First day on Sirena, first port stop cancelled

[osandomir]

2 hours ago, susiesan said:

BTW, Alicante was not a tender port, we were to dock. 

 

Today, Monday, we just now docked in Motril so we can go to Granada to visit the Alhambra. Doing my happy dance.

You’re lucky - Motril is the closest port, so you’ll have more time in Granada. Hopefully, your port time wasn’t reduced. Enjoy your visit.

[Tranquility Base]

20 hours ago, susiesan said:

Our next stop is Motril/Granada tomorrow.  As Oceania had already taken an hour away from that port it would have been nice to have it added back since we have plenty of time now to get there. They did not replace the missing hour. At the moment we are sitting off the coast of Spain hardly moving at all. 

Was anything communicated to the passengers whether attempts had been made to bring forward the arrival time at your next port ?
If attempts were made, any communication as to why it wasn’t possible ?
 

PS: for the benefit of others; yes, I am VERY aware of some of the reasons why docking early may not have been possible.

My query is regarding communications.

[kibutzer]

17 minutes ago, Tranquility Base said:

Was anything communicated to the passengers whether attempts had been made to bring forward the arrival time at your next port ?
If attempts were made, any communication as to why it wasn’t possible ?
 

PS: for the benefit of others; yes, I am VERY aware of some of the reasons why docking early may not have been possible.

My query is regarding communications.

Why would they put out a communication about something that isn't possible all that seems to me is that it will create even more questions.

[Tranquility Base]

31 minutes ago, kibutzer said:

Why would they put out a communication about something that isn't possible all that seems to me is that it will create even more questions.

On our current cruise we were a day late transiting the Suez due technical.

It was clearly communicated to us why we were unable to make our next port which followed the Suez transit.

It was also clearly communicated to us why we were proceeding to a different unscheduled port as a replacement, and why this port was chosen.

 

These communications did not create more questions, they stopped the speculations which occur when problems, which directly affect passengers, and the solutions to these problems, are not clearly communicated.

 

Edited September 4, 2023 by Tranquility Base

[susiesan]

When I booked this cruise the original time for Motril was 8:00 to 6:00pm. Earlier this year when O started lopping off an hour here and there to save the planet and fight climate change the new departure time is now 5:00pm, that's where the hour was lost.

[redraider1966]

16 hours ago, Critically Cruising said:

 

 

 

So...in November of 2006, "not long before" would definitely encompass the Feb 2005 incident with the Amsterdam.  And there has not been a Princess ship stranding folks in Stanley.  I was there in January of this year, and the locals still remember that time.

 

I'll stick with HAL not wanting to mention that it was their captain that stranded folks.

 

 

Plus 1.  We had good friends on board the Amsterdam for the fateful cruise (Rio-Santiago).  They spent the night at the church.  We were on the following cruise with a reverse itinerary (Santiago - Rio), and had a much more pleasant cruise, weatherwise, and tendered in/out with no problems.  When booking that cruise, the HAL future cruise agent recommended doing the voyage west to east, vice east to west, as the weather and winds were likely to be more favorable.  How true that was in retrospect.

[Critically Cruising]

5 minutes ago, redraider1966 said:

When booking that cruise, the HAL future cruise agent recommended doing the voyage west to east, vice east to west, as the weather and winds were likely to be more favorable.  How true that was in retrospect.

 

I suspect they were trying to fill the westbound voyage.  Often a reason for going westbound is that the scenery gets nicer as you go along, with the Chilean fjords as the end point.  OTOH, the scenery at Puerto Madryn is far less impressive.  For the nature folks, it can be a let down after Puerto Montt et al.

 

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

8 hours ago, susiesan said:

BTW, Alicante was not a tender port, we were to dock. 

 

Today, Monday, we just now docked in Motril so we can go to Granada to visit the Alhambra. Doing my happy dance.

Great to dock in Motril for the Alhambra.  The other cruise line we sometimes use docks farther away.

 

[LHT28]

3 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

On our current cruise we were a day late transiting the Suez due technical.

It was clearly communicated to us why we were unable to make our next port which followed the Suez transit.

It was also clearly communicated to us why we were proceeding to a different unscheduled port as a replacement, and why this port was chosen.

 

It is not usually Oceania  strong suit  to communicate with the pax  in your case   it was the prudent thing to do 

 

What ship are you on?

[susiesan]

5 minutes ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Great to dock in Motril for the Alhambra.  The other cruise line we sometimes use docks farther away.

 

I arranged a private tour for 17 from the roll call. It took 45 minutes on the bus from Motril to Granada.  Alhambra was spectacular, not too crowded. We are the only ship in today.

[Acrusa]

Docking into Yangon on the Nautica 2018,was delayed  8 hours because of low tide. Docked at 4:30 pm. Missed. Tour of Yangon but had the best overnight the next day to Bagon.

[trickylibrarian]

Susiean did you book through Spain Day Tours?  We are doing that tour with them while on the Nautica

in November.  Our itinerary shows us in Motril 9am-9pm. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

13 hours ago, susiesan said:

BTW, Alicante was not a tender port, we were to dock….

You appear to still be unclear on the reality that the ship could have as much (if not more) trouble at the dock as it would at anchor with those forecasted sea conditions.

[Tranquility Base]

5 hours ago, LHT28 said:

It is not usually Oceania  strong suit  to communicate with the pax  in your case   it was the prudent thing to do 

 

What ship are you on?

Yes, it was the prudent thing to do and much appreciated by the passengers.

 

The lengths gone to and quite possibly the extra cost in rearranging the transit, thereby not missing Aqaba, plus setting up a replacement port.

Finally, the effective communication explaining the reasoning was a good command decision by the Captain.

This is a Princess ship.

Edited September 4, 2023 by Tranquility Base

[Snaefell3]

6 hours ago, LHT28 said:

It is not usually Oceania  strong suit  to communicate with the pax  in your case   it was the prudent thing to do

@Tranquility Base's case was clearcut: Low tide is at "x".  Where we end up criticizing O is on the fuzzy stuff: "What's the wind likely to be in 6 hours?": No one can be sure (I've blown enough forecasts to know 😉 ), so they tend to subscribe to " 'Tis better remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubts".

[susiesan]

3 hours ago, trickylibrarian said:

Susiean did you book through Spain Day Tours?  We are doing that tour with them while on the Nautica

in November.  Our itinerary shows us in Motril 9am-9pm. 

Yes, I did. Same company that O uses for more than half the price. I highly recommend them. We were told they do these trips to Granada all the time. Put together a group from your roll call and if 16 people sign on you go for free as the group starter.

[redraider1966]

7 hours ago, Critically Cruising said:

 

I suspect they were trying to fill the westbound voyage.  Often a reason for going westbound is that the scenery gets nicer as you go along, with the Chilean fjords as the end point.  OTOH, the scenery at Puerto Madryn is far less impressive.  For the nature folks, it can be a let down after Puerto Montt et al.

 

FWIW.  Our eastbound cruise did not call at Puerto Madryn.  However, much more recently our Azamara RT cruise out of Buenos Aires to do a three-day Antarctic "drive by" did call at Puerto Madryn where we took a private tour of the Valdez Peninsula and saw literally 100s of elephant seals, guanacos, penguins, and flamingos.  I'd say that would meet any nature folks requirements.