Insignia Bermuda Cruise

[roberts2005]

This July Insignia is making three round trips from New York City to Bermuda.  I am on the July 12th voyage.  In reading the July 5th roll call I discovered that Oceania has cut 6 hours from the time in Bermuda..  The ship was originally scheduled to leave Hamilton Sunday at 2:00 PM.  It now shows leaving at 8:00 AM.  This is true for all 3 sailings, so it is not weather related.

 

Time in Bermuda is limited as it is.  This now takes away a full half day.

 

I have not received any formal notification of the change.  In fact I just received my cruise packet in the mail and it has the original departure time.

 

Should Oceania offer some sort of compensation for this change.  Do I have the ability to cancel?

[shepherd really]

57 minutes ago, roberts2005 said:

Should Oceania offer some sort of compensation for this change.  Do I have the ability to cancel?

No to your first question and yes to your second.  Penalties may apply.  

[ORV]

32 minutes ago, shepherd really said:

No to your first question and yes to your second.  Penalties may apply.  

If the cruise is in July then serious penalties will apply. I’d say about 100%. 

[eng58]

We are on the July 19 cruise and we did get notification this week of the change.

[oskidunker]

2 hours ago, roberts2005 said:

This July Insignia is making three round trips from New York City to Bermuda.  I am on the July 12th voyage.  In reading the July 5th roll call I discovered that Oceania has cut 6 hours from the time in Bermuda..  The ship was originally scheduled to leave Hamilton Sunday at 2:00 PM.  It now shows leaving at 8:00 AM.  This is true for all 3 sailings, so it is not weather related.

 

Time in Bermuda is limited as it is.  This now takes away a full half day.

 

I have not received any formal notification of the change.  In fact I just received my cruise packet in the mail and it has the original departure time.

 

Should Oceania offer some sort of compensation for this change.  Do I have the ability to cancel?

Is Bermuda the only port?

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, oskidunker said:

Is Bermuda the only port?

Just Bermuda, but two ports in Bermuda. First St. George and then Hamilton.

[bradpole]

7 hours ago, roberts2005 said:

This July Insignia is making three round trips from New York City to Bermuda.  I am on the July 12th voyage.  In reading the July 5th roll call I discovered that Oceania has cut 6 hours from the time in Bermuda..  The ship was originally scheduled to leave Hamilton Sunday at 2:00 PM.  It now shows leaving at 8:00 AM.  This is true for all 3 sailings, so it is not weather related.

 

Time in Bermuda is limited as it is.  This now takes away a full half day.

 

I have not received any formal notification of the change.  In fact I just received my cruise packet in the mail and it has the original departure time.

 

Should Oceania offer some sort of compensation for this change.  Do I have the ability to cancel?

 

We are on your same cruise.  For this cruise we are booked directly with Oceania (normally through travel agent) and received notification from Oceania on June 6th.  If you are booked via a travel agent they should have received the communication and forwarded it to you.  

 

My assumption is the departure from Hamilton was moved up simply to allow a slower speed northbound, thus a significant savings in fuel.  I'm not defending their decision to change the departure time, but considering the price of fuel it is understandable.  

 

This is the email we received.  

 

INSIGNIA 07-12-2022: Booking: xxxx Guest: xxxx - Itinerary Update

 

MPORTANT NOTIFICATION

CONCERNING YOUR CRUISE RESERVATION

 

Dear Valued Guests and Travel Advisors,

 

We would like to advise you of an update to your cruise itinerary aboard Insignia.

 

To accommodate operational needs, please note the arrival and departure time changes for the calls to St. George and Hamilton.

 

The revised itinerary is included below for your reference:

 

DATE	DAY	PORT	ARRIVAL	DEPARTURE
12-Jul-22	TUE	NEW YORK, NEW YORK		5:00 PM
13-Jul-22	WED	CRUISING THE ATLANTIC OCEAN
14-Jul-22	THU	ST. GEORGE, BERMUDA	1:00 PM
15-Jul-22	FRI	ST. GEORGE, BERMUDA
16-Jul-22	SAT	ST. GEORGE, BERMUDA		6:00 AM
16-Jul-22	SAT	HAMILTON, BERMUDA	8:00 AM
17-Jul-22	SUN	HAMILTON, BERMUDA		8:00 AM
18-Jul-22	MON	CRUISING THE ATLANTIC OCEAN
19-Jul-22	TUE	NEW YORK, NEW YORK	7:00 AM

 

We look forward to providing you with a memorable cruise experience.

 

Warmest regards,

 

Carlos E. Ortega
Vice President, Guest Services

[oskidunker]

Oceania charges a premium over other cruise lines to allow them to stay in ports later and do more overnights.Evidently they are not giving you what you paid for.  I would not be happy. They should let you cancel with no penalty or more reasonable would be to charge a fuel surcharge and keep the original departure times.  

[LHT28]

Have you read the T & C s  fine print ??

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/legal/terms-conditions/

[bradpole]

20 minutes ago, oskidunker said:

Oceania charges a premium over other cruise lines to allow them to stay in ports later and do more overnights.Evidently they are not giving you what you paid for.  I would not be happy. They should let you cancel with no penalty or more reasonable would be to charge a fuel surcharge and keep the original departure times.  

As the old saying goes, "you can't please everyone" in this particular situation if it were between a fuel surcharge and leaving early, I'd vote for leaving port early.  However, I completely understand the frustration and disappointment that others may feel in loosing half a day in Hamilton.  Over the years there have been some itinerary changes that have annoyed me but without CFAR insurance there isn't much you can do this close to sailing.  

[roberts2005]

38 minutes ago, bradpole said:

 

We are on your same cruise.  For this cruise we are booked directly with Oceania (normally through travel agent) and received notification from Oceania on June 6th.  If you are booked via a travel agent they should have received the communication and forwarded it to you.  

 

My assumption is the departure from Hamilton was moved up simply to allow a slower speed northbound, thus a significant savings in fuel.  I'm not defending their decision to change the departure time, but considering the price of fuel it is understandable.  

 

This is the email we received.  

 

INSIGNIA 07-12-2022: Booking: xxxx Guest: xxxx - Itinerary Update

 

MPORTANT NOTIFICATION

CONCERNING YOUR CRUISE RESERVATION

 

Dear Valued Guests and Travel Advisors,

 

We would like to advise you of an update to your cruise itinerary aboard Insignia.

 

To accommodate operational needs, please note the arrival and departure time changes for the calls to St. George and Hamilton.

 

The revised itinerary is included below for your reference:

 

DATE	DAY	PORT	ARRIVAL	DEPARTURE
12-Jul-22	TUE	NEW YORK, NEW YORK		5:00 PM
13-Jul-22	WED	CRUISING THE ATLANTIC OCEAN
14-Jul-22	THU	ST. GEORGE, BERMUDA	1:00 PM
15-Jul-22	FRI	ST. GEORGE, BERMUDA
16-Jul-22	SAT	ST. GEORGE, BERMUDA		6:00 AM
16-Jul-22	SAT	HAMILTON, BERMUDA	8:00 AM
17-Jul-22	SUN	HAMILTON, BERMUDA		8:00 AM
18-Jul-22	MON	CRUISING THE ATLANTIC OCEAN
19-Jul-22	TUE	NEW YORK, NEW YORK	7:00 AM

 

We look forward to providing you with a memorable cruise experience.

 

Warmest regards,

 

Carlos E. Ortega
Vice President, Guest Services

Thank you for sharing this.  We booked with a TA.

 

‘Hopefully we can still get a beach day on arrival in St. George..

[bradpole]

9 minutes ago, roberts2005 said:

Thank you for sharing this.  We booked with a TA.

 

‘Hopefully we can still get a beach day on arrival in St. George..

There was also another email that was sent on 6/3 detailing the Bermuda Travel Authorization process that is required to board the ship.  If you didn't receive that one I'd be happy to post it here as well.  

 

Let's cross our fingers a great weather in Bermuda allowing everyone to enjoy their excursions or beach days!

[roberts2005]

1 hour ago, bradpole said:

There was also another email that was sent on 6/3 detailing the Bermuda Travel Authorization process that is required to board the ship.  If you didn't receive that one I'd be happy to post it here as well.  

 

Let's cross our fingers a great weather in Bermuda allowing everyone to enjoy their excursions or beach days!

No we got that one.  You can’t do it until 30 days out.

[emd138]

I also got the e-mail forwarded from my TA.  We aren't thrilled about it, of course, but with all of the lines that I have cruised with, I have learned that you have to be flexible.  Our last cruise was on the Sirena in May of 2020 when we only made it to 2 out of 8 or so ports, I don't exactly remember the number, when they "cancelled" it, but there was no room to dock earlier in Miami, so we ended up with 8 sea days. Relatively speaking, this is a small change, haha!

[thepla]

I received emails directly to me about dinner reservations.

 

None for Bermuda $40 fee (I read other places and did pay)

None for itinerary

 

July 5 cruise.

 

Not sure if they were offering bids for upgrades.

[pinotlover]

Bermuda is a wonderful place to visit. Easily and typically inexpensively reached from Dulles. I have never understood why people brave the Triangle to visit by ship, losing visiting time in transit. Wonderful restaurants on both ends of the country, so absolutely no need for the best cuisine at sea. Lots of places where a cruise ship is practical. IMO, Bermuda isn’t one of them. I suppose the ole Cruiser vs Traveler concept. 🍷

[bradpole]

9 hours ago, pinotlover said:

Bermuda is a wonderful place to visit. Easily and typically inexpensively reached from Dulles. I have never understood why people brave the Triangle to visit by ship, losing visiting time in transit. Wonderful restaurants on both ends of the country, so absolutely no need for the best cuisine at sea. Lots of places where a cruise ship is practical. IMO, Bermuda isn’t one of them. I suppose the ole Cruiser vs Traveler concept. 🍷

I could say the opposite, why would anyone fly to Bermuda when (for us) NY is a 2 hour drive to board the ship and we get to enjoy the sea days onboard the wonderful Insignia!  To each his own!

 

In this instance Insignia is the destination for us.  If she was doing the 10 night Canada/New England, as she has in the past, we would have booked that instead of this all too short 7 Nighter to Bermuda.  Being able to board in NY a 2 hour drive instead of trekking to Florida is all we cared about when making this booking.  

[roberts2005]

25 minutes ago, bradpole said:

I could say the opposite, why would anyone fly to Bermuda when (for us) NY is a 2 hour drive to board the ship and we get to enjoy the sea days onboard the wonderful Insignia!  To each his own!

 

In this instance Insignia is the destination for us.  If she was doing the 10 night Canada/New England, as she has in the past, we would have booked that instead of this all too short 7 Nighter to Bermuda.  Being able to board in NY a 2 hour drive instead of trekking to Florida is all we cared about when making this booking.  

A little off the topic.  We are also driving in.  Do you use the parking at the pier?  I understand it is $40.00 per day..

[bradpole]

1 hour ago, roberts2005 said:

A little off the topic.  We are also driving in.  Do you use the parking at the pier?  I understand it is $40.00 per day..

We do, it is insanely expensive, but it is Manhattan after all!  Celebrity and Royal Caribbean guests who drive to the port have the advantage, Bayonne, NJ across the river is much cheaper and easier to access.  However nothing beats the view of a Manhattan departure sailing down the Hudson River!

 

Depending on traffic on 12th avenue it may make the most sense to park your car, then deal with your luggage rather than dropping off your luggage then circling back around to enter the parking ramp.  

 

The reason I say this is you enter terminal up near 54th street, upon entering you have two choices as you go up the ramp, a hard right takes you up to the roof where you park.  If you continue straight this will take you in front of the terminals where you can drop off the luggage, you'll also be dealing with all the pickup and drop-off traffic on this level as well.  After dropping off the luggage you exit the terminals down at 46th street.  You'd then need to cross 12th Avenue and travel all the way back up to the 54th street, and make the left into the terminal area again.  If traffic is crazy on 12th avenue heading north it can take a while to make it back up the 8 blocks from 46th to 54th street.  

 

If you choose to park first, after you pay to park and are directed to an area to park there will most likely be a porter with a luggage rack near the elevator to take your luggage.  We've pulled up next to him or her given them the luggage then parked, and then made our way inside the terminal.  There was one occasion when after we parked there was no one up on the roof/parking area collecting the luggage.  We had to take it down via elevator ourselves to the porters downstairs.  Traffic was insane that day on 12th ave, and there were multiple ships in port that day as well, so even though it was a pain to drag our luggage down a level to the porters we saved a ton of time not sitting in the traffic waiting to drive up to the porters to drop the luggage and all the traffic on 12th avenue making our back into the terminal.  

 

And one other tip, depending on what time you arrive at the terminal in your car I wouldn't be surprised if the parking attendants are surprised that a guest is arriving for Insignia via their own car and needing to park, it seems the vast majority of Insignia's guests arrive via other options .  It looks like on all of Insignia's departures (except 7/26) she is scheduled to be the only ship in port that day.  Although that will make for much less traffic the parking attendants might not be ready!  This happened to us this past November, when sailed out of Manhattan on Crystal Symphony. When we arrived at the terminal (at our designed arrival time) the ramp up to the parking garage was locked.  We drove down to the luggage drop off and had to ask a porter to find someone who could radio to security and a parking attendant to meet us at the parking entrance to unlock the gate and take our payment.  I certainly didn't blame them for not having the parking area open and staffed, at sail away there was only one other car parked on the roof!

 

 

 

[roberts2005]

Thank you for the detailed response.  I’m sure it will help others as well.  What time do you plan on arriving.   I’m planning on a 90 minute drive in.

[bradpole]

1 hour ago, roberts2005 said:

Thank you for the detailed response.  I’m sure it will help others as well.  What time do you plan on arriving.   I’m planning on a 90 minute drive in.

You're welcome!  All the ports are similar, but also very different, in the ways they handle parking and those arriving via their own cars.  

 

All depends on the arrival time on our boarding docs/pass.  We'll plan to get there an hour or so before the time on the doc, parking and luggage will easily eat up a good half hour of that time!

[Riverroad]

12 hours ago, bradpole said:

You're welcome!  All the ports are similar, but also very different, in the ways they handle parking and those arriving via their own cars.  

 

All depends on the arrival time on our boarding docs/pass.  We'll plan to get there an hour or so before the time on the doc, parking and luggage will easily eat up a good half hour of that time!

Another thank you for your helpful description of parking at the pier. We’re also on the July 12 sailing. My husband said he doesn’t want to deal with the parking lot so we’ll probably take a car service from our home in Westchester. The round trip cost will probably be the same as 7 days of parking.

 

We wouldn’t normally cruise to Bermuda but we’re using FCC that has to used by 12/31/22. This cruise fit our schedule and no flying to the port was very appealing. We have 5 friends joining us so it should be fun.

[LB_NJ]

On a cruise a few years ago the arrival time into St. George was noon, with a canon blast. Departure time from Hamilton was 2pm.

[nursenow]

On 6/8/2022 at 2:40 PM, oskidunker said:

Oceania charges a premium over other cruise lines to allow them to stay in ports later and do more overnights.Evidently they are not giving you what you paid for.  I would not be happy. They should let you cancel with no penalty or more reasonable would be to charge a fuel surcharge and keep the original departure times.  

The ship is staying overnight