Oceania Cruises FREE Shore Excurisons

Hi there just wondering if anyone else has had the same issue. We are a family of three traveling in the same cabin and wish to use the 6 FREE Shore Excursions offer. However when I try to book 2 Excursions for 3 people online (Total of 6) it asks me to pay for the excursions for the third person. I have emailed the Sydney Oceania office to try to rectify this problem, when I attempt to chase this up I am told they are awaiting a response from their Head Office. This has now dragged on for nearly 4 weeks, and I am concerned the excursions we want, may sell out. Does anyone have a email address for Oceania in Miami that I could email. The Oceania website states to contact my Travel Agent regarding everything APART from Shore Excursions. Appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.

The Terms and Conditions specify:

OLife Choice amenities are per stateroom, based on double occupancy

That sounds like it is only being offered to the first two persons in the cabin.

Third person gets a deal.........but not THAT much of a deal :halo:

Based on what Jim&Stan said, perhaps -- assuming you really want these excursions -- how about just paying for the third person? It's pretty clear that these oLife benefits are based on double occupancy. If you were to buy a second stateroom, then the oLife excursions would be free ...

No, I'm not recommending that approach! Far cheaper just to pay for the excursions!

Good luck.

Mura

OP is trying to use the 6 excursions , 3 excusrions each time Twice....not exceeding the total of 6

We have chosen the OLife shore excursion option twice. It seems like a goofy system, but I had to enter credit card info to "buy" the excursions; the amount charged showed as zero.

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OP is trying to use the 6 excursions , 3 excursions each time Twice....not exceeding the total of 6

Hmmm. I hadn't noticed that. But if it is taking so long to get a simple answer to a simple question ...

??

Not that I think it should be so difficult for headquarters to answer the question!

Thanks for your replies. I just thought there might be a bit of flexibility in the way the 6 FREE Shore Excursions are utilized. (3 passengers using 2 Excursions or 2 passengers using 3 Excursions still amounts to the same number of 6 Shore Excursions)

Thanks for your replies. I just thought there might be a bit of flexibility in the way the 6 FREE Shore Excursions are utilized. (3 passengers using 2 Excursions or 2 passengers using 3 Excursions still amounts to the same number of 6 Shore Excursions)

Sounds pretty simple to me. Guess O does not deal with this pretty often. Need someone who is a manager to overide the system. Good luck.

We have 3 in our cabin also. I believe only the first 2 receive the free excursions. We also have to pay the airfare for the 3rd.

Why didn't you just take the OBC instead of free shore excursions?

Why didn't you just take the OBC instead of free shore excursions?

Perhaps because the shore excursions are a better value ?

If one takes OBC, you get $600 OBC. An average excursion is $150 (sometimes more) - hence the value can be $900 or more :)

In any case, OP can change his/her mind between the two choices up to 14 days before the cruise.

Why didn't you just take the OBC instead of free shore excursions?

Besides the excellent point Paul made above the principle would still be the same. A cruiser is paying full price but getting no benefits. Other than of course not having to pay double to travel solo.

If the third passenger in the room pays full price it does seem that there should be some perks for them.

I was told by Oceania that the OBC could not be used to buy the excursion. Going to Cuba and the cost of excursions are quite high. The cost of my excursions exceeded the amount of onboard credit. One thing I was not happy about was the fact that not all of their excursions qualified for the free excursion.

I was told by Oceania that the OBC could not be used to buy the excursion. Going to Cuba and the cost of excursions are quite high. The cost of my excursions exceeded the amount of onboard credit. One thing I was not happy about was the fact that not all of their excursions qualified for the free excursion.

Do you think they should let you do the 300+ excursions as included ones? They have to set a limit somewhere.

You can use OBC to book an excursion, once you are on the ship, and if the one you want is available, including the ones over $199 each if you have that much OBC.

What you can't do is use the OBC in advance of the cruise.

 

What you can't do is use the OBC in advance of the cruise.

This. The key in the OBC being "OB".

To start with, no such thing as free excursions. You’ve paid a price and that’s an option to choose. It’s like getting $1000 free OBC, that can only be spent at the company store. How about O just cutting my fare by a $1K and I’ll pay for what I want? Wouldn’t happen!

If you want the third tour, then pay O’s outrageous tour prices for it. I think that’s your only option.

To start with, no such thing as free excursions. You’ve paid a price and that’s an option to choose. It’s like getting $1000 free OBC, that can only be spent at the company store. How about O just cutting my fare by a $1K and I’ll pay for what I want? Wouldn’t happen!

 

If you want the third tour, then pay O’s outrageous tour prices for it. I think that’s your only option.

I'm pretty sure a 3rd person in the room pays a MUCH cheaper rate than full fare?

Also O now allows you to book the cruise using the Cruise Only Fare option. In fact we did just that on our upcoming Cuba cruise and we used that reduction to pay for O's unlimited excursion package. But in our case it was much cheaper for us to pay for our own flight from Alabama to Miami than pay for the cruise with the flight and OLife option included. However, I'm sure a cross country flight from the west coast would cost a lot more, if purchased separately, making the OLife Fare with Airfare option the better deal.

Also, I don't think O has outrageous fares for what you get, especially if you book enough to qualify for the 25% off when selecting the Your World Collection package along with the OLife excursion option.

On most cruise lines amenities such as included OBC, excursions, etc are for the first and second guests only. As Jimandstan posted sometimes the third guest is a reduced rate as well in which case it makes even more sense that the "included perks" are for the first two guests. I know it makes sense to you (and maybe to most of us) that you can take your 6 excursions and use / "spend" them as you want on who you want but that is not how Destination Services sees it.

I could be wrong on this but I don't think Oceania has many rate reductions for 3rd and 4th guests in a room. I seem to remember reading that here a few years ago, it may have changed.

Doesn't list any on their Special Offers page.

I could be wrong on this but I don't think Oceania has many rate reductions for 3rd and 4th guests in a room. I seem to remember reading that here a few years ago, it may have changed.

 

Doesn't list any on their Special Offers page.

I just did a random "fake" booking of a Jan 2019 10 day Miami to Miami (Sunny Charms) cruise on the Riviera. I chose a B1 category with OLife options and no air required.

The cost for the first 2 passengers was $6,898 or $3,449 per person. The cost for a 3rd person and optionally a 4th person in the cabin was an additional $1,725 per person. On this particular cruise they get 50% off. I also did a fake booking on a Feb 2019 Cuba cruise (Captivating Treasures) for 7 days on the Riviera. The 3rd and 4th guests again got 50% off.

Now, possibly on more popular cruises that fill up fast, there may be less of a discount.

 

Also, I don't think O has outrageous fares for what you get, especially if you book enough to qualify for the 25% off when selecting the Your World Collection package along with the OLife excursion option.

Ken, since you've researched this do you know how many you have to book to get the discount?

I thought there would be chart on the O website that would show how many for different lengths of cruises but I couldn't find one.

Ken, since you've researched this do you know how many you have to book to get the discount?

 

I thought there would be chart on the O website that would show how many for different lengths of cruises but I couldn't find one.

Unfortunately the only place I can find to see the minimum excursions to qualify for the YWC package on a particular cruise is when I log onto my account, click on Manage Booking, and then click on "Shop for Shore Excursions". At the top of the excursion list, it will tell what the minimum is for the YWC as well as the cost for the Unlimited Passport Collection package. Unfortunately they are not listed when you search a cruise's excursion list that you currently are not booked on.

We currently have 3 cruises booked and here are some stats you might be able to draw some general conclusions from.

Cruise 1 - 32 day GV w/20 port days - YWC min, 12 - OLife, 7 exc each. You would need to purchase 5 excursions to get the YWC package.

Cruise 2 - 10 days w/8 port days - YWC min, 4 - OLife, 3 exc each. In this case you would need to buy 1 excursion to qualify you for the YWC package.

Cruise 3 - 26 day GV w/17 port days - YWC min, 10 - OLife, 7 exc each. You would need to buy 3 to get the YWC package.

As you can see it all depends on the length of the cruise.

Unfortunately the only place I can find to see the minimum excursions to qualify for the YWC package on a particular cruise is when I log onto my account, click on Manage Booking, and then click on "Shop for Shore Excursions". At the top of the excursion list, it will tell what the minimum is for the YWC as well as the cost for the Unlimited Passport Collection package. Unfortunately they are not listed when you search a cruise's excursion list that you currently are not booked on.

 

We currently have 3 cruises booked and here are some stats you might be able to draw some general conclusions from.

 

Cruise 1 - 32 day GV w/20 port days - YWC min, 12 - OLife, 7 exc each. You would need to purchase 5 excursions to get the YWC package.

 

Cruise 2 - 10 days w/8 port days - YWC min, 4 - OLife, 3 exc each. In this case you would need to buy 1 excursion to qualify you for the YWC package.

 

Cruise 3 - 26 day GV w/17 port days - YWC min, 10 - OLife, 7 exc each. You would need to buy 3 to get the YWC package.

 

As you can see it all depends on the length of the cruise.

Thanks Ken, appreciate the information.

I just checked and the one I wanted to really know about is too far out to let me look at that information. It's 12 days. My 14 day one says 6 for the discount, but I don't get any Olife with that one.

Thanks Ken, appreciate the information.

 

I just checked and the one I wanted to really know about is too far out to let me look at that information. It's 12 days. My 14 day one says 6 for the discount, but I don't get any Olife with that one.

One thing I like about the OLife excursions option is you get to pick excursions up to around $200+/pp where as you only get $100 worth of OBC or $100 taken off your fare (times the number of excursions) if you choose not to go with the OLife option.

For example, based on double occupancy, if the OLife offering is 6 free excursions or $600 OBC or a free beverage package or $600 off your total cruise fare, we can book up to $1,200 worth of excursions. It also allows us to get the most expensive excursions for free and then buy enough of the cheaper ones to get the 25% off the other ones.

We are considering Oceania for the first time for a Baltic itinerary. With respect to the “free” excursions in each port are there options and choices or do they select one for you and any change is extra charge ? Thanks.

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