Thank You Flatbush Flyer

[Cruiseskier]

I want to thank Flatbush Flyer for all his information on shore excursions.  Today is 365 out for our cruise and I went online to book shore excursions.  The pricing was different for one tour on the listing vs. the final page.  The totals didn't match when we reached the required total tours for the 25% discount, even on the last page where you have to pay.  I took Flatbush Flyer advice and call Oceania and spoke to an agent.  His numbers and my calculations match so we booked the tours with him and paid with credit card.  I also asked for PDF (as Flatbush Flyer suggested).  The agent said he had to send it to my travel agent and I could get it from him since we used a travel agent, which is fine with me.  If I didn't read all of Flatbush Flyer's information, I would have been very frustrated and confused. Thanks again.

[JandKsVistas]

A secondThank you to Flatbush Flyer. I followed his directions and was able to book on line with the YWYW and free O excursions. Our TA had sent the PDF file of shore excursions when we booked. That was a giant help. Crazy numbers,  but I went straight to the bottom line and it jived with my calculations. 

 

 

[nursinadream]

I too, have found @Flatbush Flyerhelp invaluable for shorex shopping.  I was lucky enough to get an O agent on the phone who sent me a PDF for my Sept cruise.  Lots of time on hold and really a waste of time for a busy TA.  The PDF is much different from my original one from the time of booking.  (Baltic Cruise with SPB etal removed).

Deb

[Flatbush Flyer]

29 minutes ago, Cruiseskier said:

I want to thank Flatbush Flyer for all his information on shore excursions.  Today is 365 out for our cruise and I went online to book shore excursions.  The pricing was different for one tour on the listing vs. the final page.  The totals didn't match when we reached the required total tours for the 25% discount, even on the last page where you have to pay.  I took Flatbush Flyer advice and call Oceania and spoke to an agent.  His numbers and my calculations match so we booked the tours with him and paid with credit card.  I also asked for PDF (as Flatbush Flyer suggested).  The agent said he had to send it to my travel agent and I could get it from him since we used a travel agent, which is fine with me.  If I didn't read all of Flatbush Flyer's information, I would have been very frustrated and confused. Thanks again.

Thanks for the kind comment.

Not all O reps (or TAs) are created equal. 

When your TA booked the cruise for you, s/he received a set of docs that included the O passenger invoice, ticket contract and the shore excursions pdf (which 365 days our might be incomplete or even empty) along with a prepurchased shore excursions pdf (again, mostly empty if you had not yet purchased any tours).

Ask your TA to forward to you all the existing and future O communications and attachments. The only one they usually don’t share is the TAs commission invoice (same invoice as yours but with additional info for the TA).

Having updated O invoices, prepurchase and shore excursions docs keep you up to date as changes occur. This has been particularly important with so many Covid related itinerary mods. 

If you bought your excursions direct from the O Rep, they certainly can send you the related docs which include the important prepurchase pdf (it shows all the math including use of SBC for partial payment and identifies what will be charged to your credit card and be reflected in an updated o invoice), the latest shore excursions pdf (for your planning needs) and a brief preselected tours doc (no math - just the list of your tours). If O Rep A won’t send it to you, call back and get another agent. If your TA won’t send you these docs (some few do only send you their own agency invoice), my advice is to get a different TA for your next O cruise.

[Flatbush Flyer]

46 minutes ago, Cruiseskier said:

I want to thank Flatbush Flyer for all his information on shore excursions.  Today is 365 out for our cruise and I went online to book shore excursions.  The pricing was different for one tour on the listing vs. the final page.  The totals didn't match when we reached the required total tours for the 25% discount, even on the last page where you have to pay.  I took Flatbush Flyer advice and call Oceania and spoke to an agent.  His numbers and my calculations match so we booked the tours with him and paid with credit card.  I also asked for PDF (as Flatbush Flyer suggested).  The agent said he had to send it to my travel agent and I could get it from him since we used a travel agent, which is fine with me.  If I didn't read all of Flatbush Flyer's information, I would have been very frustrated and confused. Thanks again.

 

14 minutes ago, JandKsVistas said:

A secondThank you to Flatbush Flyer. I followed his directions and was able to book on line with the YWYW and free O excursions. Our TA had sent the PDF file of shore excursions when we booked. That was a giant help. Crazy numbers,  but I went straight to the bottom line and it jived with my calculations. 

 

 

 

2 minutes ago, nursinadream said:

I too, have found @Flatbush Flyerhelp invaluable for shorex shopping.  I was lucky enough to get an O agent on the phone who sent me a PDF for my Sept cruise.  Lots of time on hold and really a waste of time for a busy TA.  The PDF is much different from my original one from the time of booking.  (Baltic Cruise with SPB etal removed).

Deb

posting your quotes - not to enjoy rereading your comments but rather to point out to others the value of not burdening your TA with what can be complicated and error prone transactions (even for some VERY experienced TAs).

for folks who may not have read my earlier step-by-step instructions (which really take very little time to complete), it basically boils down to: 

1. get the excursions pdf

2. understand what is allowed/needed for O Life and YWYW.

3. make your list of desired tours

4. contact O direct and rep will make sure you get what you want in the lowest cost way.

  

[Cruiseskier]

1 hour ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Thanks for the kind comment.

Not all O reps (or TAs) are created equal. 

When your TA booked the cruise for you, s/he received a set of docs that included the O passenger invoice, ticket contract and the shore excursions pdf (which 365 days our might be incomplete or even empty) along with a prepurchased shore excursions pdf (again, mostly empty if you had not yet purchased any tours).

Ask your TA to forward to you all the existing and future O communications and attachments. The only one they usually don’t share is the TAs commission invoice (same invoice as yours but with additional info for the TA).

Having updated O invoices, prepurchase and shore excursions docs keep you up to date as changes occur. This has been particularly important with so many Covid related itinerary mods. 

If you bought your excursions direct from the O Rep, they certainly can send you the related docs which include the important prepurchase pdf (it shows all the math including use of SBC for partial payment and identifies what will be charged to your credit card and be reflected in an updated o invoice), the latest shore excursions pdf (for your planning needs) and a brief preselected tours doc (no math - just the list of your tours). If O Rep A won’t send it to you, call back and get another agent. If your TA won’t send you these docs (some few do only send you their own agency invoice), my advice is to get a different TA for your next O cruise.

I called back and got a different O rep and he said, no problem and sent me the pdf pre-purchased shore excursions.  Different answers with different O reps.  Thanks