Itinerary changes that worked out better

[DT1304]

Hi all,

 

Just a fun topic to chat about. After my post in the other thread about Ovation I got thinking about what experiences people have had with itinerary changes that worked out even better for them.

 

My experience was on my first ever cruise to South Pacific out of Sydney over New Years. When we got to the ship we were told there was a cyclone and we could not sail. We were given the option of a full refund and go home, or a 25% refund in OBC and can board the ship to enjoy the facilities and we will sail when we can.

 

I took option 2 as am not from Sydney so couldn't just go home, and had a great time on the ship. We stayed in the middle of Sydney Harbour for the New Years Eve fireworks, and then set sail at 2am on January 1st.

 

And to top it all off, we were forced to miss one of the ports and change it to Champagne Bay. What an amazing beach!!!!

 

This was on Radiance of the Seas and was the start of my cruising addiction.

 

Did any of you have any forced itinerary changes that turened out better for you?

[Cbtours]

2 minutes ago, DT1304 said:

Hi all,

 

Just a fun topic to chat about. After my post in the other thread about Ovation I got thinking about what experiences people have had with itinerary changes that worked out even better for them.

 

My experience was on my first ever cruise to South Pacific out of Sydney over New Years. When we got to the ship we were told there was a cyclone and we could not sail. We were given the option of a full refund and go home, or a 25% refund in OBC and can board the ship to enjoy the facilities and we will sail when we can.

 

I took option 2 as am not from Sydney so couldn't just go home, and had a great time on the ship. We stayed in the middle of Sydney Harbour for the New Years Eve fireworks, and then set sail at 2am on January 1st.

 

And to top it all off, we were forced to miss one of the ports and change it to Champagne Bay. What an amazing beach!!!!

 

This was on Radiance of the Seas and was the start of my cruising addiction.

 

Did any of you have any forced itinerary changes that turened out better for you?

Wow just being in Sydney for NYE is a bucket list item for me 😁

[Ozwoody]

I think yours is hard to beat.

 

Ours was our first WC in 2014, they cancelled Myanmar and substituted two ports in Thailand due to shortened route. Then cancelled port in Egypt and substituted Mykonos island.

 

Figured two for one was a bonus, and a beautiful Island for a shooting civil unrest were both bonuses IMHO🤣

[MicCanberra]

Just recently, we had Kuri Bay cancelled for cruising in the Kimberley, up and around Cookatoo Island and beyond. Much better than  being anchored in the bay for 8 hours, and or possibly visiting a Pearl farm.

[resordanis]

In 2019 on Queen Elizabeth we had Borocay changed to Nagasaki, just an amazing experience and we were so happy with the change.

On the downside on QM2 we had Halong Bay changed to Na Trang which we had only been to a week before on Queen Victoria. It was ok, but really wanted Halong Bay, which is one of the reasons we actually booked QM2.

[mum and son]

I'm not onboard but the current Pacific Adventure that has skipped NZ with a full refund plus $300 OBC would be a big win for me. I wouldn't have got off the ship in any of the NZ ports, and wouldn't get off in the substituted ports in Aus either so I'd be happy with the free cruise and some spending money as well!

 

I get that its a bummer for most folks though.

[Aus Traveller]

24 minutes ago, mum and son said:

I'm not onboard but the current Pacific Adventure that has skipped NZ with a full refund plus $300 OBC would be a big win for me. I wouldn't have got off the ship in any of the NZ ports, and wouldn't get off in the substituted ports in Aus either so I'd be happy with the free cruise and some spending money as well!

 

I get that its a bummer for most folks though.

Did it end up as a full refund? The last I heard was 50% refund plus $300 OBC.

[Ondine]

I guess that if you have flown from Tassie to Sydney to board the ship and you find yourself back in Tassie it is a bummer.

Reminds me of that other trip some years ago that was meant to go to the Islands and ended up in Tassie.  Problems of people dressing for a hot holiday and ending up in a cold place without jumpers.  Think that was a P&O cruise and a cyclone got in the way.

Edited November 29, 2023 by Ondine

[Aus Traveller]

Our cruise on 23rd October was supposed to be from Brisbane to Noumea/Lifou/Port Vila. However a cyclone got in the way and when we arrived at the terminal, we were advised that we were going to Cairns instead. It didn't matter much to us because we were going just for the cruise, not the ports, except I intended to buy duty free alcohol in Vila. We were given $100 OBC for the change of itinerary. I felt sorry for people who were going on their first cruise, or who had got passports that now weren't needed. There were a lot of children on board, so I suspect there were a lot of unused passports.

[arxcards]

6 hours ago, DT1304 said:

Hi all,

 

Just a fun topic to chat about. After my post in the other thread about Ovation I got thinking about what experiences people have had with itinerary changes that worked out even better for them.

 

My experience was on my first ever cruise to South Pacific out of Sydney over New Years. When we got to the ship we were told there was a cyclone and we could not sail. We were given the option of a full refund and go home, or a 25% refund in OBC and can board the ship to enjoy the facilities and we will sail when we can.

 

I took option 2 as am not from Sydney so couldn't just go home, and had a great time on the ship. We stayed in the middle of Sydney Harbour for the New Years Eve fireworks, and then set sail at 2am on January 1st.

 

And to top it all off, we were forced to miss one of the ports and change it to Champagne Bay. What an amazing beach!!!!

 

This was on Radiance of the Seas and was the start of my cruising addiction.

 

Did any of you have any forced itinerary changes that turened out better for you?

I remember the NYE alternate. Newcastle was being readied with amenities & volunteers for the ship to dock for NYE, but a soon as a hint for Sydney Harbour was about, that idea was dropped in a flash. You did well, but it will never happen again - those who had paid for events on the shore and had the view from their annual event blocked by a cruise ship voiced their disapproval loudly. Yes, Champagne Bay is also an awesome spot, that is visited way too infrequently.

 

It is these gems that are such a treat to land on the right side of the coin. Sadly, it seems that with so few alternate ports that the flip side is the norm. Since restart, there have been itineraries split, bugs on the hull, regular medivacs, operational changes around itinerary swaps for Isle of Pines, Mare, Rabaul. In most cases, it is hard to imagine an on the run change being better than the original schedule.

 

We have been generally fortunate. We haven't missed many ports, and those have been mostly weather related. We have got lucky and not missed Milford Sound. We boarded QM2 in Sydney on the same day as the 1st big earthquake in Christchurch, so we scored Wellington instead. We had been to both already, so our plans of staying on the ship didn't change.

[mum and son]

2 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

Did it end up as a full refund? The last I heard was 50% refund plus $300 OBC.

Yes, I saw a post from P&O that they had "listened to their customers' feedback"... blah blah blah

[MicCanberra]

3 hours ago, Ondine said:

I guess that if you have flown from Tassie to Sydney to board the ship and you find yourself back in Tassie it is a bummer.

Reminds me of that other trip some years ago that was meant to go to the Islands and ended up in Tassie.  Problems of people dressing for a hot holiday and ending up in a cold place without jumpers.  Think that was a P&O cruise and a cyclone got in the way.

It was a Carnival cruise, there was a class action that failed.

[NSWP]

3 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

Did it end up as a full refund? The last I heard was 50% refund plus $300 OBC.

I think it is reasonable recompense.

[Aus Traveller]

Just now, NSWP said:

I think it is reasonable recompense.

So do I. 🙂

[MicCanberra]

10 minutes ago, NSWP said:

I think it is reasonable recompense.

Definitely,  100%, and $300 OBC is a good return for me, even 50% with the OBC would have probably satisfied me.

[Aus Traveller]

44 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Definitely,  100%, and $300 OBC is a good return for me, even 50% with the OBC would have probably satisfied me.

I agree. 50% refund + $300 OBC was pretty good.

[mum and son]

1 minute ago, Aus Traveller said:

I agree. 50% refund + $300 OBC was pretty good.

Certainly is compared to what RCI are offering for leaving people on the dock!

[MicCanberra]

32 minutes ago, mum and son said:

Certainly is compared to what RCI are offering for leaving people on the dock!

Full refund  and 25% FCC is pretty good as well.

[arxcards]

3 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Full refund  and 25% FCC is pretty good as well.

Only if you feel happy enough to follow through and make another booking with them. That is the thing that is bodgy about FCC's, is that the cruise line gets it back in the end.

 

A 125% refund it isn't, and they wouldn't want to see that 25% carrot being used with their competitor.

[mum and son]

4 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Full refund  and 25% FCC is pretty good as well.

If they're not letting me get on the cruise then I'd expect a full refund! So really they'd only offered a 25% FCC as compensation.

 

I just read that one of the couples who received the letter, which only happened after they tried to hand over their bags at 2pm at the dock, were phoned by RCI the following morning (because they complained all over Facebook and everywhere they could) and were offered a full refund, 100% FCC, and a complimentary deluxe beverage package. Now, that seems more suitable to me.

[MicCanberra]

1 minute ago, arxcards said:

Only if you feel happy enough to follow through and make another booking with them. That is the thing that is bodgy about FCC's, is that the cruise line gets it back in the end.

 

A 125% refund it isn't, and they wouldn't want to see that 25% carrot being used with their competitor.

Fccs must be used with the same line

[MicCanberra]

Just now, mum and son said:

If they're not letting me get on the cruise then I'd expect a full refund! So really they'd only offered a 25% FCC as compensation.

 

I just read that one of the couples who received the letter, which only happened after they tried to hand over their bags at 2pm at the dock, were phoned by RCI the following morning (because they complained all over Facebook and everywhere they could) and were offered a full refund, 100% FCC, and a complimentary deluxe beverage package. Now, that seems more suitable to me.

It was one of the options, there were others. The morning of was bad form, but a few days prior would be fine for most people.

Squeaky wheels always get more grease.

[arxcards]

Just now, MicCanberra said:

Fccs must be used with the same line

I get that. That is why they issue them to pi$$ed-off passengers instead of giving a full refund plus covering out of pocket expenses. The FCC is issued as it benefits the cruise line more than the affected passenger.

[MicCanberra]

1 minute ago, arxcards said:

I get that. That is why they issue them to pi$$ed-off passengers instead of giving a full refund plus covering out of pocket expenses. The FCC is issued as it benefits the cruise line more than the affected passenger.

Like gift cards

[arxcards]

2 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Like gift cards

Yes. You can only use them at the one place you currently don't feel like using them.