Flatbush Flyer

Actually, they are included if you choose to cruise on premium (or even luxury) cruise lines. One of the biggest “aha” experiences a cruiser can have is when they finally use “net daily rate” of a cruise (based on all required and optionally desired amenities) instead of basic cabin costs in determining the “bottom line.”. That mass market “nickle/diming” adds up quickly (including everything from beverages and internet to air fare). And that’s before you even look at the quality of what you get for your hard earned money. We learned long ago that true “value” (price AND quality) in cruising has a “sweet spot” for us in the industry’s “premium” segment. Do the real math folks and you may be pleasantly surprised - particularly when you experience what premium/luxury cruising provides.

Wasn’t me. Tour SM is tour SBC in SM. Yes, even with a TA on your account, you can book tours with an O rep. Both get recognition for the tour purchase. BTW: even with a great TA, establishing a good relationship with a long-serving knowledgeable O phone rep (and a few O Club Ambassadors) is a smart move for all sorts of reasons.

It’s not 30 days after. As for a month prior, that was/is(?) the case. But since O changed the TA transfer window from 30 to 14 days, I’d suggest calling O for the latest time limits for BoB pre-cruise.

Yes

And hopefully, those adult, frequent cruisers who watch walk away with more evidence why they should abandon mass market cruise lines in favor of the more value laden Premier industry segment.

Correct. The BoB discount is approx. 5%+\-. The value of BoB is the price drop match guarantee and the cabin-dependent bonus SBC on current or future cruise.

Thankfully, Orv, you are one of the few O regulars who are on top of the whole Oceania discombobulation. Thanks for your eagle eye since you save me a lot of corrective posts.😎

You may have just hit the wrong changeover place/date. We do mostly multi-segment cruises (sometimes three annually) and I can’t remember not having available tours on changeover day.

NEVER book O excursions on their website. As aforementioned, PDF, website and phone rep usually have different info because each resource is a different department and tour info changes throughout the 365 days prior to cruise. The web is particularly glitchy re: tour availability for multi-segment cruises!!! USE THE O PHONE REP.

There are excursions on changeover day. Several days prior to that segment’s disembark, multi-segment cruisers will get a list of available tours.

I recently posted an extensive explanation of the order in which SM tour use various sources of SBC (tour, general and even cash). If you use the search feature here, it’s a good place to start.

Over the past decade we have purchased hundreds of O tours. For the zillionth time: NEVER use the O web cart to buy tours!!! It is extremely glitchy (as confirmed by my O contacts on numerous occasions). In particular, if you are on a multi-segment cruise, there may be tour availability showing on individual segment bookings but not on yours (at least until enough people call O to tell them someone forgot to “turn it on” for the multi-segment cruises). The only value of the O web cart is to compare your search for tours there with the most RECENT “shore excursions” PDF as well as what the O phone rep can confirm is actually available in the accounting system. SELDOM will all three sources agree on what exists and what’s available!!! All that said: someone will now post: “never have had a problem with booking tours on line.” Sure, if you’re doing a single short segment with less than 10 tours once every few years. But, even then, what’s shoeing for availability may be incorrect and you have zero chance of knowing that if you don’t cross check the different listing resources. Moreover, note that, on the web, you can’t book two tours on the same day (even though it’s allowable if there’s a 90 minute buffer between your choices). You have to call to do that. You have to also call to cancel. And ALWAYS make sure to get a copy of the Prepurchased Shore Excursions PDF - the one with all the O Life or SM math. This is the Bible when it comes to straightening out any onboard disagreement about your tour situation (including “wait list,” refunds, et al.).

For future reference: when you first book your O cruise, and regularly thereafter, call O and get the most recent (up-to-date) Shore Excursions PDF (which will be adjusted for extended journeys as well as single segments). On page 1, you’ll find the minimum tour purchase requirements to get the 25% SM deal (formerly YWYW under O Life). And, as I always mention: NEVER use the O web cart to purchase your tours! It’s extremely glitchy - particularly if your cruise is a multi-segment one (I’ve explained this in numerous earlier posts over several years- worth searching for). And always get the prepurchased shore excursions PDF, which has all the math showing for your tour purchases and use of O Life or SM SBC.

Whack-a-Waiter is a classic!

Here in the US, O’s (and Regent’s) T&Cs are not as kind. O assumes zero liability for the performance of its contracted services (eg., air, tours, etc). Of course, they’ll do their best to accommodate folks who purchase air and tours from O. But there’s no guarantees on anything related to stuff like missed air connections that keep you from. making your embarkation. BTW: Unless O’s chartered a flight, the ship will not wait for late comers. That said, how good a “deal” you got has zip to do with my point about adequate layover times. A 3 hour layover buffer can quickly be diminished by a 1 hour delay at your point of origin flight. And all sorts of other things can chip away at what remains. Ever been through passport control in major hubs during the summer? On one occasion for us at FRA, the line to get into the passport line was an hour in and of itself (plus twenty minutes to go through the passport control)! And we had already experienced a one hour delay at the start of our flight from SFO. We used the resulting approx one half hour (not the original three!) layover for a bathroom break and the sprint across FRA to the new gate. And what I am describing is not unusual. So despite your “great” deal, I’d still be thinking about altering your flights to add adequate layover time. But, be prepared to live with your decision.