Price reduction

[di T]

Hi, all of you guys! Our first Oceania cruise is in June, today I noticed the same stateroom and date are down in price due to a new offer. What’s the chance of Oceania giving obc to the value or similar? We booked direct with them in the Uk.Tried to ring but they are closed, Thanks in advance. Dianne

[mauibabes]

Definitely try Monday when the are open, or Sunday. The credits are OFTEN PROVIDED, so just ask and if the initial answer is No, ask to speak to a Supervisor. 
 

Mauibabes

[MEFIowa]

There is an entire lengthy thread here on CC for the O Extraordinary Savings Sale, and many have raised and discussed your issue and their experiences with same.

[di T]

16 hours ago, mauibabes said:

Definitely try Monday when the are open, or Sunday. The credits are OFTEN PROVIDED, so just ask and if the initial answer is No, ask to speak to a Supervisor. 
 

Mauibabes

Thanks, will try.As they say nothing ventured nthig gained😂

[di T]

15 hours ago, MEFIowa said:

There is an entire lengthy thread here on CC for the O Extraordinary Savings Sale, and many have raised and discussed your issue and their experiences with same.

Sorry I have been on holiday and didn’t keep up with cruise critic as internet wasn’t great! Where will I find the thread? Thanks,Dianne

[LHT28]

4 hours ago, di T said:

Sorry I have been on holiday and didn’t keep up with cruise critic as internet wasn’t great! Where will I find the thread? Thanks,Dianne

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2930433-extraordinary-savings-sale/page/12/#comment-65295148

 

[di T]

5 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2930433-extraordinary-savings-sale/page/12/#comment-65295148

 

Thanks,will have a look

 

[Psoque]

On 4/30/2023 at 9:18 AM, di T said:

Thanks,will have a look

 

Did you have any luck with Oceania?  I’m very curious to know of your outcome with them.

[Sujormik]

18 minutes ago, Psoque said:

Did you have any luck with Oceania?  I’m very curious to know of your outcome with them.

Fwiw, I wasn’t able to get any financial break as my room category wasn’t covered.🙁

[di T]

1 hour ago, Psoque said:

Did you have any luck with Oceania?  I’m very curious to know of your outcome with them.

Well I got an email this morning to say sorry no upgrade but offering $800 obc! She asked I ring her to say if I accept the offer, I was really pleased with this.

[LHT28]

5 minutes ago, di T said:

Well I got an email this morning to say sorry no upgrade but offering $800 obc! She asked I ring her to say if I accept the offer, I was really pleased with this.

Good news 

Thanks for sharing

[janecambridge]

Lucky you di T. 
We had an Oceania suite. Before we sailed a big offer of all 3 freebies came up and 15% discount. All top suites were void of this offer as ‘we get a lot of benefits from the suite booking’! Yes, we pay for it! 

[tedcatuk]

Im Really confused with Oceania and its pricing and offers.

I bought a future cruise voucher and booked a cruise which was then reduced in the extraordinary sale event.

The voucher has a best price guarantee up to sailing date but i have to say getting the agent at Oceania to honor this was at best a real battle!

I now notice that the same cruise is advertising reduced prices as above and a 20% saving for club members (which we are as this is our sixth cruise ) does anyone know if these offers can be combined ?

I dont really want another battle with the agent a O again as I find her a bit off putting- tho I will buy a voucher again on the next cruise but will ensure I dont book with her again .

Any help/views appreciated 

[pinotlover]

4 minutes ago, tedcatuk said:

Im Really confused with Oceania and its pricing and offers.

I bought a future cruise voucher and booked a cruise which was then reduced in the extraordinary sale event.

The voucher has a best price guarantee up to sailing date but i have to say getting the agent at Oceania to honor this was at best a real battle!

I now notice that the same cruise is advertising reduced prices as above and a 20% saving for club members (which we are as this is our sixth cruise ) does anyone know if these offers can be combined ?

I dont really want another battle with the agent a O again as I find her a bit off putting- tho I will buy a voucher again on the next cruise but will ensure I dont book with her again .

Any help/views appreciated 

Next time use a Travel Agent to book your cruise, and never have to speak with an O phone clerk again. A strategy many of us her use. DIY is a choice.

[LHT28]

8 minutes ago, tedcatuk said:

Im Really confused with Oceania and its pricing and offers.

I bought a future cruise voucher and booked a cruise which was then reduced in the extraordinary sale event.

The voucher has a best price guarantee up to sailing date but i have to say getting the agent at Oceania to honor this was at best a real battle!

I now notice that the same cruise is advertising reduced prices as above and a 20% saving for club members (which we are as this is our sixth cruise ) does anyone know if these offers can be combined ?

I dont really want another battle with the agent a O again as I find her a bit off putting- tho I will buy a voucher again on the next cruise but will ensure I dont book with her again .

Any help/views appreciated 

Some offers are not combinable   might be something in the  T & C fine print  on Oceania website under Legal at the bottom of the page

Not sure if different rules in the UK apply

[tedcatuk]

Im Really confused with Oceania and its pricing and offers.

I bought a future cruise voucher and booked a cruise which was then reduced in the extraordinary sale event.

The voucher has a best price guarantee up to sailing date but i have to say getting the agent at Oceania to honor this was at best a real battle!

I now notice that the same cruise is advertising reduced prices as above and a 20% saving for club members (which we are as this is our sixth cruise ) does anyone know if these offers can be combined ?

I dont really want another battle with the agent a O again as I find her a bit off putting- tho I will buy a voucher again on the next cruise but will ensure I dont book with her again .

Any help/views appreciated 

[tedcatuk]

L looked at the Ts and Cs but I cant see anywhere that excludes the two offers - it does mention not with o life ultimate- I tried the agents with the voucher before I booked direct - I dont know how the ones in the US are but most here in the UK that i spoke with know nothing about the vouchers or their offers!

[LHT28]

2 minutes ago, tedcatuk said:

L looked at the Ts and Cs but I cant see anywhere that excludes the two offers - it does mention not with o life ultimate- I tried the agents with the voucher before I booked direct - I dont know how the ones in the US are but most here in the UK that i spoke with know nothing about the vouchers or their offers!

Yes they do not make it easy  for people to understand  some of their offers & rules

 

I have a good TA  so leave the heavy lifting to her 😉

 

Hopefully someone in the UK can shed some light on the issue for you

I looked  also for the double dipping rules  here  but nothing so far

[tedcatuk]

Thanks for looking for me it seems to me that the agents here are less concerned about a long term relationship with the client so I tend to book direct with the cruise operator esp after a very nasty experience getting a very large refund from one in the lock down !

This time I will make sure the onboard ambassador emails the guarantee to me in full and I will def refuse to deal with the same booking clerk at O who I am sure must be on a commission.

 

 

 

 

[AMHuntFerry]

12 minutes ago, tedcatuk said:

L looked at the Ts and Cs but I cant see anywhere that excludes the two offers - it does mention not with o life ultimate- I tried the agents with the voucher before I booked direct - I dont know how the ones in the US are but most here in the UK that i spoke with know nothing about the vouchers or their offers!

Here are the combinability rules that I received (for the US...don't know about the UK so ask for the "combinability" and "terms" for the UK from your contact):

• Promotion is combinable with 2-for-1 Deposits and Oceania Club Loyalty Benefits, where applicable.

• Promotion is not combinable with any other discount, fare, or promotion including but not limited to O-Life Ultimate, Pre-Paid Gratuity Amenity Sailings (OCAPP), Groups, National Account Hosted Sailings, Premium Economy, Onboard Savings & Oceania Club Certificate, Combo/Back to Back Savings, Consumer Events and Cruise Night offers, Private Sales or other added value offers Amex Gold Card, Platinum/Centurion/CPP, NCLH Share Holder SBC, Casino Specials, Past Guest Savings, Single Specials, Holiday/Upgrade Promos, Kids sail Free (3rd/4th berth), Travel Advisor/Interline fares, or any unpublished offers.

[AMHuntFerry]

As I understand it, you can still use your deposit from the Onboard booking (or certificate), but you must choose between 1) the current sale price, 2) the onbaord-discount, or 3) the O-Club upt-to-20% discount. It seems to me that the "lowest price guarantee" just means that if a sale says "new bookings only" then onboard bookings can still get the price even if the booking is not new (but you may lose perks in exchange for other perks).

[tedcatuk]

L looked at the Ts and Cs but I cant see anywhere that excludes the two offers - it does mention not with o life ultimate- I tried the agents with the voucher before I booked direct - I dont know how the ones in the US are but most here in the UK that i spoke with know nothing about the vouchers or their offers!

 

Many thanks for that  I might just leave it as I work out the difference is £600 or so I notice some of the US agents advertise in the UK so i might just talk to them with my next booking and see if the result is better!

[MEFIowa]

19 hours ago, tedcatuk said:

...so I tend to book direct with the cruise operator esp after a very nasty experience getting a very large refund from one in the lock down! This time I will make sure the onboard ambassador emails the guarantee to me in full and I will def refuse to deal with the same booking clerk at O who I am sure must be on a commission.

I've learned that booking cruise only off of cabin-upgrade sales, like this Extraordinary Savings Sale, is the only way to go. That's when you get the best pricing on your fare. I've now done that for 4 cruises. Did book one while on board, and it never came up for a cabin upgrade sale.

 

Seems like so many get burned on "future cruise credit". No idea why anyone would go down what seems more "pig in a poke"/"two in the bush" future hope than actually booking a real cruise on a actual sale.

 

As you're learning, trying to combine things in the future can be difficult.

 

And I try to always use the same O rep. I got her extension and always call her. Develop a relationship. So NO TA with us and we've had no problems.

[pinotlover]

24 minutes ago, MEFIowa said:

I've learned that booking cruise only off of cabin-upgrade sales, like this Extraordinary Savings Sale, is the only way to go. That's when you get the best pricing on your fare. I've now done that for 4 cruises. Did book one while on board, and it never came up for a cabin upgrade sale.

 

Seems like so many get burned on "future cruise credit". No idea why anyone would go down what seems more "pig in a poke"/"two in the bush" future hope than actually booking a real cruise on a actual sale.

 

As you're learning, trying to combine things in the future can be difficult.

 

And I try to always use the same O rep. I got her extension and always call her. Develop a relationship. So NO TA with us and we've had no problems.

Let me attempt to explain the advantages for us concerning the purchase of a future cruise certificate.

 

We typically identify the cruises we want to do, from our bucket list, and book them upon release. This gets us the cruises and cabins we want, typically at a good price. Therefore, if there were any cruises currently available for booking that we wanted, they would already be booked. We still do an assortment of other activities besides just ocean cruises, so pre/early planning is important for us.

 

We will be on Vista next month. Oceania is having a major new cruise release in August and September. We can’t book any of those now, but fairly sure we’ll find at least one we want to go on. Therefore, we’ll buy a FCC while aboard. This:

 

1. Give us a significantly reduced deposit for the cruise we do chose in the future;

 

2. Gives us more OBC for the current or future cruise;

 

3. Gives us the lowest price guarantee on that applicable cruise.

 

Number 3 seems to be the issue here. I have a highly trained professional Travel Agent and know how to use her. When O has come out with subsequent sales that offers lower over costs for me, she has always been able to quickly get them booked for me. She has also on occasion explained why the new deal isn’t a better deal. Something I may not have caught.

 

The last thing I want to do is a “ placeholder “ booking, potentially tying up a cabin someone else wants or needs. ( Read the thread of woe and despair on HC cabins). A future cruise certificate has always worked well for us. That June purchase , with its one year booking window, will get us through two cruise release seasons. Plenty enough time and opportunities to make a booking. I don’t understand why people advocate phony placeholder bookings.

[MEFIowa]

30 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

Let me attempt to explain the advantages for us concerning the purchase of a future cruise certificate.

 

We typically identify the cruises we want to do, from our bucket list, and book them upon release. This gets us the cruises and cabins we want, typically at a good price. Therefore, if there were any cruises currently available for booking that we wanted, they would already be booked. We still do an assortment of other activities besides just ocean cruises, so pre/early planning is important for us.

 

We will be on Vista next month. Oceania is having a major new cruise release in August and September. We can’t book any of those now, but fairly sure we’ll find at least one we want to go on. Therefore, we’ll buy a FCC while aboard. This:

 

1. Give us a significantly reduced deposit for the cruise we do chose in the future;

 

2. Gives us more OBC for the current or future cruise;

 

3. Gives us the lowest price guarantee on that applicable cruise.

 

Number 3 seems to be the issue here. I have a highly trained professional Travel Agent and know how to use her. When O has come out with subsequent sales that offers lower over costs for me, she has always been able to quickly get them booked for me. She has also on occasion explained why the new deal isn’t a better deal. Something I may not have caught.

 

The last thing I want to do is a “ placeholder “ booking, potentially tying up a cabin someone else wants or needs. ( Read the thread of woe and despair on HC cabins). A future cruise certificate has always worked well for us. That June purchase , with its one year booking window, will get us through two cruise release seasons. Plenty enough time and opportunities to make a booking. I don’t understand why people advocate phony placeholder bookings.

Yet in the real world, I ran into so many O cruisers on Riviera that were using up FCC because of "use or lose" situation. They weren't happy at all. Taking a cruise they really didn't want to take or lose the FCC. As I said: "Seems like so many get burned on "future cruise credit".