MEFIowa

O had 6 major sales in 2023 and 2 minor ones. That pretty much covered all 12 months of 2023. Which, for 2023, would be "all the time". Whether your individual cruise ever went on sale or not was up to O. I do love the QUALIFIER: "reasonable price". Whatever that is. I've found that SALES can make prices quite "reasonable". If we see an itinerary that we like, we'll book it and track every future sale after the initial booking. So far, four out of our six booked since 1/2021 (4 already taken) went on sale. I'm still watching to see if the final two do sometime this year. We sail Aug-Sept on 22-night Baltic B2B on Sirena.

Since O tends to raise prices globally at the beginning of the new quarter, esp. Jan 1 and July 1, not too surprising if they raised prices on April 1st, the start of the new quarter.

You're not alone, though I love watching for sales Doesn't look like O is doing anything sales-wise in April other than the "pre-cruise hotel offer". Thankfully we're only about 150 days out from 22 nights on Sirena in the Baltic, Aug-Sept (12 nights London to Stockholm and then the 10-nights B2B Stockholm to Copenhagen), plus 3 nights prior in London and 3 night after in Copenhagen. We can't wait!

Glad you enjoyed the pun. Intended.

Displacement hardly matters, for non-combat ships. For cruise ships, more a function of: 1. Number of passengers. 2. Number of crew, esp. those providing services to passengers. 3. Size of cabin (including bathroom space!). 4. Size of public spaces (including hallway width). 5. Size of swimming pool. 6. Number of eating places. 7, Number, location and size of public restrooms. 8, Number and location of elevators. The smaller R-class ships built for 650 passengers. Our time on Sirena (11/2022) she had about 630. Which I think is near the new max, since she has solo rooms that reduced max passengers. The POOL on the R-ships tiny, more for walking than any actual swimming. And ONLY 2 specialty restaurants. You want heaven? We had that on the much larger O-class ship Riveria 12/2021 in the W. Caribbean. Only 719 passengers and 790 crew. We were treated like gods. Room to spare everywhere.

For women, dress sandals are fine. Esp. if you have a dress. For men, just need decent pants, shirt with collar, no tie, socks, and shoes. I see it more as business casual attire than country club, but either works, I guess. Just more people go to offices than country clubs.

For Waitlisted, think "I'm on a waiting list for a particular type cabin". You can PAY a deposit and get on a "real" waitlist, where you'll have a number showing your place in the queue. Or not, and take your chances, as it will clear those who paid a deposit first. There is NO guarantee that you'll cruise from a Waitlist. Whether you paid a deposit or not. If your cabin type doesn't come available, you won't cruise. Then for Guaranteed, think "I've paid a deposit and O guarantees that "I'll get on that cabin level or higher". BUT you may find out a week or two in advance and you have little or no choice on the cabin type or location. You'll be cruising, and your price will be at the Guaranteed cabin rate, but you took your chances as to where on the ship and in what type cabin.

Just remember that you can bring on ALL the beer, hard liquor and wine you want at embarkation and at any ports. Have some fun trying to find something interesting in a local grocery store, liquor store or wine ship. I had a blast finding wonderful inexpensive Greek, Serbian and Spanish brandy in the Med on Riviera 10-11/2023. And all the different inexpensive beers! (Just drink you own beer and hard liquor in your cabin/on your veranda. Though you can pay a $25 corkage fee to drink your own wine in their restaurants.) And make sure to take advantage of the Captain's Party and, if there is one, any Newbies Party. That is up to two nights of free booze!

Pulled out my CURRENTS for our recent 2023 B2B on Riviera in the Med: 10/30-11/9 1:45-4 pm Social Bridge & Mah-Jongg Play / non-hosted Polo Grill (14) 11/9-11/19 1:45-4 pm Social Bridge & Mah-Jongg Play / non-hosted Polo Grill (14) Looks this way for every day except embarkation.

Have you gone to O's web site and checked out the DECK PLANS for Vista and the CABIN DESCRIPTIONS with photographs/layout? Vista Cruise Ship Deck Plans | Oceania Cruises Luxury Cruise Suites & Staterooms Aboard Vista | Oceania Cruises

Our recent Triest to Athens and Athens to Barcelona B2B cruises on Riviera (10/30-11/19, 2023) were VERY port intensive. We had 5 lectures from the archeologist on each 10-night cruise. Also had 5 lectures on the E. Caribbean cruise on Sirena 11/2022.

That's a different topic, one involving generalities. I'm discussing specifics. BUT, yes IF (1) I like an itinerary and (2) I like the PRICE, I'll book. BUT we KNOW that the price changes all the time. I prefer to spend less, rather than more, for the same itinerary. Only a foolish or a rich person ignores O's constant and constantly changing sales.

And my pile of O brochures I've collected since 2021 is well over a foot high. Grower slower than it used to. But, for example, I have ALL of the 2023 brochures O sent us. Both pre- and post-SM. And all the sales pre- and post-SM. IIRC from a previous OP and thread I created abut sales in 2023, O had 6 "major" sales and 2 "minor" sales in 2023. The Extraordinary Saving Sale pre-SM was the truly BIG ONE of 2023. IIRC that was May. Before SM.

We are discussing O and SM. Nothing to do with SS or Crystal. What happened in the summer of 2023 when SM was introduced. A snapshot in time about prices as they went from pre-SM to SM as introduced. This is literally a look at prices at DAY SM -1 to Day SM. Two days.

I tracked 4 cruises we had booked in 2022 across the various sales and introduction of SM. AND I went looking at various other cruises I was interested in. So, what I saw THEN, when SM was introduced in the summer of 2023, was seemingly an $800 PP increase. (Now if memory serves me, hasn't O since cut back on the excursion credit under SM?)

We've been on 4 O cruises: 1. Riviera, W. Caribbean, 12/2021: NO lecturer. But could watch old lectures from their video library on our TV. 2. Sirena, E. Caribbean, 11/2021: One lecturer. Her focus on music & culture, her family from there. 3. Riviera, C-E Med, 10/2023: One lecturer. Archeologist. Nice presentations the day before of what you might see the next day in the various ruins and excursions. 4. Riviera, E-W Med, 11/2023: One lecturer. Archeologist. Nice presentations the day before of what you might see the next day in the various ruins and excursions. I attended every lecture except one on #4. The lectures for #2 were in the morning, while the lectures for #3-4 were at 5 pm.

First, when you book a Sept 2024 cruise in May 2022 you get to WATCH every sale and every promotion. I'm STILL watching to see if the cruise will go on sale again (rebooked it once in Oct 2022 on sale). The downside to SM is exactly that: THE PRICE. Which essentially rose by $800 PP. As many have said, in general, SM worked as a global price increase for the O brand. We haven't booked anything in 2025. Not seeing the "value" given the increased price. BUT we still watch all the sales. IF the right cruise involving E. Africa and Madagascar & surrounding area in the Indian Ocean went on a great sale....

We can compare these prices because O released 2024 cruises early in 2022. I booked a Sept 9, 2024 Sirena cruise in the Baltic on May 7, 2022. Then you can watch all the sales, SM, etc. I'm STILL HOPING there might be another sale for this cruise. (In Oct 2022 rebooked it on sale from the original G to a big C1 on Deck 7.)

It was fascinating that O allowed 2024 bookings in early 2022. They didn't make that mistake for 2025 or 2026. So I could literally watch and compare a September 2024 booking made in early 2022 over time. We booked it cruise-only. Watched prices change due to sales and general price increases. As well as the impact of SM. We stayed cruise only under the 2022 booking.

Having made cruise-only bookings pre-SM and post-SM, and comparing my two upcoming cruises, one SM & the other not, the "difference" for the same cruise & cabin made pre-versus post-SM was about an $800 price increase. That's a "lot of difference". Cash up front increase.

What A, PH and above cabins can get and do, their success rate, has NOTHING to do with the failure rate for G-B cabins. The cabin level makes a huge difference, since the majority of cruisers are G-B.

Looks like this is the Apr-May 2024 "sale": "This valuable offer is available on 33 destination-immersive sailings... The offer is available for reservations made between April 1, 2024, and May 31, 2024" Not much of a sale. Certainly not when compared to the Extraordinary Savings Sale that was going on last year during this time.

Though I think the reality for so many G-B cabin cruisers is that many don't even eat in the specialty restaurants if they want a 2-top before 8 pm. O makes it impossible to set up the reservations in advance. Saw this on our 20-night B2B in Oct-Nov on Riviera. First 10 nights in an A3. No problem getting "decent time" for 2 top. BUT when we tried for our B3, all we could get were mainly 8:30 or 9 pm times. Weirdly, they asked us to change the 9 pm time to 8:30. I quickly saw why, just at the 8:30 time. We and about 2 other couples were the only people who showed up at 8:30 or after. We rushed our dinner to get out by 9:30 since it was emptying fast between 8:30 and 9 and mostly empty after 9 pm. We learned to tell the server upfront: "We're ready to order, we do NOT want any bread and NO dessert." We'd sailed on Riviera 12/2021 (A4) and Sirena 11/2022 (B2) so we "knew" the menus and what we wanted.

First, under SM you get their approved beer and/or wine at LUNCH or DINNER. Second, you get FREE coffee, tea, juice, soda pop, still & sparkling water, smoothies, milk shakes/malts, etc. The usual traditional non-alcoholic daily beverages. Third, you can BRING your own BEER, HARD LIQUOR and WINE on board at embarkation and in ports. You can drink your own beer and hard liquor in your cabin. And pay a $25 corkage fee to drink your own win in their restaurants. (We sailed 10 nights on Sirena 11/2022 and loved it. B2 cabin. We've got 22 more nights on Sirena booked for Aug-Sept, F and C cabins.)

You have to monitor each and every O sale. The "cabin-upgrade" sales can be amazing for C-B-A cabins, and rarer for the PHs. In 2023 around Apr-May there was the absolutely rock-bottom low price Extraordinary Savings Sale. All depends on knowing the sales and being flexible to cruise on one that is offered.