Oceania: Your World Included New Value Promise

[hubofhockey]

2 hours ago, CruisingWalter said:

 

The 'full excursions' is something we've heard from many friends. I'm sure that was a big part of it and of course, it saves them money if they're not 'giving away shore excursions.'  Nothing about these changes has me rushing off to other cruise lines. Even with all the changes, Oceania is still a great value compared to many out there. Every time there's a change with any cruise line we see the chorus "well it's time for me to look at other cruise options because X cruise line is no longer for me." Fortunately for you there are a lot of cruise line options out there, though very few in the same price point as O with those small ships. 

 

Azamara comes out of this looking like an even better option for those who want to stay on the smaller ships but have your basic alcohol included. And the grats have been included all along. We're sailing the Azamara Journey for 16 nights this holiday so it'll be neat to compare the two lines. I don't need or care about a casino and I'm actually glad they utilized that space as more public area vs. the casino. 

 

 

 

We loved our Azamara cruise, but that was before Covid and change of ownership.  We would go back, especially considering their pricing was already much better than Oceania’s.  We booked our first Oceania cruise, mainly because we were a bit nervous about the new ownership and their struggles migrating their systems.  I just wonder if the new owners plans are just to run their old fleet of R class ships into the ground and then just exit the business as the private equity firm they are.  

[QuestionEverything]

27 minutes ago, EJL2023 said:

Yes, I understand all of those issues but the poster I referenced did not mention those items, just the SM included drinks and excursions they did not prefer under SM. 

Excellent analysis on this thread.

What I see is many changes in the past year which takes O farther away from their long time Al a carte format while increasing the price.

O had a unique position in the premium category with no "bundling", that is a main reason our household booked O.

With these changes, it creates yet more, how do I say it, suspicion. I do not see any economic value to me as a consumer with this latest configuration.

Time will tell and thank goodness for CC and the great information provided here.

 

[Rainbow3fe]

23 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

If you’re at any O Club level that already receives gratuities coverage, the best you can hope for is the “in lieu” $250/cabin SBC.

And, since they’re not reducing the fares as an adjustment for the eliminated Simply More perks, O regulars who could/would have continued enjoying the basic booze and tours SBC are getting screwed. 

Gut reaction to that press release: Time to start looking at other options for a “vacation home.” 

        Awful news. We were looking forward to enjoying our newly achieved Silver Level Perks.

       If we are booked under OLife or SM do you think we'll still get the old Oceania Club benefits ? I can't find a new list of Oceania Club perks. 

   Thanks.

[basor]

1 hour ago, Rainbow3fe said:

        Awful news. We were looking forward to enjoying our newly achieved Silver Level Perks.

       If we are booked under OLife or SM do you think we'll still get the old Oceania Club benefits ? I can't find a new list of Oceania Club perks. 

   Thanks.

Whether under OLife, SM or new - if gratuities were included on a cruise due to an O promotion or from your TA, you received a $250.00OBC so nothing has changed......except as a Silver or above, you will still receive the $250.00OBC in addition to gratuities on every cruise...thus as a loyalty member, you receive $250.00OBC more than new cruisers or lower loyalty.

[edgee]

22 minutes ago, basor said:

Whether under OLife, SM or new - if gratuities were included on a cruise due to an O promotion or from your TA, you received a $250.00OBC so nothing has changed......except as a Silver or above, you will still receive the $250.00OBC in addition to gratuities on every cruise...thus as a loyalty member, you receive $250.00OBC more than new cruisers or lower loyalty.

Your point seems to be that currently when gratuities were included Silver members receive $250 credit. Just because gratuity inclusion will now change from sometimes to all the time Silvers will now get the $250 credit all of the time, so really no big difference. Correct?

 

Many of us do not see it that way. I just came off of a 25 night cruise in PH category. I just gained Silver status and I enjoyed the additional value of gratuities worth about $1000 plus wine and beer with meals plus nearly $2000 in shore excursion credit. All of that goes away under the new program in exchange for $250 and cruise pricing remains the same. Not good.

[Rainbow3fe]

3 hours ago, EJL2023 said:

Unless I’m missing something in your post, I’m a bit confused.  With this change O is going back to what you would seem to prefer, no drinks included and no forced excursions included??? 

No. There are many differences

1. On the original OLife passengers had a choice of X number of excursions Or the same $$ amount of Shipboard credits.

2. It appears that elite Oceania Club level members will be in effect losing their complementary gratuities. Theyll get $250 per cabin as a substitute  People who have cruises of over 10 days will lose hundreds of dollars.

3. Oceania always included air in the advertised prices. Passengers would get an air credit. An example we received a discount of $2100 pp for our Japan Riviera when we declined the "included Air".

Edited September 6 by Rainbow3fe

[basor]

10 minutes ago, edgee said:

Your point seems to be that currently when gratuities were included Silver members receive $250 credit. Just because gratuity inclusion will now change from sometimes to all the time Silvers will now get the $250 credit all of the time, so really no big difference. Correct?

 

Many of us do not see it that way. I just came off of a 25 night cruise in PH category. I just gained Silver status and I enjoyed the additional value of gratuities worth about $1000 plus wine and beer with meals plus nearly $2000 in shore excursion credit. All of that goes away under the new program in exchange for $250 and cruise pricing remains the same. Not good.

I was only addressing the gratuities issue not the rest of the omissions with the new program...

[CruisingWalter]

3 hours ago, hubofhockey said:

 

We loved our Azamara cruise, but that was before Covid and change of ownership.  We would go back, especially considering their pricing was already much better than Oceania’s.  We booked our first Oceania cruise, mainly because we were a bit nervous about the new ownership and their struggles migrating their systems.  I just wonder if the new owners plans are just to run their old fleet of R class ships into the ground and then just exit the business as the private equity firm they are.  

 

I met Dondra, the Azamara CEO at an event last month. She's incredible down to earth and the vision she has laid out for that cruise line is awesome. Good things are coming from A. 🙂

[ORV]

2 hours ago, Rainbow3fe said:

        Awful news. We were looking forward to enjoying our newly achieved Silver Level Perks.

       If we are booked under OLife or SM do you think we'll still get the old Oceania Club benefits ? I can't find a new list of Oceania Club perks. 

   Thanks.

No one in management has mentioned any changes to the O Club perks, only people on this board. 

43 minutes ago, Rainbow3fe said:

No. There are many differences

1. On the original OLife passengers had a choice of X number of excursions Or the same $$ amount of Shipboard credits.

2. It appears that elite Oceania Club level members will be in effect losing their complementary gratuities. Theyll get $250 per cabin as a substitute  People who have cruises of over 10 days will lose hundreds of dollars.

3. Oceania always included air in the advertised prices. Passengers would get an air credit. An example we received a discount of $2100 pp for our Japan Riviera when we declined the "included Air".

In regards to # 2, I’m pretty sure you are misunderstanding what you’ve read here. Silver level will still get included gratuities, plus an additional $250 OBC just like we always have anytime our TA is providing grats as a perk. Be it from them or a Pass through, commonly referred to as OCCAP. 

[Rainbow3fe]

11 minutes ago, ORV said:

No one in management has mentioned any changes to the O Club perks, only people on this board. 

In regards to # 2, I’m pretty sure you are misunderstanding what you’ve read here. Silver level will still get included gratuities, plus an additional $250 OBC just like we always have anytime our TA is providing grats as a perk. Be it from them or a Pass through, commonly referred to as OCCAP. 

I dusagree with your assessment.

If everyone else is also getting included gratuities then a $250 credit means a HUGE  decrease in value of the Oceania Club perks. $250 is nothing like the approx $800  in gratuities we will receive on our November cruise.

    In my opinion Oceania should add to the Club Level perks if they want to keep their loyal longtime cruisers.

Edited September 6 by Rainbow3fe

[clo]

5 hours ago, Harters said:

North Americans will be getting gratuities included. Customers in Europe, Australia and New Zealand already have this, and the price we pay reflects that. So, as far as is known, we're getting absolutely nothing. Simply Less.

The travel agent we've used included gratuities so nothing for us. And since we like wine with lunch and/or dinner...?

[hubofhockey]

38 minutes ago, CruisingWalter said:

 

I met Dondra, the Azamara CEO at an event last month. She's incredible down to earth and the vision she has laid out for that cruise line is awesome. Good things are coming from A. 🙂

That’s great to hear.  I hope the vision includes new ships.  The R class ships, whether on Azamara or Oceania, just cannot last that long.  Right now, Azamara, even before this Oceania passive price hike, had better pricing.  I have had to cancel two cruises with Azamara though and it’s frustrating.  One was pre-sale and one post-sale by RCL and both had significant changes in ports.  I got this wonky feel from them that I was never sure what to expect, but our SE cruise with them was outstanding.

[Rainbow3fe]

6 minutes ago, clo said:

The travel agent we've used included gratuities so nothing for us. And since we like wine with lunch and/or dinner...?

I agree. It may take them another two years to change it back to something more palatable.

[ORV]

37 minutes ago, Rainbow3fe said:

I dusagree with your assessment.

If everyone else is also getting included gratuities then a $250 credit means a HUGE  decrease in value of the Oceania Club perks. $250 is nothing like the approx $800  in gratuities we will receive on our November cruise.

    In my opinion Oceania should add to the Club Level perks if they want to keep their loyal longtime cruisers.

Ok

[WonderMan3]

7 hours ago, Harters said:

It's been said elsewhere that they will be no reduction in price for these changes. It's Simply Less. 

Sadly it’s right in line with what other cruise lines are doing…prices going up, included amenities being removed…

[edgee]

1 hour ago, CruisingWalter said:

 

I met Dondra, the Azamara CEO at an event last month. She's incredible down to earth and the vision she has laid out for that cruise line is awesome. Good things are coming from A. 🙂

Hard to get excited about a cruise line that operates with zero ships built in this century.

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, ORV said:

No one in management has mentioned any changes to the O Club perks, only people on this board. 

In regards to # 2, I’m pretty sure you are misunderstanding what you’ve read here. Silver level will still get included gratuities, plus an additional $250 OBC just like we always have anytime our TA is providing grats as a perk. Be it from them or a Pass through, commonly referred to as OCCAP. 

That is correct. 

What would make things acceptable to me would be to return to the original O Club “in lieu” deal of many years ago.
With O now paying gratuities for all (like OCAPP via TAs), change the “in lieu” O Club SBC from the “one size fits all” $250/cabin to the original total amount of the gratuities in non-refundable SBC. That would be a small price to pay to correct the current insult to O Club members.

[basor]

1 hour ago, clo said:

The travel agent we've used included gratuities so nothing for us. And since we like wine with lunch and/or dinner...?

So since your TA is gifting you gratuities, you will receive the gratuities from O and then a $250.00OBC from O in lieu of a second free gratuities from your TA....this is the same as it always has been....

[basor]

10 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

That is correct. 

What would make things acceptable to me would be to return to the original O Club “in lieu” deal of many years ago.
With O now paying gratuities for all (like OCAPP via TAs), change the “in lieu” O Club SBC from the “one size fits all” $250/cabin to the original total amount of the gratuities in non-refundable SBC. That would be a small price to pay to correct the current insult to O Club members.

The operative word here is "many years ago".....no insult to current O club members,  you still will receive the $250.00 OBC but on every cruise besides PPG.  Newbies will not receive the OBC...

[Vallesan]

2 hours ago, CruisingWalter said:

 

I met Dondra, the Azamara CEO at an event last month. She's incredible down to earth and the vision she has laid out for that cruise line is awesome. Good things are coming from A. 🙂

But only R class ships!

[HilsTas]

8 hours ago, Harters said:

North Americans will be getting gratuities included. Customers in Europe, Australia and New Zealand already have this, and the price we pay reflects that. So, as far as is known, we're getting absolutely nothing. Simply Less.

I agree - we are getting more of the "Less" bit than the North Americans 😅.

 

Can't see our prices going down one iota.

Edited September 6 by HilsTas

[ronrick1943]

7 hours ago, IDL said:

Ideally I would prefer if O offered a cruise only rate and everything else can be chosen an ala carte basis and in addition a  “bundled” offering of popular add ons if the bundled price results in cost savings over choosing the items ala carte. 

This is exactly right, charge a fair price for the cruise and have people add what they want to the cruise.  They could have an offer the more purchase the bigger the discount.  Like A,B,C,D, and so on.

[cruiserchuck]

3 hours ago, edgee said:

Hard to get excited about a cruise line that operates with zero ships built in this century.

 

The Azamara Pursuit, fka Renaissance 8, was completed and delivered to Renaissance Cruises early this century, in 2001.  I was scheduled to sail on it in December 2001.  Fortunately my credit card refunded the cruise fare after the bankruptcy, and I was able to book a similar cruise on Seabourn that arrived in Vietnam the exact same day, so my prepaid visa was still valid.  

[edgee]

36 minutes ago, cruiserchuck said:

 

The Azamara Pursuit, fka Renaissance 8, was completed and delivered to Renaissance Cruises early this century, in 2001.  I was scheduled to sail on it in December 2001.  Fortunately my credit card refunded the cruise fare after the bankruptcy, and I was able to book a similar cruise on Seabourn that arrived in Vietnam the exact same day, so my prepaid visa was still valid.  

Technically you are correct, then. Design and most construction occurred prior to Jan. 1, 2001 which was when century began, but either way, I stand by my general point. We have been loathe to cruise on them or Oceania's R class ships due to the ridiculously small size of bathrooms below PH level. Also, I enjoy playing in a casino in the evenings and that cannot happen on Azamara.

[hubofhockey]

39 minutes ago, edgee said:

Technically you are correct, then. Design and most construction occurred prior to Jan. 1, 2001 which was when century began, but either way, I stand by my general point. We have been loathe to cruise on them or Oceania's R class ships due to the ridiculously small size of bathrooms below PH level. Also, I enjoy playing in a casino in the evenings and that cannot happen on Azamara.

The bathrooms, even in the lowest suite levels, are good sized on Azamara.  We upgraded to a suite from a Veranda for $800 on a 16 night cruise and were impressed with the bathrooms.  I would think Oceania’s R class suites have equally sized bathrooms.  Our first Oceania cruise is on the Vista, but I have no problem with R class ships, but their useful lives have to be ticking down.