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Silver status and getting prepaid gratuities


oceansandseas
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DH and I are silver with Oceania which means that we get complimentary gratuities. The 14 day cruise that we have booked included prepaid gratuities. TA is saying that we will only get a credit of $225.00 OBC for the prepaid gratuities booking offer and not the full amount of the price of the gratuities.

 

Is this the way it is usually done? What have others received? Thanks for any replies.

 

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DH and I are silver with Oceania which means that we get complimentary gratuities. The 14 day cruise that we have booked included prepaid gratuities. TA is saying that we will only get a credit of $225.00 OBC for the prepaid gratuities booking offer and not the full amount of the price of the gratuities.

 

Is this the way it is usually done? What have others received? Thanks for any replies.

 

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Yes if you get PPG from another source then the OBC is not the full amount of the gratuities

 

Ours was $250

If you made Silver or above before they changed the rules back in 2013 (I think) it might be different

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Yes if you get PPG from another source then the OBC is not the full amount of the gratuities

 

Ours was $250

If you made Silver or above before they changed the rules back in 2013 (I think) it might be different

Who's 2013 rule change, Oceania's or the TA's? If you now get prepaid grats from O, then why can't your TA give you that sum in additional OBC because isn't the TA still getting the same amount of commission from O whether or not you get free grats from the cruise line, or am I missing something?

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Who's 2013 rule change, Oceania's or the TA's? If you now get prepaid grats from O, then why can't your TA give you that sum in additional OBC because isn't the TA still getting the same amount of commission from O whether or not you get free grats from the cruise line, or am I missing something?

Oceania Club rules

Some TA's that offer PPG really come from Oceania as an incentive to the TA

 

If the TA gives you PPG out of their pocket then it would be the amount of the PPG as an OBC

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Oceania Club rules

Some TA's that offer PPG really come from Oceania as an incentive to the TA

 

If the TA gives you PPG out of their pocket then it would be the amount of the PPG as an OBC

Thanks. We'll remember that when we get to silver. If our TA doesn't give us the equivalent in OBC when we transfer an O cruise to them, then we will just transfer the cruise to a TA that will. For us OBC is the ONLY reason we transfer a cruise to a TA.

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Thanks. We'll remember that when we get to silver. If our TA doesn't give us the equivalent in OBC when we transfer an O cruise to them, then we will just transfer the cruise to a TA that will. For us OBC is the ONLY reason we transfer a cruise to a TA.

 

I'm not a TA, that said some TA's get the PPG from O, it's not the same as OBC a TA will give you.

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I'm not a TA, that said some TA's get the PPG from O, it's not the same as OBC a TA will give you.
I appreciate your thoughts. However, for us it comes down to OBC. If we're on a 30 day O cruise and grats for the cruise at $16/pp/day are valued at $960, and our current TA will only give us $250 when we make silver to transfer a $25K O cruise to them, then we looking elsewhere. There are other mass market TAs, to include the ones that have ads on CC, that will pay a lot more than 1% when they get at least 10% commission on the deal. Personally, we'll be expecting at least $1,400 in OBC. I could be wrong, but I'll be calling around for sure if and when that time comes.
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I believe it is the Oceania Club PPG that are reduced if your TA gets the PPG from Oceania to pass on to you

So shop around for a TA that will give you PPG from their own pocket

If they are offering PPG be sure to ask where it comes from before you book

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I believe it is the Oceania Club PPG that are reduced if your TA gets the PPG from Oceania to pass on to you

So shop around for a TA that will give you PPG from their own pocket

If they are offering PPG be sure to ask where it comes from before you book

 

I believe Lyn is correct that Oceania Club PPGs are reduced if your TA gets the PPGs or financial promotions from Oceania. We have had three sailings where our TA had a 'group' agreement with O. The first time was in 2014 and the TA PPGs were used with O stating at booking time that we would received about 65% of the second set of PPGs as a non-refundable OBC. They did simply give us a $ amount at the time and I figured out the %. On our next sailing where this happened, we received no more than 50% of the second set of Oceania Club Silver PPGs as non-refundable OBC. Our third experience gives us no indication as to how much we will receive on our upcoming sailing. Invoice on page 3 simply states "SBC in lieu of Oceania Club Prepaid Gratuities" under the "Promotional Amenities".

 

Different situations with different TAs are certainly possible, but our TA asked why our OC Silver PPGs could not be applied in full and then she could give us refundable OBC instead of the TA's second set of PPGs. She says she was told "that is O's policy". :confused:

 

Seems as if the 'policy' is somewhat fluid.

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The first time was in 2014 and the TA PPGs were used with O stating at booking time that we would received about 65% of the second set of PPGs as a non-refundable OBC. They did simply give us a $ amount at the time and I figured out the %. On our next sailing where this happened, we received no more than 50% of the second set of Oceania Club Silver PPGs as non-refundable OBC.

I apologize, but I'm trying to understand. What does the "second set of PPGs" mean? For example if we before we reach silver status book an A cabin on a 30 day cruise, our gratuity charge would be $960, $480 per person. From our TA on that particular cruise we received free PPG and $400 in nonrefundable OBC. Hypothetically, using your above definition and your TA, if we were both silver and the PPGs are included as part of the TA perk to transfer our cruise from O to the TA, how much OBC would we expect to see on the "booking"?

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All of this is black magic! My TA has shifted around what she now offers. My next tour is with a Group, not my regular TA, that offers PPG and OBC, with additional OBC if O gives you PPG.

 

Who actually pays for what, and how much money actually changes hands is all part of the competitive market. It’s not a one size fits all scenario with O necessarily making the rules.

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I apologize, but I'm trying to understand. What does the "second set of PPGs" mean? For example if we before we reach silver status book an A cabin on a 30 day cruise, our gratuity charge would be $960, $480 per person. From our TA on that particular cruise we received free PPG and $400 in nonrefundable OBC. Hypothetically, using your above definition and your TA, if we were both silver and the PPGs are included as part of the TA perk to transfer our cruise from O to the TA, how much OBC would we expect to see on the "booking"?

 

No apology needed---I am trying to understand just as you and some others are. In the first line of my post "second set of PPGs" means our Oceania Club Silver gratuities. The situation is the same in all three sailings I mentioned. What is different is the amount of non-refundable OBC (% wise) that we have received for the OC Silver PPGs after O applies our TA's gratuities.. That amount has gone down on all three sailings beginning in 2014. Someone stated something about a change in 2013. I do remember another thread similar to this one a while back. Perhaps you could search the thread and find some answers there. But I still have questions after reading that thread from what I remember.

 

I am sorry that I cannot answer your last question as to how much OBC you would expect to see on the booking you describe. The examples I used were "group" TA sailings where O may have been providing PPGs to TA, and where we have OC Silver amenity of PPGs as well. It was the OC Silver PPGs that have been getting reduced by O as smaller OBC. And on our upcoming sailing they gave no firm $ amount---left it blank on their Oceania invoice as described in my previous post. However, in each case, we have wanted the sailing we chose, and would not change the sailing if the OBC in lieu of Oceania Club PPG was less than expected. YMMV.

 

Perhaps you could pose your question with your specific numbers to Oceania and/or your TA. I would be interested in the answers you receive. Maybe you will get an answer that is more specific than what we got.

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No apology needed---I am trying to understand just as you and some others are. In the first line of my post "second set of PPGs" means our Oceania Club Silver gratuities. The situation is the same in all three sailings I mentioned. What is different is the amount of non-refundable OBC (% wise) that we have received for the OC Silver PPGs after O applies our TA's gratuities.. That amount has gone down on all three sailings beginning in 2014. Someone stated something about a change in 2013. I do remember another thread similar to this one a while back. Perhaps you could search the thread and find some answers there. But I still have questions after reading that thread from what I remember.

 

I am sorry that I cannot answer your last question as to how much OBC you would expect to see on the booking you describe. The examples I used were "group" TA sailings where O may have been providing PPGs to TA, and where we have OC Silver amenity of PPGs as well. It was the OC Silver PPGs that have been getting reduced by O as smaller OBC. And on our upcoming sailing they gave no firm $ amount---left it blank on their Oceania invoice as described in my previous post. However, in each case, we have wanted the sailing we chose, and would not change the sailing if the OBC in lieu of Oceania Club PPG was less than expected. YMMV.

 

Perhaps you could pose your question with your specific numbers to Oceania and/or your TA. I would be interested in the answers you receive. Maybe you will get an answer that is more specific than what we got.

As you noted I think the operative word is "group" TA sailings whereas we book directly with O through one of their PCCs and then transfer the booking within 30 days to a TA once we have our room and all associated amenities taken care of. But thank you so much for taking the time to explain this.
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