Ultimate O-Life?

[Woofa]

As much as I hate to enter this conversation...

@AMHuntFerry

Please clarify your statement in regards to the 40% website listed sales via your TA.  While we have only taken one cruise, and that recently, I have been following these boards for quite some time and have no recollection of anyone ever having gotten such deals before.  

Now, to be clear, lets only start with the cruise only fare listed as that is the only true price, as far as I know, for a cruise.  In addition, let's be clear that some TA's normally give out up 5% (maybe closer to 10% under certain circumstances,) and pay for gratuities and sometimes add in additional OBC.

To be clear, our TA, whom we had never used before, gave us 5% cash back and free gratuities on first cruise in January and we only booked a B3 cabin with no history or promises of additional cruises.  As far as I have read, this is STANDARD if you manage to find an experienced and preferred Oceania TA.

In addition, we understand that deals are not standard worldwide and what I get in the US will not necessarily be what someone from England or Australia will get.

We also understand that a current Oceania sale of any kind will not necessarily be given at the same cruise price when someone booked a cruise. So, if I booked a cruise at $2500 per person but current cruise price is $2900 person on the website and a sale comes along, I would have to determine if it made sense for me to rebook at current prices (and pay an additional $400 per person,) to then get the sale. 

Let me know what you think as there is much confusion on these issues but I thought what I listed above was basically correct and all there is.

Thank you

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, Woofa said:

As much as I hate to enter this conversation...

@AMHuntFerry

Please clarify your statement in regards to the 40% website listed sales via your TA.  While we have only taken one cruise, and that recently, I have been following these boards for quite some time and have no recollection of anyone ever having gotten such deals before.  

 

I think some  website  offer discounts on the brochure price  (which no one pays)

TA's are not allowed to advertise  prices cheaper than the cruise line

they can offer discounts or rebates up to 10% but as per their contract with O  (it has been posted here  a few years  back)  

they cannot advertise that fact

JMO

[AMHuntFerry]

I'm always leery of posting TA-related info because I might run afoul of the CC rules, but here I go:

Background (as requested): I never use TAs for travel (our normal methods of travel would make them very little if any money), but we decided to try the QM2 to England to avoid  the west to east jetlag (haven't made that trip due to Covid and other unplanned interference). Googling for info brought me to CC, and it became obvious that using a TA would be beneficial when it comes to cruises. I prefer doing business locally so I contacted a local agency that is family-owned and has been around for decades. So far we have taken 2 inexpensive (by O-standards) cruises and have one booked, so we've spent less than $10k total. I know more about the booking vagaries with O that my TA (i.e., neither she nor the agency have any "pull" with O).

40% deal: I was looking up something (can't remember what now, probably just day dreaming) with my TA (plus O's site and another site where I can check cabin number availability easily). While at my TA I noticed the O-Life Ultimate sale with some itineraries; the sale showed up on the other site too (but not O's site). I narrowed my search to the ship and months that I was interested in and notice a dirt-cheap fare for a cruise we would take if we didn't already have land-based plans elsewhere. By dirt cheap I mean that the B2 cabin ("y") was 35% less than the cruise-only fare ("x") showing on O's (and the other sites I check) site (i.e., (x-y)/x=0.35), so I overestimated the savings in my earlier post (sorry, it had been a few days, and I didn't calculate the actual percentage until just now). Although, my TA usually only has the cruise with O-Life posted, so the savings would be more...I assumed the sale was cruise only for the above calculation. Now the fun part...I saw the deal, but a couple days later it was gone. However, there were two other cruises within my search parameters that were dirt cheap. They were perfect for a quick, fun trip with a friend so I contacted my TA about getting a quote. The next day they were gone, but another trip (not good timing for us) was dirt cheap. It has been up for a few days.

I'm not sure I answered all of the questions, but that's what happened. No one is forcing anyone to use a TA, but don't make claims about saving money while at the same time dismissing a valid way to save money. Using a TA does not directly cost the consumer any money; the cost is indirect and shared by all consumers whether they use a TA or not, so yes, I'll take my TA's prepaid gratuities and other offers when they are available.

[AMHuntFerry]

4 hours ago, ak1004 said:

 

Discounted compared to what? The brochure fares?

 

I have never seen O discounting fares, definitely not by 40%. Many TAs provides perks such as rebates, OBC, PPG, but the prices are the same as far as I know. 

I think I answered your question in my lengthy post, but here's a quick answer. I believe what I was seeing is what I have seen others on CC call a "soft sale" (i.e., not advertised but available). I was comparing the sale price with the cruise-only price on O's website (the current price, not the brochure fare). However, my TA usually quotes the fare with O-Life included (but no air) which bumps the savings from 35% off cruise-only to 39% cruise with O-Life. I'm not sure if the sale price was cruise-only or cruise with O-Life since I didn't get a quote from her.

[AMHuntFerry]

2 hours ago, Woofa said:

As much as I hate to enter this conversation...

@AMHuntFerry

Please clarify your statement in regards to the 40% website listed sales via your TA.  While we have only taken one cruise, and that recently, I have been following these boards for quite some time and have no recollection of anyone ever having gotten such deals before.  

Now, to be clear, lets only start with the cruise only fare listed as that is the only true price, as far as I know, for a cruise.  In addition, let's be clear that some TA's normally give out up 5% (maybe closer to 10% under certain circumstances,) and pay for gratuities and sometimes add in additional OBC.

To be clear, our TA, whom we had never used before, gave us 5% cash back and free gratuities on first cruise in January and we only booked a B3 cabin with no history or promises of additional cruises.  As far as I have read, this is STANDARD if you manage to find an experienced and preferred Oceania TA.

In addition, we understand that deals are not standard worldwide and what I get in the US will not necessarily be what someone from England or Australia will get.

We also understand that a current Oceania sale of any kind will not necessarily be given at the same cruise price when someone booked a cruise. So, if I booked a cruise at $2500 per person but current cruise price is $2900 person on the website and a sale comes along, I would have to determine if it made sense for me to rebook at current prices (and pay an additional $400 per person,) to then get the sale. 

Let me know what you think as there is much confusion on these issues but I thought what I listed above was basically correct and all there is.

Thank you

To be clear, this was not a sale that the average consumer would find appealing. It's more akin to a flash sale. It requires a degree of flexibility and spontaneity, and the desire to be a cruiser (i.e., not necessarily itinerary driven, although I liked the itineraries that were on sale this time). My normal travel methods do not require advance planning (making plane or other reservations 3 months ahead is considered planning-ahead for me). Now that I know these unadvertised offers are available via my TA (no special O-affiliation) and have asked my TA to keep me informed, I have another avenue to potentially get me some nice bang for my buck.

[Woofa]

Thank you @AMHuntFerry 

[AMHuntFerry]

🤣🤪🙃Just for fun I checked again. Now the original cruise I saw is showing a dirt cheap price again. The D cabin (my probable choice) is 43% off O's cruise-only current price (or 48% off if O-Life is included in the sale price), so I was remembering ~40% correctly. Another fun fact...OLife Ultimate was co-listed with these flaky sales, but I'm guessing its one or the other (not both), but who knows.

[PhD-iva]

What are some google terms that I can use to find these discounted cruises?

Thx!

[AMHuntFerry]

10 minutes ago, PhD-iva said:

What are some google terms that I can use to find these discounted cruises?

Thx!

Shockingly Google was no help at all. I'm sorry I can't help more. 😞

[AMHuntFerry]

46 minutes ago, PhD-iva said:

What are some google terms that I can use to find these discounted cruises?

Thx!

I think I can reference the Cruise Critic site, so here goes.

https://www.cruisecritic.com/cruiseto/cruiseitineraries.cfm?cl=75&shipID=287&startDate=2023-09

Go to the Sept 13, 2023 cruise and look for the cheapest one (1899). This includes O-Life.

They disappear and reappear daily.

Edited February 27, 2023 by AMHuntFerry