ak1004

This is what cancellation insurance is for..

This actually would make sense.

This is pure speculation, and honestly, I don't believe it. First, vast majority of people are not even aware of the upcoming changes. CC and social media groups are a very small percentage of the total guests. Second, why would anyone cancel an existing booking that is not impacted by the changes? To show O their protest? I highly doubt it.

Exactly! I think the only option at this point is Windstar.

Got it. Our cruises are never on those sales unfortunately.. but $220 is good enough for me, and yes, November in Barcelona, canary Islands and Morocco is perfectly fine.

Sorry, I don't follow. The cruise price is also multiplied by two, so the percentage remains the same?

We don't sail on a specific line based on loyalty, and we don't cancel based on "principles". We will do what's best for us, and O will do what's best for them (as every line does). If the price increase will make the O pricing comparable with SB/SS, we will likely sail less with O (regrettably). Otherwise, it's case by case basis. Last year I remember a lot of discussions on SS board after SS added "free" excursions. Some adapted, some left. No big deal. We are currently booked on SS, SB and O. Itinerary is the king, then pricing. No loyalty and no "principles" for us.

Where do you find those prices? Our recent cruise on the Riviera from Barcelona was $300 pp in OV. Our cruise on the Marina next November will be around $220 USD, but it's only because it's in November in Mediterranean. But I agree, even for $300/day, $40-70 increase is 15-20%.

And this is exactly why I don't pay much attention to loyalty programs. products change, prices change, I don't want to put all my eggs in the same basket..

You mean if they ask for simply more, then I will simply know 😁

This is not clear. Does it mean that existing bookings with sailings after October 1, 2023 will be forced to switch to Simply More?

SS and SB programs are also pretty good.

We were on only one SS cruise so far, but the excursions were pretty good. Around 30 people per group which is decent, and good selection.

We feel exactly the same. While comparing OV on O is not exactly apples to apples, but for us 240 sqft is more than enough, we don't use the balcony anyway, and don't drink. That said, we were able to book few SS sailings for under $400 USD pp, and this price includes excursions, so even with no drinking, it's still an excellent value. Those deals are rare, but they do happen. On SB, I do see few sailings that are around $450 USD, and this is even without any sales (just upgrades). Last year they had a 15% sale, so some sailings were actually under $400, a great deal.

Interesting that Canadian site has SB prices including taxes. I noticed the same for some other lines as well (Uniworld has Canadian site including taxes and US site excluding). I agree about ship size, also better passenger/crew ratio (1.33 on SB vs. 1.56 on O). I was surprised to see such small difference in price when you consider all inclusions. However, for people like us who don't drink and are fine with OV, the difference is pretty significant.

Oceania Concierge A2 $11,398 in CAD: $7,699 or $15,398 for 2 Adds on: $1,694 USD or $2,230 CAD Total: $17,628 CAD Seabourn Balcony midship (600 Pax) 246-302 sq ft inside Plus 68-83 sq ft balcony. $14,289 or $9,373 CAD for V1 or $18,746 CAD Was your price for V1? V2 is $500 CAD more expensive. So the gap is pretty similar. However, personally I could never understand the benefits on concierge on O. Free laundry (otherwise there is free self laundry), Concierge Lounge and couple more small perks? The difference in price can be significant. For example, for this sailing, B2 is $6,449 CAD, $1,250 CAD less! Also, sailings in April can be cheaper as it is considered off season.

Great comparison, thanks! Which part was eye opening? Oceania balcony is 280 sqft including balcony (240+40). Wifi is included, I assume you added the second device? Pretty amazing that the difference between O and SB is so small.. Would you mind specifying the dates of O and SB sailings so I can check if Canadian pricing is similar?

We took SS shuttle back to the ship, so I'm not sure about taxis. However, we did use taxis in Dubai, and it was very easy and pretty cheap (the only thing that was cheap in UAE lol). I would assume it's the same in Dubai. We had high tea and Emirates Palace, then walked to Marina Mall (amazing views) and the ride from Marin Mall to the cruise terminal was I believe around 20-25 minutes.

Good point. We usually don't just cancel a cruise - it was always a good reason, medical or other. When we book, we usually intend to go. And doing an insurance for "any reason" is much more expensive anyway. That said, reasons like niece getting married usually don't happen only 6 months in advance anyway. As for medical insurance - good credit cars also have good medical insurance. Mine for example has coverage up to $5M for trips up to 31 days, but if you are over 65, it goes down to 10 days (still $5M). So yes, people should definitely check the fine print, but it might be worth to get a premium card with higher AF (mine is $599 CAD) but get a lot more benefits.

No. There is zero cancellation fee if you cancel before the penalty period kicks in.

We have $2,500 CAD cancellation insurance covered by our CC and then insure the difference 2 months prior to sailing.

Well said. While we definitely have to be aware of any changes in cancellation policy (and other policies, and thanks to @LHT28 for posting this), to me, it's not a material change. Most people do cancellation insurance anyway, does it really matter if you do it 6 months prior to sailing or 3 months? And I still believe that everyone who does decent amount of travel has to have a decent credit card with cancellation insurance, even if it has an annual fee. It will be well worth it. In any case, to me this is not what impacts my decision to book a specific line. Every line has its pros and cons, including cancellation policies. While O is currently our favorite line, we have zero brand loyalty and book based on itinerary and pricing. We booked SS p2p with 15% non refundable deposit because we have the cancellation insurance. Booked SB when they had a 15% discount on itinerary we liked.

The option to get a CC with cancellation insurance makes those changes (and the whole thread) kind of meaningless and irrelevant I would say?

So even a small annual fee CC can provide pretty good cancellation insurance. Which makes this whole discussion kind of meaningless.

CIBC the same. I always charge to the credit card anyway. Got reimbursed 3 times already.