FDR Past Passenger Question

[tgg]

My husband John and I received our Oceania past passenger numbers based our having been on three Renaissance cruises. We took the June 2006 Insignia cruise on Oceania to the British Isles and loved it so much that we signed up yesterday for a B-2 guarantee for the South America cruise on December 9.

We thought we would qualify for the $200 shipboard credit at the bronze level of your Oceania Club program. But our travel agent was told that the Renaissance cruises didn't "count". I know the $200 isn't a lot of money, but it WILL buy several bottles of wine.

Can you help us with this?

Toni Gartner

[Jancruz]

Frank is away in Europe and no one even Frank can do anything to help you with this..Renaissance and Oceania are different cruise lines..you should have a $200 credit for your last cruise and be sure and find a TA that will give you prepaid gratuities or shipboard credit..That should help.
Jan
*************

[tgg]

I'm well aware that Renaissance and Oceania are different companies.

However, it was OCEANIA that assigned the past passenger numbers to us based on our sailings with Renaissance. They must have thought it was important enough to retain those people who loved Renaissance to do this.

Because shipboard credit from Oceania is based on the number of cruises you take, this question will affect all future cruises we take with Oceania, so I'd really prefer a response from Frank Del Rio.

[timbo89]

so I'd really prefer a response from Frank Del Rio.

Perhaps you should write him directly......

[Jancruz]

Interesting that you dont believe a member of Oceania Cruises' Connoisseur Club, I agree with Tim..since 10,000 clients did not get credit for Ren, if you want a special favor..you should write to Frank direct..
Jan
*************

[tgg]

Jan,

I never said I don't believe you.

I never even ASKED you.

I'm not asking for a special favor.

I just asked a question of Frank Del Rio. Perhaps I'll send a letter as Timbo suggested.

[LHT28]

Jan,

I never said I don't believe you.

I never even ASKED you.



If you only wanted to hear from FDR you should not have posted in a public forum and just sent the letter to him in the first place.
Your reply to Jan was very rude.
She was trying to be helpful as are others in these forums.

[jfb128]

Think about what you are asking FDR to give you. Credit for cruises taken on a completely different cruise line. Oceania is NOT Renaissance. Would you ask United Airlines to give you credit for miles flown on Delta if they bought one of their planes?

[tgg]

You're right LHT, I should have sent him a letter.

I've gotten wonderful advice on this forum over the years, and have given advice as well. People have had great suggestions for our upcoming cruise.

I was looking for an answer to a legitimate question and found Jan's response defensive. My frustration is showing.

[lcand1923]

Perhaps TGG should look at this another way.

Oceania DIDN'T have to consider Ren passengers as "Past Passengers" for the free cocktail party that is given each cruise for those who sailed on Ren.

Oceania is giving you a perk that it didn't have to since it is a new cruise line. If you hadn't gotten that initail perk, would you have even THOUGHT to ask for the Shipboard Credit?

A kindness extended by Oceania is backfiring on them.

[tgg]

Oceania is giving you a perk that it didn't have to since it is a new cruise line. If you hadn't gotten that initail perk, would you have even THOUGHT to ask for the Shipboard Credit?

No, I would not have thought to ask for shipboard credit.

I didn't ask for the initial perk. It came from Oceania, which was very nice. All I was asking in my original post was how many of the previous cruises "counted" toward past passenger status. Three? One? None? Was it just being invited to a cocktail party?

Jan is always telling us to ask our travel agent for for perks like shipboard credit or prepayed gratuities instead of just paying the listed fare. I thought that if you don't ask, you don't get.

[covewomyn]

Without trying to dispute Jan, I was under the same impression as TGG. I realize Oceania is not Ren, but Oceania has never tried to distance itself as being formerly Renaissance. I honestly thought I have been told by Oceania staff ( I always book my own reservations and never use an agent) that my former Ren. cruises "counted". So I can see how this may be a misunderstanding.

[nparmelee]

TGG, I can understand why you might request this, however, if you go and re-read your initial post, you probably did not intend it but the wording sounded more like a demand than a request, at least it did to me when I first read it. I would suggest that a letter to FDR is more appropriate as well, just because he's been nice enough to respond to these boards in the past doesn't mean he looks at every post. I believe Jan was just trying to point out to you that FDR was in Europe and wouldn't see your posting, I didn't get the impression she was trying to do anything more than that.

Personally, what you are asking for is not something I would expect, I would just take their initial gesture as a curtesy and have a drink on them. So far the mass market lines have not really done what you are asking O to do even with all of their buy ups of the other lines. Although I think there is some reciprocacy between Celebrity and RCCL now, although not to this level. We hope you have a good time anyway!

[Jancruz]

TGG,
I did not mean to sound defensive..sometimes the written word does not come out how you want it to..You are right I always do say if you dont ask you dont get..so do write to Frank directly..but he really is gone for 3 weeks..
Jan
*************

[tgg]

Hey Jan, you're right. Sometimes the smile on someone's face doesn't translate into the written word.

I'll write to FDR, knowing that the letter will be waiting on his desk when he returns.

(If I were a user of the little icons, the one with the smiley face would go right here.)

[Daw6id]

We were told by the Cruise Director that the Renaissance cruises got us an invite to the party, but did not count toward our Oceania frequent flyer account. He announced that at the party.

[roothy123]

Well, I didn't take any Ren cruises, but the upcoming O one will be our third O cruise. I'm not sure if we've gotten any credit for past cruises. Just what do you get after 1,2, 3, or multiple cruises?

[LHT28]

Well, I didn't take any Ren cruises, but the upcoming O one will be our third O cruise. I'm not sure if we've gotten any credit for past cruises. Just what do you get after 1,2, 3, or multiple cruises?

I don't think you get any other perks till you hit 5 cruise.
You get the $200. credit coupon that you have to use with in 45 days of your return to book another cruise.

You can check the website under "my Oceania Club"

[drwong]

We were told by the Cruise Director that the Renaissance cruises got us an invite to the party, but did not count toward our Oceania frequent flyer account. He announced that at the party.

We were told the same thing by the CD on our first cruise during the Regatta's inaugural season three years ago. I guess if they had limited attendance to previous Oceania guests, the room would've been empty! :-)

Nevertheless, we've still received a $200 discount on every successive cruise we've booked - whether the $200 comes as a discount off your booking price or as an onboard credit, it's still $200 for you to spend as you like. (the only difference being with the discount off your booking price, you can spend the savings anywhere you like, while the onboard credit must be spent onboard).

For those of you who have received onboard credits - did any of them exceed your onboard charges, and if so, did Oceania return to you the unused balance?

[hondorner]

We had $200 per person shipboard credit on our Costa cruise last February. It was "use it or lose it", and we couldn't use it for excursions or gratuities. We are light drinkers, so we had a beer one night with pizza. That didn't spend much of it. We're not spa users. We actually had a tought time spending it. They had a pretty nice boutique on board with some decent prices, so I got some ties and Betsy got some scarves and a dress. I bought a cheap watch because I usually use my cell phone to see what time it is, and I didn't carry it on the cruise. We managed to get rid of all of it one way or another, but I really didn't consider it the same as money off the fare, because it was money we would probably NOT have spent otherwise.

I don't know Oceania's policies, yet. We were late bookers in the Nov 25 cruise and only got a small amount of shipboard credit from our TA.

[Jane110]

I won't post all of it, too much for me to type, however, everything I do type is exactly as it's written in the letter.

January 28, 2003

Dear_________________

As the President of Oceania Cruises, I am pleased to invite you, a past guest of Renaissance cruises, to be among the first to learn about our exciting new cruise line.

(the letter then goes on with a few paragraphs about Oceania)

Your previous allegiance to Renaissance Cruises is being rewarded with automatic enrollment as a charter member of The Oceania Club. This membership entitles you to special pricing on select sailings and other exclusive benefits offered to those few, like you, that qualify. More details will follow in the coming weeks.

We look forward to welcoming you........etc etc etc

Best regards,

Frank Del Rio
President and CEO

[shedevil]

Jane.....
We cruised on Renaissance and we did not get a welcome letter to Oceania and did not get invited to the Cocktail party on Insignia in July 2006. I feel left out :rolleyes: .....

[Jane110]

Jane.....
We cruised on Renaissance and we did not get a welcome letter to Oceania and did not get invited to the Cocktail party on Insignia in July 2006. I feel left out :rolleyes: .....

Well, I got this letter on 2003. Maybe I got it as a result of booking Oceania's inaugural cruise? I really don't know.

[drwong]

Jane.....
We cruised on Renaissance and we did not get a welcome letter to Oceania and did not get invited to the Cocktail party on Insignia in July 2006. I feel left out :rolleyes: .....

Don't feel bad - there were several former Ren cruisers who didn't receive invitations to the cocktail party either. I'm not sure how the concierge assembled the list, but it certainly was incomplete. Same thing with a YahooGroup party we attended.

[cruiserbunny]

We are from the UK and sailed on Regatta last September for 2 weeks.

We have never received anything at all from Oceania since - no discount voucher for use within 45 days and no Past Passenger numbers.

How did others receive these - were they sent by post or what?

We are hoping to book another Oceania cruise soon.

Thanks for any advice.:)

[BeBeReader]

We just booked another Oceania cruise after taking our first this summer. We did not receive a paper certificate or our numbers. Our TA arranged for a paperless certificate and she obtained our Oceania Club numbers in connection with the new booking. We booked within 45 days. The certificate doesn't mean anything unless you book within 45 days of the conclusion of your cruise.

P.S. We found our new TA on this Board.

[Benita]

So did we.

[tgg]

Happily, Oceania has been "flexible" about the 45 day limit on the $200 discount for your next cruise. Other past passengers have had the same experience we had.

Just have your TA ask. Although our TA does not have a close relationship with Oceania, she was able to get this done with no trouble.

Our certificate was mailed to us after our last cruise. If you didn't get one, just provide proof that you took the cruise and you should be issued the credit against the price of a new cruise.

It is not shipboard credit. It is a discount.

[Jane110]

tgg,

Glad to hear you got your credit!

[shoshona2]

Dear BeBe,

So glad to hear that you rebooked another cruise on Oceania. See, I told you so!!!!! I'm still looking for a gold bib so you will have it for your next cruise.

Hope you had a nice summer -- we have had triple digits almost all summer.

Sheila

[BeBeReader]

Thanks, Sheila. I looked at other cruise lines as a matter of comparison. Oceania just fits our life style. We don't like to be herded around, wait on food lines with people elbowing for position, sit at the same table all of the time, go to dinner at the same time. We don't care about Las Vegas type shows. I think we are just compatible with this type of cruise.

I still don't like the corkage charge!:D

By the way, I love my silver lame bib, and would so love a gold one!

How about going into business with me and setting up a booth on Oceania? ;)

BeBe

[ClaudiaF]

Well, I got this letter on 2003. Maybe I got it as a result of booking Oceania's inaugural cruise? I really don't know.

Jane ..surprised you kept that..but hey..nostalgic..:p

That letter was sent out to past Ren cruisers..from the mailing list that Oceania "aquired" from Renaissance when they closed shop....don't know the hows of that , just from what I heard through the ex R grapevine, sort of speak.

I would have loved it if "O" would have used all our "R" cruises for past guest qualification..man I'd probably get a really "neat"
gold pin or something for 13+ R cruises plus the O cruises so far..:rolleyes:

[dbh62ark]

FDR and his family were on board the Insignia on September 9th with us in St. Tropez. I dunno when he will be back.

Donna

[Napi's Mom]

We received that letter also stating we were considered "past guests" on O because of 2 Ren. cruises. We've been receiving all the brochures with so called "special pricing" (go online they have the same deals!) for past guests. Now when we received our "Guest statement" after final payment was made, we were listed as First time guests. Now I know no elite status credit carried over etc., but were supposed to get the other amenities I thought! We have past guest numbers, and are members of Oceania Club. Why are we listed as 1st timers?:confused:

[azlerner]

What address do you use to write Frank Del Rio?

[Jancruz]

If this is your first time on Oceania..you are first time guests..simple as that
Jan
*************

[tgg]

"Your previous allegiance to Renaissance Cruises is being rewarded with automatic enrollment as a charter member of The Oceania Club. This membership entitles you to special pricing on select sailings and other exclusive benefits offered TO THOSE FEW, like you, that qualify. More details will follow in the coming weeks."

This is part the letter that went out over Frank Del Rio's signature several years ago. The words I put in caps "TO THOSE FEW" are interesting, because there were thousands of people who were his Renaissance customers. I wonder who the letter went to - because some people seem to have gotten one and some didn't - or don't remember getting one. Did a certain number of cruises on Ren qualify you? Only Frank Del Rio, or a marketing person at Oceania, could tell us.

As many people have noticed, the only "details we got in the coming weeks" was an invitation to a cocktail party if we booked a cruise. As someone else mentioned, there didn't seem to be any special pricing or other "exclusive benefits".

As Jan states above, the deal seems to be if this is your first cruise on Oceania, you are not a past passenger in terms of qualifying for their Oceania perk, which is the $200, or $400, etc. shipboard credit after a certain number of cruises.

Perhaps Frank Del Rio had other plans to offer "exclusive benefits" to past Ren passengers. But it didn't seem to happen, based on the input from lots of people on this thread.

As someone suggested, I did write to him at the Miami address. I hope I'll hear from him when he gets back.