Oceania is Unethical

Vista Cruise Review to Europe - Western Europe

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 17

Overall rating:

2.9 out of 5
Vista

12 Night British Isles Splendors (London Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 18, 2023

Ship: Vista

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

I had two significant issues with Oceania on our last cruise to the British Isles. First, Oceania did not provide a full refund after it cancelled one of the excursions; presumably, along with refunds due to all the other passengers who paid for an Oceania excursion that day. In addition, Oceania “tendered” (used a smaller boat to get its passengers to the dock) on five ports that was not disclosed to passengers before the trip. Unfortunately, this cause two issues. Transferring from the ship to the tender was very difficult for the older passengers due to the “rough” seas. I saw at least two passengers fall attempting to board the tenders. The tenders should have been disclosed to passengers before the cruise so they could decide if they were willing to risk injury, but was not. Also, Oceania pays fees to the port for docking but not for tendering (or at least a smaller fee), which port fees are passed along to the passengers as part of the cost of the cruise. Even though Oceania charged its passengers for something they did not receive (docking at a port), it once again did not refund these fees and instead retained them. I contacted Oceania multiple times regarding both issues and did not receive a response. There is no excuse for Oceania’s lack of a response to my concerns. In any event, at best, Oceania’s actions are unethical and likely are illegal.

Embarkation

1 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Entertainment

1 out of 5

Service and Staff

1 out of 5

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Ports of call

NEWHAVEN HARBOUR (EDINBURGH), SCOTLAND

3 out of 5

Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland

3 out of 5

Stornoway, Isle Of Lewis, Hebrides

1 out of 5

Greenock (Glasgow), Scotland

4 out of 5

Belfast, Northern Ireland

4 out of 5

Liverpool, England

4 out of 5

Dublin, Ireland

3 out of 5

Holyhead, Wales

3 out of 5

Waterford, Ireland

3 out of 5

Portland (Weymouth), England, UK

3 out of 5

Disembarkation

2 out of 5
Was this review helpful? 17

7 Comments

SteveMBA     11 months ago

I really doubt that they changed from docking to a tender option. I’ve never see nor heard of this. The itinerary is VERY clear on how you get off the ship. I think you just missed that from your cruise documentation.

Gwbigdog    1 year ago

Thanks for sharing

karlgrgurich    1 year ago

Agree. Tendering to ports should be noted on the itinerary so that you can preview that before you book. We always take note of that. If it’s a tender port we are very careful about our excursion choice and do it thru the cruise line. If the port is cancelled, then our excursion money is refunded easily.

Kalaka    1 year ago

When you email them — and applies to all who email a cruise line with complaints— cc the attorney general of the state you live in.

javawoody    1 year ago

Interesting

bubbles60    1 year ago

Great itinerary!

cruising2004    1 year ago

Great itinerary! A shame you didn’t enjoy them.

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