To get free excursions, my fare goes up?

Some time ago, I booked space on a July 2016 crossing. As was always the case my TA in cluded PPG, and the fare included internet for the reserved OS. I was delighted to read that 2016 fares would include 5 excursions - wrong! TA indicated that taking advantage of that change would increase the established fare. Does that sound right?

I gather you are talking about the O Life promotion. This thread might be helpful to you. In it several members started weighing whether the additional upfront cost is justified.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2232260

Hope this helps.

Donna

I would weigh out the price difference for the FREE excursion especially on a TA

How many port stops do you have & how many big bus tours would you actually use

Sometimes the price difference works sometimes not ;)

You cannot get the new promotion at the old price. Weigh the value against the new cost. We've decided not to do the O'Life promo where offered on our already booked cruises.

Every one is right however when is FREE--FREE. I guess Oceania doesn't think that way. If a person had booked, why shouldn't they get the promotion. It's a marketing game that Oceania shouldn't be playing.

Rick

It's the same as the free airfare, except they are not offering to discount the price if you want to opt out.

Every one is right however when is FREE--FREE. I guess Oceania doesn't think that way. If a person had booked, why shouldn't they get the promotion. It's a marketing game that Oceania shouldn't be playing.

Rick

The excursions are "free" - if you book at that fare. If you booked at older (cheaper) fare, why should one get the "free" excursions?

It's like booking a fare without air and then wanting air included because it's "free" :confused:

It's really not all that complicated.

Edited - to OP. O Life promo is different from other promotions (like Last Call) where in order to get the promotion you have to book at a different rate. That is understandable as 5 excursions can cost a lot more than PPG or free internet (which are often part of other promotions). Whether it pays to do so depends on the extra amount you have to pay and how much of that you can recoup with your "free" excursions. Sometimes it is worth it, other times not - as noted by others above.

Which means the excursions are not free. You are paying for them. Oceania is now pulling the same scam as Regent.

Which means the excursions are not free. You are paying for them. Oceania is now pulling the same scam as Regent.

Yes, this is true for cruises going forward - there is no choice to have excursions excluded on those cruises that offer O Life. :(

This was an options only for those cruises that were booked before O Life - you can keep the old price w/o excursions or pay more.

Yes, this is true for cruises going forward - there is no choice to have excursions excluded on those cruises that offer O Life. :(

This was an options only for those cruises that were booked before O Life - you can keep the old price w/o excursions or pay more.

REALLY??? Henceforth all cruises include excursions and the higher fares will be in effect even if you want the don't want the group excursions? Wow, am I naive! I thought OLife was a promotional option and not permanent .....

REALLY??? Henceforth all cruises include excursions and the higher fares will be in effect even if you want the don't want the group excursions? Wow, am I naive! I thought OLife was a promotional option and not permanent .....

No - this is what I said (underlining mine):

"...there is no choice to have excursions excluded on those cruises that offer O Life."

This applies only to those cruises that are part of O Life promo. I don't know if all O future cruises are part of this promo - I didn't go through all of future cruises, but those that are included in the O Life promo have to be booked at that price (with "free" excursions) - no choice to book without them.

I am sure someone can enlighten us whether this is a promo or a permanent feature and whether the O Life promo applies to all future O cruises that are bookable now.

Thanks for clarifying Paulchili and my apologies for not reading your post more closely. Surely hope OLife is not permanent, at least not the included excursion part anyway.

Thanks for clarifying Paulchili and my apologies for not reading your post more closely. Surely hope OLife is not permanent, at least not the included excursion part anyway.

ditto:eek:

I booked a cruise last March without OLife.

I can opt to have OL for $300. more pp

I did some quick math: the free excursions I chose total approx. $700.pp + internet + PPG's It is well worth my while to switch to OLife. I interpret that

those OLife excursions are "included" along with the free internet + PPG's.

I normally do not take the ships cruises but will take these excursions (totaling more than the $600. upprice) I have several private tours planned for other ports plus pre+post cruise tours. The free portion would be the internet + PPG's.

You would have to do the math for your particular cruise itinerary to figure whether it is worth it. On an itinerary that is not port intensive or basically DIY's I don't see the appeal of OLife. I would be curious to know whether it is an opt out promo....:confused:

On an itinerary that is not port intensive or basically DIY's I don't see the appeal of OLife. I would be curious to know whether it is an opt out promo....:confused:

It does not appeal to us so hope in the future it is an OPT out/in package & not a permanent deal :(

Time will tell

Thanks for clarifying Paulchili and my apologies for not reading your post more closely. Surely hope OLife is not permanent, at least not the included excursion part anyway.

No problem :)

I agree with you, though it would be nice to have the option to "opt out' - like with the air.

We had 3 future cruises booked with O with the "old price" - on 2 of these I changed it to the O Life as it made a lot of sense (gained significantly more than what I had to pay out). The third one did not make sense to change it to O Life so we left it alone.

I opted to take the O life package on my previously booked cruise (Sirena May 2016) and it works out in our favor despite the fare being increased. As for all cruises, we are also booked on Insignia for South America Oct 2016 and it is not offered for that cruise. We opted for a VS on this cruise so even if offered it most likely will not make sense to change to O life even if offered because we have too many amenities already included.

ditto:eek:

another ditto ...

When we booked our upcoming cruise, we opted out of the airfare and the pre-post hotels and got discounts for doing so. I was hoping this would be the case with shore excursions as well ... don't care to be forced into booking shore excursions I am not interested in just because it is included (all or in part) in the fare. To my way of thinking, free is only free when it doesn't result in a fare increase.

To my way of thinking, free is only free when it doesn't result in a fare increase.

Yes, but there is a benefit to everyone when the general quality of the Shore Excursions, which have been a sore point for years, improve.

Even those of us who are most steadfast about organizing private tours have been known to take the occasional Oceania offering when the situation suits us.

-And with Oceania looking at a future cruise population made up of a larger and larger percentage of repeaters, including easy and fun Excursions is a more realistic option than "finding"new ports to tempt a VERY well traveled bunch.

You know what they say about Oceanfront property.....

is that like a bridge in Brooklyn that's for sale?

Is that also a PT Barnum quote??

Yes, but there is a benefit to everyone when the general quality of the Shore Excursions, which have been a sore point for years, improve.

 

time will tell if they will be new improved tours

I am still hoping in the future they have an opt out for the package tours if they continue for the OLife program ;)

ymmv

time will tell if they will be new improved tours

 

I am still hoping in the future they have an opt out for the package tours if they continue for the OLife program ;)

 

ymmv

you said what was on my mind ... hopefully people who have experienced tours before and after OLife Advantage will report back.

Last time we took a ship's tour was in 2010 in Murmansk & only because there were no private guides there at the time ;)

Chances of us doing a big bus tour again are slim to none

Last time we took a ship's tour was in 2010 in Murmansk & only because there were no private guides there at the time ;)

 

Chances of us doing big bus tour again are slim to none

Wow! 2010 Lyn? Hard to believe it was that long ago....

Murmansk was our first O tour and the second (and the last) was in Colombo.