Back to back cruises

[Maine Cruisers]

Can any one tell me if there is an advantage to having one booking number vs two when booking back to back cruises?

[jonthomas]

You should be able to get 5% off each leg, but if there is a promo, you either get the promo or the 5%..which doesnt seem fair...really negates the promo....

 

there are so many things that are not combinable....you gain in one way, lose in another....so every gain you see, may only be an illusion....

[LHT28]

2 booking numbers you will get  2 + cruise credits  depending on the length of the cruises

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/oceania-club-benefits

 

Some  B2B  cruise will be put on 1 booking number  it is the way Oceania gets around the cruise  credits

[Maine Cruisers]

3 hours ago, LHT28 said:

2 booking numbers you will get  2 + cruise credits  depending on the length of the cruises

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/oceania-club-benefits

 

Some  B2B  cruise will be put on 1 booking number  it is the way Oceania gets around the cruise  credits

If each cruise is 20 days, separately would be 2 cruise credits but together would be 3

[LHT28]

22 minutes ago, Maine Cruisers said:

If each cruise is 20 days, separately would be 2 cruise credits but together would be 3

You need to decide what works best  for your situation

[ORV]

1 hour ago, Maine Cruisers said:

If each cruise is 20 days, separately would be 2 cruise credits but together would be 3

That's pretty rare, so you're better off there. There are some that would do 3, 7day cruises in a row and only get 1 credit. 

[LHT28]

If it is listed  a GV  you may not be able to have 2 booking numbers anyway 

Oceania  will put the cruises  under 1 booking number 

[Flatbush Flyer]

9 hours ago, Maine Cruisers said:

If each cruise is 20 days, separately would be 2 cruise credits but together would be 3

Sure BUT…

…. You need to do ALL the math for each overall itinerary you may be considering.  

 

Booking 2 consecutive 20 day cruises as a “custom cruise” (i.e., two segments with a single booking number that is not published as an “extended journey”) would not only get you an extra cruise credit. You’d also get double the O Club credit, double the spa credits and a 5% fare discount. 

 

However, if they’re published as an “extended journey,” you wouldn’t get double the O Club benefits but the fare discount may be considerably more than 5% (perhaps enough to be better than the “custom cruise” deal).

Of course, there are cases where your total multi-segment cruise length makes separate booking numbers better for cruise credit accrual than does one booking number (e.g., two 10 day cruises). 

 
But, cruise credit is only one factor in your “deal.”
 

It used to be that it was all a moot question. If your chose two (or more) segments published as an “extended journey,” you could not choose to book them separately. And if they were not published that way, you’d still have to book them as a “custom cruise.” It was “multi-segments could only be the appropriate one booking number version. BTW: Attempts to skirt that  occasionally caused issues between O and TAs.
 

However, it’s my understanding that you can now (since 2022) choose to book multi-segments as separate cruises (rather than as a single booking number “extended journey” or “custom cruise”) where, with 2 segments for example, you’d get no fare discount but would get double O Club SBC, double spa credit and double the DIY air credit. That can be quite a “chunk of change.” 

Bottom line is that, if (for example) you are a Platinum O Club member, doing an intercontinental itinerary w/DIY air (and four figure air credits), the cash in your pocket may be best by doing separate bookings - even if you lose the single booking number discount and a cruise credit.

 

And your choice can sometimes come back to bite you when you’ve gotten a great multi-segment fare break with your single booking number deal and then O has a sale that gets a major fare break or addition of ultimate O Life on one (but not both) of the segments. In that case, you are SOL on getting partial refund or added perks.

 

So, get out that calculator!
 

 

[Maine Cruisers]

As I suspected,  you can’t win, but you can try!

[jonthomas]

the trying is getting more trying every day.....

[LHT28]

5 hours ago, Maine Cruisers said:

As I suspected,  you can’t win, but you can try!

Can you clarify what the problem is ??

 

What cruise are you on?

[1985rz1]

On 2/7/2023 at 4:29 PM, LHT28 said:

If it is listed  a GV  you may not be able to have 2 booking numbers anyway 

Oceania  will put the cruises  under 1 booking number 

And if it's not listed as a GV, he would get 2 booking numbers and 2 credits, and not be able to treat it as A GV...right Lyn?

[LHT28]

36 minutes ago, 1985rz1 said:

And if it's not listed as a GV, he would get 2 booking numbers and 2 credits, and not be able to treat it as A GV...right Lyn?

normally but sometimes O has been putting B2B on one booking

 

 I have not found the 2 20 day cruises  the person is talking about  so cannot tell if it is  a GV or B2B

[Flatbush Flyer]

5 hours ago, 1985rz1 said:

And if it's not listed as a GV, he would get 2 booking numbers and 2 credits, and not be able to treat it as A GV...right Lyn?

Please read my post #8 above. 
First off: There are three types of multi-segment bookings on Oceania:

Extended Journeys, which are published multi-segment cruises with single booking number and significant fare discount. (Though the O website search lists them under “Grand Voyage,” that title is an artifact from many years ago when that “Find a Cruise” O website section used the general heading “Grand Voyages” for both Extended Journeys (usually two segments not exceeding approx. 1.5 months  and Grand Voyages (three or more segments exceeding approx. 1.5 months and including extra perks like laundry et al.). 

Grand Voyages are the longer published/single booking number versions of Extended Journeys as explained above. Several years ago O stopped offering the Grand Voyages until only recently with several long itineraries will mark the return of Grand Voyages starting near the end of 2023.

 

Custom Cruises are bookings with single booking numbers joining consecutive segments that are not published as Extended Journeys or the recently reintroduced Grand Voyages.

 

Individual Segments are just that: A multi-segment cruise not published as an Extended Journey or as a Grand Voyage that is booked as individual segments with individual booking numbers.

 

As I explained in my earlier post above, each of these booking types have different amenities/discount arrangements that can significantly affect your bottom line costs - all dependent on itinerary, O Life options and O Club status.