So upset with Oceania

[roberts2005]

Why not ship to the port where the next segment begins

[pmatawan]

42 minutes ago, roberts2005 said:

Why not ship to the port where the next segment begins

Next segment begins 20 days later.....

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, pmatawan said:

Need to pack for warm weather and not so warm weather. We were planning on shipping 3 large suitcases for the 2 of us and  each traveling with a carry bag on for our pre-cruise. 

FWIW: way too much luggage! 

 

We regularly do 6 week +\- O cruises. And whether the next one is longer or shorter than 6 weeks, we always pack for a 10 day rotation.

Using two medium (26”) Briggs & Riley compressible checked bags and two small B&R underseat rollaboards (for meds/valuables) that stack on the 26” ones, (most foreign sedans like an MB E Class can handle this), we can also fit foldable duffles (one each) in the B&Rs should we need to make a side trip (e.g., Safari) pre/post cruise.
 

This strategy includes flying to the embark city and arranging with the precruise hotel to store the B&G checked bags while we use the packed duffels for the precruise side trip.
 

And, even though some of our complex air arrangements require multiple connections for the B&Rs, we strive to use United and it’s Star Alliance partner airlines to allow “checked through to destination” (and luggage tracking) status. We’ve even done this with cruises that require warm and cold weather dress and even snorkel gear (minus flippers).

 

Finally, the O combo of self serve laundry and occasionally included laundry makes our ten day rotation scheme very efficacious.

 

[osandomir]

We’re trying to travel “light” now days with minimum luggage when it’s possible. But I would rather not describe it in details expecting that others suppose to do the same. I think OP didn’t want an advice about the amount of luggage, but just posted that their expectations about Oceania included luggage delivery were not met.

[basor]

The OP was expecting to have her luggage picked up and delivered to the ship so the amount of luggage was not a concern.  Now that she has discovered this is not happening, she is having to pivot at the last minute.  Keep all of the receipts for the extra you had to pay for transfers, extra luggage, etc. and give/send to O for reimbursement.  You should be compensated for the total out of pocket expense you incurred due to not having Luggage Forward amenity as promised.

[qballer]

We did the pre cruise India about 8 months ago. India customs, airport and cruise-port security is a mess. Went  to 4 ports after Mumbai, Visa has to be perfect, if it is not stamped right when you fly in to Delhi, you will have problems. They also have lower weight limits on airline bags on domestic flights(Your flight from Delhi to Mumbai) Read all the fine print on Visa and flight in India. We enjoyed India, but half the pre-cruise Oceania travelers were happy to get out of India.   

[pmatawan]

56 minutes ago, qballer said:

We did the pre cruise India about 8 months ago. India customs, airport and cruise-port security is a mess. Went  to 4 ports after Mumbai, Visa has to be perfect, if it is not stamped right when you fly in to Delhi, you will have problems. They also have lower weight limits on airline bags on domestic flights(Your flight from Delhi to Mumbai) Read all the fine print on Visa and flight in India. We enjoyed India, but half the pre-cruise Oceania travelers were happy to get out of India.   

Thanks for the info. I found out about the luggage weight limits, I'll be paying for extra kilos I guess.

[clo]

1 hour ago, pmatawan said:

Thanks for the info. I found out about the luggage weight limits, I'll be paying for extra kilos I guess.

Ah, so that's an option? That's good to know.

 

[pmatawan]

1 hour ago, clo said:

Ah, so that's an option? That's good to know.

 

Yes, but it might be cheaper to pay the additional bag fee. It appears they discount the charge for overweight/additional bags if you pay online rather then at the airport. Another interesting point:

I may be wrong, but it appears their weight allowance of 20kilos can be used to check 2 bags if they both weigh less then 20k total.

[Flatbush Flyer]

13 hours ago, basor said:

The OP was expecting to have her luggage picked up and delivered to the ship so the amount of luggage was not a concern.  Now that she has discovered this is not happening, she is having to pivot at the last minute.  Keep all of the receipts for the extra you had to pay for transfers, extra luggage, etc. and give/send to O for reimbursement.  You should be compensated for the total out of pocket expense you incurred due to not having Luggage Forward amenity as promised.

O might “throw them a bone” but owes them nothing. Read the T&Cs and Ticket Contract. O assumes zero liability for performance issues concerning their contracted services.

[PhD-iva]

10 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

O might “throw them a bone” but owes them nothing. Read the T&Cs and Ticket Contract. O assumes zero liability for performance issues concerning their contracted services.

Why does O advertise and market a service they know or should know cannot be provided?

[pmatawan]

3 minutes ago, PhD-iva said:

Why does O advertise and market a service they know or should know cannot be provided?

That is the crux of my dissatisfaction with Oceania. If they had advised me at the time of booking or sometime sooner than a month before boarding, I would have made the appropriate travel arrangements. 

[qballer]

There were about 50 people in our pre-cruise excursion. About half of them had overweight bags, I didn't see anyone being charged for being overweight.(it's in the flight info for the flight from Delhi to Mumbai)  Just make sure your Visa is correct and stamped properly when you enter. Several couples missed half the 1st day dealing with customs. 

 

Oceana's pre cruise excursion was well planned and Hotel nice. I recommend it. They can't control Custom's and the Police. Fake cops did flagg down our 2 buses, our main guide is related to a Police Captain, cops let us go....go figure

[Snaefell3]

My 2¢:

Earlier this year and past our final payment date, Monterey closed itself to cruise ships.  We were booked aboard Regatta and were looking forward to visiting as tourists instead of residents.

 

We'll let any lawyers opine on force majeure, but we blamed Monterey not Oceania.

[Snaefell3]

11 minutes ago, PhD-iva said:

Why does O advertise and market a service they know or should know cannot be provided?

Probably for the same reason that folks with questions are advised to "call three times and average the answers".

 

Snark aside, what was the timing on Oceania's offer and India's customs crackdown?

[pmatawan]

2 minutes ago, Snaefell3 said:

Probably for the same reason that folks with questions are advised to "call three times and average the answers".

 

Snark aside, what was the timing on Oceania's offer and India's customs crackdown?

It's my understanding that the issue with India customs is not new and either Oceania or Luggage Forward should have know and advised me. Customs does not allow 3rd parties to collect freight.  Only the recipient can claim with passport. 

[Snaefell3]

37 minutes ago, pmatawan said:

It's my understanding that the issue with India customs is not new and either Oceania or Luggage Forward should have know and advised me. Customs does not allow 3rd parties to collect freight.  Only the recipient can claim with passport. 

OK.  We're back to "call three times and average the answers".   Sympathies.

 

Further data for you. 

• Luggage shippers sub-contract the actual luggage handling

• We had issues with Luggage Forward not talking to their Seattle sub-contractor in 2018

• For our next cruise, the Luggage Free website said "phone us" when we selected "ship".

[susanrc]

On 12/8/2023 at 3:52 PM, pmatawan said:

We are book on a grand voyage that includes free luggage service. I received the "blue book"  with luggage tags today and expected to see info about luggage service. So I call Oceania and they tell me to call luggage forward. Luggage forward says they have no request for service from Oceania and to call them back. Having a wonderful friendly contact at Oceania, I emailed asking for help. Oceania says the luggage service can not deliver to ship in Mumbai and offered some obc as compensation. I am so disappointed in Oceania. We have a pre cruise planned and don't want to drag luggage with us, looking for another luggage shipping  company, asked Oceania if they can increase compensation or offer another solution.

The issue isn't only India.  Oceania also offered us the incentive of free luggage service through Luggage Forward if we booked the entire Grand Voyage as opposed to smaller segments.  Now we've found that they cannot send our luggage home from our disembarkation port in Brazil.   Embarkation for the 50 day voyage is still a few months away.  So I do have time to plan.   However, I feel the point is that we were enticed to book with a particular set of offerings that are now being rescinded.  I researched the cost of Luggage Forwards services to or from other South American countries.   This perk is worth $3 to $4 thousand dollars or more.   If Oceania offers us less than $1,500 in OBC I'm going to have a meltdown.   I can understand that Brazil's rules are out of Oceania's control.   But how they handle the situation with their clients will speak for their integrity.

[pmatawan]

2 minutes ago, susanrc said:

The issue isn't only India.  Oceania also offered us the incentive of free luggage service through Luggage Forward if we booked the entire Grand Voyage as opposed to smaller segments.  Now we've found that they cannot send our luggage home from our disembarkation port in Brazil.   Embarkation for the 50 day voyage is still a few months away.  So I do have time to plan.   However, I feel the point is that we were enticed to book with a particular set of offerings that are now being rescinded.  I researched the cost of Luggage Forwards services to or from other South American countries.   This perk is worth $3 to $4 thousand dollars or more.   If Oceania offers us less than $1,500 in OBC I'm going to have a meltdown.   I can understand that Brazil's rules are out of Oceania's control.   But how they handle the situation with their clients will speak for their integrity.

Fyi, O offered only $250.pp and refused any additional compensation. The good news is they did get our luggage home from Tokyo.

[susanrc]

1 minute ago, pmatawan said:

Fyi, O offered only $250.pp and refused any additional compensation. The good news is they did get our luggage home from Tokyo.

$250/person???   That's ridiculous.   I'm going to have a serious meltdown.   But I appreciate the heads-up.

[pmatawan]

3 minutes ago, susanrc said:

$250/person???   That's ridiculous.   I'm going to have a serious meltdown.   But I appreciate the heads-up.

Yes, I understand. I had my meltdown but went on to enjoy my 72 day cruise. I  still miss the grilled lobster tails and shrimp at the Terrace Cafe. 

[susanrc]

1 minute ago, pmatawan said:

Yes, I understand. I had my meltdown but went on to enjoy my 72 day cruise. I  still miss the grilled lobster tails and shrimp at the Terrace Cafe. 

It just seems dishonest to me.  If they are in a "partnership" with Luggage Forward, then they should be aware of which itineraries this offer is appropriate for and which they cannot accommodate.   And if they've made a mistake, they should properly compensate you for it.

[pmatawan]

8 minutes ago, susanrc said:

It just seems dishonest to me.  If they are in a "partnership" with Luggage Forward, then they should be aware of which itineraries this offer is appropriate for and which they cannot accommodate.   And if they've made a mistake, they should properly compensate you for it.

Their response is that they are not responsible for actions or omissions of 3rd parties who provide services. They will take no responsibility for their false advertising. If I were a lawyer, I start a class action suit.

[Hlitner]

We are avid world travelers, so find this thread very interesting.  Many decades ago, having booked a pre-cruise land package (Princess) we realized that cruise lines are best left to things at sea, and land things are better left to ourselves.  For decades, we have been avid independent land travelers, and think of the word "tour" as a 4 letter word, and would be hard pressed to ever depend on any cruise line (not just O) to handle our pre/post cruise arrangements.

 

The cruise lines are at the mercy of land-based contractors, for anything "land."  Most of the time we have found that cruise line land packages cost about twice as much as doing the same thing on our own with better hotels.  At one time (before the Internet) this was a real challenge and involved sending "cables" making expensive phone calls, etc.  These days, we can make arrangements to go just about anywhere in the world with a few clicks of the mouse.  

 

As to "Luggage Forward" it can be a decent service....or not!  Allowing a third party to have control of one's luggage can become a huge problem when things go wrong.  On our extended independent land trips, we sometimes spend a lot of time/effort planning on how to handle our luggage.  While it can be a challenge, it is simply part of travel.  We do not even consider shipping luggage, internationally.  Too many players and too many opportunities for things to go wrong.  When everything goes as planned, it is a wonderful thing.  But part of the creed of most independent travelers is to factor in risk and try to minimize it!

 

Hank

[Flatbush Flyer]

2 hours ago, susanrc said:

It just seems dishonest to me.  If they are in a "partnership" with Luggage Forward, then they should be aware of which itineraries this offer is appropriate for and which they cannot accommodate.   And if they've made a mistake, they should properly compensate you for it.

FWIW: O is not in a “partnership.” Luggage Forward is a contractor and O’s T&Cs clearly state that O bears no responsibility for performance of their contractors, which includes airlines, tour companies…..

 

I’m not defending O. I’m just stating what those who choose to use Luggage Forward agreed to in the fine print.