Robjame

Price increases are a reality right now. If we accept that to be profitable, Oceania had to either reduce amenities or increase the price, which would you prefer? I know my choice because I realize that free amenities aren’t free. As someone said, by 2026 these prices will seem cheap and a cruise line must price for the reality of the economy ahead.

Glad you addressed this as you cannot compare the brochure prices on the website to get a real cost per day. i would add we book air fare with reward points which backs out airfare costs for us. As well, when we cruise we book B2B (combined) cruises which gives us a 5% discount and, allows you to back out the airfare even if you use O air.

As we are both Canadian, our total was significantly less than 40K CAD - more than 25% CAD less. And that $1400 US for gratuities becomes $1900 CAD. And you bet it makes much difference to us.

Per person. For our 39 day cruise that is over $1400 US so, yes, I care about $18/day gratuities. (Anyone who doesn’t, please see my Go Fund Me page (Joke))

This change makes sense. Some people don’t drink and I am sure they complain that they are ‘paying’ for an unwanted amenity. Some people don’t do O excursions and prefer to make their own arrangements. I am sure they complain that they are ‘paying’ for an unwanted amenity. Everybody pays, or should pay, gratuities. Now we know when we do get out the calculator, this change will financially benefit O but maybe it will disguise a fare increase.

Floral arrangements show up in Bon Voyage gifts so google that option. They invite a phone call so questions can be answered.

It is also something you can order from Oceania and have them delivered and set up in your cabin. I did this and the cost was reasonable and the arrangement was beautiful.

Nope. Whether they accept or deny your request, only by checking your OBC online, or by phoning Oceania or by asking your TA will you verify that you have received the OBC. If it doesn’t appear then your request has been denied or rejected, in my experience.

Although the amount ($100 or $250) will be split evenly, and show up on the accounts, of the two persons in the cabin. In reality that has little effect as expenses and credits are lumped together as one, for accounting purposes.

After resubmitting our request the second part of our cruise for Shareholder Credit, the money was in our account in 3 business days. It showed up as Complimentary Shipboard Credit. Again my complaint is that had we not been persistent in checking our account and with the information we learned on CC, we would never have known that submitting two requests in one email was a reason for them to ignore our second cruise eligibility.

We use a TA who is excellent but, as this is a direct perk from Oceania, we fill out the form and submit directly to Oceania. I never considered using my TA to submit proof of Shareholder eligibility and then following up with her to expedite the application. So to answer your question - this is me dealing with Oceania. Do others deal through their TA for Shareholder benefit?

My major complaint with Oceania is the lack of information and poor customer service. Anyone trying to use their website knows what I mean. We have two cuises coming up, b2b. I submitted two shareholder requests and the proof of share ownership. ‘We got the automated reply and, in time, one of the credits, for one of the cruises appeared on our on-board cruise credit. Nothing on the second cruise. Upon phoning Oceania I was told they have to be separate emails. The justification the agent gave me was, “what if a person had 10 cruises coming up and submitted 10 requests at once.” I did not argue that the efficiency of that seemed obvious. An email explanation would have been nice. I submitted the second cruise request again, separately. Got the automated reply but to date there has been no communication nor dealing with the request. This lack of communication and lack of action are things I have experienced before with this department.

It is not a question that we asked as our final bill has always been more than whatever OBC we have accumulated. We don’t have our gratuities paid for, so this alone will more than use up this refund for our combined voyage.

Yes Orv we are in the 50% penalty but this did not enter into the conversation. Oceania has simply given us OBC credit for the difference between our original Cruise Fare Total and the new Cruise Fare Total. Very fair IMO. This amounts to $452 US per person.

Ours is not a rebooking but rather, I think, a courtesy refund. In our initial conversation she had said that a rebooking under the penalty clause might require us to accept a different cabin. We are only a month past final payment. I suspect that if they didn’t refund the difference there would be a lot unhappy (regular) customers. A lot of people probably don’t check the sales and are blissful in their ignorance. Also, Oceania mitigates their loss by refunding the difference only as OBC which doesn’t really matter to us but is extremely beneficial to them.

Our TA contacted Oceania and they have refunded the difference in cruise fare. As mentioned above this difference will be applied as a OBC to us, which is fine with us. For us, this is a combined cruise and the 5% combined cruise credit (b2b) had to be referred for credit, to a higher up. I will update when we hear back.

We are booked and past final payment date, on one of the 40 cruises included in the flash sale. We have contacted our agency. The difference is more than $1500. Has anyone had success or not in getting satisfaction after the final payment date. OBC would be fine. Thanks for your help.

I have seen the three drinks a day or the 2 drinks a day and even a 5 drinks a day justification for the Prestige Package. None of these are correct IMO. I was drinking Oban 14 scotch @ $18 a glass which includes the 20% gratuity $21.60 per. I would order a double as my pre dinner drink with this package totalling $43.20. Even 2 glasses of champagne will pierce the $30 a day upgrade.

Having had the Prestige Beverage package (Premium), we made a habit of telling the server that we had the Prestige package and asking was a particular drink included. That little question never failed to clarify the situation, even particular wines (everywhere) or particular liquors (Toscana) or beers (Red Ginger). Remember that with this package you can specify your preferred liquor - Grey Goose Vodka in my Bloody Mary.

I see from a Vista YouTube video, that there are sommelier-led Food and Wine Pairing luncheon, held in Ember. These are not to be confused with the Wine Spectator meals. Anyone have some information about these - price, where/when do they show up on the Oceania website, worth it?

From Riviera Christmas 2022

As a follow up, we contacted our TA and she was back to us within the day with an apology from Oceania plus the listings of the culinary classes and the wine pairing dinners. They were not in our Oceania account for whatever reason. You may want to check with your TA or ask in your roll call.

Thanks so much for posting this. I followed up with Oceania this morning and they insisted that the Culinary classes have not even been released yet for that voyage. (I know how they get mixed up). When I quoted your knowledge of specific dates and classes they changed their story and said it is not released until final payment, which for me is not until July 20. So I will toss this in the lap of my TA and let her sort it out. Thanks again and we look forward to meeting you on board.

The Christmas cruise is one of those that is marked as a single or combined cruise, December 17 to December 27 or (combined) December 17 to January 3. The combined cruise does go to Mexico on December 29 and on January 1. More to the point - where are you finding the culinary classes? We are on the Vista combined cruise December 17 to January 3 and the culinary classes have not been posted yet to our Oceania account. I think usually these are posted 6 months out, when final payment is due. Perhaps things are different for you but our final payment is not due until July 20. Maybe you are booked on an earlier cruise, before the 17th - 3 one, that gives you access to culinary classes earlier.

Not sure if this is a bit of an answer but there are certain excursions which are culinary classes - for instance “Cooking with Spices” (an example). You visit a spice farm with the O chef and return to the ship to do a culinary class. This allows you to you to use your SM excursion allowance for what is essentially an enhanced cooking class.