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From our TA.....

From what I have read - the upgrade to prestige package remains the same as before.. This is from the "Simply More FAQ" Can guests upgrade to a more robust Beverage Package that includes wines and spirits in addition to lunch and dinner? Guests may upgrade to the Prestige Select Beverage Package for $30 per guest, per day. This may be done in advance of sailing or once on board.

Correct - they can join your reservation for the 4 they are entitled to ...once onboard you or your butler can check and see if there is availability to add them to your other reservations. The same as anyone checking onboard for additional specialty restaurant reservations.

Did you book under the 4 category upgrade sail that was available on this cruise last week? That would explain the larger difference. We are booked in an A1 on a 10 day Med cruise Fall 0f 2024 and our pricing went up $100.00 pp. We were booked with Olife and no other promotions so for us it is a win/win. We still will have our loyalty perks and OBC from our TA, etc. I think there is not a one size fits all to determine the difference in cost between old bookings and new under Simply More..

I doubt it, but you never know......if you switch to Simply More, it is the current pricing and perks. We have several booked under the Extraordinary Savings and assume we would lose the large OBC from that promotion. I need to sit down and figure out the bottom line. I am sure in the next few weeks, the finer details will emerge and allow us to make our decisions. These are for sailings in the Fall 2024 so can wait for the dust to settle and see what happens.

As I understand, O has continued the YWYW discounts and your SM shore excursion credit is a credit off the pricing after YWYW

As I understand, the free cruise does not have options for perks included....under old program, OLife perks were not an option but you still would receive all of your loyalty perks. With the change to Simply More, this issue has not been addresses but , speculation only here, is that future "free cruises" will include Simply More. I also assume, that if you have already booked your free cruise, it will remain booked as is. After the dust has settled, your TA should be able to contact O and ask about the implications for your free cruise and future free cruise bookings. Congratulations on earning your free cruise and enjoy!

That is correct - yesterday was the last day to book a cruise beginning on or after 01OCT 23 under the OLife promotion or to book cruise only ( no air, no perks)

What promotion are you currently booked with for pricing comparison,....

We ate at Waves often in the past with the Select Beverage package and enjoyed our wine so yes, Waves is considered lunch

They booked awhile ago and cruise only so the increase will be more than someone that booked at the sane time with OLife.......

if you are a 1/2 empty person than you assume it will be Simply Less and if you are a 1/2 full person it will be Simply More....

The free cruise would be the next cruise after the 40 day cruise.....

+ 1 - I am happy to be paid to post for O but will still be open about the good, the bad and the ugly so my pay may not be as high

1 minute after the prices are posted and then depending upon your pre -price speculation, a new round of justifying your pre-price speculation ..already starting, not a huge increase means they are sucking us in with fake initial pricing so they can later gouge us with huge price increases....

Do you already have the pricing and Know that there is a hefty price increase or is this just more hyperbole based upon speculation?

Since you can't unbundle it and pick and choose, there is nothing to use the cost of these items for - the price of the cruise is the price of the cruise so if the price for an O cruise with their inclusions works for you then book and if it does not than choose another cruise line option. In my opinion, it is completely transparent - here is the price of the cruise with these included items....no adding and subtracting....simple.

Problem with this, is all of those with Silver and above loyalty have pre-paid gratuities included and many US TA's give pre-paid gratuities as a perk. Thus, those people would need to figure out the cost of the "included in the price gratuities" and subtract from price. Problem for people either way with the brochure price ...

Very common for US TA's to offer rebates - it has been noted here that someone's TA sends them a rebate check for their O cruise.....our US TA does and we know of at least 5 other couples (O cruising friends) that receive rebates from their various US TA's

Thanks for the clarification about non US websites/customers.....my bad for forgetting that other countries have vastly different norms and advertising laws.

Are they defending O or simply stating their experience which was different....obviously there will always be a few that are only positive and a few that are only negative. I find that there are a few O haters that will attack O no matter what. As they say, ignore the O ambassadors and the O haters and read the O middle ground.

The key is to post both the good and the not so good to give an honest perspective. The other important thing is, in this day and age, that the majority of people that post on social media are posting to complain....if you have a great meal at a restaurant, do not take the time to post but have a problem and quick to post. The percentage of cruisers posting/reading on CC is a tine fraction of the number of people who actually cruise so not necessarily a true representation (good or bad) of any cruise line. Someone just posted that they were on a cruise and read the reviews posted ( 2) that called the cruise awful and disgusting - they were on same cruise and had a wonderful time and did not experience any of the issues posted by others. But, they also had not posted a review so based upon reading the posted reviews, one concludes O sailing was a disaster.

Agree and if you post anything positive about your experience, you are labeled an "O cheerleader" and so your experience is not to be considered. It would be exhausting to live life in a glass 1/2 empty existence. Nothing is perfect but we try to put the less than positive experience into perspective and move on - take a deep breath, count our blessings and have a glass of wine!

Rebates, OBC and pre-paid gratuities and/or a combination of these are the most common TA offerings

The wine menus have been posted numerous times on CC - I do know that there have been several sweet white wines on the menu so you should have np problem finding something you will enjoy. Here is a link to a Grand Bar menu and on page 5-6 are wines by the glass (same as you will find in the dining areas) - https://www.oceaniacruises.com/sites/default/files/2023-01/Oceania-Grand-Bar-Menu.pdf