Full Excursions

[carlsbadguy]

I had chosen an excursion when I paid my deposit and today my travel agent emailed me and was told the excursion was full.  It had room for 14 people and my wife and I were number 15 and 16. Cruise is in 60 days.  Does this happen often? This was the one excursion I really wanted if I  had not been able to book it originally I would have taken the additional $300 off the cruise fare instead of the O Life Excursions. 

[LHT28]

I cannot imagine one of the free tours having  a limit of 14

Maybe you can see if they have a waitlist  in case someone cancels

[Mura]

Was this one of the exclusive tours?  If so I could understand the limitation.  But NOT for a regular tour.

 

Have you looked into joining private tours at your roll call?  I'm aware that since oLife came into play that fewer people look for private tours (usually 6-8 people but sometimes more) ... but even so we haven't had a problem getting people to join us on private tours.

 

Not having any idea what you wanted to do and where, it's impossible to make further suggestions.

 

Mura

 

 

[carlsbadguy]

This was one of the included O Life Tours- It was in Santorini a small boat tour to another island . I wonder if they had a bigger boat scheduled first and then changed to a smaller boat. I asked my Travel Agent and she said O does not do a waitlist. This was the only O excursion I really wanted and if I knew this was not available upfront I would not have chosen the O Life credit and would have just taken the extra $300 of the cruise fare per person. 

[1985rz1]

34 minutes ago, carlsbadguy said:

This was one of the included O Life Tours- It was in Santorini a small boat tour to another island . I wonder if they had a bigger boat scheduled first and then changed to a smaller boat. I asked my Travel Agent and she said O does not do a waitlist. This was the only O excursion I really wanted and if I knew this was not available upfront I would not have chosen the O Life credit and would have just taken the extra $300 of the cruise fare per person. 

I guess I'm not sure of the problem.  If it was a normal O-Life tour, it would be priced at $199 or less.  Why tie up a $300 in O-Life if that was your goal.  Can you not simply opt out of O-Life, take the credit, and then pay for the excursion if it opens? If you are using the O-Life SBC (and not the Excursion option) to pay for the excursion, it a financial wash.

 

Edited September 14, 2019 by 1985rz1

[Paulchili]

Deleted

Edited September 14, 2019 by Paulchili

[LHT28]

9 hours ago, carlsbadguy said:

This was one of the included O Life Tours- It was in Santorini a small boat tour to another island . I wonder if they had a bigger boat scheduled first and then changed to a smaller boat. I asked my Travel Agent and she said O does not do a waitlist. This was the only O excursion I really wanted and if I knew this was not available upfront I would not have chosen the O Life credit and would have just taken the extra $300 of the cruise fare per person. 

I agree  see if you can cancel the O Life  perk or change it to the OBC 

 

Can you post the name of the tour or link 

just curious as I have not heard of the  limited participation excursion on the free tours

I believe Oceania does  offer  to waitlist those  that are interested in sold out tours ..maybe ask once onboard

[Paulchili]

Were excursions not available for booking when you made your final payment?

They are usually available 240 days prior to sailing - most of the time before final payment.

If they were available, could you not have checked if you can book this particular excursion before choosing O Life as an option?

Edited September 14, 2019 by Paulchili

[pinotlover]

Not all of O’s tours are for bus loads. Some are indeed capacity limited. Going out on small boats bird watching is a perfect example. First come first. Some ports of call are not set up, nor have the infrastructure for huge bus tours for all of the tours.

 

I will say that I continue to be amazed at the number of cruisers that are always scrambling at 60, 45, or 15 days pre-cruise to find a shore tour.

[arima22]

Is this the excursion of interest?  If so it appears to be a small boat based on the warning "you will get wet."  Yes, included in the free excursions, but most likely limited number of participants. Should have a wait list on board the ship with destination services should someone cancel due to weather, etc.

 

Santorini By Private Boat (JTR-009)

 

Port: Santorini

Tour Length: Half-Day (Approximately 5 hours)

•  
• Tour Price
• Your World
• Unlimited

•  

Tour Description

Cruises Visiting This Port

 

Your outing begins as you tender from your ship to the pier and then transfer to Vlihada for the start of your private cruise. On board, you will find an expert captain and crew, along with beer, soft drinks and appetizers.

Enjoying sea breezes and beautiful views, you will sail past Red Beach, White Beach, the rock formations of Akrotiri and the lighthouse. Coming into view next will be the volcanic islands formed around 1570 BC.

 

You will disembark on the island of Nea Kameni, where you will have the opportunity to relax on the beach or walk up to the island's crater and visit the natural hot springs. The waters are mineral-rich, which make them an unusual green and yellow.

Your tour concludes at Fira Villafe, close to the Metropolis Church. Here you will make your way to the cable car which takes you down to the pier where your ships awaits.

 

Please note: It is recommended that guests wear a hat and sunscreen. Guests who wish to swim in the hot springs should wear a swimsuit and cover-up, too. It is also recommended that guests wear flat, comfortable shoes. As you will get wet on this excursion, any electronic devices (such as MP3 players, cell phones, cameras, etc.), as well as any valuable items must be stored in a sealable, waterproof dry bag or left on board the ship. Any damage occurring to these items is the responsibility of the guests. Guests who participate in any water activities do so at their own risk and responsibility. The order of sights visited may vary. You may encounter lines waiting to enter the cable car station.

[arima22]

A "Bing" search came up with this private tour listed on Viator:  https://www.viator.com/tours/Santorini/Santorini-Sailing-Cruise-to-Red-Beach-and-Akrotini/d959-17549P2

 

[carlsbadguy]

It was the small boat tour listed above.  My main question is why was I able to book it originally and 6 weeks later told it was full.   Does this happen often with O as this is my first O cruise. 

[Jay23]

Just curious.   If you could book it six weeks before, why didn't you?  There is no time limit for tour booking. J

[carlsbadguy]

I did book it, when I made my initial payment about 6 weeks ago and it was reserved and showed as one of my excursions until on Friday I got an email from my travel agent that the tour was not confirmable. The tour only takes 14 guests and we were number #15 and 16. The excursion was also no longer in my account.. I called today about another excursion and the explanation I was given was that I was on a waitlist when I booked that I could not see, nor informed of, and when everyone ahead of me made final payment I was knocked off.

 

Also for people that may want further details on excursions I called and asked about another excursion and the agent had no further details than what was in the O listing on line. 

[Paulchili]

carlsbadguy - thank you for that explanation.

I have never heard of this happening and I am sorry to hear that this happened to you.

Not sure what your options are at this point.

[LHT28]

It is too bad they did not say in the listing that it was limited  to 14

Very odd  for the free excursion

[Paulchili]

2 hours ago, Paulchili said:

carlsbadguy - thank you for that explanation.

I have never heard of this happening and I am sorry to hear that this happened to you.

Not sure what your options are at this point.

Something is wrong with this - you deserve an explanation from Oceania.

If the tour was already full you should not have been able to book it - it should have said “not available” or “full” or “waitlist only”. In the absence of that I think they changed the size of the group at some point after you booked it.

Very unusual.

[Mura]

I went so far as to check out the Viator tour listed in post #10.  It does look like a reasonable alternative, at least to me.  I went so far as to see if space was available and at that time that appeared to be the case.  I don't know if the times would work out for the ship's itinerary, I didn't go that far!

 

For the record, we have done a few Viator tours and were never unhappy with them.

 

Mura

[Go-Bucks!]

Not that this might help, but others might not know...

 

Once you're onboard, if you want to try to get on a sold out ship tour, you can go to the Lounge (or wherever the tours are meeting) and tell the Destination staff that you want to be on standby for the tour. You then sit down and wait to see if all the booked passengers show up. Sometimes they're too tired or sick and don't arrive...in that case, you get to take their place. You'll be charged for it though (but I think you shouldn't be because O still keeps the money from the original passenger who booked it). This happened alot on my recent long cruise...may not be as common on shorter ones.

 

Another thing that happened often was people who changed their minds about taking a tour but it was too late to cancel so they would walk around asking others if they'd like to have their tour ticket...that way it would be free for the new person.

Edited September 15, 2019 by Go-Bucks!

[carlsbadguy]

Does anyone know what the cancellation policy for tours is once onboard?

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, carlsbadguy said:

Does anyone know what the cancellation policy for tours is once onboard?

I think it is 36 hrs prior to the tour  you can cancel  for a refund

It should be on your invoice  or check O's website  under  T & C's

click on the Guest  Ticket  contract for details

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/legal/ticket-contract/

[Jay23]

Carlsbadguy.........  I am sorry to hear that.   It shouldn't  have happened.   I recommend you  try for a private tour as Maura has researched, but now of course you will have to pay for it..🙁   J

[Paulchili]

3 hours ago, Jay23 said:

 I recommend you  try for a private tour as Maura has researched, but now of course you will have to pay for it..🙁   J

The additional problem as I see it that OP already paid $300 for O Life that now is essentially useless to him.

Giving him $300 non refundable OBC in place of the O Life wouldn’t help much as it wouldn’t pay for his private tour.

IMO, he should receive $300 back either as cash or refundable OBC.

[Jay23]

I agree with you Paulchili but sadly,  either the OP has the private tour or he doesn't have that tour at all.   I'm trying to think of something else he can use the $300 for.   Wine/spirits?  Spa?  Hairdresser? purchase from the shop?  There must be another tour he would enjoy just as much?       If he doesn't want any of these I can't help I'm afraid.      J

[pinotlover]

There is always the possibility that the actual tour operator lost capacity for some reason such as mechanical failure and the only substitution available was a smaller boat. So , for example, when originally booked it was a 20 person boat that due to problems a 14 passenger boat was substituted. 

 

I’ve seen this occur numerous times in the airline industry. Seen people bounced out of 1st or Business Class because of equipment change and capacity differences. Options are another flight, down grade to economy, or cancellation. 

 

Why might one not believe that boats can’t break down and not be quickly replaced, especially in some of the more remote areas? Everything in this life doesn’t have to be somebody’s fault! &@$# happens!!! The good news is the OP was given adequate time to make other arrangements.

 

Another case in point on this issue. The customer service people sitting in Miami, or a regional office, usually does not know all the small details of what occurs half way around the world. Them not knowing the details is not some world issue. I continual see people screaming at airline reps because the plane was grounded in Omaha for two hours because of weather or had a maintenance issue in Denver which caused the delay. Screaming at a rep in Dallas over something they have no control, or even knowledge, is of poor taste. My bet is that the Oceania customer service rep hasn’t a clue as to the actual problem. They only know that as of today only 14 can go on the boat and they have to deal with it!