When are Two Sailings One Sailing

[Jancruz]

I believe that it depends on how you pay for the two cruises. If you pay the single lesser Grand Voyage fare, then it counts as a single voyage.

If getting the two credits is important to you, have it priced separately.

 

And the price is different..

Jancruz1

[LHT28]

And the price is different..

Jancruz1

do they not discount B2B anymore?

 

 

[Jancruz]

do they not discount B2B anymore?

 

 

 

Not if it is a GV..

Jancruz1

[LHT28]

Not if it is a GV..

Jancruz1

:confused::confused:

so if you book it as 2 cruises there is no B2B discount if it is listed as a GV??

 

But if you book 2 cruises as a B2B that are not a GV do you get a discount??

 

Maybe I need more coffee to work this out ;)

[2onboardagain]

Thinking I could obtain a lucid explanation for my confusion I emailed Oceania with a description of my experience and asking why a 7 day sailing followed by a 10 day sailing is suddenly one sailing if I remain on board for both.

 

After waiting several days for a reply an individual claiming to be an Oceania Club Coordinator gave me the following terse reply: "Your sailing is designated as 17 day sailing and earns you one cruise credit"

 

Shocked by that less than informative explanation I recontacted this individual for their rationale and received the following one sentence reply: " The number of cruise credits in the Loyalty Program is determined by the number of cruise days in the sailing"

 

So I am still at a loss as to understanding how two sailings that are marketed in their brochure as B2B sailings became a GV.

[drwong]

We had a similar experience. Contact your travel agent to find out if you can be rebooked for two separate B2B cruises (with separate booking numbers and all that it entails). Take the airfare credits for the two cruises and use it to book your independent air at the beginning of the first cruise and at the termination of the second (keeping in mind that Oceania's bulk pricing for air may be far less than your out-of-pocket cost). Compare those B2B costs to the GV price and see if the difference (if any) is worth the extra cruise credit!

[2onboardagain]

We had a similar experience. Contact your travel agent to find out if you can be rebooked for two separate B2B cruises (with separate booking numbers and all that it entails). Take the airfare credits for the two cruises and use it to book your independent air at the beginning of the first cruise and at the termination of the second (keeping in mind that Oceania's bulk pricing for air may be far less than your out-of-pocket cost). Compare those B2B costs to the GV price and see if the difference (if any) is worth the extra cruise credit!

 

I am learning that you are exactly right. Without separate booking numbers they will not call it a B2B sailing. (You can't believe your lying eyes watching people and luggage arrive and leave on the various segments. It is only a B2B if they say it is). It's a Bizarro World.

[roger b]

not true

 

I would check your information

 

I am booked on the same B to B as the person that started this blog, on Monday of this week I happened to notice that my travel agent had suddenly listed my cruise booking as a grand voyage at a much reduced price to the one I had booked.

As it was three days before final payment I attempted to cancel and rebook after much debate and having an email from Oceania UK they explained and proved that it would be a better deal for me to stick with what I have.

I have two separate bookings numbers with two lots of extras and the last line of the email says that if I want cancel and change they would treat it as one booking not two.

I fail to see how they cannot give 2 cruise credits as they have always done in the past as there has been no prior notice that they have changed the rules.

I shall be writing to the UK office tomorrow to see what they have to say-- Watch this Space !!

[ORV]

Just so we'll have it on this page also.

 

Cruises up to 24 days will receive one cruise credit

Cruises 25-34 days will receive two cruise credits

Cruises 35-44 days will receive three cruise credits

Cruises 45-54 days will receive four cruise credits

Cruises 55-64 days will receive five cruise credits

Cruises 65 + will receive seven cruise credits

[LHT28]

I am booked on the same B to B as the person that started this blog, on Monday of this week I happened to notice that my travel agent had suddenly listed my cruise booking as a grand voyage at a much reduced price to the one I had booked.

So I got lost in your explanation

do you have 2 cruise or the GV?

 

Since you quoted my comment

If you have 2 cruises did they change your cabin for the 2nd cruise ?

[LHT28]

 

So I am still at a loss as to understanding how two sailings that are marketed in their brochure as B2B sailings became a GV.

I am going to guess

If you book 1 cruise that is fine if you book a second cruise that is now part of a GV then for some people it now becomes 1 cruise according to the experts here

So it seems some people can book the 2 cruises as separate bookings & some people it is turned into a GV

 

Clear a mud

[2onboardagain]

I am going to guess

If you book 1 cruise that is fine if you book a second cruise that is now part of a GV then for some people it now becomes 1 cruise according to the experts here

So it seems some people can book the 2 cruises as separate bookings & some people it is turned into a GV

 

Clear a mud

 

Don't you just love the consistency and predicability we are discovering here?

(It's not what you see it's what they say you see)

[maztoz]

This thread is painful to read!

 

What I see, is that what you say they say about this issue, is more than enough inconsistency and unpredictability to cause major headaches requiring immediate application of chilled wine bottles to forehead! (Please use contents of bottle to swallow aspirin)

Hang in there my friend, don't let the Bizarro's make you crazy.

I'm thinking a nice juicy formal letter to the Powers-That-Be couldn't hurt?

[roger b]

So I got lost in your explanation

do you have 2 cruise or the GV?

 

Since you quoted my comment

If you have 2 cruises did they change your cabin for the 2nd cruise ?

 

I have two cruise bookings in the same cabin in fact when I booked there was no offer of a grand voyage on the uk site this was only offered in the last few weeks.

In the last two years I have taken two B to B cruises and have been awarded two cruise credits each time I cannot see that Oceania would change this.

I will see what I am intitled to tomorrow.

[LHT28]

I have two cruise bookings in the same cabin in fact when I booked there was no offer of a grand voyage on the uk site this was only offered in the last few weeks.

In the last two years I have taken two B to B cruises and have been awarded two cruise credits each time I cannot see that Oceania would change this.

I will see what I am intitled to tomorrow.

yours like the Dec 2 & 12 sailing was not offered as a GV initially Oceania decided to put them as a GV later :eek:

So in this case people should be able to book separately without all this hassle of converting to a GV

 

They are finding more ways to tick off their passengers :mad:

Edited August 6, 2015 by LHT28

[Winner]

They are finding more ways to tick off their passengers :mad:

[/b]

 

And apparently doing a good job at that!

 

I have considered sailing Oceania; I would like to see a fare lasting longer than an hour and then not seeing that fare reduced after final payment. I don't have the time or patience to play Oceania's fare games.

Edited August 7, 2015 by Winner

[2onboardagain]

Just so we'll have it on this page also.

 

Cruises up to 24 days will receive one cruise credit

Cruises 25-34 days will receive two cruise credits

Cruises 35-44 days will receive three cruise credits

Cruises 45-54 days will receive four cruise credits

Cruises 55-64 days will receive five cruise credits

Cruises 65 + will receive seven cruise credits

 

It is my understanding from other boards that the Round The World Cruise of 180 days received 13 cruise credits (one for each of the segments in that cruise). Now why isn't that logic applied consistently across all of the Grand Voyages or Extended Journeys or whatever they are calling them these days. What could be simpler?

[2onboardagain]

Here is the cruise credit information that Oceania Staff have provided to me

 

Cruise Credits:

 

180 days

Around the World 2015 – 15 Credits

World Odyssey 2015 – 12 Credits

Around the World 2016- 13 Credits

 

Consistency and Predictability??????

Edited August 7, 2015 by 2onboardagain

[2552phxcrzr]

For RTW 2017, O told us 13 points at the time of booking ... at this stage, have no idea what the segments are since the RTW is available only for booking as a whole, so can't say whether this is consistent/inconsistent with past voyages. Or if this will change later; or if I would get a different answer if I were to call back and ask the question of someone else :rolleyes:

[cbb]

we're on 180 2016 RTW and our TA was told, by O, that we are getting 7...

[2onboardagain]

I can't help wondering why Oceania insists on this bizarro world Cruise Credit thing that is at best confusing and inconsistent and at worst borderline unfair. I note that their sister line Regent Seven Seas uses total accumulated days as the basis of calculating their loyalty club benefits and I also note from my own Oceania Club Page that Oceania keeps track of the number of days we have sailed on each voyage so why not create a system that is consistent across the board and just count total accumulated days?

 

PS As an example of what I was referring to as borderline unfair I would refer you to the Amazon Cruise that Regatta makes every year. Last year when we were on board it was a 24 day voyage thus we received 1 cruise credit. This year it is a 25 day voyage and thus will be credited with 2 cruise credits.

[2onboardagain]

Now it seems to me that any reasonable person on a cruise ship who saw their fellow passengers and luggage leaving the ship would come to the reasonable conclusion that a cruise had ended and another was about to begin. And if that reasonable person had booked passage that permitted him/her to remain on board for an additional journey and if new passengers came on board with their luggage one could only conclude that a "new" cruise had begun. So why is this general knowledge turned on its head by deeming the journey a "Grand Voyage"?

[LHT28]

Now it seems to me that any reasonable person on a cruise ship who saw their fellow passengers and luggage leaving the ship would come to the reasonable conclusion that a cruise had ended and another was about to begin. And if that reasonable person had booked passage that permitted him/her to remain on board for an additional journey and if new passengers came on board with their luggage one could only conclude that a "new" cruise had begun. So why is this general knowledge turned on its head by deeming the journey a "Grand Voyage"?

 

I do not think you are going to get any further with O on the deal so if you will be unhappy it might be time to cancel the cruise

 

If there was no GV when you booked then yes you should be able to do it as a B2B

[2onboardagain]

I do not think you are going to get any further with O on the deal so if you will be unhappy it might be time to cancel the cruise

 

If there was no GV when you booked then yes you should be able to do it as a B2B

 

I have attempted to contact Oceania through their email system and am still awaiting a reply. This cruise is to be a birthday celebration for my bride so it is very unlikely that we would cancel. It is just disappointing to experience this strange interpretation of B2B cruising from what we have considered to be our favorite cruise line.

[2onboardagain]

Today's mail brought the September issue of Travel + Leisure magazine with its included 36 page Oceania insert which (you guessed it) offers the two cruises (that have been combined as a Grand Voyage in my case) as separate voyages with NO mention of them becoming one voyage if taken B2B.

 

Why isn't their print blitz consistent with what is lurking on their web pages?

 

I am still awaiting a reply to my emails to Oceania.