Would you take this offer?

[mollymac]

We were offered a Vista Suite on Riviera if we would change our cruise from the June 14 day Alaska cruise on Regatta in a PH Suite to a 10 day May Aegean Sea cruise.

 

What would you do? And why?

[Paulchili]

We were offered a Vista Suite on Riviera if we would change our cruise from the June 14 day Alaska cruise on Regatta in a PH Suite to a 10 day May Aegean Sea cruise.

 

What would you do? And why?

 

How badly do you want to go to Alaska?

There is absolutely no comparison between a PH on Regatta and a VS on Riviera - just look at the pictures and measurements of these suites.

What about air for the Aegean cruise - would it be a much longer flight for you (in economy)?

[Emperor Norton]

We were offered a Vista Suite on Riviera if we would change our cruise from the June 14 day Alaska cruise on Regatta in a PH Suite to a 10 day May Aegean Sea cruise.

 

What would you do? And why?

 

I'd stick to the cruise I'd originally booked.

 

1. If I'd booked a cruise to Alaska that meant I wanted to see Alaska more than any other place.

 

2. Id have to get airfare to/from Europe. From the US to ports going to/from Alaska is a far shorter hop.

 

3. The ship types you mention aren't the same. I prefer smaller ships.

 

4. The Alaska cruise is longer

 

5. For the most part I'm not overly picky about rooms so the upgrade would have to to be really, really special

 

6. Rescheduling vacation time could backfire

[Mura]

We took a similar offer in 2011 -- give up a PH on Regatta in Alaska in August and instead have a Vista on Marina in the Med in October. We jumped at it.

 

But only because they had an itinerary that interested us. And we got a Vista on Marina for half price.

 

Look, only you can decide. And if you wait too long, the offer may be gone.

 

Do you like the new itinerary? Do you prefer Alaska?

 

Answer those questions for yourself.

 

In our case, we'd been to Alaska before and wanted to return but the new itinerary on the new ship we hadn't been on was mostly to ports we hadn't previously visited. So for us it was an easy choice and we had a wonderful cruise. (And the others on our Alaska cruise said it rained just about every day.)

 

Mura

[JimandStan]

If Oceania is trying to buy you off the Alaska cruise, then they won't ask you to pay additional airfare to get over to Europe, and if the new cruise is shorter then they might run to a business upgrade. It doesn't hurt to ask.

 

That said, these offers only tend to last until the next Penthouse passenger takes the bait, so if you do want to test the waters, call back quickly and keep your fingers crossed that somebody down the hall hasn't already gotten lucky.

 

Good Luck, whatever you decide :D

[YoHoHo]

That your Alaska cruise is significantly longer at 40% is a consideration for me.

 

I assume you can travel on either date without significant logistic difficulties

 

Alaska is closer / easier to fly to from N.A. so easier to do again. You are closer to the east coast than the west so not as long a flight to your Aegean cruise as it would be for us in the west.

 

I like both O and R class. While the R-ships have a much more of the 'country estate' atmosphere that O built its reputation on, a Vista suite on O class would be wonderful.

 

How likely are you to book the Vista suite again and also be able to get it for the same price as you booked the Alaska cruise.

 

Don't know where that Aegean cruise goes. Though I am not eager to go back to Athens, May in that area should have great weather and fewer crowds.

 

Hmmm... A lot easier when it is not my decision. I do have an Alaska cruise booked now. Now if O made the same offer to me I would ...

 

Or you could wait until the offer is no longer available and then the decision is made for you :)

 

Whichever you choose, enjoy the cruise!

[dorisis]

We recently took a similar offer and O paid all the air fare. It was a terrific deal for us.

 

~Doris~

[mollymac]

:)Thanks all for offering your input. I will confess that we had taken the offer before I posted but was curious to hear some others' thoughts.

 

We took the offer for the following reasons:

 

1 we are experienced cruisers but never booked a suite due to the cost.

 

2 one of us was ambivalent about Alaska but loved the idea of returning to ports that we liked on a previous cruise (Kotor, Dubrovnic, Santorini, Venice, and Kusadasi) as well as a few new ones

 

3 we really liked Marina last year so Riviera has great appeal

 

There were a few more expenses incurred as we had taken a credit for air going to Seattle for the Alaska cruise. Although we got free air we had to pay about 50 percent for the business class upgrade. (Not very good bargainers I guess)

This affected our travel insurance premium with CSA a bit.

 

All in all, we are satisfied with our choice. A Vista suite in a beautiful part of the world for a significant savings is making us happy.

 

Another interesting note:

We originally booked a 10 day July cruise to Alaska in a PH, we were offered the 14 day June cruise a few months ago and we took it. Now we took this offer.

 

Funny how this all happened and wonder how Oceania keeps this all organized!!!

[Hawaiidan]

I would take the Med like with an offer like that. Alaska is and can be seen by any of a half dozen lines, and is cheaper to get to.. You can take the train from iron city if you want.

 

Too there are better months than June to see Alaska. The best time is either earily may when the snow is still looking good OR earily september, when the salmon are running and tons more of wild life and more glacier calfing..

 

Also they will have had their first freeze in late August and will have killed off the bugs... The black flies and mosquitoes mid summer are of a size and determination you have yet to dream of.:eek:

 

Later the start of autum and leaves is an added plus and it tends to be better weather till Oct.