Flatbush Flyer

Perhaps mainstream lines have more opportunity to grab your cash. But, O passengers are not immune to onboard spending. And not everyone onboard an O ship has pockets full of SBC. If you go to enough shipboard O Club events over the years, you’ll recognize that an average of about 25%+\- of passengers on each cruise are first timers and many of them booked direct with O (so no TA’s SBC). All their onboard spending is “out of pocket.” For example, let’s not forget the cost of the Prestige Package upgrade (above the new SM basic booze inclusion) at $30 pp/day (used to be $70 pp/day if you chose a different O Life perk) or the cost of a haircut ($40+tip even for a bald guy😳). And, of course, there’s the significant cost of ship’s excursions above and beyond the included O Life allowance or SM SBC provided. The list goes on …..

O’s position would be that the No Show’s $ paid covered only the published Penalty for Cancellation. That’s a separate part of the equation. There still remains, at least, the “lost” fare itself which is then accounted for by charging the remaining passenger a “single supplement.” AND, there still remains the estimated lost revenue from onboard spending (as identified in my post above as approximately an average 28% of cruise revenue). That single supplement IS meant to be what covers the lost revenue from onboard spending. In essence, how “unfair” this is perceived to be by us passengers is irrelevant. We are bound by the Ticket Contract and T&Cs. Equally irrelevant are isolated anecdotal statements regarding “We rarely spend our own money onboard.”

Anyone who thinks onboard spending is not a significant revenue generator knows very little about the cruise industry. From a 2018 study by Port Economics Management (porteconomicsmanagement.com): Revenue. The base fare paid by the average cruiser accounts for 72% of the revenue, implying that cruise lines are able to generate an additional 28% revenue tranche with onboard services, such as gambling, excursions, drinks, and personal services. Additionally, cruisers are spending on goods and services at ports of call, which are not accounted for here.

You may want to think a bit more about this! Sure, you can look at it as “O has already been paid for the empty bed.” But, a “no show” potentially (and usually) means lost O revenue from a lack of the “no show’s” onboard purchases (e.g., booze, tours, shops, future cruises….). Don’t you think O is smart enough to do whatever they deem is necessary to maximize their revenue (within the dictates of the ticket contract)? The “No Show’s” basic penalty is a loss of their share of the paid double occupancy fare. And any resulting single supplement fee you are charged is to cover the associated lost onboard purchase revenue. That said, another way to look at this is that the No Show owes you the cost of your Single Supplement add-on charge.

If you look at the top of the current O website FAQs for the item where you found the erroneous info about “boarding times,” you’ll notice that it was last updated on July 2, 2018.😳 The “closest to embark” regular communication you will receive from O prior to embark is now the Boarding Pass which will include your selected check-in time (when you did the online check-in) and the port berth info. NOTE: even that Boarding Pass berth location can be weeks old when you show up on embark day. IMO, it’s always smart to check with the port authority (website or call) regarding that location within 24-48 hours prior to embark day. (We’ve had a couple last minute berth location changes over the years).

“Noon?” Noon for what? And from which source document? I can’t remember ever seeing O “always tout noon.” in the Blue Book, Cruise Vacation Summary (final docs) or newer Boarding Pass.

At the bottom line, potential “issues” and/or “what happens when” mostly depends on your embark port and how its own personnel handle check-ins. That said, there’s also multiple distinct “times” associated with embark day including: “arrival time” at the port on changeover day. That scheduled time for when the ship will tie up or set an anchor is listed in brochures, on the O web et al. It should not be confused with “disembarkation time” which is when it is your preselected/predetermined time to depart the ship (that has been identified several days prior to the end of the cruise). “check-in time” at the embark port terminal. That time is the one you select (from what slots are available) when you do your online checkin within three weeks of embark day. ”embarkation time” is a somewhat theoretical target for when you have completed the terminal checkin process and are expected to board the ship. This term is often misused by all sorts of folks. “departure time” is the scheduled time for the ship to leave its berth or anchorage. Like the arrival time, it appears in brochures, on the O web. The Blue Book (which is no longer blue) “embark” time was/is mostly an estimate of when your check-in at the port should happen. The relatively new Boarding Pass process attempts to pinpoint at what time you should be available in the terminal to begin the process that leads to embarkation. IMO, this is the time to aim for. Again, a lot depends on the embark port personnel. For example, in a port like SYD, staff at the terminal may not let you enter the terminal until the time stated on your boarding pass. In other ports, you can enter whenever you show up. But those times have little to do with when you’ll actually be allowed to get in your cabin category line for check-in and how attentive staff are to following the plan. As a rule, we try to pick the earliest available check-in time if for no other reason than to get a good seat while we figure out how “today’s” process will actually work. It’s also great for people watching and for renewing old acquaintances with passengers and crew alike.

Not to ruin your day but… I don’t even have to read the language of Celebrity’s “contract” (including the actual Ticket Contract and Terms & Conditions) which were available for your review in the Legal Section of the Cruiseline’s website or at your request (directly to Celebrity or via your TA) before making a deposit. Among its tried and true responses to your suit, Celebrity will argue successfully that the “contract” documents which absolve them for future changes to pretty much everything not related to “MarOps” (deck and engineering maritime operations) responsibility to get you from the advertised port of embarkation to the advertised port of disembarkation), were available for your review in numerous ways both prior to and after you made an initial booking (which probably didn’t even require an immediate “cash” transaction to get an initial time limited “hold” invoice). BTW, I’m neither a Celebrity cheerleader nor a Celebrity customer. But, I am an avid cruiser who, even after cruising almost 500 nights on our preferred line, still reviews the Ticket Contract and T&Cs before making a deposit. I may not like all that I read about the company’s liability/responsibility. But, whenever they do make a change to the original deal, I know what my options are and I know the best strategies to get what I reasonably need from any negotiations. I wish you good fortune with your quest and do hope you’ll let us all know how it turns out.

OP should look at the positive of this experience. Like so many other former Celebrity cruisers, this may just provide enough impetus to book his next cruise with Oceania. (Yes, disgruntled Celebrity regulars often end up becoming O regulars and never look back.

You may want to reread your Ticket Contract and T&Cs. I expect you’ll find language that absolves the cruise line from responsibility for anything not directly related to the mechanical operation of the ship in the act of transporting you from Point A to Point B.

Oops! Meant to say: …few ships (cruise or otherwise) use anything other than local time.

In my experience, few ships (cruise or otherwise) do not use anything other than local time. Local time is the easiest for all concerned to understand and follow. As a passenger, if you’ve got an iPhone or something else with a World Clock and a true GPS receiver, know that the GPS functions even with no cellular or wifi. However, on its own, the GPS may take a bit longer to get a “fix” (particularly at sea). Might I suggest that, if your ship uses local time and you don’t want to make manual adjustments for each time zone encountered during the cruise, make sure your phone is set to do automatic time zone adjustments. While home, double check that your date and time align with the reality at home. Once that’s verified, add your home city to your World Clock app. Then add each port you’ll encounter as well as exemplar cities on your known or guesstimated midnight longitude for each sea day (e.g., Alaska time for one of your sea days enroute to Hawaii from San Francisco). In that way, even without cellular and wifi service, your phone’s World Clock will always show the correct time in each port and each sea day’s estimated longitudinal land location. The attached pic shows the beginning of a World Clock setup for a transPacific cruise (just needs a place listing for each missing hour.

Just the opposite. OS tours are more than the simple panoramic and walking ones. And the OS prices have historically been over the old $199 O Life limit. OE tours are the same as many of the basic <$200 ones but with group limits <16 (and often around 10-12 people).

Anything before noon is a “craps shoot.” What most folks seem to forget is that the scheduled arrival time for your disembarkation day is a target and not guaranteed. Weather, mechanical issues, customs clearance of the ship can (and occasionally do) delay disembarkation - sometimes for several hours (happened on one of our cruises earlier this year [mechanical issue] causing a 2 hour delay before disembark in SYD. Many folks who booked flights before noon found themselves SOL for their return flights.

Other than taking an unopened O wine bottle to dinner (which we often do w/no corkage charge), requiring glasses of that wine and O provided spirits to be kept in the cabin would certainly do away with any perceived gray area.

There is no “gray area” regarding O’s personal wine policy. From the O ZenDesk FAQs: ”Guests are welcome to enjoy their wine in the comfort and privacy of their stateroom or suite, or, if they prefer, may enjoy their wine in one of the ship’s dining rooms. Any wine consumed in the dining room or a public area will be subject to a corkage fee of $25.00 per bottle.” The keg words in the O rule are “their” and “any.” O’s gifted wine is O’s wine and not subject to corkage fees. “Their” wine (and the word “any” refers to your personal wine. Not rocket science.

The best advice you could give them is to change their cruise specs and take the air credit and DIY the air. One only needs to search here on CC for the zillion horror stories about O air- particularly bizclass arrangements (and bottom line cost).

Easy enough to handle: give the O gift bottle to a wine steward (or a butler) who will mark the cabin number, serve it, store it (correctly) and retrieve it as needed (with no charge). Though things may have changed since Covid restrictions/policies/procedures, cabin glassware is/was different than what is found in public bar and dining venues.

It always amazes me to see someone who is clearly abusing the system by carrying around their glass of wine and not paying the corkage fee for the personal bottle from which it came. It’s dishonest, “low rent” and threatening O’s generosity (I.e., unlimited personal booze for in-cabin consumption). $25/bottle is “chump change” in the bigger O fare picture. Those folks should show a some class and pay what they owe.

Whether you cancel or “no show,” the Purser will know that one cabin is now single occupancy and the onboard account will be adjusted.

Speaking as an O regular (O Club Platinum): The wine-by-the-glass list is mostly mediocre items that retail at home for $10-15 USD. The six bottle limit on personal embark wine is a CYA statement that is NEVER enforced. (We regularly bring a case depending on embark port and replenish stock at appropriate ports along the way.) The only limit on Prestige Package spirits is topmost shelf booze (e.g., Single Malts and best Cognacs). Twice daily Happy Hour twofers are, at least, in Martini’s and Horizons bars. The $25 corkage is for ANY personal wine that leaves your cabin (even if you pour a glass for walking around, there is the $25 fee for the bottle from which it came). Please don’t join the handful of cheapskates who try to game the system. (There are occasional reminders about this in Currents - the fee is for ANY wine that leaves your cabin). Personal spirits remain in the cabin and O will supply mixers at no cost. FWIW: We stopped buying the booze packages many O cruises ago. No enforced limit on personal alcohol brought aboard coupled with Happy Hours, accommodating bartenders (we’ve known for years), multiple Captain and O Club events (on multi-segments), select large M&Gs (where the TA of a Group cruise or GM may pick up the tab), O Platinum SBC (and TA SBC/rebate, and invited officer dinners easily take care of our needs at far less cost than the packages.

O might “throw them a bone” but owes them nothing. Read the T&Cs and Ticket Contract. O assumes zero liability for performance issues concerning their contracted services.

Consider the Intercontinental Hotel on the Miami Downtown Harbor (within sight of the cruise piers). No shuttle. But, a taxi or Uber to your ship will cost less than $10. Wonderful restaurants and bars at the hotel. And walk right around the corner to the fabulous Il Gabbiano Italian Restaurant.

In general, O will assist with arranging a reserved space (no cost) for CC M&Gs and will arrange “no host” bar service with advance notice. Supply O with attendees names and cabins before the cruise and the onboard concierge will have invites waiting in the included cabins at embarkation. To start the ball rolling, use your Cruise Critic Roll Call for your itinerary to query others and establish tentative Plan A and/or B specifics. Then, at least a month precruise, contact O’s Group Department (call O for contact info on who handles your ship) and share the Plan and guest list (always request the presence of some officer(s) - usually hotel folks. That Miami Office person will interact with the ship’s exec concierge on your behalf. If you’ve got a sizable group (50+), you may find yourself with more officers and some comped hors d’oeuvres. Of course, this is all made much easier if you personally know your cruise’s GM. Then just send him/her a note (beyond your initial Miami Group contact) and she/he will “grease the onboard wheels” so that staff can work with you. Alternatively, particularly with a smaller group, you can just have you Roll Call folks pick a tentative spot onboard for the M&G (The long-standing default M&G time/place is embark day happy hour in the Starboard forward side of Horizons Bar. The only downside to this is if someone else has reserved the space (in which case, you make a handwritten sign that points folks to the port side instead. Finally, it helps of the volunteer organizer brings name tags and borrows a few pens from Guest Services. If you get that done,

FWIW: way too much luggage! We regularly do 6 week +\- O cruises. And whether the next one is longer or shorter than 6 weeks, we always pack for a 10 day rotation. Using two medium (26”) Briggs & Riley compressible checked bags and two small B&R underseat rollaboards (for meds/valuables) that stack on the 26” ones, (most foreign sedans like an MB E Class can handle this), we can also fit foldable duffles (one each) in the B&Rs should we need to make a side trip (e.g., Safari) pre/post cruise. This strategy includes flying to the embark city and arranging with the precruise hotel to store the B&G checked bags while we use the packed duffels for the precruise side trip. And, even though some of our complex air arrangements require multiple connections for the B&Rs, we strive to use United and it’s Star Alliance partner airlines to allow “checked through to destination” (and luggage tracking) status. We’ve even done this with cruises that require warm and cold weather dress and even snorkel gear (minus flippers). Finally, the O combo of self serve laundry and occasionally included laundry makes our ten day rotation scheme very efficacious.