Embarkation Port Change?

[Vertygo]

Hi all- I’m booked on Vista 8/2/24 Istanbul to Athens but of course that’s likely to be changed. I’ve already booked BC air with a great deal on points, flying in 3 days early. I could cancel & rebook to the new port but at a more costly rate.

 

O’s contract states: If the scheduled port of embarkation or final destination is changed, We will arrange transportation to the new port from the originally scheduled 

 

Has anyone taken advantage of this clause when the embarkation port was changed?

[DrHemlock]

I do believe that means if your flights were booked through Oceania.  We're on our own when we book our own, whether with FF points or money.

[Flatbush Flyer]

39 minutes ago, DrHemlock said:

I do believe that means if your flights were booked through Oceania.  We're on our own when we book our own, whether with FF points or money.

We’ll - maybe not.

We’re DIYers and, due to Covid-related itinerary changes, our destination port was once changed from Singapore to Dubai. O covered tix change fees for DIYers - up to $250/person (and also provided free satellite phone service to make any needed changes).

[Vertygo]

39 minutes ago, DrHemlock said:

I do believe that means if your flights were booked through Oceania.  We're on our own when we book our own, whether with FF points or money.

It’s stated in “4. Carrier’s Discretion, section C”. Nothing about how the air was scheduled. The earlier sections describe O’s rights to change ports of call.

[babysteps]

We did a 2021 Venice to Miami that became Trieste to Miami (b2b with Barcelona in the middle). O provided bus service from the Venice airport to Trieste port. It had a few hiccups but worked and no additional cost to us. 

[Woodrowst]

2 hours ago, Vertygo said:

Hi all- I’m booked on Vista 8/2/24 Istanbul to Athens but of course that’s likely to be changed. I’ve already booked BC air with a great deal on points, flying in 3 days early. I could cancel & rebook to the new port but at a more costly rate.

 

O’s contract states: If the scheduled port of embarkation or final destination is changed, We will arrange transportation to the new port from the originally scheduled 

 

Has anyone taken advantage of this clause when the embarkation port was changed?

This is why post-Covid we now typically book air through the cruise line.  Itineraries can be fluid.  We took an Oceania cruise this summer and had the disembarkation port changed from Istanbul to Barcelona.  Oceania updated our flights at no cost.  Easy peasy.

[osandomir]

1 hour ago, Vertygo said:

It’s stated in “4. Carrier’s Discretion, section C”. Nothing about how the air was scheduled. The earlier sections describe O’s rights to change ports of call.

Realistically, it would be very complicated if at all possible to provide the transportation for everyone who booked air on their own schedule over several days prior to embarking. Even Oceania transfers work with their air and on the ship departure date only. In your case I wouldn’t expect free transportation to the new port if the embarkation port gets changed. But I think you won’t be able to change your flights until any changes are announced anyway.

[Vertygo]

8 minutes ago, osandomir said:

Realistically, it would be very complicated if at all possible to provide the transportation for everyone who booked air on their own schedule over several days prior to embarking. Even Oceania transfers work with their air and on the ship departure date only. In your case I wouldn’t expect free transportation to the new port if the embarkation port gets changed. But I think you won’t be able to change your flights until any changes are announced anyway.

Just quoting the contract. I’ll keep everyone posted on the outcome when/if Istanbul is replaced.

Linda

[osandomir]

26 minutes ago, Vertygo said:

Just quoting the contract. I’ll keep everyone posted on the outcome when/if Istanbul is replaced.

Linda

This contract was written by the lawyers - a lot of small prints, so I’d think they would be able to safeguard themselves if situation gets a bit complicated. Hopefully, Oceania will let you know about their plans with enough time for you to change your flights. We also love to use points to book our flights as the points are refundable in case we need to make changes any time before the flight date. But I see your point that the flights can be more expensive, not every time though, if you book them closer to the departure time.

[AMHuntFerry]

@Vertygo If the port is changed and the cost of rerouting the entire flight is cost prohibitive, you can probably get a regional flight from Instanbul to _____ for a decent price. Also, if the airline changes your flight between now and then (which will probably happen at least once), you have other options which vary by airline.

I vaguely remember O giving a set amount for air-changes when they changed a South America embarkation port on short notice (similar to what was described by FlatbushFlyer), but that was during the post-pandemic start up so may not be what happens now.

[Harry Lake]

2 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

We’ll - maybe not.

We’re DIYers and, due to Covid-related itinerary changes, our destination port was once changed from Singapore to Dubai. O covered tix change fees for DIYers - up to $250/person (and also provided free satellite phone service to make any needed changes).

Good. That should answer OPs question. As well as the contract language.

[Harry Lake]

1 hour ago, Woodrowst said:

This is why post-Covid we now typically book air through the cruise line.  Itineraries can be fluid.  We took an Oceania cruise this summer and had the disembarkation port changed from Istanbul to Barcelona.  Oceania updated our flights at no cost.  Easy peasy.

It seems that OP is using points so it should be no problem getting them refunded. At least that's what United told me when we booked for next summer.

[Tranquility Base]

6 hours ago, Woodrowst said:

We took an Oceania cruise this summer and had the disembarkation port changed from Istanbul to Barcelona.  

What was the reason for that change ?

[DrHemlock]

11 hours ago, Harry Lake said:

It seems that OP is using points so it should be no problem getting them refunded.

That's true (at least for now) and the OP seems to be aware of that.  However, his/her problem apparently is that the FF mileage requirement for a new booking is greater than the existing one; hence more expensive and hence wondering whether O will handle the relo themselves.  Some interesting comments above about O having done so on previous occasions, even if only partially.  Surprising to me, though I guess one learns something new every day.

Edited December 5, 2023 by DrHemlock

[pinotlover]

37 minutes ago, DrHemlock said:

That's true (at least for now) and the OP seems to be aware of that.  However, his/her problem apparently is that the FF mileage requirement for a new booking is greater than the existing one; hence more expensive and hence wondering whether O will handle the relo themselves.  Some interesting comments above about O having done so on previous occasions, even if only partially.  Surprising to me, though I guess one learns something new every day.

First of all, what Oceania did pre Covid/pre billions of $$ in debt may have little to what they may be willing to do today.

 

Second, this isn’t the first time this has occurred. If memory serves, Turkey got into everyone’s crosshairs around 2015 or 2016 and cruise lines cancelled Turkey ports. I remember one Oceania Embarkment getting moved from Istanbul to Athens. Seems to me that Oceania bought a bunch of discount airlines tickets for all from Istanbul to Athens. Don’t remember what they did for those disembarking.

 

Of course past performance doesn’t guarantee future performance.

[Hambagahle]

We are booked on Vista from Valetta 21/4/24.  We were scheduled to disembark at Trieste on 1/5/24.  So was the preceding cruise (from Rome) and the following cruise that was Trieste/Istanbul and the two following that.  All are now listed as “N/A” in place of Trieste.  I am curious as to where N/A might turn out to be!!  Somewhere I suppose not far from Rovinjc which is the penultimate port on our cruise but near Venice.  Ancona?  Rimini?  Chioggia? Fusina??
 

seems a bit strange to me to have this change 5months out…

[Woodrowst]

12 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

What was the reason for that change ?

They adjusted the dates a bit and we assumed that a berth in Istanbul was not available on the new disembarkation day.  Having said that, we never asked for a reason so I cannot provide a definitive answer.

[Pearl64]

We were on the Riviera back in 2021 when the cruise lines were starting back up. Our original embarkation port was Monte Carlo. Because of Covid the port was changed to Marseille. We had booked our own air to Nice. Oceania provided our transport from the Nice airport to Marseille. Many did change their flights to Marseille and i think Oceania paid for change fees. I am not totally sure about the latter as we did not use it. 

[Hambagahle]

Update to the "N/A" port ... the cruises are now back to Trieste.  Very strange episode.  

[ORV]

On 12/5/2023 at 6:34 PM, Pearl64 said:

We were on the Riviera back in 2021 when the cruise lines were starting back up. Our original embarkation port was Monte Carlo. Because of Covid the port was changed to Marseille. We had booked our own air to Nice. Oceania provided our transport from the Nice airport to Marseille. Many did change their flights to Marseille and i think Oceania paid for change fees. I am not totally sure about the latter as we did not use it. 

That looks like it was right at the start back up after Covid, I think they were falling all over themselves at that time just to get people back on the ships. As has been pointed out in other posts they are becoming considerably less altruistic. 

[Snaefell3]

2 hours ago, ORV said:

That looks like it was right at the start back up after Covid, I think they were falling all over themselves at that time just to get people back on the ships. As has been pointed out in other posts they are becoming considerably less altruistic. 

Strike "altruistic" and replace with "desperate for customers"?   😇