Changes in upsell offerings?

[Petoonya]

Two years ago got a phenomenal deal on an upsell. Two weeks prior to sailing got an offer for an inside to an aft A2 on Sirena for $500 on something  that was 2/3 full. We felt it was the sale of the century for what we got. This time will be different I guess.

My TA said that O is not offering as many upsells these days. Have an inside guarantee again and was keeping fingers crossed that for $800-1000 we could get a B2. Sounds like my hopes are over the top this time.

Has anyone been offered an upsell recently? Anyone notice they aren't quite as sweet as they used to be?

[Petoonya]

1 minute ago, Paulchili said:

You never know. While your itinerary is not in Southeast Asia, there may be a number of people that will choose not to cruise at this time and there may well be cabins for upsell.

Good luck.

Thanks for the more helpful response. Best wishes.

[CruiseLibra]

We booked our May trip to Alaska with a price guarantee when we were onboard the Marina in July. We noticed recently that our Alaska cruise is not sold out and that there was a recent drop in price. We were able to upgrade from a B2 to an A1 with an additional on board credit for the price reduction differential. 

[Petoonya]

2 minutes ago, CruiseLibra said:

We booked our May trip to Alaska with a price guarantee when we were onboard the Marina in July. We noticed recently that our Alaska cruise is not sold out and that there was a recent drop in price. We were able to upgrade from a B2 to an A1 with an additional on board credit for the price reduction differential. 

Thanks Cruise Libra!. Just what I needed to know. Sounds like you did nicely 🙂 Not getting my hopes up but sounds like with some itineraries/sailings depending on sales there might be some wiggle room. What I heard from my TA is that it's very rare since we last cruised O. But maybe the luck of the Irish could play our way.

Thanks again.

[CruiseLibra]

We aren't veteran cruisers, so my following assumptions may not be accurate. We were watching availability on our cruise and noticed that our booked B2 cabins were waitlisted while the A cabins were available. As soon as we saw the price drop we reached out to our TA. There would have been no reason that Oceania wouldn't upgrade us since the A1s were available and they had the opportunity to sell our B2. Good luck on your upgrade if you can get it.

 

[kkinaus]

42 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

You never know. While your itinerary is not in Southeast Asia, there may be a number of people that will choose not to cruise or fly at this time and there may well be cabins for upsell.

Maybe like a variation of what happened with Cuba cruises (although I know it's not the same).

Good luck.

+1

[Petoonya]

4 minutes ago, CruiseLibra said:

We aren't veteran cruisers, so my following assumptions may not be accurate. We were watching availability on our cruise and noticed that our booked B2 cabins were waitlisted while the A cabins were available. As soon as we saw the price drop we reached out to our TA. There would have been no reason that Oceania wouldn't upgrade us since the A1s were available and they had the opportunity to sell our B2. Good luck on your upgrade if you can get it.

 

 

Thanks 🙂 We'll see how it goes. 7 weeks yet so time to watch. Good to know that O is at least open to possibilities. Our category is waitlisted. We'll be happy with whatever but just wanted to see if it is such an open and closed case generally as TA said it was. Thanks once again.

[Mura]

The thing is -- I think -- that you never know what will come up or what it will cost.  We had a wonderful upsell to an OS on Regatta back in 2005.  It happened at a very convenient time for us because I blew out my meniscus the day before boarding.  That OS was a blessing when I could hardly walk.

 

Then 2-3 years ago (I think) we had a fabulous downsell from a PH to a B2 on Nautica which paid for the VS we had booked on Sirena a couple of months later.  Since then I hear that these downsells really are non-existent ... or if they are existent, hard to come by.

 

It's not uncommon for people to ask the question you did ... but there are no real answers.  It depends on the cruise, on the demand, etc.  You may luck out... or you may not.  It's not possible to say "you will get this if you are patient".  But good luck!

 

It sounds like you are happy with what you have whether you get an upsell or not... which is a good thing!

 

Miracles DO happen!  Sometimes ... 👍

 

Mura

 

 

 

[Petoonya]

42 minutes ago, Mura said:

not uncommon for people to ask the question you did ... but there are no real answers.  It depends on the cruise, on the demand, etc.  You may luck out... or you may not.  It's not possible to say "you will get this if you are patient".  But good luck!

Miracles DO happen!  Sometimes ... 👍

 

Mura,

Perhaps I didn't express my query too well. Not really expecting an upsell or a "miracle". (Granted it would be awfully nice though!)

My question is if it's been noted in the last year or so that fewer upsells are offered period even when demand for a sailing is low.

My TA told me basically it's rare to see it happening anymore at all. I'd hoped to get feedback from regular cruisers in lesser categories who've sailed in the last year to get a feel for it.

But I realize there are no straightforward answers. Just looking for others experiences in the last year.

 

Thanks for your usual thoughtfulness. 🙂

Edited February 24, 2020 by Petoonya

[CintiPam]

Our own experience since 2018 (three cruises) is that there is a flurry of upsells precisely one week before sailing.  Previously in our experience it occurred much earlier.

[Petoonya]

1 minute ago, CintiPam said:

Our own experience since 2018 (three cruises) is that there is a flurry of upsells precisely one week before sailing.  Previously in our experience it occurred much earlier.

Thanks for you input Pam- much appreciated 🙂

[Paulchili]

48 minutes ago, Petoonya said:

I didn't state my question well, so my error.

Since my TA said upsells were becoming rare I was looking for others experiences in general specifically in the last year on slow selling cruises.

What is the status of your particular cruise - is it fully booked/waitlisted or are there available categories?

[eng58]

We are two weeks out for our Tahiti cruise and received an offer, we are in a Cat. C2, and were offered a Concierge Veranda for $950 per person, less than half the original price but still to much for me. 

[pinotlover]

My TA lead a group on an Oceania Med cruise last November that was very undersold. She said everyone in her Group received upsell offers. Some took them, others didn’t. 
 

I believe the important qualifier was the cruise was very undersold.

[LHT28]

If you are willing to pay for an upsell   

Why not ask your TA to contact O with the cat of cabin you want & the price you are willing to pay ?

 

 

[Petoonya]

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

If you are willing to pay for an upsell   

Why not ask your TA to contact O with the cat of cabin you want & the price you are willing to pay ?

 

 

LHT, thanks.

I've already done that, and left parameters with her.

 

 

[clo]

3 hours ago, eng58 said:

We are two weeks out for our Tahiti cruise and received an offer, we are in a Cat. C2, and were offered a Concierge Veranda for $950 per person, less than half the original price but still to much for me. 

We had something similar in November. Concierge Veranda to a Suite. Started out higher and ended up at $800pp. Too much for me also

[susiesan]

I'm hoping for an upgrade, not an upset offer. I am booked in a cat F inside on Marina June 26. We were given one of the 2 handicapped cabins on deck 10. The insides and outsides are waitlisted, most categories above B3 are available so the cruise is not sold out. Iam hoping O needs my cabin for someone who is handicapped so I will be moved to a better category, which would be a veranda at this point.

[eng58]

6 hours ago, eng58 said:

We are two weeks out for our Tahiti cruise and received an offer, we are in a Cat. C2, and were offered a Concierge Veranda for $950 per person, less than half the original price but still to much for me. 

 

Today the offer was $600/person, our travel agent called and we got it cheaper, booked and quite excited!

[bbwex]

No telling what is going to be happening with the Coronavirus now hitting Europe and the cruise industry under a lot of pressure. 

[Petoonya]

50 minutes ago, eng58 said:

 

Today the offer was $600/person, our travel agent called and we got it cheaper, booked and quite excited!

Eng58,

That's wonderful! Congrats- good score.

[CintiPam]

Petoonya, I truly believe that upsells still are common on Oceania.  We average a cruise once a year on either Marina or Riviera because my spouse absolutely loves the two “O” ships.  (As a result, we have not returned to the “R” ships since Marina began sailing in 2011.).
 

We almost always have an upsell opportunity although, as I posted earlier, they seem to arrive later and later, one week in advance on our last three cruises, in fact just last Wednesday on our sailing tomorrow on Riviera for two weeks in the  Southern Caribbean.

 

Good vibes and good luck to you!

 

 

[Petoonya]

3 hours ago, CintiPam said:

Petoonya, I truly believe that upsells still are common on Oceania.  We average a cruise once a year on either Marina or Riviera because my spouse absolutely loves the two “O” ships.  (As a result, we have not returned to the “R” ships since Marina began sailing in 2011.).
 

We almost always have an upsell opportunity although, as I posted earlier, they seem to arrive later and later, one week in advance on our last three cruises, in fact just last Wednesday on our sailing tomorrow on Riviera for two weeks in the  Southern Caribbean.

 

Good vibes and good luck to you!

 

Thanks CintiPam.

Wow- you have a fantastic time on your cruise. Thanks for taking time out to reply. Enjoy!!!!!