Lost credit , how is simply more working for you

[kibutzer]

So simply more  has started and we have found that our credits don't go as far as before. Fewer under low cost options. For those who have ended up with usable "credits " either due to SE cancellations, or filled cruises are you ready to switch to another line? We have three more cruises and think simply more is not worth the loyalty. Please be kind in response.

[Vallesan]

12 minutes ago, kibutzer said:

So simply more  has started and we have found that our credits don't go as far as before. Fewer under low cost options. For those who have ended up with usable "credits " either due to SE cancellations, or filled cruises are you ready to switch to another line? We have three more cruises and think simply more is not worth the loyalty. Please be kind in response.

I guess the choice is yours.

 

What is ‘value’ to one person may not be to another. Cruises are made up of so many different elements, food, drinks, shows, sun loungers, classes, enrichment etc. etc. No one line is going to impress in every element. You have to decide what’s  important to you and work out which line is the best ‘fit’.

 

As they say …. One man’s meat ….

[ORV]

Could you provide a little more detail to your experience?

 

 

[MEFIowa]

Having done 4 O cruises "cruise only" (40 nights going back to 12/2021), I certainly concur. SM was essentially a significant price increase trying to hide it as such. We have 1 10 nighter in 2024 as "cruise only" combined as part of a B2B with a 12 nighter we did thru SM. Will be interesting to see how much "value" we get. BUT...since I only book off SALES, prices vary over time and by sale. So YMMV.

 

For the most part SM is excursion related. I don't find having a beer or glass of wine at lunch or dinner in a restaurant to be worth more than about $10 a day, and less on days we miss lunch when we're on an excursion.

[EJL2023]

We get it……if you don’t do ship excursions at all or don’t drink or just love drinking your own stuff in your room all day and night, perhaps SM not for you but for everyone to just flat out say it always is a price increase is not accurate 

 

We had booked a 10 day Norway cruise for 2024 on Marina prior to SM on sale with Oceania Club savings of 10% in an A2…we selected the House Beverage package as our Olife option. The pp per day price was $531.  To compare apples to apples add in the $400 in shore excursion credits we get under SM for our new cruise and it goes to $571.  We ended up canceling because we found another cruise for October this year we wanted to do instead. 
 

While onboard Sirena recently we booked a 14 day Norway cruise on Vista for 2025 and received the modest on board stateroom savings of 400 for booking on board again in an A2. The pp per day price is $564.  In addition, we will receive $125 pp In SBC for booking onboard which would further make this latest cruise a better deal on a pp per daily cost. Additionally,  we will get AMEX Platinum SBC of $150 pp since this cruise not purchased under a sale. 
 

So for us it is a wee bit cheaper and the new cruise is on Vista which still has a bit of a price markup for being a newer ship. Yeah, they are expensive but Norway seems to be an expensive place to cruise regardless. And who knows perhaps it will come up under a sale in the future. Yeah we could lose the AMEX SBC, but we would do the math and go with whichever works out for the best. 

 

 

Edited February 10 by EJL2023

[Vallesan]

2 minutes ago, EJL2023 said:

We get it……if you don’t do ship excursions at all or don’t drink or just love drinking your own stuff in your room all day and night, perhaps SM not for you but for everyone to just flat out say it always is a price increase is not accurate 

 

We had booked a 10 day Norway cruise for 2024 on Riviera prior to SM on sale with Oceania Club savings of 10% in an A2…we selected the House Beverage package as our Olife option. The pp per day price was $531.  To compare apples to apples add in the $400 in shore excursion credits we get under SM for our new cruise and it goes to $571.  We ended up canceling because we found another cruise for October this year we wanted to do instead. 
 

While onboard Sirena recently we booked a 14 day Norway cruise on Vista for 2025 and received the modest on board stateroom savings of 400 for booking on board again in an A2. The pp per day price is $564.  In addition, we will receive $125 pp In SBC for booking onboard which would further make this latest cruise a better deal on a pp per daily cost. Additionally,  we will get AMEX Platinum SBC of $150 pp since this cruise not purchased under a sale. 
 

So for us it is a wee bit cheaper and the new cruise is on Vista which still has a bit of a price markup for being a newer ship. Yeah, they are expensive but Norway seems to be an expensive place to cruise regardless. And who knows perhaps it will come up under a sale in the future. Yeah we could lose the AMEX SBC, but we would do the math and go with whichever works out for the best. 

 

 

Norwegian fjord cruises are so amazing just don’t ’nickel and dime’ just enjoy!

[EJL2023]

16 minutes ago, Vallesan said:

Norwegian fjord cruises are so amazing just don’t ’nickel and dime’ just enjoy!

No intent to nickel and dime!

[Yesimapirate]

Looking around these boards and other travel related media I think it's really a case of high demand = less service and higher prices.

 

This forum is full of "I don't like the changes Oceania made so I'm looking elsewhere " because the people here have the most experience with Oceania so the changes are more apparent.   However,  the other forums are saying the exact same things and many people are switching to Oceania.   You absolutely should do whatever is right for your own circumstances while keeping in mind loyalty programs are simply a marketing tool to make YOU loyal and it's not a 2 way street.   But also keep in mind that it's also often a case of the grass is greener and other lines are doing the similar things.  When bookings are no longer at record highs or the economy turns,  prices will drop and new benefits will appear. 

[MEFIowa]

1 hour ago, EJL2023 said:

We get it……if you don’t do ship excursions at all or don’t drink or just love drinking your own stuff in your room all day and night, perhaps SM not for you but for everyone to just flat out say it always is a price increase is not accurate....

One FIRST starts with the price of the CABIN that you pay. For so many cruises in 2024, they could be booked way back in 2022, pre-SM. So, we have PRE- and POST-SM cabin prices for identical cruises and rooms.

 

The price of the cabins went up around $800 or so for the cruises I was following. I stuck with our pre-SM cruise and did add one SM cruise as a B2B to it, BUT that was under the Summer Sale of 2023, when SM came out. (Sadly neither cruise was in the Extraordinary Savings Sale just prior to the SS.)

 

But PLEASE, can you document for us a single CRUISE where the pre-SM price and the post-SM price were the SAME? Where there was absolutely no price increase when compared to the "cruise only" price?

[MEFIowa]

1 hour ago, EJL2023 said:

We get it… to just flat out say it always is a price increase is not accurate...

Real world data, for Stockholm to Copenhagen, Sirena 9/9-19/2024:

 

G (60xx) booked 7 May 2022, pre-SM "cruise only": $2499 PP.

G (60xx) booked TODAY, post-SM "promotional fare w/out airfare": $3399

 

ADDITIONAL PRICE POST-SM: $900.

 

Rebooked C1 (70xx) 20 Oct 2022, pre-SM "cruise only": $2849

Same C1 (70xx) booked TODAY, post-SM "promotional fare w/out airfare: $3899

 

ADDITIONAL PRICE POST-SM: $1050. And we have $150 PP OBC.

Edited February 10 by MEFIowa
Added a date, and a clarification.

[QuestionEverything]

To the OP, in this day and age - Loyalty is meaningless.

Be loyal only to Yourself and put yourself first.

As many of the posters have wisely stated - this is cruise industry wide, Oceania is only one of the lines devaluing their product and charging more.

Look at all your travel options, be expansive, and reach out and experience all the ways travel can be attained - try to avoid getting into what I call a "cruise rut".

Travel well, live well and be happy!

 

[trickylibrarian]

Glad some one asked this since we just returned last week from our second O cruise in 2 months.

On our first O cruise in November we did not have SM and that worked for us.  Our second cruise 

was in January.  I am now rethinking booking again on O because of our experience.  Both myself and husband contracted something which I will call "traveler's diarrhea" on our third cruise day.

Days 4-9 we could not go on any of our booked excursion due to our illness.  Hence, our $800

excursion credit was lost.  We also had to cancel one specialty dining night.  I am not complaining just stating the facts.  Fortunately I spoke to the concierge and she was able to rebook our specialty 

dining night the last night of our cruise when we were feeling better.  Very pleased about that.

Because only one of us drinks moderately and one abstains the included alcohol is not an added

bonus for us.  So, I am wondering if the cost of O (I love the service, food, etc) is worth it for us.

BTW my husband did use the medical facility on board and received two medications.  Very 

surprised there was no charge.  

 

We flew home from Miami last Sunday. I wore a mask and my husband did not. Three days after our return he tested positive for Covid.  All part of traveling today.  

 

 

 

[Vineyard View]

We had to cancel our first O cruise this Spring. We are now looking at options on Oceania and Seabourn. We are looking at Mediterranean and British Isles itineraries for May 2025. I am really surprised at pricing overall with all the higher tier lines (Viking is in the stratosphere now, but they have included walking or bus ride excursions). We don’t do ship excursions on any line so that baked in price is not attractive to us. We do enjoy nice wines, champagne  and cocktails when we travel, so included beverages are a bonus, as we would pay for the beverage package if not included. 

In comparing some British Isles itineraries for 5/25, Viking is out. That leaves O and SB. 
I just ran the numbers. Oceania is an 11 day Itinerary. Seabourn is a 14 day itinerary. 
B4 is waitlisted so I compared B3 with SB one step up balcony to be as equal in category level regardless of amenities between the two lines. 
 

Seabourn - V2 balcony - $16,488 = $589 pp/pd - includes everything except excursions and airfare

 

Oceania - B3 - $12,598 = $573 pp/pd - does not include gratuities, drinks outside of lunch/dinner, unlimited caviar, or airfare, will have an excursion credit. 

 

So if you do the math, for us, SB makes more sense on this example, as we do not do ship excursions. If you are travelers who do ship excursions, there is an offset in difference in pp/pd with the SM excursion credit…..but I would argue that gratuities slightly offset that. If you do not drink alcohol, then unfortunately with most elevated cruise lines, there is a degree of included alcohol baked into the pricing that is non-negotiable. It seems to me that the SM addition to O has aligned them more with Viking, yet still at a lower price point if you don’t take the included excursions on V. There is always Azamara, but my research gives O an advantage over them depending on which ship size/cabin size you are looking for. That leaves, in my mind, SB and Oceania much more aligned for non ship excursion people. 
At the end of the day, no matter how you slice it, cruising has gotten a whole lot more expensive!

[Hlitner]

As a very frequent cruiser who is about to take his first O cruise, I am surprised at these kind of threads.  We book many cruises, with many different cruise lines, and each booking is its own transaction based on the best deal we can get at the time we book.  Living in the past does little good and flies in the face of the reality that the cruise industry is constantly changing their promotions, deals, etc.  We always book with one of our 3 favored cruise agencies and they will usually "enhance" and booking with at least 7% of additional perks.  So, for example, on our upcoming O cruise our cruise agency took care of all our tips (pre-paid gratutities) and also gave us a generous OBC.  That is no guarantee we would get the same deal if we did a future O booking.  

 

Simply More is not very attractive to us because we are not fans of cruise line excursions (we prefer to do our own thing in most places around the world).  However, with our current Vista booking, our original booking was done a few weeks prior to the new "Simply More" promo.  Once O implemented their new Simply More program we did a cost comparison and realized that it would cost us hardly any more money to get the new program with over $2000 in excursion credits.  When a cruise line is going to basically give us a couple of thousand dollars, we think its a pretty good deal so we had our cruise agent "reprice" our booking.  In the end we paid about $200 more for $2400 of excursion credits (so now we must "suffer" with some O excursions).

 

My point is that, rather than focusing on what "used to be" simply deal with what is currently on the table.  If you do not like the deals from O, then you have lots of other cruise lines from which to choose.  The reason that we cruised on 16 different cruise lines, before booking our first O cruise, was because until now we had never spotted a deal on O that we thought measured-up to what we could get with other lines (including luxury cruise lines).

 

Hank

[MEFIowa]

4 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

As a very frequent cruiser who is about to take his first O cruise ... However, with our current Vista booking, our original booking was done a few weeks prior to the new "Simply More" promo.  Once O implemented their new Simply More program we did a cost comparison and realized that it would cost us hardly any more money to get the new program with over $2000 in excursion credits.  When a cruise line is going to basically give us a couple of thousand dollars, we think its a pretty good deal so we had our cruise agent "reprice" our booking.  In the end we paid about $200 more for $2400 of excursion credits (so now we must "suffer" with some O excursions). ...

SM was introduced with the 2023 Summer Sale, so it appears you rebooked under the SS. The SALE, not SM, got you the better price on your cabin. (I booked one cruise during the SS after SM was introduced. The cruise wasn't put on sale prior to that SS.)

 

And how does one make much sense about "$2000 in excursion credits" when we don't know your cabin level, the dates of the cruise or its length. Sounds like a high-roller cabin or a lengthy cruise or both?

 

AND SM started out with a certain level of excursion credit that has already been REDUCED since then.

 

And one would compare the total cost of the cruise accounting for the price of similar excursions if you did them yourself. Keeping in mind that O has a huge mark-up for its excursions. So O didn't "give us a couple thousand dollars", O gave you credits for heavily marked-up excursions. Not the same thing. If O takes a $100 excursion and prices it at $300 and gives you $200 credit, you merely broke even.

[Vallesan]

41 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

 

My point is that, rather than focusing on what "used to be" simply deal with what is currently on the table.  If you do not like the deals from O, then you have lots of other cruise lines from which to choose.  The reason that we cruised on 16 different cruise lines, before booking our first O cruise, was because until now we had never spotted a deal on O that we thought measured-up to what we could get with other lines (including luxury cruise lines).

 

Hank

Hank I couldn’t agree with you more!

 

I have said a similar thing on several threads and even started a topic ‘Just wondering….’.

I just don’t understand why people keep complaining yet do nothing about it. Oceania isn’t going to change its policies to accommodate the ‘complainers’ nor are prospective/or past Oceania cruisers going to go elsewhere if Oceania remains a good fit for them.

 

Think it’s time for some people to move on rather than keep banging the same old drum!

Edited February 11 by Vallesan

[Hlitner]

24 minutes ago, Vallesan said:

Hank I couldn’t agree with you more!

 

I have said a similar thing on several threads and even started a topic ‘Just wondering….’.

I just don’t understand why people keep complaining yet do nothing about it. Oceania isn’t going to change its policies to accommodate the ‘complainers’ nor are prospective/or past Oceania cruisers going to go elsewhere if Oceania remains a good fit for them.

 

Think it’s time for some people to move on rather than keep banging the same old drum!

We have run into something similar when cruising, recently, on HAL.  That line has declined, in a big way, from what it used to be in past decades.  Although we have over 550 days on HAL, our reaction has been to simply not book anymore future cruises with that line and simply move on to other options.  But many of our HAL cruising friends are "loyal" (to use their words) to their favorite line and in some ways turn the other cheek and accept whatever the line does.  They say things like "all cruise lines have declined or cut-back" but, of course, most of these folks have not even tried those other lines.  DW and I have never quite understood this "loyalty" attitude towards cruise lines (and travel in general) and we simply accept that the world is always changing, and we are always willing to look at other options.  I sometimes tease that DW and I are trying for the Guinness Book for the cruisers who have been on the most cruise lines (#17 and #18 coming up this year).  

 

I am serious when I say that our loyalty to cruise lines and cruise agencies is only as good as the last cruise or deal.  We recently came off a ship that had the best food we have ever enjoyed on any cruise, and this happened on a brand new cruise line (Explora Journeys).  Their goal was to completely rewrite the book on cruise line cuisine and, for the most part, they have succeeded.  But I am sure there are many "O" fans that will insist that O has the best cuisine at sea...having not experienced what the competition offers in recent years.  

 

When our O friends would keep insisting that O is a "Premium Line" we would always answer with "there is nothing premium about the cabins/bathrooms on the old "R" ships.  Even Carnival has nicer cabins on most of their ships.  Perhaps that has changed with the newer O ships and we look forward to finding out on our upcoming Vista cruise.  

 

We do have concerns about O (and the Vista) but will soon find whether the concerns (based on what we have seen posted here and on Facebook) are justified.  Last night we were finally able to access the dining reservation pages for our upcoming Vista cruise and we easily made our 12 allowable reservations.  We have read about others having problems, but our own experience was quite good.  About half our reservations were made at 2-tops (usually at 8pm) and where we could not get good times (or dates) we simply used the option to dine with others (we enjoy  dining and meeting other folks) and immediately found lots of good options.  Some tell us (here on CC) that their reservations are not always honored, so we will simply print-out hard copies of the reservations page and our confirmation e-mails from O.  The whiners who complain that they cannot get their desired 2-top at their desired time/day fail to understand that this is an issue in any reservation required venue....even on the Luxury Lines.  I should add that having spent over 1500 days on cruise ships, our most fun evenings have been at shared tables.  Cruises used to be about socialization (we started cruising in the 70s when large shared tables were the norm) but something has changed about cruisers that so many prefer 2-tops and not taking advantage of the socialization that often results from shared tables.  One theory is that so many folks only know how to socialize by texting on a phone and have lost the ability to enjoy interacting with strangers.  Who knows.  We recently noticed a post on HAL where one cruiser was asking how they could book a table for 1!  Tis sad.

 

Hank

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, MEFIowa said:

SM was introduced with the 2023 Summer Sale, so it appears you rebooked under the SS. The SALE, not SM, got you the better price on your cabin. (I booked one cruise during the SS after SM was introduced. The cruise wasn't put on sale prior to that SS.)

 

And how does one make much sense about "$2000 in excursion credits" when we don't know your cabin level, the dates of the cruise or its length. Sounds like a high-roller cabin or a lengthy cruise or both?

 

AND SM started out with a certain level of excursion credit that has already been REDUCED since then.

 

And one would compare the total cost of the cruise accounting for the price of similar excursions if you did them yourself. Keeping in mind that O has a huge mark-up for its excursions. So O didn't "give us a couple thousand dollars", O gave you credits for heavily marked-up excursions. Not the same thing. If O takes a $100 excursion and prices it at $300 and gives you $200 credit, you merely broke even.

You are completely wrong.  We are O virgins (our first O cruise) and booked a basic low category balcony cabin (not even a concierge but simply a B2).  When Simplymore was implemented, we were able to get $1300 per person ($2600 total) of shore excursion credits along with pre-paid grats and a nice OBC (the latter stuff comes from using a decent high volume cruise agency).  Our cruise is a basic back to back to back (3 segment) which also gets us 12 dining reservations (3 in each of the 4 venues).  As we reported in another post, we had no problem booking 12 dining reservations (45 days prior to embarkation).

 

As to the pricing on Os excursions, having literally spent years on cruise ships (with 16 different lines) we have a pretty good idea of the cost/value of excursions.  Yes, O's pricing is somewhat high, but in the ball park of other lines such as HAL and Seabourn.  If given the option of not getting that shore excursion credit and having that same amount taken off the cruise price we would not want to shore excursion credit.  But in our particular case, the shore excursion credit made a lot of sense.  We will hold our noses, put up with the excursions, and likely have a lot of fun :).  This simply goes along with our basic philosophy of making the best of the situation and rolling with the waves.  If one wants to keep whining about O's Simply More program the answer is very simple, "book another cruise line!"  One reason we currently consider Seabourn our favorite line is that they do not play any of these shore excursion games.  Seabourn offers no shore excursion credit and generally no free excursions which is a policy we prefer.  On the other hand, when we cruise on Silversea we do accept their "included" excursions although we would prefer lower prices without the excursions.  But travel (whether it is on a cruise or land) involves compromises.  That is simply life.

 

Those who have read my posts, since the beginning of CC, might be aware that I am not reticent when it comes to tossing out complements or criticism on any cruise or cruise line!  I tell it the way I see it and if folks are unhappy they are welcome to ignore my posts, or disagree/flame (but do not get personal).  Folks are going to disagree on many things (such as we love Paris and enjoy the French) and that is just part of free choice and free thinking.

 

Hank

[MEFIowa]

22 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

You are completely wrong.  We are O virgins (our first O cruise) and booked a basic low category balcony cabin (not even a concierge but simply a B2).  When Simplymore was implemented, we were able to get $1300 per person ($2600 total) of shore excursion credits along with pre-paid grats and a nice OBC (the latter stuff comes from using a decent high volume cruise agency).  Our cruise is a basic back to back to back (3 segment) which also gets us 12 dining reservations (3 in each of the 4 venues).  As we reported in another post, we had no problem booking 12 dining reservations (45 days prior to embarkation)....

Since you only provide few details and only when pressed, it is hard to make much of your situation. I have no idea if you booked direct or thru a TA. No booking date is provided.

 

When SM was introduced, it was introduced with the Summer Sale. I pulled out my SS brochure. It ran from 1 July - 31 Aug 2023. Two months.

 

I booked an F on Sirena (8/28-9/9/24) on 13 Jul 23, during the SS. Directly thru O, without a TA. It had SM since SM had just been introduced. Thus, the sales brochure is titled "simply MORE plus SUMMER SALE". It provided $400 PP excursion credit for this 12-night cruise (since reduced later to just $300 PP). But it did not provide prepaid gratuities.

 

So I can look at my booking at $2949 PP (F, 70xx) and compare it today to any current offer.Just as I can with the B2B component that I booked in 2022 and rebooked under a sale later in 2022.

Edited February 11 by MEFIowa
Fixed a typo, added a clarification

[Hlitner]

1 minute ago, MEFIowa said:

Since you only provide few details and only when pressed, it is hard to make much of your situation. I have no idea if you booked direct or thru a TA. No booking date is provided.

 

When SM was introduced, it was introduced with the Summer Sale. I pulled out my SS brochure. It ran from 1 July - 31 Aug 2023. Two months.

 

I booked an F on Sirena (8/28-9/9/23) on 13 Jul 23, during the SS. It had SM since SM had just been introduced. Thus, the sales brochure is titled "simply MORE plus SUMMER SALE". It provided $400 PP excursion credit for this 12-night cruise (since reduced later to just $300 PP). But it did not provide prepaid gratuities.

 

So I can look at my booking at $2949 PP (F, 70xx) and compare it today to any current offer.Just as I can with the B2B component that I booked in 2022 and rebooked under a sale later in 2022.

We will leave the devil of "Sales" to folks who even pay attention to such promotional dribble.  When we book a cruise (which we do many times a year) we simply look at the offer that is before us (comparing 3 different favorite high volume excellent cruise agencies), make a decision, and book!  We could care less if there is a Sale of the Century, Sale of the Day, etc.  Since we cruise many different lines we look at pricing using the simple technique of cost per person/day adjusting for various amenities (such as drink packages).   Since we cruise with so many different lines, we find the word "Sale" meaningless,  We get tons of snail and e-mail with sale info and that all goes in the trash!  

 

When it came to dealing with "O" for this first booking, we took some queues from Flatbush Flyer (who has been around the O world for some time) in using the proper type of cruise agency and looking for a deal that included pre-paid gratuities.  

 

Just so you are satisfied we are talking about 35 days on the Vista at the end of March.  We do not even try to compare our bookings to another person's as this would drive me nutz and be meaningless.  What matters if what we are paying, do we consider it good value, and how does it compare to other cruise line options (that we might consider around the same time frame).

 

I will also note that one of our big objections to O (which has kept us away from this cruise line) is not only the "R" ships (we first cruised them when they were owned by Renaissance) but O's horrendous deals for international business class air fares.   Many other lines offer some amazing First/Biz class fares that can save thousands of dollars over booking air direct with airlines (we do not like dealing with so-called air consolidators).  Since we now live in a world where a couple can easily spend over $10,000 on a couple of Business Class tickets, air always enters into our equation.

 

Hank

[MEFIowa]

7 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

We will leave the devil of "Sales" to folks who even pay attention to such promotional dribble....

The devil is in the details and most esp. with O's various sales. One sale after another. Which can save you a fortune.

 

Ask anyone who booked off the Extraordinary Savings Sale of 2023 (pulled out my brochure I received 28 April 2023). It ran May 2023. This was the mother of sales for 2023. An A3 for 10 nights at just $1899 PP and a B3 for 10 nights for just $1749 PP. For our 2 cruises, in the Med, 10-11/2023. Cruise only.

 

Prior to it was the OLife Ultimate Sale, which expired 30 April 23. Then along came the June 2023 4 cabin upgrade sale.

[ORV]

Lots of postings, no one with any real experience concerning the OPs original question. 
 

I would like to hear some anyone that actually booked under SM, had the tour cancelled, and what the outcome was. Not going on them because you were sick is not Oceania’s fault or problem. 

Edited February 11 by ORV

[Hlitner]

20 minutes ago, MEFIowa said:

The devil is in the details and most esp. with O's various sales. One sale after another. Which can save you a fortune.

 

Ask anyone who booked off the Extraordinary Savings Sale of 2023 (pulled out my brochure I received 28 April 2023). It ran May 2023. This was the mother of sales for 2023. An A3 for 10 nights at just $1899 PP and a B3 for 10 nights for just $1749 PP. For our 2 cruises, in the Med, 10-11/2023. Cruise only.

 

Prior to it was the OLife Ultimate Sale, which expired 30 April 23. Then along came the June 2023 4 cabin upgrade sale.

All dribble :).  Once you get things down to cost per person/day (and adjust for amenities) you can compare any cruise or cruise line.  For example. we recently booked a long Seabourn cruise (around Japan and over to Alaksa ending in Vancouver) for about $250 per person/day.  While that might sound expensive, or inexpensive (depending on your point of view) with Seabourn we get a suite (all their cabins are suites) with huge bathroom (containing double sink, tub and shower), and the line is all-inclusive (there is no tipping, no add-ons, no charges for alternative restaurants, no drink charges, etc) and unlimited caviar (I love caviar).  One can still find Luxury Lines for under $300 per person/day if one shops around, chooses the right cruise, etc.  If we were to compare O to Seabourn we would need to add in O's upgraded beverage package and gratuities and consider the cost of suite.  We have an upcoming Silversea cruise (14 days in the Caribbean) which cost us less than $300/day on an all-inclusive (including excursions) all suite line.  Even with cruise pricing moving up through the roof, there are still bargains to be found.

 

On the other hand, one could cruise on Celebrity in one of their "Retreat" suites and pay over $600 per person day for their ship within a ship experience.  But then you could compare to MSC's Yacht Club (which we consider the best value in all of cruising) for under $400 per person day which gets you a suite, butlers, all drinks, dedicated restaurants, and over the top service which equals or exceeds what we have had on the best luxury lines.

 

Once you factor the cruise cost to dollars per person/day you are able to compare across all cruise lines, itineraries, ships, etc.  So, for example your $175 per person day for O is in a normal balcony cabin (not a suite), does not include tips, does not include drinks (except at lunch/dinner) and is on a ship with a space ratio far below what is provided on luxury lines.  (space ratio is simply the total tons divided by total passengers).  The term "Sale" is not worth more than the 4 letters, it is what you will ultimately pay person/per day.  And one might also consider that if flying round trip to Europe or Asia for a cruise, the choice of cruise line might save you several thousand dollars on Business Class air (less on coach).

 

Regarding O cancelling excursions (and folks losing money because they cannot find a way to use their Simply More Excursion Credit), this is likely to be a big future problem for O.  We have already seen this with HAL, who has an option (called HIA or Have it All) that includes an excursion credit.  When HAL cancels an excursion (especially if it happens late in a cruise) the cruiser may find themselves unable to possibly spend that credit (and there is no refund).

 

On the other hand, there are cruise lines like Regent, Silversea, and Viking that include free excursions in their cruise fare!  If the line cancels a port (which happens) the cruiser is not going to get anything back (other than basic port fees).

 

Hank

[Tranquility Base]

44 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

What matters if what we are paying, do we consider it good value, and how does it compare to other cruise line options (that we might consider around the same time frame).

Precisely our approach also.

 

For the OP.

We have yet to cruise under SM, all ours so far were O Life.

That will change mid year when we cruise using SM.

The drinks package has a value for us.

The Excursions credits have a value  for us.

When we book our excursions using SM credits, and other credits, we are trying to make sure we book to lessen the chance of having them unusable at the end of the cruise.

If it happens, whilst frustrating, it will not be a huge deal for us in the big scheme of things.

 

Will it make us switch to another line ......No, that factor would not cause us to switch.

However, we may well switch occasionally,  as shown in Hank's post which I quoted above.

But it wouldn't be any unusable SM credits that caused that.

 

 

Edited February 11 by Tranquility Base

[EJL2023]

And let’s not forget that for those who do ship excursions there is a higher likelihood they meet the minimum number for the 25% off all, so that $1000 excursion credit is now worth the equivalent of $1250.