Are sales really bad?

[Harters]

I've been looking at a cruise for later in the year (we were Covid cancelled on one a couple of weeks ago).  I see all levels of cabin are available with, say, Concierge ones heavily discounted. Not only that, but O is offering what it calls OLife Ultimate, which I don't recall seeing before - that's all three of the usual "choose one" OLife perk - excursions, beverage package and shipboard credit. Seems almost too good to be true.

[pinotlover]

17 minutes ago, Harters said:

I've been looking at a cruise for later in the year (we were Covid cancelled on one a couple of weeks ago).  I see all levels of cabin are available with, say, Concierge ones heavily discounted. Not only that, but O is offering what it calls OLife Ultimate, which I don't recall seeing before - that's all three of the usual "choose one" OLife perk - excursions, beverage package and shipboard credit. Seems almost too good to be true.

I believe if you read the CC threads here on this Board, you will predominantly read about passengers on cruises with 50-60% occupancy.

 

That answers your question most accurately.

[LHT28]

I am not sure if the cruises are still capacity controlled still due to post/current covid

 

The Ultimate O life  deal is sort of new  they did have the same deal on some sailings pre covid for usually South America  maybe due to lack of participation on those itineraries  ..not sure

 If the itinerary appeals to you  then I would book it  & the price is right for you

JMO

[AMHuntFerry]

If you are looking at the Riviera TA in December, there is some back story that I may not remember correctly....the original TA was earlier, but rescheduled due to dry dock work. I've seen some comments that people don't like to sail just after interior work has been done because it smells chemically (new carpet, paint, etc.) or sometimes work is still being completed.

We have a fall cruise scheduled that was practically empty until the O-Life Ultimate Sale. It looks like the UK sale is on a different schedule the the US sale if it is still going (I think US ended about June 6th or so).

[Nol2929]

Watching our cruise in October I see many categories on the Riviera sell out and open up several times.   Possibly with refundable deposits and shorter final payment deadlines more people held cabins on the "chance" they may go if Covid restrictions are canceled/reduced?  

[GICNJC]

OLife Ultimate was occasionally being offered on specific cruises prior to Covid breaking out.

 

Our original Baltic cruise, cancelled twice due to Covid was virtually sold out.  Our replacement embarking on Jul 21 started out with many wait list categories.  That dropped dramatically when the war broke out and St. Petersburg port was dropped.  Today only 3 categories are sold out, the two inside and the Owners Suite.  This despite offers since January of OLife Ultimate and 4 category upgrade special limited sales.  I suspect the ship will be at most 50% capacity.

 

What does surprise me however, that we are now 4 weeks out, no offers of up sales.  Pre Covid up sales usually began 5 to 6 weeks prior to sailing.

 

So looking forward to sailing, enjoying excellent food, and making new international friends again.

[Harters]

13 minutes ago, GICNJC said:

That dropped dramatically when the war broke out and St. Petersburg port was dropped.

I suspect there's similar in the cruise I was looking at - Sirena's UK round trip to the Baltic.

[Cruise Wonderland]

1 hour ago, GICNJC said:

Our replacement embarking on Jul 21 started out with many wait list categories.  That dropped dramatically when the war broke out and St. Petersburg port was dropped.  Today only 3 categories are sold out, the two inside and the Owners Suite.  This despite offers since January of OLife Ultimate and 4 category upgrade special limited sales.  I suspect the ship will be at most 50% capacity.

 

I will be on the previous Baltic voyage (Jul 9) before yours. The cabin availability is similar. Almost all categories are available.

[cruisr]

The problem with the European sailings is that the air from the US to Europe for the summer is insane.  If you use frequent flyer points I am seeing redemption rates of way over 150,000 points for a one way business class ticket.   I am looking at a number of dates and cabin availability is wide open.   I would imagine a sale in the EU and UK would produce more bookings as the air is not as huge an issue re price.

[Hawaiidan]

3 hours ago, GICNJC said:

OLife Ultimate was occasionally being offered on specific cruises prior to Covid breaking out.

 

Our original Baltic cruise, cancelled twice due to Covid was virtually sold out.  Our replacement embarking on Jul 21 started out with many wait list categories.  That dropped dramatically when the war broke out and St. Petersburg port was dropped.  Today only 3 categories are sold out, the two inside and the Owners Suite.  This despite offers since January of OLife Ultimate and 4 category upgrade special limited sales.  I suspect the ship will be at most 50% capacity.

 

What does surprise me however, that we are now 4 weeks out, no offers of up sales.  Pre Covid up sales usually began 5 to 6 weeks prior to sailing.

 

So looking forward to sailing, enjoying excellent food, and making new international friends again.

I would not suspect sales on  ships with 50-60% .... they need to make some $$$ and cutting profit/price is not a good thing. to do when participation is low.

[Hawaiidan]

50 minutes ago, cruisr said:

The problem with the European sailings is that the air from the US to Europe for the summer is insane.  If you use frequent flyer points I am seeing redemption rates of way over 150,000 points for a one way business class ticket.   I am looking at a number of dates and cabin availability is wide open.   I would imagine a sale in the EU and UK would produce more bookings as the air is not as huge an issue re price.

I bookd air for $  LAX-AMS-LIS_LAX  11 months ago for 3450pp     Checked today same flights same days..$6150 !  to 11,350  pp!!!   FF miles have pretty much been consistent as   155,000 each way  and as hight as 225,000 each way !         O air is un changed...  and for coach/ econ + ( which intl is  a joke) is the  only.

[MEFIowa]

23 hours ago, Harters said:

I've been looking at a cruise for later in the year ... O is offering what it calls OLife Ultimate, which I don't recall seeing before - that's all three of the usual "choose one" OLife perk - excursions, beverage package and shipboard credit. Seems almost too good to be true.

What exactly is "too good to be true"? The OLife choices are essentially pre-paying in advance to get what you paid for at an inflated price. What, for example, does the beverage package actually get you? They aren't giving you FREE drinks. Or FREE excursions. When you see how much it costs you and what you get, I'll stick to "Cruise Only" fare at sales prices (e.g., Presidents' or Memorial).

[basor]

12 minutes ago, MEFIowa said:

What exactly is "too good to be true"? The OLife choices are essentially pre-paying in advance to get what you paid for at an inflated price. What, for example, does the beverage package actually get you? They aren't giving you FREE drinks. Or FREE excursions. When you see how much it costs you and what you get, I'll stick to "Cruise Only" fare at sales prices (e.g., Presidents' or Memorial).

The OBC is the difference between the cruise only fare and the O Life fare so you are pre-paying your SBC....on the other hand if you choose the free excursions or the beverage package the value of those are often significantly more than the difference from the cruise only fare.  Choosing either the shore excursons or the beverage package only makes financial sense if you take O excursions or drink onboard.

We are on a cruise with the ultimate sale and the value of the 3 perks is approximately $1820.00 more than the cruie only fare.....but the O life fare was only $200.00 more per person so we are, in fact, receiving $1420.00 "free"    We will use the SBC to upgrade to the presitge package so, yes, we will drink for free and have 2 free excursions on our cruise.

You need to do the math and balance the value of your O Life amenity against the cruise only fare,,,,

[MEFIowa]

1 minute ago, basor said:

... You need to do the math and balance the value of your O Life amenity against the cruise only fare,,,,

Relying on my MBA, I keep in mind that there is no such thing as a free lunch and there are choices & opportunity costs. So... I bring on board my 6 bottles of wine. That I paid pittance for but enjoy. And I buy beer, wine and hard liquor in ports at the least expensive places and bring them back on board. Plus I book my excursions in advance direct with the excursion. And I'll find good airfare on my own, with no shortage of sites willing to help me do that constantly searching.

 

I bet that when I compare what I actually spent for the things you're paying for, I'm spending less. Wanna bet? I think I paid less than $60 for all my wine, beer, and hard liquor on my 12/13-23/21 cruise. And I drank every night. Plus, I brought some back home. But then I paid $1 for a beer & $5 for small bottle of rum in Belize City. And less than $10 for Cana and Tequila in Mexico.

[basor]

7 minutes ago, MEFIowa said:

Relying on my MBA, I keep in mind that there is no such thing as a free lunch and there are choices & opportunity costs. So... I bring on board my 6 bottles of wine. That I paid pittance for but enjoy. And I buy beer, wine and hard liquor in ports at the least expensive places and bring them back on board. Plus I book my excursions in advance direct with the excursion. And I'll find good airfare on my own, with no shortage of sites willing to help me do that constantly searching.

 

I bet that when I compare what I actually spent for the things you're paying for, I'm spending less. Wanna bet? I think I paid less than $60 for all my wine, beer, and hard liquor on my 12/13-23/21 cruise. And I drank every night. Plus, I brought some back home. But then I paid $1 for a beer & $5 for small bottle of rum in Belize City. And less than $10 for Cana and Tequila in Mexico.

I am paying $200.00 more per person than you so, yes, I will take that bet.   We got $200.00 per person in ship board credit so the rest was less expensive than yours (free)......I also have an MBA and a PHD and am a CPA so math does tend to be in my wheelhouse too....

 

[MEFIowa]

8 minutes ago, basor said:

I am paying $200.00 more per person than you so, yes, I will take that bet.   We got $200.00 per person in ship board credit so the rest was less expensive than yours (free)......I also have an MBA and a PHD and am a CPA so math does tend to be in my wheelhouse too....

 

I only deal with real numbers. So not sure where you get your starting figure, since I don't know what cruise you're talking about or how you arrived. So, I guess we'd start by seeing how much we paid for the cruise to begin with and the cost of getting there. Then add in all that we pay for on the cruise. But it always has to be apples to apples. And that would mean identical excursions (but then we might not like each other's choices?). And I'm starting from the discounted sales price of the cruise (e.g., the recent Memorial Day sale), always a sales price.

 

So my B4 Veranda for the 11/9-19/23 10-day Med Cruise on Riviera is $2249. Today that B4 is going for $2899.

 

And my recent 12/21 A4 on Riviera was $2099 (Presidents' Day sale 2021). The identical cruise on her in 2/23 for the same room is $3999.

[Woofa]

Sometimes there is just no reasonable comparison.  Bringing liquor on board for consumption in your room (or wine at a $25 corkage fee,) is not equal to being able to drink all you want anywhere on the ship.  Horses for courses.  Everyone has a different way to determine value.  Luckily, Oceania gives better options than most cruiselines.

[AMHuntFerry]

Just to be clear, the Ultimate O-Life promo is not the same as regular O-Life. With Ultimate, all three O-Life packages are included which is where I believe the "true good to be true" comment was directed. I believe MEFIowa is talking about regular O-Life while the OP is talking about Ultimate O-Life.

[Harters]

1 hour ago, AMHuntFerry said:

where I believe the "true good to be true" comment was directed.

It was.

 

And, FWIW, air travel does not enter my calculations on this occasion. It's a UK round trip cruise, with the port a 4.5 hour drive away from home.

Edited June 18, 2022 by Harters

[basor]

8 day Regatta 09SEP - 17SEP 2022

A2 cabin

Paid $3149.00 pp with ultimate O life

Today Cruise only  - $3049.00

 

No air

$200.00 per person SBC

2 excursions each - $199.00 and $179.00 per person 

8 day beverage package - $320.00 per person

 

So I paid $100.00 more per person for our cruise with Ultimate Life......

According to my math,  we already are $100.00 ahead of cruise only just with the SBC,.....that makes our excursions and beverage package free ...