Oceania 2023 Sales Offer History: Be paying attention in 2024

[Tranquility Base]

Do Oceania have Sales which are limited by the phrase 'new bookings only' ?

IE:  Apart from the 'booked onboard' refare option, having a sale price which cannot be applied to an existing booking; even before final payment date 

Edited February 13 by Tranquility Base

[MEFIowa]

8 minutes ago, shepherd really said:

So, you missed my point, which is that it doesn't matter what the previous sales told you, past is not prologue.

We're discussing sales in general, sales in history, and possible sales in the future. So, we can "know" about the first two, but can only be hopeful about the third. Assuming one pays attention to the future.

 

To paraphrase a great thinker, those who don't know the past are doomed not to be primed to take advantage of the future.  

[shepherd really]

1 minute ago, MEFIowa said:

We're discussing sales in general, sales in history, and possible sales in the future. So, we can "know" about the first two, but can only be hopeful about the third. Assuming one pays attention to the future.

 

To paraphrase a great thinker, those who don't know the past are doomed not to be primed to take advantage of the future.  

To quote an even greater thinker, you don’t drive a car by staring at  the rear view mirror. 

[MEFIowa]

6 minutes ago, Tranquility Base said:

Do Oceania have Sales which are limited by the phrase 'new bookings only'?...

As you rightly surmised O has a ton of legalese boilerplate with their sales.

 

I pulled out the large 2023 "Extraordinary Savings Sale" brochure. The legal terms, conditions, restrictions, etc. found on the bottom of p. 38. AND YES VIRGINA, it says "for new bookings only". Yet, O also had a price guarantee. So, IF you called your O rep, as I did, she changed the booking.

 

I did the same with the 2021 Presidents' Day Sale. I remember that call well, as I said something like, "How come you didn't tell me about the sale?" And I was told, "You have to monitor that yourself." Something I took to heart. So I said, "So do I need to cancel the booking to take advantage of the sale?" And it was, "No, give me a second and I'll change it."

 

Have always kept the same booking # no matter how many times I've modified the booking or changed cabins due to sale.

 

With all things O, seems like there are few "set in stone rules" and there are exceptions for everything. Knowing the right person or being a big spender or having a powerful TA likely help, more so on the margins of sales, since the ones I'm discussing are public and openly available to all.

[MEFIowa]

10 minutes ago, shepherd really said:

To quote an even greater thinker, you don’t drive a car by staring at the rear view mirror. 

Really, we're discussing prices and sales. And NOT just for experienced O cruisers or those with powerful TAs or annual whale cruise budgets.

 

I just wish some people on the O cruises I've taken had paid attention to sales. When I've told them how little I paid, and they could've too, they all but cried.

 

O has SO MANY different sales annually, at the very least people should know, for example, what a "cabin-upgrade sale" entails. Seen those in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Wanna bet we may see one in 2024?

 

To paraphrase an underappreciated thinker, who made an appearance in a commercial during the Super Bowl, I pity the fool who doesn't know about O sales or use them. 😉

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, shepherd really said:

To quote an even greater thinker, you don’t drive a car by staring at  the rear view mirror. 

Ya sure do if there's a cop behind you.

[clo]

2 hours ago, MEFIowa said:

When I've told them how little I paid, and they could've too, they all but cried.

Oh my. I hope it wasn't in the GDR 🙂

[Tranquility Base]

3 hours ago, MEFIowa said:

Have always kept the same booking # no matter how many times I've modified the booking or changed cabins due to sale.

Sure.

However, if a sale is annotated "new bookings only", and this being 2024 with the mandatory $150pp cancelation fee, might a cancelation and new booking now be required ?

IE: The refare on the same booking number may no longer be an option.

Therefore this $300 per couple fee would have to be factored into the maths. ??

[pinotlover]

16 hours ago, MEFIowa said:

We're discussing sales in general, sales in history, and possible sales in the future. So, we can "know" about the first two, but can only be hopeful about the third. Assuming one pays attention to the future.

 

To paraphrase a great thinker, those who don't know the past are doomed not to be primed to take advantage of the future.  

There is definitely a consistency to all of this. Oceania releases cruise schedules on a regular basis. Some of those cruises mostly get snapped up the first week after release and are never on sale. Some cruises languish and are very slow to fill. Oceania runs sale after sale trying to lure people to those cruises. If still unsuccessful near cruise dates, they do silent sales.

 

Some of the cruises are highly competitive. Only so many places ships can sail during our winter months. The Carribe gets slammed with ships of all sizes and costs vying for our business. Even many regular O cruisers see no point in paying O prices for a 7-10 float around the Carribe to beat the cold. It takes sales every year to fill the R ships, the O ships, along with the new A ships. Even with all the sales they are rarely full because everyone is running sales. We see sales because of excess capacity. In April we’ll see a new release of cruises that will down the road require sales to fill.

 

So my guess is we’ll have a big President’s Day Sale in another attempt to fill all those cruises released two years that still not enough people have signed up for.

 

A lot of debt to be serviced. Cash flow is King!

Edited February 14 by pinotlover

[jonthomas]

Very good topic. Cant wait to discuss the next sale. 

[MEFIowa]

58 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

... So my guess is we’ll have a big President’s Day Sale in another attempt to fill all those cruises released two years that still not enough people have signed up for....

Though the current New Year Sale ENDS 2/29/24. Presidents' Day is 2/19/24. Previously the Presidents' Day Sale started on or around 1 February. Forget if they ended at the end of February or some time in March.

[janecambridge]

Nowhere near as many sales here in UK. . On various ships we don’t get the services discount or even transatlantic upgrade flights free. 

[ORV]

2 hours ago, janecambridge said:

Nowhere near as many sales here in UK. . On various ships we don’t get the services discount or even transatlantic upgrade flights free. 

Ad far as I know we don’t get upgrade flights free either. At least not from Oceania 

[AMHuntFerry]

Speaking of sales, there are a few (just a few!) fantastic sales showing up today for spring/summer (weren't there last time I did an overall check, not just my targets, which may have been 2-7 days ago...days all run together 😉 ) on my TA's site that aren't on O's site, so I assume silent-sale. Example: Inside $2499 on O, $1485 on TA for 11 days Regatta (Mexico); $4549 O, B-cat $1600 TA for 10 days Marina (Norway). Also saw some Riviera, but I am avoiding tasks that I will kick myself for not doing, so enjoy bargain hunting!

[thebsinmiss]

Just heard back from our travel agent regarding the sale price on our cruise. 

O gave us a decent on board credit to offset a large portion of the price difference. We were not able to upgrade to Concierge but appreciate they did something given the terms of sale conditions and fact our final payment was already made.  

 

Spa day and or more cooking classes or a couple of really nice bottles of wine/champagne if my DW gets a hold of the credits before me

 

 

[Mareblu]

On 2/14/2024 at 2:27 AM, EJL2023 said:

You act as if ongoing sales are just an Oceania thing. I just opened the sites for Regent, Viking, Silversea, Seabourn and Azamara.  They all have a current sales indicated on their home page. I get ads weekly in the mail throughout the year from either their marketing departments or my travel agency. Therefore, I feel confident that those of us that take cruises have a decent understanding of the concept of sales.

Cunard has a sale at the moment, and does so regularly.  Like most cruise companies, the sales only relate to specific cruises.

[MEFIowa]

Sometimes it can be rather hard to discern if something is actually a sale. An O "2024 EUROPEAN symphony" brochure came in the mail. Opened it up and it mentions the "Celebrate the New Year with up to 50% off on select cruises", but in the fine print on p. 35 you read:

 

"Offer and fares are subject to change on 4/1/24. The New Year Sale offer expires on 2/29/24 and is available on select categories and select sailings, and is capacity controlled."

[clo]

23 hours ago, Mareblu said:

Cunard has a sale at the moment, and does so regularly.  Like most cruise companies, the sales only relate to specific cruises.

I finally learned that. We're not regular cruises and are 100% destination focused. So when we think of some place we want to visit - like the Northern Baltic - then we see if we can/should afford it. I can't think of any place we would visit more than once.

[Mareblu]

41 minutes ago, clo said:

I finally learned that. We're not regular cruises and are 100% destination focused. So when we think of some place we want to visit - like the Northern Baltic - then we see if we can/should afford it. I can't think of any place we would visit more than once.

Yes, we agree with your philosophy.  Destination first, and only then check for any reductions.

[EJL2023]

10 hours ago, clo said:

I finally learned that. We're not regular cruises and are 100% destination focused. So when we think of some place we want to visit - like the Northern Baltic - then we see if we can/should afford it. I can't think of any place we would visit more than once.

I agree…but for any travel I find it amazing how often should afford it almost immediately becomes can afford it!!! Not sure of the reality of ‘can’ but…….we do it. And I guess in reality we most likely would not do it if it really were not ‘can’.  I think…🤔

[clo]

3 hours ago, EJL2023 said:

we do it. And I guess in reality we most likely would not do it if it really were not ‘can’.

Same. My frugal Scotsman husband taught me an enormous amount about personal finances. We have always lived below our means...which now means we can do more.

[goletans]

5 hours ago, EJL2023 said:

I agree…but for any travel I find it amazing how often should afford it almost immediately becomes can afford it!!! Not sure of the reality of ‘can’ but…….we do it. And I guess in reality we most likely would not do it if it really were not ‘can’.  I think…🤔

 

[AMHuntFerry]

17 hours ago, clo said:

I finally learned that. We're not regular cruises and are 100% destination focused. So when we think of some place we want to visit - like the Northern Baltic - then we see if we can/should afford it. I can't think of any place we would visit more than once.

Today there is a Marina veranda, July 10 night in the Baltics for $1600. The only jaw-dropper in today's search.

[CCBB]

8 minutes ago, AMHuntFerry said:

Today there is a Marina veranda, July 10 night in the Baltics for $1600. The only jaw-dropper in today's search.

I would love to find out where you found these deals. If possible, please email me at anitssylee dot gmail. Thank you.

[AMHuntFerry]

1 minute ago, CCBB said:

I would love to find out where you found these deals. If possible, please email me at anitssylee dot gmail. Thank you.

The current sales disappear soon after I spot them (~within a day), unlike the preview to the Extraordinary Sale last year when the prices would be static for weeks; in fact, I just checked and this one is already gone. I won't share my TA since it is against the CC rules, but it is just a local, family run business who belongs to the Signature consortium (I've been told by a mod that consortia can be named), so find a TA that belongs to Signature and one that belongs to Virtuoso who have searchable websites. Keeping up with jaw-droppers is a full time job, so I'll just wait and see...if no cruise, then there is a lot of Wilderness to get lost in when the temps get too high (which for me is usually May-Sep 😉 ).