ak1004

That's what I thought. For for someone who gets significant perks from their independent TA it doesn't really makes sense to book with Amex. And most TAs woyld provide more than $300 in perks.

Sorry, I misunderstood. So it's Amex perk, no a cruise line perk. But if you book through Amex, can you still transfer the booking to an independent TA who is not part of Amex?

This is new to me. We booked 7 O cruises so far, never got $300 OBC as part of a standard perk. OBC might be part of what TA gives you, or on board booking benefit, or part of Oceania Club, but I never heard about it as a standard perk.

If this is the case, I would prefer to book Oceania. The rates are much cheaper, they give a small credit for excursions that can be used to book 2-3 small group tours, and the rest of the ports book private tours.

I'm getting 10% rebate from my TA on a permanent basis..

For us itinerary is #1 factor too. but we still want the small ship experience and won't go back to large mass market ships. We don't drink so Simply More is not a good match for us, but today all premium/luxury lines include drinks, so not too much choice. Personally I still believe O offers the best value for money, but that's just me. Our comparison is with lines like Azamara, Windstar, Silversea etc, not with HAL or Celebrity.

I wouldn't really put HAL or any other mass market line in the same sentence with Oceania. It's like comparing Mercedes and Toyota.. As for Azamara, they are a good line, but to me not as good as Oceania, especially when comparing to Oceania newer ships. I'm curious which itineraries you are comparing? I compared few itineraries in Europe and found the prices comparable. To me paying the same for R ships and a ship like Vista is absurd, but some people like R ships..

this is for cancelling bookings, not FCC. We got a full refund.

Yes, they adjusted all itineraries that are eligible to 5-10% discount, so now all discounts are baked into the price on the website, at least in Canada.

Probably. But you can cancel it and get a refund. This is what we did when they refused to extend ours.

It's better to be rich, young and handsome than old, poor and ugly.. If the money is not an issue, then obviously book Owners, Vista or Oceania Suite. For us 240 sqft of space with a spacious renovated shower is plenty. And we spend so little time in the cabin, don't really need a balcony. I can use my balcony at home if I wish..

Yes, the prices in the brochure already show the discounted prices for sailings that have the discount. This is why all non discounted sailings, the prices end with 49 or 99, but discounted sailings have random prices. But the website shows prices before the discount (all end with 49 or 99). To verify this: Lets take the first sailing from the brochure on Apr.2. it starts at $2,999. On the Canadian website it starts at $4,049, which is the same price based on 1.35 exchange rate. But the first discounted sailing on May 8 shows $2,849 on the brochure and $4,049 CAD on the Canadian website. So the price is the same for those 2 sailings on the website, but discounted by 5% in the brochure. Which tells me that the website shows prices before the discount. Can someone verify that it's the same for the US website by comparing pries directly in USD between the website and the brochure?

We always book Ocean View on the newer ships. We hardly spend any time in the cabin and cannot justify paying extra for veranda. They are same size, around 240 sqft, which is very nice, with spacious bathrooms and showers. Fully renovated last year. Best value for money in my opinion.

Just got the brochure from our TA. The prices in the brochure are 5% lower than the website prices for sailings that indicate 5% discount. So it looks like the early booking discounts are not baked in the website prices.

Our cruise was Barcelona-London. We did 4 or 5 excursions from the ship, including Bordeaux, La Coruna, Cadiz among others. I always count number of people of excursions and confirm with the guide. ALL excursions were between 36-40 people. I hope this was an exception and not the new normal.

Our cruise was Barcelona-London. We did 4 or 5 excursions from the ship, including Bordeaux, La Coruna, Cadiz among others. I always count number of people of excursions and confirm with the guide. ALL excursions were between 36-40 people. I hope this was an exception and not the new normal.

Well, this is much more reasonable. Hopefully our cruise was an exception and not the new normal.

On our last cruise on the Riviera in May, all tours were consistently around 36-40 people. I don't know if this is the new normal, but if this continues, we will use the excursions credit to book the OE tours and book private tours in the rest of the ports. Being on a bus with 40 people is just not my cup of tea. However, if they return to more reasonable size of ~25-30, then maybe.. but in any case, we won't book ship excursions beyond the credit amount.

Exactly. Maybe Ama comes close, definitely not Viking.

Agree. Few things that stood out: Oceania should be in a small ship category, not mid ship. Oceania in the same category as Holland? Seriously? Viking is under small ships and Oceania mid ships? River cruise - Viking #1, ahead of Amawaterways? Uniworld not even in the top 3? Seriously? This is not serious..

I think once the bookings will open we can try to book and see.

So was anyone be able to find out if the published prices include the early booking discount? My logic says they do not.

I agree. Also all prices end at $99 or $49, as always with O prices, and if 5% was applied, the prices would be less "homogenic". Haha.. they have been using the term for the last 20 years I think, long before Simply More.

Okay, just checked, some sailings have 10%, some 0%, most 5%.

Anyone noticed the 5% early booking discount? I see it on the Canadian website, do US/UL or other websites have it too? I have never seen this discount available, at least not in the last 5 years since we started cruising on O.