Your World Shore Excursions - O cancels one…….

[Snuffie]

Booked the 8 required shore excursions for our cruise leaving tomorrow.  
 

O canceled one tour and there are none of interest for us for other tours/ports. 
 

Already received a credit card refund 

 

Will 0 now recharge our credit card the 25% discount from original bookings on the 7 remaining tour bookings?

 

We fulfilled our obligation for the discount. Therefore I assume no addition charge to remaining tours since O canceled. I did look at disclaimers on our confirmed shore excursions and it does not have any info regarding their canceling. 
 

Thanks!

[Flatbush Flyer]

16 minutes ago, Snuffie said:

Will 0 now recharge our credit card the 25% discount from original bookings on the 7 remaining tour bookings?

Yes. Your onboard account will be adjusted. Just pick another tour.

[zalusky]

This just happened to us and I asked our TA and she said Oceania indicated we still have the discount.

We shall see soon once we board.

 

Anybody else with personal experience on this?

[ORV]

23 minutes ago, zalusky said:

This just happened to us and I asked our TA and she said Oceania indicated we still have the discount.

We shall see soon once we board.

 

Anybody else with personal experience on this?

Missing information. What is the number of excursions need to get the discount and how many do you have booked?

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, zalusky said:

This just happened to us and I asked our TA and she said Oceania indicated we still have the discount.

We shall see soon once we board.

 

Anybody else with personal experience on this?

Tons of personal experience with O Life and YWYW. 
You want this all squared away before you board. Some Destination Services staff are clueless (while others fully understand how it works). 
At a minimum, get the latest prepurchased shore excursions PDF from O (the one that shows all the math (not the minimal one with just the names of your tours). It will show you which tours have the YWYW and/or O Life pricing and is your proof of what actually exists.

Edited December 19, 2022 by Flatbush Flyer

[zalusky]

1 hour ago, ORV said:

Missing information. What is the number of excursions need to get the discount and how many do you have booked?

8 is the required number.  They cancelled one (The cheapest one actually).  So now we only have 7.

The prepurchased spreadsheet  with the 8 count discounted it to $59.25 from $79

We got refunds of $89 each - Go figure!

 

I don't have one for the 7 count.  Are you guys suggesting they will create a debit on the shipboard account now that we are not at 8?

 

Our TA said we still had the discount.

[Redtravel]

On some cruises , there are additional added excursions.  

[Flatbush Flyer]

28 minutes ago, zalusky said:

8 is the required number.  They cancelled one (The cheapest one actually).  So now we only have 7.

The prepurchased spreadsheet  with the 8 count discounted it to $59.25 from $79

We got refunds of $89 each - Go figure!

 

I don't have one for the 7 count.  Are you guys suggesting they will create a debit on the shipboard account now that we are not at 8?

 

Our TA said we still had the discount.

Your TA is not Oceania.

Now you need the newest prepurchased shore excursions pdf - the one with the 7 tours remaining. See if that new one still shows the YWYW discounts. 
 

[Host Jazzbeau]

We faced this on our January cruise.  My advice would be to go through the remaining shore excursions and sign up for the cheapest one [as late in the cruise as possible].  That will probably cost less than the penalty for not having enough to qualify for YWYW.  Once onboard you can sort this out with the shorex dept, or they may add a new excursion that does appeal to you.  Worst case, 'oversleep.'

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

We faced this on our January cruise.  My advice would be to go through the remaining shore excursions and sign up for the cheapest one [as late in the cruise as possible].  That will probably cost less than the penalty for not having enough to qualify for YWYW.  Once onboard you can sort this out with the shorex dept, or they may add a new excursion that does appeal to you.  Worst case, 'oversleep.'

FWIW: No onboard refunds on YWYW purchases that the passenger cancels.

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

FWIW: No onboard refunds on YWYW purchases that the passenger cancels.

But my experience is that they will let you exchange one tour for another, even after the deadline.

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 minute ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I didn't say to cancel.  I said to oversleep, if the cost of the not-taken tour is smaller than the YWYW discount you would lose by coming up 1 tour short.

I know what you were suggesting (which makes good sense). I was more concerned about your mention of “sorting it out” once onboard and wanted OP to know that cancelling the replacement YWYW (or trading it in for a new one) technically is not an option. 
If I remember correctly, even the tour tix for YWYW choices say “no cancellation.”

[pinotlover]

I suppose I agree with the TA that probably has experience in this matter. Oceania cancelled one of our tours last cruise and we had the same scenario. They didn’t take away our discount.

 

If you extrapolate the position some here suggest, if O cancelled a port, thus cancelling a cruise, you could lose your YWYW discount on your other tours. Insult to injury.

 

I’d trust my TA that has plenty of Oceania experience. Hopefully the OP’s does likewise.
 

[Cape Hernlopen]

Dear Fellow Cruisers:

 

On our recent Papeete to Darwin cruise several ports were cancelled, and we fell below the required minimum for YWYW discount.  The discount remained on our existing tours.  At the last minute (the night before) we added a tour in Darwin.  That tour was cancelled because of "low  interest".  We were refunded our money as a credit on our account.   By the way, we completed the cancelled Oceania tour by taxi (on our time schedule) and saved almost $200.

Joel Barry

[Flatbush Flyer]

Again, the easiest (and most unquestionable) proof that YWYW stays/doesn’t stay in place is to have a copy of the current PRE-PURCHASED SHORE EXCURSIONS & ONBOARD EXPERIENCES.PDF in hand when one embarks. 
When, as I often suggest, you purchase/modify/etc your tours direct with a knowledgeable O phone rep who will send you the updated PDF (or have your trusted TA get a copy), you have the what matters should the poop hit the fan.

There are many relatively new Destination Services staff right now and some (including several on Marina) truly do not have a clue. Remember as well that, should you ask for the DETAILED version (tours listed by name et al) of your account-to-date once onboard, not all staff know how to print that version. And, even if they do, cancellation/YWYW/O Life may not appear until the final days of the cruise  segment.

Getting that most current PDF only takes a quick email or phone call.

[pinotlover]

I wonder how many of those experienced phone reps have/will survive the current downsizing? 
 

I have a TA and know how to use her. Zero need to call 1-800.

[Flatbush Flyer]

15 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

I wonder how many of those experienced phone reps have/will survive the current downsizing? 
 

I have a TA and know how to use her. Zero need to call 1-800.

And yet, OP’s TA “called” O but didn’t bother to get the latest pre-purchased shore excursions PDF. Not exactly “on the ball?”

 

Using your logic, TA’s word based on a call to his/her O phone rep may find the same “axed” scenario. More importantly, once onboard, getting hold of your TA in a timely fashion just adds an unnecessary step to the equation.

And you seem to always forget that your TA experience may be the exception rather than the rule in an industry fraught with a broad spectrum of competence.

Really very simple: With or without a TA, that PDF (as well as your Cruise Vacation Summary with all of your specialty reservations - yes the ones that have been disappearing onboard due to some computer glitch) is the “poster child” for “don’t need it until you need it.”

 

 

[pinotlover]

I believe our primary difference is 

 

1. If only booking a couple of tours, I do it on line myself;

 

2. If booking enough to qualify for the discount, I give the list of tours to my TA and she books them; then;

 

3. She automatically sends me the pdf of what’s booked and pricing for my review.

 

4.  I print out the pdf and take it with me. We also print out a listing of our Specialty reservations to take along.

 

Anything affecting our contract with Oceania, she automatically sends the pdf. I have no reason to call 1-800.

 

My TA said the number of Regional Reps supporting the TAs was reduced during Covid and never increased back to earlier levels.Not much room for further reductions.She spends time on hold, not me.

 

 

[Flatbush Flyer]

39 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

I believe our primary difference is 

 

1. If only booking a couple of tours, I do it on line myself;

 

2. If booking enough to qualify for the discount, I give the list of tours to my TA and she books them; then;

 

3. She automatically sends me the pdf of what’s booked and pricing for my review.

 

4.  I print out the pdf and take it with me. We also print out a listing of our Specialty reservations to take along.

 

Anything affecting our contract with Oceania, she automatically sends the pdf. I have no reason to call 1-800.

 

My TA said the number of Regional Reps supporting the TAs was reduced during Covid and never increased back to earlier levels.Not much room for further reductions.She spends time on hold, not me.

 

 

And that’s the benefit of having 

A): Direct contact info for the trusted long-serving O phone rep (who I already know is still there). No “on hold” BS needed.

AND

B): Having a (actually two) top-O-selling TAs with the (still existing) regional sales rep (et al.) as a speed dial on their cell phone.

 

Backup redundancy in the management of intercontinental travel (work or play) is a good thing. That said, I use my resources in the most efficacious way.

Bottom line: we each do what we find works best for our situation.

FWIW: I’ve always been a big fan of Robert Pirsig’s “Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.” It’s a worthy read.