Special deals mean early bookers pay more for less

[2kiwis]

Has anyone been really upset to note that, as soon as you pay your final payment, out come all the cheap offers with good reductions on what you paid, along with free unlimited internet and other deals.

So you end up paying a lot more for less.:mad:

 

Very soon after we made our final payment last year Oceania discounted our stateroom category $5,200 (when you include the air-credit), and also offered unlimited internet and $500 shipboard credit.

 

Then – just to make us feel more ripped off and upset – today (3 weeks before we are due to sail) Oceania sends us an offer to move down 3 categories.

Most probably because they have over-booked the special deals in our category and need to make sure they are accommodated?

 

We are offered $6,000. But, if you take off the $5000 we paid above the special deal, they are essentially offering $1000 to downgrade 3 categories????

 

This is cruise number 15 with Oceania coming up (with 2 more after this in June).

After this we certainly won't be booking on-board again - if ever!.

Best to wait for the special deals and still get the category we want.

Especially as it seems like none of the cruise lines are filling ships as they use to.

 

As we see it, the only advantage of booking on-board is if it is a highly sought after cruise itinerary.

Other than that you get a lot more for your money if you wait.

Edited March 8, 2014 by 2kiwis

[edgee]

Has anyone been really upset to note that, as soon as you pay your final payment, out come all the cheap offers with good reductions on what you paid, along with free unlimited internet and other deals. So you end up paying a lot more for less.

 

Very soon after we made our final payment last year Oceania discounted our stateroom category $5,200 (when you include the air-credit), as well as offering unlimited internet and $500 shipboard credit.

 

Then – just to make us feel more ripped off and upset – now (3 weeks before we are due to sail) Oceania sends us an offer to move down 3 categories. Most probably because they have over-booked the special deals in our category and need to make sure they are accommodated.

 

We are offered $6,000. But, if you take off the $5000 we paid above the special deal, they are essentially offering $1000 to downgrade 3 categories????

 

This is cruise number 15 with Oceania coming up (with 2 more after this in June). After this we certainly won't be booking on-board again - if ever!. Best to wait for the special deals and still get the category we want. Especially as it seems like none of the cruise lines are filling ships as they use to.

 

As we see it, the only advantage of booking on-board is if it is a highly sought after cruise itinerary. Other than that you get a lot more for your money if you wait.

 

There may be situations like you experience on occasion. However, in addition to getting a better choice of cabins by booking early you insure yourself against price increases and the unavailability of any cabins at all which could occur if you book last minute. As a fairly experienced cruiser on many cruise lines, I can tell you that this issue is often raised and it is up to the individual traveler what risks they want to take by booking either early or late. The market will determine whether it is smart or not smart to book early or late for any particular cruise. I believe that booking early is usually the smart choice on Oceania, but, as in your example, it is not always the case.

[2kiwis]

There may be situations like you experience on occasion. However, in addition to getting a better choice of cabins by booking early you insure yourself against price increases and the unavailability of any cabins at all which could occur if you book last minute. As a fairly experienced cruiser on many cruise lines, I can tell you that this issue is often raised and it is up to the individual traveler what risks they want to take by booking either early or late. The market will determine whether it is smart or not smart to book early or late for any particular cruise. I believe that booking early is usually the smart choice on Oceania, but, as in your example, it is not always the case.

 

Having cruised a lot on Oceania I would normally agree with you.

However, we have noticed over the past eighteen months in particular, the special deals for Oceania have increased considerably.

 

We pre-booked THREE cruises this year with Oceania and after final payment we could have got our category at a reduced price on them all .

This never use to be the case but in these hard economic times it would seem that people are not cruising as much - or maybe there is just so much more choice out there??

 

Regardless of the cost you may pay, it is really hard to take when the special deals also offer extra perks like unlimited free internet which you have to pay through the nose for.

Edited March 8, 2014 by 2kiwis

[BEEZLEE]

Similar situation occurred on our upcoming Caribbean and all it took was a call to Oceania and we were rebated the amount of reduced fair via shipboard credit.

[2kiwis]

Similar situation occurred on our upcoming Caribbean and all it took was a call to Oceania and we were rebated the amount of reduced fair via shipboard credit.

 

You were lucky then. Our travel agent tried that with no luck

[orchestrapal]

You were lucky then. Our travel agent tried that with no luck

 

We also got the reduced price and extra perks.

I believe you have the wrong TA.

[2kiwis]

We also got the reduced price and extra perks.

I believe you have the wrong TA.

 

I think it might be because we are not from North America??

 

We shall trying ringing Oceania and see what happens but not hopeful

Edited March 8, 2014 by 2kiwis

[JimandStan]

I think it might be because we are not from North America??

 

We shall trying ringing Oceania and see what happens but not hopeful

 

As you are fairly new to Cruise Critic, you may not be aware that as an Australian Client, you are not and have not ever been dealing with Oceania Cruises directly.

 

Your negotiations would have been with the Australian Cruise Consolidator which holds the contract to sell Oceania Cruises in your part of the World.

 

Those Consolidators have all of the Australian Laws on their side, one of which (unbelievably) is that Australians have no choice but to use their services.

 

These Consolidators can sometimes be quite harsh in their treatment of Australians, but because they are "the Only Game in Town", there isn't any incentive for them to improve.

 

Short of lobbying for a change in the Australian Laws which govern travel, the only thing that you can do is to try to work within the Consolidators' system as best you can.

[wripro]

I guess the moral of this story is that if you have the flexibility wait till three months prior and book then. You may not get the exact cabin you want but the savings might make it worth it. Most people however need to plan more than three months prior especially if they are making their own air arrangements and are trying to use miles for tickets.

[edgee]

As you are fairly new to Cruise Critic, you may not be aware that as an Australian Client, you are not and have not ever been dealing with Oceania Cruises directly.

 

Your negotiations would have been with the Australian Cruise Consolidator which holds the contract to sell Oceania Cruises in your part of the World.

 

Those Consolidators have all of the Australian Laws on their side, one of which (unbelievably) is that Australians have no choice but to use their services.

 

These Consolidators can sometimes be quite harsh in their treatment of Australians, but because they are "the Only Game in Town", there isn't any incentive for them to improve.

 

Short of lobbying for a change in the Australian Laws which govern travel, the only thing that you can do is to try to work within the Consolidators' system as best you can.

 

Jim and Stan,

 

Do the Australian rules apply to the Original poster from New Zealand?

[Mura]

I'm neither Jim nor Stan, but I believe so.

 

Mura

[pinotlover]

Why could Aussies not use an American TA with O experience? The internet can be a powerful tool!

[Mura]

Because that is against the rules.

[Supercattonk]

If its any consolation we too have just experienced booking a cruise on Oceania through a TA in Oz, but fortunately before final payment came up happened to spot on the Oceania web page a very significant price drop for our cruise. Told our TA we would cancel and re book if they didn't get it sorted. They did but an an additional aud150pp at the insistence of the "Australia Wholesaler" (or as JimandStan points out.... Australian Cruise Consolidator which holds the contract to sell Oceania Cruises in your part of the World.)

In the past we have always booked on line direct with Oceania but over the last few years they have made it more difficult to do this.

Other post's hit the nail in saying that things have changed, cruise lines are having trouble filling ships and I believe the days of having to book 12 months out are well and truly over. The same applies to river cruising.

We have cruise plans for late 2014 & 2015 but will not book before 2 or 3 months out and take our chance of cabin selection. As for Oceania, its doubtful they will make the "cruise consideration" list as long as they treat the Australian/New Zealand market with contempt.

 

[JimandStan]

I'm afraid that I'm going to have to take Supercattonk's last post with a grain of salt, because, as many regular Posters to this Board will attest, I have tried mightily to help a number of friends from Down Under overcome the scourge of those dreaded Consolidators or Wholesalers, or whatever they are calling themselves these days; and during the ten years that I have been doing so, persons holding an Australian or New Zealand Passport have always been held to these same Rules, regardless of how they booked their Cruises.

 

Sad to say, it is these Australian entities, not Oceania, which are engaged in demanding their additional pounds of flesh from a captive Audience, due to protectionist Laws, Down Under, which still only allow foreign travel to be purchased from a local company.

 

Please note that Princess (through their mother company P&O), and Holland America were big enough in Asia before the Second World War, that they were grandfathered out of this entire situation.

 

Oceania, not having that history, must play by the rules as they find them, now.

Edited March 10, 2014 by JimandStan

[orchestrapal]

I'm afraid that I'm going to have to take Supercattonk's last post with a grain of salt, because, as many regular Posters to this Board will attest, I have tried mightily to help a number of friends from Down Under overcome the scourge of those dreaded Consolidators or Wholesalers, or whatever they are calling themselves these days; and during the ten years that I have been doing so, persons holding an Australian or New Zealand Passport have always been held to these same Rules, regardless of how they booked their Cruises.

 

Sad to say, it is these Australian entities, not Oceania, which are engaged in demanding their additional pounds of flesh from a captive Audience, due to protectionist Laws, Down Under, which still only allow foreign travel to be purchased from a local company.

 

Please note that Princess (through their mother company P&O), and Holland America were big enough in Asia before the Second World War, that they were grandfathered out of this entire situation.

 

Oceania, not having that history, must play by the rules as they find them, now.

 

Keep a copy of this as you'll probably have to post it a few hundred more times. Some folks just don't get it!;)

[pinotlover]

There has been discussions about waiting to book cruises because the ships have not been selling out. River boat cruises were listed as being the same. I think that is a very broad statement, and doesn't address the facts as they are. I'll use several examples. Last summer we took the Baltic Cruise in July - Copenhagen to Stockholm. the ship was completely sold out and we were offered very tempting offers to change to other dates and/or cruises. We had great weather and great cruising. The same (reverse) in late September went half empty and they had rain and cold the entire trip. Logically, the experienced traveller is not going to book a cruise to St. Petersburg in late September. If you want to book a trip to this locale in prime season, you'd better book early. If you enjoy walking around the Peterhof Gardens in cold rain/sleet in late Sept, you can book when you want.

 

Same goes for some of the Med cruises. Having lived in Europe, you go to the Med for the beach. In the middle of the day, it's seista time, when shops typically shut down from 1-4 p.m. What experienced traveler would want to go and sightsee in Athens, Instanbul, an places in between in the middle of July or August in these locales. The ships don't sell out, well DUH! However, look at the shoulder months when the climate is more moderate, the ships are full.

 

We are taking a Viking River Cruise on the Rhone in mid September 2014. We booked and paid for the cruise in late June of 2013. That boat and most all the other Viking boats during that time frame were completely, or near so, sold out and paid for in full by early August of 2013. If you wanted to go in cooler, rainer April of this year, one could probably still make reservations to do so today.

 

So if one considers it a deal to walk around St. Pete in 40 degree weather in the rain and sleet, or sight see Athens in August, there are probably deals to be had by waiting, otherwise, you'd better book early, imo.

 

Oceania Marina makes one sidney to Auckland trip per year. It's in February. Try booking the Feb 2015 trip today. While it may come available again in Nov, it a chance many of us choose not to make.

[pacheco18]

Why could Aussies not use an American TA with O experience? The internet can be a powerful tool!

 

I know many who do

[no fuss travel]

I know many who do

 

Yes, but they are also using a North American address as their principal residence to be able to get around the rule.

[pacheco18]

Yes, but they are also using a North American address as their principal residence to be able to get around the rule.

 

Yes, they are. And they are saving a boatload of money.

[pinotlover]

I was skipping the obvious when I posted the question. A lot of us use UPS Store services and addresses to achieve many things our individual States make difficult. For me it's primarily the delivery of wine. I once did a lot of business with the US Sales Mgr of an Aussie firm. Upon being reassigned back down under, he obtained such an address in San Diego which he still maintains for a various number of reasons. He told me the practice was common.

[JimandStan]

Yes, they are. And they are saving a boatload of money.

 

No Fuss Travel is right about this. I WISH that this were simply a money issue.

 

Australian and New Zealand Nationals are specifically, legally prohibited from using an outside TA.

 

The larger picture is actually that their Governments, in an effort to bolster up the fledgling travel industry in that part of the World, REQUIRE that a local company be used when travel is purchased from a company which does not maintain a Sales Office in those countries.

 

These Local Companies, knowing that their clients have no choice but to use them, do not provide the best prices or service, but are ironically very efficient when it comes to reporting their countrymen who try to book outside the system.

 

Rogue clients may "get away with it" for a period of time, but doing so is inadvisable, as the financial penalties are quite severe, and repeated infractions can result in the passenger being denied boarding or even being banned for life.

 

Please believe me, I've taken this situation to the most powerful, influential Travel Agents in North America, including those who are known to have the most pull with Oceania, and although they all begin by believing that "there must be some way around this", the final result is always the same. No can do.

 

As long as those Protectionist Laws are on the books, any client who tries to book outside their local system is taking a crazy risk, whatever the savings or perquisites.

 

The law is the law is the law.

 

 

 

[YoHoHo]

Don't want to dig into protectionism and the reasons why their government requires a Corporate presence, or any government imposes restrictions / requirements on trade (i.e. see current thread on USA requiring the acceptance of service animals not required elsewhere).

 

To me the responsibility for good, fair, proper customer lies with the supplier. We have read many posts on this and other boards complaining of the poor service and much less favorable terms such as large non-refundable deposits, etc.

 

Does the sole Australian supplier make up these conditions? Does O have no say in who they contract with and so just have to shrug their shoulders when they hear these complaints?

 

The elected government has chosen to impose the requirement of a local business presence that they can hold accountable but surely O chooses who that rep is.

[Supercattonk]

Hi again, that's news to me. There is no "Prohibition" in place in Australia or New Zealand that requires us to use only Australian based/registered TA's for overseas travel suppliers, i.e. cruise lines/airlines/train travel/etc. I can book direct and have done in the past with Oceania (but they, Oceania want/prefer you to use their Oz agent/wholesaler) The wholesaler for Oceania is appointed by Oceania so acts on their behalf and one would assume under their rules.

 

I have booked direct with other US based cruise lines/airlines and likewise with UK/European and Asian companies. Some Europe based river cruises are not geared to deal direct with the traveler so you have no choice but use a TA.

 

I have no axe to grind with TA's, I think they do an excellent job as the majority of travelers are not interested in trying to deal direct or build their own "tour".

 

My gripe is with the "supplier" i.e. Cruise Line/Airline or any other who establish a price, take your deposit then drop the price quite substantially and expect you to either pay that inflated price or pay a service fee to allow you to take the "dropped" price.

 

As stated in an earlier post, IMHO "times are changing & booking too far ahead is fraught with danger"

 

Happy traveling/cruising to you all.

[LHT28]

I remember back in the dark ages (before internet)

If you wanted to book a cruise here you had to book through a TA who had to use the wholesalers here ...you could not book direct with the cruise line or with a U.S. agent

The wholesalers converted the prices to CAD at a VERY lucrative exchange rate for them ;)

 

Fortunately things have changed here

 

It is not always the case in other Countries

 

Lyn