KJM

Jan 22, 2024

Oceania Cruise; Beware

We booked this Oceania USA/Caribbean cruise in Jan 2023 through ROL, provided all the information we were asked for and thoroughly read all communications that were sent. Our very first moment of coming into contact with this holiday package was talking to staff at the British Airways checkin desk at Heathrow’s Terminal 5. This was meant to be the start of our special holiday but the BA staff member casually informed us that we weren’t booked on the flight. We said there must be some mistake as we booked 10 months earlier but she simply replied that the flight had been oversold and that there were no seats booked for us. We were taken aback by this statement, to put it mildly, still insisting there must be some mistake and when the seriousness of her statement sunk in we felt physically sick. She said the only option was to go on standby and hope other passengers didn’t show up. This of course we accepted as there was no other choice. We were then sent through to airside departures and told to speak to the BA desk who told us we had to wait until the flight had closed and then find out if any seats were left untaken. We had an extremely anxious wait, instead of feeling elated and excited at the beginning of an adventure we were stressed out beyond belief and feeling sick in the stomach. We waited until the time we were given to go back to the BA desk, which was now about 40 minutes before takeoff and were told there were 2 seats available, not together but that was the least of our worries. So we got to Boston but again it wasn’t a jubilant feeling of what was to come, it was a feeling of gut-wrenching relief. We felt lucky to get on our holiday and it shouldn’t have been like that, we did everything we were asked and shouldn’t have been treated so badly. No specific information was ever given to us regarding checking in for the flights, though even if it had been provided this scenario should never happen. Seats should be guaranteed, especially as the majority of passengers on this flight were connecting with the same cruise as us. If it cost a little more then that’s a price worth paying as the alternative of being removed from the flight is beyond belief. First impressions count for a lot in all walks of life and our first impressions of ROL and Oceania are the worst they could possibly be due to this completely avoidable situation. I can’t tell you how disappointed we were, this should never be allowed to happen. We nearly missed our whole holiday due to the nefarious practice of airlines overselling seats, but this could have been negated by Oceania guaranteeing seats booked to connect with their cruise, which they could have easily done with the leverage they had relative to the number of seats they had booked on the flight. Instead, we were treated with total disregard.