OCC travel agents????

[Ken the cruiser]

41 minutes ago, KS&JW said:

I have rarely pay the price that Oceania lists on the website, or will quote you if you call.  I do not get a 'rebate' after the fact but I get an agent who is aware of hidden sales / deals and will lower the price of my cruise without any prompting on my part.  My two upcoming cruises are currently waitlisted, yet still, I am paying much lower than the 'cruise only' fare and I have O-life.  It that better than a rebate?   I don't know, but I am satisfied with what I get.   And most importantly, she was able to pull a rabbit out of a hat when I really needed it and has earned my loyalty because of that.  

I was under the impression if you are waitlisted, the price of the cruise will be that at the time you are actually asigned a cabin? Is that not true anymore?

 

Also, with regards to the current discounts on your 2 waitlisted cruises, what was the percentage of the discount you recieved from the published OLife fare you were quoted?

[Flatbush Flyer]

20 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

......Also, with regards to the current discounts on your 2 waitlisted cruises, what was the percentage of the discount you recieved from the published OLife fare you were quoted?

Hopefully, KS&JW will respond with specific info. But, what I got from his/her post was that the TA cited is in the rotation of O's preferred partner "quiet sales" (about 4-5% discount), which also means access to the "close in" (to cruise date) price drop lists (15%+\- discount), which may or may not get complete circulation among all TAs. Another possibility is a group rate. In all these cases, these wouldn't be deals allowed outside of O's normal discounting policies/practices.

 

Bottom line is that KS&JW is probably using an O Connoisseurs Club TA. If so, that low price would be pretty much the same as any OCC TA could provide. What then would remain to be seen is if there is any commission sharing beyond that seemingly "great deal."

 

Of course, I could be wrong and his/her TA may have figured out how to get an Oceania invoice to show an irregular price drop. Since Oceania does not allow TAs to reduce prices beyond their published or "quiet sale" or group rates, it would be really interesting to get the complete story.

 

In any case, the old saying is that "all money is green." So, if anyone cares, it's all about net out-of-pocket cost.

 

Edited January 1, 2020 by Flatbush Flyer

[rallydave]

6 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Hopefully, KS&JW will respond with specific info. But, what I got from his/her post was that the TA cited is in the rotation of O's preferred partner "quiet sales" (about 4-5% discount), which also means access to the "close in" (to cruise date) price drop lists (15%+\- discount), which may or may not get complete circulation among all TAs. Another possibility is a group rate. In all these cases, these wouldn't be deals allowed outside of O's normal discounting policies/practices.

 

Bottom line is that KS&JW is probably using an O Connoisseurs Club TA. If so, that low price would be pretty much the same as any OCC TA could provide. What then would remain to be seen is if there is any commission sharing beyond that seemingly "great deal."

 

Of course, I could be wrong and his/her TA may have figured out how to get an Oceania invoice to show an irregular price drop. Since Oceania does not allow TAs to reduce prices beyond their published or "quiet sale" or group rates, it would be really interesting to get the complete story.

 

In any case, the old saying is that "all money is green." So, if anyone cares, it's all about net out-of-pocket cost.

 

And in addition, remember the written restrictions before NCLH acquired Prestige Cruise Holdings owner of Oceania and Regent whereby neither cruise line could advertise greater than 5% in the way of amenities off of published fares and could only sell at the published fares.  This was in effect prior to NCLH's acquisition and assume that hasn't changed.

 

Also surprised that KS&JW knows the price of both wait lists as historically pricing isn't determined until one clears the wait list and then it is at the then current prices.  And even if special fares are currently available for those cruises, no guarantee they will be applicable once wait list is cleared.  YMMV.

 

[KS&JW]

27 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I was under the impression if you are waitlisted, the price of the cruise will be that at the time you are actually asigned a cabin? Is that not true anymore?

 

Also, with regards to the current discounts on your 2 waitlisted cruises, what was the percentage of the discount you recieved from the published OLife fare you were quoted?

 

 I do believe that those waitlisted do pay the current published rate.  However, I have never been on a waitlist so I really don't know for sure.  I only mentioned that the cruises were waitlisted to indicate that the ships will sail full, therefore there should be no reason to discount the published  rate to fill empty cabins. 

 

I had to do the math, but both of the cruises are 15%+ cheaper than current published rates. And one is significantly more than that, but I do know that is an unusual situation.   That is an apple to apple comparison.   I do have an OCC TA.  I have no idea if this is unusual or standard. i have never done this (the math) with any of my other cruises.  I book at a price I am comfortable with and if I get a lower price, great, if not then that is okay too.  I assume all of my TA's clients would have also gotten this same deal.  Is this the same price others  with OCC are paying?    Don't know, not my business.  BTW,  I have no status.

 

I don't go asking others on my plane if they got a better deal and I have the same attitude on cruise pricing.  

 

[Paulchili]

I don’t book cruises by price but rather by itinerary. Some cruises that are not booking well may be discounted, especially close to sailing date, but if that is not my cruise then it doesn’t matter to me. The recent Carib cruises with cancelled Cuba ports were the case in point - we were booked on one of them but after they cancelled Cuba we cancelled the cruise even though the prices were very tempting.

We always book cruise we want 1+ year in advance so that we can try to get airline tickets for miles at T-353/T-331, depending on airline. If the price goes down - good; if not, that’s life.

[Ken the cruiser]

5 minutes ago, KS&JW said:

 

 I do believe that those waitlisted do pay the current published rate.  However, I have never been on a waitlist so I really don't know for sure.  I only mentioned that the cruises were waitlisted to indicate that the ships will sail full, therefore there should be no reason to discount the published  rate to fill empty cabins. 

 

I had to do the math, but both of the cruises are 15%+ cheaper than current published rates. And one is significantly more than that, but I do know that is an unusual situation.   That is an apple to apple comparison.   I do have an OCC TA.  I have no idea if this is unusual or standard. i have never done this (the math) with any of my other cruises.  I book at a price I am comfortable with and if I get a lower price, great, if not then that is okay too.  I assume all of my TA's clients would have also gotten this same deal.  Is this the same price others  with OCC are paying?    Don't know, not my business.  BTW,  I have no status.

 

I don't go asking others on my plane if they got a better deal and I have the same attitude on cruise pricing.  

 

Thanks for responding and clearing up the "waitlisted" misunderstanding. I'm also glad you were able to get those great rates for your O bookings!

[Flatbush Flyer]

18 minutes ago, KS&JW said:

 

 I do believe that those waitlisted do pay the current published rate.  However, I have never been on a waitlist so I really don't know for sure.  I only mentioned that the cruises were waitlisted to indicate that the ships will sail full, therefore there should be no reason to discount the published  rate to fill empty cabins. 

 

I had to do the math, but both of the cruises are 15%+ cheaper than current published rates. And one is significantly more than that, but I do know that is an unusual situation.   That is an apple to apple comparison.   I do have an OCC TA.  I have no idea if this is unusual or standard. i have never done this (the math) with any of my other cruises.  I book at a price I am comfortable with and if I get a lower price, great, if not then that is okay too.  I assume all of my TA's clients would have also gotten this same deal.  Is this the same price others  with OCC are paying?    Don't know, not my business.  BTW,  I have no status.

 

I don't go asking others on my plane if they got a better deal and I have the same attitude on cruise pricing.  

 

Sounds like you definitely fit my earlier description of "quiet", "close in", "group" or other "sale" pricing (e.g., former Cuba cruises) approved by O and available to all OCC agencies.

 

If you don't mind a recommendation, do check your Oceania invoice(s). Your total credit card charges by Oceania should equal your O invoice total price.

Anything other than that would be some interesting mumbo jumbo.

 

That said, we'll save the conversation regarding added perks like refundable SBC, rebates, TA covered gratuities (non-O covered) and other cash-in-your-pocket TA savings for another discussion.

 

Edited January 1, 2020 by Flatbush Flyer

[Hawaiidan]

On 12/31/2019 at 2:03 PM, Flatbush Flyer said:

Forgot to mention that on some rare occasions the upgrades can be free or you can be offered an upgrade AND cash if you're willing to change cruises. 

Because we book far in advance and Intercontinental air plus other pre/post arrangements are in the mix, the "cruise switch" has never appealed to us.

And we've turned down a free upgrade or two (B to A) because of location.

Likewise   you can get offered down grade offers    Such as giving up your PH  for a B1  and large chunk of cash... AND  in some cases  the B-1 is  free too !!!!.   

 Meaning it is possible  to have a free cruise and 4 figures in your pocket too.     I always book insides on R ships as they are in the best location on the ship....right there with PH's

[Riverroad]

13 minutes ago, Hawaiidan said:

Likewise   you can get offered down grade offers    Such as giving up your PH  for a B1  and large chunk of cash... AND  in some cases  the B-1 is  free too !!!!.   

 Meaning it is possible  to have a free cruise and 4 figures in your pocket too.     I always book insides on R ships as they are in the best location on the ship....right there with PH's

That happened to us. We had a guaranteed PH on an Alaskan cruise and first they offered us move-overs to Mediterranean cruises on the O ships in PH cabins we could never otherwise afford. We kept refusing because we really wanted to go to Alaska for our big anniversary. Finally they offered us a down grade to a B1 and a large amount of cash. We took it and got to keep all our PH perks as well. Main thing was the extra specialty reservations. That was 4 years ago so don’t know what’s happening now. We cruise from Cape Town next month and, even though we told our TA we’d be amenable to an up sell, we’ve been offered nothing either up or down.

[Wishing on a star]

About booking a GTY?   We want to be able to choose a cabin, but I wonder if the lower categories are usually listed as guaranty as a way to get people to book the higher category.  I am surprised that we would have to pick a mid-category balcony for a cruise that is well over a year out?

[Hawaiidan]

5 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

About booking a GTY?   We want to be able to choose a cabin, but I wonder if the lower categories are usually listed as guaranty as a way to get people to book the higher category.  I am surprised that we would have to pick a mid-category balcony for a cruise that is well over a year out?

Guarantee cabins are rarely given  and they range from PH to B's      Seldom an inside or OV.      

[Flatbush Flyer]

3 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

About booking a GTY?   We want to be able to choose a cabin, but I wonder if the lower categories are usually listed as guaranty as a way to get people to book the higher category.  I am surprised that we would have to pick a mid-category balcony for a cruise that is well over a year out?

There are some annually repetitive exotic/unique Oceania itineraries (e.g., Cape Horn, Amazon, Indian Ocean, etc) that start filling quickly soon after announcement. And, often, the first cabins to go are the "top suites and cheap seats."

[Wishing on a star]

Thanks!  You can delete your personal info above if it is not too late....  Since we are both online this afternoon!

[Mura]

28 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

Hey, HawaiiDan,  is your agent, or the agency group they work under, in Texas.  I was just double checking this, and the Group/Agency is in Texas,  but the agent we contacted is In CA.  Just curious!

I'm not Dan and I see he's already answered your question, but I just wanted to say that while the travel agency we use is in California, we used to use an agent based in Florida until he became ill and had to retire.  And then we switched to another agent in the same agency, only she is located in a different city than the main agency address although she is still in California.

 

So location of the specific agent may not matter ... I guess it depends on the specific agency.  Some of them at least have agents located in different areas.

 

Mura

[Classiccruiser777]

20 hours ago, Mura said:

So location of the specific agent may not matter ... I guess it depends on the specific agency.  Some of them at least have agents located in different areas.

 

Mura

Same here. We live in the Seattle area but used a TA out of Florida for years then switched, after a bad experience, to one outside of Houston. Overall value and responsiveness are what matters to us, location of the agency doesn’t.

[Hawaiidan]

21 hours ago, Classiccruiser777 said:

Same here. We live in the Seattle area but used a TA out of Florida for years then switched, after a bad experience, to one outside of Houston. Overall value and responsiveness are what matters to us, location of the agency doesn’t.

Sounds like  we have found the same agent..................