Please explain Oceania's excursion prices.

[AMHuntFerry]

51 minutes ago, gkbiiii said:

So 64 pp, must be worth some $$$$+ then.  What about the special functions on land, something like Grand Events on World Cruise?

It is 64 shorex per cabin, so 32 for each person. If you take O-Life instead of cruise-only fare, you are paying $6400 for these 64 excursions which can be a good deal if you want to take the O-Life qualifying shore excursions. Maybe browse first to see if the <$200 shorex are the kind you like to take.

[Cliff-FLL]

If we were capable of explaining Oceania's excursion prices, we wouldn't have to worry about them.  If we were that intelligent, we'd have our own yachts and would be stopping wherever we wanted.

[Doubt It]

Hello everyone.

I found this link, helpful.

I would appreciate your guidance on how to address the incredible complexity of Oceania's shore excursions. You all are SO knowledgeable, I defer to your wisdom.

 

We find the Oceania excursion pricing to be beyond complicated.

 

We are on an August cruise on Insignia from Iceland. We paid for O'Life and have 8 included shore excursions, confirmed by Oceania.

 

We have 4 included excursions ready to book per person, finishing off the O'Life total of 8.  We have 3 ports where we prefer the OS excursion and 3 ports where we are doing no excursions; walking ourselves as we have been there before.

_______________________________

Question #1 - There seems to be no benefit to Using the Your World option which is shown as Cdn $1,635 pp on the web site, see analysis below. Are we correct??????

 

Question #2 - If we book the OS excursions on our own, ie outside of the Your World, if Oceania cancels the port - do we get our $ back?

 

Question #3 - If we book the OS without Your World, how do we make sure the Oceania agent on the telephone understands we do not want the Your World, ie does it become automatic?

_________________________________

 

I did a mock booking as a previous poster kindly recommended. 

1) The 8 O'Life included excursions are in - after that, it is additional costs to us........

2) The direct costs to us of booking the 3 OS excursions:

 

a) (withOut the Your World) is Cdn $1,122 pp

b) (the Your World cost) is Cdn $835 pp

c) the Your World cost is a "savings" of Cdn $287 pp

 

Analysis................

What we can not figure out is this - is the quoted "Your World" of Cdn $1,635 pp something we have to pay over top of the O'Life to each buy into the "Your World" package?  Because the savings of $287 pp does not cover the costs of "Your World", if this is the case.

 

We are very confused right now, so your assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Kindest Regards

Happy Easter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[LHT28]

Are you confusing YWC  with the Unlimited ??

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/shore-excursions

With  YWC  you get 25%  off the tours you choose 

a minimum number are  required  but your O life  tours count to meet the minimum

 The  UNLIMITED  collection is  a set price   then you do as many as feasible

[ShopperfiendTO]

If you are only interested in OS excursions, then you are most likely better off with not taking the excursion option as your OLife choice!

 

On the other hand, if you are saying that you have your 4 included excursions each and want 3 additional OS excursions each, then, assuming that the 7 excursions per person is more than the minimum needed for YWYW, you would save 25% on the OS excursions from their single tour pricing.

 

If you are doing a mock booking, it is important to have all of your excursions in the cart and to click on the YWYW toggle button for each passenger because the default is single tour pricing even if you have OLife excursions option in your package.  Clicking the YWYW toggle will then trigger the total pricing with the YWYW discount.  It’s the bottom line number that matters, compare that to your calculations on what you think the price should be.

[LHT28]

2 minutes ago, ShopperfiendTO said:

.  Clicking the YWYW toggle will then trigger the total pricing with the YWYW discount.  It’s the bottom line number that matters, compare that to your calculations on what you think the price should be.

After you do all that  just call Oceania  & let them do it  😉

 

[JRIH]

17 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

After you do all that  just call Oceania  & let them do it  😉

 

Absolutely.

[Flatbush Flyer]

25 minutes ago, ShopperfiendTO said:

If you are only interested in OS excursions, then you are most likely better off with not taking the excursion option as your OLife choice!

 

On the other hand, if you are saying that you have your 4 included excursions each and want 3 additional OS excursions each, then, assuming that the 7 excursions per person is more than the minimum needed for YWYW, you would save 25% on the OS excursions from their single tour pricing.

 

If you are doing a mock booking, it is important to have all of your excursions in the cart and to click on the YWYW toggle button for each passenger because the default is single tour pricing even if you have OLife excursions option in your package.  Clicking the YWYW toggle will then trigger the total pricing with the YWYW discount.  It’s the bottom line number that matters, compare that to your calculations on what you think the price should be.

This is correct.

Also, OP: use the search feature here to look for my several very detailed primers on O Life and YWYW.

You can play with the Cart but never use it to buy tours. Always call O and have the rep do it. 

[ORV]

1 hour ago, ShopperfiendTO said:

If you are only interested in OS excursions, then you are most likely better off with not taking the excursion option as your OLife choice!

They may be booking an Ultimate cruise. 

[AMHuntFerry]

I think you have your answer and the LHT28 is correct...you are saying "YWC" when you mean "UPC". The UPC (flat fee for cruise, the  $0 cost for some shorex and copay for spendy shorex) is ONLY potentially useful on cruises where YWC is not available (e.g., some 7 day cruises). You pay essentially $110 per port for unlimited "free"/copay shorex. Short answer...UPC is rarely cost effective.

"YWC" on the other hand is very useful if you are choosing ship tours since it gives you 25% off any shorex excluding OLife shorex (if applicable). I have used YWC alone on a cruise where the shorex I wanted were either cheap (<$133) or OS/OE.

You can also use your OLife shorex for the 4 (in your case) most expensive qualifying shorex, and the rest will be discounted 25% using YWC (not in the itemization, but in the total owed). I've never had to click any buttons to choose YWC, it just gave me the discount (going against FF's sage advice and doing it online, although I had to call for a different reason, and tidied everything up then).

So, short story, book you shorex using OLife and book your non-Olife shorex. Check the total...it should be 75% of the non-OLife shorex. If not, call O.

[tgg]

4 hours ago, LHT28 said:

After you do all that  just call Oceania  & let them do it  😉

 

This is FAR easier than using the web site.

[mauibabes]

@Doubt It

You received a lot of good guidance from the Cast and Crew of this Oceania Board.  I will share a couple more thoughts as we all accept booking excursions on line can be daunting, especially for first timers. When using the O Life amenity package, I try to lock in all the excursions I can up to $199 to secure the best bang for the buck. The YWYW discount can always help you maximize Oceania value.  When in doubt, call Oceania and walk it thru with the Specialist to be sure nothing has slipped thru the cracks. IMHO, find yourself a good and knowledgeable, Oceania Connoisseur Club Member Canadian Travel Agent and really enjoy your Oceania cruising. We all benefit by knowing the “Right” people who can make things happen!!!
Mauibabes, coming to you directly from beautiful Kaanapali resorts in Maui 🤪🙏🍹

[LHT28]

2 minutes ago, mauibabes said:

. IMHO, find yourself a good and knowledgeable, Oceania Connoisseur Club Member Canadian Travel Agent 

A good  USA OCCM  Travel agent  will also work  no need to limit to Canadian agents 

JMO

[Flatbush Flyer]

4 hours ago, AMHuntFerry said:

I think you have your answer and the LHT28 is correct...you are saying "YWC" when you mean "UPC". The UPC (flat fee for cruise, the  $0 cost for some shorex and copay for spendy shorex) is ONLY potentially useful on cruises where YWC is not available (e.g., some 7 day cruises). You pay essentially $110 per port for unlimited "free"/copay shorex. Short answer...UPC is rarely cost effective.

"YWC" on the other hand is very useful if you are choosing ship tours since it gives you 25% off any shorex excluding OLife shorex (if applicable). I have used YWC alone on a cruise where the shorex I wanted were either cheap (<$133) or OS/OE.

You can also use your OLife shorex for the 4 (in your case) most expensive qualifying shorex, and the rest will be discounted 25% using YWC (not in the itemization, but in the total owed). I've never had to click any buttons to choose YWC, it just gave me the discount (going against FF's sage advice and doing it online, although I had to call for a different reason, and tidied everything up then).

So, short story, book you shorex using OLife and book your non-Olife shorex. Check the total...it should be 75% of the non-OLife shorex. If not, call O.

Let me expand on why not to use the Cart:

1) If you get the very latest ShoreExcursions PDF (they’re constantly being updated) and have the O website opened to the excursions, you’ll often notice that they have some conflicts as regards one or the other source missing some tour(s). And then if you call O, what the phone rep sees in their system’s list may be different yet again. Clearly when tours are added, dropped or otherwise changed, not all three sources are coordinated in their actions.

2) The Cart remains quite glitchy. Though the actual tour listings show the a la carte, YWYW (if available) and Passport prices, the Cart usually displays only the a la carte prices and will show the bottom line a la carte total unless you press the YWYW or Passport button at the top of the Cart. The two Cart positives are that, although the Cart does necessarily show you (item by item) what are your O Life $0 ones, it does assign the complimentary slots to the most expensive of the allowable tours AND the total at the bottom is usually correct (taking into account the O Life tours, YWYW (or Passport) discounted tours (as long as you pressed the correct button above for each person).
Note however, that the bottom line in the Cart will also automatically apply any regular Oceania provided SBC (e.g., O Club SBC perk) to reduce the balance due on your credit card (unless you specify that you don’t want to use it now for tours).

3) The Cart/website will not let you book more than one tour per person per day. So, if you want to do an AM tour and a PM or evening tour (as long as there’s a 90 minute layover gap) on the same day, you’ll have to call O to do that.

4) Want to cancel a booked tour pre-cruise? You can’t do it on the O web or Cart. You’ll have to call O.

5) Sadly, like TAs, not all O phone agents are created equal. It may take a few calls (for whatever reason) before you connect with the “right” one for you who is also a master of O policies and practices. And when you do connect, get his/her email and phone extension.

6) Booking tours with the right O phone agent also gets you no hassle delivery of the latest Shore Excursions PDF and the all important PrePurchased Shore Excursions PDF which shows you all the math involved in your O Life and YWYW (or Passport) purchases. This document will spare you any misunderstanding when O changes/cancels/replaces tours once onboard.

 

[Doubt It]

Doubt It here.

I thank you all so much, hugs, for your information and support.

I am just off the phone with Oceania and everything is booked and it became very clear how the included and OS worked.

We got what we wanted, when we wanted it, so very pleased.

Your knowledge and assistance to newbies like me is so very helpful.

May everyone have a most wonderful Easter time with lots of chocolate.

Blessings to all.

Doubt It

[stratton007]

On 2/24/2023 at 7:32 PM, Flatbush Flyer said:

Use the search feature here on CC to look for one or more of my several detailed sets of instructions (and strategies) for getting the most value from the combination of O Life excursions option and YWYW. 
(Note that seldom is the Unlimited Passport worth the upfront cost.)

please can you point me to the correct location of your instructions as I wish to learn more, thoward at ntlworld dot com. Many thanks 

[ORV]

1 hour ago, stratton007 said:

please can you point me to the correct location of your instructions as I wish to learn more, thoward at ntlworld dot com. Many thanks 

It looks like it will be a moot point in a couple of weeks. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, stratton007 said:

please can you point me to the correct location of your instructions as I wish to learn more, thoward at ntlworld dot com. Many thanks 

I’ve already suggested using the search feature, which is what I too would have to do (and won’t).

Others have asked CC moderators to make a couple of my detailed and accurate O Life and YWYW posts into “stickies.” But, that hasn’t happened (nor is it likely to happen since O Life will soon be replaced by Simply More.

 

That said, here are the basics:

Firstly, get a copy of the most current “shore excursions” PDF for your cruise (call O). When you do, you’ll find that it is far easier to use for planning than the O website. You’ll also learn that the PDF and the web listings often don’t jive completely.
 

BTW: on the first page of that PDF, you’ll find your cruise’s required number of tours (per person) you must have to qualify for the 25% Your World Your Way discount if it is available (note that your O Life allotted tours count in that minimum). You may also see the cost of the Unlimited Passport Collection which has a cruise-specific flat fee that gets you your choice of any O Life allowable tours (most of those under $200) plus 40% discount on paid ones. However, note that, in all but the rarest situations, YWYW is always the better deal.

 

Pick your provided perk number of O Life allowable tours per person (remember that the tours perk is per cabin) and any desired extra paid tour per person necessary to qualify for the total four tours/person for YWYW on your itinerary. Next, use the O website tours section to mock book. Then go to the cart and check the YWYW button for each person. The total bottom line cost should then adjust (but the individual $ next to each tour will probably make zero sense). The system online is very glitchy. Do not purchase the tours there.

So, before you put anything in the Cart, do your selection calculations on your own spreadsheet and then proceed to that mock tour booking to see if your total matches the Cart’s total. Make sure that your calculations assign $0 to your allotment of O Life tours with priority given to the most expensive ones. The Cart does that automatically if you select the YWYW button at the top for each person. Note that the Cart will also automatically use any Oceania provided SBC (listed in your cruise’s account) to pay down the balance due (unless you indicate otherwise). If you want to proceed with the purchase, you’ll need to provide your credit card info. BUT…..

 

If your own bottom line calculation and the Cart’s bottom line match you should now NOT buy the tours online. Rather, call O and have the phone rep do the booking. Again, the Cart (including its memory of your choices) is VERY glitchy.
 

Note, sadly, that not all O phone reps are created equal. So, you may need to try several initial calls to find one that works for you (and when you do, get his/her direct phone extension and email address). But there is a core group that are excellent and, even if you used a TA, you can do optional purchases direct with O (which we have done for years). Our TA is extremely knowledgeable. Yet we DIY the tours. Why?  As good as your TA might be, s/he will not be onboard with you when there’s an emergent problem.

AND, perhaps most importantly, DIYing the O Life/YWYW tours gains you a very good understanding of the tour policies (maybe even more than some of the Destination Services staff onboard) and you will /should get (ask nicely but demand if necessary) a PDF of the “pre-purchased shore excursions that shows all the math of your transaction. This document is extremely important -particularly when O misses a port or otherwise cancels one or more of your tours. It trumps everything else in a staff whizzing match when the onboard tour modification “poop hits the fan.”

Some others here may say just let your TA do it. Again, the TA won’t be standing next to you when you have an emergent Destination Services issue. And fully understanding the policies (thanks to DIY and that “prepurchased PDF) puts you way ahead in any disagreement.

 

 

 

[stratton007]

On 4/7/2023 at 6:51 AM, Flatbush Flyer said:

Let me expand on why not to use the Cart:

1) If you get the very latest ShoreExcursions PDF (they’re constantly being updated) and have the O website opened to the excursions, you’ll often notice that they have some conflicts as regards one or the other source missing some tour(s). And then if you call O, what the phone rep sees in their system’s list may be different yet again. Clearly when tours are added, dropped or otherwise changed, not all three sources are coordinated in their actions.

2) The Cart remains quite glitchy. Though the actual tour listings show the a la carte, YWYW (if available) and Passport prices, the Cart usually displays only the a la carte prices and will show the bottom line a la carte total unless you press the YWYW or Passport button at the top of the Cart. The two Cart positives are that, although the Cart does necessarily show you (item by item) what are your O Life $0 ones, it does assign the complimentary slots to the most expensive of the allowable tours AND the total at the bottom is usually correct (taking into account the O Life tours, YWYW (or Passport) discounted tours (as long as you pressed the correct button above for each person).
Note however, that the bottom line in the Cart will also automatically apply any regular Oceania provided SBC (e.g., O Club SBC perk) to reduce the balance due on your credit card (unless you specify that you don’t want to use it now for tours).

3) The Cart/website will not let you book more than one tour per person per day. So, if you want to do an AM tour and a PM or evening tour (as long as there’s a 90 minute layover gap) on the same day, you’ll have to call O to do that.

4) Want to cancel a booked tour pre-cruise? You can’t do it on the O web or Cart. You’ll have to call O.

5) Sadly, like TAs, not all O phone agents are created equal. It may take a few calls (for whatever reason) before you connect with the “right” one for you who is also a master of O policies and practices. And when you do connect, get his/her email and phone extension.

6) Booking tours with the right O phone agent also gets you no hassle delivery of the latest Shore Excursions PDF and the all important PrePurchased Shore Excursions PDF which shows you all the math involved in your O Life and YWYW (or Passport) purchases. This document will spare you any misunderstanding when O changes/cancels/replaces tours once onboard.

 

please can you point me to the correct location of your instructions as I wish to learn more, thoward at ntlworld dot com. Many thanks 

[ORV]

Lol

[grifdoglover]

I am very tired of people saying that taking an OBC is not the way to go or that I may not manage my finances properly.  I DO NOT USE O EXCURSIONS!  Sometimes they get cancelled or the port changed and you are out of that money.  (Most private tours are refundable 24 hrs ahead and I have never had trouble getting refunds when plans change)  I don’t enjoy being herded with a bus load of people! ( Or waiting in line to argue with destination/guest services) If I have the OBC amount added to my fare then use it for say gratuities or spa or cooking classes that I will have to pay for anyway it’s a wash.  You may see from these forums that needing to use spreadsheets and compare this to that to this to figure the best deal with O excursions and how to book them is very time consuming and IMO ridiculous…but spare me the judgements on how I choose to plan my trip.  I truly travel MY WAY not O’s scammed Your way! 

[Flatbush Flyer]

4 hours ago, grifdoglover said:

I am very tired of people saying that taking an OBC is not the way to go or that I may not manage my finances properly.  I DO NOT USE O EXCURSIONS!  Sometimes they get cancelled or the port changed and you are out of that money.  (Most private tours are refundable 24 hrs ahead and I have never had trouble getting refunds when plans change)  I don’t enjoy being herded with a bus load of people! ( Or waiting in line to argue with destination/guest services) If I have the OBC amount added to my fare then use it for say gratuities or spa or cooking classes that I will have to pay for anyway it’s a wash.  You may see from these forums that needing to use spreadsheets and compare this to that to this to figure the best deal with O excursions and how to book them is very time consuming and IMO ridiculous…but spare me the judgements on how I choose to plan my trip.  I truly travel MY WAY not O’s scammed Your way! 

You’re certainly entitled to your opinion but inaccuracies do need to be corrected: if O cancels a tour that you’ve already booked, you certainly do get a refund (to your onboard account) unless you replace it with another tour.  If the cancelled tour was an O Life selection, you get the base $100 (which is no refundable as cash - only SBC (just like the SBC perk. If the cancelled tour is one for which you paid, that credit is refundable. And it is far more convenient to have it all happen automatically than trying to connect with some private tour operators, particularly those with varying cancelation policies.

In any case, your rant is useless since the new “Simply More” promo replacing O Life will give you no choice. You’ll get SBC limited solely to use for tour purchases. Use it or lose it.

 

BTW, O has many many tours that rely on 16 passenger van/busses. Just stay away from the tours that say “panoramic” because that’s where you may find up to 30+\- folks unless you opt for the OE version which is limited to no more than 10 people.

[LHT28]

5 hours ago, grifdoglover said:

I am very tired of people saying that taking an OBC is not the way to go or that I may not manage my finances properly. 

If you know  you will use the OBC  & it saves you  paying at the end of the cruise  do that option

 

As long as people are aware  they are just prepaying  that amount out of their pocket  & if they do not happen to spend it all  it is not refundable

 

It will be a moot point soon