Sthrngary

@SATaxman Thank you for your kind words. You have always been great with your questions, comments and responses. 1) Did I get $200.00 of OBC. No. When you book onboard, you are making a specific commitment to a specific cruise. You get $250 of OBC that you can use on that current cruise or in the future. We used it for the future. If you wait and do it after you get off, it is $200 as I understand it. I did get a $200.00 certificate in the mail, asked if it could apply and was told, "NO" it was not combinable. 2) I also got money off the fare. The amount went up for every fare category. I booked (A4) and got off $400.00. 3) I booked a cruise for 2025 and got another 5% off the fair for booking so long in advance. Your question of where it shows or if it shows is a little confusing so allow me to do my best from my on-line account. The $250.00 of OBC shows and you can see in when you go to the "Manage Your Booking". In the same area was the $800.00 for excursions which ONLY can be used for excursions. Let's debate that for another two years, LOL. The Agency I used pays for the Gratuities regardless of the stateroom I choose. So if I eventual upgrade to a PH, they will pay for that. However this took my AMX perks off the table because the better value if you only took one was the gratuities. In your situation, since your agency is not giving you gratuities and instead I would assume it is OBC, you can get your AMX perks also. I would ask if I were you. I think I answered all your question, let me know if it helped. Cruise well and look for every discount you can fine. Make it sport and share your findings.

@ak1004 I went on the Silversea Website to check it out and consider it. Your two paragraph explanation is so point on accurate. To @Psoque point, it did take a bit of study to understand Oceania Cruises as well. In both cases and other brands as well, they seem to change up on things to differentiate themselves. As a consumer, I wish all cruise brand marketing departments would do a much better job of communicating. For now, that is just a wish. All we can all do is find a cruise brand that suits us today. My experience is our taste evolve over time and we look for different things for me as I get older. Every consumer should be educated before they commit their funds. We should all have our respective head examined to even consider cruises on any brand after reading the contract. Really want to get confused, that will do it. But speaking only for myself, I kind of like cruising. I really and truly don't think any cruise brand is trying to be deceptive. I do think they are not giving all the details. Knowing that, we as consumer need to help each other with actual experience. For that, this board is really good for me personally if I want to cruise Oceania. Cruise well and always remember to ask great question.

@MEFIowa Hello friend. I loved our discussions on our last cruise. Just to clarify. I have used the four category upgrade to get to the PH level. Worked great. Hope it happens again. Cruise well and keep sharing the best place to buy wine at ports. That was great fun.

@seasoon Celebrity was always sold to me as an improvement over Royal and NCL. The Celebrity Retreat was at the least the same as the NCL Haven. With the exception of the really nice Retreats Suites Restaurant which was great, I found the rest of my voyage lacking in personalized service. I found Oceania excelled in dining and personalized service. I also found the investment in Oceania a much better value proposition than either NCL Haven or Celebrity Retreat with far less nickel and dining along the way. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

The last port of my October 2025 cruise on Oceania Vista is Trieste. It actually says, "Venice (Trieste), Italy". When I booked the cruise, I immediately checked the distance between Trieste and Venice. It 99 miles, One Hour and 38 minutes with light traffic driving. This was followed by how to get from Trieste to Venice. Several options available with the only issue being the number of pieces of luggage my group will have. I then looked at the flight situation which in my case since I am booking direct with Delta Airlines, can't be actually done until 330 days before the return flight. Just Delta's rules. It became clear, the flight would have to be into the Marco Polo Venice Airport (VCE). Since when we go to Europe, we usually spend a night or two in a nice hotel before and after the cruise. The question which is still not answered yet is, do we visit Venice, Trieste or both. I am working on that. All odds are that you will be using the VCE airport in Venice. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@laudergayle Thank you for the shout out. Funny story were the Haven Lite came from. I had just gotten off the NCL Joy with entire family for my Wedding Anniversary belated. That cruise was after four cancelations due to covid. We had the H2 Haven Deluxe Owners Suite with Large Balcony for that family trip. I was browsing the NCL site when I found the SAME itinerary, in a Club Suite for a single fare for a solo. I had never taken a solo cruise before and thought it would be a good experience. I would do the Hangout Music Festival and Bonnaroo solo all the time. So why not a cruise. The Club Suite total fare was $810.00. I attempted to gain an upgrade bid for the Haven but a ship the week we were sailing got cancelled due to damage. So all the Haven Guest from that ship, took up all the Haven Suites. So time to do Haven Lite and it was great. 1) Vibe Beach Club; 2) Extra Specialty restaurants; 3) Premium Plus Beverage Package. So Haven Lite for me happened by accident. I loved it but did not like cruising alone. So the next cruise was for my wife who won the Slot Tournament on the Joy earlier. We did Haven Lite and she said, I will never go on a NCL cruise again without the Vibe Beach Club. Bingo. Hope that all made sense. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@Funbobby68 I was just on the Riviera. Sister ship to Marina. My wife uses a Dyson Hairdryer. The dryer on the ship was ok, but if my wife did not have her Dyson, it would have been a tough trip for me emotionally. Just saying. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@Treasure Hunter What a wonderful way to look at cruising. I love your strategy. I also liked the Retreat. Different but so many positive things. I also see when the prices get to being INSANE, which some of them are, looking for a reasonable alternative is smart. Love how you leverage the Casino. Basically, you make a decision on the kind of experience you want for that cruise, and book accordingly. Always keeping like, needs and want balanced with a value proposition. Smart. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@Vineyard View This is my opinion only so other opinions may differ. The best way to look at comments and reviews on this and other social media boards is taking out the extremes then looking for trends and patterns. Please forgive me, I assisted in analysis on reviews for companies in my previous life and look at it differently then most consumers. Allow me to explain. Take out the Extremes: That means if someone thinks everything was perfect, or someone thinks everything was awful. That is about 10% on top and 10% below. No cruise is that extreme. Look towards the 80% in the middle. Trends and Patterns: This is when there is an abundance of the same comment over lots of different guests whether good or bad. The most important part of this is the comments are from the guest actual experience vs. their opinion of what other say. Oceania Cookies are tasteless which some might say but until you tried one, you could not say for sure. I had several, I kind of liked them but they had less sweet in them then other cookies. Leveraging the Information: The best way to describe this is with examples. Prior to my first cruise on Oceania, I heard the Red Ginger had a great Fish dish. Universally loved. We ate in Red Ginger twice and many in my group got it. They did enjoy it so that was good information. On the other side, I had read that the lobster grilled to order was not very good for lots of reasons. One member of my group ordered it even after I gave them the information and we can confirm it was not good. So knowing food is relative the concept is sound. When you read negative comments some like you referred to, you now can avoid those experiences. If you avoid the experience you don't have a negative experience. That is what I meant be leverage the information. For me and most of my guest, it was a great strategy. My first experience on Oceania Cruise led to booking another cruise while onboard so that says something. The experience was different then some of what I thought it would be both positive and negative. As stated, no cruise is perfect. However, at this stage in my life, it suited my wife and me. Please don't let the extreme comments stop you from any brand, ship or experience. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@ORV Please do share who the paid poster is. I want some of that payment. After my last cruise, I could use some cash to pay off my American Express. Seriously, if there is a way to be paid, I would LOVE to know. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@Cruzin64647 I wish you would not have asked me that question, I truly do. I am a very transparent person and on this topic, I held back. However, you asked what I consider to be a very valid question. So Here Goes. For those that are not used to the books I write to make a case, get ready for a long complete response of what some call "Word Salad". Enjoy. Let's start this with saying, "I love the NCL Haven Concept". When I booked my cruise prior to September 2022, I did a comparison of lots of cruise brands, ships, staterooms and very hard to truly find out amenities. The brands were NCL (Suite and Haven Suite), Celebrity (Balcony and Retreat), Regent Seven Seas Cruise (Non-Penthouse so no butler); Viking; Seaborne; Silver Seas; Ritz-Carlton Yacht Club and Oceania (Concierge and Penthouse). Each ship was leaving about the same time, with about the same itinerary. The NCL ship was 9 days not 10 days. Everyone else was 10 days. The hardest part was showing amenities for one brand that you had to pay for, vs the other brand that it came with the fare. Example, Regent Seven Seas Cruise provide in their fare Business Class Airfare for the long haul flight and coach to get to the departing Airport. So I showed, coach, coach comfort, premium coach and business class just to show apples to apples. I wanted to come as close to Apples to Apples and I assure you this little project was NOT easy. But I do love to do that kind of stuff. It makes me feel better about my decision once I make it. The Oceania Cruise was not only the best value, the best value proposition, it ended up being one of the lowest prices. That was in the Penthouse, with a butler I might add. Other than the least expensive balcony on NCL and Celebrity but not by much. When you add in the extra amenities, every other staterooms was more expensive. The Haven and the Retreat were insanely more the most expensive was Regent by in some cases triple. This got me to thinking. On a port intensive cruise, do I care about go-carts, Lasor tag, Virtual reality, water slides, Broadway shows, or do I want personalized service for everyone, smaller ship to get into more ports, cooking class/art classes, elevated dining and access to all the spa amenities without having to buy a very expensive treatments. Notice very clearly this is always give and take; pros/cons. My only suggestion is do the due diligence and then make your purchase decision. The value proposition was so good on Oceania, it was the obvious choice. Before doing my comparison, I would have never thought the results would be what they were. Not in a million years. Then out of the blue, Oceania had a sale and reduce the fare even more which I was thrilled to leverage. That should answer your question. Now lets add another fact. my next cruise which I booked on the ship while I was cruising is another 10 day Mediterranean itinerary for October 2025 on their new ship the Vista. The per day, per guest daily rate with coach airfare is $555.00. If you want to reduce your daily cost you can take the airfare out which is many of the other brands I mentioned. That would have given me a daily cost per guest of $415.00. Let's do the math. On a 7 day cruise, no air to the Caribbean or Mexico that would be $2,905.00. Now price out a Haven or Retreat room for 7 days for the cheapest room available. Add add on Oceania the Barista Coffee is included, the bottled water is included, day one in your stateroom is Champagne, you are given three bags of laundry and four items pressed, you have access to the outdoor spa area (Thermal Spa, Sundeck like Vibe Beach Club) in this price range, all the amenities of the spa and the list goes on. That is the very long answer to your question. Now we are on a Haven Thread that I wrote twice. Would I go on a cruise in the Haven again, you bet and I can't wait. However, I will always look at the Pros/Cons, amenities, personalized service, specialty restaurants, and other things that make a cruise right for me. Sorry for the book folks but when I make a decision to spend my money, I do Lots and Lots of due diligence. For me it is sport. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@Treasure Hunter I caught your question by accident, please put @Sthrngary in your question so it alerts me you are directly asking me something. On to your question. I liked it very much but it is not the brand for everyone. We went on a 10 day Mediterranean cruise with LOTS of ports. The ship was a smaller ship that held 1200 passengers so no tenders. That was very nice. Food was better then NCL even in the Haven but food is relative. No charge for Specialty Restaurants but you are only guarantied one reservation per specialty restaurant. My ship had four so I had four guaranteed reservations. Each day you can ask for a Waitlist Reservation but might have to share a table or be turned down. The entertainment on NCL is much better across the board. Bigger ship, more budget, better entertainment. Some of the shows on Oceania were good, never great. The piano player in the bar was good and for me my kind of entertainment with a drink. The personalized service was across the board great on Oceania. Consider the personalized service in the Haven, but for the entire ship. The bars and bartenders were excellent on Oceania. Similar to the Haven Bar when not crowded. I don't do excursions with cruise brand so I am not the guy for that. Getting on the ship and off the ship was seamless and if you let the first wave do their thing, it makes it that much more pleasant. My butler was much better than any butler I have ever had on a NCL Ship. However my butler on Crystal Cruise is still the best ever. My mini-fridge was stocked, replenished daily and I could choose what to have in it as long as it was not alcoholic. I had an upper end suite and part of the perks were: Six Bottles of Wine or Spirits. The Spirits were litter bottles. When I would the NCL Joy Owners Suite, we got three bottles that were 5ths. The gifts that came with the upper end suite were very nice and generous. A beach bag with lots of stuff and a gift box with lots of Bath items. My deck was the same kind of deck as you get with a Haven Owners Suite. The difference was Oceania locked down the furniture every night making the deck worthless or uncomfortable. NCL never did that. So I can go on but I think you get the idea. If you want nightlife, lost of entertainment the NCL Haven is the ticket. If you want chill, relaxation and lots of ports; Oceania is the ticket. Hope that helps. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

Well lets see. We now yet again have folks saying, "Because of SM I will not book Oceania again!", other saying "this SM forcing us to take the SM Excursions Credit when we would prefer to do excursions ourselves and save the money." Yet others say, "I will not book Oceania again because all I want is Cruise Only!" Let's not forget, "Oceania's advertising is a Scam!" Everyone's point of view is important and valuable. I remember when I got on this board the complaints back then. One of which was, why does Oceania give you the choice of one of three perks. They should give you ALL the perks. Why does Oceania only give you one internet device except in upper suites, we want two. Why doesn't every one get a drink package. Back then, it made a lot of folks mad and they said some of the same things being said now about never cruising with Oceania again. If a brand makes a change in there fee structure, some folks will hate it, some will like it. Can't please everyone, every time. If everyone hated it, the brand would stop selling cabins. If that happens, which is doubtful, the brand to stay alive would change their fares yet again. OR the brand would have a huge blowout sale, which is always welcomed. If you don't like the current state of any brand, go to another brand. Write the brand a letter and explain why they disappointed you. Make your feelings known with your pocketbook by booking somewhere else. Cruise well, choose a brand that suits you, tell others why you choose the brand. Help cruise enthusiast find great brands that offer great value.

@RocketMan275 Kind of my point. Then book somewhere else. Know the game before you play the game. If you don't like the rules, find another game to play. If you don't do due diligence, than accept accountability for a bad decision. Simple as that. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@9tee2Sea I am the author of this thread. Yes, it is 141 pages long. Would it surprise your to know this is the second version of this topic updated in 2022. The first version was even longer. No stream should be this long but when it is, it says something about the content. The search feature of CruiseCritic.com is not great but with a few words, your question regardless of what it is on this topic of the Haven will be answered. That said, never hesitate to ask as you did. I love the Haven approach to cruising but truly wish the Nickle and Diming would be eliminated at the Haven Prices. I just cruised last month on the NCL sister brand, Oceania and the stocked Mini-Fridge included soda, soft drinks, requested juices and water. Acholic beverages were brought to the stateroom either by your butler or your room service person based on the drink package you purchased. For me, and from your comment for you, that was a refreshing change. The question is, will these two difference make the difference in my future bookings. NO, I just want to know the facts to make a non-pressured decision to proceed. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@Psoque WOW, what a great post. Thank you. Extremely well said. It is a maze and confusing. In my heart with no proof, I think every brand does this intentionally. Kind of like looking at a Ford or Chevy Truck. Very difficult to do an apple to apple comparison. Done on purpose. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@Pandazoo For my "Word Salad Fans", here is comes. I have NO skin in this game. But again I read and post on four (4) different cruise social media boards, for four (4) different brands. I find the study to be interesting with my coffee in the morning. Full disclosure, I took my first Oceania Cruise last month and enjoyed it very much. However I also enjoy Crystal Cruises, the Haven on NCL and the Retreat on Celebrity. All for different reasons and at different times. The majority of boards are talking about reduced time at ports, issues with guest reimbursement to passengers on multiple fronts including excursions. This is NOT an Oceania Issue ONLY. That said, the core of this issue is when leveraging the quantity discount for excursions providing a reduced cost. Followed by a excursion cancellation outside of the guest control. This is a flaw in Oceania policies in my opinion. Yet is it the current rules to the Oceania game. If you know the rules, you can figure a way to win the game. On the reduction of the amount of SimplyMore excursion credit being reduced on January 1, 2024. Again, thanks to the folks here on CruiseCritic.com, new rules so you can play the game the best you can. If the rules, policies, procedures once you know them don't suit a guest, they book elsewhere. Simple as that. I am glad I booked my next Oceania Cruise before January 1, 2024 and will make my future decisions at the time of booking by the rules then. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

Based on the above onboard booking facts, I booked two staterooms. The above document just received on my cruise mid-November 2023 should help this discussion. The matrix shows Stateroom Types Booked, related number of days and amount of discount given. Each stateroom, will also receive $250.00 of OBC. When booking I had the booking given to my Travel Agent. Their agency provided free gratuities but did not allow AMX Perks. Those two were not combinable. I hope this information is relevant and helps the discussion. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@mauibabes Nice post. You nutshell it. Book the Brand, Ship and Itinerary that suit you. Everyone make a decision on yourself and your situation. I booked a 2025 cruise in a A4. It was more expensive than my last Oceania Cruise by a lot. However, after my cruise and having a great time, it was worth it. My money, my choice. Now do I hope I can catch a sales and upgrade to Penthouse, You bet I do and I will be watching for it. Am I upset I could not combine my AMX perks with my agents Free Gratuities, not really. You said happy wife, happy life. For the first time, in a very long time, my wife LOVED the cruise, the brand, the ship and the experience. It was our first Mediterranean cruise and again we booked another one with our same friend. The price became not relevant. Again, thank you so much for a very good post. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@oskidunker Taking Princess as a brand out of this debate. I love your strategy of cruising less, which means you pay a bit more, but get the experience you desire. The alternative create posts with lost of complaints instead of sharing how great your vacation was. I support your strategy 100%. Now we all make a decisions. Based on the brands, ships, frequency of sailing, and Itineraries. Which one is right for my next investment in a vacation. We the consumer have 100% control over that opinion. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

From someone who has only cruised Oceania once, I am NOT alone on that, this topic and some others (Like drink packages) is what took so long to understand initially. Not so much SimplyMore(tm), more about number of excursion needed to gain a discount on all of them, providing value proposition for the excursion you take. Then losing that benefit at no fault of the guest thereby losing the value proposition (money savings). I have no real skin on this game. Whether Oceania is simply nickle and diming us pre-cruise with the SimplyMore program requirements especially with cruise excursion amounts, or when they change it on January 1, 2024. Or, folks that like just doing a true Cruise Only fare taking all the other items and doing it for themselves. It does not matter. What matters to me is how to take what ever the current rules/conditions and requirements, and leverage them to the best of my ability understanding the consequences of my decisions. Whether I like the new rules, condition or plans are mute if I book the trip. I accept the 40 page contract, the conditions of the fare and realize it is ALWAYS benefiting the cruise brand. All the Cruise Brands not just Oceania. Whether we like the changes, don't like the changes matters not. We the consumer have the right to simply choose another brand, ship or program. We hold all the cards. The debate is very interesting, both sides make a point. No change is ever a change everyone will like. Oceania job is the blend Business Changes with Clients Expectations. If it is not balanced, they see it in their sales and they shift strategies. Time will tell what happens to this debate. Very interesting topic and I thank everyone for stimulating lots of thought. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@mc_reeve My first Oceania Cruise was last month. It exceeded my expectation which was most recently booking the VIP suites on NCL and Celebrity. Oceania was different in many ways both good and bad. The good out weighed the bad. I read and comment on four different cruise brands. Each and everyone is doing the same thing. They do it subtly, and small amounts each time. Now it is up to everyone to make a decision on brand, itinerary, ship and stateroom that best suits their vacation needs. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

I booked my next Oceania Cruise on the Riviera last month. The onboard consultant applied my booking to my agent. She immediately let me know that my travel agency would provide the gratuities. But could not confirm the American Express Benefits. I will give you three guess why? You got it, it was not combinable. Now two years ago I booked my recent trip on the Riviera with my Travel Agent. At the time she did not provide gratuities for that trip. I booked that trip initially with a four category upgrade and AMX worked with it. Then I was able to apply the Extraordinary Sales Event and lost the AMX but my cost per stateroom went down close to $1800. Seemed like a fair deal. I wish all perks and benefits would work together however they don't. However the math makes the decision for most of us. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

I always like to see, hear and debate both sides to a story. So it seems that Oceania is saying, if you want the current SimplyMore Excursion Credits, book your cruise before 1/1/24. Do I like that, not really however I booked my upcoming cruise in November so it does not affect me. I get Oceania's message. For those thinking about booking in the future, this is one reason to consider it now and know if you don't, it will effect your future total value proposition. Now as sales happen on my cruise and it will reduce my fare, I will makes sure to make sure my Excursion Credit does not change or if it does, I will make sure it is still a value to do the future sale. I will also be looking to see if the fares stay the same, go up or go down. Thank you to @shepherd really for bringing this to all of our attention. It help with past, current and future purchase decision. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

You read right though me.