How is SimplyMore?

[Redtravel]

It’s October. That’s when Simply More is supposed to start.  Curious how it is working.  What kind of drinks are included at lunch and dinner?  Since some people booked Olife before July, is there any distinction between people on Olife and those on Simply More?

[Redtravel]

It’s October. That’s when Simply More is supposed to start.  Curious how it is working.  What kind of drinks are included at lunch and dinner?  Do all cabins get 2 WiFi connections? Since some people booked Olife before July, is there any distinction between people on Olife and those on Simply More?

[LHT28]

 O LIFE beverage package is the same a  the SM beverage package

 

Wine  & Champagne  by the  glass  & beer with lunch &  dinner  it is not rocket science  nothing really changed with the beverage package deal

[ak1004]

11 hours ago, LHT28 said:

 O LIFE beverage package is the same a  the SM beverage package

 

Wine  & Champagne  by the  glass  & beer with lunch &  dinner  it is not rocket science  nothing really changed with the beverage package deal

What about wifi? Everyone gets two devices?

[basor]

6 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

What about wifi? Everyone gets two devices?

Every stateroom gets 2 free WIFI accounts to use as they want - 2 people, each on with their 1 device or 1 person on with 2 devices on at the same time.  The WIFI accounts are not for a specific device but for the cabin to use on what ever device/s they choose.

[ak1004]

3 minutes ago, basor said:

Every stateroom gets 2 free WIFI accounts to use as they want - 2 people, each on with their 1 device or 1 person on with 2 devices on at the same time.  The WIFI accounts are not for a specific device but for the cabin to use on what ever device/s they choose.

Yes, I understand how it works - my question was if everyone gets 2 accounts even if they booked prior to SM and did not switch to SM (as we know, previously only one account was included and you had to switch between devices).

[basor]

7 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

Yes, I understand how it works - my question was if everyone gets 2 accounts even if they booked prior to SM and did not switch to SM (as we know, previously only one account was included and you had to switch between devices).

I was relating our first hand experience as currently onboard under OLife - 2 accounts

[Woofa]

My real question, and it may be too early to determine this, is in regard to the excursions.  I assume that ships excursions will have more people, as many under OLife sailed cruise only.

 

1.  Will most excursions now be more crowded or full?

2.  Will people have a difficult time trying to take a single higher level excursion (pricewise) as opposed to only being able to find the base "bus" excursions open?

3.  Will O add in enough additional excursions as needed to handle the additional load?

4. Will most people end up leaving excursion money on the table or adding in additional funds to use the full credit? (O wins either way.)

 

I don't think we will be able to answer these questions for quite a while as I doubt we will see a fully (SM) booked cruise until well into next year or 2025.  While we may not be thrilled to have no choice but to pay the higher price in the future for the included credit we do believe it would take some of the sting out of the equation if we found it reasonably easy to use some or all of that credit to take an excursion or excursions that we like from the list.  

Time will tell.

[roberts2005]

If you booked under o-life, do you get free wine and beer at meals?

[basor]

11 minutes ago, roberts2005 said:

If you booked under o-life, do you get free wine and beer at meals?

If you chose that as your OLife perk otherwise no.....

[VacayAddict]

Ok, that’s what I was kind of wondering - if after SM started they’d just offer everyone wine/beer at lunch and dinner. Seemed like it would be easier for them. 

[LHT28]

15 minutes ago, VacayAddict said:

Ok, that’s what I was kind of wondering - if after SM started they’d just offer everyone wine/beer at lunch and dinner. Seemed like it would be easier for them. 

Easier ? 

Like  do you want  red or white   no choice  otherwise

[roberts2005]

So, they will still ask for your card at lunch to confirm your package.  As time goes on it seems a waste of the staff‘’s time as less and less people will have o-life.

 

‘’Are two people, in same cabin, able to text each other?

[LHT28]

7 minutes ago, roberts2005 said:

So, they will still ask for your card at lunch to confirm your package.  As time goes on it seems a waste of the staff‘’s time as less and less people will have o-life.

 

It may be a couple of years before everyone is on the same drink package deal

 There are still pax that  have O Life  some have cruise only & some have SM

JMO

 

[basor]

3 minutes ago, roberts2005 said:

So, they will still ask for your card at lunch to confirm your package.  As time goes on it seems a waste of the staff‘’s time as less and less people will have o-life.

 

‘’Are two people, in same cabin, able to text each other?

In our experience, they do not ask for your card until you are finished with the meal since they then account for the drinks.  I am sure once OLife is gone then they will no longer ask for your card if you are drinking wine, beer or champagne is a dining venue during meal hours.  We do not feel it is intrusive and the wait staff has quickly learned we have the drink package and do not even ask at the beginning of the meal,  We put our cards on the side of our table and they take them when they are ready to check us out.  Your stateroom card has a notation imprinted on it so any waitstaff immediately know if you have a beverage package and which type by simply seeing your card.

[VacayAddict]

40 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Easier ? 

Like  do you want  red or white   no choice  otherwise

I mean easier than checking cards to see who has what. 

[LHT28]

14 minutes ago, VacayAddict said:

I mean easier than checking cards to see who has what. 

Maybe  they will change the program  before  2025  so the staff  will just  pour wine freely  for all

Will that be red or white  sir/Madam 🤔

 

[rbtan]

"Simply More"/O-Life is just a money grab as far as we're concerned. We don't drink near enough to make that worthwhile. Since we've been to nearly all the islands most excursions we choose, we do ourselves.Celebrity has tried an all inclusive & have now allowed pax to opt out. If O does not allow this after our current booked cruise, we'll probably start looking to other lines. The Missed ports & Save the Seas baloney is a bogus attempt to save money. The posting on the missed ports is pretty long, so many pax are getting fed up.

[Vineyard View]

5 hours ago, rbtan said:

"Simply More"/O-Life is just a money grab as far as we're concerned. We don't drink near enough to make that worthwhile. Since we've been to nearly all the islands most excursions we choose, we do ourselves.Celebrity has tried an all inclusive & have now allowed pax to opt out. If O does not allow this after our current booked cruise, we'll probably start looking to other lines. The Missed ports & Save the Seas baloney is a bogus attempt to save money. The posting on the missed ports is pretty long, so many pax are getting fed up.

I would be interested in knowing what more upscale cruise line you find that meets these expectations. I am not being sardonic at all in that statement. Personally, I do not know of any that are upscale and at the same time offer a complete menu of offerings starting from no extra amenities. 
We have yet to sail on Oceania. We read about missed ports and shortened port days. Yes.  Those are absolutely concerning to keep hearing about. We will not sail on large ships. Those work for some with their separate classes. No judgement. But for smaller ships, most include much of what Simply More includes from what I have found. 

Edited October 16, 2023 by Vineyard View

[DrHemlock]

18 hours ago, basor said:

We put our cards on the side of our table and they take them when they are ready to check us out.  Your stateroom card has a notation imprinted on it so any waitstaff immediately know if you have a beverage package and which type by simply seeing your card.

Exactly.  Same in the bars: card on the table in plain view makes everything quick and easy-peasy.

Now, if someone doesn't want their card to be in plain view because then other cruisers can see in what class they're sailing, that's another matter....

Edited October 16, 2023 by DrHemlock

[Redtravel]

We gave up Celebrity when they went to All In.  There were too many loud, obnoxious drunks.  I didn’t realize that they did away with All In. Would I reconsider Celebrity? Not after seeing how a ship of drinkers act. 
When Azamara made changes, everyone already booked got those changes.  When we first sailed on Azamara, it didn’t include WiFi, liquor, excursions, or tips.  Specialty restaurants were $5pp.  As time went by there were added things like including tips and wine. Prices went up.  The increase was minimal.  Even though we seldom drink, the price increase was  ok.  When the change was including all beverages, prices went way up.  It made us reconsider options.
 Oceania Olife was a good fit for us.  We could sail cruise only when we wanted. If we were going to a new port, Olife choice of excursions was perfect.  Now we aren’t sure if Oceania will continue to be a good fit for us.  We have 2 future bookings. One is a Caribbean cruise booked before SM. It is cruise only.  Since we have toured many of the islands, we have no desire to take any excursions.  The other is a Med cruise.  Since there were places that we wanted excursions, SM was a good option.  Thinking ahead, while we like O, we may only book Oceania on cruises that visit places where we want excursions.  For Caribbean cruises, we question if it’s worth sailing on O.  

 

[cswhistler]

Agree with your comments.

We had a med cruise Athens-Lisbon and excursions were great , we choose the excursions. However for our Caribbean 18 day cruise Jan 31st we do not need excursions as we have been there many times. Luckily we booked in May on board so we stayed with the old system. This works better as credit is good for everything including cocktails before dinner which we enjoy, the rest pay as we go.

It will be a hard decision to book another Caribbean cruise. We are loyal clients (platinum level )with 23 cruises on O.

[ak1004]

1 hour ago, cswhistler said:

Agree with your comments.

We had a med cruise Athens-Lisbon and excursions were great , we choose the excursions. However for our Caribbean 18 day cruise Jan 31st we do not need excursions as we have been there many times. Luckily we booked in May on board so we stayed with the old system. This works better as credit is good for everything including cocktails before dinner which we enjoy, the rest pay as we go.

It will be a hard decision to book another Caribbean cruise. We are loyal clients (platinum level )with 23 cruises on O.

 

SB or Crystal do not include excursions, but the prices are significantly higher. Would they be a better fit? Azamara doesn't include excursions, but have some other drawdowns.

 

To me, SM was not a good move because we don't drink and rarely take ship excursions. But it's now a fact. Repeatedly mentioning it and complaining is a huge waste of time and energy. Yes, the prices are now higher, same as with all lines - we just assess the total cost and the overall package and decide case by case. We booked SS in the Caribbean for December despite the fact that we probably won't be doing most of the ship tours - but we liked the itinerary and the overall cost was only slightly higher than O.

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, cswhistler said:

Agree with your comments.

We had a med cruise Athens-Lisbon and excursions were great , we choose the excursions. However for our Caribbean 18 day cruise Jan 31st we do not need excursions as we have been there many times. Luckily we booked in May on board so we stayed with the old system. This works better as credit is good for everything including cocktails before dinner which we enjoy, the rest pay as we go.

It will be a hard decision to book another Caribbean cruise. We are loyal clients (platinum level )with 23 cruises on O.

I am loyal to a point  but if it is not working for me any longer with SM    I will walk  with my  wallet in hand

 Maybe  Oceania will see the error in their ways  or maybe not 

YMMV

[pinotlover]

26 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

I am loyal to a point  but if it is not working for me any longer with SM    I will walk  with my  wallet in hand

 Maybe  Oceania will see the error in their ways  or maybe not 

YMMV

I don’t believe Oceania is concerned. I believe they are weeding out the low net customers to make room for the higher net revenue customers. Older customers can get on the revenue train, or not. I’m sure they have done the math on replacing high perk/low revenue customers with newer low perk customers also.