Labor Day Upgrade Sale

[MEFIowa]

11 minutes ago, flyer79 said:

Thx!  So is A a category or is A1-A4 considered 4 different categories?

 

3 minutes ago, SATaxman said:

Does that mean that the 4 category upgrade is only available for cabins/suites below PH?

Just for Riviera, there are 17 potentially different priced cabins/suites. From G-OS. That includes B4-B1 and A4-A1. Going from a C to a B4 is an "upgrade". Same for moving from a B4 to a B3.

 

Each sale is as it is. I've never been interested in a PH so only looked at C-A. Have used cabin-upgrade sales to upgrade from G, F and C into C, B and A.

 

Pulled out my old records. Booked a C on Riviera on 1 Feb 21 for $1899 PP. Off the then "Ultimate Sale". Then upgraded off the Presidents' Sale cabin-upgrade sale on 18 Feb 21 to an A4 for $2099 PP. That A4 was $2349 on 2/1/21 for the "Ultimate Sale". (I have the 2021 Ultimate Sale brochure. I don't remember getting a brochure for the Presidents' Day sale.)

[AMHuntFerry]

34 minutes ago, flyer79 said:

Thx!  So is A a category or is A1-A4 considered 4 different categories?

 

A typical example is that you can get an A2 for the B2 price. When the sale shows up on O's site, the price you see already has the discount applied. If there are specific cruises that interest you, download a catalog (or drag out your hard copy) with the current prices so you can tell what, if any, discount exists.

[AMHuntFerry]

30 minutes ago, SATaxman said:

Does that mean that the 4 category upgrade is only available for cabins/suites below PH?

 

There are often some PHs available with great discounts, but they are few and far between and sometimes the PH "on sale" are already waitlisted.

[flyer79]

Good advice.  Appreciate all the info!

 

[Vineyard View]

If you had a B3 with extended balcony booked, would you take an upgrade to A3 if it were available?  We originally booked Concierge, but after several of you explained the extended balconies in a thread a while back, I bumped us back down. 

[ORV]

5 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

If you had a B3 with extended balcony booked, would you take an upgrade to A3 if it were available?  We originally booked Concierge, but after several of you explained the extended balconies in a thread a while back, I bumped us back down. 

I'd be a no for that, but I don't really see a big value in the Concierge rooms. Bottle of champagne and 3 bags of laundry is only the real value. I see no value in the Concierge lounge or the Spa deck, but that's just me, others enjoy those perks. The rooms are exactly the same. 

Edited August 29, 2023 by ORV

[Vineyard View]

14 minutes ago, ORV said:

I'd be a no for that, but I don't really see a big value in the Concierge rooms. Bottle of champagne and 3 bags of laundry is only the real value. I see no value in the Concierge lounge or the Spa deck, but that's just me, others enjoy those perks. The rooms are exactly the same. 

The one thing that interests me is the spa deck, but having never experienced it, I have no idea. But I tend to agree so thanks for the feedback 

[WayneLaR]

Is the earlier bookings for specialties not also a nice perk?

[AMHuntFerry]

10 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

The one thing that interests me is the spa deck, but having never experienced it, I have no idea. But I tend to agree so thanks for the feedback 

You may also be able to get that B3 for a lower price (depends on sale and availability and the always spell-checkable combinability rules).

If you want to try the spa deck, pay $25 (or so) for a day pass and test it out. Pretty much everything included in concierge can be purchased, except the lounge on O and A ships.

[ORV]

1 hour ago, WayneLaR said:

Is the earlier bookings for specialties not also a nice perk?

It is, but I'm not willing to spend extra money to get it. For some if you add up all the little perks then it becomes worth it. I don't mind any of the Concierge perks, they're just not worth spending money on for me. When I've been in that level or higher I find I really don't use the lounge or the spa terrace. 

[jonthomas]

It's easy if you will be doing a new booking, but it sure gets muddled if you have already booked and now want to use the "lowest price guarantee ".

Yes, of course I will reach out to the TA once I see that some or any of our bookings are part of the sale, but not holding my breath that it will be of any benefit to us.

This is one sale that will beat booking early.

Lots of wisdom and experience here.  Folks that really know what they are doing . Unfortunately I am not one of them.

[LHT28]

3 hours ago, WayneLaR said:

Is the earlier bookings for specialties not also a nice perk?

We usually B or C  cabins  & no  trouble getting 2 tops  for  early  time slots  most of the time

[Sthrngary]

Deleted

Edited August 30, 2023 by Sthrngary
Rewriting Post

[Sthrngary]

I originally wrote a long and detailed post comparing new guest to Oceania from the VIP area's of Mega Ships. How what we were used to make us look at parts of Oceania as a perk or Amenity.  Then I deleted it.  

 

The bottom line for me and many others who are transfers to Oceania.  It is a nice change that everyone regardless of stateroom choose is treated the same when they leave their stateroom.  In ones stateroom there are some benefits and amenities.  The biggest one starts with a PH category with a 24/7 butler.  To some, the butler does not provide a value so why pay the premium? To others it can make a cruise even better.  

 

When you go to Oceania, Vista and Owners Suites the benefits and perks are obviously increases and so is the cost of the stateroom.  The biggest benefit is the size of the stateroom.  Are there other benefits, yes. Early boarding, 6 bottles of wine/spirits, access to executive lounge, access to exterior thermal spa, and early specialty restaurant books for 8 nights vs. 4. Those are a few perks.  To some, those items are NOT enough to justify the cost increase.  To others, it is important and worth the premium. 

 

I personally like all those "bougie" things so I pay a premium.  That premium is LESS when I leverage promotions when the are available like "Four-Category-Upgrades". As a transfer newbie, my perspective is, I get these benefits and my over all investment is LESS, that is right LESS then the Mega Ships in the "VIP" sections like the Haven. So the justification based on past experiences for me is, "cost less, get more".  Everyone is different on how the justify a cruise fare.  

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

 

 

[WayneLaR]

10 hours ago, LHT28 said:

We usually B or C  cabins  & no  trouble getting 2 tops  for  early  time slots  most of the time

Good to know, thanks.  The Marina TA in Nov will be our first O cruise and I'm already stressed about specialty reservations!  We are in A so dining reservations open up Sept 14th.  Being in the Atlantic time zone, access starts for us at 1am! 

 

Oh to be on Pacific time in cases like this.  And for Monday Night Football. 🙂

[LHT28]

3 minutes ago, WayneLaR said:

Good to know, thanks.  The Marina TA in Nov will be our first O cruise and I'm already stressed about specialty reservations!  We are in A so dining reservations open up Sept 14th.  Being in the Atlantic time zone, access starts for us at 1am! 

 

Oh to be on Pacific time in cases like this.  And for Monday Night Football. 🙂

I usually try just after midnight  but sometimes just book  in the morning

You can always keep checking if  slots open up after the dust settles  oe ask onboard 

I would not  get stressed about it  😉

 

[Woofa]

I would guess that the destination and ports can make a big difference as well.  We had an extended B3 earlier this year on Riviera for our first cruise.  It was Caribbean and while we got off the ship at every port, we were usually back on for lunch.  My wife sat out on our balcony at least an hour or two every day (I preferred going to the pool,) as she preferred the privacy.  While we were not offered an upgrade we pretty much concluded that we would probably not give up our large balcony even if offered a penthouse cabin.  

Of course you have to determine which makes more sense for you on your specific cruise.  As the base cabins are all the same, I would say that if we did not think we would spend any significant time on the balcony chaise lounges we would think about trying the A level amenities instead.

For now we have again reserved a B3, this time on Marina in 24.  Similar Caribbean itinerary so we feel we would Utilize the extended balcony.

[jonthomas]

Are any of you intending to call your TA to change your existing reservation to take advantage of the Labour day sale?

[MEFIowa]

12 hours ago, ORV said:

It is, but I'm not willing to spend extra money to get it. For some if you add up all the little perks then it becomes worth it. I don't mind any of the Concierge perks, they're just not worth spending money on for me. When I've been in that level or higher I find I really don't use the lounge or the spa terrace. 

While I agree in principle, the devil is in the price details. If the price is right...

 

Off of different sales we've upgraded repeatedly for our upcoming 20-night B2B on Riviera in the Med (30 Oct-19 Nov). (We were in an A4 on Riviera in 12/2021 and a B2 on Sirena in 11/2022.) So, we finally ended up with an A3 at $1899 for the 1st 10 nights and a B3 at $1749 PP for the 2nd 10 nights. We were willing to pay a bit more for the A3 for the Concierge benefits we knew about from the A4 time.

 

Thus, on 31 Aug 23 we'll be making the specialty reservations for the A3 but have to wait till Sept 25 for the B3. May make a difference.

 

And my wife really enjoyed the larger therapy pool on Riviera, so will be nice to have free access to that for 10 evenings. And I enjoyed the Concierge Lounge on our first voyage.

Edited August 30, 2023 by MEFIowa
Typo

[Sthrngary]

3 hours ago, jonthomas said:

Are any of you intending to call your TA to change your existing reservation to take advantage of the Labour day sale?

@jonthomas If I had not paid in full, have the four category upgrade and Extraordinary Sale; I would always call just to check.  Your question is important in another way.  I almost did not call to find out if the "Extraordinary" sale would apply to me.  I am so glad I did and that suggestion came from this board.  The lesson I learned is what you see on the Oceania Website as fares are not always correct. It costs nothing to double check.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[jonthomas]

Yes I will check, we have 7 cruises that we have not done a final payment for. Maybe some of them will be part of the sale.

[1985rz1]

35 minutes ago, Sthrngary said:

The lesson I learned is what you see on the Oceania Website as fares are not always correct.

Yes, and no.  It's a subtle difference, but the online fares may be considered correct in the sense they are the "normal," non-sale price, and O wants the client to call either O or the TA to find out the sale price.

[FetaCheese]

2 hours ago, jonthomas said:

Yes I will check, we have 7 cruises that we have not done a final payment for. Maybe some of them will be part of the sale.

If you did not receive the brochure, and are comfortable with listing each one with voyage name, ship and date, I'll check for you.

[LHT28]

3 hours ago, jonthomas said:

Yes I will check, we have 7 cruises that we have not done a final payment for. Maybe some of them will be part of the sale.

google  "oceania labor day sale 2023"  or wait  a few more days  to check on the website

Then you will know for sure

[flyer79]

Just got a brochure today with the Upgrade Sale.   Lots of intriguing itineraries but alas not the specific one we are interested in.   I had my TA get a quote and she came back with exactly the website fare but did include OCAPP pre-paid gratuities.

 

Next week we are on board and I am planning to visit the cruise desk and get a quote.  Any ideas on what I should expect?   Does there tend to be any advantage to book while on board?

 

Thanks as always!

 

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by flyer79
typo