goletans

"Why’d you expect your spouse to get a free cruise before he has enough credits to be Platinum." I didn't; I had asked, "My husband does not have as many sailings as I do so we will not reach our 20th cruise at the same time. We will be together on my 20th cruise. How does this enter into the free cruise deal?" There were several responses that indicated otherwise such as My qualification for the free cruise was not an issue. Didn’t make 20 until later. Don’t know what would if I attempted a second free one. and similar responses within the link to the prior topic from September 21, 2023. Here's one: We booked what I thought what was going to be my first "Milestone Cruise" on the Vista for this December. Our Oceania Ambassador on board my recent ATW sold it to me on board, based on my having accumulated 30 cruise credits...15 from my solo 2019 ATW, and 15 from this years, (sharing with my wife). We had used her "Milestone Cruise", (earned prior to our wedding), for the segment from Miami to San Francisco. Since I was included with her on that, they now say that I had already had my first Milestone (even though I had not yet earned it at that time). That was contrary to what the O Club Ambassador promised. As instructed by the Ambassador, prior to the final payment date, I notified Oceania that I wished to take this as my Milestone cruise. A couple of days ago, Oceania told me I had to pay in full, as I already had my milestone cruise. They even claimed this new one would have been my third! My wife had one previous to us meeting, and the one we shared in December was her second. So you see how this can be confusing.

Yes, but he is quite a few credits behind me and we're not getting any younger. It will come down to O's math

Just in from our elite TA: Only the person in the cabin who has reached their milestone cruise is entitled to the savings. So what Oceania’s Oceania Club Deck will do is apply your milestone cruise to your portion of the cruise fare only. I don't see how this is a good deal........

Thank you. I had missed this topic. I see that as usual with O it depends on who you talk to and when as perks change. For now I will assume that I will be able to request my free 14-day cruise 180 days before sailing and that my husband may also get the perk. However, he will not get an additional free cruise on his 20th. Any other benefits we may or may not receive is up in the air for now. Oceania will figure out how much we will pay for the sailing. We hope it will be a solid savings.

Thank you, all. Flatbush Flyer, I think SOL means spouse out of luck, yes? We are working with our TA on this who will be sorting out our credits. She was rather busy last week as you can imagine with the new bookings. Hopefully something will come up with the September releases that is at least 14 days. It's hard to find an itinerary with enough new-to-us ports that merit a cruise. I'd love to see Easter Island as a stop. So many details. Maybe someone will join in with first hand experience on this. Our TA told us to book our 20th, (so we could select the cabin we wanted) and 6 months out from the cruise date, she’d tell O that we wanted to take it as our freebie. Had no issues with them saying OK, and adjust the invoice accordingly. This. makes sense to us.

At least I hope these are new questions. I did search for answers before posting. My husband does not have as many sailings as I do so we will not reach our 20th cruise at the same time. We will be together on my 20th cruise. How does this enter into the free cruise deal? Also a question on timing. We have several cruises booked into 2026 with my 19th (19 credits) booked. At what point will O expect/allow us to reserve the free cruise - now? or after completing my #19? We always book as soon as itineraries we want are released. with appreciation for your experience and insights ~

Will do. Work and practice will be good for my aging brain. 🙃

GREAT advice! Thank you.

Oh, good. I made sense. Yep, research continues. Although not the dates we need, this shows the range of costs - from Chase Travel.

Absolutely, it makes more sense to end the tour in the city where the cruise starts. We could achieve this with PEK to HKG to start the cruise. What I think I'm finding is that a flight from PEK to HKG at the end of the land tour, adding this to a LAX to HKG at the start may dollar-wise be better than LAX to PEK at the start. Does this make sense? I know what I'm saying, but may not be making this clear.

WOW! I knew you all would come through with facts and ideas to ponder. We are looking at Hong Kong and Beijing as starting points for the land tour because we can reverse the order of the cities we want to visit. The cruise is Hong Kong to Tokyo. LAX is easy to start from and end at, and we want to minimize flight time duration. FlyerTalker Although we will accept airline credit we prefer credit back to our form of payment. “One other item of note: IMO, there is a significant service differential between the mainland Chinese carriers and other Asian airlines. By mainland, I mean Air China (NOT China Airlines, which is much different), China Southern, China Eastern, Hainan, and Shenzhen. OTOH, both China Airlines and EVA, from Taipei, are quite good. Same with JAL, ANA, Korean, Cathay and Singapore. So don't just be focused on price.” We are happy to look at all airlines that serve our itinerary. These are helpful suggestions. Are there any airlines you advise against? Do you have favorites? CDNPolar Yes, we are willing to pay a slightly higher fare with the option to cancel. We will consider South Korea. Thank you for that idea. Zach1213 We completely understand the cost of refundable travel and have experienced its value when we had to cancel for a situation that insurance did not cover. It also brings peace of mind that is hard to put a price on. Gardyloo We have considered offers such as "Circle Pacific” but prefer to keep things as simple as possible. CruiserBruce The cruise line is Oceania. While using O flights can be a very good value, I prefer to have control over our flights and lock in said control and choice earlier than O will allow. Globaliser We will only accept cheap for short, direct flights from our local airport. We are looking at reasonable connections. Singapore Airlines to Hong Kong is definitely a consideration.

As we're about a year out from our March cruise, it's time to get serious about flights. We're looking at LAX to either Hong Kong or Beijing to begin a DIY pre cruise tour. At this point refundable, business class air is our preference. Today I found American and United to Beijing at $25,000. This is a firm Nope. Does anyone have suggestions on airlines, one-way tix vrs multi-city flights? It's too early to get good results on the Google Flights matrix. We may consider premium seating but were really spoiled recently by Qatar.

My spouse has tossed "clips" of some of these pax. Is this like a carefully aimed rubberband at the concert-goer who blocks your view at a concert - especially aimed at that the person in the front row that stands for the whole show?? Haven't resorted to this yet, but do think about it.

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.

OH! I forgot to add that DH is also vegetarian at home. This partly accounts for his happiness in cruising when he eats anything he wants - and does 😃