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O life excursions vs private tours

wombatjoey

By wombatjoey,
in Oceania Cruises

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wombatjoey

wombatjoey

Posted
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The promo for a cruise we are considering comes with 6 included excursions as one of the options.

 

We always organize our own private tours. Has anyone done the o life option of included tours? I understand they are basic not the upgraded ones. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

If we dont take them, the option is for a 600 obc, which would buy a watch. Dont need a watch.

 

We are used to doing all day wonderful private tours. Would not like to spend each day with inferior options, so that is why I am asking for opinions here.

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sammiedawg

sammiedawg

Posted
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We are private tour and DIYers.

A recent 17 day cruise had five O life excursions. I combed Oceania 's web site for tour descriptions in ports that were not of great importance to use. We looked for overview type tours, highlights of tours. Most offers were four to five hours.

In the end we were satisfied with our choices. One tour was excellent due to the brilliance of our tour guide. Three tours were pretty good and only one tour involved the dreaded shopping and an out of the way stop for "refreshments".

We made the best of the O life offer, no need for a watch either.

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Hawaiidan

Hawaiidan

Posted
Posted
The promo for a cruise we are considering comes with 6 included excursions as one of the options.

 

We always organize our own private tours. Has anyone done the o life option of included tours? I understand they are basic not the upgraded ones. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

If we dont take them, the option is for a 600 obc, which would buy a watch. Dont need a watch.

 

We are used to doing all day wonderful private tours. Would not like to spend each day with inferior options, so that is why I am asking for opinions here.

 

in Sept I had Olife... which was the OBC+5 Shore + Gratuities which is now O choice where you only get 1 of 3. The tours were well run and though overpriced if you had to buy them they were reasonable good. That being said we usually do our own. But hey...

 

Now, are you getting prepaid grats? If not it will come out of your OBC, Too, do you get like bronze-silver-gold status OBC? How long is the cruise? normaly the best buy, depending on sea days is the beverage package with up grade.

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RJB

RJB

Posted
Posted
We are private tour and DIYers.

A recent 17 day cruise had five O life excursions. I combed Oceania 's web site for tour descriptions in ports that were not of great importance to use. We looked for overview type tours, highlights of tours. Most offers were four to five hours.

In the end we were satisfied with our choices. One tour was excellent due to the brilliance of our tour guide. Three tours were pretty good and only one tour involved the dreaded shopping and an out of the way stop for "refreshments".

We made the best of the O life offer, no need for a watch either.

We usually use private tours and like most of them,, This past July we had 7 O Life tours in Europe and they were very good. A larger group than normal but saved us quite a bit of money for just a little less quality sometimes. Would use them again if the prices were right. They seemed to have changed them a lot since we early booked a year before our July 2016 cruise. Hard to keep up with the changes and to compare them to last year. Sometimes i think it is flimflam But on the other hand they still give us a great product and do not seem to mess with that, :):)

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alexandra cruiser

alexandra cruiser

Posted
Posted

I agree with all above comments, and just wish to add a few thing.s

 

Look at each country you ll be going to, some like Iceland,can be difficult to find avail .tours privately. Esp.when large ship in port. Also, if area feels unfortable to do on own, may not feel safe,etc...like Egypt,etc. Then consider if you re absolutely SURE a private tour will be able to get you back to ship ON TIME. Personally,had a few where we BARELY made it. Tour truck broke down and had to wait for back up(not like with ship one,where they DO GET you back guaranteed.

 

Also, can start on ship tour,then go on own to get back to ship.Just let guide know and tip then.

 

So ,lots to consider, and good luck.

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Mura

Mura

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Just to be a copycat, we enjoyed our oLife tours in June on Nautica and last month on Sirena. All were very well done. While we had larger groups, of course, than we had on private tours in general, a few of these were small. All the guides were very good. Well worth the price, especially if you are in a place where private guides are hard to come by.

 

Bear in mind that it can well depend on your itinerary. We've had a few ship's tours that were lemons (ones we paid for) but we've had some private tours that weren't so great either.

 

Mura

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2552phxcrzr

2552phxcrzr

Posted
Posted

We're going to have a ton of OBC on upcoming O cruises. Went the OBC route as we can then use the OBC to purchase drinks (not big drinkers) and excursions on the ship if we see something that tickles our fancy. I do realize that excursions might sell out, but we are DIY'ers by nature, so if the tour is still open, great. If not, so be it, we will still have our own plans. :)

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YoHoHo

YoHoHo

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We're going to have a ton of OBC on upcoming O cruises. Went the OBC route as we can then use the OBC to purchase drinks (not big drinkers) and excursions on the ship if we see something that tickles our fancy. I do realize that excursions might sell out, but we are DIY'ers by nature, so if the tour is still open, great. If not, so be it, we will still have our own plans. :)

Great attitude. Selecting OBC gives you flexibilty to make the choices you want, when you want, with what is available. And keeping it all in perspective. I'm sure you will enjoy your cruise.

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RJB

RJB

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I don't care how "good" the tours are. If ur ok being on a big bus and having the cruise line dictate where you go and for how long take the o tours. Otherwise take the obc

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Difference is we care how GOOD the tours are. Some of the O Life tours were very good including 2 that were full day with lunch. Some of the "big" buses were only about 60% full so no problem. Usually do our own privately but the deal was too good to pass up. Also had 1200.00 on OBC so there really was not much we could have done with another 1200.00 or so.

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wombatjoey

wombatjoey

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So we would have 6 free , 3 pp tours.

 

Is there anywhere on line I can see what they are , so I can decide before booking that I am taking the option of the free tours and giving up the 600 OBC?

 

Or just go for the free tours as the one choice to be made and hope for the best.

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Tansy Mews

Tansy Mews

Posted
Posted (edited)

On my recent European cruise, we opted to take the four tours. (That's eight in all - 4 each)

 

While it is true that the tours are big bus tours, there were quite good. A pleasant surprise, actually. We picked the best bang for our buck; tours that interested us but would be more challenging to do on our own; and tours that were more active - level 2.

 

Since we already had free gratuities and wifi, this was best for us.

 

Frances

Edited by Tansy Mews
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wombatjoey

wombatjoey

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could not find previous pdf's of tours.

 

If the tours are available only 75 days prior to sailing, how will I be able to organize private tours for the ones I am doing on my own. Usually I research and organize those about a year or so prior to.

 

This is getting complicated.

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LHT28 Holiday Sharing Rare

LHT28

Posted
Posted
So we would have 6 free , 3 pp tours.

 

Is there anywhere on line I can see what they are , so I can decide before booking that I am taking the option of the free tours and giving up the 600 OBC?

 

Or just go for the free tours as the one choice to be made and hope for the best.

When is the cruise ??

Some excursions will be listed 6 to 9 mths prior

You have to make your choice of the O life perk by final payment I think & tours must be prebooked 14 days prior to embarkation day

 

You can ask your TA for the PDF file if available or look at the ports of call on O website there may be some listed for other cruises

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wombatjoey

wombatjoey

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Well I figured out how to see the tours. It is part of the cruise page description.

 

Once you get to the tours, they are coded. Some have O choice option. So seems they tell you what you could have if you have chosen the free tours. Out of 7 options, you can only chose the one that has OE beside it. Hmmm.....

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LHT28 Holiday Sharing Rare

LHT28

Posted
Posted
Well I figured out how to see the tours. It is part of the cruise page description.

 

Once you get to the tours, they are coded. Some have O choice option. So seems they tell you what you could have if you have chosen the free tours. Out of 7 options, you can only chose the one that has OE beside it. Hmmm.....

 

NO incorrect

You can only choose ones with NO letters as in OC or OE beside the description & up to $199 in value

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LHT28 Holiday Sharing Rare

LHT28

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Posted (edited)
Ah, NO letters. Got it. Prices are not out yet for the one we are doing. It is in November of 2018. Barcelona to Lisbon.

 

You could look under the Destinations tab then port explorer for the ports you will be visiting

The may have tours listed for cruises in 2017

I bet they will be very similar if not the same tours

Edited by LHT28
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