jonthomas

In March on Vista we saw several openly seeking out staff to cater to their needs, ask for pool chairs, towels, drinks, all openly were giving tips and it seemed expected. 

A place for chairs was made, new chairs brought, towels, drinks offered.

We had not seen that on O before. 

Seems, tipping over and above the automatic gratuities is now the norm.

It is not encouraged by O,  it is driven by individuals wanting to get special attention, over and above what others get. It is about being noticed and being more indulged than others.

Rather an ugly and crass display of self importance. JMHO

Off topic of course, the kids we have endured were in prams, parked in front of cabins, running and knocking on doors at all hours, jumping into pools, pushing all the elevator buttons,  babies in hot tubs in diapers and that's just the tip of the iceberg. All on celeb. 

On O only small kids screaming in pool or in other areas.

Nope don't want to see a single kid. Viking has a no one under 18 policy, but it is not our line of choice. 

We got so fed up with kids on Celebrity that now even one is too many. One of the reasons we now only cruise with O, unless with our grandkids.

5 hours ago, Vallesan said:

You will find that during the school ‘holidays’ there are quite a number of children on the Alaska cruise although they are still few and far between on the other itineraries!

Hoping there won't be any in September.

We return to Alaska this September. 

Thank you for your post and comments.

anyone have any info?

we wont be on a ship till sept to find out anything more...

looking for sailings to Bermuda, this port has been cancelled too many times, but still want an itin with it....

Update to pursuing the appropriare reduction because of the flash sale....

The diff in price was 400pp, initially O gave us 200pp OBC, since it is after final pay...

Our TA after much back and forth, was able to get the correct amount of 400 pp  in the form of a gift that can only be spent on board...so can't use it now for tours.

Thank you to all those that said, keep trying.

Not about the amount, but about trying to have a cruise line honor what they have in print.

"Best Price guarantee "

11 hours ago, osandomir said:

I’ve been following that thread and noticed that you advocated for another person. Sorry he wasn’t successful. I’d suggest that he needs a new TA. We have an excellent one who is always persistent with O and gets us the best possible results.

are you on any sailings that we may have in common...

our next one coming up is Sept 14, alaska, then it is feb 19, may 1....

johthomas100z@gmail.com

Yes I agree. So far I have not found anyone who is better than the one I have.

As for trying other lines, they have all perfected their game of saying one thing and meaning something else. We love most things about O and I guess we have to pay for it as well as put up with the inconsistencies.

2 hours ago, osandomir said:

So if one’s TA can get the discount that Oceania supposed to apply based on their terms (booking on board benefits?) and the other one can’t do the same I’d think it’s the time to look for a new TA.

Yes I agree. 

There are very few constants in pursuing a policy with so many moving parts.

The lowest price guarantee policy is a great example of this.

Firstly O has it in writing that after final pay, it is up to their discretion if and  how much they will honour of this policy.

On top of that it all depends on who your agent is, your agency, who you deal with at O on any given day, probably your status and so many other factors that I haven't even thought of.

To analyse why some get more than others when all the variables are the same on paper only leads me to believe that there is no structure or intent to deal with this policy in a uniform manner.

It is haphazard, luck of the draw. Win some, lose some.

On to the next sale and more  inconsistencies.

9 minutes ago, FetaCheese said:

On reading of 1st sentence, thought you meant $400 pp.

 

Now you'll be able to buy a couple soft drinks with your $8.

 

IMO, not an honorable way to treat repeat pax, especially since you have BPG.

I found it quite funny. Can't understand the logic. Maybe that's the point, confuse the consumer enough and maybe they will stop asking.

On 5/25/2024 at 7:11 PM, bbqoug said:

@jonthomas

It may help if you tell your TA that someone else on your cruise was able to get the difference in OBC and that you should be able to as well. Our TA said the Oceania Rep got approval from a supervisor to apply the OBC.

Monday is the Memorial Day holiday, so you might not get through until Tuesday.

Well, we got an additional 4pp because of the flash sale.

There is a difference of 400 pp. When the upgrade sale came along we got 200pp obc. Now we got an additional 4pp. Laughable ...

So if you got more than that, enjoy. I say there will be another promo for this Alaska Sept sailing, since there is so much available. 

Then maybe we will get another 4pp in obcs...lol

2 hours ago, bbqoug said:

@jonthomas

It may help if you tell your TA that someone else on your cruise was able to get the difference in OBC and that you should be able to as well. Our TA said the Oceania Rep got approval from a supervisor to apply the OBC.

Monday is the Memorial Day holiday, so you might not get through until Tuesday.

Thank you...yes it may have to wait till Tuesday. 

We are on the Alaska, Sept 14...

After final pay there was a sale, 400 pp less, O gave us 200pp obc.

O still can't fill the ship, so now it is 100 pp less, flash sale.

On Monday I will attempt to get more, although the TA had a tough time even getting us 200 pp. So much for best price guarantee. After final pay, it's not easy.BBQ  you did well.

The flash sale ends in a couple more days.

7 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

Canadians have a ton of options.  Not if you want non-stops from Toronto, or just want to fly Air Canada.  But to say you have few options is, IMO, to say that your searches tend to start and stop with AC.

Yes I agree with you. We do have a couple of others. Some have terrible reputations,  some are charters, some are very limited in their schedules and yes we want NON stop, so we have a better chance at seeing our luggage again.

That does not apply if in Canada where there are very few options. We still have cruises coming up where premium econ air to Europe with O is 149pp. Even for a cruise on Allura, prem econ for April 2026, from Rome to Toronto  at 499 pp prem econ, direct is a bargain for Canadians.

I guess you can do all kinds of acrobatics and fly through the states, but not sure the savings would be worth the aggravation. 

We have had several flights through O, when doing Europe, so far so good.

Yes when going to the states we always do our own air.

I will email the O rep that made this mistake, again. Last time I did that, the reply was that since it is now with a TA, he can no longer help.

One piece of good advice I got from someone who does need it on this sailing, is to tell everyone on the sailing to get onto a wait list. Maybe that will help move it along. Although with the sailing being waitlisted, I don't see how that can happen.

I will also post it on roll call.

I promised to give an update on this issue.

I booked a French balcony, on the vista TA for May 2025. I did so on November 2, 2022.

I did so with an O rep. When I checked later in the day, the cabin location, I noticed it was an accessible cabin.

I contacted him right away, by then the French balconies were gone. 

He suggested that we get onto a wait list, surely in all that time a regular cabin would become available.

Well it is 17 months later and we are still # 2 on the wait list. Now the ship is sold out, only wait list available.

I have had all kinds of people reach out to me, letting me know they need an accessible cabin, their wheel chairs will not fit through the regular door.

O will not talk to me, since we have turned this over to an agent 16 months ago. The agent has checked periodically and confirmed we are still #2. Because we booked two legs for this Transatlantic, a cabin may come up for one leg but not the other. We would take a regular balcony, but prices are 1500 pp more and none available for second leg.

I feel awful occupying a cabin that I dont need, depriving someone who does. O has put us in this situation.

I cant understand why a cabin like that is easily given away, without any checking that the client needs it.

Others that are bored by this topic, please ignore it, rather that finding reasons to criticize the poster. I am posting this as an update to those who asked that I do so. 

Some have said, there may be some  movement before final pay. 

Thank you for all this. Yes needed to google what to do in Prince Rupert. 

will do that, thank you....

Any suggestions for Rupert, last September we walked to Walmart  ...lol

Thank you for the info on klawock. Now we have something to do there.

23 minutes ago, PhD-iva said:

I guess what you’re telling me is that the other cruiselines are worse. 🤯

oh Im sure other lines have misleading information as well....

for us, we like everything about O, once we are on the ship...I am a fussy eater, there is always something for me,  we like the activities, dont care about entertainment, like the shuttles, like the atmosphere, although that is changing with many now coming from Celebrity and wanting to make changes to O, like louder music, etc. 

It should no longer be called a "best price guarantee" since the price is not adjusted. 

Its not that they dont  know, it is that they dont want to. They also know that no one will take them to task on it , legally. If we are committed to the line, then we back off once they give us something, even though that something is nothing compared to what it says in writing. 

It is all about promising something, they have no intention of giving you. Very shady practices but as long as they can get away with it, it continues. Hate to speak that way about our line of choice, but it is what it is.