Booking OLife Excursions - newbie

[pokyjones]

Sorry, I searched forums and couldn't quite find an answer:  We have 6 shore excursions to use next December 12 day cruise/carribean.  Our strategy is to book 3 each at the higher prices $150-200) to maximize OLife.  If we do other tours, we will do private or perhaps get to the 25% discount number through ship (deciding later).  We would like to book our 6 OLife excursions now - Can we do that on-line on our account right now and not be charged - using our Olife "credit" for the excursions - or do we have to call Oceania to book those excursions?

 

Thanks for posting on the forums; we have found Oceania for first timers a bit confusing in terms of their pricing/marketing versus say RC.  Looking forward to trying Oceania as we've been on 3 other lines...

[LHT28]

You can book the excursions  now if they are available   you can change up to 14 days prior to sailing  if you choose

 

put the excursions in the cart online  then I believe you may have to check out & submit a CC  but the balance should be $0

some experts here have posted about  adding the YWC  excursions to get the discount

 

It may be easier for new pax to call & get someone at O do do it for you 

less frustrating  in the long run

JMO

[mauibabes]

Yes you can book now and use your credits. If you are having any issues booking those 6, just call O and have a Reservation Specialist handle it for you. We do the same thing as LHT28 has suggested. Sometimes the website gets a bit glitchy so a call solves issues. They will also help you confirm your excursion decisions are getting you the best bang for your 💵.

enjoy and welcome to Oceania. 
Mauibabes

[Flatbush Flyer]

4 minutes ago, pokyjones said:

Sorry, I searched forums and couldn't quite find an answer:  We have 6 shore excursions to use next December 12 day cruise/carribean.  Our strategy is to book 3 each at the higher prices $150-200) to maximize OLife.  If we do other tours, we will do private or perhaps get to the 25% discount number through ship (deciding later).  We would like to book our 6 OLife excursions now - Can we do that on-line on our account right now and not be charged - using our Olife "credit" for the excursions - or do we have to call Oceania to book those excursions?

 

Thanks for posting on the forums; we have found Oceania for first timers a bit confusing in terms of their pricing/marketing versus say RC.  Looking forward to trying Oceania as we've been on 3 other lines...

O Life and YWYW can seem confusing. FWIW, you may want to search again her on CC - I’ve posted numerous detailed instructions on how best to use both together.

In any case, DO NOT USE THE ONLINE CART FOR EXCURSIONS. I suggest that you first do a mock purchase with your own pencil or spreadsheet. If nothing else, you’ll get some practice at better understanding the idiosyncrasies (like, the O Life tour credits are assigned automatically starting with the most expensive of the allowable ones).

 

Next do the mock booking using the online cart. Make sure you check the O Life YWYW option (it will tell you if you have enough O Life and extra tour buys to get the YWYW 25% discount on the paid ones. Disregard what you see as the prices next to each tour (the cart is very glitchy there. However, the bottom line total cost should match your own math.

Even if all matches, call O and book the tours with an agent who agrees to send you the “prepurchased shore excursions and onboard options” PDF. It has all the math and that document is important should there be any disagreement/confusion once you are onboard and the ship cancels tours and $$$ are modified. FWIW: There are many new/clueless Destination Services staff right now.

BTW: Even though we use a TA, we have a long time relationship with a senior O phone rep with whom we do these bookings- a valuable ally pre-cruise when many O changes to tours are possible.

That said, know that, if you want to book two tours (per person) in the same day (e.g., AM and PM), the cart will show a conflict even if there’s more than 90 minutes between them. You’ve got to call for that as well as if you want to cancel a tour before you board.

Finally, if you have any balance due after your O Life selections have been automatically credited and you still have YWYW discounted tours to pay for, any O Club SBC you’ve been given will be debited to pay for them. Still a balance after that? Your credit card will be charged. (If you want, you can also tell the O rep not to use your O Club SBC and put the remaining balance on your CC (so you have SBC for onboard purchases).

 

Note: some here on CC will say “We have a TA and know how to use her/him.” Sure, you can have your TA do the tour booking for you. But just realize that not all TAs fully understand O Life and YWYW and, even if they do, involving them in any problem solving once you are onboard can be a challenge for all of the obvious reasons. 

[mauibabes]

@pokeyjones

FF layer it out perfectly. Follow his lead and you will be fine.  Have a great trip. 
Mauibabes 

[CintiPam]

My experience: If you are interested in excursions involving catamarans or lobster eating (the latter of which I do not understand because there is fabulous grilled lobster available until 4 pm daily at Waves Grill), I recommend that you book those sooner rather than later. 

[pokyjones]

Thank you so much!  We will follow FF advice and call O service rep tomorrow 🙂