MEFIowa

The devil is in the details and most esp. with O's various sales. One sale after another. Which can save you a fortune. Ask anyone who booked off the Extraordinary Savings Sale of 2023 (pulled out my brochure I received 28 April 2023). It ran May 2023. This was the mother of sales for 2023. An A3 for 10 nights at just $1899 PP and a B3 for 10 nights for just $1749 PP. For our 2 cruises, in the Med, 10-11/2023. Cruise only. Prior to it was the OLife Ultimate Sale, which expired 30 April 23. Then along came the June 2023 4 cabin upgrade sale.

Since you only provide few details and only when pressed, it is hard to make much of your situation. I have no idea if you booked direct or thru a TA. No booking date is provided. When SM was introduced, it was introduced with the Summer Sale. I pulled out my SS brochure. It ran from 1 July - 31 Aug 2023. Two months. I booked an F on Sirena (8/28-9/9/24) on 13 Jul 23, during the SS. Directly thru O, without a TA. It had SM since SM had just been introduced. Thus, the sales brochure is titled "simply MORE plus SUMMER SALE". It provided $400 PP excursion credit for this 12-night cruise (since reduced later to just $300 PP). But it did not provide prepaid gratuities. So I can look at my booking at $2949 PP (F, 70xx) and compare it today to any current offer.Just as I can with the B2B component that I booked in 2022 and rebooked under a sale later in 2022.

SM was introduced with the 2023 Summer Sale, so it appears you rebooked under the SS. The SALE, not SM, got you the better price on your cabin. (I booked one cruise during the SS after SM was introduced. The cruise wasn't put on sale prior to that SS.) And how does one make much sense about "$2000 in excursion credits" when we don't know your cabin level, the dates of the cruise or its length. Sounds like a high-roller cabin or a lengthy cruise or both? AND SM started out with a certain level of excursion credit that has already been REDUCED since then. And one would compare the total cost of the cruise accounting for the price of similar excursions if you did them yourself. Keeping in mind that O has a huge mark-up for its excursions. So O didn't "give us a couple thousand dollars", O gave you credits for heavily marked-up excursions. Not the same thing. If O takes a $100 excursion and prices it at $300 and gives you $200 credit, you merely broke even.

Though... Having booked on board and not, the BEST deals come from the BEST sales. So study each and every O SALE carefully, esp. once you book a cruise. Never had the chance to book a great sale while on board. O ran at least 6, if not 8, major sales in 2023. The Extraordinary Savings Sale was an absolute blow out for the cruises it listed. That was the BEST of 2023 in pure money-saving terms. The current O sale has been running for Jan-Feb and another most likely will start up March 1. Looks, sadly, like NO Presidents' Sale in 2024. I used the Presidents' Day Sale in 2021 to save a fortune on an A4 cabin (it was a 4-cabin upgrade sale).

Real world data, for Stockholm to Copenhagen, Sirena 9/9-19/2024: G (60xx) booked 7 May 2022, pre-SM "cruise only": $2499 PP. G (60xx) booked TODAY, post-SM "promotional fare w/out airfare": $3399 ADDITIONAL PRICE POST-SM: $900. Rebooked C1 (70xx) 20 Oct 2022, pre-SM "cruise only": $2849 Same C1 (70xx) booked TODAY, post-SM "promotional fare w/out airfare: $3899 ADDITIONAL PRICE POST-SM: $1050. And we have $150 PP OBC.

One FIRST starts with the price of the CABIN that you pay. For so many cruises in 2024, they could be booked way back in 2022, pre-SM. So, we have PRE- and POST-SM cabin prices for identical cruises and rooms. The price of the cabins went up around $800 or so for the cruises I was following. I stuck with our pre-SM cruise and did add one SM cruise as a B2B to it, BUT that was under the Summer Sale of 2023, when SM came out. (Sadly neither cruise was in the Extraordinary Savings Sale just prior to the SS.) But PLEASE, can you document for us a single CRUISE where the pre-SM price and the post-SM price were the SAME? Where there was absolutely no price increase when compared to the "cruise only" price?

Our B2B ended in Barcelona on 11/19/23, where we spent 3 more nights. We took the port shuttle bus (E6.00) to the end of the port. The WTC is "down" and there is some construction activity impacting where the ships can dock. We then walked to the nearest metro station and took it north up Las Ramblas to our BnB, which wasn't too far from the Mansion of Discord and two other of the famous funky buildings by Gaudi.

We did a B2B on Riviera in the Med with a room change (going from an A3 on deck 9 to a B3 on deck 7) in Athens on 11/9/23. We did the change and then got off the ship to take public transportation to the Acropolis. We didn't do anything with customs nor did we have to "check out and check in", OTHER than we had to get a NEW world card since we were no longer in a concierge cabin. Our room change was a bit complicated becase the new room had people in it doing a B2B with a room change. So they let us move our alcohol and some other things into their room that AM while they waited for the other room to be vacated. Everyone just worked with the respective room stewards. And it was all done by about 9 am.

Having done 4 O cruises "cruise only" (40 nights going back to 12/2021), I certainly concur. SM was essentially a significant price increase trying to hide it as such. We have 1 10 nighter in 2024 as "cruise only" combined as part of a B2B with a 12 nighter we did thru SM. Will be interesting to see how much "value" we get. BUT...since I only book off SALES, prices vary over time and by sale. So YMMV. For the most part SM is excursion related. I don't find having a beer or glass of wine at lunch or dinner in a restaurant to be worth more than about $10 a day, and less on days we miss lunch when we're on an excursion.

O has serious problems enforcing its own rules and policies. So both embarkation and disembarkation can be quite the cluster-foxtrots. Never seen anyone "check" your time. When O was doing the COVID testing in the tent next to terminal J in 12/2021 the CF was a mess of people mulling around with little connection to their "assigned time". And at Terminal J, you have to keep in mind that there are SEPARATE lines for the high-level suite classes and PHs and even concierge A. THEN everyone else gets to wait in one giant snake, all the G-B cabins. Shuffling along the rope line until you hit the magic carpet and you see the other "lines" and their magic carpets.

No need for assumptions, which is why I provide real data (cabin cost, dates booked, etc.). What are you currently set to pay for what cabin level you actually booked? I paid $1899 PP for a 10-night on Riviera 10/30-11/9 in an A3 and only $1749 PP for another 10 nights on her in a B3. We do our own airfare, major excursions, and alcohol. So, the total PP just for my cabins over 20 nights was $3,648 (or $182.40 PP PN). AND we had $725 OBC PP (e.g., $125 was from O for changing embarkation from Venice to Trieste but we also had $300 PP on each leg of the cruise. But I know the cost of the cruise is all that I pay, including cabin, airfare, alcohol, excursions, etc.

The price starts with the actual cost of the cabin. Those "perks" have a pennies on the dollar value in relation to the cold hard price of the cabin. Thus, SINCE you can bring your own alcohol on board, including beer & hard liquor, how much is a "drinks package" really "worth"? The gratuities is in addition to the cost of the cabin, not a subtraction from the cost, so all you saved was an additional charge, not a reduction in the price of the cabin. As for "OBC", when the cost of things like massages is elevated so high, hard to say you're "saving" anything. If I inflate some price by 200% and then give you a 50% "discount", what real "savings" are you receiving? As for "free air", if you can get the cruise at a lower price by doing your own air, the air isn't "free". So much marketing fluff from O about things being "2 for 1" or "free".

We cruise entirely for itineraries while also taking into account prices. The absolute FUN part of the "sport" is seeing what happens over time, as you "use" sales to improve your situation... So for our recent 11/9-19/2023 cruise on Riviera: 1. I STARTED out in a C (7080) for $1994 PP. Booked 5 Apr 22. When they opened. 2. Then moved to a B4 (7107) for $2249 PP using a Memorial Day Sale. Booked 25 May 22. 3. Then moved to a B3 (7036) for $1749 PP using the Extraordinary Savings Sale. Booked 12 Apr 23. And the ESS got us $300 OBC each. So here we paid $250 LESS for a better cabin using sales.

It will be in your CURRENTS the night before and on a sign at the gangplank as you exit the ship.

What each ONE is and isn't. For they are not uniform. And thus we read here of people who either complain about their TA or want to find one of these mythical uber-O TAs but can't because they can't be named here. I've read repeated claims over the past few years here from O passengers whose TA wouldn't reduce a booked cruise because of a sale or who NEVER told them about the sale to begin with. Please, get real. When a TA KNOWS you're going to spend a fortune with them or ALREADY have spent a fortune with them, they treat you accordingly. AS I SAID, I did contact a rather famous O TA, that produces a ton of videos and makes a lot of claims about their relationship with O. When I told them what I wanted--a current ongoing sale price, cruise only, no drinks package, no excursions, no airfare--they all but tripped over themselves to hang up. They did NOT want that business. The real world....

One wonders if it makes a difference where you board... When we boarded Riviera 10/30/23 in Trieste we'd taken the train from Venice to Trieste, hailed a cab, and took it the short distance to the pier for embarkation. I neither knew nor cared what "time" our check in was at. We just walked up and go on board. Hardly a line. Early. We were in an A3 cabin but that didn't seem to matter given how few people were in line. We ate lunch and we then left afterwards to spend hours in Trieste before Riviera's departure time. When we've boarded at Terminal J in Miami (Riviera 12/2021 & Sirena 11/2022), there was the large area filled with people. The high-level cabins get the "walk right up" treatment. The PHs and As had their own lines, that went next. And then came the giant slow SNAKE for the G-B cabins, as people shuffled in a huge line. Both embarkation and disembarkation seem to be cluster-foxtrots where the "rules" and "times" aren't enforced and seemingly make no difference. So the only thing I could say for "sure" is that the highest cabin levels can have the earliest and shortest check in times and waits.

Smokers take their drinks from the Captain's or Repeaters' Parties out to the smoking areas. And you can carry them around during the Captain's Party because that is at multiple locations on the ship where you can get free drinks.

So far 40 nights without a hitch for us "cruise only" since 2021. With 20 more nights booked for 2024. All without a TA. But we're retired educated adults who have travelled. And we enjoy saving money doing our own cruise sales, airfare, excursions, alcohol, etc. Tried the TA route once, but they just weren't interested in the non-whale business (and I watched their videos about the various cabins & ships as they touted their relationship as a big O cruise TA company!).

In the real world, no one denies that golden wheels get polish and squeaky wheels sometimes get grease. There are "whales" in casinos and with TAs. We're neither. I've booked 5 cruises with O "cruise only", the first off of the 2021 Presidents' Day Sale and we've cruise fine on 4 of them for 40 nights (just finished 20 of them off Riviera as a B2B) and we do our own air fare and excursions and bring our own alcohol on board (so no drink packages). The 6th is SM without airfare. So 5 & 6 will be a 2024 B2B on Sirena.

At the Captain's Party the CD or someone else in the crew will give you the "statistics" for the passengers. On our recent 20-night B2B on Riviera (Trieste to Athens and Athens to Barcelona), 10-11/2023 Americans and Canadians were 1st and 2nd both segments. By whopping margin for #1 and then a drop to #2, still a lot. BUT we had a huge Asian contingent (esp. Hong Kong). There are so many Canadians that O did a Canadian-specific newspaper supplement in the Currents. And the Concierge lounge even had a Canadian newspaper, along with 3 American and 2 UK.

Though do you intend to WATCH for the future SALES that may impact your cruise? You should. And what will your TA do if the price of the cruise is reduced significantly due to a sale? And not all will be happy with the reduction in price. Sometimes O can have massive sales that radically reduce prices (e.g., Cabin Upgrade Sales). I book directly thru O using the same O rep. Have her ext. And I WATCH every sale. I use the SALE after SALE to start with a G or F to go to a C then to a B or A. I've paid about as much for my B or A as for the original G or F. The 10-night booking on Riviera in Nov 2023 was just $1749 PP for an eventual B3. And the eventual A3 for the 10 nights before that on Riviera only $1899 PP. From the 2023 Extraordinary Savings Sale.

We hired a private driver/guide for our excursion to Rome off Riviera (11/2023). He met us right at the gangplank and we drove off immediately after getting of the ship. But we were just there for the day, not embarking or disembarking.

Though one notes that prior to SM, no one had to do any OLife. We didn't. There was a "cruise only option". SM eliminated that choice. I prefer more to fewer choices when it comes to purchase options. BUT O continues to have SALE after SALE after SALE. Having one going on right now. I'd bet it will be replaced on 2/1/24 with another? Maybe the Presidents' Day Sale? I booked my very first cruise ever off that from O in 2021. And it is "fun" to save the brochures and right down the prices for your cruise during each sale, comparing sales as they come along.

Really, essentially a false claim as a response to the value or worth of SM? Since I just came back from 20 nights on Riviera (10/11-2023) and have 22 more nights booked in 2024, 12 from the Summer Sale of 2023 with SM and 10 nights from a 2022 sale, you make no sense. I've got 40 nights on O since 12/2021 With 22 more booked in 2024. How about you? O had at least 6, if not 8, major SALES in 2023, starting in Jan with the 20th Anniversary Sale. So O has SALE after SALE after SALE. Right now the Holiday Sale. This is O's "pricing". I watch every sale!

Did you book it under a SALE? Here is what July-August 2023 were O sales wise when SM was introduced: "SUMMER SALE up to 40% SAVINGS Limited Time Offer. Book Now! Offer Expires August 31, 2023"