sunlover12

It's probably going to depend on how full the ship is going to be.  FWIW, I've been on 8 Oceania cruises and have never been offered an upgrade opportunity.  For reference, we have been in concierge veranda and PH.  We were on Sirena in 2022 in a PH.  About 2 weeks before the cruise, we were offered quite a bit of money to downgrade to a concierge veranda. 

I think it just depends on your particular cruise. Good luck.  

55 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

There is a big difference between giving a discount (you are correct that TA's are not allowed to discount fares) and providing a group rate which is what is being discussed.  The group rates are offered to TA's by Royal and are generally less than posted rates, refundable vs non refundable and come with additional OBC.

How big does the group have to be to get a group rate?

I have booked Royal Caribbean with a large national TA and have not gotten any kind of group rate.  It's the posted rate. 

TAs are contractually not allowed to give discounts off the fares.  A TA may give you OBC or some other perk like a bottle of wine. If booking a group, they may give you something like pre-paid gratuities. My TA did that for us last year when we booked a group of 10. It just depends on the TA and the cruise line you are booking with. 

I've booked directly with the cruise line and have used a TA.  

Apologies for hijacking this thread but continuing with pickpocketing experiences:  I've been pickpocketed twice.  Once in Pisa inside a church and once in San Francisco on a city bus.  Both happened 15+ years ago. I am much smarter now about how I carry my valuables. I limit what I carry when I go out, I use a cross body bag with my hand over the zipper compartment. 

These days, I am much more concerned about fraudulent online credit card purchases which has happened to me multiple times in the last couple of years even though the card(s) has never left my possession. 

52 minutes ago, Harters said:

That's interesting and actually surprised me. I would never have thought the law in the States would constrain how a company trades in that way. Is it only cruises that cannot be discounted, or are many other things "price fixed" by law?  Flights, escorted tours, cars, TVs, etc? 

My TA used the word "legalities" but it's probably contractual as njhorseman stated.

There is no "price fixing" on any of those things.  Prices are determined on the open market.  If I can recall correctly, airfares were controlled by the government back in the 1970's but that is long gone. Now it's whatever the market will bear.

8 hours ago, Vallesan said:

I’m assuming these prices are ‘brochure’ prices and do not take into account any TA discounts and/or perks which could make quite a difference. My TA gives an average of 10% discount. So still difficult to quantify the different price structures.

In the U.S., TAs are not allowed because of legal reasons to give a discount off the fare.  I was just talking to my TA yesterday and this is what she told me. So this is a big difference between the countries. The perks will most likely be in the form of OBC.

It's hard to do an apples to apples comparison because of all the variations. 

We haven’t cruised yet with Simply More so can’t comment on that.

I have found the descriptions of the excursions match the actual excursions in almost all. I recall one that was listed as “strenuous”. We went on it and the only strenuous portion was walking on a steep paved road for a short distance. The guide gave us plenty of time. The rest of it was easy. In the excursions that I have been on the guides know how it has been described to the passengers and it is followed closely.   
This has been my experience.

@Flatbush Flyer thanks for that information.  I agree that the ship excursions are in a continual state of flux.  On my Canada cruise in 4 months it was recently showing some excursions were “not available”.  It’s now showing they’re all available to book. It could mean that those excursions were still being negotiated with the tour provider.  I don’t know….but it pays to keep checking regularly. 

There's no way of knowing in advance so just be flexible if you need to be.  FWIW, I've been on 8 Oceania cruises and have had a total of 3 ports cancelled.  2 out of those 3 didn't turn into sea days as they were replaced with other ports.  The reasons were:  a) recent reports of violence in one of the Mexico ports;  b) sea conditions in a tender port. As I recall, we did stay anchored there for at least an hour hoping it would calm but it didn't; c) weather.   So for me that was dozens of ports that were not cancelled. Pretty good odds.

Maybe I've just been lucky so far. 

47 minutes ago, AMHuntFerry said:

Check your shorex pdf. The YWC 25% discount for O-Life cruises should still be listed unless you are on a 7-day cruise which occasionally does not offer the discount (which also applies to SM...you can tell which cruises don't have discounts because "N/A" shows up in that column on the website).

It's been checked and verified.  Not included.  Thanks for your reply.

32 minutes ago, ORV said:

The real problem comes with the 25% discount when you book enough to get the discount. It can be done with the cart, but you must be very exacting in the way you do it. Did you get the YWYW 25% discount?

THE YWYW 25% discount did not apply to this sailing. It only applies if booked with Simply More.  Even so....the value of the 3 included excursions under O Life far exceeds the $300 paid. 

I have 2 comments about this.

This week I booked shore excursions for my September cruise on Nautica. I had no trouble except for one port which shows "excursion closed" for every one of the 6 excursions listed. I take this to mean that O is still finding and/or negotiating with the tour operators for this port. 

My second comment is about booking online using the cart.  I've read all the comments going way back saying to never book online. The suggestions are you should always call. I have the OLife excursion package. Before I purchased online, I calculated what the total amount should be. The total charged was exactly what it should be, to the dollar. It left the 3 most expensive excursions off the bill and charged the rest.  So yes, it can be accurately purchased online using the cart but do the math before you click "purchase".  This has been my experience.  YMMV

I was on Regatta a few years ago on Mothers Day. It was also a sea day and we were sailing off the coast of California. The majority of passengers were American. No special brunch or anything.  The only thing they did was the cruise director wished all mothers aboard a Happy Mother’s Day over the PA. 
Enjoy your cruise and have a Happy Mother’s Day. 

I checked the list.  Once again, the included cruises in this sale appear to be the lesser desirable ones.  The cruises that I’m interested in are never included in any sale. 
 

I would be interested to know if anyone is able to upgrade to a PH.  I was once told by an O rep that A1 is the highest category you can upgrade to but I am sure it depends on the specific cruise. 
 

It’s all about expectations.  Oceania does not attempt to compete with the entertainment on the big mainstream cruise lines. It’s not who they are. We’ve found Oceania’s show band, production shows and string quartet to be fine. The guest bands and entertainers have been very good. 
 

I haven’t been on HAL, Celebrity, or Princess. I’ve been on Royal Caribbean though. I’m very reluctant to go on another mega ship because I’d like to stay healthy. I got sick on my last 2 RC cruises. I was perfectly healthy when I embarked and quite sick when I got off. The last one which was January of this year, I was so sick it required a doctor’s attention when I returned home. No doubt it’s from all the time I spent in crowded elevators which is hard to avoid when there are 17 decks.  On the other hand, I have never gotten sick from being on an Oceania cruise and I’ve been on 7. Far fewer people and easier to just take the stairs. 
 

Oceania is about the itinerary and a subdued (not boring) atmosphere. 
 

3 hours ago, anonymousegirl said:

We're on the Nautica in June, our first R class ship and I've been spoiled by the multiple laundry rooms on Riviera. Now I have to plan to bring enough clothes to hold me over the 3 days it takes to get laundry back. Plus, we're spending a week in London first. We get 3 bags, though, as we're in a PH2. I just really hate having my laundry done--I much prefer doing it myself. I hang dry lots of my clothes, and if I send it out, they machine-dry my linen pants, silk blouses, etc. I once had a super luxury hotel ruin (beyond wearing) a pair of linen/silk trousers. Completely unwearable, so a huge dent in my clothing allotment. Losing a pair of trousers when you only brought 5 "bottoms" is a tragedy.  

Yes, there is a big difference in self-serve laundry between the R and O ships. I’ll be on Nautica in September, also in a PH and will make use of the complimentary laundry bags.  The 1 self serve laundry room on the R ships is small and crowded every time I’ve gone in there so now I don’t use it. It’s not how I want to spend my vacation.

The good news is that the last couple of cruises the laundry has come back quicker than 3 days. As I recall, I handed it in in the morning and got it back in the evening the next day. 

We always sail in a PH - the primary reason being more space. Concierge veranda staterooms are too small for our comfort level.  We make limited use of the butler. Usually one morning per cruise we’ll have breakfast in the cabin and we’ll order the canapés a couple of times but that’s it. 
We’re sailing on Vista for the first time next year and we’ll be in a PH. 

41 minutes ago, PhD-iva said:

Off topic but couldn’t resist bc I’ve also lived in West Africa (Liberia) and South America (Colombia).

I assume you were in Venezuela (?) - how about West Africa….?

Venezuela when Hugo Chavez was President.  Nigeria in the 90’s when it was a military dictatorship. 2 countries that tourists don’t go to.  Both were career moves. Challenging years with some positives as well but it did help me to develop a thick skin. 

Going on a ship's tour doesn't mean you're averse to risk or lack creativity. I've been on many ship tours and most of them are quite good. There is a misconception that you'll always be in a big packed bus with 40 people. Not true at all.  I've been on some private tours that were a waste of time and money.  I don't have an obsessive fear of missing the ship. I've lived in a Third World country in West Africa and I've also lived in a foreign country in South America that was (and still is) on very unfriendly relations with the US.  So I know all about risk in foreign places. 

I go on ship's tours because I don't always want to spend time doing research on private tours.  Sometimes we will but in many ports we will take the ship's tours and we're glad we did. 

34 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

We are travelling to Europe all the time with one carry on and one personal item. Something like this (we have the next model, but same idea). No issues at all.

On what airline?  If you're not on a US airline, you are subject to a much stricter baggage policy.  I will be traveling on Swiss this year.  Carry-ons cannot exceed 8 kg (18 lbs) and it cannot exceed 55 cm (22 inches). If you're only traveling on United, American, Delta, etc with no connecting flights within Europe you won't have an issue. 

I have traveled on Swiss before and, yes, at the gate they are monitoring the luggage that people are bringing onto the plane.

19 hours ago, halfapair said:

Discover the joy of traveling with carry-on luggage only. No waiting to see if your bags show up, or not. No wrestling giant suitcases. No dropping heavy bags on your toes.

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy.

That’s fine if you’re traveling within the US or on a US carrier. If you are traveling out of the country on a non-US airline you will be subject to a strict carryon policy.  You’re allowed one carry on bag that cannot exceed 8kg, 2 bags not to exceed 8kg each if you’re in First Class. 
 

Even someone with efficient packing skills who packs light will have a very challenging time not checking a bag. 

@sofa.kingI wouldn’t be concerned what others think or if you will fit in. You know your kids better than anyone. Find an itinerary that the kids will enjoy and go for it. 

I have 2 grandchildren that are similar ages as your 2 children. They are 12 and 10.  They went on a 7-day Norwegian cruise last year with their parents. They weren’t all that interested in the kids club as they found it rather boring. They are well behaved and loved the fancy restaurants on the ship and the fun excursions they went on. 

Yes, Oceania skews older but they have some great and fun itineraries that all ages can enjoy. 

On 3/30/2024 at 10:23 AM, MEFIowa said:

That's a different topic, one involving generalities. I'm discussing specifics. BUT, yes IF (1) I like an itinerary and (2) I like the PRICE, I'll book. BUT we KNOW that the price changes all the time. I prefer to spend less, rather than more, for the same itinerary. Only a foolish or a rich person ignores O's constant and constantly changing sales. 

The price doesn’t “change all the time.”  The cruise I will be on in September I booked last June and the price has stayed the same. It’s never been included in any of the sales either. I’m neither foolish nor rich but if I see an itinerary that I like at a reasonable price I will book it regardless of a sale. 

4 hours ago, Redtravel said:

With many dining venues on Vista, you usually don’t get the same table or server. If you ask in GDR, they will reserve a table.  On longer cruises, we ask for a specific table.  On shorter cruises, we don’t.

Interesting. I was told that we could not reserve a specific table in GDR.  You get what you get when you walk up to check in. Maybe Vista is different from the other ships. 

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Many cruise lines have a laundry option where there is a bulk price "by the bag."  On these lines you might pay $30 for an entire laundry bag (you stuff in as much possible).  Does O ever have this kind of deal?

 

Hank

I haven't seen that and I've been on 8 O cruises. You inventory everything in your bag as shown on the price list above and pay accordingly based on the item. If you're in a Concierge Veranda and above, you'll get a certain number (I think it's 3) of complimentary laundry bags up to 20 items per bag.