S4POPO

Ahhh, feel like an idiot! I'm getting too old. lol

Apologize for my ignorance, but what does YT stand for?

Isn't Oceania the better comparison to Viking?

There is no way 2025 rates are 50% higher. Obviously there are specific outliers depending on market, cabin category, ship, etc. but I have found 2025 to be slightly higher than 2024. In your case, I am assuming you are comparing a deeply discounted 2024 cruise vs. retail pricing in 2025. Roll the dice, and you may get the same discount in 2025, but I don't think it's a fair comparison.

I am still trying to wrap my head around the issue. Are you saying that the insurance company will reimburse you ~$100k simply with proof of Oceania paying the medivac bill? Without the costs being passed on to you (via separate bill from Oceania)? In this scenario, you make a pretty penny if Oceania never bills you. I apologize if this was discussed in a previous post and I missed something.

I highly recommend Test Kitchen. It's unlike any other restaurant on a cruise ship and worth the experience.

I respect your opinion. What competitors are you considering? What's a comparable product that offers cruise only?

I know that both brands are part of the same corporate holding company, but I wouldn't compare NCL and Oceania. They are two distinct companies with different management teams and different philosophies.

Can't speak about TMobile, but I have AT&T and I like the daily $10 charge for any international destination. It's a single charge and I have access to my regular plan (unlimited talk, unlimited messaging, unlimited data).

Somewhat OT, but is there a place on CC that lists all Black Friday deals for all cruiselines in a single place?

Don't fool yourself. Class action lawsuits are ALWAYS for the benefit of the lawyers involved. The consumers get pennies on the dollar. I would always choose to handle things individually rather than be part of any class action lawsuit. I find it amusing when I am sent a random check for $1.25 in the mail for a class-action lawsuit I happened to qualified for.

This sounds like simple supply and demand to me. You can always risk it and book your vacation inside of the penalty window and roll the dice on getting a lower price. You have to pay a premium when you want a guaranteed cabin on a specific deck at a price reasonable to you. Same applies to airfares. Do you think airlines would survive if every passenger was expecting to pay the lowest airfare onboard?

Is this for 2024 or 2025? I am guessing 2025 as I don't see anything available in 2024. I am very interested in this itinerary as well. I am leaning towards the Papeete round-trip and skip some of the sea days.

I feel like I am missing something. Was airfare originally ticketed? Did you ever receive confirmation? If you were charged on your credit card, were you refunded soon after or right before you trip?

I believe the cruise lines providing refunds are those that have sailings further out into 2024 (outside of penalty window) or those that cancelled their upcoming sailings entirely. The "grey" area has been the sailings that had Israel ports replaced with something else. This might mean an itinerary completely different from original intent or additional sea days.

Is that a proper comp for Oceania? Aren't they 4x more expensive? I always thought Viking was the closest comparison.

Hmm, isn't that every CEO's job? 😄 The cruise lines have taken different approaches to coming out of the pandemic. You should do what's best for you, but criticizing a company for trying to maximize revenue is just silly. Look at how much debt they (the big 3) have racked up in the last couple of years. BTW, I don't think the prices in the cruise industry have kept up with increases in almost everything else since 2019. If you are seeing deals out there now (on any cruise line), take it because they will not last.