Extraordinary Savings Sale

[PhD-iva]

29 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

Wow, that's awful. Yes a good ta is hard to find. 

I will be asking around on the next cruise. Really too bad we can't name names here. Not sure if on that other site they are allowed to do it either.

We are allowed to name tour providers. Not sure why that is allowed, that's also advertising.

Cruisecritic also sells cruises so mentioning a TA competes with their revenue model. That’s what I’ve been told.

[SSCAF001]

On 4/24/2023 at 7:26 AM, Fairwinds789 said:

We're in a similar situation. Paid in full for July cruise which is now being offered for thousands of $ less. Contacted our TA, who will not be able to contact O until Tuesday. Will O work with me directly tomorrow? Does anyone have experience with working with O directly, when the TA is not available?

I am booked on the 40-day BtoB Nautica cruise from Singapore to Barcelona sailing on May 10. When hearing about this extraordinary sales, I contacted immediately my TA to see what kind of benefit I could get, knowing that both leg of my cruise was part of the discount for my cabin category. Since I got no answer from my TA, I contacted directly Oceania. They replied immediately that this issue must be handled by my TA but that as a courtesy they would forward my request to their appropriate department. In just 4 days, I got a reply and got an OBC amount representing exactly the difference between the price I paid and the new discounted price. I was quite impressed by Oceania, not by my TA!

[jonthomas]

9 hours ago, PhD-iva said:

Cruisecritic also sells cruises so mentioning a TA competes with their revenue model. That’s what I’ve been told.

Yes, I uderstand that. Phdiva are you on this TA or part of it?

[jonthomas]

2 hours ago, SSCAF001 said:

I am booked on the 40-day BtoB Nautica cruise from Singapore to Barcelona sailing on May 10. When hearing about this extraordinary sales, I contacted immediately my TA to see what kind of benefit I could get, knowing that both leg of my cruise was part of the discount for my cabin category. Since I got no answer from my TA, I contacted directly Oceania. They replied immediately that this issue must be handled by my TA but that as a courtesy they would forward my request to their appropriate department. In just 4 days, I got a reply and got an OBC amount representing exactly the difference between the price I paid and the new discounted price. I was quite impressed by Oceania, not by my TA!

You had already paid in full.

Very good on O to do that.

Anyone not yet paid in full, that got some obcs instead of a discount as per sale?

[Sthrngary]

13 hours ago, Psoque said:

I was hoping for this, but maybe it's time for me to get a different TA.  He refused to do this because he had to be on hold on the phone for 90 min.

@Psoque The long waits are a real thing.  That said, sometimes the selection of a Travel Agent is as important as the brand, ship and stateroom.  If your situation happened to me, it would sell me on the fact that when booking Oceania in the future, I will do it direct.  In the past it was about being cancelled because of covid.  Now it is about gaining a better deal on selected sales.  It is really about having options and being able to communicate to change what we want.

 

I do hope it all works out for you.  All TA are not made the same.  

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

3 hours ago, SSCAF001 said:

I am booked on the 40-day BtoB Nautica cruise from Singapore to Barcelona sailing on May 10. When hearing about this extraordinary sales, I contacted immediately my TA to see what kind of benefit I could get, knowing that both leg of my cruise was part of the discount for my cabin category. Since I got no answer from my TA, I contacted directly Oceania. They replied immediately that this issue must be handled by my TA but that as a courtesy they would forward my request to their appropriate department. In just 4 days, I got a reply and got an OBC amount representing exactly the difference between the price I paid and the new discounted price. I was quite impressed by Oceania, not by my TA!

Don’t you mean your “former” TA?

[PhD-iva]

29 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

Yes, I uderstand that. Phdiva are you on this TA or part of it?

Unfortunately no. 🥲 My next cruise is on Regent Voyager around Cape Horn in Feb. Next O cruise is Aug 2024 Norway fjords. 🙂

[Juno1956]

4 hours ago, SSCAF001 said:

I am booked on the 40-day BtoB Nautica cruise from Singapore to Barcelona sailing on May 10. When hearing about this extraordinary sales, I contacted immediately my TA to see what kind of benefit I could get, knowing that both leg of my cruise was part of the discount for my cabin category. Since I got no answer from my TA, I contacted directly Oceania. They replied immediately that this issue must be handled by my TA but that as a courtesy they would forward my request to their appropriate department. In just 4 days, I got a reply and got an OBC amount representing exactly the difference between the price I paid and the new discounted price. I was quite impressed by Oceania, not by my TA!

We are also on the same cruise but disembark in Dubai. We contacted our TA last week who said she would contact Oceania so should hear this week.

Good news for yourselves, here’s to a great cruise! 

[Doubt It]

OK, check this out.

I have a cruise booked in August, paid in full. Have booked the shore excursions and paid additional $ for the extra excursions over the 8 "free".

Here is what my TA was given by Oceania:

 

Do we want a non-refundable shipboard credit applied to the reservation for $5,940 total

Or

I can ask for a non-refundable future cruise credit, they’ll have 1 yr to book, 1 yr to sail. Same amount $5,940 total.

________________

Good God, I can not use $5,940 of anything on the current cruise - we do not drink much, do not do spa nor buy stuff, only the gratuities. 

Put I have a cruise booked in February, deposit down. Could I use the future cruise credit to pay down the total costs of this upcoming cruise?

We have to pay in Cdn $, so anything is helpful.

 

Would appreciate your analysis of best value to me.

Kindest Regards From A Newbie!

 

 

 

[Jayne E]

2 minutes ago, Doubt It said:

OK, check this out.

I have a cruise booked in August, paid in full. Have booked the shore excursions and paid additional $ for the extra excursions over the 8 "free".

Here is what my TA was given by Oceania:

 

Do we want a non-refundable shipboard credit applied to the reservation for $5,940 total

Or

I can ask for a non-refundable future cruise credit, they’ll have 1 yr to book, 1 yr to sail. Same amount $5,940 total.

________________

Good God, I can not use $5,940 of anything on the current cruise - we do not drink much, do not do spa nor buy stuff, only the gratuities. 

Put I have a cruise booked in February, deposit down. Could I use the future cruise credit to pay down the total costs of this upcoming cruise?

We have to pay in Cdn $, so anything is helpful.

 

Would appreciate your analysis of best value to me.

Kindest Regards From A Newbie!

 

 

 

Future cruise credit can be used on next booking. Great that O was very generous considering that “technically “ they could have given nothing. 

[Bakingnana]

On 4/23/2023 at 4:26 PM, Fairwinds789 said:

We're in a similar situation. Paid in full for July cruise which is now being offered for thousands of $ less. Contacted our TA, who will not be able to contact O until Tuesday. Will O work with me directly tomorrow? Does anyone have experience with working with O directly, when the TA is not available?

O would not talk to us even to answer a quick air question. If you have a TA they get the run around too. I have been told they have been out on hold for over an hour. 

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, Doubt It said:

OK, check this out.

I have a cruise booked in August, paid in full. Have booked the shore excursions and paid additional $ for the extra excursions over the 8 "free".

Here is what my TA was given by Oceania:

 

Do we want a non-refundable shipboard credit applied to the reservation for $5,940 total

Or

I can ask for a non-refundable future cruise credit, they’ll have 1 yr to book, 1 yr to sail. Same amount $5,940 total.

________________

Good God, I can not use $5,940 of anything on the current cruise - we do not drink much, do not do spa nor buy stuff, only the gratuities. 

Put I have a cruise booked in February, deposit down. Could I use the future cruise credit to pay down the total costs of this upcoming cruise?

We have to pay in Cdn $, so anything is helpful.

 

Would appreciate your analysis of best value to me.

Kindest Regards From A Newbie!

 

 

 

yes just get your TA to apply the FCC to your next cruise

[WayneLaR]

Ok, here is my contribution to all this.  We have a 20 day TA on Marina in Nov, A1 cabin w/ OLife, no air, booked in Feb of this year, just deposit so far.  Balance due in June and still within the no penalty cancellation window.  The 13 day Lisbon to Mia is part of the sale, but not the 7 day BCN to Lis portion.

 

With that as context, I'm happy to report our TA, with a little persistence on my part, was able to get us a ~$1,300 CDN reduction in our fare, all while keeping OLife and our original cabin selection.  There seemed to be some reluctance from them?, O?, but in the end I'm satisfied with the outcome.

 

Sharing this in case it helps anyone else.  Persistence, as they say, does pay off sometimes. 

 

[Flatbush Flyer]

5 minutes ago, WayneLaR said:

Ok, here is my contribution to all this.  We have a 20 day TA on Marina in Nov, A1 cabin w/ OLife, no air, booked in Feb of this year, just deposit so far.  Balance due in June and still within the no penalty cancellation window.  The 13 day Lisbon to Mia is part of the sale, but not the 7 day BCN to Lis portion.

 

With that as context, I'm happy to report our TA, with a little persistence on my part, was able to get us a ~$1,300 CDN reduction in our fare, all while keeping OLife and our original cabin selection.  There seemed to be some reluctance from them?, O?, but in the end I'm satisfied with the outcome.

 

Sharing this in case it helps anyone else.  Persistence, as they say, does pay off sometimes. 

 

One of the benefits of having been born in Brooklyn is that the first full sentence you learn to say as a young kid is “never pay retail.”

[tgg]

4 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

One of the benefits of having been born in Brooklyn is that the first full sentence you learn to say as a young kid is “never pay retail.”

And the second sentence is:  "If you don't ask, you don't get."

[SATaxman]

I was told that this sale is not available for Oceania Suites. Is that true?

[LHT28]

9 minutes ago, SATaxman said:

I was told that this sale is not available for Oceania Suites. Is that true?

I think  your cabin category has to have availability  to qualify

 

that said  for the $$$ they cost I would push the issue with your TA or Oceania

Just  saying

[SATaxman]

The cruise is totally sold out at this point. We booked a while ago and have not finalized payment yet.

I will ask again, Not even sure how much savings it would be.

[Flatbush Flyer]

13 hours ago, SATaxman said:

The cruise is totally sold out at this point. We booked a while ago and have not finalized payment yet.

I will ask again, Not even sure how much savings it would be.

On those cruises listed in the Extraordinary Savings Sale, only cabin categories with cabin availability qualify. Savings can be substantial.

[SATaxman]

45 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

On those cruises listed in the Extraordinary Savings Sale, only cabin categories with cabin availability qualify. Savings can be substantial.

There was availability when the savings were announced. Oceania was working on another savings thing that was available after I booked. I did not know about this one.

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, SATaxman said:

There was availability when the savings were announced. Oceania was working on another savings thing that was available after I booked. I did not know about this one.

Availability right now is all that matters. Of course, if people cancel, there’ll again be cabin availability. But, you’d have to have a faster trigger finger than everyone else who is checking daily. I can’t remember a better O sale within the past decade.

[harlor]

7 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Availability right now is all that matters. Of course, if people cancel, there’ll again be cabin availability. But, you’d have to have a faster trigger finger than everyone else who is checking daily. I can’t remember a better O sale within the past decade.

Thanks for the info. I've been trying to get the extraordinary savings sale but, since our June 1 cruise is sold out, we haven't been able to get it. Also, I have been wondering how often O has these sales. You answered it...looks like it's rare! Hope we're still cruising a decade from now!

[SATaxman]

6 minutes ago, harlor said:

Thanks for the info. I've been trying to get the extraordinary savings sale but, since our June 1 cruise is sold out, we haven't been able to get it. Also, I have been wondering how often O has these sales. You answered it...looks like it's rare! Hope we're still cruising a decade from now!

Our October cruise is also sold out. I was told that Penthouse down qualify. Not sure even I we chose to go from our Oceania Suite to what would have to be a waitlisted Penthouse that the Extraordinary rate would be available. It was about 40% off the Penthouse original fare. First time on Oceania, still very confused about so many things. Are you from Flatbush?

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, SATaxman said:

….. First time on Oceania, still very confused about so many things. Are you from Flatbush?

Howyadoin?

Midwood HS & Brooklyn College (undergrad).

 

Oceania can seem VERY complicated at first. But think of the difficulty you are now encountering as a kind of Admission Exam as you work your way up to “O Regular.” 😉 

[SATaxman]

13 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Howyadoin?

Midwood HS & Brooklyn College (undergrad).

 

Oceania can seem VERY complicated at first. But think of the difficulty you are now encountering as a kind of Admission Exam as you work your way up to “O Regular.” 😉 

Thanks. Was born in Brooklyn, we moved to Belle Harbor when I was an infant. My parents met at Franklin K Lane HS.