S4POPO

Ahhh, feel like an idiot!  I'm getting too old. lol

8 hours ago, Selion said:

Regent Seven Seas is part of NCLH, which is a public company.  In contrast to NCL, RSS hasn't been in the YT cruise news after the pandemic with service cuts.  Let's hope Viking stays true to what made them successful in the first place.

Apologize for my ignorance, but what does YT stand for?

On 1/21/2024 at 12:33 PM, bookbabe said:

Considering Regent is double the cost of Viking for a world cruise, and the inclusions aren’t that much different, at least not enough to justify double the cost, the Viking world cruise is a pretty good bargain.  But you already have to be planning to spend a serious chunk of cash to be considering a world cruise anyway, so I guess YMMV.

Isn't Oceania the better comparison to Viking?

23 hours ago, Redtravel said:

When I read this thread, I contacted my TA. She said that Oceania cannot be booked without Simply More. Thought maybe I had missed a change in things.  We are on Vista now. Nice cruise. However, since we seldom drink and don’t do excursions in the Caribbean, we choose not to rebook as we have previously.  Add to that the price increases for same 10 night cruise in 2025 (50% more than this year), we are not rebooking.  Also, the onboard incentive isn’t as good as last time we booked onboard.  We are booked on a European cruise for spring 2024 with SM.  On that cruise we wanted excursions.  Next winter we will not be on Oceania.

There is no way 2025 rates are 50% higher.  Obviously there are specific outliers depending on market, cabin category, ship, etc. but I have found 2025 to be slightly higher than 2024.  In your case, I am assuming you are comparing a deeply discounted 2024 cruise vs. retail pricing in 2025.  Roll the dice, and you may get the same discount in 2025, but I don't think it's a fair comparison.

20 hours ago, Bongomauka said:

Thank you for sticking with this. In answer to your question, No, were not told to send payment from either Oceania or NCLH, in fact the third party agent recommended against that as he could not guarantee we would get a receipt to present to our insurance companies for reimbursement. Neither of our insurance policies are through the cruise line but rather our own health insurance carrier and our traveler insurance independently purchased through our travel agent. We were told that a third party insurance processor is handling our claim and the confusion they had and miscommunication with the cruise line no doubt was not helpful in our quest for a resolution. Now it's just an issue of our getting a receipt of some kind from Oceania/NCL Holdings demonstrating they paid the bill.

I am still trying to wrap my head around the issue.  Are you saying that the insurance company will reimburse you ~$100k simply with proof of Oceania paying the medivac bill?  Without the costs being passed on to you (via separate bill from Oceania)?  In this scenario, you make a pretty penny if Oceania never bills you.  I apologize if this was discussed in a previous post and I missed something.

I highly recommend Test Kitchen.  It's unlike any other restaurant on a cruise ship and worth the experience.

1 hour ago, MEFIowa said:

 

For us, looks like it may be the end-of-the-line, given how we started on O in 2021 (10 nights) with "cruise only" and thankfully booked our 2022 (10 nights) and 2023 (20 nights) also "cruise only". The SM program essentially raised prices by $800 or so with no real value for us (we'd rather set up our own excursions). We have a 20-night B2B on Sirena in the Baltic later in 2024, but NO plans for any O cruise in 2025 or 2026.

 

The "product" we want is "cruise only". That's gone.

 

I'm so glad I booked the 2024 cruise in early 2022, the day it opened! Between SM and the price increases, the price shown today is so beyond ours.

I respect your opinion.  What competitors are you considering?  What's a comparable product that offers cruise only?

16 hours ago, Mary229 said:

This is not bias, I really wanted to like Oceania as I was in my youth a big fan of Norwegian 

I know that both brands are part of the same corporate holding company, but I wouldn't compare NCL and Oceania.  They are two distinct companies with different management teams and different philosophies.

Can't speak about TMobile, but I have AT&T and I like the daily $10 charge for any international destination.  It's a single charge and I have access to my regular plan (unlimited talk, unlimited messaging, unlimited data). 

Somewhat OT, but is there a place on CC that lists all Black Friday deals for all cruiselines in a single place?

On 11/3/2023 at 12:34 PM, SophieM said:

I think the ticket contract says you waive your right to a class action suit. 

Don't fool yourself.  Class action lawsuits are ALWAYS for the benefit of the lawyers involved.  The consumers get pennies on the dollar.  I would always choose to handle things individually rather than be part of any class action lawsuit.  I find it amusing when I am sent a random check for $1.25 in the mail for a class-action lawsuit I happened to qualified for.

On 11/4/2023 at 7:00 PM, Beagle5 said:

Just curious- do you book through a Travel Agent? This  happened on our two previous O cruises (big drops 2 weeks after final payment). In each case our Melbourne TA was able to get O to offer us a choice of either cabin upgrade, OBC, and in one case a FCC. 
still annoying, but it kept us loyal (for now).

This sounds like simple supply and demand to me.  You can always risk it and book your vacation inside of the penalty window and roll the dice on getting a lower price.  You have to pay a premium when you want a guaranteed cabin on a specific deck at a price reasonable to you.  Same applies to airfares.  Do you think airlines would survive if every passenger was expecting to pay the lowest airfare onboard?

Is this for 2024 or 2025?  I am guessing 2025 as I don't see anything available in 2024.  I am very interested in this itinerary as well.  I am leaning towards the Papeete round-trip and skip some of the sea days.

I feel like I am missing something.  Was airfare originally ticketed?  Did you ever receive confirmation?

If you were charged on your credit card, were you refunded soon after or right before you trip?

I believe the cruise lines providing refunds are those that have sailings further out into 2024 (outside of penalty window) or those that cancelled their upcoming sailings entirely.  The "grey" area has been the sailings that had Israel ports replaced with something else.  This might mean an itinerary completely different from original intent or additional sea days.

48 minutes ago, Harry Lake said:

I looked at their site and it looks very nice. Thanks.

Is that a proper comp for Oceania?  Aren't they 4x more expensive?

I always thought Viking was the closest comparison.

On 8/27/2022 at 6:09 PM, tallnthensome said:

When a CEO says he's going to charge you as much as possible that doesn't sit well with most people and they don't embrace it. 

Hmm, isn't that every CEO's job? 😄 The cruise lines have taken different approaches to coming out of the pandemic.  You should do what's best for you, but criticizing a company for trying to maximize revenue is just silly.  Look at how much debt they (the big 3) have racked up in the last couple of years.

BTW, I don't think the prices in the cruise industry have kept up with increases in almost everything else since 2019.  If you are seeing deals out there now (on any cruise line), take it because they will not last.

Nonstop flights are more desirable and thus higher yielding.

On 7/29/2019 at 9:36 PM, don't-use-real-name said:

Your return is not all that bad - you maybe able to change it to something earlier - - -

off the ship at 8 am airport at 10 flight - 11++ -  Chicago non-stop 2-3 pm ?

 

Now as for that going wrong way Corrigan from Chicago to Minneapolis and turn around and go back

southeast to Miami - probably has something to do with American have a fleet deficiency with the 737 MAX

airplane - Ordinarily would expect to fly AA non-stop ORD MIA

 

Why not Chicago Atlanta (Charlotte NC) and then Miami - instead of going 800 miles out of the way with a plane change !

 

Really hope you get something better - way better than this place-holding

I don't think the MSP flight is on AA.  MSP is a Delta hub so 95% certain this is a Delta flight.  The bigger question is why couldn't they do ORD-ATL-MIA?

The Sky has had the more recent refurb, so I'm guessing it's currently a better option.  Don't expect anything close to the Escape.

FWIW, I've never been on the Sun and it's been years since I've been on the Sky.

I agree with the posts above mine.  I would call a supervisor and report it.  He may have done this to others simply to bump up his numbers.

I just checked and the July 18th sailing is still there.  It looks like only "insides" are still available.  All other categories are marked as "sold out."

1 hour ago, mking8288 said:

NCL isn't going EcoGreen - IMHO - with its double standard of eliminating straws everywhere while peddling bottled water, whether it's the "premium" house brand, Aquafina and/or sparkling water to help save planet earth.  Cases of plastic bottles thrown away & needed to be collected and recycled - generating far more junks than plastic straws.  

 

Furthermore, when they can install water dispensing station for reusable water bottles instead of status quo with the existing setup at the buffet ... We can count numerous times, each & every time we are on NCL - more than a few passengers sticking their own bottles under the nozzle, clean or maybe not washed/rinsed out prior ...  Meanwhile, crew members seen in the area just looked the other way and/or pretended that they didn't see anything at all, let alone risk challenging or confronting those cruisers.  

 

Each & every time I walk up to the buffet beverage station for a refill, I am tempted to just look both ways and stick our contigo bottles directly under for a faster refill.  Now that ice & ice buckets are optional and no longer provided - by default - for OV and Insides (Studios too on mega/+ ships) - just don't feel this is helping, that some of us don't mind going eco-friendly, but.  Feel free to discuss & agree to disagree. 

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/news-headlines/regent-says-goodbye-to-plastic-in-switch-to-vero-water/

maybe NCL will be next

Buying bottled water anywhere is crazy to me.  I understand there's a need and a place, but not the way the industry has brainwashed the masses.  Evian spelled backwards is...😉

The original poster has stated an issue with the ports of call but hasn't mentioned any alternatives.  In addition, if you prefer sea days, then the solution is simple (stay on the ship.)

I do think VV is innovative with their stop in Bimini.