"25% off for > 5 excursions" - but they didn't actually give me the discount....

[growlers]

I am booked on the 27 day Barcelona - Cape Town under Simply More with a $600 pp excursion credit sailing on November 14, 2024..   I booked 7 excursions, all at the same time in the same "cart".  It seems to have charged me full price for all of them despite the excursion booking section offering a 25% discount on 5 or more.  They are all real excursions, not transfers or anything.  

On the confirmation, It shows the 25% off discount price for the first 3 in the "savings" column. The other 4 it shows "0" under the column "savings".   Ultimately though, the total price I paid was the non-discounted price for all 7.  It added up the full price on all 7, took off $600 for the credit pp, and then charged me the rest of the full price balance to my credit card.  

Is this a known website glitch?   I suppose I need to call Oceania to get a refund, but is there some weird rule where you have to buy 5 or more AFTER the Simply More credit is used......?    Was I supposed to click / do something else to get the discount when booking these?

Also, what happens if you book exactly 5 for the discount and then Oceania has to cancel one of the ports after sailing?  Do they take away the 25% discount? My point being, they could take away the 25% discount on all 5 and then effectively not refund you for their cancelled excursion (assuming they all were similar base prices).  TIA

 

[Jack1]

Yes, it is a known glitch.  Many comments from folks having to call in to get it straightened out.  We had our TA book our excursions because of what we had heard.

Can't help with your other question,  sorry.

[1985rz1]

38 minutes ago, growlers said:

I am booked on the 27 day Barcelona - Cape Town under Simply More with a $600 pp excursion credit sailing on November 14, 2024..   I booked 7 excursions, all at the same time in the same "cart".  It seems to have charged me full price for all of them despite the excursion booking section offering a 25% discount on 5 or more.  They are all real excursions, not transfers or anything.  

On the confirmation, It shows the 25% off discount price for the first 3 in the "savings" column. The other 4 it shows "0" under the column "savings".   Ultimately though, the total price I paid was the non-discounted price for all 7.  It added up the full price on all 7, took off $600 for the credit pp, and then charged me the rest of the full price balance to my credit card.  

Is this a known website glitch?   I suppose I need to call Oceania to get a refund, but is there some weird rule where you have to buy 5 or more AFTER the Simply More credit is used......?    Was I supposed to click / do something else to get the discount when booking these?

Also, what happens if you book exactly 5 for the discount and then Oceania has to cancel one of the ports after sailing?  Do they take away the 25% discount? My point being, they could take away the 25% discount on all 5 and then effectively not refund you for their cancelled excursion (assuming they all were similar base prices).  TIA

 

Yes, the excursion cart is glitchy, and you need to click the right buttons at the top of the cart...but even then it's can be problematic..  As has been discussed on many threads on this board you should book through your TA to avoid the problems, but don't have a TA, book them through an O agent.  However, if you call O and tell them what you want they will adjust the prices and give you a refund.  

[FetaCheese]

@Flatbush Flyer

Please explain your method for booking shorex for the OP.

[Flatbush Flyer]

2 hours ago, growlers said:

I am booked on the 27 day Barcelona - Cape Town under Simply More with a $600 pp excursion credit sailing on November 14, 2024..   I booked 7 excursions, all at the same time in the same "cart".  It seems to have charged me full price for all of them despite the excursion booking section offering a 25% discount on 5 or more.  They are all real excursions, not transfers or anything.  

On the confirmation, It shows the 25% off discount price for the first 3 in the "savings" column. The other 4 it shows "0" under the column "savings".   Ultimately though, the total price I paid was the non-discounted price for all 7.  It added up the full price on all 7, took off $600 for the credit pp, and then charged me the rest of the full price balance to my credit card.  

Is this a known website glitch?   I suppose I need to call Oceania to get a refund, but is there some weird rule where you have to buy 5 or more AFTER the Simply More credit is used......?    Was I supposed to click / do something else to get the discount when booking these?

Also, what happens if you book exactly 5 for the discount and then Oceania has to cancel one of the ports after sailing?  Do they take away the 25% discount? My point being, they could take away the 25% discount on all 5 and then effectively not refund you for their cancelled excursion (assuming they all were similar base prices).  TIA

 

I wish folks would use the search feature here on CC. There have been many many threads (quite a few involving my detailed responses) that highly recommend NEVER using the O web cart (originally for O Life and now, seemingly, it’s necessary for SM as well.

As for your SM package discount (formerly called Your World Your Way, different itineraries require different minimum number of purchased tours to get the 25% off.

If you qualify and the Cart’s bottom line didn’t jive with your own “correct” math, call O and the phone rep will straighten it out. And make sure that you get a copy of the “prepurchased shore excursions PDF with all the math shown for your purchase. This doc is essential to make a point with Destination Services onboard if there’s any disagreement about what is owed you if O cancels your tour(s).

You can also have your TA do this all. But, know that many (if not most) TAs are clueless about the idiosyncrasies of O’s excursion policies and practices. And when the “poop hits the fan” regarding your ship’s excursions while you’re onboard, your best resource/advocate is YOU.

BTW: Once onboard, if your total tours booked falls below your minimum for the 25% discount due to an O cancelation, you do not lose the discount on the remaining tours. However, the refunded SM tour SBC cannot be used for anything other than replacement tours.

[Mrs f.]

6 hours ago, growlers said:

I am booked on the 27 day Barcelona - Cape Town under Simply More with a $600 pp excursion credit sailing on November 14, 2024..   I booked 7 excursions, all at the same time in the same "cart".  It seems to have charged me full price for all of them despite the excursion booking section offering a 25% discount on 5 or more.  They are all real excursions, not transfers or anything.  

On the confirmation, It shows the 25% off discount price for the first 3 in the "savings" column. The other 4 it shows "0" under the column "savings".   Ultimately though, the total price I paid was the non-discounted price for all 7.  It added up the full price on all 7, took off $600 for the credit pp, and then charged me the rest of the full price balance to my credit card.  

Is this a known website glitch?   I suppose I need to call Oceania to get a refund, but is there some weird rule where you have to buy 5 or more AFTER the Simply More credit is used......?    Was I supposed to click / do something else to get the discount when booking these?

Also, what happens if you book exactly 5 for the discount and then Oceania has to cancel one of the ports after sailing?  Do they take away the 25% discount? My point being, they could take away the 25% discount on all 5 and then effectively not refund you for their cancelled excursion (assuming they all were similar base prices).  TIA

 

We are on that cruise 

Call Oceania..they will straighten if out. That's what I did

[Astro Flyer]

We booked a standard fare before Simply More began & when searching for excursions it shows there’s a “Simply More Shore Excursion Package” with a 25% discount when purchasing a minimum of 5 excursions. When checking excursions it shows the full price & also the SMSEP discounted price. We have a combined $800 of SBC that can be used for any type of payments but don’t know if we are eligible for the 25% discount because it’s called Simply More.

 

This is only our 2nd O cruise & on our CA Coastal first cruise we didn’t book any excursions so this is a new experience for us. If anyone has any insights to share would greatly appreciate any of them. 🙂

 

[pinotlover]

16 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

If anyone has any insights to share would greatly appreciate any of them. 🙂

 

Simply put “ I have a great Travel Agent and know how and when to use her. Problem solved!

[daydreamer62]

1 hour ago, Astro Flyer said:

We booked a standard fare before Simply More began & when searching for excursions it shows there’s a “Simply More Shore Excursion Package” with a 25% discount when purchasing a minimum of 5 excursions. When checking excursions it shows the full price & also the SMSEP discounted price. We have a combined $800 of SBC that can be used for any type of payments but don’t know if we are eligible for the 25% discount because it’s called Simply More.

 

This is only our 2nd O cruise & on our CA Coastal first cruise we didn’t book any excursions so this is a new experience for us. If anyone has any insights to share would greatly appreciate any of them. 🙂

 

Yes you are entitled to the 25% discount as well as the credit and it can make a big difference. . For my cruise the minimum was 6 to get the discount and it was cheaper to book 6 than to book the 4 I originally wanted to do. (I chose less expensive ones for the extra 2). the credit comes off the total after the 25% is applied 

Edited April 24 by daydreamer62

[Astro Flyer]

29 minutes ago, daydreamer62 said:

Yes you are entitled to the 25% discount as well as the credit and it can make a big difference. . For my cruise the minimum was 6 to get the discount and it was cheaper to book 6 than to book the 4 I originally wanted to do. (I chose less expensive ones for the extra 2). the credit comes off the total after the 25% is applied 

Thanks…appreciate sharing your experiences.

[osandomir]

13 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

We booked a standard fare before Simply More began & when searching for excursions it shows there’s a “Simply More Shore Excursion Package” with a 25% discount when purchasing a minimum of 5 excursions. When checking excursions it shows the full price & also the SMSEP discounted price. We have a combined $800 of SBC that can be used for any type of payments but don’t know if we are eligible for the 25% discount because it’s called Simply More.

 

This is only our 2nd O cruise & on our CA Coastal first cruise we didn’t book any excursions so this is a new experience for us. If anyone has any insights to share would greatly appreciate any of them. 🙂

 

If you book a minimum of 5 excursions as listed for your cruise you are eligible for the 25% discount no matter whether you have or don’t have Simply More. Sometimes the discount won’t be applied when you book your excursions online. In this case you’d need to call Oceania and they will apply the discount for you. And you don’t need to have a TA to do that.

[Flatbush Flyer]

34 minutes ago, osandomir said:

If you book a minimum of 5 excursions as listed for your cruise you are eligible for the 25% discount no matter whether you have or don’t have Simply More. Sometimes the discount won’t be applied when you book your excursions online. In this case you’d need to call Oceania and they will apply the discount for you. And you don’t need to have a TA to do that.

Yes- the “new” SM 25% deal is the “old” YWYW 25% deal.

[Astro Flyer]

2 hours ago, osandomir said:

If you book a minimum of 5 excursions as listed for your cruise you are eligible for the 25% discount no matter whether you have or don’t have Simply More. Sometimes the discount won’t be applied when you book your excursions online. In this case you’d need to call Oceania and they will apply the discount for you. And you don’t need to have a TA to do that.

 

1 hour ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Yes- the “new” SM 25% deal is the “old” YWYW 25% deal.

Greatly appreciate sharing your experiences…with about 90% of our cruises on Princess we’re still learning more about O & we greatly enjoy their cruising experience.

 

Wish they’d reinstate Standard fares which for our style of cruising works best. We use everything in the Standard fares however we do not use the SM options & thus we’re not sure if after our November cruise we’ll book another O cruise.

 

[lorimay]

After reading this thread, I went back and looked at my confirmation email for the shore excursions. What a mess. It did show the regular price and the 25% discount price and my SM credits. However, the math simply didn’t add up. I booked the minimum number (5) for the discount and I knew how much in excess of the SM credit I had been charged, but the email and my online account made no sense. Some excursions showed $0 as a discount. Nothing matched what my credit card was charged. I finally called and a very friendly representative helped me. He asked me to email him what I had received and was flabbergasted because it made no sense. Then he emailed me what he saw in his system and everything was correct. 
 

Oceania should be embarrassed that their software doesn’t work any better than this. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

On 4/24/2024 at 12:04 PM, Astro Flyer said:

 

Greatly appreciate sharing your experiences…with about 90% of our cruises on Princess we’re still learning more about O & we greatly enjoy their cruising experience.

 

Wish they’d reinstate Standard fares which for our style of cruising works best. We use everything in the Standard fares however we do not use the SM options & thus we’re not sure if after our November cruise we’ll book another O cruise.

 

The only SM “option” is with/without air. As for Princess- once you cruise on an O ship, you’ll say goodbye to Princess.

[Flatbush Flyer]

On 4/24/2024 at 9:27 PM, lorimay said:

After reading this thread, I went back and looked at my confirmation email for the shore excursions. What a mess. It did show the regular price and the 25% discount price and my SM credits. However, the math simply didn’t add up. I booked the minimum number (5) for the discount and I knew how much in excess of the SM credit I had been charged, but the email and my online account made no sense. Some excursions showed $0 as a discount. Nothing matched what my credit card was charged. I finally called and a very friendly representative helped me. He asked me to email him what I had received and was flabbergasted because it made no sense. Then he emailed me what he saw in his system and everything was correct. 
 

Oceania should be embarrassed that their software doesn’t work any better than this. 

I can only assume you haven’t perused this forum and haven’t seen/read any of my zillion posts saying NEVER use the O web cart to buy excursions. It is extremely glitchy!!!

Always call O (or have an O knowledgeable TA do it) to buy tours and make sure you get a copy of the “prepurchased” shore excursions PDF which shows all the math. It’s important to have on the ship if there’s ever any disagreement about your tours/refunds/etc!!!

[lorimay]

10 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

I can only assume you haven’t perused this forum and haven’t seen/read any of my zillion posts saying NEVER use the O web cart to buy excursions. It is extremely glitchy!!!

Always call O (or have an O knowledgeable TA do it) to buy tours and make sure you get a copy of the “prepurchased” shore excursions PDF which shows all the math. It’s important to have on the ship if there’s ever any disagreement about your tours/refunds/etc!!!

I didn't bother to research because I ASSUMED the website would be right! Clearly that's not the case and will know from now on. I'm always a little skeptical when I read on Cruise Critic that the website doesn't work correctly because there are quite a few posters here who are uncomfortable with technology (hence the posts  "why do I need a smartphone" or "why would I ever need an app for that?"). 

 

I have the correct pdf now and everything is fine, there was never an issue with being charged the wrong amount either. I'm just still baffled at the idea that the cruise line even has the option to do this online when clearly the software is so broken even their reps can't figure it out.

[Flatbush Flyer]

9 minutes ago, lorimay said:

I didn't bother to research because I ASSUMED the website would be right! Clearly that's not the case and will know from now on. I'm always a little skeptical when I read on Cruise Critic that the website doesn't work correctly because there are quite a few posters here who are uncomfortable with technology (hence the posts  "why do I need a smartphone" or "why would I ever need an app for that?"). 

 

I have the correct pdf now and everything is fine, there was never an issue with being charged the wrong amount either. I'm just still baffled at the idea that the cruise line even has the option to do this online when clearly the software is so broken even their reps can't figure it out.

Only the tip of the iceberg. There are other O software glitches - particularly with O invoices - e.g., specifically dealing with any mix of OCAPP $ passed to you via a TA which then conflict with “in lieu” O Club gratuities $ coverage on multisegment cruises. The “good” news is that it all works out before embarkation (usually). But, many TAs and passengers are clueless about O idiosyncrasies.

Another glitch involves tour availability on some multi-segment cruises which requires O to be notified of the problem in order to fix it. 

All that said, I’m ROTFL everytime someone suggests that O should have an app!

[lorimay]

An app would be nice but at this point it's clearly better that they don't have one.

 

The good news is the reps are always incredibly nice and polite and helpful when you call them on the phone, like they were back in the 80's. 😀

[Astro Flyer]

On 4/26/2024 at 5:04 AM, Flatbush Flyer said:

As for Princess- once you cruise on an O ship, you’ll say goodbye to Princess.

We discovered the big difference between PCL & O on Regatta…including the big size differences.
 

Here is a photo I took in Genoa showing the size difference between PCL’s Royal-class ship Sky and their former Renaissance ship Pacific Princess (now with Azamara). In the Navy one of the ways they described the difference between a “ship” & a “boat” was that a “boat” could fit on a “ship”. ☺️ Using that definition R-class ships could nearly be considered to be a “boat”.
 

[Woofa]

Walking back to Riviera on our cruise last year.  The boat next to us literally blocked some of the sun.  And this was Riviera...