No more Simply More

[basor]

1 hour ago, ICT lineman said:

 

Earlier in this thread there was a Oceania PDF to download.

 

Those with Silver+ status will now get $250 per stateroom … not the previous $38/day x number of cruise days. This is a substantial $ amount.

 

 

Ever since we started receiving the pre-paid gratuities as a loyalty perk, on our account it would show the gratuities charged and then credited and then, when our TA or O had PPG as an amenity, we would receive $250.00OBC in lieu of the 2nd PPG.....now Silver + will receive the $250.00OBC on every cruise....someone else will chime in when the O stopped giving an actual daily PPG cost x the number of days when a cruiser had PPG both as a loyalty perk and an amenity....but I believe it has been many years...

[Jim_Iain]

On 9/5/2024 at 5:40 PM, clo said:

I haven't read all SIX pages 😉 of this but has anyone mentioned that their TA gives them gratuities and/or OBC?

My agent applies the OBC upfront off the total fare.  Works well for me. 

 

Otherwise I'm sure your agents will apply it to a different area at your request

[AMHuntFerry]

OMG people! Nobody is losing anything and nobody (or at least not O) is taking any funds out of our trust-fund/IRA/pension/savings. We are buying cruises for goodness sake; they cost what they cost. As the old O-Life era saying goes "run the numbers"; either it meets spec or it doesn't. Carry on (and carry 😉 ).

BTW, I ran a quick "what if" scan of July 2025 cruises, 10-13 days and found that non-balcony Azamara and Oceania were the cheapest, Windstar showed up next (sail, then yacht), then other premium/luxury showed up like Viking, Seabourn, etc with O still being lowest for entry level. Run your own searches with your own preferences (i.e., add bevy pkgs as needed, etc.). O is still competitive with A for me and beats the rest, even with the October 1st "losses".

Edited September 8 by AMHuntFerry

[Jim_Iain]

On 9/6/2024 at 4:51 AM, Harters said:

Absolutely, IMO. 

 

I have no problem with price increases and companies making a profit. Most of us live in  a capitalist society and that's the name of the game.

 

But what I find odd about this is why O didnt just increase prices,as they do all the time, keeping things the same or accounting for the extension of included gratuities to all customers. Instead it has given with one hand and taken away with another. Or, to put it another way, toss a coin - heads you win, tails I lose. 

 

Agree and I guess we and O will see if their strategy works or whether customers start shifting to competitors.  We are booked out through 2025 and early 2026 so will see how the competition plays out over the next 6 months to a year.  

 

Celebrity's similar policy lost us as a 23 year dedicated upper suite cruiser.   We have given up on  one way Loyalty programs and will be booking by itinerary, price and total package of services.     Easiest enough to stick the numbers into a spreadsheet.

[Yesimapirate]

Just curious if people would be more or less upset if they kept SM but raised the prices by $100pp/day. 

 

At the end of the day,  you can still have wine, excursions or anything else you'd like.  And at the end of the day,  costs have risen, be it from inflation,  mismanagement,  buying new ships before paying down the debt, higher interest rates or whatever.   I don't personally know of any cruise line that has been dropping prices or keeping prices the same and adding additional perks.  Is the anger because the "loyalty program" doesn't give you as much as it used to or because there will be a higher total cost?  

 

If you shop around and the other potential cruise lines are priced higher are you still going to book O?  

 

I'm certainly not defending O.  Their press releases are pretty tone deaf and customer service doesn't seem to rise to the level of what they promise. But I also think some of the hyperbole is over the top.  The fact is the average price for a cruise on ANY line is more than it was in 2019, 2022, etc.  And it's not going to drop as long as the ships are full, especially when food and employment costs have sky rocketed.

 

You aren't going to see lower prices or more perks until the economy worsens or available ship cabins outgrow the available cruise passengers.   That hasn't changed for the 12 pages of this thread or the other 2 threads.

Edited September 8 by Yesimapirate

[TahitiSun]

We are currently booked under SM, so we have the SM drink package.  Are we still able to upgrade to the prestige drink package for $30/day?

[Rainbow3fe]

2 minutes ago, TahitiSun said:

We are currently booked under SM, so we have the SM drink package.  Are we still able to upgrade to the prestige drink package for $30/day?

I would think so. 

[osandomir]

Most complain that the inclusions disappear but the prices stay the same. In reality, the prices were not based on the inclusions but rather on the demand. We paid more with SM simply because the cruising became more expensive. For existing cruises if it’s less bookings after the change there will be a sale. Otherwise the prices will always go up. And it will be the same for the new release. And it will be safe to assume that the Loyalty program will also be devaluated if the demand is strong. So there’s no explanation for free gratuities for those with the status if the gratuities are included in the price.

[Harters]

8 hours ago, Yesimapirate said:

Just curious if people would be more or less upset if they kept SM but raised the prices by $100pp/day. 

$100pppd is obviously an arbitrary figure and it's difficult to comment on the specifics. But, as a general response, I expect businesses to raise their prices periodically. And Oceania does that. It raised prices when it introduced included gratuities, drinks and excursion credit with Simply More.  In the ordinary course of events, I would not have expected O to withdraw its offer only months after it had introduced it, before it had any chance to be proven a success. Rather, I would have expected them to raise prices in due course in line with any business' normal practice.

[ORV]

15 hours ago, Rainbow3fe said:

Has anyone found out about the new Oceania Club perks?

     Do you think they'll be in effect for our current bookings on future cruises? We have 1 OLife and 2 SM coming up. I hope they'll honor the original Club level rewards. 

Where have you seen any official announcement about any new Oceania club perks? I try to keep up but I’ve missed that one. 

13 hours ago, ICT lineman said:

 

Earlier in this thread there was a Oceania PDF to download.

 

Those with Silver+ status will now get $250 per stateroom … not the previous $38/day x number of cruise days. This is a substantial $ amount.

 

 

With all due respect you’re misunderstanding this. Plain and simple, and others have pointed this out up thread, here is what will happen. Just like everyone else you will have gratuities paid just like you have since you turned Silver. If you are Silver or above you will get $250 OBC additional for the cabin. 
 

Where we are losing is not getting anything additional for the value of what we had before. Also everyone is losing the value of the basic drink package and the excursion OBC. 
 

So bottom line is that once again the loyalty perks are diluted, but they are not charging us extra. 

[Harters]

15 minutes ago, ORV said:

So bottom line is that once again the loyalty perks are diluted, but they are not charging us extra. 

Indeed. It's similar to the shrinkflation you get from manufacturers. A tube of Pringles down from 200g to 185g but price the same. Or Lurpak butter down from 250g to 200g but price the same. I suppose the financial difference is that Oceania removing the included perks adds up to a much larger hit on the wallet, than for a packet of snacks. 

[jonthomas]

15 hours ago, ak1004 said:

 

When Crystal went out of business, SB offered status match to C refuges. We did a single cruise with C, but got Silver status on SB.

 

Then we booked MSC Yacht Club and they did status match to SB - we got Diamond, their highest status.

 

In both cases we got status without sailing a single day with them.

 

So yes, all lines are trying to attract new cruisers, and couldn't care less about loyalty. Maybe it would be different if guests voted with their wallets too, like we do. We sailed on 12 different lines and doing 2 more in the next 6 months. Always based on itinerary and the overall package. Never on loyalty.

 

Yes, getting a free cruise after 20 cruises is nice - but it's basically equivalent to 5% discount. Nice but doesn't change the big picture.

Unless you have found your line of choice and are no longer interested in risking a line you like for something unknown. It's like chasing rainbows, there is nothing there at the end of it. Of course the chase itself may be fun, and variety is the spice of life. Ah way too much symbolism.

If you find what you like, loyalty is just a bonus.

No one is dumb enough to keep sailing a line they don't enjoy, just to collect brownie points.

 

[terrydtx]

This whole discussion has been interesting. We like other former loyal Celebrity customers, we are Elte Plus, walked away from them for many reasons. We now cruise for the itinerary first.

 

We booked our first Oceania cruise on the Marina for next March for 18 days with the old O'Life option of the included house drinks package. When the new SM package was announced we rebooked our cruise for $100pp more and then got a $1000 excursion credit and the drinks package. This was an $800 net added benefit for us. We normally do not book ship excursions as we prefer doing private tours. For several of the ports in this cruise the availability of private tours was limited or not available, so we had no problem using all of the $1000 credit. It will be interesting to see if O will be raising or lowering cruise pricing when they do away with SM packaging. Celebrity took away many of the Retreat (suites) benefits in Oct. 2023 and raised prices 30-40% which made us look at other lines and eventually leave Celebrity and our phony loyalty benefits.

[pinotlover]

I’ll repeat. Many posters here believe the OCCAPP is dead. My TA says it is not. It will now be something other than PPG.

 

Currently, not all cruises today have those perks because they are typically fast moving. Also not all Consortiums receive all of them all the time. Harder to sell cruises will continue to have promotions that may be other than pricing reductions. People need to wait until October to see what’s actually offered via their TA . Drink packages and tour credits may continue in the mix. 
 

A lot of people are hearing dogs barking and claiming to be bit. I think we need for those dogs to get here first and see their teeth.

Edited September 8 by pinotlover

[ak1004]

27 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

Unless you have found your line of choice and are no longer interested in risking a line you like for something unknown. It's like chasing rainbows, there is nothing there at the end of it. Of course the chase itself may be fun, and variety is the spice of life. Ah way too much symbolism.

If you find what you like, loyalty is just a bonus.

No one is dumb enough to keep sailing a line they don't enjoy, just to collect brownie points.

 

 

But who says there has to be a single line of choice? Why not several lines of choice?

 

There is no chasing. Just looking for the good itinerary at reasonable price. in 2025, those happened to be on O. In 2026, who knows? We are waiting for O itineraries to be released. But if we see a good itinerary on SB, SS, Explora, Windstar or Azamara, we will book. I see zero risk sailing on any of those lines, they all offer an excellent experience.

[jonthomas]

Unless you have done some of  those lines and still prefer O, as we do.

 

Maybe an explanation is in order. We have been everywhere we want to go to. Now it is just about food, atmosphere, activities. Yes perhaps SB and SS could also be a match, not willing to risk it, for what gain?

 

[shepherd really]

7 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

Unless you have done some of  those lines and still prefer O, as we do.

 

Maybe an explanation is in order. We have been everywhere we want to go to. Now it is just about food, atmosphere, activities. Yes perhaps SB and SS could also be a match, not willing to risk it, for what gain?

 

The gain is broadening your potential options, the risk with sailing on these lines is negligible in my opinion.  

[ak1004]

9 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

Unless you have done some of  those lines and still prefer O, as we do.

 

Maybe an explanation is in order. We have been everywhere we want to go to. Now it is just about food, atmosphere, activities. Yes perhaps SB and SS could also be a match, not willing to risk it, for what gain?

 

 

I think this last statement nailed it.

 

For you, the first priority is the ship. For us it's the itinerary. This is the main difference.

[terrydtx]

27 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

This whole discussion has been interesting. We like other former loyal Celebrity customers, we are Elte Plus, walked away from them for many reasons. We now cruise for the itinerary first.

 

We booked our first Oceania cruise on the Marina for next March for 18 days with the old O'Life option of the included house drinks package. When the new SM package was announced we rebooked our cruise for $100pp more and then got a $1000 excursion credit and the drinks package. This was an $800 net added benefit for us. We normally do not book ship excursions as we prefer doing private tours. For several of the ports in this cruise the availability of private tours was limited or not available, so we had no problem using all of the $1000 credit. It will be interesting to see if O will be raising or lowering cruise pricing when they do away with SM packaging. Celebrity took away many of the Retreat (suites) benefits in Oct. 2023 and raised prices 30-40% which made us look at other lines and eventually leave Celebrity and our phony loyalty benefits.

I forgot to add our gratuities for this cruise are being covered by our TA. We also plan on adding the premium drinks package, currently $30pp per day, when we make final payment for the cruise next month. We also booked our own BC air for $3889pp when O quoted over $5500pp, so any air benefits from O are meaningless for us.

[ak1004]

1 minute ago, shepherd really said:

The gain is broadening your potential options, the risk with sailing on these lines is negligible in my opinion.  

 

Exactly.

 

And personally, I would try as many lines as possible even if the itinerary was not important. There is zero risk. Of course I'm not talking about lines like Carnival..

[Vallesan]

28 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

Unless you have done some of  those lines and still prefer O, as we do.

 

Maybe an explanation is in order. We have been everywhere we want to go to. Now it is just about food, atmosphere, activities. Yes perhaps SB and SS could also be a match, not willing to risk it, for what gain?

 

Having sailed on all three lines I would say that they are all ‘similar’ yet ‘different’. I don’t see any disadvantages to any of the three. However I feel the same as you when it comes to Azamara…. don’t want to take the  ’risk’!

[ak1004]

9 minutes ago, Vallesan said:

Having sailed on all three lines I would say that they are all ‘similar’ yet ‘different’. I don’t see any disadvantages to any of the three. However I feel the same as you when it comes to Azamara…. don’t want to take the  ’risk’!

 

We sailed on Azamara too. The experience was very close to O older ships. Smaller cabins, but that's the only negative. If they were much worse than O, they couldn't charge prices similar to O.

 

And you are right, SS is similar and different to O at the same time. We are not formal people, but we always enjoy watching how other people dress up. It's entertaining and amusing at the same time. The atmosphere is very different from O, and it's good for novelty. 

 

Choice is always good. We would not hesitate sailing on SS again, but cannot justify their prices at this point. 

[terrydtx]

17 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

We sailed on Azamara too. The experience was very close to O older ships. Smaller cabins, but that's the only negative. If they were much worse than O, they couldn't charge prices similar to O.

We have looked at Azamara, and didn't like the smaller cabins on their older smaller ships, on O we would only book on their newer larger ships. Prices seem to be similar, and we have not found any itinerary we like on Azamara.

 

We can cruise in a Concierge class Oceania cabin for much less than what we were paying on Celebrity in their Sky Suites. When we booked the Marina for next March, we looked at a similar Celebrity cruise in a Sky Suite for 14 days. The Marina cruise for 18 days in our A2 Concierge Class cabin was $200pp less than the 14-day Celebrity cruise. The A2 Marina cabin is slightly less in size than a Sky Suite. Since we did that comparison the prices on the Celebrity SS has gone up $1000pp while the Marina price increased by only $200pp, so the Marina is even a bigger bargain. Even better if you look at the cost per day, $1130 on Celebrity VS $758 on Oceania.

Edited September 8 by terrydtx

[jonthomas]

46 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

Exactly.

 

And personally, I would try as many lines as possible even if the itinerary was not important. There is zero risk. Of course I'm not talking about lines like Carnival..

 

I guess it also depends on your point in life..we were much more adventurous 10 years ago...

 

the only thing I still crave is what some of you are doing..getting a group of friends together, renting a villa in tuscany or provence....and just living the dream...

 

but alas that is not going to happen either...no one else we know has that dream....

[terrydtx]

7 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

 

I guess it also depends on your point in life..we were much more adventurous 10 years ago...

 

the only thing I still crave is what some of you are doing..getting a group of friends together, renting a villa in tuscany or provence....and just living the dream...

 

but alas that is not going to happen either...no one else we know has that dream....

We are now combining longer land trips with our cruises, in January we did 22 days by cruise with a 13-day driving trip in Australia. Next March we are doing a week on land before our South America Marina cruise. These land days bring downs our overall cost per day for any vacation.

 

We are in our mid 70's and more adventurous than 10 years ago after extensive overseas traveling since covid has shown how easy and safe international travel can be.

Edited September 8 by terrydtx