Simply More Shore Excursion Issue

[Hlitner]

Like many, we have been doing some comparisons between our 35 day Vista booking (under the O-Life program) vs the new Simply More system.  When we look at the press releases and O's own web site it talks about a shore excursion credit of $1600 for cruises over 30 days.  But, if I do a mock booking on the "O" web site for our specific 35 day voyage it shows a $2800 shore excursion credit.  We also looked at another cruise which is 25 days and it shows (on the O web site) an $1800 shore excursion credit.

 

The drink package situation (discussed with no real answers) is also of interest.  Since our current booking does include the drink package option, if we wanted to upgrade that package it would cost us $30 per person/day?  But with the Simply More booking system, we can find no specific reference to whether the cost to get the upgraded drink package will still be $30 or some other higher price.  Since like many who are trying to decide if we should change our booking to the Simply More system, knowing if this impact the drink package upgrade price is valuable info.  

 

Anyone have an answer?

 

Hank

[basor]

12 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Like many, we have been doing some comparisons between our 35 day Vista booking (under the O-Life program) vs the new Simply More system.  When we look at the press releases and O's own web site it talks about a shore excursion credit of $1600 for cruises over 30 days.  But, if I do a mock booking on the "O" web site for our specific 35 day voyage it shows a $2800 shore excursion credit.  We also looked at another cruise which is 25 days and it shows (on the O web site) an $1800 shore excursion credit.

 

The drink package situation (discussed with no real answers) is also of interest.  Since our current booking does include the drink package option, if we wanted to upgrade that package it would cost us $30 per person/day?  But with the Simply More booking system, we can find no specific reference to whether the cost to get the upgraded drink package will still be $30 or some other higher price.  Since like many who are trying to decide if we should change our booking to the Simply More system, knowing if this impact the drink package upgrade price is valuable info.  

 

Anyone have an answer?

 

Hank

The cost to upgrade from Olife House Select or SM included beverage package is the same $30.00 pp /per day

[LHT28]

19 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

The drink package situation (discussed with no real answers) is also of interest.  Since our current booking does include the drink package option, if we wanted to upgrade that package it would cost us $30 per person/day?  But with the Simply More booking system, we can find no specific reference to whether the cost to get the upgraded drink package will still be $30 or some other higher price.  Since like many who are trying to decide if we should change our booking to the Simply More system, knowing if this impact the drink package upgrade price is valuable info.  

 

Anyone have an answer?

 

Hank

SM kicks in Oct 1st   the  upgrade to Prestige package  may change at that point   no one will know  until then

In January the upgrade  went from $20 pp pd  to $30  so anything is possible

JMO

 

[Flatbush Flyer]

16 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Like many, we have been doing some comparisons between our 35 day Vista booking (under the O-Life program) vs the new Simply More system.  When we look at the press releases and O's own web site it talks about a shore excursion credit of $1600 for cruises over 30 days.  But, if I do a mock booking on the "O" web site for our specific 35 day voyage it shows a $2800 shore excursion credit.  We also looked at another cruise which is 25 days and it shows (on the O web site) an $1800 shore excursion credit.

 

The drink package situation (discussed with no real answers) is also of interest.  Since our current booking does include the drink package option, if we wanted to upgrade that package it would cost us $30 per person/day?  But with the Simply More booking system, we can find no specific reference to whether the cost to get the upgraded drink package will still be $30 or some other higher price.  Since like many who are trying to decide if we should change our booking to the Simply More system, knowing if this impact the drink package upgrade price is valuable info.  

 

Anyone have an answer?

 

Hank

Excellent observations.

 

FWIW: one of O’s great flaws is a lack of coordination regarding what/when various departments weigh in on published policy changes.

 

That said, it may have something to do with the nature of your booking. If it’s a custom/combination cruise that you assembled (vs it being published as a single extended journey), that may account for the additional tour SBC (often, combo cruises get double perks though extended journeys net pricing is better than the 5% combo discount).

Otherwise, it’s evidence of a possible O SM startup strategy to overdo some of the earliest SM booking perks and win folks over before settling in to the new normal.

 

Likewise, if you call O about the upgrade cost for “prestige” booze, you may get all sorts of different answers. That said, however, there appears to be no benefit to pre-doing the upgrade. Once you’re onboard, you’ll see wine stewards hawking the upgrade deal (which I expect will cost an extra $30/person/day.

FWIW: The “prestige” booze gets you almost unlimited spirits (no on top shelf single malts and cognacs). But, the wine-by-the-glass is the same mostly mediocre list for both basic and prestige.

So, if you daily drink doubles of complex cocktails made with premium booze, “prestige” may make sense.

Because our O Club level is in the elite tier, we get multiple O Club free booze invites in addition to captain’s party for each segment and officer invited dinners (and bartenders we’ve known for years take good care of us. Plus we bring our own wine onboard and replenish our stock at appropriate ports. Of course, we pay the $25 corkage if we drink personal wine outside the cabin. But, that cost is minor vs the difference in price (ship vs US retail) for good vino. All that combined with Happy Hour twofers found us dropping the prestige package years ago.

I know I don’t have to tell you to do the math.

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Excellent observations.

 

FWIW: one of O’s great flaws is a lack of coordination regarding what/when various departments weigh in on published policy changes.

 

That said, it may have something to do with the nature of your booking. If it’s a custom/combination cruise that you assembled (vs it being published as a single extended journey), that may account for the additional tour SBC (often, combo cruises get double perks though extended journeys net pricing is better than the 5% combo discount).

Otherwise, it’s evidence of a possible O SM startup strategy to overdo some of the earliest SM booking perks and win folks over before settling in to the new normal.

 

Likewise, if you call O about the upgrade cost for “prestige” booze, you may get all sorts of different answers. That said, however, there appears to be no benefit to pre-doing the upgrade. Once you’re onboard, you’ll see wine stewards hawking the upgrade deal (which I expect will cost an extra $30/person/day.

FWIW: The “prestige” booze gets you almost unlimited spirits (no on top shelf single malts and cognacs). But, the wine-by-the-glass is the same mostly mediocre list for both basic and prestige.

So, if you daily drink doubles of complex cocktails made with premium booze, “prestige” may make sense.

Because our O Club level is in the elite tier, we get multiple O Club free booze invites in addition to captain’s party for each segment and officer invited dinners (and bartenders we’ve known for years take good care of us. Plus we bring our own wine onboard and replenish our stock at appropriate ports. Of course, we pay the $25 corkage if we drink personal wine outside the cabin. But, that cost is minor vs the difference in price (ship vs US retail) for good vino. All that combined with Happy Hour twofers found us dropping the prestige package years ago.

I know I don’t have to tell you to do the math.

Thanks for the response.  We did our O booking through decent cruise agent who is used to dealing with O (bet she has been pulling out her hair in the last 2 weeks).  I will give her a call (this week) and let her sort out the pros/cons of keeping the current booking or switching over to the new system.  Regarding the booking, it is a 35 day Vista cruise which is marketed as a single cruise (we have one booking number) although it can also be purchased as a shorter segment.  We noticed the $2800 shore excursion credit by simply looking at O's website listing for that particular cruise.  

[AMHuntFerry]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

Thanks for the response.  We did our O booking through decent cruise agent who is used to dealing with O (bet she has been pulling out her hair in the last 2 weeks).  I will give her a call (this week) and let her sort out the pros/cons of keeping the current booking or switching over to the new system.  Regarding the booking, it is a 35 day Vista cruise which is marketed as a single cruise (we have one booking number) although it can also be purchased as a shorter segment.  We noticed the $2800 shore excursion credit by simply looking at O's website listing for that particular cruise.  

From the SimplyMore T&Cs: "simply MORE free shore excursion credit varies by voyage and is up to $1,600 per stateroom, except for Grand Voyages as amenity value varies according to voyage length and for single travelers booked in a Solo category as amenity is at the per-guest rate."

So, longer voyages may or may not have larger shorex-OBCs.

[Flatbush Flyer]

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Thanks for the response.  We did our O booking through decent cruise agent who is used to dealing with O (bet she has been pulling out her hair in the last 2 weeks).  I will give her a call (this week) and let her sort out the pros/cons of keeping the current booking or switching over to the new system.  Regarding the booking, it is a 35 day Vista cruise which is marketed as a single cruise (we have one booking number) although it can also be purchased as a shorter segment.  We noticed the $2800 shore excursion credit by simply looking at O's website listing for that particular cruise.  

As expected, you booked an “extended journey,” which AMHuntFerry explained nicely above.

[Hambagahle]

You can add the Prestige Drinks package at any time during your cruise - should you want to try for a few days and see if the $30 pp/per day is worthwhile.   For us I ran the numbers and even though we will have a considerable quantity of alcohol in the suite it seems to be worth the $30pp/day.   (I figured one Bloody Mary at lunch and a Calvados in Horizons in the evening after dinner would put us over the top...). From what I hear the drinks are $18pp and there is a 20% service charge on top of that.  Per drink.   

[grifdoglover]

If you use a travel agent shouldn’t they be answering your questions and getting it booked properly?  Yes Prestige upgrade is $30. pp per day.  It is easy to go to your booking and add/purchase the package.  

[PhD-iva]

6 hours ago, Hambagahle said:

You can add the Prestige Drinks package at any time during your cruise - should you want to try for a few days and see if the $30 pp/per day is worthwhile.   For us I ran the numbers and even though we will have a considerable quantity of alcohol in the suite it seems to be worth the $30pp/day.   (I figured one Bloody Mary at lunch and a Calvados in Horizons in the evening after dinner would put us over the top...). From what I hear the drinks are $18pp and there is a 20% service charge on top of that.  Per drink.   

In the past, once you have added/upgraded the drinks package there is no going back (only forward). So you are committed once you add the package or upgrade your package. You can upgrade a package you have added, but you can’t remove the change.

well, perhaps the drinks prices have gone up, but my experience was a double vodka cranberry during happy hour was a little bit more than $13. $13 and change. Have prices gone up that much?

[Hambagahle]

I have not been on Oceania since before Covid.   But for sure you are right in that once you go to the Recception Desk and upgrade your "liquor package" you cannot get rid of it.  BUT what I said was that you can upgrade anytime during your cruise.   So - if you don't take the premium package and spend a few days on the cruise the upgrade is figured from the day you want to do it...$30 pp per day from then on.

[Vineyard View]

19 minutes ago, Hambagahle said:

I have not been on Oceania since before Covid.   But for sure you are right in that once you go to the Recception Desk and upgrade your "liquor package" you cannot get rid of it.  BUT what I said was that you can upgrade anytime during your cruise.   So - if you don't take the premium package and spend a few days on the cruise the upgrade is figured from the day you want to do it...$30 pp per day from then on.

Great info. Thank you 

Viking doesn’t work that way - at least in the past. 

[Hambagahle]

I have never been on Viking Ocean cruises - but have taken a great river cruise with them.  At that time (2008 or so) no wine etc was included.  But I am sure things are different now.

[azdrydock]

4 hours ago, Hambagahle said:

I have never been on Viking Ocean cruises - but have taken a great river cruise with them.  At that time (2008 or so) no wine etc was included.  But I am sure things are different now.

Viking Ocean, River and Expedition has house wine, beer and soft drinks included with meals. Premium package adds all wine less than $8.00 per glass and bar drinks anytime. Wine menu is limited and we recently saw Viking branded wines as the included wine. If you don't like the included wine let your server know and they usually have something else.

[Hambagahle]

Interesting - but I am not taking a Viking cruise!  I am booked on Oceania...Vista next April.  Will be our 4th Oceania cruise but the first on Vista.  We are really excited about it.

[Vineyard View]

Exactly. My point was meant to be that the upgraded beverage package flexibility on O is better than on Viking. You can add it on O mid cruise or whenever and only pay for the days from when you start. In the past, If I remember correctly, V charged for the entire time even if you did not sign up right away. . The other difference is that on V you have a much better and wider range of wine selections with the upgraded drinks package. From what I have read here, the wine selection on O is the same, regardless. I do not know if that is a positive or not. 

Edited July 15, 2023 by Vineyard View

[galake]

We have a November O cruise and am considering SM.  Is there a price limit per excursion, or just the total SM amount.  For example, for $800 SM, can my wife and I take one $400pp excursion, or say, 4 $100pp excursions.  G.

[pinotlover]

13 minutes ago, galake said:

We have a November O cruise and am considering SM.  Is there a price limit per excursion, or just the total SM amount.  For example, for $800 SM, can my wife and I take one $400pp excursion, or say, 4 $100pp excursions.  G.

Currently no price limitation per tour.

[1985rz1]

50 minutes ago, galake said:

For example, for $800 SM, can my wife and I take one $400pp excursion, or say, 4 $100pp excursions.

Yes.

[gdlamberth]

There's no intent to hijack this thread; but, we have a bit of a different issue.  

 

We have a booked cruise for February 2024, on Regatta.  The "Promotion" we booked was the "all three" Olife package ($400OBC, 4 Excursions and House beverage package).  My understanding was that we would be able to choose between our current booking and Simply More.  Clearly (IMHO) our current booking is better than Simply More.  HOWEVER, when I go on line to book my 4 included tours, there is only two prices shown:  the "Tour Price" and the "Simply More (25% discount with 6 or more pricing.  Here's how I read this:

 

     We can book our "4 included" using the old "less than $199" rule of thumb and then (assuming we book 6 or more total excursions) the "Simply More" price kicks in.

 

Am I reading this correctly in the collective wisdom of this group?

 

Thanks,

Greg

 

Edited July 16, 2023 by gdlamberth

[1985rz1]

1 hour ago, gdlamberth said:

There's no intent to hijack this thread; but, we have a bit of a different issue.  

 

We have a booked cruise for February 2024, on Regatta.  The "Promotion" we booked was the "all three" Olife package ($400OBC, 4 Excursions and House beverage package).  My understanding was that we would be able to choose between our current booking and Simply More.  Clearly (IMHO) our current booking is better than Simply More.  HOWEVER, when I go on line to book my 4 included tours, there is only two prices shown:  the "Tour Price" and the "Simply More (25% discount with 6 or more pricing.  Here's how I read this:

 

     We can book our "4 included" using the old "less than $199" rule of thumb and then (assuming we book 6 or more total excursions) the "Simply More" price kicks in.

 

Am I reading this correctly in the collective wisdom of this group?

 

Thanks,

Greg

 

I think this should be the way it works..  The SM 25% pricing is just the OLife YWC (aka YWYW) pricing...assuming O's IT can juggle the 2 programs simultaneously. 

[gdlamberth]

24 minutes ago, 1985rz1 said:

I think this should be the way it works..  The SM 25% pricing is just the OLife YWC (aka YWYW) pricing...assuming O's IT can juggle the 2 programs simultaneously. 

I went ahead and booked two excursions just to see what it would look like and I did in fact get our Olife promotion credit for those excursions. They were confirmed with zero cost zero balance Etc. So I now believe my description above is correct.

[ORV]

15 hours ago, gdlamberth said:

Clearly (IMHO) our current booking is better than Simply More.

You would think, BUT, make sure your cruise is not on the Summer Sale. I had the Ultimate promo also, and Simply More is hands down a better deal for me. We're talking thousands, not hundreds. I still have everything I had before and more, at a much better price. 

[Jancruz]

1 hour ago, ORV said:

You would think, BUT, make sure your cruise is not on the Summer Sale. I had the Ultimate promo also, and Simply More is hands down a better deal for me. We're talking thousands, not hundreds. I still have everything I had before and more, at a much better price. 

Plus 1

Jancruz1

[the mice]

1 hour ago, ORV said:

You would think, BUT, make sure your cruise is not on the Summer Sale. I had the Ultimate promo also, and Simply More is hands down a better deal for me. We're talking thousands, not hundreds. I still have everything I had before and more, at a much better price. 

Our booking was a Grand Voyage (I think that's the correct term for what O calls a B2B) booked with Olife and the 2 segments were on the Summer Sale, while the GV was not.  We had already booked the required number of shore excursions for the 25% discount (some ports are challenging for private tours).  So we got the booking split into the 2 segments with SimplyMORE, getting the same shore ex discount as we met the required number for each segment, and we saved thousands, too, plus got our Loyalty bonus for both segments instead of just once.  And we get a 2nd internet login and house beverage package (but we don't drink so this was not a factor for us).   

 

As noted in other posts on this board, the Summer Sale pricing online is NOT what my TA quoted me, so you need to call. I had looked online and it didn't look like anything better than what we had.  Once I got the quote from my TA, I ran the numbers and it was amazing.  A no-brainer for us to switch.

 

The only caveats that I can see are that I would have double the $250 cancellation penalty since it's now 2 cruises instead of 1, and I won't be able to book specialties for the 2nd segment at the same time as the 1st.  BUT, my final payment deadlines are much later.   For the significant $$ savings, I'm good.