ak1004

Just looked at Azamara prices.. seem comparable to O, at least for what we are looking for (around 10 nights in the Med). But cabins are much smaller compared to O class.

Exactly my thoughts.. Viking is already more expensive on average. Many options on paper but when you look closer..

Yes, but private tours are still way cheaper if you book independently and not through the ship. We would book the ship excursions, but on our last cruise they were very crowded. On the previous cruises we had around 25-30 people on average, now all excursions were consistently around 40 people. The tour to Bordeaux was a bus trip with 3 hours on your own and cost $200. Not the best use on my money, but now we will be forced to take at least 2-4 tours from the ship. Car and driver for half day is around $600-700. Even SS private excursions are cheaper.

Well, now it all comes to pricing. While we don't drink and don't always like the ship tours, we booked three SS cruises because the prices were too good to pass. If O prices increase by 15-20%, they will become comparable to SB and SS. As much as I like O, there is no reason to book O if you can sail on SB or SS for almost the same price, have a larger cabin, more inclusions, unlimited black caviar, etc. I'm sure O management is familiar with all the numbers, so lets hope the new prices will still be reasonable.

But you can still take the air credit I assume? It's just the "cruise only" will now include beverage package and excursion credit, but you will still have an option of cruise only or cruise with air?

I guess everyone is different. To me if they include drinks that are currently $40 a day plus $400 excursions and then increase the prices by $800 for a 10 day cruise, then I would be forced to pay for things I don’t use. And if this is the case, SS or SB would be a better value.

Well, this topic is about May 22 - June 1 cruise, which missed 3 ports not 4..

why not to use TA? It costs you nothing and most TAs give you some perks. Our gives around 10% rebate. And they call O for any issues.

I'm pretty sure they will send notifications in July when they officially move to the new model.. To me the new bookings are the major concern. I don't like the new model at all..

I understand it.. but under the old program, you could book cruise only.. no OBC.. now you are forced to take the OBC which can be used for excursions only, plus basic beverage package is included. Assuming the prices will increase by the amount of OBC plus the cost of the beverage package - so for a 10 nights cruise, it will cost $800 more and include things that I don't necessarily want. For many people O pricing model was attractive because it was "la carte", but now they are moving closer to (almost) all inclusive model. Basically very similar to Viking.

Thanks.. So they basically force you to take the OBC, and it can be used for excursions only? Also someone mentioned internet per person and not per cabin, didn't see it on the flyer.

Where do you see all the details of the program? Is it from your TA or are the details out already? See nothing on the Canadian website..

Exactly my thought. With the current model, you can take cruise only and book private tours, or take oLife excursions, pay $400 pp and pick 4 excursions that cost $200 each, so gain $400 pp. With the new model, assuming the $400 pp excursion model is priced into the new pricing, you are forced to take at least few O excursions, but you don't have any added value.

Where do you see all the details? When is the screenshot taken from? I cannot see it on Canadian website.

Our last O cruise was the first one where we travelled with a carry on only (to be more accurate, we had a carry on and a small bag each, something similar to this one). The cruise was 10 nights plus 3 nights pre cruise in Barcelona. We had some concerns, but it was perfect. Yes, you need to think what to pack instead of just throwing everything into the suitcase and not using half of it.. Using packing cubes was helpful, also used travel size toiletries. Will probably not going back to checked in luggage, definitely not when cruising with O (SS might be more challenging, will see).

I sincerely hope they will NOT move to Viking model. Last time I checked, Viking prices were 20-30% higher compared to O (I assume mostly due to more inclusions) and pretty close to SS prices for many itineraries. I find it hard to see how someone would book Viking at the same (or similar) price as SS, all other factors equal, and same is true for O. As much as I like O, I still consider SS a step up. I would not pay 30% more for what I get with SS, but if prices were similar, my choice would be obvious..

Agree with you 100%. We are booked on 3 cruises on SS (1 past and 2 future) because the price (and of course the itinerary) were right. But with more things included, the prices on average will be higher, and all other factors equal, you would prefer to sail on a cheaper line if the more expensive line includes things that are of no value to you.

Not exactly the same. The things you mentioned are free on all cruise lines.

Agree with your assessment mostly (small correction: 3 ports missed, not 4), and it was nice to meet you on the private tour.

We are using a TA in the US and have a choice to book in USD or CAD. With some lines it's better to book in USD, but the difference is usually no more than 5-7%. It's the first time I'm seeing such dramatic difference (Regent in GBP).

One of the things (among others) we like about O is the option to pay only for what we like. We don't drink so don't like to subsidize drinkers, and we have no interest in included excursions (hopefully they will not repeat SS mistake). Lets not forget that in some cases O prices are already pretty close to SB and SS. If they increase them too much, the prices might become comparable to SS and SB - and honestly, I don't think many people would book O if they can book SB or SS for the same price. This is especially true with the older R class ships. So I don't believe we will see steep increases, but if I'm wrong, they are going to lose a LOT of business to SB and SS.

This is not apples to apples comparison at all. In this case, the strikes were a reality, not a possibility - the only question was the dates. Anyway, I believe we covered the subject..

Well, this is what I see on the Canadian website: Regent includes BC flights or credit of $3,650 CAD, so cruise only price is $13,600. SB comes to $712/night and Regent $1,133/night. Even if you account for included excursions (say $100/night), Regent is still 50% more expensive. For some reason, Canadian pricing is very unfavorable for Regent.

I think the pricing would depend on your location, but also on duration, cabin category and destination. We are interested mostly in 10-12 nights European cruises. The cheapest ones were still more expensive than SS and SB, and those were on the Navigator. I have no interest to sail on a 30 years old ship when I can pay less and sail on 5-10 years old ships (same holds for Crystal). Even the cheapest ones on the newer ships were still more expensive than many sailings on SS and SB, even after accounting for all inclusions. We are comparing the cheapest categories which are OV on SS and SB, so this might be not 100% apples to apples, but we don't need the veranda and are not willing to pay for it. After one sailing on SS and one on the old Crystal, I'm still not convinced that the premium is justified compared to Oceania.

I think we can all agree that transparency and communication are NOT the areas O is strong in..