This may just be of interest?

[Vallesan]

I suggested a Gary Bembridge YouTube video a little earlier and took another look myself. I came across this one and  thought it might just be of general interest. Whilst not related to Oceania directly it just gives some pointers as to what the cruise industry in general is doing at the moment:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZcSszfgXow

[mauibabes]

I watched this video previously. Yes Gary is excellent and you don’t have to be caught up in hype and lead ins like other podcasters. Great recommendation. 
Mauibabes. 

[Cruisedreamer1]

He's great and we watch him regularly. He does not accept free fares from the industry so his opinions are for real on his part.

[SATaxman]

I wondered when looking at the above video, whether O is also using the 109% capacity as "full" since there are very few children using the "extra" beds, sofas, etc. in their cabins/suites. On RCCL or other family friendly cruiselines, there are often more than 2 passengers in each cabin/suite.

 

[Vallesan]

4 minutes ago, SATaxman said:

I wondered when looking at the above video, whether O is also using the 109% capacity as "full" since there are very few children using the "extra" beds, sofas, etc. in their cabins/suites. On RCCL or other family friendly cruiselines, there are often more than 2 passengers in each cabin/suite.

 

I have no idea but they could be selling more ‘guarantees’ . Who knows!

[Harters]

I'd not previously come across this guy (but, then, I hadnt really been looking). Interesting stuff - particularly the move on the part of the industry to try and attract "new to cruising" customers and, in particular, a younger demographic. I wonder how much that industry push influenced O to introduce Simply More and, also in the UK, rolling gratuities into the SM price (apparently driven by a push from UK cruise specialist travel agencies). 

[Vallesan]

57 minutes ago, Harters said:

I'd not previously come across this guy (but, then, I hadnt really been looking). Interesting stuff - particularly the move on the part of the industry to try and attract "new to cruising" customers and, in particular, a younger demographic. I wonder how much that industry push influenced O to introduce Simply More and, also in the UK, rolling gratuities into the SM price (apparently driven by a push from UK cruise specialist travel agencies). 

I actually think his reports are quite authentic. If he doesn’t get ‘free’ cruises, as posted above, then maybe we should take notice of his reports.

 

I just have no idea what’s going on at the moment. Silversea have upped prices to a silly amount, but all lines are putting up their prices. Regent have an amazing sale on their oldest ships… obviously not selling! Seabourn have also increased prices but not to the same extent as Silversea.

 

Guess we should all take a bit more care before ‘automatically’ booking our ‘favourite’ lines.

 

Times ‘they certainly are a’changin’! 
 

P.S. Have a great cruise. Looking forward to your feedback.

Edited March 22 by Vallesan

[Harters]

45 minutes ago, Vallesan said:

Regent have an amazing sale on their oldest ships

My partner has a friend who cruises with Regent and has been urging us to take a look. 

 

We have in mind an O cruise for next year (Southampton to Southampton) - but dependent on (a) no soundproofing issues on Vista and (b) still thinking O is value for money.

Edited March 22 by Harters

[clo]

On 3/21/2024 at 9:41 AM, Vallesan said:

I suggested a Gary Bembridge YouTube video a little earlier and took another look myself. I came across this one and  thought it might just be of general interest. Whilst not related to Oceania directly it just gives some pointers as to what the cruise industry in general is doing at the moment:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZcSszfgXow

I really appreciate your sharing. I booked an O cruise and the whole dang ship IIRC was "guaranteed." I did a little reading and didn't like the idea at all. I talked to my TA who has status with O and also my buddy an O agent. Somebody must have spoken to someone cause I got a cabin confirmed. Now they're all (except at the suite level) "waitlisted." I'm not liking this one bit.

[Vallesan]

37 minutes ago, Harters said:

My partner has a friend who cruises with Regent and has been urging us to take a look. 

 

We have in mind an O cruise for next year (Southampton to Southampton) - but dependent on (a) no soundproofing issues on Vista and (b) still thinking O is value for money.

I have to say I was ‘tempted’ just by the Regent ‘price’. BUT … when I look back to our one and only cruise with Regent in 2019, I realise that the ‘price’ is only so low because the cruise isn’t selling and also that I really didn’t like Regent last time! Why would I think to book again when it’s probably worse than it was in 2019!!

Mustn’t be blinded by price alone! When I think back to our Regent cruise it was a real disappointment, so much so we  cancelled a future cruise whilst on board!

 

I think I just need to get my head ‘back into gear’ !

Edited March 22 by Vallesan

[fdnycruiser]

Just so you know Harters, the Regent Grandeur also has reports of sound issues. Sailed on the Explorer and Mariner, and had good cruises. However, we recently cancelled a TA on the Grandeur in August, and not because of the noise. My final payment was coming due,and the total cost with 1 way business class was 25 K ! I saw that a TA on the Vista came in at half the price!  We booked the Vista instead, and for a savings of 13 K, I’ll take noise. Plus the itinerary on the Vista was better too !  We leave on Wednesday.

[davencl]

Regarding Oceania,  I wasn't aware that Oceania sold a "guaranteed" selection.  Can someone please explain?  Whenever I've booked you either selected a room or weren't able to even start booking that category.

[Kay S]

23 hours ago, mauibabes said:

I watched this video previously. Yes Gary is excellent and you don’t have to be caught up in hype and lead ins like other podcasters. Great recommendation. 
Mauibabes. 

Gary Bembridge doesn't do hype like some of the other YouTubers.  I've been following him for years, and many of his calls have proven true in my own personal experience.  

[EJL2023]

18 minutes ago, davencl said:

Regarding Oceania,  I wasn't aware that Oceania sold a "guaranteed" selection.  Can someone please explain?  Whenever I've booked you either selected a room or weren't able to even start booking that category.

For an example, look at the cruise on Marina set to depart on 4/5 from Miami to Barcelona.  There are a couple of stateroom categories showing as ‘Guaranteed’.

[clo]

58 minutes ago, davencl said:

Regarding Oceania,  I wasn't aware that Oceania sold a "guaranteed" selection.  Can someone please explain?  Whenever I've booked you either selected a room or weren't able to even start booking that category.

Here's a part of an email from my TA.

"You are a category C-2 Guarantee and are booked cruise only.  A guarantee means that at this time there is not a stateroom assignment available, however, you are guaranteed a stateroom in the category you have paid for or better.  Your stateroom can be assigned up until the day of embarkation.  "

 

As I mentioned I did get a 'real' assignment. My TA and O buddy both said that in all their years of working with O they'd never seen a problem with this. I said I still didn't like it. And eventually I did get a cabin.

 

[clo]

5 minutes ago, clo said:

Here's a part of an email from my TA.

"You are a category C-2 Guarantee and are booked cruise only.  A guarantee means that at this time there is not a stateroom assignment available, however, you are guaranteed a stateroom in the category you have paid for or better.  Your stateroom can be assigned up until the day of embarkation.  "

 

As I mentioned I did get a 'real' assignment. My TA and O buddy both said that in all their years of working with O they'd never seen a problem with this. I said I still didn't like it. And eventually I did get a cabin.

 

I looked through old emails and in early Dec. she said again that I didn't have an assigned cabin. Then in mid-Feb. she said I did. During that time I told her that we were unlikely to make the final payment in late Feb. if we didn't have that confirmation. So I guess she correctly assumed that to be a threat. But I won't go through that again. If it's not assign-able when I book then I won't.

[davencl]

1 hour ago, EJL2023 said:

For an example, look at the cruise on Marina set to depart on 4/5 from Miami to Barcelona.  There are a couple of stateroom categories showing as ‘Guaranteed’.

Thanks hadn't noticed that before.  Will avoid when I see this.

[TRLD]

20 hours ago, SATaxman said:

I wondered when looking at the above video, whether O is also using the 109% capacity as "full" since there are very few children using the "extra" beds, sofas, etc. in their cabins/suites. On RCCL or other family friendly cruiselines, there are often more than 2 passengers in each cabin/suite.

 

The only public information is from the SEC filings which is for allow the lines in a given holding company so NCLH would combine the capacity and passengers for NCL and Oceania and Regent, with NCL overwhelming the other 2 in the data.

 

The actual max capacity varies by ship and depends upon a number of factors. The ships built for the family focused lines es tend to be designed with max occupancy being a higher percentage of normal capacity than those built for premium or adult focused mass market lines. For example max being 120% vs 110%.