Watching Deals and Sales On Oceania Cruises for Sport

[ORV]

12 minutes ago, FetaCheese said:

I Understand that UK residents pay fares with grats included.  Curious. Do you know if a UK resident is able to book with a USA TA, and pay some fares as USA residents?.  Grats are then added onto ones account, which can adjusted up or down.

I'm pretty sure that's a new thing for the UK cruisers. Since they like everything figured into the bill I'd say it's a good change for them. Surely you're not advocating for people to adjust their gratuities? Why do you think the change was made to have it included in the fare for them? 

 

In answer to your question, I think people from another country cannot book with a US TA, except for Canadians, and they're almost like people from the US, except nicer. Now if they have a US address it might be different, not sure how close they cross reference with passports. 

[1985rz1]

1 hour ago, FetaCheese said:

I Understand that UK residents pay fares with grats included.  Curious. Do you know if a UK resident is able to book with a USA TA, and pay some fares as USA residents?.  Grats are then added onto ones account, which can adjusted up or down.

In addition to @ORV's observations...even if they could finagle purchasing through a US TA, I would guess that they would likely lose the travel protections the UK requires of their TAs.

Edited February 27 by 1985rz1

[AMHuntFerry]

15 hours ago, MEFIowa said:

Start by paying attention to posts here AND go to O's web site. A new sale should be starting March 1st and the New Year Sale ends 2/29. Then see if any cruise you like is on it or if a cruise you've booked is on it.

Data to add to the analysis...today I received a brochure for the 2024 Bermuda and Canada/New England cruises. The prices are higher than the current sale, but the price-end-date is only 4-1-24...maybe a spring sale(?) if not right away, or maybe these cruises have sold enough to not need a sale. I'll break out the popcorn on Friday 🍿🥳

[Vallesan]

10 hours ago, ORV said:

I'm pretty sure that's a new thing for the UK cruisers. Since they like everything figured into the bill I'd say it's a good change for them. Surely you're not advocating for people to adjust their gratuities? Why do you think the change was made to have it included in the fare for them? 

 

In answer to your question, I think people from another country cannot book with a US TA, except for Canadians, and they're almost like people from the US, except nicer. Now if they have a US address it might be different, not sure how close they cross reference with passports. 

Yes you’re right included gratuities is a new thing here.  I’m not sure the reason is because ‘we like everything figured in the bill’. I think it’s possible that people were ‘adjusting’ their gratuities because, unlike in the USA, we are not a tipping nation! In saying that, we always paid our gratuities and tip on top. The staff work very hard to make our trip enjoyable so naturally we want to ‘thank’ them.

[FetaCheese]

I have 3 cruises of interest saved to account.  2 were on New Year Sale.  Wrote fares of 2 cats. on 29 Feb.

 

Checked all 3 today, 01 March.

 

1.  The Cruise which was not on sale:  same fares w/o air, however air increased $100 pp.  (Still not on sale)

 

2.  14 nite cruise:  fares increased $400 pp in both cats.  Air same as Sale Fare air.  Shorex credit same.  No longer on New Year Sale.

 

3.  16 nite cruise:   fares increased $700 pp in both cats.  Air same as Sale Fare air.  Shorex credit same.  No longer on New Year Sale.

 

The New Year Sale is extended, some dif voyages added, and obviously some removed.

 

If interested, please report your findings.  Thanks

[SATaxman]

7 minutes ago, FetaCheese said:

I have 3 cruises of interest saved to account.  2 were on New Year Sale.  Wrote fares of 2 cats. on 29 Feb.

 

Checked all 3 today, 01 March.

 

1.  The Cruise which was not on sale:  same fares w/o air, however air increased $100 pp.  (Still not on sale)

 

2.  14 nite cruise:  fares increased $400 pp in both cats.  Air same as Sale Fare air.  Shorex credit same.  No longer on New Year Sale.

 

3.  16 nite cruise:   fares increased $700 pp in both cats.  Air same as Sale Fare air.  Shorex credit same.  No longer on New Year Sale.

 

The New Year Sale is extended, some dif voyages added, and obviously some removed.

 

If interested, please report your findings.  Thanks

I noticed the website now says 40% off instead of 50%.

[FetaCheese]

3 minutes ago, SATaxman said:

I noticed the website now says 40% off instead of 50%.

Yes, I noticed O changed it from 50% to 40% a few weeks ago.  Per T&C's:  Capacity controlled, can be withdrawn at any time, and for new bookings only.

[MEFIowa]

Doesn't appear to have a name, just an "Up to40% off" on 30 cruises:

 

UP TO 40% OFF*

plus simply MORE™
2 for 1 Cruise Fares
FREE Shore Excursions
FREE Champagne, Wine & More
FREE Gourmet Specialty Dining

 

Savings | Oceania Cruises

[cruiserchuck]

16 minutes ago, MEFIowa said:

Doesn't appear to have a name, just an "Up to40% off" on 30 cruises:

 

Yesterday there were 88 cruises listed under the New Year's sale.  I had been watching two cruises on Vista - one went up $2,000 per person for an A2 cabin, and the other one went up $1,100 per person for an A2 cabin. 

[SATaxman]

4 minutes ago, cruiserchuck said:

 

Yesterday there were 88 cruises listed under the New Year's sale.  I had been watching two cruises on Vista - one went up $2,000 per person for an A2 cabin, and the other one went up $1,100 per person for an A2 cabin. 

What percentage of increase does this represent?

[AMHuntFerry]

3 hours ago, FetaCheese said:

The New Year Sale is extended, some dif voyages added, and obviously some removed.

 

If interested, please report your findings.  Thanks

I was holding off booking a May Alaska cruise until a possible conflict was scheduled, but that didn't happen so I went ahead and booked our first choice on Feb. 29th for $2999. It is part of the "<=40%" sale and is now $2699. I used a FCC to book which means I have a lowest-price-guarantee until day of sailing, so I already wrote to my TA to get the discount. This was my first time using a FCC and I'm sold...no risk since they are fully refundable (if refund request made within 1 year), and I get all of the onboard booking perks (although the bonus OBC is a little less).

Oh, and just a combinability note...there was a consortium OBC for this cruise, but it was not combinable with the NY sale.

 

I did a quick scan of other Alaska cruises that are part of the current sale. The ones I have looked at have gone down. I don't think the August 16th 12-day was part of the sale, but now it is (starting $900 lower than in Feb).

Edited March 1 by AMHuntFerry

[AMHuntFerry]

One more Alaska-specific observation: The June 28th cruise was part of the NY sale. It is no longer part of a sale on O's site, but the sale prices are still on multiple TA sites (which also reflect the new <=40% sale prices). No guarantees, but it may be worth checking with your TA even if a (previously on sale) cruise date is showing as not-on-sale.

[AMHuntFerry]

Follow-up to post 37: I received $300 per person in OBC due to the discount (checking on refundable vs. non-refundable). I didn't push getting an actual refund since I am confident it will be spent (sometimes I rue the day O upped their gin game!).

Edited March 1 by AMHuntFerry

[cruiserchuck]

3 hours ago, SATaxman said:

What percentage of increase does this represent?

 

On the more expensive cruise, the NY Sale price was approximately 33% lower than the current price.  The lower priced cruise was not listed as part of the NY sale, but many online booking sites had it listed for approximately 31% off the current price.  The lower priced cruise is included on the list of cruises eligible for the Oceania Club 10% discount.  

 

The online booking sites I have looked at now all show the higher prices.    

[SATaxman]

3 minutes ago, cruiserchuck said:

 

On the more expensive cruise, the NY Sale price was approximately 33% lower than the current price.  The lower priced cruise was not listed as part of the NY sale, but many online booking sites had it listed for approximately 31% off the current price.  The lower priced cruise is included on the list of cruises eligible for the Oceania Club 10% discount.  

 

The online booking sites I have looked at now all show the higher prices.    

That is a big difference.

[Vallesan]

I have a different ‘sale’ story.

 

We booked B2B in September/October 24 in the ‘New Year’ sale. The second segment went down in the ‘new’ New Year extended sale yesterday. I rang my TA. The first segment has increased in price. Oceania would have to reprice the whole trip which would mean a substantial overall increase.

 

The booking has one booking reference but the ‘amenities and gifts’ are split into two, first and second segment. So I took that to mean that I had booked two separate cruises. Not so.

 

Anyway, a cautionary tale. If you plan on booking B2B in a sale just check if it’s better to have one booking or two!

[EJL2023]

6 hours ago, Vallesan said:

I have a different ‘sale’ story.

 

We booked B2B in September/October 24 in the ‘New Year’ sale. The second segment went down in the ‘new’ New Year extended sale yesterday. I rang my TA. The first segment has increased in price. Oceania would have to reprice the whole trip which would mean a substantial overall increase.

 

The booking has one booking reference but the ‘amenities and gifts’ are split into two, first and second segment. So I took that to mean that I had booked two separate cruises. Not so.

 

Anyway, a cautionary tale. If you plan on booking B2B in a sale just check if it’s better to have one booking or two!

In our case there is a b2b, but it was also sailing as a Grand Voyage. The one segment was on sale when we were looking at the cruise.  However, even with the one segment being on sale it was still significantly cheaper to book as a Grand Voyage.  The biggest downside is the only getting credit for one booking in the loyalty program.  The number of specialty reservations was the same regardless as a 20 day voyage in PH. 

[Vallesan]

18 minutes ago, EJL2023 said:

In our case there is a b2b, but it was also sailing as a Grand Voyage. The one segment was on sale when we were looking at the cruise.  However, even with the one segment being on sale it was still significantly cheaper to book as a Grand Voyage.  The biggest downside is the only getting credit for one booking in the loyalty program.  The number of specialty reservations was the same regardless as a 20 day voyage in PH. 

The same happened to us in 2020 but we booked B2B. It was invoiced as one cruise with just one set of ‘amenities and gifts’ and only one loyalty credit. If I remember correctly we could have booked it as two separate cruise B2B but it also would have been more expensive. Such is life!

[Sthrngary]

I find the last few comments very interesting and appreciate the contributors.  I have never done a B2B cruise.  That is not to say one or more are in my future.  It seems, if I do consider a B2B, I should look at booking them separately and together.  Part of my evaluation will be amenities and cruise loyalty points.  That is good information.

 

I normally would not have commented on this topic.  However, something some what similar just happened to me.  Not on a Cruise, instead on Airfare.  I am going to take my Adult Daughter to Europe.  Delta Airlines upgraded my status to Life Time Diamond.  This gave me four elusive Global Upgrades.  They were going to expire so I book Business Class on Delta One round trip to Paris, France.

 

Out of the blue, my daughter said, I want to see the Tulips in Amsterdam.  So I went back to see what it would cost to fly into Amsterdam and out of Paris.  By doing so, I got a discount on my tickets of close to $600.00 each.  Tie this recent experience with what I learned here.  When not if, I do a B2B Cruise, I will look at all possible options, amenities, prices to find the best approach for me.  The key to my airfare and I am sure a cruise booking is a certain level of flexibility.  

 

Thank you to the author of this topic and everyone that contributed.  Very helpful.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

[MEFIowa]

2 minutes ago, Sthrngary said:

I find the last few comments very interesting and appreciate the contributors.  I have never done a B2B cruise.  That is not to say one or more are in my future.  It seems, if I do consider a B2B, I should look at booking them separately and together.  Part of my evaluation will be amenities and cruise loyalty points.  That is good information....

The "why" you end up with a B2B may make the difference.

 

On our recent Med B2B on Riviera in which we met, I booked the first part in 2/2022 when the itinerary opened up. Then ADDED the 2nd part in 4/2022 under a sale. (Of course, I rebooked them both under later sales.)

 

As for our upcoming B2B in the Baltic on Sirena, I booked what eventually became the 2nd part first, when itineraries opened in 5/2022. Then when I ran across a sale in 10/022, I rebooked this. Along came summer 2023 (a sale when SM introduced) and I ADDED the new 1st part.

 

So, in neither case did I start with a B2B, but ended up with one due to sales. Always had separate booking numbers for both parts each time.

[Sthrngary]

4 minutes ago, MEFIowa said:

The "why" you end up with a B2B may make the difference.

 

On our recent Med B2B on Riviera in which we met, I booked the first part in 2/2022 when the itinerary opened up. Then ADDED the 2nd part in 4/2022 under a sale. (Of course, I rebooked them both under later sales.)

 

As for our upcoming B2B in the Baltic on Sirena, I booked what eventually became the 2nd part first, when itineraries opened in 5/2022. Then when I ran across a sale in 10/022, I rebooked this. Along came summer 2023 (a sale when SM introduced) and I ADDED the new 1st part.

 

So, in neither case did I start with a B2B, but ended up with one due to sales. Always had separate booking numbers for both parts each time.

@MEFIowa It does not make a difference how you got there (to the eventual desired result).  Whether you were thinking B2B first or it simply became a really great option.  The point and purpose of this discussion to me seems to be, look at all the angles, stay a bit flexible, look at perks/amenities given and do the math.  

 

When you shared how your journey took you the the Riviera Cruise we met on transitioned, it should have been a case study of what to look for and keeping your eyes and mind open.  Now you and I look at certain aspects of cruising differently.  We both like some different things.  In this topic, be both agree.  Look at all the possibilities and be just a little bit flexible.  Who knows what might come from that.  Either way we get to cruise.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[basor]

We just finished a B2B on Vista and doing a B2BB on Riviera next Fall.....in both scenarios, I look at the total cost of cruise booked as 1 cruise and as separate cruises (with separate booking numbers).  I start with total cost of cruise, amenities, loyalty credits and most importantly OBC from loyalty, AMEX, shareholder credit and TA.  In both instance the overall cost minus the OBC made it less expensive to book as separate cruise with the loyalty credits a plus.  You need to do the math....also, if one part of the B2B goes on sale, it is easier to reprice than as 1 voyage.

[MEFIowa]

1 minute ago, Sthrngary said:

... The point and purpose of this discussion to me seems to be, look at all the angles, stay a bit flexible, look at perks/amenities given and do the math.... 

And that starts with sales and the impact of future sales. As well as how O handles what you end up booking. And that can differ from whether you've got one combined B2B up front or two separate bookings over time. Yes, as always, do the math. And keep doing it sale after sale until you cruise. Sales can make one quite flexible indeed.

[ORV]

Sometimes you are not given the option to decide to book B2B or one cruise depending on how it is marketed. You always have to check. I'm sure FF knows more about this than I do, and it has changed in the last few years. 

[jonthomas]

The 30 cruises sale,  is a new sale. 

 

I had looked at the alaska cruise when it was 15% off, now it is much more.

 

easy to miss though, thinking that it is the same as the new years sale.