angelina46 Posted June 1, 2013 #1 Share Posted June 1, 2013 hi, am due to join the riviera in rome next thursday, had a call from my t/a today asking me if i was willing to back out of the cruise for a full refund plus £1000 cash! as the cruise is overbooked! i refused but what would happen if no one took up this offer? angelina46 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Caroldoll Posted June 1, 2013 #2 Share Posted June 1, 2013 That they will continue sweetening the deal until someone takes it. No worries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kissing Seahorses Posted June 1, 2013 #3 Share Posted June 1, 2013 They will continue to up the ante till they have enough takers, in the past, some have reported very lucrative cash and upgrade incentives for changing.....if your travel is flexible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wripro Posted June 1, 2013 #4 Share Posted June 1, 2013 As long as they also reimburse for any non refundable travel expenses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelina46 Posted June 1, 2013 Author #5 Share Posted June 1, 2013 no,we had booked our own flights,hotel in rome for 2nights ect, so would only have gained about £500! angelina46 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kissing Seahorses Posted June 1, 2013 #6 Share Posted June 1, 2013 Well, these are things which the potential changer needs to take into account however Oceania always has a good percentage of cruisers that opt into their included "free air" program so they can easily waive any penalties in that regard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calvin81 Posted June 1, 2013 #7 Share Posted June 1, 2013 I got an offer a month ago to switch. Perhaps they try in the US first? Said they would upgrade my cabin from balcony to penthouse on another cruise and give me money towards my privately booked air. Then a couple weeks later they added $$ to the offer. The offer of a penthouse was very tempting! We can't switch because of time off from work and this was the itinerary we really wanted -- several places were on our "bucket list". I asked on roll call if others had received the offer and they had, but weren't taking them up on it. This cruise must be seriously oversold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted June 1, 2013 #8 Share Posted June 1, 2013 I'm not on this cruise but talking about the general topic ... We did the Auckland-Sydney cruise in Jan '08 on Nautica and originally had been planning on going on to Bangkok but decided that was too long and too rich for our blood. So we cancelled the second leg. But apparently that Leg #2 was seriously overbooked, so big bribes were going out to people on Leg 1 who were also booked on Leg 2. The problem there was as someone has said -- they'd booked their own air. So I don't know of anyone who accepted the offer, which was quite nice! But if anyone did, it would have had to include compensation for non-refundable flights from Bangkok to the U.S. As I've said before, we accepted such an offer when our Alaska cruise was overbooked and they upgraded us to a VS on Marina in the Med for a few months later. We lost some money on our cancelled flights but not enough to worry about -- instead of flying to Vancouver, we flew to L.A. to visit my ailing Mom. I suppose we could have asked for refunds of those expenses if we'd wanted to push but it wasn't worth it to us to do so. We were already doing very well! We had a VS on Marina for what a PH on Regatta cost, about a 50% discount on the published fares. (Yes, I know what those are worth ...) Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarpeian Rock Posted June 2, 2013 #9 Share Posted June 2, 2013 Wow. How widespread is the practice of overbooking, particularly at the niche Oceania operates at? Are certain itineraries more subject to overbooking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare RachelG Posted June 2, 2013 #10 Share Posted June 2, 2013 It happens all the time on popular itineraries. I have received (and once taken) very lucrative offers from regent in is situation. I held out till 48 hrs before departure on e one we accepted from regent. By that time, it was too good to refuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoHoHo Posted June 3, 2013 #11 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Wow. How widespread is the practice of overbooking, particularly at the niche Oceania operates at? Are certain itineraries more subject to overbooking? Many cruise lines overbook - that's why they offer those 'guarantee' (GTY) bookings where you get 'run of house' and are not able to select a cabin but have one assigned close(er) to sailing. On many lines the GTYs are at a reduced price. O does not discount GTYs. It is just guaranteed opportunity to make that sailing. They do that because there will always be a certain number of pax who make a deposit but do not complete the booking (for a great many reasons including making deposits but not necessarily intending on taking thjust this one cruiser or sickness or ...) Rather than filling these at last minute (maybe at reduced prices) they sell GTYs early on. If though a n unexpected number do not cancel then in Os method they offer inducements to move to a different category or even a different cruise than has more space in order to make room for the GTYs. Some cruise lines such as O can have their very popular itineraries book up very early on close to release. Being as that can be so far ahead of the sailing date there is a good chance personal circumstances will change for some of their pax causing them to cancel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sitraveler Posted June 4, 2013 #12 Share Posted June 4, 2013 While on board Marina we had an informal session with Wendy Perrin of Conde Nast. One of our fellow passengers stated they book cruises looking for upgrades and promotions. If they didn't get any, they would cancel. This would force the line to overbook, although I don't know how common this is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted June 4, 2013 #13 Share Posted June 4, 2013 While on board Marina we had an informal session with Wendy Perrin of Conde Nast. One of our fellow passengers stated they book cruises looking for upgrades and promotions. If they didn't get any, they would cancel. This would force the line to overbook, although I don't know how common this is. I wonder if more common on the main stream lines You always see posts of people booking a GTY when there are still cabins available hoping for the upgrade fairy to arrive Me ..I am just happy to be on the ship ;) Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scclifton Posted June 4, 2013 #14 Share Posted June 4, 2013 It would be nice to get offered an upgrade from a lower category, but you generally only get a better cabin. I recently took a downgrade from a Concierge Cabin to an Outside Window Cabin on an oversold Riviera cruise and got a big chunk of cash back and shipboard credits. It may be better strategy to purchase a premium cabin on a popular itinerary and hope for a downgrade to get the oversold people on the ship and get a much lower overall cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worldspan Posted June 4, 2013 #15 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Apparently the sailing referred to here is particularly overbooked. My agent was telling me he had a customer on this sailing for whom he collectively had received over 20 offers in the last 6 weeks for them to change sailing. And in the last 96 hours before sailing, new offers were coming through every few hours, each upping the ante! Worldspan 132 cruises strong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threeedogmedia Posted June 7, 2013 #16 Share Posted June 7, 2013 Per Mura: "We did the Auckland-Sydney cruise in Jan '08 on Nautica and originally had been planning on going on to Bangkok but decided that was too long and too rich for our blood. So we cancelled the second leg." Mura, I remember the cruise well....In fact we were in the next cabin. That was a wonderful cruise and other than doing that one back to back on to Bangkok, that one was my last one for a while when I was diagnosed with cancer. I'm doing great now so we just booked the Marina from Auckland to Papeete. I can't wait. Hope all is well with you two. Karen & George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Caroldoll Posted June 7, 2013 #17 Share Posted June 7, 2013 Book what you like and just HOPE AND PRAY. We wanted something in March, and I was a little late. So I am waitlisted. I think the answer is, if you want something, book THE MINUTE and worry later. I feel so bad and hope I will get what I want. I am not even asking for an upgrade. Mr. FDR has made this the most desirable cruise line! To be sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted June 7, 2013 #18 Share Posted June 7, 2013 Book what you like and just HOPE AND PRAY. We wanted something in March, and I was a little late. So I am waitlisted. I think the answer is, if you want something, book THE MINUTE and worry later. I feel so bad and hope I will get what I want. I am not even asking for an upgrade. I feel so bad for you too :rolleyes: (cue violins) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greeneyedteacher Posted June 7, 2013 #19 Share Posted June 7, 2013 We were booked on the 7 day Alaskan cruise May 18 and were upgraded to the 10 day Alaskan cruise on May 25 for no additional charge! Later we heard it rained the entire May 18 cruise and we had great weather for the 10 day May 25 cruise. Oceania booked our flights so they made all the changes. The put us on direct flights, too. Everything went very well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ronrick1943 Posted June 7, 2013 #20 Share Posted June 7, 2013 Well, I think people that book just to book a cabin in case they go, or hoping for an upgrade is wrong. I've seen post that stated book the cabin, even if your not sure you can go (because it's not going to cost you anything if you cancel before final payment) is just wrong for everyone else that are trying to plan their time and vacation. "O" should have stiff non-refundable penalties before the final payment is due----this would keep things real. Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.