Oceania vs Holland or Celebrity

[Paulchili]

52 minutes ago, sofietucker said:

So we went with the OBC. (Our TA gives us free gratuities, which wasn't even an option, lol.)

OLife is not for us: we always fly at least a day early and picky about flight itineraries; would have to pay an extra $195 for flight deviation out of Norfolk (!!); could take the $500 in compensation but why? Can find cheaper flights--incl. transfers--on our own and simply pay $300 for whatever on board, instead of paying $800 for the "free" $300 OBC and $500 air compensation.

I think that you are a little confused - not unusial for an Oceania newbie

1 OBC is THE worst option from all O Life choices - you simply pay ahead what you then have to spend on the ship (or lose it).

2 O Life has nothing to do with air - 2 separate things.

I think what you want is cruise only fare - no O Life and get credit for air.

[ORV]

1 hour ago, sofietucker said:

OLife is not for us: we always fly at least a day early and picky about flight itineraries; would have to pay an extra $195 for flight deviation out of Norfolk (!!); could take the $500 in compensation but why? Can find cheaper flights--incl. transfers--on our own and simply pay $300 for whatever on board, instead of paying $800 for the "free" $300 OBC and $500 air compensation.

 

While you're probably right that it's not for you I get the feeling no one has properly explained the air credit and Olife. Actually the deviation is $175 per person,  the additional to fly out of Norfolk would be $99 per person each way, for a total of an extra $396 + $350 + whatever the differential between cruise with air, no olife, and cruise only is. Depending on where you're going you can probably do better on your own. Hotels and transfers through the cruise line are generally never a good idea money wise. Some people have their reasons for using them. 

Edited June 29, 2020 by ORV

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, sofietucker said:

OLife is not for us: we always fly at least a day early and picky about flight itineraries; would have to pay an extra $195 for flight deviation out of Norfolk (!!); could take the $500 in compensation but why? Can find cheaper flights--incl. transfers--on our own and simply pay $300 for whatever on board, instead of paying $800 for the "free" $300 OBC and $500 air compensation.

 

I am confused  with your math

But in any case  I would  do "cruise only"  fare

Book your own air/hotel/transfers/  etc...

 If you hover your mouse over the deck plan on the cabin it will give you the sq ft of the cabin including balcony

The Sirena cabins will be smaller  as the ship is  half the  size of Riviera

 

Hope you enjoy the cruises

[sofietucker]

3 hours ago, Paulchili said:

I think that you are a little confused - not unusial for an Oceania newbie

1 OBC is THE worst option from all O Life choices - you simply pay ahead what you then have to spend on the ship (or lose it).

2 O Life has nothing to do with air - 2 separate things.

I think what you want is cruise only fare - no O Life and get credit for air.

Not confused, I just explained it confusingly, lol. 

O Life Choice is marketed as "Offering you the flexibility to personalize your vacation experience, this package includes Roundtrip Airfare* and Free Internet, plus choose one: OBC/shorex/bev pkg." 

We chose the OBC as the preference among the optional suite perks--this is separate from OLife Choice, so we are not paying for it except as part of the suite price (we agree; why pay for something as a "benefit"? Crazy). Free wifi is a given for suites.

 

[sofietucker]

2 hours ago, LHT28 said:

I am confused  with your math

But in any case  I would  do "cruise only"  fare

Book your own air/hotel/transfers/  etc...

 If you hover your mouse over the deck plan on the cabin it will give you the sq ft of the cabin including balcony

The Sirena cabins will be smaller  as the ship is  half the  size of Riviera

 

Hope you enjoy the cruises

So the OLife option--which includes air/transfers/free internet and one additional perk (shorex, $300 OBC , or bev pkge) is $800 more than the cruise-only fare. Of those OLife perks, we would only choose OBC because the others are moot in one way or another.

But fine print is that it covers $715 or so air credit--plus a deviation fee of $195! So really OLife would cost $1,000; instead, we'd decline the air and take their $500 credit. Thus we'd end up paying $800 for the privilege of "free" $300 OBC and "free" $500 air credit. (I have found a raft of perfect flights for $174 RT, plus we will have with hotel shuttles for both airport and port...)

 

The Sirena cabin size will be manageable--though we did just see a video pointing out that the baclcony is fully covered. Might be re-exploring that, lol.

Edited June 29, 2020 by sofietucker

[1985rz1]

17 minutes ago, sofietucker said:

So the OLife option--which includes air/transfers/free internet and one additional perk (shorex, $300 OBC , or bev pkge) is $800 more than the cruise-only fare. Of those OLife perks, we would only choose OBC because the others are moot in one way or another. But of the air, we'd decline it and take the $500 air credit. Thus paying $800 for the privilege of "free" OBC and "free" air credit. ( I have found a raft of perfect flights for $174 RT with free hotel shuttles to both airport and port)...

 

The Sirena cabin size will be manageable--though we did just see a video pointing out that the balcony is fully covered. Might be re-exploring that, lol.

I'm sure you know that the OLife OBC listed in the offer is per cabin, so when calculating the airfare credit for a cruise fare (which is pp), you need to use 1/2 that amount, so your credit may be larger than you calculated.  Perhaps you already made that correction...it just wasn't clear to me.

But why take the OBC?  You'll be paying $300 ($150 pp) for  $300 ($150 pp) of OBC.  That's a wash, and the OBC is nonrefundable, so if you don't spend it (which is probably unlikely), you lose it.  Why not skip it, too, and pay as you go on board.  You lose nothing, and save the OLife cost as well as the air cost.

Edited June 29, 2020 by 1985rz1

[sofietucker]

4 hours ago, ORV said:

While you're probably right that it's not for you I get the feeling no one has properly explained the air credit and Olife. Actually the deviation is $175 per person,  the additional to fly out of Norfolk would be $99 per person each way, for a total of an extra $396 + $350 + whatever the differential between cruise with air, no olife, and cruise only is. Depending on where you're going you can probably do better on your own. Hotels and transfers through the cruise line are generally never a good idea money wise. Some people have their reasons for using them. 

Agreed! The rare times we've used the transfers is when it would be too complicated otherwise (to IJmuiden from Amsterdam--though I understand that port is not going to be used anymore anyway; to Rome from Civitavecchia--have done the train but not really worth it). We do try to share a ride when it's a bit of a hike, especially if folks are staying at the same pre- or post-cruise hotel. I see that Ravenna is replacing Venice as the departure port for RCCL--that would likely be a ship's transfer as well. 

[sofietucker]

40 minutes ago, 1985rz1 said:

I'm sure you know that the OLife OBC listed in the offer is per cabin, so when calculating the airfare credit for a cruise fare (which is pp), you need to use 1/2 that amount, so your credit may be larger than you calculated.  Perhaps you already made that correction...it just wasn't clear to me.

But why take the OBC?  You'll be paying $300 ($150 pp) for  $300 ($150 pp) of OBC.  That's a wash, and the OBC is nonrefundable, so if you don't spend it (which is probably unlikely), you lose it.  Why not skip it, too, and pay as you go on board.  You lose nothing, and save the OLife cost as well as the air cost.

 

I'm still communicating badly, lol! We're NOT having anything to do at all with the OLife Choice. You are exactly correct about having to pay for it! The OBC that we ARE getting is due to the suite. So we're not paying for it. 

[1985rz1]

14 minutes ago, sofietucker said:

 

I'm still communicating badly, lol! We're NOT having anything to do at all with the OLife Choice. You are exactly correct about having to pay for it! The OBC that we ARE getting is due to the suite. So we're not paying for it. 

Got it.   So your only paying the cruise only fare.  That would have been my choice, too.  Thanks for the clarification.

 

[ORV]

1 hour ago, sofietucker said:

 

I'm still communicating badly, lol! We're NOT having anything to do at all with the OLife Choice. You are exactly correct about having to pay for it! The OBC that we ARE getting is due to the suite. So we're not paying for it. 

Is this OBC coming from your travel agent?

[LHT28]

3 hours ago, sofietucker said:

Not confused, I just explained it confusingly, lol. 

O Life Choice is marketed as "Offering you the flexibility to personalize your vacation experience, this package includes Roundtrip Airfare* and Free Internet, plus choose one: OBC/shorex/bev pkg." 

We chose the OBC as the preference among the optional suite perks--this is separate from OLife Choice, so we are not paying for it except as part of the suite price (we agree; why pay for something as a "benefit"? Crazy). Free wifi is a given for suites.

 

Is this OBC something extra your TA is providing ?

BTW   everyone on the ship gets free WiFi

Transfers are not included   you can get them for  a fee  & usually you pay a lot more via Oceania  then you can get on your own

JMO