Simply more's impact on current bookings?

[vlthom]

3 minutes ago, MnDAL said:

Spoke with O on 7/1 - that was one of my questions. Answer: 2nd login only free for SM pax - others must pay upgrade (unless in cabin cat that already included 2).

Thanks for the info…..too bad about the answer, though..

[jazznruby]

12 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

And they will arrange (without deviation fee) anything you specifically request that flies within a couple of days pre-embarkation (though you will be responsible for fare differences).

Yes, they now offer the option of arriving/departing up to 3 days prior to/after the cruise without deviation fee...but they arrange the itinerary. So it's not 'anything you specifically request'. In order to get that, you still pay the deviation fee plus any fare differential.

[Flatbush Flyer]

13 minutes ago, jazznruby said:

Yes, they now offer the option of arriving/departing up to 3 days prior to/after the cruise without deviation fee...but they arrange the itinerary. So it's not 'anything you specifically request'. In order to get that, you still pay the deviation fee plus any fare differential.

Good to know for those who still want O air. Nonetheless, I still strongly advise against using O air for bizclass.

[LHT28]

The bottom line 

if you have a cruise(s) already booked   check the new SM price  against what your current  amount  is (bottom line)

Then see what you will gain/lose by switching

 

 If the difference is minimal  then it may be worth  switching

 Only you can decide what works best  for your needs/wants

 

YMMV

 

 

 

[Sebbiesgrammy]

1 hour ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

The 25% YWYW on certain itineraries is not gone. As was the case with O Life: If your itinerary has it, you’ll see it in the tour description (though now called something like “simply more” and priced at 25% less than the retail price). And, if you do the minimum required number of tour purchases for your itinerary, you will get the 25% off in the Cart before your SM tour credits are subtracted from the balance due.

Agreed. Initially I was unable to find it as it was buried in the price I was seeing in my cart. Now I am able to toggle between SM and Olife on the cart summary and compare.  SM is a significant savings for exactly the same excursions and the info icon clearly states, for our itinerary,  when the 25% discount kicks in. It is 12 for SM and 11 for Olife, but SM is still cheaper by about $650 total.  Thanks 😊 

[jazznruby]

31 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Good to know for those who still want O air. Nonetheless, I still strongly advise against using O air for bizclass.

I can't dispute what you and others have always said about O biz class since we don't fly biz; but FWIW, have always used O PE for over-the-water to/from Europe with great success, even after paying deviation. Always cheaper. For 11/24 to Athens, PE was $199/pp when I booked a year ago. I recently saw it at $499/pp, so may not be as cost effective for future.

[Rainbow3fe]

1 hour ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Yes.  And with excursions, there have been times, while few, where the city we visited had absolutely no options for touring on our own -- not a taxi, not a tour, very little in the city (town?)  So I was very happy to book a ship's tour in those (few) places.  And we are hoping to start branching out again and not sticking to tours in Europe. In Southeast Asia, I'm thinking that excursions offered by a cruise ship may be more attractive to me than trying to do everything on my own, for several reasons.  So I doubt I'll be switching to another cruise line just because of "Simply More."  And I do think that Oceania has the best itineraries out there, as I like lots of ports, including lesser-known ports, so it's really easy to find a cruise I want.

 

I agree. It's interesting to see that others have similar ideas about excursions.

      In South Africa we stuck with Oceania excursions because the places we wanted to visit were 90 minute drives from the ports. Only 1 out of 7 was extremely disappointing. 

     On our upcoming trip to New Zealand we only found a few private tours that look exciting.  We booked mostly OS and OE excursions and at 25% off they're quite reasonably priced  

      Again, everyone needs to do homework and decide what to choose. 

     We are staying with Olife minus air.

😎🌊🎉

      

      

[1985rz1]

4 hours ago, Psoque said:

Obviously, there’s nothing inherently wrong about your analysis, but things are more complicated that that.

 

1.  We all know that the the daily wifi charges for the second passenger on Oceania (and for that matter the charges for wifi on any cruise line, if they charge for it) are unreasonably high.  I can’t argue with the dollar amount of what it used to cost on Oceania, but I never thought it had a good value/cost ratio.  But, on the other hand, you can look at it in a positive light:  Now that the second wifi account is bundled, it appears to be more affordable.

 

2.  Same with the previous cost of the basic drink package, which, I think, was unreasonably high on Oceania and on any other cruise lines that offer it.  In many cases, for typical passengers, the packages never saved much money.  I think if every cruise passenger consumes enough alcohol to either break even or do better on the packages, there will be an epidemic of liver failures on the ships.

 

So, yes, it does look like simply MORE looks like you are “getting more for less,” but basically you are being “charged more” for the privilege of getting more for “FREE!!!,” even if you don’t want to get more.

The point I was trying to make is that one needs to compare existing bookings with the SM  equivalents and see if higher SM pricing  is a better deal for those who would add one or more of the included amenities that one would purchase anyway to the OLife pricing.  The price increases seen are all over the board depending on itinerary and stateroom category, so there is no general rule. 

 

In our case, the price increase over our booked OLife was minimal and less than the cost of a second WiFi connection which we would want, so switching to SM makes sense for us, even though we would not be interested in the beverage package.  The fact that under OLife both packages are over priced was irrelevant in making our decision, since the pricing is what it is.

 

There is a loss when comparing the excursion pricing, but in our case, the SM excursion SBC was increased over our OLife allowance, so the loss was really quite minimal, and since we do use ship tours, the difference did not really come into play.

 

Others in the same situation but would want the beverage package instead or both packages might find SM a better deal.  But if someone doesn't want either package and/or use the ship's excursion, it is not.

 

Similarly, if the price increase would have been much larger, then sticking with OLife would  have been the better deal.

 

Bottom line: There is no blanket answer to whether to upgrade to SM or not.  It totally depends on the pricing differential and personal preference on the inclusions.  Folks should do the math.

 

In any event, none of what I've said is meant to be a comment on the SimplyMore promotion now or in the future.  It's only a reflection on how we decided to upgrade to SM for our existing OLfe bookings.  In the future we will approach cruising as we have always done: compare itineraries, pricing, and amenities across sevetal lines, all of which have seen significant price increases.

Edited July 3, 2023 by 1985rz1

[Flatbush Flyer]

15 minutes ago, jazznruby said:

I can't dispute what you and others have always said about O biz class since we don't fly biz; but FWIW, have always used O PE for over-the-water to/from Europe with great success, even after paying deviation. Always cheaper. For 11/24 to Athens, PE was $199/pp when I booked a year ago. I recently saw it at $499/pp, so may not be as cost effective for future.

Hopefully, you’re using ITA Matrix for price comparisons.

[jonthomas]

I find using google flights is more efficient. It shows you the exact price you will get when it transfers you to the airline site.

 

The matrix shows you possibilities but when you go to book with the actual airlines, it is a totally different price.

 

 

[midwestsunshine]

We are booked on the Marina in Nov 2023 leaving out of Barcelona. We’ve already paid our final payment in June. Does anyone know if we’re still eligible to switch to Simply More?

Thanks

[LHT28]

4 minutes ago, midwestsunshine said:

We are booked on the Marina in Nov 2023 leaving out of Barcelona. We’ve already paid our final payment in June. Does anyone know if we’re still eligible to switch to Simply More?

Thanks

Yes you can switch  just check how much more  it will cost you & what perks you may lose in the process

[Acrusa]

On the SM it states for the first time FREE SPECIALTY DINING does this mean if you choose cruise only you don't get that?

 

[LHT28]

Just now, Acrusa said:

On the SM it states for the first time FREE SPECIALTY DINING does this mean if you choose cruise only you don't get that?

 

There is  no "cruise only"  for new bookings

so a moot point

[Acrusa]

11 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

There is  no "cruise only"  for new bookings

so a moot point

Sorry bout that my bad Have cruise booked for 2025 so it showed cruise only back when I booked

[LHT28]

15 minutes ago, Acrusa said:

Sorry bout that my bad Have cruise booked for 2025 so it showed cruise only back when I booked

As it stands  now   if you have a cruise  booked you get  the  deal that was  current at the time of booking  (unless you choose to upgrade to SM)

 

So up until July 1st you got the Specialty restaurants 

 

 I believe the  NEW FREE   is just marketing

JMO

 Of course  things could change at any time  Oceania decides  😉

 

 

[Acrusa]

1 minute ago, LHT28 said:

As it stands  now   if you have a cruise  booked you get  the  deal that was  current at the time of booking

So up until July 1st you got the Specialty restaurants 

 I believe the  NEW FREE   is just marketing

JMO

 Of course  things could change at any time  Oceania decides  😉

 

 

I agree 

[Lorna Doone]

21 hours ago, osandomir said:

I hope that’s the way how it will work. Simple or not simple - it makes a lot of sense for those who utilize ship tours. It’ll allow to book some of your excursions for the discount price that’s cheaper than the regular tour price. I realize that we’re paying for the part of the discount (excursion credit) upfront with Simply More, but there’s an additional discount when you’re booking a certain amount of tours.

On the 01/09/24 Oceania is not providing any discount for those that switch to SM nor before SM were they providing a discount for those that booked a certain no of tours.  This cruise is on the Vistal

[Flatbush Flyer]

 

59 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

I find using google flights is more efficient. It shows you the exact price you will get when it transfers you to the airline site.

 

The matrix shows you possibilities but when you go to book with the actual airlines, it is a totally different price.

 

 

I assume you know that they’re the same websites. ITA Matrix is the far more detailed one that shows you all ways to get from A to B (and/or C, D, etc). Many of the prices you’ll see on ITA Matrix require separate tix (particularly if you want to mix cabin classes). Most, if not all, airlines will not do ticketing for mixed cabin classes unless they publish it and may not issue tix for the mix of non-partner airlines with your primary one.

With only the exceptions of a few airlines who don’t subscribe, what is the benefit of ITA Matrix is that it shows you every possible way to do an itinerary.

And, BTW, the choices and pricing you see on the actual airline site may not be accurate nor complete. I know for a fact that, when you search “any time” for your chosen dates on United, it does not list all flights. That’s one of the reasons, I have the ITA Matrix list in front of me and also ask the phone rep if s/he can find anything better within my parameters. That one question alone can save you some significant cash. 

[EJL2023]

11 minutes ago, Lorna Doone said:

On the 01/09/24 Oceania is not providing any discount for those that switch to SM nor before SM were they providing a discount for those that booked a certain no of tours.  This cruise is on the Vistal

So you are saying on your cruise that you booked prior to SM, you were not receiving a 25% discount if you booked the required minimum number of excursions??

[midwestsunshine]

I called Oceania to inquire about switching our Nov 2023 cruise to Simply More.

I was told that since my present cabin category (A-3) is now waitlisted I could not switch to Simply More.

 

[Rainbow3fe]

29 minutes ago, Lorna Doone said:

On the 01/09/24 Oceania is not providing any discount for those that switch to SM nor before SM were they providing a discount for those that booked a certain no of tours.  This cruise is on the Vistal

      Please call Oceania to verify what you are assuming here. Too many opinions without experience since SM is new. I believe there's a 25% discount but it's under a different name.

     Also,  for our 2024 Vista cruise I see major problems in tbe website. 

     Just trying to help you figure this out. 

   

Edited July 3, 2023 by Rainbow3fe

[jazznruby]

2 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

 

 

43 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

 

 

I know we've hijacked the topic, sorry, but one question if I could...since I think I've read that you use United a lot...or maybe exclusively...have you or anyone else here had recent issues ( like for months, not just the last week) with united.com? When doing a search, I can get to the first page, but that's it. Long pause, then error that says 'unable to complete request, please call'. Continuously. Matter of fact, the only way I've been able to get past the error message is through Google flights. The other issue is that when I know I've chosen aircraft with PE (777-300, which is great btw), United site doesn't show that as an option. Any clue?

 

Have used different browsers, different times of the day etc. No luck.

Edited July 3, 2023 by jazznruby

[Acrusa]

Over 12 cruises on O we have never used the drink package.  We always order bottles of wine at dinner.  With the SM do you think we can order individual bottled wine or they will only serve by the glass.

[MnDAL]

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

There is  no "cruise only"  for new bookings

so a moot point

 

I am not sure if your definition is different than O's, but this is straight from the Simply More FAQ posted on the website:

 

Is there a ‘Cruise Only’ option?
Yes, if your clients want to secure their own flights, there is a Cruise Only option/price that does not include airfare.