How full are recent voyage?

[4Lakes Lady]

Our very first cruise ever was the Nautica Baltic Cruise. We went with our university alumni association. Being newbie cruisers we felt we'd have someone to take care of us [emoji4]. We were so impressed with Oceania, we are now about to take our 5th cruise with not even considering any other cruise line. I guess we've been spoiled. There are probably a lot of folks out there ready to take the plunge as more and more boomers are retiring. As long as Oceania continues to maintain high standards, I don't think there will be a decrease in passengers.

 

 

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[jo-b]

Our Med cruise early this year had a number of alumni groups, mostly in their 40's, for most of them this was a first O cruise. Obviously O have a good marketing strategy here, younger crowd choosing the line for the company then finding they like it.

[ORV]

From my perspective, we've cruised to Canada many times and cruised to Bermuda even more frequently. One year we even did a b2b of a Canada cruise followed by a Bermuda cruise on different ships from the same cruise line from NY. Putting the two together to make one cruise still doesn't get me to any place I haven't seen over and over again.

 

Everyone has their own reasons for picking a particular cruise line. I'm cruising on Oceania to be able to go to places I can't easily visit on most other lines.

 

If your name is any indication of where you're from perhaps that is what colors your viewpoint on a Bermuda/Canada/NE itinerary.

 

I've only been to NE/Canada area once, and had been on over 30 cruises before I went there. I would definitely go again under the right circumstances. I have been to Bermuda 3 or 4 times, but never out of a NJ or NY area port.

[pinotlover]

Besides college alumni groups, FDR has also teamed with "Wine and Food Trails " doing wine club tours on several cruises. F&WT also does Uniworld cruises. Our next O cruise is actually through them. We have special wine dinners, wine seminars, receptions, and a host of shore tours planned by/with the group. We've convinced 2 other couples to join us, none of which have ever sailed O before. The F&WT rep told me we are perhaps the only couple of the over 50 in the group that has sailed O before. A very good group for FDR to market to.

 

As an aside, to sign up for a shore tour, each participant must sign a form, for each tour, declaring they have read and understand the physical requirements of that tour, and they are physically capable of completing such.

[AZjohn]

You bring up some interesting points pinotlover (as usual).

 

IMO, any travel business (and other businesses also) that plans to be in business long term has to calculate how to attract the next generation. I would think O's marketing should be looking at the 40's to 50's crowd. I would think it would lean more to the newly empty nesters as I wouldn't think O's focus would include kids (simply due to the size of ships).

 

The next area of focus should be upgrading web base interaction (both on and off ships) as I personal feel they are way behind it this area. People in the 40-50's have grown up with the internet and will require it looking up itinerary's and communication. O's web site is cumbersome and mass snail mail brochures is becoming obsolete. Band gap of internet communication on ship will become also very important (as several lines already know and have invested).

 

Cheers,

John

[AZjohn]

Edit: That should have been "Bandwidth" and not Band Gap (working on my 2nd cup of coffee now) :)

[pinotlover]

AZJohn;

 

Great points! This is a double edged sword for Oceania. This gives Oceania a chance to show its stuff to a fairly affluent group of 40 plus new patrons.

 

OTOH, I have met many of them previously at special winery functions, at the winery, in CA. This is not a group that will be impressed with dishes " toned down to be acceptable to a larger set of customers ". They get to define toned down, or bland, for themselves, with out the assistance or input of a more senior crowd.

[njhorseman]

If your name is any indication of where you're from perhaps that is what colors your viewpoint on a Bermuda/Canada/NE itinerary.

 

I've only been to NE/Canada area once, and had been on over 30 cruises before I went there. I would definitely go again under the right circumstances. I have been to Bermuda 3 or 4 times, but never out of a NJ or NY area port.

 

Yes, I currently live in NJ and am a NY City native who has lived his entire life in the NY City metropolitan area, but that has little or nothing to do with my point.

 

I've also taken a lot of Caribbean cruises from Florida too... I have to fly to Florida to take them, and I wouldn't bother to take an Oceania Caribbean cruise from Florida for the same reason...been there, done that countless times so why pay a premium for an Oceania cruise to the same old mundane islands.

 

Again, I'll pay a premium price to cruise on Oceania because of an interesting itinerary not readily available elsewhere. I won't pay a premium price for an Oceania cruise to a place I been to over and over again.

[AZjohn]

OTOH, I have met many of them previously at special winery functions, at the winery, in CA. This is not a group that will be impressed with dishes " toned down to be acceptable to a larger set of customers "...

Good point also pinotlover. Though, through countless threads here on CC (not just O's form) there sometimes seems to be a no win with keeping everyone happy regarding food. The old saying "everyone has different tastes" is so true.

 

Don't get me wrong, I like spices. But even my wife and I have totally different opinions on what is good and what is not (of course she is always right...;)).

 

There are many things that will need to change on O's ships to attract a different (or newer) crowd and of course they will be many who say most changes will/are terrible. Thank God we all have choices. As another saying goes, "the only permanent thing in life is change".

 

Cheers,

John

[happy cruzer]

We received one of the Alumni offers in the mail. July of 2018 Alaska cruise. Looks like they are getting a bit of a premium for the BIG 12 package including a reception, "tailgates", and farewell events. I wonder how much they impact the rest of the cruisers?

[Paulchili]

We received one of the Alumni offers in the mail. July of 2018 Alaska cruise. I wonder how much they impact the rest of the cruisers?

 

Quite a bit.

I won't go as far as to say that I would never go on an "alumni" cruise but I would much prefer not to be on one.

[TERRIER1]

We received one of the Alumni offers in the mail. July of 2018 Alaska cruise. Looks like they are getting a bit of a premium for the BIG 12 package including a reception, "tailgates", and farewell events. I wonder how much they impact the rest of the cruisers?

 

Depends on the percentage that the alumni groups make up the ship total. We have been on cruises where we had a very good and enjoyable time since the alumni groups were very welcoming and inclusive of the other (non alumni) cruisers. We have also been on them were they took over the ship and were very cliquish. There has also been times when Horizons was shut off and not accessible to the general public so the alumni groups could hold their functions.

[buggins0402]

I've been on two in the Med and noticed no difference except for reception tables for the alumni group set up in the central reception area.

[pinotlover]

Our wine Group may well take over Horizons one, if not two, evenings from 6-7 pm.

 

We will take over Polo Grill also for one evening, but that counts as our guaranteed reservation, and all still gets their full compliment of Specialties reservations.

 

I have personally always enjoyed the Alumni Groups. They bring younger cruisers and more energy to the ship. People actually going to the bars or dancing in Horizons after the show, instead of straight to bed! That is in lieu of the ones that Went to bed before the show!

[LHT28]

We have been on cruises with several alumni groups

it seems more noticeable on the R ships but none were disruptive

It all depends on how large the group is but have not encountered a large contingent ... usually under 50 but did not count them ;)

sometimes they had receptions in the lounge but it was not when anything was going on there anyway

[ToxM]

Our wine Group may well take over Horizons one, if not two, evenings from 6-7 pm.

 

We will take over Polo Grill also for one evening, but that counts as our guaranteed reservation, and all still gets their full compliment of Specialties reservations.

 

I have personally always enjoyed the Alumni Groups. They bring younger cruisers and more energy to the ship. People actually going to the bars or dancing in Horizons after the show, instead of straight to bed! That is in lieu of the ones that Went to bed before the show!

 

How many people are in the alumni group on our cruise? We've just booked our speciality restaurants, and had no issues with getting private tables for those bookings - looking forward to meeting a diverse group of travellers :) We aren't big drinkers (like a nice bottle of wine occasionally), but have specifically not take the bev package as it wouldn't be worth it for us.. the modest Olife OBC will see us through with gambling pennies to spare.

 

 

Let's hope there isn't a CaesarGate on board, or issues of AnchovyAction!

[LHT28]

Our wine Group may well take over Horizons one, if not two, evenings from 6-7 pm.

 

How large is the group ?

They must have some sort of cap on the number of bookings for the group??

[Hambagahle]

We were on Regent's Mariner once with a large corporate group. Maybe several hundred. They DID take over the ship - we never knew which "venue" would be closed when. I would imagine Alumni groups are similar and would prefer not to cruise with either. But how do you know in advance?

[pinotlover]

We aren't an Alumni Group , but our winery group is between 40-50. I was on a Marina cruise several years back with over 250 Texas Aggies (A&M).

[LHT28]

We aren't an Alumni Group , but our winery group is between 40-50.

Then you will not be taking over Horizons

They usually set up an area for small groups to have their private wine/cheese do

We had a problem when they set up our M & G in the same area of a private group

The private group kept trying to join our large M & G & I ran out of name tags because the private group could not read the signs :rolleyes:

[pinotlover]

Lyn;

 

Made my "taking over" comment rather tic . I do expect to be put off in a corner of Horizons, probably roped off with controlled entrance, because free booze might be involved!

[ToxM]

Lyn;

 

Made my "taking over" comment rather tic . I do expect to be put off in a corner of Horizons, probably roped off with controlled entrance, because free booze might be involved!

 

That's a nice sized group!

[pinotlover]

Dedicated Winos!:halo:

 

There won't be any moving partial filled wine bottles around multiple restaurants with this group!

[LHT28]

Lyn;

 

Made my "taking over" comment rather tic . I do expect to be put off in a corner of Horizons, probably roped off with controlled entrance, because free booze might be involved!

Yes they did that with the group onboard the semi roped off area was at the starboard entrance & they had the snack table near there

 

some people from the group must have come in the port side or did not see the sign for their group

 

They came to the M & G & took our blank name tags then discovered they were in the wrong group ;)

O had placed our 100+ M & G on the same side just up from the group ...Horizons is a large area why they chose to put us so close is beyond me

 

Oh Well we all had a good time

[LHT28]

We were on Regent's Mariner once with a large corporate group. Maybe several hundred. They DID take over the ship - we never knew which "venue" would be closed when. I would imagine Alumni groups are similar and would prefer not to cruise with either. But how do you know in advance?

Gerry

You could google your ship & sailing date + groups & see if you get any hits

or Alumni groups & the ship sometimes that works

 

There is a site for Themed cruises also worth a look