Question re: On Board Booking for future Cruises

My wife and I are 1st time cruisers with Oceania and will be aboard the Riviera on their Dec 12 voyage. We have booked future Cruises with other Cruise Lines while on board and have received some added Perks as the result. I do see where aboard the Riviera they have an on Board Rep to handle future Reservations. What can we expect. I am sure some of you seasoned Oceania Cruisers have used this method to book Future cruises, could some of you take the time to give me a Heads up here on what to expect

When booking on board, you receive a $100. OBC as well as a fixed amount off the new booking, typically about $250. Based on the new booking. The amount is disclosed on lists left in your cabin. Your TA still receives credit on the new booking or you can assign a TA within 30 days of the new booking. You can also change the booking 1 time.

We booked a future cruise during our last cruise.

Thought the price was good, OBC as stated above, booking was immediately sent to our TA, who pays for gratuities and gives us refundable OBC.

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Reduced deposit while booking on board, too.

When booking on board, you receive a $100. OBC as well as a fixed amount off the new booking, typically about $250. Based on the new booking. The amount is disclosed on lists left in your cabin. Your TA still receives credit on the new booking or you can assign a TA within 30 days of the new booking. You can also change the booking 1 time.

Not exactly correct. The amount you received as a discount depends on your cabin category and the total amount of the cruise. Our last cruise it amounted to around 4.5 percent.

The best feature of the onboard booking is the “lowest price” guarantee till sailing - even after final payment.

That’s hard to beat.

You folks have been so helpful, I knew I could count on this thread for help, Thanks ever so much

When I checked onboard, the discount and perks only apply to some cabin categories. We usually travel steerage so the perks didn't apply to us. Also, I had to talk to the onboard rep about a question with one of our future cruises. She was very helpful but it took a couple of tries to get to talk to her. Usually there were several people waiting. Best advice is that if you want to do this, meet with the rep early in the cruise.

Mary

Thanks Mary good advise, will do it your way

The best feature of the onboard booking is the “lowest price” guarantee till sailing - even after final payment.

That’s hard to beat.

I am curious - if the price is reduced, does Oceania automatically lower it if you booked while on board or do you have to keep checking the cruise prices & notify them if you see a price reduction?

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I am curious - if the price is reduced, does Oceania automatically lower it if you booked while on board or do you have to keep checking the cruise prices & notify them if you see a price reduction?

 

Your TA should do that for you. A least mine does.

It’s the responsibility of your TA or you - O will not doit automatically

Here are the details on booking onboard https://www.oceaniacruises.com/Documents/TAC/promo-flyers/68766/Onboard-Saving-Flyer.pdf

On our last cruise we purchased a future deposit certificate because we did not find a cruise we wanted to book at the time.

When booking on board, you receive a $100. OBC as well as a fixed amount off the new booking, typically about $250. Based on the new booking. The amount is disclosed on lists left in your cabin. Your TA still receives credit on the new booking or you can assign a TA within 30 days of the new booking. You can also change the booking 1 time.

The "book onboard" discount is roughly 4% off the regular "promotional" fare (same discount as the varying month long "partner" sales O has with TAs in the O Connoisseurs Club). Beyond the $100 OBC added to the current cruise, "book onboard" has reduced deposits and a price reduction match guarantee up until the day of embarkation (note however that, if you later do a lower price match, you get whatever are the then current perks rather than what was your original deal (e.g., a reduction in O Life values).

If you happen to be on a cruise when new itineraries come out, you will also be able to get the same early "heads up" as do TAs. Some of the O Club reps will also take your info and do your booking shortly after your departure (if your current cruise ends just before new bookings open up).

Somewhat similar, once onboard, you can request a refigure of an already booked future cruise to get the 4% discount retroactively (cabin category must still be available and it may mean a change from originally allotted perks to whatever is currently advertised.

Finally, we often book onboard with O but we assign the cruise to ourselves and then "shop around" the transfer to a TA (w/i the 30 day window) in order to get added OBC et al. from the TA (and from any consortium agency to which they belong).

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The TA we used for our most recent cruise pays gratuities and gives a sizeable refundable OBC.

When we booked another cruise while onboard that one, the Oceania rep told us refundable is very rare and encouraged us to stick with her.

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The TA we used for our most recent cruise pays gratuities and gives a sizeable refundable OBC.

When we booked another cruise while onboard that one, the Oceania rep told us refundable is very rare and encouraged us to stick with her.

 

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I wouldn't call it rare. Just need to do one's homework

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The term the Oceania rep used was "practically unheard of".

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The term the Oceania rep used was "practically unheard of".

 

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Beyond the O Life (unrefundable) OBC, Oceania does provide some unrefundable OBC to partner TAs for incentivizing customers (e.g., first time O customers or coverage of gratuities et al.). But, then TAs can also share commissions as additional refundable OBC or a post cruise refund check. How much that may be varies from near $0 to as much as 5-10% of the commissionable fare. Not "unheard of."

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It was to her.

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It was to her.

 

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Very surprising, unless she was really new to the job (or doing "that salesperson thing").

One of the main reasons seasoned cruisers use TAs (beyond convenience and problem resolution) is to score the perks added beyond O Life including that refundable OBC or post-cruise check. But you already knew that [emoji41]

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She was not new to the job and I can't see how it would be helpful matter to her

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She was not new to the job and I can't see how it would matter to her which TA I use.

I figure that she encounters many more TAs than I do and is more knowledgeable than I.

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She was not new to the job and I can't see how it would be helpful matter to her

 

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As I'm sure you've experienced here and there, sales people often tell customers things that are meant to make that customer feel special/smart/etc. For example: "Wow - you received refundable OBC from your TA on this cruise? That's unheard of! You must be a great negotiator!..... Sign here please."

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And posters say things to make themselves look smarter than anyone else.

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And posters say things to make themselves look smarter than anyone else.

 

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....or they provide a new O cruiser with the answer they seek including a comprehensive and informative summary of the overall "book onboard" scenario.

Happy Thanksgiving to you! [emoji884]