Unlimited Passport Collection Confusion

[rblevow]

While I have cruised quite a bit on other lines, I'm new to Oceania. I've read the old threads on the Unlimited Passport Collection and understand that many (most) on the list make extensive use of private tours. Consequently, the UPC is of interest to a limited number of cruisers here. That said, I'm thoroughly confused by this offering and hope someone can help me out. Oceania staff have been no help, just quoting the materials posted on line and customer service has failed to respond to my query beyond the automated response promising a prompt answer.

 

The Unlimited Passport Collection is announced with "Save Even More! Up to 40%." It is offered at a fixed price. Looking at excursions, standard excursions are free with UPC and there is a 40% reduction on OC and OE. Sounds fantastic. That is, until I put together an actual package. In every instance, the total cost for UPC is more than the cost under the Your World Collection (25% off on 8 or more excursions)! Even if a put together the most expensive package of standard excursions, YWC is still about $200 less than UPC.

 

Does anyone have any idea how to "Save Even More!" with UPC when it costs more than booking with YWC? I just don't get it. Obviously, as things stand, I would use YWC in preference to UPC so what is the point of UPC?

[LHT28]

Sorry you lost me

Maybe that is why we do private tours so we can choose what is important to us

 

Hopefully someone who has used the package will have more insight

 

i am finding the more package deal O offers the more muddy the waters get

 

I like the KISS approach ;)

 

 

Lyn

[sitraveler]

I went through the same exercise. In fact ordered the UPC, then went through the offered excursions and decided that it wasn't worth it.

The only way to come out ahead is to take multiple excursions in a port and run yourself ragged.

 

The price changes on each cruise. Also the minimum # of excursions change based on the number of ports. I don't see the value.

[rblevow]

Sorry you lost me

I like the KISS approach ;)

Lyn

 

Lyn, I thought UPC was a KISS approach but it was more expensive than not using it in every case. :( -- roy --

[LHT28]

Lyn, I thought UPC was a KISS approach but it was more expensive than not using it in every case. :( -- roy --

Some things seem less hassle but work out to more $$

Like the hotel packages;)

 

I do not mind spending some extra time in researching things to save $$ then I can cruise more:D

 

Enjoy

 

Lyn

[CAG]

While I have cruised quite a bit on other lines, I'm new to Oceania. I've read the old threads on the Unlimited Passport Collection and understand that many (most) on the list make extensive use of private tours. Consequently, the UPC is of interest to a limited number of cruisers here. That said, I'm thoroughly confused by this offering and hope someone can help me out. Oceania staff have been no help, just quoting the materials posted on line and customer service has failed to respond to my query beyond the automated response promising a prompt answer.

 

The Unlimited Passport Collection is announced with "Save Even More! Up to 40%." It is offered at a fixed price. Looking at excursions, standard excursions are free with UPC and there is a 40% reduction on OC and OE. Sounds fantastic. That is, until I put together an actual package. In every instance, the total cost for UPC is more than the cost under the Your World Collection (25% off on 8 or more excursions)! Even if a put together the most expensive package of standard excursions, YWC is still about $200 less than UPC.

 

Does anyone have any idea how to "Save Even More!" with UPC when it costs more than booking with YWC? I just don't get it. Obviously, as things stand, I would use YWC in preference to UPC so what is the point of UPC?

 

 

 

That is exactly what we found out last year on our Bangkok to Beijing cruise. There was absolutely no way we could have booked the shore excursions for the cost of the Unlimited Package and there was no way to save up to 40%. Perhaps if you book the OC or the OE excursions, which cost even more, you save the up to 40% off their on board cost. We wound up booking the YOur Way. We needed to book 10 excursions to use the YW. After finding 9 excursions we wanted we chose a 10th that if we didn't go on we wouldn't have cared. All this to save $500.

 

Bottom line, the Passport Collection is not financially beneficial. You can save on the YOur World, if you can find the number of required excursions that interest you.

 

Cenia

[hondorner]

I think your conclusions may be correct in most circumstances. I just ran a brief analysis of one of my upcoming cruises, NY to London in May '14 (CAG is on that one, too :)). I didn't take the time to figure out the absolute most advantageous combination, but simply chose the first available excursion in each port.

 

The Unlimited Passport cost for that cruise is $1,199. It happened that I chose two Oceania Exclusive tours that carried a surcharge of $65 each for the Unlimited Passport, so my total cost for that package would be $1,329 (all others were included at $0.00).

 

The total Ala Carte prices for those tours is $1,710, so the Unlimited Passport saves 23% (1329/1710).

 

The total cost of the Your World for the exact same tours was $1,283, or almost exactly a 25% savings as advertised (1283/1710).

 

Conclusion: the savings of 25% for the Your World Collection is greater than the savings of 23% for the Unlimited Passport Collection for this specific list of tours. Closer scrutiny of the excursion combinations, without regard for which ones one might want to take but strictly on an economic basis, might have had slightly better results. As noted by the OP, multiple no-cost excursions in several ports, when available, would increase the savings. However, most of the excursions are only offered once per day and are in conflict.

 

Further conclusions: At least on this particular cruise, and according to the other posters, the Unlimited Passport Collection is often overpriced, and one would have to have a PHD in analysis and discard any notion of which excursions are preferable in order to make the UPC numbers work.When one considers that the only possible way to make the numbers come even close is to take ship's excursions in every port, if one wants to explore on one's own, or take a private excursion in any port, the "Your World" collection is a better deal.

 

I did choose the Unlimited Passport Collection for our upcoming Alaska cruise on 7/5/13. In that case, Oceania offered a special "2 for 1" deal in which the UPC, normally $399 for that 7 day cruise with only 3 ports, was reduced to 199.50 each. Even there, however, I had to choose multiple excursions in two of the ports to make the numbers worthwhile. My conclusion at that time was that even at half price, the Unlimited Passport Collection was difficult to justify.