Free Shore Excursions?

[57eric]

I'm  considering Oceania and was impressed that shore excursions are included, as shown at https://www.oceaniacruises.com/value.  I looked at some sample shore excursions and they were quite satisfactory. 

 

My final step was to corroborate that the free shore excursion claim.  Unfortunately, I haven't been able to.  From what I can see, if you opt to pay an additional amount for your cruise, you have the option of selecting a specified number of shore excursions (e.g. 4 on cruises up to 9 days). 

 

Did I miss something, or should I disregard the comparison chart?

 

Thanks.

[GICNJC]

The free excursions are part of the Olife offer (and OLife includes airfare (which if you chose not to use you receive a US$175 credit per flight and per person).  A note about the free excursions, they are ones of value up to @200 each.

[LHT28]

4 minutes ago, GICNJC said:

The free excursions are part of the Olife offer (and OLife includes airfare (which if you chose not to use you receive a US$175 credit per flight and per person).  A note about the free excursions, they are ones of value up to @200 each.

Airfare is NOT part of O Life

You can have Olife without the air 

 The air credit varies per cruise   so not always $175

 

You may be confusing the deviation fee  with the air credit

[ORV]

9 minutes ago, GICNJC said:

The free excursions are part of the Olife offer (and OLife includes airfare (which if you chose not to use you receive a US$175 credit per flight and per person).  A note about the free excursions, they are ones of value up to @200 each.

Oops, wait a minute, don't know where you got that $175 number but that is not the air credit. The air credit varies by flight. The only thing that is $175 would be the deviation, and that is not per flight, it is per person, per trip. 

 

Edit, LOL, I see Lyn and I were posting at the same time. 

Edited July 15, 2022 by ORV

[ORV]

14 minutes ago, 57eric said:

From what I can see, if you opt to pay an additional amount for your cruise, you have the option of selecting a specified number of shore excursions (e.g. 4 on cruises up to 9 days). 

Yes, this is the way it works. TANSTAAFL

[LHT28]

16 minutes ago, 57eric said:

I'm  considering Oceania and was impressed that shore excursions are included, as shown at https://www.oceaniacruises.com/value.  I looked at some sample shore excursions and they were quite satisfactory. 

 

My final step was to corroborate that the free shore excursion claim.  Unfortunately, I haven't been able to.  From what I can see, if you opt to pay an additional amount for your cruise, you have the option of selecting a specified number of shore excursions (e.g. 4 on cruises up to 9 days). 

 

Did I miss something, or should I disregard the comparison chart?

 

Thanks.

Are you talking about the O Life excursions or the packages  ?

 The T & C are   (bolding is mine)

OLife Choice free shore excursions vary by voyage and exclude Oceania Select, Oceania Exclusive, Executive Collection, Food & Wine Trails, Wellness Discovery Tours by Aquamar, Go Local and Culinary Discovery Tours. Voyages up to 9 days receive 4 free shore excursions; 10-13 days receive 6 free shore excursions; 14+ days receive 8 free shore excursions, except for a single traveler booked in a Concierge Level Solo Veranda, amenity is at the per guest rate. If shore excursion amenity is selected, all excursions must be chosen at least 14 days prior to sailing.

 

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/legal/promotion-terms/

[ChadnKate]

Oceania fares online are shown with Olife and Air, and cruise fare only. You can also get it with OLife and a credit for not using their air. We've had per person credits as low as  400 and as much as 1,200. It depends on the origin. Figured from the average US location, its a whole lot more for Auckland than Miami.

We do our own reward flights for air so take the credit.

[1985rz1]

And the number of free excursions listed for OLife is per cabin.  Half that per person.

[57eric]

No wonder I was (am) confused.  And now I see you apparently can't even get fares from their web site.  Instead, you have to "request a quote".

 

I've been on half a dozen cruise lines and I've never seen anything like this.

[njhorseman]

36 minutes ago, 57eric said:

No wonder I was (am) confused.  And now I see you apparently can't even get fares from their web site.  Instead, you have to "request a quote".

 

I've been on half a dozen cruise lines and I've never seen anything like this.

Yes, you can get fares from their website.  

[LHT28]

40 minutes ago, 57eric said:

No wonder I was (am) confused.  And now I see you apparently can't even get fares from their web site.  Instead, you have to "request a quote".

 

 

Not sure where you are looking   but  of course you can get fares

 https://www.oceaniacruises.com/cruise-finder#sort=featured:desc&page=1&pageSize=10

 

Find the cruise you are interested in

Click on the cabin category  then follow the steps from there

you will get  the amount of the trip once completed

 

Better still find a TA that specializes in Oceania

 

[1985rz1]

40 minutes ago, 57eric said:

No wonder I was (am) confused.  And now I see you apparently can't even get fares from their web site.  Instead, you have to "request a quote".

 

I've been on half a dozen cruise lines and I've never seen anything like this.

The fares are shown on the website as with OLife and cruise only.  The cost of OLife alone (no airfare)is the cruise only is the cruise only plus the OBC amount.  But you have to remember that the OBC is per cabin, so OLife alone per person is 1/2 of the OBC above the cruise only fare.

 

It sounds to me you would really benefit by engaging a TA who is an Oceania specialist (not who works for O) who can work you through these idiosyncrasies of O's pricing.  Besides, you can get additional benefits that are not available when dealing with O directly.

[alcpa1]

You would definitely benefit from using a travel agent familiar with Oceania. For the first timer it's daunting but so worthwhile.

As with any cruise line excursions some are generic and some are wonderful. Because O ships are smaller than the mass market fleets you will not often be subjected to jam packed busses either.

Tell us where you are going and I'd bet we'd have recommendations of the best "free" excursions too.

[shepherd really]

I wish people would stop referring to something that costs $100 as free.

 

The Olife excursions cost $100 each, that isn't free.  It's just marketing BS.

[Ride-The-Waves]

It appears that Oceania is scamming cruisers when it comes to their pricing.  Intentionally obfuscating prices and costs, and making it very difficult to select and book.  Horrible practice.  However, it appears they make a lot of money from the practice.

[57eric]

OK, perhaps they do give online pricing, but the process I see certainly led me to believe otherwise:

1.  It's called "Request a Quote".

2. On the same page it states "Your personal vacation consultant will help you or your travel agent plan your next cruise vacation. Our experts provide turn-key services that will help you select your perfect cruise."  That sounds like someone getting back to me.

3. My contact information is required, which is not something I've previously encountered.

 

The points about using a TA are well taken.

 

Posts 14 and 15 nicely capture how I'm feeling about all of this.

 

[LHT28]

36 minutes ago, 57eric said:

OK, perhaps they do give online pricing, but the process I see certainly led me to believe otherwise:

1.  It's called "Request a Quote".

2. On the same page it states "Your personal vacation consultant will help you or your travel agent plan your next cruise vacation. Our experts provide turn-key services that will help you select your perfect cruise."  That sounds like someone getting back to me.

3. My contact information is required, which is not something I've previously encountered.

 

 

When you click on the cruise  then the cabin availability a box pops up SAVE Your Work  just   scroll down  & click  "continue as a guest "

check the box  for air /no air/etc

 it will give you the cost  at the end  BEFORE  you give your name & personal info

[AMHuntFerry]

@57eric , As LHT28 said, don't click the Request a Quote box. To see how much the airfare-credit is using the online booking (simpler way listed at end of this note), click any of the choices in the Availability column (far right):

Choose "NO" for air travel and

Click on Next Step (bottom right):

Click on Continue as Guest (bottom of pop up):

Compare the Promo Fare column with the fares (e.g. C1 $2749 vs $2249) to determine the airfare credit ($500 for this one)

Choose a category:

 

Choose a room number

Choose your O-Life Option:

This is where the online booking stops being useful since it will not let you book a cruise-only (no air no O-Life) fare. Use a TA or book via phone to book cruise-only fares. The other way to estimate the air credit is to look at the cruise only fare, add half of the O-Life OBC; the difference is the likely (may not be exact) air credit.

 

 

Edited July 16, 2022 by AMHuntFerry
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[susiesan]

If you want to know the cruise only price go to the web site of one of the big online cruise agencies and do a mock booking. Book cruise only and do your own shore excursions and air. Use any OBC from your chosen TA to pay for O excursions if you want to take them. I have never booked an oceania cruise with O Life included, I can always do better with cruise only and my own air and shore ex arrangements. it takes a bit more work but worth it for the savings.

 

Good luck trying to find a TA who is an O specialist that everyone here talks about. CC members are not allowed to give out names of agents.. I've been an Oceania passenger since 2008 and have never found one of those O specialist agents to book my cruises.

[mauibabes]

Susiean

many people may not want to do as much work as you do, at least that is often my experience with many travel friends. Just Deciding to take the cruise is enough of a challenge and let the TA do the rest. 

It can be a challenge to find that Oceania Specialist or Oceania Connoisseur Club Agency but it is not an insurmountable task.  As I have read these posts over the years and sometimes even met the posters on board, we have found some great travel resources. A CC Meet and Greet is great fun and when we share our “handles” we get such a laugh about “knowing people forever” based on the Board Posts. 
Keep reading because they are here.

Ciao, Mauibabes
 

[AMHuntFerry]

Agree @mauibabes my typical MO is DIY...love travel planning; I can spend days just figuring out how to get around a single place using public transportation and walking (had to go find that one special winery to bring back ice wine for a friend from Trier!! We were almost attacked by hungry cows but we survived.). However, there are times when life leaves me just too exhausted to lift a finger. That's when paying someone else to do the heavy lifting is a welcome blessing. Currently I use my local brick and mortar TA (love her) but I have to teach her about O; using Google, it took me less than 10 seconds to discover one of the frequent posters who is an O Connoisseur (or whatever the fancy name is).