Two recent things that are a wee bit irritating

[rubysue]

We are booked on Regatta on a cruise that leaves a month from now from Montreal to Miami. We booked this cruise way back in March, 2013 and are looking forward to the unique itinerary. It will be our fifth Oceania cruise and we like them very much.

 

However, two things have recently occurred that are a wee bit irritating:

 

1) Our Roll Call was quite "dead" for this cruise for a very long time. We decided to go ahead and book ship excursions in several ports. I am somewhat disabled and slow and have had difficulty on shared private tours on some past cruises due to the remarkable athleticism of some of our fellow cruisers. Yes, we know that this is not a favorable approach for the Oceania faithful to book ship tours, but please put that aside right now (I am not wanting that argument). We elected to book six excursions to get to the magic 25% discount. After booking the sixth over ten days ago through our TA, she said to look for the 25% credit shortly (alas, she couldn't get it as a shipboard credit). Oceania has claimed to have processed the refund at least three times in the last week (after we kept bugging our TA to check with them, including today) and it has yet to show up on our credit card account. Whatever the complaints about the NCL merger, improvements to the front office cannot be one of them.

 

2) Today, our TA contacted us about a "deal". Apparently, our cruise is wait-listed for every category above B1 (seems counterintuitive, based on the comments I read here). They wanted us to move from our A2 to a B2, with a fairly decent credit, but the available cabins are certainly not nearly as nice as our current cabin and, in fact, are either right above the show lounge or above the kitchen of the GDR and are much further from the elevators. I can't explain it fully, but I felt a bit sad that, after so many months faithfully waiting for this cruise (and booked in a nice concierge veranda) that they would think we wanted to downgrade substantially at the last minute. Our silly fear now is that they are trying to put a group together and we will be in the middle of a bunch of Aggies or Cheeseheads (we turned down the offer). Is this common? We have upgraded in the past but never been asked to downgrade, on any cruise.

 

Just looking for insights - these are obviously "first world" problems, but we would like that refund for the tours.

[Toranut97]

1) I am a little confused on this, and perhaps someone else will know better, but when we booked the "magic" number of tours on our last cruise, the discount was taken off the top - deducted from the billing up front. As I said, someone else will understand better. Sorry for your hassles.

 

2) any of the kind of offers like you received -- upsell or downsell -- come with no pressure. You never need to take up such an offer if you aren't interested. Just ignore it. They are probably doing the last minute shuffling required to accommodate all the GTY folks.

 

Btw, if it reassures you at all, our last group apparently had several alumni groups, and we did worry about it ahead of time. But we really never even noticed their presence. So please, don't worry! And have a great cruise!!

[pacheco18]

Wow

I love downsells

I got $14000 for a downsell on my last cruise - my per diem was 132 per day!!!

I got a great downsell on the cruise before that one too.

And my January cruise is coming up!! My category is wait listed. I told my TA what it would take to get me to move. LOL Can lightning strike 3 times?

 

If they make it worth my while I am not insulted, I am overjoyed. It's a win win.

 

You can keep your cabin. Someone else will jump at a good offer.

Edited September 17, 2014 by pacheco18

[LHT28]

I agree about the tours if you check online there are certain prices depending on the discount program you choose

If they charged you the full price for each tour then yes you will get a refund

Sometimes it is the CC company that is slow to post the refund though any refunds we have had it was within a week of cancelling

 

Just tell your TA you are not interested in downgrades or upsells if you like where you are

If the offers are sent to your TA they must at least ask you unless you tell them otherwise

[Paulchili]

Rubysue,

1 The refund delay is most likely due to CC company. I've had refunds take as long as a full billing cycle (or two). I always think it funny that the CC can charge your account instantly but not credit your account in the same way. We all know why :(

2 Down sells can be very profitable, as Laraine pointed out. We also received a very substantial (four digit) refund once for a "double" down sell. I am glad it was not an OBC as we could have never spent it. However, it is your choice whether to take it or not.

Enjoy your cruise.

[Jancruz]

Paul..they are offering 4 digit downsells on this cruise..I cant understand why someone would be upset..if you dont want it just ignore the offer..

As far as tours..it should have come right off the top..not sure what happened..

Jancruz1

[rubysue]

I'm actually not really upset about the down sell, just have never been offered one before, so it seemed different. We know we don't have to take it. In 24 cruises, we upgraded once from an offer and have never been offered any deals on any of the other cruises we have taken, although we have had cabin upgrades (for free) at the last minute or when boarding. It was a good offer, but I didn't like the cabins. It does seem strange that this cruise still has cabins available in the lowest categories, since I thought those might go first.

 

Thanks for the input on the refund possibly taking a long time. That's a bit annoying, but we will monitor and keep bugging them. It would have been nice to have the refund as a shipboard credit but no such luck. Our TA, by the way, is thrilled with the NCL merger. She is of the opinion that it will improve the front office and may drive the costs down (and quality up) on shore excursions.

 

Oh, and my comment about the Aggies and Cheeseheads was in jest. Our first cruise on Oceania was through our alumni association and we were quite sedate, although the Wolverines group on that same cruise went crazy (just kidding!).

[msn123]

We have had upsell and downsell offers in the past. No pressure. The offer to move down got good to pass up and the cabin location will work for us. I figured we wouldn't be spending much time on the balcony next month anyway. Now I can feel good about the $$$ saved and can book our next cruise or two!

 

I am happy to know that Oceania is running near capacity....makes me think the new owners will be reluctant to change things.

[Paulchili]

 

I am happy to know that Oceania is running near capacity....makes me think the new owners will be reluctant to change things.

 

Here is hoping that they will be wise enough to recognize that :D