KathyPet Posted May 2, 2010 #1 Share Posted May 2, 2010 I have sailed with other lines where you were given a option of accepting a "guaranteed" cabin level or having a specific cabin # assigned. if you chose the guarantee level you were guaranteed to be assigned a cabin in that category BUT you also might get a cabin at a higher category as a upgrade. Does Oceania offer that option and if they do has anyone used it and received a upgrade to a higher level?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickeyCruz5 Posted May 2, 2010 #2 Share Posted May 2, 2010 Oceania's res system is set up to offer both gty bookings and those with assigned stateroom numbers. However, the system is also set up to automatically assign available staterooms to gty bookings. In other words, if you book a gty in a certain category and there are also actual physical staterooms available, within 24 hours the res system will automatically assign you the physical stateroom. Although upgrades do happen occasionally with gty bookings, more often than not the guest will be assigned a stateroom in the category booked. Rickey Cruz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hondorner Posted May 2, 2010 #3 Share Posted May 2, 2010 In addition to what Rickey said, in Oceania's philosophy, the early booked passengers will be more likely to be offered an upgrade (usually at a discounted price) in order to free up a cabin in the guaranteed category for the person who booked a guarantee. Oceania also charges their lowest fares in the beginning, so folks who wait to book will not get a bargain price, like other cruise lines; they will usually pay more. Finally, while the few inside cabins go quickly, the cabins that are booked the fastest and earliest are the suites -- so there is often nothing available for upgrades. The best advice I can give someone who is booking Oceania for the first time is to book as early as possible, study the deck plans, ask questions on cruise critic (as you just did -- yay!), and choose either the exact stateroom you want, or at least the category you will be happiest with, and possibly put yourself on a wait list for a better category. I have not tried it, but I've heard that if you actually put a deposit on that waitlist, you stand an even better chance of getting there -- and you can always get your deposit back before final payment. An agent knowledgeable about Oceania is your best friend in explaining these things. I'm not an agent, but I deal with one of the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happy cruzer Posted May 4, 2010 #4 Share Posted May 4, 2010 Booked a gty inside one year ago. It is still showing gty. On a previous cruise with O, the gty was assigned right away. something different this time. No upgrade. In general on any line, I only book gty if it saves lots of money or if it is all that is available. Upgrades are getting rarer on all the lines. Plus upgrades may not really be one, I like being as low as possible in case of rough seas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruin Steve Posted May 4, 2010 #5 Share Posted May 4, 2010 Booking a "guaranty" is different on Oceania than on most lines. Most cruise lines use the guaranty category as a method of giving themselves flexibility in sales. All cruise lines know that a fair percentage of bookings will fall away over time due to a number of factors...especially since the deposit is refundable up until final payment date... So, rather than having a category fill up early and then stop selling that category, a guaranty category allows them to move bookings around or put people on hold so that they can continue to offer the sold out category. When bookings stabilize--often around final payment date, they can slot the guaranties into the proper category...but are sometimes forced to upgrade a few depending on what opened up and what fell out... Often, they will offer guaranties even when there are cabins left in the category because they anticipate the demand and note the sales trend ahead of time...and, to entice people to work with them on the flexibility issue, they offer these at a discounted price... With Oceania, they basically do not offer a guaranty rate or booking...If cabins are available in your desired category, they will let you choose one...or they will choose one for you...all at the same rate--no special discount... The only way the booking remains a "guaranty" for long is if your category is "sold out"...and it is still at the same price...As soon as a booking is canceled in the category, someone off the guaranty list is assigned the cabin... As the cruise draws closer and the bookings solidify, if Oceania finds its bookings uneven, they will not just arbitrarily upgrade people for free, guarantees or otherwise...What they will do is to "Upsell"...They will offer people, priority based on other factors, to move to a higher level cabin for a discounted rate...For example, let's say for a particular sailing, Concierge cabins sold for $6999 and Penthouses sold for $7999 and they are oversold with extra "guarantees" in the Concierege category and there are still available penthouses...They will offer some people in the Concierge category, the opportunity to move up to a Penthouse for an additional $500 per person rather than the original $1000 difference...Some folks will take it, thus freeing up the concierge cabin for one of the guarantees...The cruise line makes some of its scheduled money, the concierge cruiser not quite willing to pay an extra $2,000 but willing to pay an extra $1,000 is happy and the guaranty passenger gets an assignment in the category he bargained for... If this doesn't move enough people, maybe they offer the upsell to someone at $250 pp... But, the odds of the "guaranty" passenger on Oceania getting assigned to a highrer category cabin is virtually nil... The answer, as always, is that if you really want a particular cabin, just book it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capecodder2 Posted May 5, 2010 #6 Share Posted May 5, 2010 I would just like to add to clarify a bit, that the Oceania ships do not have lots of variety of cabins, unlike the large or mega-ships. Basically there are inside, outside, verandah (which have some some sub-catagories based on location, but are all exactly the same size), penthouse (again several sub-categories based on location, size the same), and the few suites. There is not a lot to "upgrade" to and as explained above done a bit differently than some other lines. Priority seems to be given more to alumni and early bookers. Personally, I wouldn't waste my time looking for a "freebie" upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruin Steve Posted May 5, 2010 #7 Share Posted May 5, 2010 I would just like to add to clarify a bit, that the Oceania ships do not have lots of variety of cabins, unlike the large or mega-ships. Basically there are inside, outside, verandah (which have some some sub-catagories based on location, but are all exactly the same size), penthouse (again several sub-categories based on location, size the same), and the few suites. There is not a lot to "upgrade" to and as explained above done a bit differently than some other lines. Priority seems to be given more to alumni and early bookers. Personally, I wouldn't waste my time looking for a "freebie" upgrade. Well...I won't disagree about not expecting an upgrade... But, I think you are wrong about Oceania not offering a variety of cabin categories... You do acknowledge that "...Basically there are inside, outside, verandah (which have some some sub-catagories based on location, but are all exactly the same size), penthouse (again several sub-categories based on location, size the same), and the few suites." Well that IS pretty much just like the large ship lines... Just like most other cruise lines, they have inside cabins, ocean view cabins, balcony cabins and suites (Pretty much covers the types of cabins one could have)... Among the different types of cabins, they have different categories, so segregated by deck or location on the ship... Among balcony cabins, they, just like, say, Celebrity or RCCL, offer a "Concierge Class" balcony with some upgraded amenities... Similar to other cruise lines' "Sky Suites" or Junior Suites", they have the Penthouse category with a slightly larger cabin... And, they have different sized suites--on the older ships, the Owner's Suites and the Vista Suites and, on the new Marina, add the "Oceania Suites"... These do give you all of the same options to choose a cabin to fit your needs--whether a budget conscious inside at a lower price and without window or balcony, but still getting you on a wonderful Oceania cruise with all the general amenities and great itinerary (and...it's actually a pretty nice cabin with ample space...I know, we cruised in one on the Nautica in 2006)...or an also less expensive ocean view...or a very nice standard balcony for those wishing to cruise with the open feeling and fresh air a balcony brings...to the various levels of suites for those affording a higher cost and wishing a large space... The only real difference is that being a smaller ship, there are fewer of each type of cabin... There ARE some luxury cruise lines that advertise "all suites" or the like, but Oceania is NOT one of them... I am not meaning to pick a fight...I just wanted to point out that it is wrong to say they "...do not have lots of variety of cabins"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roseleib Posted May 9, 2010 #8 Share Posted May 9, 2010 My husband and I and another couple sailed on Oceania Insignia for the first time 2 years ago. At the time of our booking there were only guarantees available for Oceanview Staterooms. We were very lucky (luckier than I realized after reading this board), both couples were upgraded to Veranda staterooms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amer_can Posted May 9, 2010 #9 Share Posted May 9, 2010 We were assigned 6000, requested a change if possible due to comment on CC re: wind and noise. Told no luck but 2 weeks later TA called..Would we like A1 category concierge on deck 7.. $200 each.. YES...We grabbed it and leave next Friday. Happy trails!!! Or I quess it should be Happy Waves:):):):):) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winegirl Posted May 11, 2010 #10 Share Posted May 11, 2010 It also seems to me, a first timer on Oceania, that their cruises are more often "sold out" or have "wait lists" than perhaps the megaliners. The suites seem to go first/ The likelihood of an "upgrade" offer appears slim. We were offered an upgrade if we agreed to change to a different cruise with a different itinerary, but that did not meet our needs. Since we are cruising in summer, to an area that will be hot, we thought we might use the veranda and paid more for a veranda cabin. However, we had a veranda on a Holland cruise to Alaska and did not use it at all--too cold to sit out there in September and the furniture/cushions were always wet. So I guess what I'm saying is "love the cabin you booked.":) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happy cruzer Posted June 15, 2010 #11 Share Posted June 15, 2010 Trying to see if other guarantees are still open? I know previously if a cabin was available in your gurantee category you were assigned right away. Mine is still open. 11/13/2010 Regatta. I posted to this thread earlier. I booked a year ago or so in inside g. Still no cabin assignment. The insides have been sold out for at least one month now. My reservations still shows no cabin assignement. I think O may be doing guarantees differently now. Any other guesses? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted June 15, 2010 #12 Share Posted June 15, 2010 I posted to this thread earlier. I booked a year ago or so in inside g. Still no cabin assignment. The insides have been sold out for at least one month now. My reservations still shows no cabin assignement. I think O may be doing guarantees differently now. Any other guesses? More people are booking O & actually going on the cruise as you can see from the threads about overbooking You may have to wait until after final payment date to see if anyone has cancelled & then you might see a cabin # or they might offer you an upsell. We had to take a GTY on a Marina cruise but we normally book day one in order to secure a cabin but we waited a bit longer this time to make our choice Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happy cruzer Posted June 21, 2010 #13 Share Posted June 21, 2010 Thanks, yes, I agree I probably won't see a cabin assignment until after final payment. but this appears to be a change in how O has done guarantees in the past as described in this thread and per our previous experience. so I was wondering if others are still listed as guarantees many months after booking? Just trying to understand what to expect on future bookings. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted June 21, 2010 #14 Share Posted June 21, 2010 Thanks, yes, I agree I probably won't see a cabin assignment until after final payment. but this appears to be a change in how O has done guarantees in the past as described in this thread and per our previous experience. so I was wondering if others are still listed as guarantees many months after booking? Just trying to understand what to expect on future bookings. Thanks I am not sure how they did it in the past we always try to book day 1 of the new itineraries I have booked a GTY for our Feb cruise & still shows GTY I do not expect to see a cabin number until after final payment We once did a waitlist for the same cabin on a B2B it cleared soon after booking but that may have been my great TA working her magic ;) I would not worry about it you will a cabin Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bornfreenowexpensive Posted June 21, 2010 #15 Share Posted June 21, 2010 I sail in a week on the Nautica and am still GTY on an inside cabin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted June 21, 2010 #16 Share Posted June 21, 2010 I sail in a week on the Nautica and am still GTY on an inside cabin. In 2002 (a few months after 9/11) Holland America didn't assign us to a cabin until WE GOT TO THE PIER. The good news is that we were upgraded ten categories. Sometimes it is worth the wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burm Posted June 22, 2010 #17 Share Posted June 22, 2010 We have an Inside GTY booked for 2011 and have already almost fully paid it off (because of the high Can $). Would it be to our advantage to pay in full now with regard to cabin placement! We have never had either an inside or a GTY before and are interested in seeing how this plays out for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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