Vallesan

I guess I look at it from another angle …. I get in touch with a TA and am giving them the opportunity to earn $$$ commission! I think they should give me a ‘fee free’ service for my business! Maybe I’m wrong, I don’t know!

Maybe you should request it and see!!

I think you will always be disappointed with service if you compare it to Seabourn service. It’s over 5 years since we sailed with Regent and we did only sail once with them. I won’t go into details but at that time the service on Oceania was much, much better. Seabourn service is as they advertise ‘intuitive’. I still can’t get over how Seabourn staff seem to know each individuals needs/wants almost immediately. I really enjoy Seabourn but I enjoy Oceania equally my expectations are different on each line. Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

The prices you’re referring to are ‘European’ prices in € which are different again to UK prices. I think it’s really difficult to cross check the pricing mechanisms for each country. Here in the UK we do have different consumer laws and as a result our prices are appreciably higher. To make matters more complicated our invoices are in pounds sterling with the shorex etc converted at the going rate from $ to £ yet onboard they appear as $$ again!! I decided a while ago that if there were any cruises that I planned on possibly booking onboard I make a note of the prices in my local currency before I leave. Once onboard the brochures are all priced in $$, and the internet gives only the local pricing, ie. €€ in Europe etc. In saying all that we now have the option of ‘onboard’ booking perks 30 before sailing which makes price comparisons much easier.

THANK YOU! Really enjoy your posts. Keep enjoying your trip.

Even more reason not to reduce prices!

I do think that the ‘sales’ we saw in 2023 were probably ‘extraordinary’ for a number of reasons. Firstly, I think that pre 2023, lots of ‘cruisers’ were still not sure about cruising and being in ‘close’ contact with others. We sailed August 22 and there were very few people using lifts and quite a number still using masks. In 2023 people seemed to be generally more relaxed but there were still those who chose to ‘distance’ and/or use masks. The confidence in cruising is still not back to 100% but I do think it’s improved from 2023. So, in my opinion, as ‘appetite’ improves we won’t see the ‘sales’ we saw last year. I think the principal of ‘supply and demand’ will come into force and we won’t see the sales of 2023. Time will tell!

++++2!

In January we were a very last minute, one week before, ‘no show’ (cancellation) in an A1 so hopefully somebody really got to enjoy an ‘upgrade’!

In the UK TA’s do not charge fees to book they earn commissions from the cruise companies and usually pass a percentage of that onto the client as a discount. Never heard of a TA charging a fee to book.

The only other difference is that with a “Guarantee” the cost of the cabin is the cost at the time of booking. With a “Waitlist” the cost of the cabin is the cost when a cabin becomes ‘available’. You then have the choice to accept or not.

Thank you Hank. There really is nothing quite as valid as a ‘live’ review. With time, as our late Queen said “recollections may vary”! Keep enjoying!

Oh my goodness! I just was ‘wondering’ about a survey! I should know in future not to ‘wonder’ or ‘think’ or ‘horror of horrors’, ‘speculate’. Never again will I post something that could ‘automatically’ be construed as ‘criticising’ Oceania. I ‘like’ Oceania. I have sailed with Oceania many times and have upcoming voyages. It was just ‘idle ‘wondering’! Please can we let this go now?

If you go to the Oceania main website page click on ‘Ultimate Value’, then choose ‘Special Offers’ scroll down to the bottom and you will see a section ‘Bridge Cruises’ which feature ‘hosted contract bridge play’. Your cruise might just be there!

Good to hear! I started this thread after receiving a survey ‘out of the blue’. Just made me wonder…. maybe I shouldn’t! 😀

The poster has a 60 day window to book. I was responding to him not to cruisers with cabin level G-B. There is a price difference between the cabin levels each with different ‘perks’. You pay your money and you make your choice!

Who knows? Possibly if there is too much discontent Oceania May revamp its current policy with regards to SM tours. My thought is that if they start giving OBC to be spent on anything then people could book tours, cancel and then expect a ‘cash’, as in onboard, credit instead. So it could be that people book, cancel and use the credit against gratuities etc. A difficult one I think.

We were also 60 days pre cruise. I’m an early riser and just after 6am UK time I got tables for 2 @7.30pm in all the specialities. We don’t have a problem dining with others but I have found that 90% of the time (9 cruises) tables for 2 were available. Also, on occasion, we should have been a 4 but the other 2 didn’t turn up! All a bit hit and miss but even when we have had a shared table with 6 it’s been ‘interesting’ to say the least! Most important thing to remember is that nothing is ‘set in stone’ and dates, times and numbers can often be changed once onboard.

Looking at it from Oceania’s point of view maybe they just didn’t realise what a mess this new system would turn out to be. They must have shed loads of people booked with SimplyMore so they could just be trying to work out the best way forward? Change doesn’t happen overnight!

Think you do need to add your details to the ‘source’ app, passport etc. etc. Might just make life a little easier if you download it now and fill the details in.

Without a doubt! Another bugbear of mine is that now in the UK they include gratuities in the fare. We are silver and have a 10 night cruise booked for next spring. Gratuities would have been included $180 pp but we have $125 pp in lieu of gratuities! I don’t know whether this is good or bad. We can spend the dollars on whatever we want but yet I feel a bit short changed! Maybe I’m wrong.

It seems to me, as others have said, that SimplyMore really is Simply Less in practice. I suppose it’s not until a new system starts to roll out do the flaws become really obvious. Whether or not prices increased with SM, it just seems unreasonable that some people are not able to take advantage of tours, which are now ‘included’, either because they are full or cancelled and no replacement is available. If tours are full and there is still demand then that should be fulfilled, whether that demand comes from earlier tours being cancelled or just popularity of a particular tour. I just don’t think Oceania thought this one through properly. Now because people fear that tours later in their cruise will be cancelled they are booking early tours on their cruises. Demand for early tours soars, they won’t be able to meet that demand! Vicious circle! Silversea introduced an included tour in every port. It obviously did not work in their favour because now some of what were ‘included’ tours have become ‘select’ carrying a charge. Some people who booked ‘included’ tours are now being charged because the tour has been ‘upgraded’ to select! Very many unhappy cruisers. I think we all understand that the big cruise companies have huge debts. Also, the demographic is changing and the premium/luxury lines need to attract the cruisers of the ‘future’. I think the most dissatisfaction is amongst those who cruised ‘before’ and now that we are in the ‘after’ phase, with many more inclusions and higher prices, not everyone is happy. As Orv says …” we all have choices to make”!

Don’t worry it may never happen! One thing for sure if any tours are cancelled you will receive ‘cash’ back to your account first. In the worst case scenario you may not be able to use all of your shorex credit.

On your Oceania invoice. I’m in the UK it’s on page 4 between ‘Itinerary’ and ‘Amenities and Gifts’.

Today we received the documentation from Oceania for our upcoming Marina cruise in May! Lovely to have that little ‘thrill’ when the envelope arrives! Funky luggage labels and whilst the brochure is not quite as ‘personal’ as it was before it’s one huge improvement on online documents. Thank you for listening Oceania!