New: US Govt travel restrictions to Cuba announced

[oceanbill457]

To their credit, Oceania allowed me to cancel with a refund. Hopefully in the future they will be able to take me to Cuba.

[CTLeeA]

9 minutes ago, oceanbill457 said:

To their credit, Oceania allowed me to cancel with a refund. Hopefully in the future they will be able to take me to Cuba.

YES!  Great that a company does the right thing even when they're not obligated to do so.

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

I'm betting the come.  I just had my TA upgrade us to a PH3 for our Insignia NYE.  They were all gone for the regular itinerary but apparently there's already been cancellations.  Figure with the rumored discount it will be $8500 for ten nights.  Now just hope the itinerary is something we might like.    

[kendon]

28 minutes ago, ATSEAMYLIFE said:

I'm betting the come.  I just had my TA upgrade us to a PH3 for our Insignia NYE.  They were all gone for the regular itinerary but apparently there's already been cancellations.  Figure with the rumored discount it will be $8500 for ten nights.  Now just hope the itinerary is something we might like.    

I hope your itinerary change is better than ours.  The July 11th is western carib (roatan, belize, costa maya, and NCL private island)...bleh.  Very mainstream ports.  The July 18th is St Kitts, Martinique, St Barts...much more "Oceania".  Staying with it as it's easier that fiddling with airfare and cancellation.  Oceania could have done better.  😞

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

17 minutes ago, kendon said:

I hope your itinerary change is better than ours.  The July 11th is western carib (roatan, belize, costa maya, and NCL private island)...bleh.  Very mainstream ports.  The July 18th is St Kitts, Martinique, St Barts...much more "Oceania".  Staying with it as it's easier that fiddling with airfare and cancellation.  Oceania could have done better.  😞

 

Agreed, July 18th would be OK as we haven't been to any of those.  The July 11th, "been there done that."   Some is going to depend on what my flight insurance or AMEX card will do for the airfare.  Not even going to bother with that until I see the new itinerary.  

Edited June 7, 2019 by ATSEAMYLIFE

[Paulchili]

7 hours ago, CTLeeA said:

I was told today by Citi bank that they have already received serveral claims and they might waive the exclusions on a case by case basis

Could you please explain where Citi comes into this - is it with their CC cancelation policy?

[CTLeeA]

28 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

Could you please explain where Citi comes into this - is it with their CC cancelation policy?

Exactly...well, more precisely..since O is supposedly offering a full refund, and I booked air using both Citi points and $, I asked about waiving the $200 pp change fee.  They're looking into it.  I also asked about how/I could keep the value of the points and $ to use at a later time...they think they'll have an  answer Monday.

[pauon]

Just cancelled this garbage booze cruise on July 11!  

 

We will settle for the first half of the B2B.  The July 18 cruise from Miami was much better. 

[Hoopster95]

I need advice from all of you helpful O cruisers.... I'm booked on the Feb 1, 10-day sailing. Time off, penalties, other various factors, etc are begrudgingly causing us to rethink actually staying on board with the new itinerary (supposedly St. Barts/Martinique/St Lucia/Antigua/San Juan). My question is about the actual price....

 

With Olife included (airfare, everything), my OV cat D was $3300 for Cuba, and is now presumably 40% off =  $2000. Is this a good offer from O on a Caribbean sailing? Or would a $1999 price actually be a typical price for this ship in the Caribbean?

Thx everyone

 

edit: just looked at my account on-line. The itinerary is not yet posted, but the prices seem to have been updated. OV D now $2399. I guess basically they're offering me $400 off to stay on board.

Edited June 7, 2019 by Hoopster95

[ORV]

30 minutes ago, Hoopster95 said:

I need advice from all of you helpful O cruisers.... I'm booked on the Feb 1, 10-day sailing. Time off, penalties, other various factors, etc are begrudgingly causing us to rethink actually staying on board with the new itinerary (supposedly St. Barts/Martinique/St Lucia/Antigua/San Juan). My question is about the actual price....

 

With Olife included (airfare, everything), my OV cat D was $3300 for Cuba, and is now presumably 40% off =  $2000. Is this a good offer from O on a Caribbean sailing? Or would a $1999 price actually be a typical price for this ship in the Caribbean?

Thx everyone

 

edit: just looked at my account on-line. The itinerary is not yet posted, but the prices seem to have been updated. OV D now $2399. I guess basically they're offering me $400 off to stay on board.

Which ship?  Is that total or per person?

[Hoopster95]

Just now, ORV said:

Which ship?  Is that total or per person?

Sirena. Per person.

Thx Orv

[ORV]

Just now, Hoopster95 said:

Sirena. Per person.

Thx Orv

I think that’s still a lot for an OV. 

[LHT28]

30 minutes ago, Hoopster95 said:

I need advice from all of you helpful O cruisers.... I'm booked on the Feb 1, 10-day sailing. Time off, penalties, other various factors, etc are begrudgingly causing us to rethink actually staying on board with the new itinerary (supposedly St. Barts/Martinique/St Lucia/Antigua/San Juan). My question is about the actual price....

 

 

What would  the total penalties be? would insurance  cover them

Is it worth  losing  that amount to cancel the cruise ?

Is the  price in CAD or USD?

When do you need to make the decision?

I would wait to be sure of the itinerary  then decide if you would  like the ports

 

You could at their brochures online to see what other  Caribbean cruise are  in that cat

 we usually have a C1 or B 

I think the prices were close to what you posted

[Hoopster95]

Just now, LHT28 said:

What would  the total penalties be? would insurance  cover them

Is it worth  losing  that amount to cancel the cruise ?

Is the  price in CAD or USD?

When do you need to make the decision?

I would wait to be sure of the itinerary  then decide if you would  like the ports

 

You could at their brochures online to see what other  Caribbean cruise are  in that cat

 we usually have a C1 or B 

I think the prices were close to what you posted

Those are US$. Penalties would be flights/non-ref pre cruise hotels/etc.

Not announced how long we have for decision yet, nor has official itinerary been posted... those are the ports posted in our roll call from someone supposedly in the know. I've checked the Riviera Feb 4 10 day itinerary (very similar Caribbean itinerary) for pricing already in order to compare.

[LHT28]

10 minutes ago, Hoopster95 said:

Those are US$. Penalties would be flights/non-ref pre cruise hotels/etc.

Not announced how long we have for decision yet, nor has official itinerary been posted... those are the ports posted in our roll call from someone supposedly in the know. I've checked the Riviera Feb 4 10 day itinerary (very similar Caribbean itinerary) for pricing already in order to compare.

OK  confused 

in your post you listed Olife with air 

so did you take the air credit & book your own or use Oceania air/hotel?

 

Personally I would wait until you get  something concrete  on the itinerary/price

You will still be able to cancel 120 days out  for a refund  & maybe find another  cruise in the same time frame

[Hoopster95]

Just now, LHT28 said:

in your post you listed Olife with air 

so did you take the air credit & book your own

Correct on both counts above. I'm quoting the raw invoice price incl. air before I chose to take the credit, and comparing it to the new website price which also includes air.

[LHT28]

5 minutes ago, Hoopster95 said:

Correct on both counts above. I'm quoting the raw invoice price incl. air before I chose to take the credit, and comparing it to the new website price which also includes air.

personally I would wait another week or 2   then decide

it is hard to compare the O class ship prices against the R ships

YMMV

[HokiePoq]

20 hours ago, kendon said:

I hope your itinerary change is better than ours.  The July 11th is western carib (roatan, belize, costa maya, and NCL private island)...bleh.  Very mainstream ports.  The July 18th is St Kitts, Martinique, St Barts...much more "Oceania".  Staying with it as it's easier that fiddling with airfare and cancellation.  Oceania could have done better.  😞

I feel a bit better.  Ours is like the 18th.   You have the itinerary we did some years ago for the all time lowest cost we ever paid for a seven day cruise ($314 inside cabin).  Sorry your cruise got the short end of the stick.

[HokiePoq]

7 hours ago, LHT28 said:

OK  confused 

in your post you listed Olife with air so did you take the air credit & book your own or use Oceania air/hotel?
Our

Personally I would wait until you get  something concrete  on the itinerary/price

You will still be able to cancel 120 days out  for a refund  & maybe find another  cruise in the same time frame

We got an email today with the new itinerary.   It promised "significant savings"   Given the other poster's research I don't call $400 off the regular price all that significant.  So wish I'd taken O Life and had an easy cancel.   Lesson learned.  

[LHT28]

49 minutes ago, HokiePoq said:

We got an email today with the new itinerary.   It promised "significant savings"   Given the other poster's research I don't call $400 off the regular price all that significant.  So wish I'd taken O Life and had an easy cancel.   Lesson learned.  

 

from other posts it sounds like  people can cancel  even for the July cruises  or  did I misunderstand that?

if true

Not  sure why  you cannot cancel if you do not have O Life

[HokiePoq]

Just now, LHT28 said:

 

from other posts it sounds like  people can cancel  even for the July cruises  or  did I misunderstand that?

if true

Not  sure why  you cannot cancel if you do not have O Life

Non refundable air purchased.  That is my mistake.  We normally drive to Miami and and use park and cruise hotels.   It's Super Bowl weekend and no hotel in Miami or Ft. Lauderdale would do the park and cruise thing.   I think a third party has booked most of the hotels and will resell them at higher rates.   We had that happen at a bowl game one time.  I was afraid to wait to book air because of the Super Bowl, Also traveling with folks who want to do the cruise.  I'd cancel anyway if it were that simple.

[LHT28]

1 minute ago, HokiePoq said:

Non refundable air purchased.  That is my mistake.  We normally drive to Miami and and use park and cruise hotels.   It's Super Bowl weekend and no hotel in Miami or Ft. Lauderdale would do the park and cruise thing.   I think a third party has booked most of the hotels and will resell them at higher rates.   We had that happen at a bowl game one time.  I was afraid to wait to book air because of the Super Bowl, Also traveling with folks who want to do the cruise.  I'd cancel anyway if it were that simple.

gotcha

 

FYI

O Life & included  air are not the same thing 

you can have one with or without the other 😉

[HokiePoq]

1 minute ago, LHT28 said:

gotcha

 

FYI

O Life & included  air are not the same thing 

you can have one with or without the other 😉

Thanks.  We are first time O cruisers.  Our friends won't cruise any other line.    

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

Doesn't seem to me you can include the air fare in any comparison of discounts.  If O offers up a 40-50% discount I'm guessing that's cruise fare only.    

[kendon]

I had non refundable air with American Airlines.  I called to ask if they were giving courtesy changes due to the situation, as I now had to change my travel plans.  They actually waived the change fees and I just had to pay the small difference in airfare.  Lesson:  if you don't get the answer you are looking for with the first agent, call back over and over until you do.  The fourth agent was more than happy to inquire and it all worked out to my advantage.