O has a new "Flash" sale (although it's a pretty long ~ 2week flash)

[Daniel A]

On 8/17/2024 at 2:03 PM, Robjame said:

Yes Orv we are in the 50% penalty but this did not enter into the conversation. Oceania has simply given us OBC credit for the difference between our original Cruise Fare Total and the new Cruise Fare Total. 
Very fair IMO.

This amounts to $452 US per person.

Is the OBC nonrefundable?

[jonthomas]

Yes this is also how O handled our price drop for the Alaska cruise this Sept. 

 

But not without several attempts by our TA. So it was not automatic.

 

We  cited best price guarantee, since it was booked on board and still there was no clear cut decision. First, only offering 200pp, but since price had gone down by 400pp, our TA prevailed to get 400pp.

 

Could not find anything in contract about "best price" guarantee after final pay. Maybe just at Os discretion. 

 

 

[EJL2023]

13 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

Yes this is also how O handled our price drop for the Alaska cruise this Sept. 

 

But not without several attempts by our TA. So it was not automatic.

 

We  cited best price guarantee, since it was booked on board and still there was no clear cut decision. First, only offering 200pp, but since price had gone down by 400pp, our TA prevailed to get 400pp.

 

Could not find anything in contract about "best price" guarantee after final pay. Maybe just at Os discretion. 

 

 

We booked a cruise while onboard in February. We received an email along with the cruise invoice. The email clearly outlined how the Best Price Guarantee works and if the price reduction occurred after final payment, the difference in price would be either Shipboard Credit, stateroom upgrade or Future Cruise Credit.

Edited August 18 by EJL2023

[EJL2023]

6 minutes ago, EJL2023 said:

We booked a cruise while onboard in February. We received an email along with the cruise invoice. The email clearly outlined how the Best Price Guarantee works and if the price reduction occurred after final payment, the difference in price would be either Shipboard Credit, stateroom upgrade or Future Cruise Credit.

Here is the email 

 

[jonthomas]

Thank you for posting this. Does not say that the OBC would be the full value of what the price differential is between the sale and what we paid. . We are to assume it is at Os discretion. That is where we ran into the problem and had to have our TA reach out to O several times. 

[EJL2023]

1 minute ago, jonthomas said:

Thank you for posting this. Does not say that the OBC would be the full value of what the price differential is between the sale and what we paid. . We are to assume it is at Os discretion. That is where we ran into the problem and had to have our TA reach out to O several times. 

To me it does.  But bottomline you indicated how it is handled was not provided anywhere.  My post was to contradict that statement.  

[Robjame]

15 hours ago, Daniel A said:

Is the OBC nonrefundable?

It is not a question that we asked as our final bill has always been more than whatever OBC we have accumulated. We don’t have our gratuities paid for, so this alone will more than use up this refund for our combined voyage.

 

[MEFIowa]

That policy is a good reminder to us that with the change in final payment date we may only want to book off a sale that is rather close to the sailing date, like a "flash sale". Just would tick me off to see the price be lowered publicly and not be able to access it without significant penalty. OBC is worth pennies on the dollars, other than for paying your gratuities. I doubt I'll ever do what I used to do: book an itinerary early in a G/F and then use future sales to find better cabin at better price. If that better price is after final payment, you're essentially screwed.

[jonthomas]

I agree with the above, but then as often happens, the itins on sale do not interest us.

We always either book on board or use the 30 day rule. I also recently found out that the FCC rules have changed, now only 30 days to cancel it, not a year. Please let me know if I am wrong. Hope it is still a year to use.

[MEFIowa]

2 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

... the itins on sale do not interest us. We always either book on board or use the 30 day rule....

Yes, the eternal balance between itinerary and price. Have booked one cruise on board. It never went on sale. Four of the other 5 I booked early and then used sales to find better cabin/price. Was lucky they were itineraries we really wanted. Going to the Baltic on 8/28/24 that includes one of those.

[Flatbush Flyer]

17 hours ago, Daniel A said:

Is the OBC nonrefundable?

FWIW: O does not use the term OBC. If you look at your O invoice, you may see SBC (shipboard credit) for things like O Club amenities. The “S” vs “O” distinction is somewhat important because, as a general rule. O’s SBC  is not refundable while TA provided OBC is refundable.

However, remember that, if you are given an adjustment in non-refundable SBC $, they will be debited on your onboard account before any other $ you’ve already got in the mix. Thus, that SBC paying down your end-of-cruise balance due may set you up for a refund of some of the cash you originally had paid for the cruise or tours or whatever.

[AMHuntFerry]

5 hours ago, jonthomas said:

I also recently found out that the FCC rules have changed, now only 30 days to cancel it, not a year. Please let me know if I am wrong. Hope it is still a year to use.

Yep, 30 days to cancel with full (deposit) refund.

The way I read the T&Cs (I may be wrong!): One year to take advantage of onboard booking discounts (which are sometimes not combinable with sales BTW); after that the deposit can still be used but there is no discount.

[Astro Flyer]

@AMHuntFerry Thanks for alerting us to this Flash Sale which provided us with 4% of our cruise fare being credited as SBC.

 

We booked our November cruise (only second O cruise) 22 months before sailing & most of the cabins are still available except for suites so it wasn’t surprising to me that our cruise is included with the Flash Sale. My TA contacted O and was able to get us the additional SBC. We booked before SM so don’t get the beer/wine/champagne at lunch & dinner package so in reality we’re still paying more to get less. Including that package was not an option nor was moving up to a higher category of cabin. Although on our first O cruise we received a paid upsell offer closer to sailing which we declined & later got it for free…interior to porthole.

 

So we reached for the brass ring but only got an iron ring which sure beats nothing at all. We weren’t eligible for anything being past FP but thankfully O gave us some SBC which will be used for a few bottles of wine in their restaurants or for tips.

 

[Chas2crews]

On 8/15/2024 at 2:31 PM, Flatbush Flyer said:

I owe you an “adult beverage.” I had looked at the “summer sale” but hadn’t yet seen the “flash sale.” Thanks for the “heads up.”

Did the math on my existing CPT-BCN O Life booking (May-June 2025) and got a price match that lowered the my fare+excursions cost by $5000 and added the SM basic booze. 

I stumbled onto this as well, Flatbush, and I hope to make good use of the $5000 savings.  Though spouse is a non drinker, Simply More adult beverages will be appreciated.