Oceania is now adding "FREE!!" pre-cruise hotel???

[Psoque]

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oceania-cruises-offers-free-pre-cruise-hotel-stay-on-a-range-of-sailings-in-2024-and-2025-302098868.html

 

According to this and other reports I have read, Oceania is experimenting with a bundled cruise fare that includes a hotel night before the cruise on some itineraries.  I tried to look up how Oceania is presenting it to the consumers on their website, but so far there's no indication of this happening.  Anyways, I was very happy that the pricing table became a bit simpler when Oceania switched from "OLife" to "Simply More," (though I'm not necessary consider this transition to be all good) it appears they are again trying to complicate their pricing model.  Looking at the press release above (written by Oceania), they are calling this bundling offer a "free pre-cruise stay" and "this generous offer,"  giving a false impression that somehow, a customer will come out ahead when Oceania bundles their pre-cruise hotel into the cruise fare.

 

I had some hopes for Oceania when they started to make their marketing a bit more honest, but I'm afraid they haven't really changed.  I realize that most of us can tell the difference between "free!" and bundled pricing, but it still begs the question who exactly is Oceania hoping that would actually believe that these add-ons are a free gift from the cruise line?

[Classiccruiser777]

Free = the cost is built into the cruise fare. Management wouldn’t do this if it wasn’t profitable.

[ORV]

Thread about this already

 

 

[Psoque]

52 minutes ago, ORV said:

Thread about this already

 

 

Thanks for letting me know.  I somehow could not find this thread.  However, looking at the thread, it has already been hijacked into a different topic (cruise air and deviation fee.).

 

Anyhow, my point is this:  Oceania (and really, other cruise lines as well) have always been selling pre/post cruise hotels with a ginormous mark-up, so I can't imagine Oceania offering pre-cruise hotel with less mark-up.  Based on that, there's no way this inclusion is "Free" or "Generous" in any way.  It just makes the whole cruise fare even more opaque, which was exactly the problem with how Oceania has been marketing their products.

However, I guess there will be enough customers who are either blissfully unaware of this, or either unwilling or unable to make their own pre-cruise hotel arrangements, and for them, this is of value to them.

 

To me, this makes no sense.

[EJL2023]

13 minutes ago, Psoque said:

Thanks for letting me know.  I somehow could not find this thread.  However, looking at the thread, it has already been hijacked into a different topic (cruise air and deviation fee.).

 

Anyhow, my point is this:  Oceania (and really, other cruise lines as well) have always been selling pre/post cruise hotels with a ginormous mark-up, so I can't imagine Oceania offering pre-cruise hotel with less mark-up.  Based on that, there's no way this inclusion is "Free" or "Generous" in any way.  It just makes the whole cruise fare even more opaque, which was exactly the problem with how Oceania has been marketing their products.

However, I guess there will be enough customers who are either blissfully unaware of this, or either unwilling or unable to make their own pre-cruise hotel arrangements, and for them, this is of value to them.

 

To me, this makes no sense.

You are probably right about the pricing and all, but perhaps we can wait until the actual promotion and pricing is out there for all to review.  Then we can at least proclaim it to be an April Fools conspiracy and only a fool would bite on it. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Edited March 30 by EJL2023

[basor]

This is a one time offer on select cruises to boost the sale of those specific cruises.  Just like a 4 category upgrade, etc.  Not intended to be a precursor to be included on all itineraries.  I can't believe how some people grasp at anything to slam Oceania as instituting another money grabbing scheme.  

[mauibabes]

@basor 

@EJL2023

Ditto with your approach. I believe the offer begins April 1 so maybe the sleuths can capture some rates of those specific cruises mentioned and then Monday when the Promotion hits, Tada, we will hear the results posted on CC.  
We have booked into an Oceania hotel for a pre night several times on our own and it was cheaper to do it ourselves but not in a ginormous way, depends on city and hotels. We have had friends use the Pre night hotel because it was a part of their total Oceania package, they were picked up at the airport and the next day delivered to the ship and they got a VERY nice room. Yes, we pay for convenience 🤪👍.  We all build our travel packages in a way that suits us. 
 

When we have traveled on a Tauck Tour, they include a Pre/Post night stay and that is the only company who I have seen that actually includes their Gift of Time without charge. IF you are an eligible traveler, of course. IF you are paying, be prepared 😇💰. Just maybe, there is no Free Breakfast OR Free Lunch. 
 

Basor, testing my memory, are you on Riviera Nov. 4-14, Rome to Barcelona as part of an upcoming B2B2B trip? If so, see you on board 🛳️🍷

Mahalo,

Mauibabes
 

 

[basor]

 

Basor, testing my memory, are you on Riviera Nov. 4-14, Rome to Barcelona as part of an upcoming B2B2B trip? If so, see you on board 🛳️🍷

Mahalo,

Mauibabes

 

We are and I believe we were together on Vista last October/November.....

[FlyerTalker]

2 hours ago, basor said:

This is a one time offer on select cruises to boost the sale of those specific cruises.  Just like a 4 category upgrade, etc.  Not intended to be a precursor to be included on all itineraries.  I can't believe how some people grasp at anything to slam Oceania as instituting another money grabbing scheme.  

 

FWIW, Viking does a similar thing, but with "free air".  The idea is that they get to maintain some degree of price integrity for the cruise pricing, but provide a discount with the inclusion of "free air".

 

Just another way to market a slow-moving product.

 

 

[Sthrngary]

I just picked up my mail, a nice full sized brochure from Oceania was in the mail box.  This was the promotion.  I looked for my cruise booked in 2025 and it was not one of them. It looks to be a lot of Asian and Australian ports/itineraries. 

 

The question we need to ask is:

 

• "Why would a cruise brand give a pre-cruise hotel?"
• "Are these itineraries such that they need a boost?"
• "Is this a kind of sale or a marketing approach to make things easier and a bit more costly?"

 

When the website is updated for April, we will soon find out this and other answers to questions not yet asked.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[WildWanderers]

Hi All,

 

I asked my Oceania representative this past week if he had any way of knowing if we could have the complimentary hotel stay in advance of a cruise we have booked that begins in Rio de Janeiro in 2025, given that Brazil is mentioned in the press release (about Oceania's upcoming offer effective April 1) on the Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings website.

 

He reminded me that it is not as simple as ... I'll take the free room please ... it means that I have to look at the rate for the room we have booked as it appears on April 1 to see if it has gone up - in which case my free room is not really free.

 

At present there is no hotel on offer pre-cruise for our trip, but that does not mean that there will not be one.

 

He and I are chatting on Monday, once the offer is published.

 

In case this helps, 

 

Cheers from Greg of the WildWanderers

[Psoque]

I haven’t had a chance to save the pre-April 1 pricing on these selected itineraries, but I wonder if this “promotion” is a way to soften the initial blow of fare increases on some of these itineraries.  I’m just hoping that Oceania is not going to make the pre-cruise hotel booked through them as compulsory.

 

Despite what some of us say, in my experience, the cost of hotel booked through the cruise line (which are typically priced “per person”) is typically 2-3 times the going rate.  Some of us may like to still book the hotels with Oceania, but I personally don’t.

[goletans]

I checked the pricing on the two cruises we have booked that are now offering a free pre-cruise hotel. The the cost for this free pre-cruise hotel that would include a free transfer to the ship is only $1600 on one cruise and $1401 on the other. Not surprised. It will be interesting to see all the free inclusions that the soon-to-be-released itineraries will have.

[EJL2023]

32 minutes ago, goletans said:

I checked the pricing on the two cruises we have booked that are now offering a free pre-cruise hotel. The the cost for this free pre-cruise hotel that would include a free transfer to the ship is only $1600 on one cruise and $1401 on the other. Not surprised. It will be interesting to see all the free inclusions that the soon-to-be-released itineraries will have.

I had saved a couple cruises yesterday included in this promo and just checked the prices and for a B1 on both, they went up $200 per person. As I noted in another thread with the new quarter two cruises we have booked went up $400 pp for an A2 and $200 pp for a PH and neither of these are included in the promo.  So hard to say as some of the increases could just also be the 4/1 increase on many cruises. Neither of our booked cruises were previously under a sale promo. 

Edited April 1 by EJL2023

[AMHuntFerry]

2 minutes ago, EJL2023 said:

I had saved a couple cruises yesterday included in this promo and just checked the prices and for a B1 on both, they went up $200 per person. As I noted in another thread with the new quarter two cruises we have booked went up $400 pp for an A2 and $200 pp for a PH and neither of these are included in the promo.  So hard to say as some of the increases could just also be the 4/1 increase on many cruises. 

None of the "free hotel" cruises are on my wish list, but I spot checked a few against regular prices in a January brochure (NOT 40% off sale prices that ended in Feb or March), and they align with your observation...between $200 to $300 more per person. I have not looked at cruises that don't have the hotel perk, but I suspect others have also gone up a similar amount but do not have a hotel...the cruise I have booked in a couple of months has been on sale for many months (so no January "regular price" to compare) and it is now $200 more than the 2024-sailings (original price) brochure.

[EJL2023]

7 minutes ago, AMHuntFerry said:

None of the "free hotel" cruises are on my wish list, but I spot checked a few against regular prices in a January brochure (NOT 40% off sale prices that ended in Feb or March), and they align with your observation...between $200 to $300 more per person. I have not looked at cruises that don't have the hotel perk, but I suspect others have also gone up a similar amount but do not have a hotel...the cruise I have booked in a couple of months has been on sale for many months (so no January "regular price" to compare) and it is now $200 more than the 2024-sailings (original price) brochure.

Good point on if booked cruises were under a sales promotion. Neither of ours were so the price increase I indicated was all due to 4/1 increase. I added a note to my prior post to include this information. 

[AMHuntFerry]

2 minutes ago, EJL2023 said:

Good point on if booked cruises were under a sales promotion. Neither of ours were so the price increase I indicated was all due to 4/1 increase. I added a note to my prior post to include this information. 

I added the NOT (not specifically for you) because, for whatever reason, when SM came out at the same time as quarterly possible-price changes, some insisted on comparing sale prices to current prices to determine how much SM was "costing" them...didn't make fiscal sense, but math is hard.

[davencl]

I had checked one cruise friday for a PH1 that was included in this promotion.  It did not change today.  It was Singapore to Auckland leaving Nov. 14,2024.   Were there any other promotions ending March 31 that could affect pricing?  FWIW I have always found booking the same hotel as Oceania offered was roughly half the price if I booked on my own.  Since Oceania is a business I wonder if Oceania can offset with air savings.  Just speculating...

[durberville]

40 minutes ago, davencl said:

I had checked one cruise friday for a PH1 that was included in this promotion.  It did not change today.  It was Singapore to Auckland leaving Nov. 14,2024.   Were there any other promotions ending March 31 that could affect pricing?  FWIW I have always found booking the same hotel as Oceania offered was roughly half the price if I booked on my own.  Since Oceania is a business I wonder if Oceania can offset with air savings.  Just speculating...

Interesting. I was quoted a price of $898 for a pre-cruise hotel night in Los Angeles and $1,040 for the night after our cruise in Tokyo. I declined 😳 If those rates are half of what you would normally pay - my hats off to you, I’m not paying that for one night. 

[PhD-iva]

8 hours ago, durberville said:

Interesting. I was quoted a price of $898 for a pre-cruise hotel night in Los Angeles and $1,040 for the night after our cruise in Tokyo. I declined 😳 If those rates are half of what you would normally pay - my hats off to you, I’m not paying that for one night. 

Its the opposite. They could pay half of those quoted rates if booking directly.

Enjoy your cruise!

[davencl]

8 hours ago, durberville said:

Interesting. I was quoted a price of $898 for a pre-cruise hotel night in Los Angeles and $1,040 for the night after our cruise in Tokyo. I declined 😳 If those rates are half of what you would normally pay - my hats off to you, I’m not paying that for one night. 

 

8 hours ago, durberville said:

Interesting. I was quoted a price of $898 for a pre-cruise hotel night in Los Angeles and $1,040 for the night after our cruise in Tokyo. I declined 😳 If those rates are half of what you would normally pay - my hats off to you, I’m not paying that for one night. 

I should clarify I've found booking directly is much less expensive than booking thru Oceania.  So Oceania would have charged $2080 for the night in Tokyo per your example. However I wouldn't book at either of those prices...

[durberville]

2 hours ago, PhD-iva said:

Its the opposite. They could pay half of those quoted rates if booking directly.

Enjoy your cruise!

Ah! Yes I misread that post. 😬 

[durberville]

2 hours ago, davencl said:

 

I should clarify I've found booking directly is much less expensive than booking thru Oceania.  So Oceania would have charged $2080 for the night in Tokyo per your example. However I wouldn't book at either of those prices...

My apologies - I DID misread your post. I was shocked at the rate Oceania gave me and it’s coloured my opinion on their hotel packages! Haha! 👍🏻

Edited April 2 by durberville

[PhD-iva]

53 minutes ago, durberville said:

My apologies - I DID misread your post. I was shocked at the rate Oceania gave me and it’s coloured my opinion on their hotel packages! Haha! 👍🏻

Some people are willing to pay for convenience. Others can DIY.

[D. B.]

The Free pre cruise one night Hotel offer is not available on Ocean View or Inside cabins on Riviera Japan 2025 cruises.

 If I upgraded from a Deluxe Ocean View to a B3 veranda for $1700 more I could get the Free hotel offer. I will look for our own hotel for that cost.