Dont pay deposits on board for new cruises

[brian_uk]

I do feel that the OP's original point has been avoided by virtually everybody on here.

 

It MUST be the duty of the Sales Person on board to be conversant with the regulations in various other countries other than the USA. They cannot simply tell everybody that the deposit is transferrable when clearly it is not. Hundreds of Ozzies have been on O and the sales people should know what can and cannot be done. If they have told the OP that it can be transferred without any restrictions then O should stick to the Contract.

 

Brian

[DaisyUK]

Totally agree - and much better expressed than my blurry-eyed, half awake response earlier this morning! If different rules apply in Australia, then Oceania must be aware of this fact (and if they are not, they should be) and have to take responsibility for ensuring that Australian customers understand the terms under which they are making future bookings when being sold by Oceania personnel onboard.

[rhohea]

Unfortunately, those same laws now exclude you from being lumped in with the rest of the World as far as travel practices are concerned.

 

The Travel Agent that you are talking to may have a glib line, but I have personally spent hundreds of hours trying to help Australian friends in situations like this, (Rhonda, please chime in here!) and in every case where the cruise line outright said no, it was because their hands were tied by local regulations, or because the Australian Agent, knowing that they were about to be cut out of a good (Guaranteed) thing, was raising merry hell.

 

[/size]

 

ELLISV - I am the Rhonda referred to in the post above from StanandJim.

 

Please save yourself a lot of time, money and stress because what they have said is true. All I can suggest is that you phone Oceania in Sydney direct and don't hang up in despair and demand to speak to the Manager. You have to feel that "someone" is listening to you. Or that is how I felt.

 

It took me 3 years of grief & stress to finally be satisfied that I was getting a reasonable deal from Oceania. I wrote several emails to Chairman & CEO Frank J. Del Rio and President & COO Kunal S. Kamlani. My husband & I also had a sit down meeting onboard Marina in Monte Carlo during a cruise with Mr. Kamlani. Both were very sympathetic to our plight but kept coming back to the contracting arrangements within Aust.

 

But as you can see from the list of my cruises below, I persevered with Oceania and with the help of a few CC friends who I listened too, (eventually) I am now one very happy Oceania cruiser with cruises # 15 & 16 coming up next week. :D

 

By the way I have never had a problem with transferring deposits to a different cruise nor applying a Future Cruise credit to any cruise on my return. I have also booked a cruise using a Future Cruise credit and then changed the cruise - without penalty.

 

Good luck and any grief you go through is worth it to stay with "O".

 

Rhonda

[JVilleGal]

I do feel that the OP's original point has been avoided by virtually everybody on here.

 

 

 

It MUST be the duty of the Sales Person on board to be conversant with the regulations in various other countries other than the USA. They cannot simply tell everybody that the deposit is transferrable when clearly it is not. Hundreds of Ozzies have been on O and the sales people should know what can and cannot be done. If they have told the OP that it can be transferred without any restrictions then O should stick to the Contract.

 

 

 

Brian

 

 

 

Ditto

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[StanandJim]

Unfortunately, those same laws now exclude you from being lumped in with the rest of the World as far as travel practices are concerned.

 

The Travel Agent that you are talking to may have a glib line, but I have personally spent hundreds of hours trying to help Australian friends in situations like this, (Rhonda, please chime in here!) and in every case where the cruise line outright said no, it was because their hands were tied by local regulations, or because the Australian Agent, knowing that they were about to be cut out of a good (Guaranteed) thing, was raising merry hell.

 

[/size]

 

ELLISV - I am the Rhonda referred to in the post above from StanandJim.

 

Please save yourself a lot of time, money and stress because what they have said is true. All I can suggest is that you phone Oceania in Sydney direct and don't hang up in despair and demand to speak to the Manager. You have to feel that "someone" is listening to you. Or that is how I felt.

 

It took me 3 years of grief & stress to finally be satisfied that I was getting a reasonable deal from Oceania. I wrote several emails to Chairman & CEO Frank J. Del Rio and President & COO Kunal S. Kamlani. My husband & I also had a sit down meeting onboard Marina in Monte Carlo during a cruise with Mr. Kamlani. Both were very sympathetic to our plight but kept coming back to the contracting arrangements within Aust.

 

But as you can see from the list of my cruises below, I persevered with Oceania and with the help of a few CC friends who I listened too, (eventually) I am now one very happy Oceania cruiser with cruises # 15 & 16 coming up next week. :D

 

By the way I have never had a problem with transferring deposits to a different cruise nor applying a Future Cruise credit to any cruise on my return. I have also booked a cruise using a Future Cruise credit and then changed the cruise - without penalty.

 

Good luck and any grief you go through is worth it to stay with "O".

 

Rhonda

 

Thanks Rhonda :D

You're the success story that made me respond to this Post at 3AM :D

I hope that ELLISV is still reading along!

[rhohea]

Quote Thanks Rhonda :D

You're the success story that made me respond to this Post at 3AM :D

I hope that ELLISV is still reading along!

 

Time for bed. We can't have you up late again tonight. :D

Hope to meet you both some day soon.

 

Rhonda

[ELLISV]

Hi Rhonda

 

Thanks for your response. Unfortunately I can't get on to the senior executives at Oceania, but Fiona Miller who is an Oceania agent in this part of the world is trying hard on my behalf. My requirement is simple: apply my deposit to the September 2015 Rome to Venice and I will confirm the booking. I want to do this soon as flights from Australia are expensive so I would like to take advantage of the current special offers by the airlines. Your experience has encouraged me to fight on!

 

Thanks

Ellis

[qldtraveller]

We use on board bookings all the time.

If we cancel we receive our deposit back less an admin fee.

This is required by the contract taken on by the consolidator/wholesaler in Australua as pRt of their exclusive agreement.

Oceania Australia has nothing to do with it as I have dealt with them directly.

Your contract is with Oceania who then give it to their TA which is the consolidator who then notify our travel agent with an invoice.

Our TA issues the invoice with cruise price in AUD as was printed by Oceania on board less the deposit.

There is also a mention of the deposit and what you get back depending on cancellation time.

Note if book direct with the TA the consolidator would require 2.5 times the deposit and most is not refundable.

Hope that clarifies the position.

We do this with Oceania and have now sailed 7 times with in 3 years and another 2 upcoming.

[ceba]

Forgive me if I'm being dense here, but what is the governments motivation for this? Are they protecting their citizens from something? I feel like I'm missing something here. (I just hope it isn't as plain as the nose on my face :o)

Edited February 7, 2015 by ceba

[wannaberetired]

They were very good to me with a deposit I booked on a cruise. We changed cruises twice in a period of 2 years and they carried the deposit over both times. Your TA should take care of this for you.

[LHT28]

Forgive me if I'm being dense here, but what is the governments motivation for this? Are they protecting their citizens from something? I feel like I'm missing something here. (I just hope it isn't as plain as the nose on my face :o)

 

Jobs

 

They regulate the travel industry ... they are trying to protect the jobs of people that live in Australia

If everyone bought their goods & services off shore a lot of people would be on the dole

[ceba]

Jobs

 

They regulate the travel industry ... they are trying to protect the jobs of people that live in Australia

If everyone bought their goods & services off shore a lot of people would be on the dole

 

Ah, got it. Thanks

[qldtraveller]

Jobs

 

They regulate the travel industry ... they are trying to protect the jobs of people that live in Australia

If everyone bought their goods & services off shore a lot of people would be on the dole

 

Actually you are incorrect.

Oceania operates with a particular wholesaler in Australia. Other wholesalers have to go thru that one to arrange a booking.

Example, RSSC(same company as Oceania(Prestige now NCL) uses a different wholesaler and when we book RSSC thru our TA it goes to the Oceania Wholesaler and then to RSSC's wholesaler.

 

This is the way it works in Australia due to small population and the expense of each TA company booking direct.

 

Princess, Cunard, RSSC and many others do not have direct contact with the public except at seminars or exhibitions.

 

It is nothing about travel regulations or jobs as it is still a major employer.

 

It is to do with the structures put in to try and have people like Oceania and RSSC and HAL operate with small offices in Australia.

 

In fact over 85% of cruises are bought directly w/i Australia from Australian offices. This is for Carnival Group especially.

 

Hope that clarifies the situation for you.

[LHT28]

I stand corrected

 

I do not understand why they would force people to book through Australian wholesalers then?

 

Many years ago we Canadians could not book direct with US cruise lines we had to use a Canadian wholesaler then came the WWW ..things changed

Edited February 8, 2015 by LHT28

[qldtraveller]

I stand corrected

 

I do not understand why they would force people to book through Australian wholesalers then?

 

Many years ago we Canadians could not book direct with US cruise lines we had to use a Canadian wholesaler then came the WWW ..things changed

 

The issue is not that we are forced to it just the way it works for cost expediency.

As an example I go to book Oceania or RSC cruises at our TA's office. The coy she works for pays an annual fee to be member of a group which is the wholesaler. This wholesaler has access to Oceania's booking system etc and can provide the costings in AUD to our TA plus any benefits. This wholesaler may also haverirect access to many other cruise lines. However, if I book RSSC with our TA she goes to the same wholesaler as for Oceania. However, our Wholesaler then goes to the wholesaler for RSSC who provides the price to our wholesaler then sent to our TA.

However, if one books say Princess cruises then the TA's can go direct to the Princess Cruises office as they have staff in abundance and as part of Carnival Group in Australua have a large number of boats operating out of Australian Ports. Also people booked on Carnival cruises in Australia are generally never allowed to talk to Princess direct.

Oceania has Marina down here for a month and RSSC also generally has one boat down here for a month.

So we are not forced to use the wholesaler it is just the average Australian does not even understand the process when the TA puts the cruise together for them,

They think the TA deals direct with cruise line.

I also the lady who started this thread may have a TA associated with a who.saler not associated with Oceania direct and does not understand the process. I have communicated directly with Oceania people in Sydney by phone and e-mail and never had an issue.

Hope that clarifies the operation a little and apologies for long winded response.

As an aside an UK couple who are friends and have cruised 30 times with Princess and associated lines could not book a cruise from Sydney to Tahiti return in AUD(also cheaper than UK price) as they do not have Australian address with their membership level. Even I could not book direct and the TA could not even do it.

We live and learn as to why the world has different ways

[Mumofnine]

As I mentioned on the other thread on this topic, Australian Travel Agents now have the option to book directly online with Oceania or still book through a specialist Cruise Wholesaler who then makes the booking with Oceania.

Will qualify statement above with "not sure if this is available to all TAs or if one has to be a preferred Agent."

The advantage of the TA being able to book direct is that they have control of the booking and can deal direct with the Oceania GSA in Sydney if any problems, rather than have to go through the middle person - the Cruise Wholesaler.

[hondorner]

As I mentioned on the other thread on this topic, Australian Travel Agents now have the option to book directly online with Oceania or still book through a specialist Cruise Wholesaler who then makes the booking with Oceania.

Will qualify statement above with "not sure if this is available to all TAs or if one has to be a preferred Agent."

The advantage of the TA being able to book direct is that they have control of the booking and can deal direct with the Oceania GSA in Sydney if any problems, rather than have to go through the middle person - the Cruise Wholesaler.

I would think that would be a very appropriate question to ask the Australian TA before one books with them.

[Paulchili]

Glad to hear that things worked out for you. Thank you for posting the outcome.

All is well that ends well :)

Edited February 11, 2015 by Paulchili

[LHT28]

Good news

 

Glad you got it sorted out

[CintiPam]

Excellent news. You can get rid if the red angry face now!:)

[mswoody50]

If you give Oceania a deposit on board you will never see it again despite their promises that you can roll over the deposit to another cruise. DON'T TRUST OCEANIA.

 

Am from Victoria, was thinking of paying a deposit on board at my next trip in July with Oceania for 2016. Who has advised you, that you cannot receive a refund or change your cruise. Oceania office in Sydney or your local travel agent?

Just wondering what reason you were given.

Maybe I have to think carefully before I pre pay also.

Any information would be great.

Regards

[Aussie Gal]

As I mentioned on the other thread on this topic, Australian Travel Agents now have the option to book directly online with Oceania or still book through a specialist Cruise Wholesaler who then makes the booking with Oceania.

Will qualify statement above with "not sure if this is available to all TAs or if one has to be a preferred Agent."

The advantage of the TA being able to book direct is that they have control of the booking and can deal direct with the Oceania GSA in Sydney if any problems, rather than have to go through the middle person - the Cruise Wholesaler.

 

 

 

How do we find out who is a preferred Agent. I would love to find one here in Melbourne.

 

Jennie

[LHT28]

How do we find out who is a preferred Agent. I would love to find one here in Melbourne.

 

Jennie

 

They use to show their top agents on the website here when you looked at Find an Agent in your area

not sure if it was on the Australian website

Do not see a link now for Find an agent

 

You can ask around on the ship... but not on CC

Edited February 16, 2015 by LHT28

[mswoody50]

How do we find out who is a preferred Agent. I would love to find one here in Melbourne.

 

Jennie

 

Oceania had a half page ad in the travel section of Sunday Sun this last week. It listed 4 TA's names. One in Brighton. Think it called Brighton Travel. They usually have the Oceania book with discounted cruises in it. I get this book from them and then get my TA in Bendigo to do the booking. She rings Oceania in Sydney & asks for the same rate as Brighton offering.have no problem getting that, so assume my TA is booking direct with Oceania

[Aussie Gal]

Oceania had a half page ad in the travel section of Sunday Sun this last week. It listed 4 TA's names. One in Brighton. Think it called Brighton Travel. They usually have the Oceania book with discounted cruises in it. I get this book from them and then get my TA in Bendigo to do the booking. She rings Oceania in Sydney & asks for the same rate as Brighton offering.have no problem getting that, so assume my TA is booking direct with Oceania

 

Thanks for that. I know whom you are referring to in Brighton as we used to book with them many years ago and they have always been an Oceania Agent. :)

 

We are returning to Oceania after being away from them for quite a few years. We are looking forward to seeing how much they have changed or not changed since we were last on them back in 2008.

 

Jennie