Overbooking?

[hoffdahl]

We made reservations for an Oct 2009 cruise the first week in March and we have now paid in full. My father called Oceania yesterday to ask if our B2 stateroom assignment had been made and he was surprised to hear that there were no B2 rooms available at this time but that we were guaranteed a room by the time of sailing, even if it meant an upgrade, and that they might not be able to give us a room number until just days before we sail. Has anyone had this experience before? Did you have to wait that long to get a final confirmation?

[LHT28]

It does happen but they will get you a cabin.

After final payment some people cancel or change their minds if no cabin are available closer to sailing they will stat making offers to those that have designated cabins.

You will be on the ship someplace;)

 

I do not understand if you booked in March why you did not get a cabin assignment then? :confused:

Were they only offering Guarantees then?

 

Do a search here for "upsells" or "upgrades" the topic has been discussed before

 

Lyn

[CintiPam]

Yes, on our first Oceania cruise last September, we did not get our room number until a couple of weeks before the cruise. The luggage tags sent earlier had the cruise date printed on them, but no room number.

 

We had booked in late May on a waitlist for three lower category priced cabins, got a guaranteed E cabin in early June (and paid in full then), and the final cabin number in late August for a September 5 cruise.

 

No worries, a guaranty truly is a guaranty.

[martinchem]

Sometimes cabins are assigned months in advance other times on the day of the cruise.

[StanandJim]

We made reservations for an Oct 2009 cruise the first week in March and we have now paid in full. My father called Oceania yesterday to ask if our B2 stateroom assignment had been made and he was surprised to hear that there were no B2 rooms available at this time but that we were guaranteed a room by the time of sailing, even if it meant an upgrade, and that they might not be able to give us a room number until just days before we sail. Has anyone had this experience before? Did you have to wait that long to get a final confirmation?

 

Once again we have an example of somebody who has booked a guarantee without fully understanding what they were buying.

 

The whole purpose of doing the guarantee is that you hope that the Cruise line will wind up putting you into a better category than you paid for. That would be the up-side.

 

The down side is that you dont get a specific cabin # assigned until the back office machinations are completed.

 

Years ago, in the Volendams' maiden season, we did not get our guarantee assignment until we were AT THE SHIP (but it turned out to be our best ever upgrade!).

[meow!]

Guarantees can work out quite well on many cruise lines. In May of last year, we got this offer from one agency (cannot be named) for Celebrity Century, 12 days, British Isles, in a minisuite, with business class round trip San francisco - Amsterdam on United Airlines for $4,000 including all taxes, port charges, etc., and got a $200 shipboard credit, a deal which shouldn't be missed. When we called, another couple just got the last asssignable cabin a couple of minutes before us, and we got the only guarentee left. We did not get our cabin number until one week before sailing, and there was no upgrade, but a regular "sky suite" as guaranteed. It turned out just fine, thank you! We believe similar rules apply on Oceania as well.

[Hunding]

Guarantees can work out quite well on many cruise lines. In May of last year, we got this offer from one agency (cannot be named) for Celebrity Century, 12 days, British Isles, in a minisuite, with business class round trip San francisco - Amsterdam on United Airlines for $4,000 including all taxes, port charges, etc., and got a $200 shipboard credit, a deal which shouldn't be missed. When we called, another couple just got the last asssignable cabin a couple of minutes before us, and we got the only guarentee left. We did not get our cabin number until one week before sailing, and there was no upgrade, but a regular "sky suite" as guaranteed. It turned out just fine, thank you! We believe similar rules apply on Oceania as well.

 

Lovely!

[novice101]

Yes, that happened to us on a Meditteranean cruise in 2007. We were upgraded to PH3 several days before we sailed. It was very disconcerting as this was our first cruise with Oceania. I made many phone calls because our TA was useless (since fired.)

[novice101]

Yes, that happened to us on the Passport to Italy cruise in May of 2007. We were upgraded from A1 to PH3 a few days before we sailed. It was very disconcerting. This was our first cruise with Oceania, and we did not know what to expect. We made many phone calls because our TA was useless (never used again.)

[StanandJim]

It was very disconcerting.

 

Why would it be disconcerting to be upgraded? The penthouses are heaven compared to an A1 !