New cancellation policy

[AMHuntFerry]

1 hour ago, aussietwo said:

A question - does cancellation of a cruise booked before September currently incur any loss of deposit?  

Only if you have reached the initial penalty phase that is listed in your Guest Statement. Otherwise you are refunded the entire deposit.

[RJB]

On 8/18/2023 at 5:10 PM, LHT28 said:

I guess they are finding more ways to lose customers 😉

 

plus 1

[RJB]

On 8/18/2023 at 10:20 PM, Jancruz said:

Interesting question let me check on Monday..

By the way here in Ventura county (LA) we are expecting our first Hurricane ever on Sunday..since we are on the beach moving to our daughters further inland..

Jancruz1

Most important thing now is to STAY SAFE.  Cruises can wait till another time

[Jancruz]

1 hour ago, RJB said:

Most important thing now is to STAY SAFE.  Cruises can wait till another time

Thank you so much all is well the only thing is in the middle of the storm we had a 5.1 earthquake..that shook us up! Center was about 15 miles from us..we have had about 20 aftershocks but thank goodness didnt feel them..looking forward to Alaska cruise in 10 days hope the earth is quiet there..

Just got an update on the penalties

1) All final payments will be 150 days prior to Voyage

 

[Jancruz]

1 minute ago, Jancruz said:

Thank you so much all is well the only thing is in the middle of the storm we had a 5.1 earthquake..that shook us up! Center was about 15 miles from us..we have had about 20 aftershocks but thank goodness didnt feel them..looking forward to Alaska cruise in 10 days hope the earth is quiet there..

Just got an update on the penalties

 

 

USD & CAD
DEPOSIT & PAYMENT PROGRAM
NEWBOOKINGS –SEPTEMBER 1, 2023
Final Payment Due 150 Days prior to Voyage
For all cruises (all lengths) excluding Around the World Cruises
CANCELLATION PENALTIES
PH and below                                      OS, VS, OC
181+              $150pp Admin Fee    $150pp Admin Fee
180 -151        $500pp                       Admin Fee 10% of fare
150-121         25% Cruise Fare       25% of fare
120-91           50% Cruise Fare        50% of fare
90-61             75% Cruise Fare        75% of fare
60-0               100% Cruise Fare      100% of fare

 

Jancruz1

[Jancruz]

move to top

[Hanoj]

5 hours ago, Jancruz said:

USD & CAD
DEPOSIT & PAYMENT PROGRAM
NEWBOOKINGS –SEPTEMBER 1, 2023
Final Payment Due 150 Days prior to Voyage
For all cruises (all lengths) excluding Around the World Cruises
CANCELLATION PENALTIES
PH and below                                      OS, VS, OC
181+              $150pp Admin Fee    $150pp Admin Fee
180 -151        $500pp                       Admin Fee 10% of fare
150-121         25% Cruise Fare       25% of fare
120-91           50% Cruise Fare        50% of fare
90-61             75% Cruise Fare        75% of fare
60-0               100% Cruise Fare      100% of fare

 

Jancruz1

So Oceania will soon be charging a nonrefundable booking fee.

[Croooser]

Interesting. Did a quick look and it seems that Azamara, Seabourn and SS are all somewhat more lenient in that they charge a lower % by date than O's revised policy. Do I have that correct? Also seems that some will allow a credit to rebook rather than a forfeiture. However, O obviously knows this and thinks that it will not make a meaningful difference to them.

 

We all know that the cruise lines are dealing with a huge financial burden from the loans of the shut down. It was widely anticipated that there would be measures taken to deal with that, once things returned to some semblance of normal. Fare increases, mandatory inclusions, onboard cost reductions in food quality and entertainment and staffing, etc. Seems like establishing a more aggressive cancellation policy is one more of those measures. Is it safe to assume that the present level of demand has resulted in an environment that is permitting the cruise lines to do this? Methinks so.

 

As for us, we recognize that the cruise line has to do what it thinks best to run it's business. Wish it was not so, but will continue to evaluate and book when it works for us. 

[LHT28]

8 hours ago, Hanoj said:

So Oceania will soon be charging a nonrefundable booking fee.

It looks that way 🤔

 

[Vineyard View]

1 hour ago, Croooser said:

Interesting. Did a quick look and it seems that Azamara, Seabourn and SS are all somewhat more lenient in that they charge a lower % by date than O's revised policy. Do I have that correct? Also seems that some will allow a credit to rebook rather than a forfeiture. However, O obviously knows this and thinks that it will not make a meaningful difference to them.

 

We all know that the cruise lines are dealing with a huge financial burden from the loans of the shut down. It was widely anticipated that there would be measures taken to deal with that, once things returned to some semblance of normal. Fare increases, mandatory inclusions, onboard cost reductions in food quality and entertainment and staffing, etc. Seems like establishing a more aggressive cancellation policy is one more of those measures. Is it safe to assume that the present level of demand has resulted in an environment that is permitting the cruise lines to do this? Methinks so.

 

As for us, we recognize that the cruise line has to do what it thinks best to run it's business. Wish it was not so, but will continue to evaluate and book when it works for us. 

So far SB does not charge a cancellation fee 181 days out. 
Viking always has, as has Azamara. 
My own opinion, all these changes O is making more closely reflect the  Viking strategy than anyone. We used to sail on them but they are now more expensive than luxury lines, and in our opinion, the product is not worth the cost anymore. Their “included” excursions in every port are bus rides or walking tours. We generally don’t do excursions, so we sure don’t participate in those. 

[Oceangoer2]

27 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

So far SB does not charge a cancellation fee 181 days out. 
Viking always has, as has Azamara. 
My own opinion, all these changes O is making more closely reflect the  Viking strategy than anyone. We used to sail on them but they are now more expensive than luxury lines, and in our opinion, the product is not worth the cost anymore. Their “included” excursions in every port are bus rides or walking tours. We generally don’t do excursions, so we sure don’t participate in those. 

It would be helpful to me (a 'maybe' O future cruiser) to know the value in O's excursions?  Do you have a choice between some of the ports or does O 'simply' post what the excursion of the day is?  The $1000 value attached to my potential cruise doesn't explain.  If my DH cannot do a walking tour can any of that $1000 be applied to another shipboard offering?

[PhD-iva]

4 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

It would be helpful to me (a 'maybe' O future cruiser) to know the value in O's excursions?  Do you have a choice between some of the ports or does O 'simply' post what the excursion of the day is?  The $1000 value attached to my potential cruise doesn't explain.  If my DH cannot do a walking tour can any of that $1000 be applied to another shipboard offering?

Unlike what I have heard of Viking, Oceania generally has multiple excursions available in every port.

[cruisr]

They do have multiple excursions and on the cruise I am looking at there is no way I will be able to use my shore excursion credit. I don’t see me going on excursions i have no interest in just to use the credit I am curious if it can be used for other things (spa treatments, gratuities, drinks, etc).

Edited August 23, 2023 by cruisr

[PhD-iva]

2 minutes ago, cruisr said:

 I am curious if it can be used for other things (spa treatments, gratuities, drinks, etc).

From what I am reading here on CruiseCritic, the answer is no. The simply more credit can only be used for excursions.

[Vineyard View]

13 minutes ago, PhD-iva said:

Unlike what I have heard of Viking, Oceania generally has multiple excursions available in every port.

Viking has multiple excursions in every port. They have one specific excursion in each port that is included. It consists of a bus ride or walking tour. In the past, their charged excursions were at lower price points that I see for O. 
You can choose any excursion on O to apply whatever cruise credit you have. I think that is an advantage over Viking, even though we do not take excursions. We chose two, one being on a boat (so no busses). Still on the fence on the other one. 

Edited August 23, 2023 by Vineyard View

[LHT28]

52 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

It would be helpful to me (a 'maybe' O future cruiser) to know the value in O's excursions?  Do you have a choice between some of the ports or does O 'simply' post what the excursion of the day is?  The $1000 value attached to my potential cruise doesn't explain.  If my DH cannot do a walking tour can any of that $1000 be applied to another shipboard offering?

You can choose any tour offered  in the port 

It is not Viking where they offer walking tours  for free

 

You choose  what you want  then anything that is above your excursion credit you pay for 

If pricing for tours is not the cruise you are looking at check an earlier cruise  with the same ports & you will see the SM prices

[Hanoj]

1 hour ago, PhD-iva said:

From what I am reading here on CruiseCritic, the answer is no. The simply more credit can only be used for excursions.

Which to me makes simply MORE, simply less value.

[hubofhockey]

2 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

So far SB does not charge a cancellation fee 181 days out. 
Viking always has, as has Azamara. 
My own opinion, all these changes O is making more closely reflect the  Viking strategy than anyone. We used to sail on them but they are now more expensive than luxury lines, and in our opinion, the product is not worth the cost anymore. Their “included” excursions in every port are bus rides or walking tours. We generally don’t do excursions, so we sure don’t participate in those. 

 Azamara is $75 per person up to Final payment.  We have one for them 16 months away that we are considering canceling and booking Oceania instead.  With Azamara having been sold to private equity firm, nobody is going to risk much more than that $75.  The transition to Sycamore from a systems perspective has not gone smoothly.  No doubt that if Azamara were still with RCCL, their cancellation penalties would be similar to Celebrities (awful).  If I cancel my current Celebrity cruise, I'm out my full $900.  

[ORV]

3 hours ago, hubofhockey said:

 Azamara is $75 per person up to Final payment.  We have one for them 16 months away that we are considering canceling and booking Oceania instead.  With Azamara having been sold to private equity firm, nobody is going to risk much more than that $75.  The transition to Sycamore from a systems perspective has not gone smoothly.  No doubt that if Azamara were still with RCCL, their cancellation penalties would be similar to Celebrities (awful).  If I cancel my current Celebrity cruise, I'm out my full $900.  

Although this is not the Celebrity board have they changed that from a $200 penalty and the other $700 being able to be applied to a future cruise? When we had this come up with them that was the case. 

[hubofhockey]

20 minutes ago, ORV said:

Although this is not the Celebrity board have they changed that from a $200 penalty and the other $700 being able to be applied to a future cruise? When we had this come up with them that was the case. 

That’s not the case anymore.  There is no more $700 applied to future cruise.  X keeps the entire thing. The way around it is to book with FCC and that way only subject to loss of $100 (or $200 not sure). My point is that all cruise lines are doing this.  Oceania is just following the others.

[cruisr]

My TA sent this to me.

https://gageplatprod1stor1.blob.core.windows.net/portal/26/AssetLibrary/Document/49a03316-cb19-454d-bed1-db64325167e8.pdf

[ORV]

Looks like the deposit went down for everything PH & below, it used to be $750 pp. 

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, cruisr said:

My TA sent this to me.

https://gageplatprod1stor1.blob.core.windows.net/portal/26/AssetLibrary/Document/49a03316-cb19-454d-bed1-db64325167e8.pdf

Why do they bother to call some of the earlier penalties an "Admin Fee"? Do they think this somehow makes the cancellation penalties more palatable? They call them "cancellation penalties" at the top of the chart.

IIRC you used to be able to apply the "Admin Fee" to another booking so you could make an argument that it wasn't a cancellation penalty, but wasn't that roll over to another booking eliminated even before this latest change?

 

[Hanoj]

We’re presently onboard Vista for our first cruise with Oceania and are aware of the incentives to booking future cruises before disembarking (two days ago my wife won the $250 OBC raffle while attending the future voyages presentation), especially since our cruise ends August 30. But although the ability to avoid a $300 admin fee by booking a future cruise now seems a riskless decision, I’m not willing to invest in all emotion and anticipation booking a cruise entails. We’re not sure we’ll cruise again with Oceania (nor are we ready to rule it out), nor are we certain we’ll cruise again with any line as there are enough differences compared to our experiences prior to the shutdowns that give us pause which now favor other types of travel.

 

With regards to future cruising with Oceania, there are several factors we’ll be monitoring, especially apparent trends towards missing ports for dubious reasons and shortening port durations compared to published itineraries at time of booking.

[rbtan]

On 8/18/2023 at 10:20 PM, Jancruz said:

Interesting question let me check on Monday..

By the way here in Ventura county (LA) we are expecting our first Hurricane ever on Sunday..since we are on the beach moving to our daughters further inland..

Jancruz1

Not much of a Hurricane was it??. The one in 1939 did far more damage. There was damage for sure with Hillary, but no where near the scope that the media would have had everyone believe.