Cancelled Ports

[1985rz1]

48 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

If you search for Oceania, how do find other lines too?

I don't do those pages.

 

Several have said it happens more on O than other lines.

Several who say that are anecdotal if they don't provide specifics, and are not factual.

 

The Oceania FB  site quotes folks who have had similar experiences on other lines and are specific.  Search other ones, too  If you wish.

[1985rz1]

46 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

What Ph said is that the reason given is not clear.

Perhaps O is releasing their itineraries for booking way ahead of the research they need to do to make sure that the times in ports and the ports themselves are available.

Maybe that is the problem, itineraries are sold before times in port or the ports themselves are made certain.

Really can't imagine they would do that. But also don't understand why there would be SO many changes. Add to that all the weather possibilities, tides, waves etc and PH might as well stay home.

@PhD-iva. Guess you better stay at home 🤣.

[SophieM]

11 minutes ago, 1985rz1 said:

@PhD-iva. Guess you better stay at home 🤣.

 

11 minutes ago, 1985rz1 said:

@PhD-iva. Guess you better stay at home 🤣.

1985rz1. We’ll see you on the Sirena next August!

[1985rz1]

16 minutes ago, SophieM said:

 

1985rz1. We’ll see you on the Sirena next August!

Looking forward to it.  We should arrange to meet at Martini's or another libation center.

[SophieM]

9 minutes ago, 1985rz1 said:

Looking forward to it.  We should arrange to meet at Martini's or another libation center.

Definitely!!

[Zebra Cruiser]

On 10/6/2023 at 7:58 AM, Twiga said:

@PhD-iva -  I am booked on this cruise, too.  Please note that the two stops in Japan on April 28 and 29 have been changed, as well as several port times.  Oceania sent us an email last month telling us that the cruise was shortened by one day and will be arriving in Vancouver a day earlier than originally scheduled.  However, Oceania did NOT tell us of the four port changes, including the cancellation of Victoria and Dutch Harbor, when they had already made those changes.  That is a serious problem.  The same thing happened on another cruise this year on the Regatta.  They cancelled Hilo at least one month before they notified us, only three days before the cruise began.  It is this lack of information that I resent.

Totally agree.  The lack of honest communication is concerning, and, IMHO, shows a lack of respect and concern for loyal customers.

[1985rz1]

49 minutes ago, SophieM said:

Definitely!!

Email us at maxwell (period) lutz (at) gmail (period) com

[jonthomas]

3 hours ago, Zebra Cruiser said:

Totally agree.  The lack of honest communication is concerning, and, IMHO, shows a lack of respect and concern for loyal customers.

Since you feel this way, others here will tell you to "stay at home".

And worse still, some others will find it funny.

But the worst are those who feel you have no right to your opinion.

[jonthomas]

5 hours ago, jonthomas said:

What Ph said is that the reason given is not clear.

Perhaps O is releasing their itineraries for booking way ahead of the research they need to do to make sure that the times in ports and the ports themselves are available.

Maybe that is the problem, itineraries are sold before times in port or the ports themselves are made certain.

Really can't imagine they would do that. But also don't understand why there would be SO many changes. Add to that all the weather possibilities, tides, waves etc and PH might as well stay home.

I did not mean this to be funny, or that someone should not cruise.

To most it is clear the disappointment many feel when a cruise line appears to be making significant changes to published itineraries. It may seem like bait and switch, definitely switch.

I add this for for those to whom it is not clear.

[jonthomas]

Most of our cruising has been done pre covid, with 2 on O.

In all that time, with all those cruises, we have rarely had port times changed and only once a port was cancelled, Nassau,  due to a storm.

If a port was cancelled, it became big news, engine trouble etc. It is NOT news any longer, but more of an expectation.

So what is driving all these changes,  on ALL lines?

Only someone on the inside, like a captain, a top exec etc would trully know. The rest of us can only speculate.

Of course many of us suspect it has a financial aspect, dont most things? Just follow the money...but we debate how and why.

 

[babysteps]

TLDR - O may make more port changes but so far I'm willing to deal with it. Anyone for a thread to share / track actual changes? 

 

We have had times changed by O - both shorter and longer (roughly 2/3 vs 1/3). This does seem more frequent recently. 

 

Anecdotally O seems slightly more conservative vs other lines with weather issues.

 

I think one additional factor compared to some other lines may be Os slightly more ambitious itineraries. If we had a "report here" thread for missed ports, I wonder what it would show? On 11 cruises we have missed 3 ports for weather. They were Punta del Este (world BBC lead story storm), Toulon (people ashore died in that storm) and Nah Trang (we got extra time in HCM City/Saigon).

 

One recent O marketing piece compared themselves to an un-named competitor (guessing X but don't really know) and pointed out O had more total time in port over sample itineraries. I choose to frame this as O aiming for maximum port time and then correcting as needed based on port authority or other details. 

 

Os market position below luxury but above mass market may be at play. Especially when marketing positions closer to luxury. SS and SB typically cost more but often schedule longer times in port. Mass market lines will often have more sea days vs O for a typical Med or Carribean itinerary - so fewer ports to change lol. 

 

For O's hour here-or-there shaving down of scheduled stops, in many cases folks have reported that the independent tour operators knew before they did. We experienced that once ourselves - except one couple still showed up at the originally scheduled (later) time so ymmv!

 

For independent travellers, O shortened visits still may mean missing one or two stops (or being more rushed) if you take the sampler approach, but at least it doesn't mean missing the boat. Or if it has, those folks aren't here on CC

[jonthomas]

Thank you for the above post.

[SophieM]

The best information I can find indicates there are currently 323 cruise ships sailing. That would be one heck of a spread sheet for the brave (?) person to track all the port changes so that we can have a factual basis to determine whether O is a more persistent offender. Anecdotally, of course, I do feel like I am seeing more reports of other cruise lines also making changes. And, not surprisingly from me, I’m still going to go with the changes, whatever they are, are not made lightly or with malice afore thought. Much better for my peace of mind and cruise enjoyment. 

[beechwood]

16 hours ago, jonthomas said:

Have never experienced changes like this in over 60 cruises. Not with celeb, rcl, azamara, nor 7 with O.

I understand issues with Panama canal, all cruiselines are dealing  with it. But this seems bizarre.

A friend just received an email from O, cancelling an entire cruise on the Riviera in July 2024. He was told the ship is being chartered. 

After some research, he learned that the whole ship was booked by the Atlantis cruises.

Seems very unusual to me, but I am not as savy about O as some others here. Perhaps this is quite normal for O.

It is a great deal of notice, but according to him "still sucks".

This isn’t the first time that Oceania have cancelled a peak season July cruise to substitute it with an Atlantis Cruises cruise.  My 11 day cruise on Vista was scheduled for departure on 5th July 2023 but notification of cancellation was issued in June 2022 citing a charter which turned out to be Atlantis.  As Vista was brand new, I’ve no doubt that many other loyal Oceania clients received the same news.  I would say think twice before you book a July cruise with Oceania, particularly if it’s a special occasion when the cruise date is important.

[jonthomas]

I am just not aware of it.

[lj77346]

Are you feeling lucky?  Since December 2021 I've taken 15 Oceania cruises and missed 2 ports because of weather - Ensenada because of a storm and Great Stirrup Cay because it was too wavy and windy to tender.  I took 1 Princess cruise and missed 2 out of 3 ports because of weather - Costa Maya and Roatan.  So, from my experience, Mother Nature and not some devious plot from a cruise line appears to be the factor that determines if a port will be cancelled.

[AMHuntFerry]

22 hours ago, PhD-iva said:

My Tokyo to Vancouver cruise in APR2025 has already has been shortened by 1 day and several ports rearranged. When I posted my notes, I was informed I was missing several other changes.

Of course, with this much advance notice one can modify private excursions…….

To be fair, this is a trans-Pacific repositioning cruise with Alaskan ports. I was talking about Alaska-specific itineraries (i.e., start and/or end in Seattle or Vancouver, although including the reposition to LA is reasonable). However, I'm one of those people who can't conceive of planning 2 years out; only recently have I started planning more than 3 months out and even then I sometimes shift plans. I should have qualified my earlier statement with "hasn't changed since final payment was due" since there were 2023 original itineraries that included a new port (Klawock); those were all cancelled and replaced with other Alaskan ports long before final payment.

[jonthomas]

These changes don't make sense to me, but plenty of others are saying changes/cancelations are NOT happening.

Thank you for posting that they ARE.

[ak1004]

I'm following the SS board, and guess what? SS also cancels ports on a regular basis. Somehow, nobody on SS aboard thinks that they do it on purpose and question the captain..

[jonthomas]

Ok guess they all do it post covid, but why?

Pre covid when cruise lines were in the "green", it rarely happened,  when it did, it was in the news.

[KS&JW]

6 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

Ok guess they all do it post covid, but why?

Pre covid when cruise lines were in the "green", it rarely happened,  when it did, it was in the news.

I have missed ports pre-covid.  Some ports that were the whole reason we booked the cruise. Easter Island being an example.  And at no time was it 'in the news'.    

Edited October 14, 2023 by KS&JW

[jonthomas]

Have done around 60 cruises all over the world. Had only one port cancelled on RCL, Nassau, due to extreme weather. Can only base my comments on my extensive cruise experience. Can't just be luck. Yes in the past, missed ports for whatever reason were in the news. Maybe you just didn't see it. That doesn't mean it didn't happen.

[ak1004]

27 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

Have done around 60 cruises all over the world. Had only one port cancelled on RCL, Nassau, due to extreme weather. Can only base my comments on my extensive cruise experience. Can't just be luck. Yes in the past, missed ports for whatever reason were in the news. Maybe you just didn't see it. That doesn't mean it didn't happen.

 

I'm really not sure. 60 cruises and only 1 missed port? Statistically very unlikely, but maybe extreme luck? We had missed ports pre Covid and post Covid, with O, Crystal, Azamara etc. I still don't see evidence that O does it more than other lines.

[jonthomas]

About 50 of those with celebrity, that we no longer sail with. Lucky, you say? What are the chances of that kind of luck.

I must add, we have done 

5 cruises since covid, without a single port cancelled. The one Viking,  TA, had only one port, Madeira. Viking reduced our stay there to an hour and a half, pointless getting off the ship. Needless to say, we will not sail Viking again, all kinds of issues.

The other 4 were with O, yes most ports are shortened, but none cancelled. I don't understand the shortening of times in port. It must benefit O. Can't just be "environmental, climate change etc". It must be something else.

I still maintain it must be a financial benefit to do that.

I'm sure there is someone that has an inside track, info from some operating execs perhaps.

[ak1004]

15 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

About 50 of those with celebrity, that we no longer sail with. Lucky, you say? What are the chances of that kind of luck.

I must add, we have done 

5 cruises since covid, without a single port cancelled. The one Viking,  TA, had only one port, Madeira. Viking reduced our stay there to an hour and a half, pointless getting off the ship. Needless to say, we will not sail Viking again, all kinds of issues.

The other 4 were with O, yes most ports are shortened, but none cancelled. I don't understand the shortening of times in port. It must benefit O. Can't just be "environmental, climate change etc". It must be something else.

I still maintain it must be a financial benefit to do that.

I'm sure there is someone that has an inside track, info from some operating execs perhaps.

 

Celebrity has larger ships compared to lines like O, V, SS or SB, maybe this is the reason? Larger ships might be less sensitive to bad weather and waves? I'm just guessing here, really have no insights.

 

I don't believe the "environmental, climate change etc" BS for a second. The shortened ports are definitely beneficial to O financially - but not cancelled ports. This is different.