Being Pro Active on an Upsell

we are less than a month out on our cruise on the Marina. The cabin availability has gone from all wait list to some cabin availability shown as Guaranteed.

Rather than wait for an offer from Oceania, is there any way to request?

I have contacted my TA once with an offer, and it was accepted, but the category was marked as available.

just ask

just ask

Just feel bad pestering, asked last week and she was tod everything was waitlisted. It is that now cabins seem to be available. They are listed as guaranteed.

Is it possible for an individual to ask Oceania rather than their travel agent.

If GTY it may still not be available to upsell they may offer it to those on the W/L

You could try calling O

I have a good TA so never need to call O directly

YMMV

Just feel bad pestering, asked last week and she was told everything was waitlisted. It is that now cabins seem to be available. They are listed as guaranteed.

 

Is it possible for an individual to ask Oceania rather than their travel agent.

I am not an Oceania expert, I'm about to leave on my first sailing. That said, when I got my upsell offer a few weeks ago (email forwarded by my TA) it had a number to call to accept the offer, and I was able to call myself to accept it. The number was (866) 688-1295 and it was listed as "Revenue Management" in the email. I have wondered what would happen if someone who did not get the notice tried calling them and asked for an upsell offer. Sounds like you might want to volunteer. Worst case they tell you nothing is available. Of course, your TA might already have called those people, or they might have called their normal reservations contact.

Also, when I did my upsell, everything was showing as wait list on the website, yet they had 3 B1 cabins available for me to choose from. So I am convinced that what they show on the website does not reflect actual availability. They may not want to accept more reservations, but they clearly had cabins available in my case (they probably had someone wait-listed for my D cabin).

Just feel bad pestering, asked last week and she was tod everything was waitlisted. It is that now cabins seem to be available. They are listed as guaranteed.

 

Is it possible for an individual to ask Oceania rather than their travel agent.

I suppose its worth a try but a Travel Agent who is "IN" with O will have more clout. I would suggest you call your agent, assuming they are in the connoisseur club of agents ( top sellers) and give them a budget of X $$ for what they can play with.. Thats what I do. Also when I book my agent lets O know that I am open to dealing for an up sell...IF the price is right.

Thanks everyone. Will try again in morning.

Just feel bad pestering, asked last week and she was tod everything was waitlisted. It is that now cabins seem to be available. They are listed as guaranteed.

 

Is it possible for an individual to ask Oceania rather than their travel agent.

Not possible to get to the correct people

Jancruz1

Not possible to get to the correct people

Jancruz1

Who are the correct people? Is it not the "revenue management" people who you speak to when accepting an upsell?

yes when you get an offer..no when you go it alone..

Jancruz1

If you have a TA, O will redirect you back to your TA to make the offer. Protocol.

If you have a TA, O will redirect you back to your TA to make the offer. Protocol.

But they will talk to you directly if you want to accept the offer.

I got a new offer (thru my TA, of course) today to upgrade from a B1 to Penthouse for $500 per person. PH2 just showed up as available on the website today for my cruise on Friday. I'm going to pass.

But they will talk to you directly if you want to accept the offer.

 

I got a new offer (thru my TA, of course) today to upgrade from a B1 to Penthouse for $500 per person. PH2 just showed up as available on the website today for my cruise on Friday. I'm going to pass.

Thats a pretty good offer.....

Going it alone without an Agent is 1. shortsighted, 2 dumb, 3.Stupid, 4.Pointless, 5. waste of your time. 6. waste of money.. 7 loss of money.

The "right person" to contact is your agent,... only your agent ....and always your agent Upgrades are offered to Agents for a client not to clients

Dan;

You are of course correct. However, there have been numerous posters to this Board that want an Agent for one purpose only. That is to get the maximum money back as possible. Other than that they want nothing to do with an Agent. If they have a question or problem, they want to call Oceania, not their Agent. They consider an TA worthless other than kickbacks . Nothing we might post here will ever change their attitudes or positions. Oceania just doesn’t play their game and that leaves them irrevocably upset on many issues.

Thats a pretty good offer.....

 

Going it alone without an Agent is 1. shortsighted, 2 dumb, 3.Stupid, 4.Pointless, 5. waste of your time. 6. waste of money.. 7 loss of money.

 

The "right person" to contact is your agent,... only your agent ....and always your agent Upgrades are offered to Agents for a client not to clients

Yes, it's less than a third of the actual price difference between the categories ($500 vs. $1600). But I already paid an extra $400 per person for the upgrade from D to B1 (similar percentage saving) that I had not intended to spend and I don't really need the extra perks or space in a PH.

I never suggested booking without an agent. In my case I got free gratuities and OBC for booking with mine.

I still found it odd that the upsell people talked to me directly to accept the offer when I did it.

Keep in mind some consortiums and luxury travel agents block rooms and suites and take them out of inventory and hope to sell them before penalties kick in. We would never book direct with any cruise line. You are also missing out on many benefits...rebates, extra OBC, tours that you will not get these benefits booking online or a call center or from the cruise line itself.

Dan;

 

You are of course correct. However, there have been numerous posters to this Board that want an Agent for one purpose only. That is to get the maximum money back as possible. Other than that they want nothing to do with an Agent. If they have a question or problem, they want to call Oceania, not their Agent. They consider an TA worthless other than kickbacks . Nothing we might post here will ever change their attitudes or positions. Oceania just doesn’t play their game and that leaves them irrevocably upset on many issues.

I guess I'm in that boat, although I know not to call the cruise line directly in most cases. In this case, given that they agreed to talk to me to accept the offer, it seemed reasonable to think that they would also talk directly to the cruiser to see if something was available. I certainly enjoy speaking to my TA, but I find that I can find answers to my questions here on CC easier than I would by calling my TA. If there is a price reduction or I want to switch cabins, it would be easier for me to be able to call the cruise line directly to take care of it rather than going thru a middle-man but it's the "price" I pay for getting the perks.

If you are the sort of person who needs the hand-holding of an agent, or looks to them for advice on where to sail, or to intervene for you with the cruise line, then clearly you will get more value out of the agent than I do. Obviously with the "intervene for you" part, you never know when you'll need that and having a TA will come in handy.

Keep in mind some consortiums and luxury travel agents block rooms and suites and take them out of inventory and hope to sell them before penalties kick in. We would never book direct with any cruise line. You are also missing out on many benefits...rebates, extra OBC, tours that you will not get these benefits booking online or a call center or from the cruise line itself.

Agreed but you sound like the sort of person that pinotlover spoke about, only interested in the perks.

As a matter of contract, O will not talk to a Travel Agents client at all unless the agent ok's it. The best way for an upgrade up sell offer is to in the beginning let your agent know your interested un a offer. Tell him how much $$$ you will spend as a limit and authorize him to use his judgment on your behalf. If you dont trust him... find an agent you do.

Offers are time sensitive You may only have minutes in some cases to respond. With out a yes, O moves to the next on the list quickly. Having the agent call you and then you call O may take an hours... and you may very well miss out totally. However O calls Agent. with offer, Agent accepts or not based on his knowledge and what the market is doing.

An Agent is your representative give him full control... Just like a Lawyer in court. In both cases, representing yourself you have a fool for a client..you

Having a agent long term builds a relation and the agent gets to know you and your wants and that only improves with the years.... Getting a budget shopping deal from agent Ben Dover, will not work well in the long run

I have found the Oceania agents to be very helpful, even if you have a TA. As long as you keep your questions of a general nature and don’t ask them to make changes.

I have found the Oceania agents to be very helpful, even if you have a TA. As long as you keep your questions of a general nature and don’t ask them to make changes.

So did you call and ask about an upsell?

So did you call and ask about an upsell?

I did. The answer was that there the ship was now oversold, and that the cabins listed as guaranteed were sold but waiting to be assigned.

Therefore there would be no upsells, but that people with guarantees might be upgraded.

I did. The answer was that there the ship was now oversold, and that the cabins listed as guaranteed were sold but waiting to be assigned.

 

Therefore there would be no upsells, but that people with guarantees might be upgraded.

Wait, so they spoke to you and didn't tell you to call your travel agent? :confused:

Are you still waiting for a guarantee assignment or do you have a cabin?

I guess I'm in that boat, although I know not to call the cruise line directly in most cases. In this case, given that they agreed to talk to me to accept the offer, it seemed reasonable to think that they would also talk directly to the cruiser to see if something was available. I certainly enjoy speaking to my TA, but I find that I can find answers to my questions here on CC easier than I would by calling my TA. If there is a price reduction or I want to switch cabins, it would be easier for me to be able to call the cruise line directly to take care of it rather than going thru a middle-man but it's the "price" I pay for getting the perks.

 

If you are the sort of person who needs the hand-holding of an agent, or looks to them for advice on where to sail, or to intervene for you with the cruise line, then clearly you will get more value out of the agent than I do. Obviously with the "intervene for you" part, you never know when you'll need that and having a TA will come in handy.

Bill....Amigo if you have to come to cruise critic to get answers, and dont like to with an agent but deal direct with O rather than deal with a middle man and think agents are only for those who need their hands held.... then you have the wrong agent.

You miss an important idea...Agents work on commission. only. O dosent have to pay them a dime till they sell a cruise. For them to bypass the agent is bad business and not reasonable even counter productive for them to treat you in any way better... They want you to go through an agent who can answer all your questions ans assist you yours I guess did not.. To do otherwise is to shoot themselves in the foot..... No way will they talk to you to discuss availability or or to switch cabins... unless you book without an agent. It would be unreasonable to expect that.

It is a common misconception today with all the internet garbage out there that you can do just as good maybe better on your own and getting help is not needed. You can do better your self.. cut out the middleman... maybe save a buck.. If you think that way you would be sadly mistaken.