Attention: Silver Oceania Club Members and above

I just got off the phone with an Oceania Customer Service Rep who confirmed that the promotional offer for “free gratuities” for those who are Silver Oceania Club Members and above has been changed. Silver Oceania Club Members and above are those who have sailed with Oceania for 10 or more cruises and have earned a benefit of free gratuities and a dollar amount of shipboard credit. In the past, if you had earned free gratuities based on your number of cruises with Oceania, and if you booked a cruise when a promotion of “free gratuities” was offered to everyone, then you were entitled to the converted dollar amount of those additional gratuities to a shipboard credit. Now Oceania is saying that they will only offer $250 shipboard credit instead of the full dollar value of the promotional free gratuities, whether you are sailing for 14 days or 35 days. This policy change was issued sometime in the spring 2013, but I never heard about it until my travel agent told me today. In fact, we just finished a cruise last month on the Nautica and we were given shipboard credit for the full value of the promotional gratuities. Are any other longtime Oceania cruisers aware of this policy change? I am not happy about this :mad: because if they make an arbitrary change like this, they may change other benefits in the future that we have earned as loyal, longtime Oceania cruisers.

Would this be same if your TA provided pre-paid gratuities (instead of Oceania's promotions)?

That is very sad to hear

Not a good way to treat your loyal passengers :(

If I had a nice OBC I would certainly spend it all on the ship ..no problem there:D

Lyn

That is very sad to hear

Not a good way to treat your loyal passengers :(

 

If I had a nice OBC I would certainly spend it all on the ship ..no problem there:D

 

 

Lyn

I agree. Not a good idea to take away things that have been earned:mad:

Yes. We are silver level and found out about the $250 amount to compensate for our already having free gratuities. I noticed the reduced amount of OBC on our invoice and our TA confirmed the change which she, too, was unaware of.

Yes. We are silver level and found out about the $250 amount to compensate for our already having free gratuities. I noticed the reduced amount of OBC on our invoice and our TA confirmed the change which she, too, was unaware of.

One set of PPGs are provided by O as your Silver perk.

Were your SECOND PPGs provided by the TA or part of an Oceania special promotion (like OP's)?

Is this $250 PP or per cabin??

I see those with 10+ also get $400 OBC as part as the Oceania club ...is that gone as well??

 

I see those with 10+ also get $400 OBC as part as the Oceania club ...is that gone as well??

I sure hope not :eek:

We have a T/A in Nov and so far our recently completed final payment document (8/20) reflects both - OBC of $400 from O + value of PPG from TA. I am taking a copy of that with me on the cruise :)

The PPG from TA is my "NFL money" :D

Time will tell.

I sure hope not :eek:

We have a T/A in Nov and so far our recently completed final payment document (8/20) reflects both - OBC of $400 from O + value of PPG from TA. I am taking a copy of that with me on the cruise :)

The PPG from TA is my "NFL money" :D

Time will tell.

I guess we will have to wait to see how it all plays out

Just guessing here, but I'm interpreting this new policy as follows: if your T/A provides prepaid and there is an Oceania ppg due to club level or offer, you will get full value on each. However, if you get ppg because of your Oceania club status and there's a ppg special offer from Oceania on a new cruise booking, that is where the $250 sbc is substituted. Maybe. :confused:

We were told we would get the $400 but not the gratuities credit. Later we were told we would get $250 in addition to the other silver benefits such as internet discounts and the $400.

Not perfect but better than the original nothing!!

We were told we would get the $400 but not the gratuities credit. Later we were told we would get $250 in addition to the other silver benefits such as internet discounts and the $400.

Not perfect but better than the original nothing!!

Please clarify:

• when was your cruise booked?
  
• when is your cruise/did you make final payment?
  
• are you getting PPG from your TA (or O promotion) or only as a Silver benefit?
  

Thanks,

Paul

Just guessing here, but I'm interpreting this new policy as follows: if your T/A provides prepaid and there is an Oceania ppg due to club level or offer, you will get full value on each. However, if you get ppg because of your Oceania club status and there's a ppg special offer from Oceania on a new cruise booking, that is where the $250 sbc is substituted. Maybe. :confused:

This is how I am interpreting this (and hoping that this is what it is).

Just guessing here, but I'm interpreting this new policy as follows: if your T/A provides prepaid and there is an Oceania ppg due to club level or offer, you will get full value on each. However, if you get ppg because of your Oceania club status and there's a ppg special offer from Oceania on a new cruise booking, that is where the $250 sbc is substituted. Maybe. :confused:

If you were a Silver member or higher as of 12/31/2012

above is true..

Jancruz1

If you were a Silver member or higher as of 12/31/2012

above is true..

Jancruz1

And if after that date ????

Clear as MUD!

Maybe the Oceania Club should send an updated email or letter too all Oceania club members spelling out the new deal ;)

I still think it is unfair to loyal O cruisers JMO

Lyn

Maybe the Oceania Club should send an updated email or letter too all Oceania club members spelling out the new deal ;)

 

I still think it is unfair to loyal O cruisers JMO

 

 

Lyn

Totally agree with you Lyn.

One set of PPGs are provided by O as your Silver perk.

Were your SECOND PPGs provided by the TA or part of an Oceania special promotion (like OP's)?

Yes, our TA provided the second set of gratuities and after speaking with O, they agreed to covert our silver level PPGs to $250.

Maybe the Oceania Club should send an updated email or letter too all Oceania club members spelling out the new deal ;)

 

I still think it is unfair to loyal O cruisers JMO

 

 

Lyn

Very unfair, but this new policy could come back to bite them also. I for one has been on 7 cruises, so what do we do? Should we try to make 10 so we can get the perks that come with it or worry they will not be there when we get to that level? Oceania needs to have a policy that their guests can rely on. There are other cruise lines of the same class as O that have cruises with ports just as good, so it could be time to look at them. Oceania is still our number one choice but they must show that they will treat us fairly. :confused: :mad:

Very unfair, but this new policy could come back to bite them also. I for one has been on 7 cruises, so what do we do? Should we try to make 10 so we can get the perks that come with it or worry they will not be there when we get to that level? Oceania needs to have a policy that their guests can rely on. There are other cruise lines of the same class as O that have cruises with ports just as good, so it could be time to look at them. Oceania is still our number one choice but they must show that they will treat us fairly. :confused: :mad:

I am less offended by the change in the policy than I am in the possibility that benefits may be grandfathered for those that have reached a certain level by a certain time for all of their future cruises at that level.

O does reserve the right to change its policy at any time, per this statement on its Oceania Club website: https://www.oceaniacruises.com/oceaniaclublogin.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2foceaniaclub%2fbenefits.aspx

"Oceania Cruises reserves the right to change the program rules, benefits, conditions of qualifications, special offers or cruise level requirements at its sole discretion."

However, IMO any change should be equally applied to all cruisers regardless of when the level was reached. For example, take two cruisers taking a cruise next year. One cruiser reached silver status in 2010 and hasn't taken another cruise until this one. Another cruiser reached silver status on the cruise that she just came back from last week. These two silver level cruisers should have the same silver level cruiser benefits on that cruise next year. In this case, both may be worse off (Oceania's prerogative to change its policy, hopefully giving reasonable notice), but at least they are, pardon the pun, in the same boat, which should be the case.*

However, what seems to be suggested in Jancruz's post (and I may be and hope I am wrong) is that the cruiser who reached silver status in 2010 will have better benefits than the cruiser who reached silver level status in 2013 for all of their cruises taken while at silver level even though they are both silver level status cruisers on the same cruise(s)?

Fairness is subjective. Equality is easier to determine.

*A wrinkle may be when the cruise was booked by the cruiser relative to when the policy change occurred. For example, in the example above, if the cruiser who reached silver level status in 2013 booked that cruise in 2012 (i.e., before the policy change seems to have came into effect) and the cruiser who reached silver level status in 2010 booked the cruise after the policy change came into effect, then it would seem to be reasonable that they may have different silver level benefits (the cruiser who reached silver level in 2010 actually having the newer reduced benefits in this example), but only for this particular cruise and not any future cruise (for future booked cruises, they should both have the same new reduced benefits).

That is, it makes sense to grandfather the benefits at a level, but only for the cruises booked before the change in the policy (and not simply based on what the level was at the time of the change in policy), not for all future cruises at that level.

ShopperfiendTO,

I hear you , but...

If you do not "grandfather" those that have already earned the Silver before the changes took place, you are taking away benefits that you promised they would get if the were loyal - not good PR.

OTOH, if you announce the "new policy" now, before others have earned the Silver, they will know what they will get once they reach it and can thus choose to go for it or not.

Just a different point of view :)

ShopperfiendTO,

I hear you , but...

If you do not "grandfather" those that have already earned the Silver before the changes took place, you are taking away benefits that you promised they would get if the were loyal - not good PR.

OTOH, if you announce the "new policy" now, before others have earned the Silver, they will know what they will get once they reach it and can thus choose to go for it or not.

Just a different point of view :)

Exactly correct!!

Jancruz1

ShopperfiendTO,

I hear you , but...

If you do not "grandfather" those that have already earned the Silver before the changes took place, you are taking away benefits that you promised they would get if the were loyal - not good PR.

OTOH, if you announce the "new policy" now, before others have earned the Silver, they will know what they will get once they reach it and can thus choose to go for it or not.

Just a different point of view :)

Paul, but what about the others like Allan and me who have received GOLD rewards? We expect the benefits that are spelled out by Oceania to remain in place, to wit, the gratuities in the form of OBC when they are giving everyone free gratuities. You really shouldn't give with one hand and take away with the other. When you have loyalty, it should keep being rewarded, not diminished. We have sailed happily with Oceania for 10 years and have seen during the last year, some of the perks that were there for 9 years, being slowly taken away. So it's not a matter of being "grandfathered" in, it's a matter of respecting the loyalty of one's passengers and promoting good PR. Arlene;)

Oceania is well within their rights to change their policy, but we as customers also reserve the right to go elsewhere if we feel that a business in being unfair. A two way street.