Questions about the 20th cruise -- The Free One

[golfguyhhi]

If you have taken your 20th Oceania cruise, the (14 days for) free one, can you tell me how far in advance you were able to book it as your 20th? I know there is a 180 day minimum advance requirement.

 

Also, and more importantly, did you book the cruise as the second cruise of a back-to-back? Did you have any problem with Oceania in doing so?

 

Here's why I'm asking:

 

We have our 18th cruise booked for April, 2020. We want to book a back-to-back in November, 2020 with the first cruise as our 19th, and the second leg as our 20th. We want to do this booking as soon as the rest of the 2020 schedule is released (which is supposed to be in mid-October of this year)

 

Oceania says we can't do that -- that's what they've told our TA. I've asked for clarification and we're still waiting.

 

I'm trying to find out if the issue is that we have to have COMPLETED our 19th before we can attempt to book the 20th (no less than 180 days in advance). This presents a problem as the second cruise (which would be our 20th) is very popular and the cabin class we want books very quickly, and it is only offered once a year. And I really want to do the cruises as a back-to-back.

 

Any guidance you gleaned from your experience in this undertaking would be greatly appreciated.

[StanandJim]

Don't want to be a downer, Hi but the scenario that you've outlined is the definitive recipe for disappointment, please don't do it to yourself.

 

1) Oceania won't block off space for your benefit cruise until you have completed your 19th.

2) Oceania requires that the free cruise BE your 20th.

 

I'd suggest rearranging your schedule so that the free cruise is a stand alone voyage that you can enjoy planning and sailing. The rules have been the rules since the inception of the plan, why make the process contentious and stressful at this point?

[golfguyhhi]

S&J,

 

No, not a downer at all.

 

The one thing I couldn't find definitively was the fact that #19 had to be completed before even beginning work on #20.

 

We can certainly work a schedule that meets O's requirements. I mean, that's not much effort for a free cruise with a value of $20,000 to as much as $38,000.

 

Hope I don't have to claim the value of the free cruise on my income tax.

 

Thanks for helping me out on this. Much appreciated.

[StanandJim]

Hope I don't have to claim the value of the free cruise on my income tax.

 

When the Rewards are in kind, i.e. getting a cruise for buying other cruises, and are based on legitimate purchases, the Internal Revenue Service considers them to be nontaxable rebates.

They are, in the IRS’ eyes, simply a reduction in the price you paid for those goods or services, after the fact.

Please pardon if this is too technical, Stan is a benefits accountant, so we naturally look at any Reward through a different filter than most.

It is pure magic discussing taxation law with him :lips-sealed::lips-sealed:

[ORV]

Don't want to be a downer, Hi but the scenario that you've outlined is the definitive recipe for disappointment, please don't do it to yourself.

 

1) Oceania won't block off space for your benefit cruise until you have completed your 19th.

2) Oceania requires that the free cruise BE your 20th.

 

I'd suggest rearranging your schedule so that the free cruise is a stand alone voyage that you can enjoy planning and sailing. The rules have been the rules since the inception of the plan, why make the process contentious and stressful at this point?

 

In policy number two is correct, in practice it happens. I was just on a cruise where the people were doing a B2B, number 20 & 21. The 21st was their free one. I ran into another couple doing this a couple of years ago. If I've met a couple of people that have done it I'm sure there are plenty of others. In this situation it's best to let your TA guide you through it. It helps even more if they have a little pull with Oceania.

 

A couple things you may not know. Since I just was on my free cruise we found this out. On your free cruise(20th) you get Platinum O Benefits. You don't get your Platinum pin or get recognized at the Repeaters Party. You are still listed as being Gold on the website and on invoices. You don't actually make Platinum until your 21st cruise, which is your 20th paid cruise. Consequently your second free one, if you make it that far is actually the 41st and the third one the 62nd.

 

You probably already know this but the room category you get on the free cruise is an average of what you've booked on the previous 19th.

 

You do get the included air on your free cruise, but if you want to do your own air there is no credit. You can also take advantage of Premium Economy if they're offering it on your cruise, at the offer rate.

 

You will need to pay any taxes and port fees or air differential cost.

 

On our last cruise the couples (4) on our trivia team were all on their free cruise. We didn't know that until we had formed our team the 2nd day.

 

Any problems associated with a free cruise are good problems to have.

 

FWIW, I booked my free cruise around 16- 18 months in advance, when I was on my 16th or 17th cruise. I booked it as a regular cruise where I could get the room I wanted(B3), put down the onboard deposit, then once we were in the proper time window changed it to the free one.

 

There's always a way to accomplish what you are wanting to do.

[StanandJim]

FWIW, I booked my free cruise around 16- 18 months in advance, when I was on my 16th or 17th cruise. I booked it as a regular cruise where I could get the room I wanted(B3), put down the onboard deposit, then once we were in the proper time window changed it to the free one

Excellent advice, provided that one is willing to front the fare at first.

So few are willing to do this, that we stopped mentioning it.

[pinotlover]

I believe the free cruise is only a 7 Day cruise. If you want it to be a longer one, you have to pay the additional amount on a pro rate basis.

[StanandJim]

I believe the free cruise is only a 7 Day cruise. If you want it to be a longer one, you have to pay the additional amount on a pro rate basis.

 

Incorrect, the free cruise is the average length of the cruises which one has purchased in order to get to the 20th voyage. :D

[LHT28]

According to O the free cruise is 14 days or less if you go longer you pay the difference

 

Check the T & C's for conditions of the free cruises

 

 

Maybe others will comment

[ORV]

According to O the free cruise is 14 days or less if you go longer you pay the difference

 

Check the T & C's for conditions of the free cruises

 

 

Maybe others will comment

 

What Lyn said.

[LHT28]

just slip a couple of 7 or 10 day cruises in by the end of next year :D

[sunnies]

We took our 20th free cruise in April this year. It was a 28 day itinerary which earns two cruise credits and for us were the 19th and 20th. As we were paying for 14 days with 14 free we were able to book our preferred cabin nearly two years ahead. However Oceania would not confirm the free cruise until 5 months prior to sailing. Our Australian Travel Agent found securing this free cruise for us a difficult process. Once on board there were still more problems with the OBC as well as the beverage OLife package only being given to me and not my husband!! Problems eventually resolved. Good luck with the free cruise.

[ORV]

We took our 20th free cruise in April this year. It was a 28 day itinerary which earns two cruise credits and for us were the 19th and 20th. As we were paying for 14 days with 14 free we were able to book our preferred cabin nearly two years ahead. However Oceania would not confirm the free cruise until 5 months prior to sailing. Our Australian Travel Agent found securing this free cruise for us a difficult process. Once on board there were still more problems with the OBC as well as the beverage OLife package only being given to me and not my husband!! Problems eventually resolved. Good luck with the free cruise.

 

We got no Olife on the free cruise, only Club amenities. Was the Olife problem on the paid or free part or both?

[sunnies]

We got no Olife on the free cruise, only Club amenities. Was the Olife problem on the paid or free part or both?

 

Originally we were told by Oceania that there would be no OLife for either part of the cruise. We wanted the drinks package. We were to be credited with an OBC for the 14 days paid portion but on checking our account on board there was no credit. Instead we had been given the drinks package despite being told it was not available due to our free segment. We had the package for the full 28 days so were very happy. Must admit securing the free cruise was a confusing process.

[Waynetor]

We currently have 15 credits and our next cruise will be a world cruise worth another 15. An O rep told me that in this case our 31st cruise would be free.

 

Anyone have a similar experience and did it work out alright?

[BarbaraM]

I found booking our complimentary cruise to be confusing. We had ours booked but needed to cancel due to health issues, within the cancellation timeline. We wanted to a take a short cruise 4 months later, but were told in no uncertain terms that would be our free cruise. Even though, it was less than 6 months in advance. They seem to bend the rules on the booking date, I would guess depending on the popularity of the cruise. They would not bend on having us pay for this cruise and use our credit for a later cruise when we had time to take a 14 day trip. We ended up waiting a year to take our complimentary cruise. You do make the Down payment and book the cruise as normal, and then close to final payment request the club benefit. I recommend talking to Oceania club directly, as it seems there are various scenarios where you could lose the benefit. And, it is a very nice benefit. We did receive our platinum pin and benefits on this cruise, but still listed as gold online.

[sunnies]

I found booking our complimentary cruise to be confusing. We had ours booked but needed to cancel due to health issues, within the cancellation timeline. We wanted to a take a short cruise 4 months later, but were told in no uncertain terms that would be our free cruise. Even though, it was less than 6 months in advance. They seem to bend the rules on the booking date, I would guess depending on the popularity of the cruise. They would not bend on having us pay for this cruise and use our credit for a later cruise when we had time to take a 14 day trip. We ended up waiting a year to take our complimentary cruise. You do make the Down payment and book the cruise as normal, and then close to final payment request the club benefit. I recommend talking to Oceania club directly, as it seems there are various scenarios where you could lose the benefit. And, it is a very nice benefit. We did receive our platinum pin and benefits on this cruise, but still listed as gold online.

 

On our free cruise we also received our platinum pins and a bottle of Veuve Cliquot. However after the cruise I checked our profile on line and our club tier is still gold and it says we need two more cruise credits to reach platinum. Makes no sense to me!

[golfguyhhi]

Orv,

 

"FWIW, I booked my free cruise around 16- 18 months in advance, when I was on my 16th or 17th cruise. I booked it as a regular cruise where I could get the room I wanted (B3), put down the on-board deposit, then once we were in the proper time window changed it to the free one."

So you only had your deposit at risk (so to speak) for your 20th cruise. But you still couldn't make the 20th cruise arrangements until you had completed your 19th, is that correct? The key looks like having #19 done more than 180 days before #20, and well before final payment on #20 so O has ample time to check their records on you and determine that it is your 20th, and what type of cabin you are eligible for.

 

If that's true, it looks like we will be able to aim for the particular cruise we want far enough out that we'll be able to get in before everything is wait-listed.

BTW, 2 Under Par is looking forward to facing you in trivia on the Amsterdam-Lisbon cruise next year.

[ORV]

Orv,

 

"FWIW, I booked my free cruise around 16- 18 months in advance, when I was on my 16th or 17th cruise. I booked it as a regular cruise where I could get the room I wanted (B3), put down the on-board deposit, then once we were in the proper time window changed it to the free one."

So you only had your deposit at risk (so to speak) for your 20th cruise. But you still couldn't make the 20th cruise arrangements until you had completed your 19th, is that correct? The key looks like having #19 done more than 180 days before #20, and well before final payment on #20 so O has ample time to check their records on you and determine that it is your 20th, and what type of cabin you are eligible for.

 

If that's true, it looks like we will be able to aim for the particular cruise we want far enough out that we'll be able to get in before everything is wait-listed.

BTW, 2 Under Par is looking forward to facing you in trivia on the Amsterdam-Lisbon cruise next year.

 

Yes, when I booked it I already had my 19th booked. We completed our 19th about 7 months before our free one. At the proper time our TA took care of transferring it over. I found it to be a pretty stress free process. But our TA took care of everything for us, told us what we would and wouldn't get and what to do. But we have an exceptional TA, as those that use her know.

 

The biggest problem was not taking another Oceania cruise between January and July.

 

Is 2 under par your Trivia team name? Are you on that cruise? If so come join the Roll Call, it's pretty active for a cruise a year away. I'm not very good at trivia, I just happen to get lucky by getting on good teams.

[mountain grandma]

We took our free cruise on the 35-day circumnavigation of Australia in Spring, 2017. We got 14 days free and paid for 21 days. My question has to do with Oceania Club credit for the paid portion. I know that we don't get credit for the free cruise but we also didn't get credit for the paid 21 days. Has anyone had experience with this same situation and did you get a cruise credit for the portion that you paid for?

 

Thanks,

Billie

 

 

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[Paulchili]

We took our free cruise on the 35-day circumnavigation of Australia in Spring, 2017. We got 14 days free and paid for 21 days. My question has to do with Oceania Club credit for the paid portion. I know that we don't get credit for the free cruise but we also didn't get credit for the paid 21 days. Has anyone had experience with this same situation and did you get a cruise credit for the portion that you paid for?

 

Thanks,

Billie

 

 

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Unfortunately no - you do not get credit for the paid portion (we didn’t either :()

It doesn’t seem quite right - you paid for 21 days - that could potentially be three 7 day cruises and thus 3 credits but you should have gotten at least 1 extra credit for the paid portion IMO.

[mountain grandma]

Unfortunately no - you do not get credit for the paid portion (we didn’t either :()

It doesn’t seem quite right - you paid for 21 days - that could potentially be three 7 day cruises and thus 3 credits but you should have gotten at least 1 extra credit for the paid portion IMO.

 

 

 

Thanks, Paul. We just wanted 1!

 

 

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[LHT28]

We just wanted 1!

 

 

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did your or your TA pursue it with the O club Ambassador??

Seems unfair not to get 1 for the 21 day paid portion

[mountain grandma]

did your or your TA pursue it with the O club Ambassador??

 

Seems unfair not to get 1 for the 21 day paid portion

 

 

 

We asked the O Club Ambassador on the cruise we just finished and she agree that we should get the 1 credit. We're going to send an email but when I saw this thread, I decided to ask on CC to see if anyone had, in fact, received a credit which would lend credibility to our question as to why we didn't.

 

 

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[grmmybtty]

About 2 years ago our TA helped us book a 20 day London-London via Iceland and Greenland on the Nautica as our free cruise just after completing our 15th cruise. We had 16-20th booked already. Oceania took our deposit with the understanding that it would only be “free” if we completed the other cruises. We would get 14 days free and the remaining 6 would be prorated. We would get the Platinum amenities but not OLife, even for the remaining 6 paid days. We later booked the following cruise to the Baltic as a B2B, paid for the full 20 days and got Oceania to give us the 14 day cruise as our free one. We got OLife with the 20 day cruise and Platinum amenities for both cruises. Even with the changes we made, it worked out very easily. A good TA is important since we ran across another couple who really had to struggle to get their free cruise since their TA was a friend of her sister who did not do many Oceania bookings.

 

 

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