Overbooking on Regatta for June 16th cruise

[Gailsie]

With two weeks to go before my cruise, I was so excited and looking forward to the Baltic cruise. Then last night we got an refund offer because they were overbooked. How do you overbook a cruise ship when we have been assigned a cabin for almost a year??? This is a voluntary offer and I am thinking of continuing on with my plans.

 

I had understood that Oceania was a first class company but now I am wondering if I have made a mistake in booking with them. Am I worrying about nothing and just go with a good attitude or is this just the first step to an unsatisfactory cruise?

 

Gailsie

[JimandStan]

With two weeks to go before my cruise, I was so excited and looking forward to the Baltic cruise. Then last night we got an refund offer because they were overbooked. How do you overbook a cruise ship when we have been assigned a cabin for almost a year??? This is a voluntary offer and I am thinking of continuing on with my plans.

 

I had understood that Oceania was a first class company but now I am wondering if I have made a mistake in booking with them. Am I worrying about nothing and just go with a good attitude or is this just the first step to an unsatisfactory cruise?

 

Gailsie

 

You don't have anything to be concerned about. What you are describing is not a shoddy business practice, in fact, it is a responsible tactic that is universally accepted.

 

To understand what has happened, you might want to look at the situation from the Cruise Lines' perspective.

 

It is an unfortunate fact that a certain percentage of passengers who are booked on a cruise will cancel, usually at the time when the final payment is due. That close to the sailing date, it can be difficult to resell those cabins.

 

Historically then, each "fully booked" cruise was sailing with that percentage of cabins empty.

 

It is an accepted practice, therefore, throughout the hospitality industry, to overbook by that percentage. Every airline, cruise line, hotel, and car rental company follow a similar plan.

 

Actually, it is probably a testament to the quality of the Oceania product that their cruises have remained overbooked in this economy.

 

Enjoy your cruise-

[Pearl64]

Apparently our cruise is also overbooked. We were offered a full penthouse suite if we would bow out and go on a different cruise later in the fall. This was not acceptable as these cruises weren't even in the Baltic but the Mediterranean. I have booked my own air as well as independent shore excursions. While the suite would be nice, we want to see the Baltic. It will be interesting to see if the pie gets sweetened any more.

 

Just wanted to let everyone know that another cruise is overbooked. And, who says the economy is on the downturn!

 

Pearl

[Jancruz]

Almost every summer cruise is overbooked..dont be surprised if you get a call!!

Jancruz1

[ClaudiaF]

Okay..having cruised over 50 times..and 1/3 on R based ships..this q is for us who don't really know all..who gets picked.... I too am just curious as the 2 who have posted, what category have you booked and how does the ship really pick who they will "buy off"?

[Pearl64]

We are booked a balcony midship. I have no clue why we were given the option of changing. We are traveling by ourselves and this is our first Oceania cruise. We also booked last August. Don't know what tips the scale--perhaps the luck of the draw?

 

We are also on a Baltic sailing.

 

Pearl

[JimandStan]

We are booked a balcony midship. I have no clue why we were given the option of changing. We are traveling by ourselves and this is our first Oceania cruise. We also booked last August. Don't know what tips the scale--perhaps the luck of the draw?

 

We are also on a Baltic sailing.

 

Pearl

 

I think it's a fairly simple equation, they approach people in the categories that they need to open up for the "extra" bookings.

 

If you recall, when the schedules opened for the 2010 Season, and Oceania's bookings remained solid, there was rampant speculation that "the bottom would drop out" at final payment time.

 

Well, that has not happened. In fact, it appears that there were not even the normal number of cancellations.

 

Some might call this good economic news, others might congratulate Oceania. Personally, I am happy for those passengers who will be able to take advantage of those marvelous buy outs!

[juli2020]

With two weeks to go before my cruise, I was so excited and looking forward to the Baltic cruise. Then last night we got an refund offer because they were overbooked. How do you overbook a cruise ship when we have been assigned a cabin for almost a year??? This is a voluntary offer and I am thinking of continuing on with my plans.

 

I had understood that Oceania was a first class company but now I am wondering if I have made a mistake in booking with them. Am I worrying about nothing and just go with a good attitude or is this just the first step to an unsatisfactory cruise?

 

Gailsie

 

This happened to us on the Christmas sailing on the Regatta last year(three weeks before our sailing). We were a party of six(two concierge cabins, one penthouse suite). We were quite surprised at being offered money to give up our cabins. We have sailed on many cruise lines and have never experienced this. We found it disturbing that Oceania kept calling our travel agent and kept offering more money and a credit towards a future cruise. It is not a good policy as it cheapens the product in my opinion.

[LAexNY]

This happened to us on the Christmas sailing on the Regatta last year(three weeks before our sailing). We were a party of six(two concierge cabins, one penthouse suite). We were quite surprised at being offered money to give up our cabins. We have sailed on many cruise lines and have never experienced this. We found it disturbing that Oceania kept calling our travel agent and kept offering more money and a future credit towards a future cruise. It is not a good policy as it cheapens the product in my opinion.

 

 

Just say no! I don't see how it cheapens the product at all.

[Jancruz]

Just say no! I don't see how it cheapens the product at all.

 

I agree there have been some great deals that have been made and the cruisers were VERY happy!! Once you say no..that should be the end of the calls!

Jancruz1

[juli2020]

I agree there have been some great deals that have been made and the cruisers were VERY happy!! Once you say no..that should be the end of the calls!

Jancruz1

 

We did say no to the first offer. Oceania came back with a better offer and our travel agent had an obligation to pass along the new offer from Oceania.

[hondorner]

Picking nits, but I think Jan means that once you say "No more calls", there will be no more calls. Just "No" to a single call means you might be open to a better offer.

 

You should thank your lucky stars that you were getting the offers! Not everyone does.

 

It actually enhances the product, because it shows that Oceania cares about the already-booked passenger. In many other cruise lines, it would be the newest booking that would get an upgrade or a buy-out offer -- in those cruise lines, once you are booked they no longer care about you.

[juli2020]

Picking nits, but I think Jan means that once you say "No more calls", there will be no more calls. Just "No" to a single call means you might be open to a better offer.

 

You should thank your lucky stars that you were getting the offers! Not everyone does.

 

It actually enhances the product, because it shows that Oceania cares about the already-booked passenger. In many other cruise lines, it would be the newest booking that would get an upgrade or a buy-out offer -- in those cruise lines, once you are booked they no longer care about you.

 

We instructed our travel agent when first asked that we are weren't interested in changing our cruise.

Why should I thank my lucky stars that we were getting offers?! If we did not want to go or plan to go...we would not have booked the cruise in the first place. I don't book a cruise hoping that the cruise line will overbook so that I can make money by giving up my reserved cabin/suite.

I do not see how this enhances the product at all....it cheapens the product in my opinion.

How would a newer booking on another cruise line get offered a buy out if the cruise line is sold out to begin with? Doesn't make sense.

I beg to differ that other cruise lines do not care about you once they have your booking.

[dino2067]

juli2020,

 

I "hear" what you are saying and appreciate your position but there are those such as I and my husband that do say yes. I don't think either viewpoint is right or wrong, they are just...different.

 

Oceania has been quite creative in keeping their ships filled even during the economic downturn. We (as well as others) benefited from their offer of moving our reservation from a fully booked 24-day Bangkok-Beijing itinerary over to a not (at the time) fully booked 35-day Hong Kong-Athens itinerary (which was also on our cruise "to do" list)...at no additional charge. When the ship sailed this past April, it was sold out.

 

Getting an additional eleven (essentially) “free” days aboard the Nautica may not happen very often but we are glad that Oceania give us (and others) a chance to say YES! and avail ourselves of the opportunity.

 

Kathleen

[csyoho]

My husband and I have also been offered a buyout for the 6/30 Regatta London cruise - if we would accept a Med cruise in the fall we could have a Vista suite and I believe a cash bonus also. TA said they have also been known to help with defraying expenses of air and pre-booked hotels. I for one appreciated the offer and was not the least offended. To the contrary, if we had not already done the Med it would have been very tempting............

[hondorner]

...I do not see how this enhances the product at all....it cheapens the product in my opinion...

I'll agrfee with yu to this extent -- it does indeed cheapen the cruise. If they did not overbook, they would most likely be forced to sail with empty cabins. thus, in order to bring in enough revenue to keep the cruise line afloat, they would have to raise fares on all the cabins that are not canceled. Thus, the cruise fare would be more expensive. Because overbooking does reduce the possibility that the ship will sail with empty cabins, and therefore there is no need to make it more expensive, the net result is a less expensive (cheaper) cruise.

 

Whether that appeals to you or not does not really enter into the equation.

[volleyballmom87]

I would not be offended. I would be depressed! As a teacher, I am unable to travel outside the high season months and would not be able to take them up on their offer. :(

[winegirl]

If they can't get enough cruisers to say "yes, I'll change my cruise?"

[LHT28]

If they can't get enough cruisers to say "yes, I'll change my cruise?"

Not sure, probably like the airlines ....they just bump you

[fjdelrio]

No one has ever been, nor will anyone ever be, bumbed off from their booked cruise!!

Simple economics prevail.

At some offer,someone will agree to give up their cabin.

 

Statistically, we know what percentage of booked cabins cancel at given points in time prior to sailing. Over the long run, those statistics are very accurate. Sometimes, like on a handful of sailings this summer, the long term statitiscs don't hold up. Thus, we have more bookings than we have cabins and offers are extended. We don't like to be in this situation because it is very costly.

 

I apologize if we have offended anyone

 

FDR

[YoHoHo]

What? You can't predict the future with 100% accuracy!?! I know your predictions are more accurate than mine. I have not yet selected the winning lottery numbers so my stats are a lot worse than yours.

 

I'm sure O would far prefer to not spend the money ( plus the time and possible stress for some pax) and not make these offers. On the other hand I think it is better to do it your way (hey, that sounds a like a tag line I've heard some where) then to err on the other side and have to slash some prices at the last minute to fill those suddenly and unpredicted now-empty staterooms. That could even be more expensive and I am sure does not impress those that booked far in advance.

 

We're booked on Marina's Maiden Voyage with a GTY booking. Now if a sweet deal were to be offered DW, a.k.a. my Social Director and CFO, may override my whining :)

 

Either way, Oceania has not and will not disappoint!

[winegirl]

I'm glad the CEO replied with the skinny on the overbooking, since we are less than 2 weeks out and were offered a "downgrade" on our sailing for a refund that was not sufficient for me to make a move. This is my first time on Oceania and I was getting really kind of nervous about what happens when they are overbooked. I had not been exposed to this type of activity on prior cruises with Holland, Windstar or Cruise West. So he put my mind at ease.

 

The experience on Oceania will dictate whether we sail with them again in the future, to Scandanavia, South America and Australia/New Zealand.

 

It appears the two cruises around the coast of Spain and up the coast of France were highly popular, probably because most European cruisers have already done many of the ports in Turkey, Greece, and the Rivieras before, sometimes more than once. We try to avoid hitting the same ports twice, and look for cruises with no "at sea days." It looks like our fellow cruisers on these itineraries, whom I've met on CC, look for the same things. I cruise to see new places and to make it easy on myself by unpacking once. Since Oceania appears to have hit an untapped market in these itineraries, perhaps they should have considered adding more cruises with similar itineraries?

[stubbs1]

This is a good practice! WIN WIN for everyone, especially retirees. If we got an offer we would consider, but we also have booked our own airfare and excursions so would probably say no. But if someone could save money, get a great upgrade, and not be inconvenienced, jump on it!! We are looking forward to our second cruise with Oceana, Scandinavian Spendors, Sept. 2. Our Istanbul to Athens cruise last year was perfect. Any concern addressed, everything done with class.