatedly issued one quick 'sorry,' and then avoided making eye contact with him for the remainder of the cruise. I don't feel asking that management acknowledge the incident and tell me that they will address it internally and improve training is too big of an ask.

[samiam0403]

1 hour ago, clairol said:

I am so sorry that this happened to your husband - it should never have. While I am glad that there was an immediate apology, it is very disappointing that there was not any response to your survey comments. That was a missed opportunity to admit to something not handled appropriately and commit to doing better moving forward.  Unfortunately, an undercooked steak is easier to acknowledge and address than some of the most important issues. I hope that your experiences on your future cruises demonstrate that, although they may not have responded directly, they did listen, embraced your suggestions and acted accordingly.

Exactly this. Thank you. 

[cruisingxpert]

1 hour ago, makai 7 said:

I was going to post my observations about the changes I observed comparing November 2019 on Riviera to March 2022, but after being attacked by cheerleaders, I remember why I don’t often share my experiences on these boards.  No post will be made.

I would love to hear your comparisons between 2019 and now and I'm sure others would as well.

 

Not sure if you know this but Cruise Critic has a function to ignore posts from posters that you would prefer not to hear from.

Ignored Users

Ignoring a user allows you to block some or all of their content from showing. Users are not notified that you are ignoring them.

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, makai 7 said:

As the OP I never made any statement about the meeting.  I did not GUESS anything!  I was told directly by guest services that the comments were read on cruise critic and reported to the ship.  GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT.

This was not a post about any issues on board that I wanted resolved.  It was to inform other readers that Home Office reads comments on this Board.  Please do not add false statements about my post.  I made a negative statement about service at Toscana here on CC.  Home office had me contacted on while board about a meal in Polo Grill.  They did not get it right.  End of story.

 

I was going to post my observations about the changes I observed comparing November 2019 on Riviera to March 2022, but after being attacked by cheerleaders, I remember why I don’t often share my experiences on these boards.  No post will be made.

 

 I will shut up now and not say any more that might ruffle your feathers.  Obviously if people don’t agree with your point of view they are wrong about everything, including their own experiences.

No cheerleaders here- rather just truth seekers.

 

You should reread your original post where you did mention the meeting and stated that you did not attend- ergo, no first hand knowledge other than some probable code for “don’t bother me” comment you received the next day at guest services. Blaming the “home office” is not an uncommon tactic in all sorts of service oriented businesses, particularly within the hospitality industry.

 

In any case, it really doesn’t matter since Jan (post #49) has “flat out” clarified that some Big Brother (in the home office) is NOT “watching” (which is what I have been trying to tell you). 

 

All that remains then is my plausible explanation that someone onboard informed guest services, F&B and/or other officer(s) regarding your (and other?) existing CC posts about your Toscana issue on your cruise.

That “someone” could be the aforementioned unidentified crew member who may be an ardent or casual, yet unofficial, CC observer or participant OR another passenger who had some need to alert them about “bad press.” However, who it was NOT was your imagined Big Brother in Miami.

 

Case closed.

[kibutzer]

On 4/19/2022 at 9:12 AM, makai 7 said:

Yes, "Management" at Oceania Cruise Lines do have people monitoring these boards, even though they do not show themselves as an active presence here.

 

How do I know this?  I was on the March 8-18 Riviera cruise, and posted a comment on KJBacon's thread (linked below) on March 13 regarding some of the experiences we (a group of 6 traveling together) had in the various restaurants.  I made both positive and negative comments.  I said that service in Polo was Excellent, and service in Toscana was second rate, and outlined the issues we had in Toscana.

 

Imagine my surprise when I found a note in my cabin after breakfast one morning "calling me to the principal's office" that evening at 5:30.  It was a request to meet with the F&B manager and some other officers in a conference room.  No explanation for the reason.  We already had plans that evening and chose not to go.  We had no idea what it was about.  I received a call in my cabin asking me to confirm that I would attend, and I declined because of our prior plans.  There was no suggestion to reschedule the meeting and no explanation again why we were asked to attend.

 

When we returned to our cabin after dinner and a pleasant evening with our friends, there was a plate of sweets, a bottle of wine, and a note apologizing for our "terrible experience in Polo Grille".  We were very confused, since we did not have a terrible experience in Polo Grille, we did not fill out a comment card, and we did not speak to anyone regarding Polo or any other restaurant on board.

 

The next morning we went to Guest Services to ask if there had been a cabin mix-up and after checking, he told us that "Home Office" monitors the boards for complaints and tells the ship's crew to follow up and resolve issues.  Specifically they were checking to make sure guests did not make comments on the internet that went against the "Tag line" for Oceania Cruise Lines.

So... Big Brother is watching, but unfortunately they didn't get it right!  They did not offer the 6 of us another reservation in Toscana (the restaurant with the "fail") or even Polo Grill, where everything was good but somehow they decided we weren't happy with our meal.  They didn't try to reschedule to a time to meet that was convenient for us.

 

If you are reading this, Oceania Home Office - Please read carefully so you have the right information to share with the ship, and Shipboard Management - please make the effort for other guests in the future to "get it right" and work with them to reschedule a meeting if a meeting really is important to you, and please offer new restaurant reservations for the entire table to try again....

 

If mgt takes the time to listen to you seems like you could have inquired why they want to meet and set up a convenient time. Then you would have been sure they get correct information. We had an initial mix up at start of cruise, the GM asked to meet with us. He kindly listened to my husband, but since the event was something I arranged he wanted to speak directly with me. He did, offered helpful information, and went above and beyond for what was a mutual miscommunication. I applaud them for "listening" and reacting. 

Edited April 21, 2022 by kibutzer

[ToxM]

11 hours ago, Jancruz said:

I can flat out tell you, no one from Miami checks this board..they are much too busy and with Vista coming out they are slammed..

 

Jancruz1

Thank goodness they have you looking then, and thank goodness we have you as well then. 

 

Oceania is missing a trick. Oh well. 

[kjbacon]

23 hours ago, ToxM said:

 

Was it a fruitful meeting? 

Yes, it mostly was.

[kjbacon]

10 hours ago, cruisingxpert said:

I would love to hear your comparisons between 2019 and now and I'm sure others would as well.

 

Not sure if you know this but Cruise Critic has a function to ignore posts from posters that you would prefer not to hear from.

Ignored Users

Ignoring a user allows you to block some or all of their content from showing. Users are not notified that you are ignoring them.

Great suggestion, ignore the schoolyard bully.

[Kate-AHF]

14 hours ago, clairol said:

I am so sorry that this happened to your husband - it should never have. While I am glad that there was an immediate apology, it is very disappointing that there was not any response to your survey comments. That was a missed opportunity to admit to something not handled appropriately and commit to doing better moving forward.  Unfortunately, an undercooked steak is easier to acknowledge and address than some of the most important issues. I hope that your experiences on your future cruises demonstrate that, although they may not have responded directly, they did listen, embraced your suggestions and acted accordingly.

 

Just.... this^.  Particularly the steak analogy.  The acknowledgement of the error, and an "I'm sorry" is the MINIMUM here.  The crew needs to understand (in a hurry) that profiling at the gangway is utterly unacceptable.  Clairol discussed this situation so much eloquently then I could have here.  Kudos.

 

[PhD-iva]

3 hours ago, kjbacon said:

Great suggestion, ignore the schoolyard bully.

Often a (very) few posters are caustic or condescending. At least one also often includes very substantial and helpful information. I find it beneficial to “ignore” the tone but scan for gems of information.

After all, I don’t know those posters, and wouldn’t recognize them if we sailed together anyway. In other words, I don’t care what they think(opinion), but I want to benefit from what they know (facts).

JMO.

[alaskaca]

38 minutes ago, PhD-iva said:

Often a (very) few posters are caustic or condescending. At least one also often includes very substantial and helpful information. I find it beneficial to “ignore” the tone but scan for gems of information.

After all, I don’t know those posters, and wouldn’t recognize them if we sailed together anyway. In other words, I don’t care what they think(opinion), but I want to benefit from what they know (facts).

JMO.

Well said, PhD-iva.....so glad you and your perspective here on CC.

 

Having  sailed with "at least one" on a cruise in 2018 from Sydney to LA he is neither caustic or condescending in person, but truly a wealth of Oceania knowledge.

[clairol]

16 hours ago, makai 7 said:

I was going to post my observations about the changes I observed comparing November 2019 on Riviera to March 2022, but after being attacked by cheerleaders, I remember why I don’t often share my experiences on these boards.  No post will be made.

I, too, would love to hear your comparisons! Please don't get scared off. As my grandmother used to say... "sometimes you just have to draw the shade" on those who may be on the attack. 

[edgee]

Agree that this board has very tough, not always considerate, posters. However, it also contains lots of helpful information. I find the good outweighs the bad.

[mauibabes]

@makai7 

And a major Ditto to PHDiva,

I for one would like to hear your comparisons. I regret if my comments were taken as attacking because the point I wanted to make was that you missed a great opportunity to speak to the key staff who have the authority to make any issue “right”.  Definitely not my intention to discredit your observations. 
That said, we were on Riviera from Southampton to NYC via Reykjavik in September 2019 and then back on Riviera in October to December 2021, with WiFi43 and Phdiva and many other CC posters. There were 15 of us in 2019 and 6-8 in 2021. I would not say everything was perfect on either trip, definitely some dropped balls for us and our friends and strange mishaps and major problems with our PH location (🤬Noise) so we were moved. New PH, quiet and wonderful until our toilet backed up and overflowed several times due to a guest up stream putting something in the toilet that blocked the pipes. NOT NICE BELIEVE ME!  In every case however we took the opportunity to work through all the people up the chain, which ultimately made it to Miami, and the best solutions possible were rendered by the O Exec’s on board and from Miami. 
While the 2019 trip was overall outstanding and we were treated fantastically, I would say the staff on the 2021 return to sailing segments were equally outstanding and in some respects even superior because they were so happy to be back to Oceania and seeing their guest family again. Since I don’t rate cruise services a 10, I can easily say they were both 9-9.5 cruises.

OK, my 2 cents in less than 500 words so please, share your thoughts. 
 

Mauibabes

[kjbacon]

4 hours ago, PhD-iva said:

Often a (very) few posters are caustic or condescending. At least one also often includes very substantial and helpful information. I find it beneficial to “ignore” the tone but scan for gems of information.

After all, I don’t know those posters, and wouldn’t recognize them if we sailed together anyway. In other words, I don’t care what they think(opinion), but I want to benefit from what they know (facts).

JMO.

I understand how you feel and that could make sense. Just be sure that what they “know” is actually based on fact, not like this thread where he’s incorrect but is screaming the loudest.

[Jancruz]

11 minutes ago, kjbacon said:

I understand how you feel and that could make sense. Just be sure that what they “know” is ++-actually based on fact, not like this thread where he’s incorrect but is screaming the loudest.

Sorry I dont know who you are talking about but I can tell you with certainty that no one at Oceania follows these boards officially they may do it from time to time on their own..this comes from FDR so I would think there would be no more discussion on Miami checking the CC boards..

Jancruz1

 

[JeffElizabeth]

On 4/19/2022 at 5:55 PM, pinotlover said:

This is the age of technology. People, and employees, pass down critiques and perhaps useful information to others often with their own biases.

 

We have been meet by butlers, returning from a shorex, with glasses of champagne, then asked if I prefer a double knob creek old fashioned. Never had the butler before so how does he know? There’s a file in the computer. I show up on Embarkment Day and the butler has all the information for me to sign up for a newly offered wine seminar. How does he know I do such things? It’s in my file in the computer. I can give other examples,  such as a wine steward I’d never meet teaching a scheduled wine seminar asking for my help during the seminar in answering difficult questions. It’s in the computer.

 

Oh, if you stiff your butler or room staff and don’t give a tip. Every butler thereafter knows. If you go to customer service and have all tips grats removed, all current and subsequent staff thereafter knows. It’s all in the computer. Information is a wonderful thing !  🥸
 

There’s a commercial asking “ Do you know what’s in your wallet “? For Oceania cruisers, I’d ask , Do you know what’s in your file the various employees access? File? What File? 😂

We were just on Marina and we had room #10,000. Trust me, everyone knew us before we even boarded and most referred to us by name. The cruise was only half full so that might have made us easier to remember. 

[tgg]

3 hours ago, edgee said:

Agree that this board has very tough, not always considerate, posters. However, it also contains lots of helpful information. I find the good outweighs the bad.

 

Oh how we miss Paulchili - always considerate, while providing lots of helpful information. His memory is a blessing to all of us who benefitted from his knowledge and his willingness to be kind.

[kjbacon]

On 4/19/2022 at 10:38 PM, samiam0403 said:

This has been a fascinating read for me. While I appreciate the apparent feedback and responses to 'anonymous' postings here, and to on-board surveys, I am a bit surprised by the lack of response from my last cruise survey in February. So if anyone from O is indeed monitoring these boards, I'm shocked at the lack of interest to this experience: I took my husband on his first O cruise in Feb, in a suite on Riviera. He was immediately as enamored with O as I was.

 

Then he got off the ship in a port without me, and was upbraided rather forcefully by security for not wearing his nametag off the ship as required. He laughed it off and assumed security was making a joke. Until they again told him rather emphatically that he was not allowed to leave the ship without a nametag. (Note: my husband is not Caucasian, and security obviously assumed he was a crew member.) I described the encounter in our survey, and suggested they provide additional training to security and remind them that not all minorities are on board as crew. Never heard a peep back. No follow up on board, no follow up when we arrived home. I was mortified for him, and seriously disappointed that we didn't get a 'sorry about that, we'll do more training and it won't happen again' on board. Which is really all I expected. We'll obviously still cruise O as we have 3 more booked, but it just left a bad taste in my mouth that there was no follow up. 

I am so very sorry that you were treated this poorly. It is inexcusable that you did not receive the most gracious of follow ups from Oceania. 

[LuAnn]

4 hours ago, tgg said:

 

Oh how we miss Paulchili - always considerate, while providing lots of helpful information. His memory is a blessing to all of us who benefitted from his knowledge and his willingness to be kind.

I so agree. Miss him on CC and also all the help he was always willing to give me when I emailed him with questions. 

[Pizzasteve]

On 4/19/2022 at 9:05 AM, Cruisedreamer1 said:

All good cruise lines monitor cruise critic. Many years ago, I posted on another forum here and while speaking to a customer rep for that line, she mentioned I must be cruisedreamer! I urge all cruisers to write their opinions on the mid cruise review so that the crew can make it right! It can't be fixed if the management does not know.

On our recent Riviera transatlantic a CC member organized a meet and greet in the lounge, so for our cruise at least they had a list of names and cabins thoughtfully provided.  That said, I was disappointed they chose to book our event in the same room as team trivia.  A pretty big fail, as the trivia lead spoke nonstop using a loud mike and I could not hear or socialize easily with the CC folks.

 

If you are reading this Riviera team, please dont do that again, it was about the only thing I found disappointing about the whole cruise (we loved the trip, service, food, entertainers were delightful and social, etc.).

 

Regarding the name tag comment from samiam0403, I am confused a bit.  Please clarify as name tags are not required, though the ship ID card is.  It is essential one can identify themselves as a cruise passenger as it can be possible port authorities might deny reentry to the ship.  This almost happened to me in Burmuda and I was lucky my passport was on my phone and I had my ship card.   Nothing was said about a security check coming back and no sign or check was done when exiting on my own.  I suspect they had his interests in mind, as he could have been detained by a local official if not with proper ID or something proving he had arrived by ship.  That is my guess.  Customs and immigration checks can be lax or not in place at some ports of call then suddenly there, demanding your stamped passport.  Ships cards can be a sort of 'get out of jail free' card, much needed.  Maybe he was singled out because he was the one person who didnt have his card, not for other reasons (not that I doubt racism biases exist among crew...Ive observed it).

Edited April 22, 2022 by Pizzasteve

[ORV]

16 minutes ago, Pizzasteve said:

Regarding the name tag comment from samiam0403, I am confused a bit.

Security thought her husband was a crew member. 

[Pizzasteve]

10 minutes ago, ORV said:

Security thought her husband was a crew member

Ah, ok.  I get it now.  They explicity told him that.  Agree that the crew should make an effort to recognize passengers.

[scamper]

On 4/19/2022 at 10:12 AM, makai 7 said:

Yes, "Management" at Oceania Cruise Lines do have people monitoring these boards, even though they do not show themselves as an active presence here.

 

How do I know this?  I was on the March 8-18 Riviera cruise, and posted a comment on KJBacon's thread (linked below) on March 13 regarding some of the experiences we (a group of 6 traveling together) had in the various restaurants.  I made both positive and negative comments.  I said that service in Polo was Excellent, and service in Toscana was second rate, and outlined the issues we had in Toscana.

 

Imagine my surprise when I found a note in my cabin after breakfast one morning "calling me to the principal's office" that evening at 5:30.  It was a request to meet with the F&B manager and some other officers in a conference room.  No explanation for the reason.  We already had plans that evening and chose not to go.  We had no idea what it was about.  I received a call in my cabin asking me to confirm that I would attend, and I declined because of our prior plans.  There was no suggestion to reschedule the meeting and no explanation again why we were asked to attend.

 

When we returned to our cabin after dinner and a pleasant evening with our friends, there was a plate of sweets, a bottle of wine, and a note apologizing for our "terrible experience in Polo Grille".  We were very confused, since we did not have a terrible experience in Polo Grille, we did not fill out a comment card, and we did not speak to anyone regarding Polo or any other restaurant on board.

 

The next morning we went to Guest Services to ask if there had been a cabin mix-up and after checking, he told us that "Home Office" monitors the boards for complaints and tells the ship's crew to follow up and resolve issues.  Specifically they were checking to make sure guests did not make comments on the internet that went against the "Tag line" for Oceania Cruise Lines.

So... Big Brother is watching, but unfortunately they didn't get it right!  They did not offer the 6 of us another reservation in Toscana (the restaurant with the "fail") or even Polo Grill, where everything was good but somehow they decided we weren't happy with our meal.  They didn't try to reschedule to a time to meet that was convenient for us.

 

If you are reading this, Oceania Home Office - Please read carefully so you have the right information to share with the ship, and Shipboard Management - please make the effort for other guests in the future to "get it right" and work with them to reschedule a meeting if a meeting really is important to you, and please offer new restaurant reservations for the entire table to try again....

 

Many years ago, I worked in consumer affairs at a major US airline.  I learned about the Flyertalk website and discovered there were quite a few of our customers who used the site.  Since I was in airline management, and had a good amount of authority to make things happen, I took it upon myself to monitor comments and complaints and would often direct customers to contact our office so that we could address their concerns.  Many, of course, already did so but oftentimes I would encounter customers who were of the mindset that instead of having any complaints expressed, would just take their business to another airline.  I like to think I helped a lot of people and, in turn, participated in service recovery for my company.

[samiam0403]

2 hours ago, Pizzasteve said:

 I suspect they had his interests in mind, as he could have been detained by a local official if not with proper ID or something proving he had arrived by ship.  That is my guess.  Customs and immigration checks can be lax or not in place at some ports of call then suddenly there, demanding your stamped passport.  Ships cards can be a sort of 'get out of jail free' card, much needed.  Maybe he was singled out because he was the one person who didnt have his card, not for other reasons (not that I doubt racism biases exist among crew...Ive observed it).

He definitely had his card, and his wallet with multiple photo IDs - he is an experienced cruiser and would never get off the ship without the necessities. He was only stopped in the one port where he disembarked by himself. And the fact that the security person who stopped him avoided him and refused to make eye contact with him for the rest of the cruise is pretty telling to me.