Chief commercial officer Nathan Hickman told TTG that early booking levels suggested the luxury brand had made the right decision to have Allura in the Med between November 2027 and April 2028.
"The feedback we're getting is the Med is very busy in the summer so why not visit in the winter?," he said. "There's a market for these winter sailings.
"If you had said to me a couple of years ago that the Med is a year-round product I would have said 'no'. We've pushed the envelope with Allura.
"We either stay longer or come earlier. This will be the first time we have done this with a ship of this size. Based on yesterday's bookings that seems to have validated our decision. We're very happy with the results."
Allura – the sister ship to Oceania Vista – will reposition from Miami to Barcelona on 31 March 2027 before its extended season in the Med that runs into spring 2028.
In addition to the 2027/28 deployment announcement, Oceania has continued its efforts to "simplify" its promotions and cement itself as a luxury cruise line.
It has relaunched its "Best Value Guarantee" which ensures passengers receive the best overall value for their voyage – "no matter when they choose to book".
"If you book a cruise with us and later on another promotion comes along and we would like you to take advantage of that, we will help facilitate that," added Hickman. "We had a version of this promotion at one point, but now we've brought it back."
Hickman revealed Oceania has also made changes to its future cruise programme where passengers can book sailings while onboard.
"The other big initiative that we have launched is on the onboard booking programme," he said. "Now we offer between a 5% to 15% discount and that is applicable to all sailings and cabins. When you marry that with the best value guarantee it fills people with confidence."
Oceania recently returned to the luxury cruise market after a period selling through the premium space. "Luxury is a word that means different things to different people but we like to under promise and under deliver that has been the secret to our success," Hickman explained.
"When we asked our guests the vast majority said we were luxury. At that point, we either go with it or we spend vast amounts of money convincing them they're wrong."
