Oceania celebrates five-year anniversary during its sixth anniversary year – but gives good deals anyway

mercedes · December 31, 2008

Flash back with me to 2003. Well, no, actually, flash back to October 2002. That's when former Renaissance Cruises CEO Frank Del Rio and former Crystal President Joe Watters cooked up the idea of Oceania Cruises, a boutique line built around the ghost of Renaissance, which had gone belly-up in fall 2001, leaving its large fleet of identical medium-size ships to the highest bidder. The once and future cruise execs made a deal for two of them (the former R1 and R2, renamed Regatta and Insignia); began hiring staff and inking deals with ports; opened its corporate offices on January 6, 2003; and on July 5, 2003, launched Regatta on its inaugural voyage.

So let's see, that would put Oceania's corporate five-year anniversary in January 2008 and its five-year sailing anniversary back in July. Yet, the line just announced its big five-year anniversary sale, set to commence on January 7, 2009. Far as I can figure, that's the five-year anniversary of a busy week of phone bookings the line announced in January 2004. Are they hoping for a repeat?

OK, enough snark. Here's the deal: On January 7, Oceania will begin offering deals on more than 40 voyages in Europe, Asia, Australia/New Zealand, South America, and the Caribbean, with additional "Bonus Savings" off existing 2-for-1 fares -- meaning you can, the line claims, get savings of up to 72% on some sailings. There's also free airfare from 20 North American gateway cities for some cruises.

The line will announce specific details on pricing and departures on Monday, January 5.