guaranteed basis

[DREUX]

When someone says something is a dishonest policy (Susuesan's response), and I respond that I fail to see how that is a dishonest poilcy, and give my reasons why.....is that flaming, being impolite, being disrespectful, being a trouble maker, being a flamer, correcting other posters spelling/typos? I also ended with the statement that I was open to correction.

 

By the way, my response was about guarantee cabins in general, not Oceania in particular. Yes, I have sailed on Oceania, and it was not perfect. I pointed out the shortcomings in a letter directly to Oceania. The purpose of my letter was to assist them in looking at things from a customer's point of view. I have no need or desire to say that "Oceania can do no wrong" My response would have been the same, no matter the cruiseline.

 

I always try to be polite both in life and on these boards.

 

If you have a specific problem with the contents of what I said, please have the decency to point that out to me. If it is with someone else's response, then please have the courtesy to inform them.

 

"Oh what a gift the Lord to give us....to see ourselves as others see us" Robert Burns (translated from Scottish)

 

"When you point a finger, be careful. There are 3 other fingers pointing back at you" Old Chinese Proverb

 

TIMBO89...... My post in no way was directed at you. With as few posts as you have on this board I would hardly refer to you as one of the board know-it-alls. Those it was directed know very well who they are! These "board know-it-alls come right out and call other posters "trouble makers" and "flamers", etc. when a poster dares to post something the least little bit negative or contrary about Oceania all under the guise of helping another poster, they have no shame. What BULLSH** and HYPOCRICY is this? There is certainly nothing polite or respectful about their tactics! If you read this board on somewhat of regular basis you will soon know who these know-it-alls are. And for what it is worth, I am familiar with the Robert Burns quote and the Old Chinese Proverb. I will also add that usually, with other cruise lines anyway, there is somewhat of an incentive offered to a passenger who books a guarantee, such as a chance of an upgrade or a price reduction, etc. Oceania with its small ships and good fortune to sell out most of its sailings should probably not offer guarantees due to the fact that most passengers are used to the above mentioned incentives, all it can do is cause ill will towards Oceania. Again my post was not directed at you.

 

Doug

[timbo89]

Dreux:

 

Thank you. I appreciate your courtesy. Forgive me for jumping to conclusions.I read these boards a lot, and post very little.

 

Perhaps I should post less!!

[susiesan]

"A guarantee is simply that. You will get a stateroom in the category you requested, or, at the cruiselines' discretion, one in a higher category. You are simply paying a little less (usually) so that the cruiseline has some flexibility."

 

In this case the price for a guarantee is exactly the same as for a Cat G. The resason I book the guarantee which every single cruieline I have ever sailed on (many) has is I'm taking the gamble that for the discount I might get a better cabin. If I had known that Oceania really didn't honor guarantees I would have requested a specific cabin in Cat G. This is the first cruise in over 33 that there has not been a real guarantee policy. If they had no intention of doing a guarantee they shouldn't have sold it as such

[arizonaartie]

I think we're missing a key factor in "Guarantee". Take the example of a Cat G that would have 30 cabins and are all sold. They company continues to sell this Cat as a Guarantee. If 5 sold cabins cancel and 5 Guarantees are sold, all would end up with a Cat G. But suppose 10 sold as guarantee and only 5 sold cabins cancelled. The cruise line is obligated to give all 10 Guarantees a cabin and therefore 5 of those would get an Upgrade.

Am I wrong in my analysis?

arizonaartie

[susiesan]

"Brian - I wish you luck. You should really peruse your itinerary and think about where you would like Oceania to cut 20% of the time you are on shore on your 2006 cruise, because that's what the result is for us. While I understand your "you pay your money..." concept, I trust if you came home from the grocery store and found 20% of your groceries missing, you might not feel the same way, especially if the store enclosed a message in your grocery bag saying that they might come to your house to take away still more of your groceries. And don't even HINT that some compensation for your missing groceries might be in order.

"

 

If you are going to take the cruise, dispute only 20% of it with your credit card company. If it's Am ex, they will let you do this. Send Am Ex a letter explaining that you did not receive all you paid for. Am Ex will immediately take the charges off on your next bill and contact Oceania to get their side of the story. If Oceania does not provide a satisfactory explanation, the credit will be permanent. Am Ex works for their cardholders, not the merchants. I've done this many times and never lost a dispute. Chances are Oceania won't even respond to Am ex's inquiry and you will get to keep the money.

 

So why did oceania so drastically change your itinerary?

Susie

[Jane110]

I don't get it at all.. if you are concerned about where your cabin is, what it looks out to ( assuming you are booking a cabin with a window) then why on earth would you even consider allowing someone to put you in a

cabin that you would not want to be in?:confused:

 

Claudia,

 

Bruin Steve explained it well, but if you don't understand, I'll try to explain further.

 

As you know, we always book a regular cabin w/ a balcony and we chose which cabin we'd like to be in when we book. However, if we booked a "guaranteed" balcony catagory, it would mean we're guarantee'd at least a balcony cabin and we're forfeiting the priviledge of selecting a particular one in exchange for a cheaper price than if we selected our cabin. It also assumes that if a larger balcony cabin becomes available, there's a chance we'd get upgraded to that.

 

On big ships, this model works well. However, on smaller ships like Oceania, there's not as many cabin catagory's and there's a lot less cabins. Since most Oceania cruises sell out, there's little chance of an upgrade. So, some people are questioning why Oceania bothers to use this system.

[ClaudiaF]

Jane,

 

I guess I didn't write that very clearly...sometimes the mind thinks faster than the fingers type.. ;)

 

in any event: I know what an "quarantee" is supposed to be.. someone posted that they were afraid to get one as they didn't want to get a lower cabin deck but didn't care if they were inside..it was a bit confusing to me that's all.

[Petoonya]

Back to the OP and hopes of getting a little bit better with a guarantee....

 

In the "olden" days a TA with some clout could arrange to get a client an upgrade. I cruised Regatta, Barcelona to Venice on 4/24 of this year. We booked a Cat G cabin assignment vs the guarantee. My agent was able to upgrade me anyway to a Cat E shortly before I made final payment- it was wonderful. Obstructed view but midship, close to everything. Sealed the deal- I'll always use her.

[ClaudiaF]

Back to the OP and hopes of getting a little bit better with a guarantee....

 

In the "olden" days a TA with some clout could arrange to get a client an upgrade. I cruised Regatta, Barcelona to Venice on 4/24 of this year. We booked a Cat G cabin assignment vs the guarantee. My agent was able to upgrade me anyway to a Cat E shortly before I made final payment- it was wonderful. Obstructed view but midship, close to everything. Sealed the deal- I'll always use her.

 

Suppose it would just be a matter if the ship was full or not. seems that with so few cabins on O that an upgrade would be a bit difficult to get and you were lucky!

[Jane110]

Jane,

 

I guess I didn't write that very clearly...sometimes the mind thinks faster than the fingers type.. ;)

 

in any event: I know what an "quarantee" is supposed to be.. someone posted that they were afraid to get one as they didn't want to get a lower cabin deck but didn't care if they were inside..it was a bit confusing to me that's all.

 

Gotcha....understand.

 

Jane

[Petoonya]

Claudia- about our upgrade...we WERE lucky. But I think it speaks of what kind of a relationship the TA has with Oceania more than anything else. In any case we were thrilled. The itinerary was fabulous and we would have been happy anywhere on the ship but to get a little nicer cabin location- jeez what a bonus.

[shmabbies]

I will be sailing on what was sold to me as a guarantee later this year. My understanding when I booked it was that all the cabins in my category were sold & because I didn't want to purchase a higher priced cabin, I could book a guarantee. I understood it to be that there certainly would be shakeout in my category at final payment time & I'd get the level I booked. ONLY if that did not happen would I get something higher. As it stands, the category became available even before final payment & I was assigned a cabin number, which has not changed since then even though I know there are higher category cabins still unsold. There was no "discount" for taking this option.

 

The explanation I got appears to be contrary to explanations others have gotten but that doesn't surprise me since Oceania often gives conflicting information, and TAs too understand things differently sometimes. I consulted several TAs on this when I was booking, all of whom I have used in the past & have a good relationship with. Two of them say they were told Oceania does not "do" guarantees at all & when I called personally, without divulging what I had been told, I was told the same thing. The third TA got the guarantee, no sweat. It's one of those mind-boggling situations that occurs fairly regularly when dealing with Oceania. I see that "Queen of DaNile" on the other thread about "Guarantees" was told the same thing by her TA i.e. that Oceania doesn't "do" guarantees. :confused:

[LHT28]

Claudia- about our upgrade...we WERE lucky. But I think it speaks of what kind of a relationship the TA has with Oceania more than anything else. In any case we were thrilled. The itinerary was fabulous and we would have been happy anywhere on the ship but to get a little nicer cabin location- jeez what a bonus.

 

I don't think it has anything to do with TA relationships unless it is Jan maybe!;)

Our TA had never booked Oceania and we got a 3 Cat upgrade.

IMHO...I think it is timing...when you book how many cabins are left etc...

[ClaudiaF]

Gotcha....understand.

 

Jane

Hey dahlink..

must be something I drank.......:D

miss you guys..

[Petoonya]

I don't think it has anything to do with TA relationships unless it is Jan maybe!;)

Our TA had never booked Oceania and we got a 3 Cat upgrade.

IMHO...I think it is timing...when you book how many cabins are left etc...

 

Yup! It was an associate of Jan's, but Jan who ultimately got the upgrade for us.

And yes, I am former TA and getting an upgrade has a lot to do with inventory, agency relationship with cruise line/sales rep and sales volume.

[cruisin'cats]

I want to thank you for this discussion as I was in the middle of making a decision regarding which cruise to take--Nautica or return to Celebrity for the Millennium Med cruise (I've been on Mille and her sister ship Summit before, never been on Oceania). Our Cruise agent had a guarantee hold on an A3 Concierge level for us. After reading your discussions here, I told her when we booked last night that she should just go ahead and pick up a cabin that's as midship as possible while they still have some to pick from. If there is no guarantee of that much of an improvement in any way other than a bit more midship--and with an almost sold ship less likely a chance of getting that much of an upgrade--it's not worth waiting for the last chance cabin. I'll know more after our agent talks to the line today.

[Jancruz]

You did the right thing..enjoy your trip!!

 

Jan

*****

[cruisin'cats]

I sure hope to! It's not like one can have a 50th birthday with 600+ people every year so this will be special.