OLife Excursions Question

[AMHuntFerry]

10 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

No cancels on pre-booked YWYW after the pre-Cruise booking deadline. However, if O cancels an O Life tour,  you get $100 credit or can select another O Life allowable tour at no extra charge. Any added paid tours once onboard also get the 25% YWYW discount. 
As for cancelling a prebooked O Life Tour once onboard, you can always ask to trade and you may get a yes if there’s a “wait list” for the one you want to dump.

You also get a full refund if O cancels a YWYW tour. We had two cancelled on our Dec. cruise. The first one was for our "pinnacle" tour to Tikal (darn, we'll just have to do a land trip for a few days) which we replaced with a different tour (and got 25% off). The second one was cancelled because we couldn't tender that day. I don't know what happens if O cancels a tour and it drops you below the YWYW threshold; I would hope O would keep the 25% discount, but....?

[Host Jazzbeau]

One thing that I haven't seen mentioned but if pertinent in today's climate with shifting port regulations leading to itinerary rearrangements:  if O cancels your YWC tour (either because the ship isn't going there anymore or because the provider is no longer available), you get a full credit.  And if that causes you to drop below the YWC minimum, you still keep the discounted rates on your other excursions.  [This happened to us.  And since some of the cancelled shorex cost more than $125, we would have lost money if we had taken O-Life Shorex rather than O-Life OBC – we got back everything we had paid, but under O-Life we would only have gotten $100.  I tracked our expenses carefully, and we definitely saved money over the O-Life Shorex option before, during, and at the end of our cruise – it DOES happen!]

[Tranquility Base]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

 

The YWC discount is offset by the inability to get a refund once onboard if you change your mind re a tour.

This may become a factor on a long cruise, especially with some port intensive periods.

A la Carte excursions cost more but provides flexibility up to 36 hours before the tour.

 

Something I'll keep in mind before committing to YWC package.

 

 

 

[Flatbush Flyer]

3 minutes ago, Tranquility Base said:

Thanks everyone for the replies.

 

The YWC discount is offset by the inability to get a refund once onboard if you change your mind re a tour.

This may become a factor on a long cruise, especially with some port intensive periods.

A la Carte excursions cost more but provides flexibility up to 36 hours before the tour.

 

Something I'll keep in mind before committing to YWC package.

 

 

 

You’re not considering that the most popular tours will be sold out long before the cruise begins. Changing your mind may be just that - changing your mind (but having no desirable replacements to actually change to).

[Tranquility Base]

28 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

You’re not considering that the most popular tours will be sold out long before the cruise begins. Changing your mind may be just that - changing your mind (but having no desirable replacements to actually change to).

Cancelling a tour to do a leisurely DIY day, with a relaxing lunch and a couple of drinks ashore have been very desirable replacements on some of my port visits.

Edited February 7, 2022 by Tranquility Base

[Flatbush Flyer]

30 minutes ago, Tranquility Base said:

Cancelling a tour to do a leisurely DIY day, with a relaxing lunch and a couple of drinks ashore have been very desirable replacements on some of my port visits.

We must pick very different itineraries😉

[Ride-The-Waves]

Our first O cruise is this November.  We have been cruising for decades.  My first trans-Atlantic was as a child in 1949.  I find this "O Life" stuff unnecessary and confusing.  For a cruise line that brands itself as slightly "boutique" this type of confusing should be embarrassing.  We have frequently sailed with Amazon and find the R-ship delightful, but would not sail on them with Oceania just because of this obfuscation which appears to oriented only towards making Oceania more $$$.  For the November cruise we booked air independently and likely saved more than any "O Life" benefit.

[1985rz1]

29 minutes ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

Our first O cruise is this November.  We have been cruising for decades.  My first trans-Atlantic was as a child in 1949.  I find this "O Life" stuff unnecessary and confusing.  For a cruise line that brands itself as slightly "boutique" this type of confusing should be embarrassing.  We have frequently sailed with Amazon and find the R-ship delightful, but would not sail on them with Oceania just because of this obfuscation which appears to oriented only towards making Oceania more $$$.  For the November cruise we booked air independently and likely saved more than any "O Life" benefit.

Why not always simply book cruise only?  It eliminates both the OLife options and the airfare (which is a separate option from OLife).  Many of us routinely do our own air.  The OLife option for excursions can save you $$$, if you use the ship's excursions, otherwise do the ports on you own.  A good TA can make life simple.

Edited February 7, 2022 by 1985rz1

[Flatbush Flyer]

17 minutes ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

Our first O cruise is this November.  We have been cruising for decades.  My first trans-Atlantic was as a child in 1949.  I find this "O Life" stuff unnecessary and confusing.  For a cruise line that brands itself as slightly "boutique" this type of confusing should be embarrassing.  We have frequently sailed with Amazon and find the R-ship delightful, but would not sail on them with Oceania just because of this obfuscation which appears to oriented only towards making Oceania more $$$.  For the November cruise we booked air independently and likely saved more than any "O Life" benefit.

So wrong. 
There’s no complication to O Life: Book one of four ways:

Cruise only w/o air

Cruise only w/air 

O Life w/air + choice of SBC or Booze or Tours

O Life w/o air+ choice of SBC or Booze or Tour

Not rocket science!

 

BTW: it’s well established that “cruise only” w/o air pricing is a “wash” with O Life SBC option w/o air. The only difference in price there is the $ amount of the SBC with the important downside that SBC is non-refundable .

 

Also well established is that the tours option can have double its face value if the right tours are selected and the booze package works well for those who imbibe generously.

 

O Life provides a middle ground (a la carte) option between all-inclusive luxury lines and “nickel/diming” mass market lines. It’s one of the best things about Oceania: flexibility in your budget but always the “finest cuisine at sea.”™️

[MEFIowa]

1 hour ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

... the booze package works well for those who imbibe generously.

Though in December I found that bringing my 6 bottles of wine directly on board at embarkation and then purchasing beer (Guatemalan Gallo & Belizean Belikin), wine (Mexican Xa), and liquor (Belizean rum & Mexican Cana Real) in the various ports worked quite well for me. I hardly paid anything to have some nice drinks each night on the veranda. (Though neither my wife nor I enjoyed Mr P's Cashew Wine from Belize. Our A4 concierge came with a bottle of champagne, too.)

[ilovhywd]

It's been a few years since we last cruised on Oceania, so we are studying this thread to understand and evaluate the current perk choices.

 

The cruise we are looking at for 2023 has several ports that offer 10-and 12-hour tours.  If we choose excursions as our “perk”, are we permitted to pay the difference between the $199 maximum allowed and the cost of the full-day tour?

 

Thanks for your help!  It's so nice to be on Cruise Critic again after a 2-year hiatus!

 

 

[mauibabes]

No you are not allowed to pay the up charge BUT if you book enough tours (that includes the Free ones) to qualify for the Your World Collection 25% discount, you can book those more expensive OS and OE, etc. tours and get the discounted price. That is how we combine out tours to get the best price possible.  Work with your TA or Oceania Rep as you are booking tours because the Unlimited Package discount does NOT always work out to be the best value. Run the numbers based on the tours you want to take. 🤪👍

Good luck and welcome back to sailing on Oceania.

Ciao,

Mauibabes 

[Flatbush Flyer]

15 minutes ago, ilovhywd said:

It's been a few years since we last cruised on Oceania, so we are studying this thread to understand and evaluate the current perk choices.

 

The cruise we are looking at for 2023 has several ports that offer 10-and 12-hour tours.  If we choose excursions as our “perk”, are we permitted to pay the difference between the $199 maximum allowed and the cost of the full-day tour?

 

Thanks for your help!  It's so nice to be on Cruise Critic again after a 2-year hiatus!

 

 

No

[Flatbush Flyer]

3 minutes ago, mauibabes said:

No you are not allowed to pay the up charge BUT if you book enough tours (that includes the Free ones) to qualify for the Your World Collection 25% discount, you can book those more expensive OS and OE, etc. tours and get the discounted price. That is how we combine out tours to get the best price possible.  Work with your TA or Oceania Rep as you are booking tours because the Unlimited Package discount does NOT always work out to be the best value. Run the numbers based on the tours you want to take. 🤪👍

Good luck and welcome back to sailing on Oceania.

Ciao,

Mauibabes 

+1.

The most expensive of the allowable  O Life tours (which interest you) plus the paid ones you add (enough total from both together to meet the YWYW minimum) to get the YWYW 25% off is the best perk among the O Life options. Then add some private non-ship tours as needed/wanted.