What's the downside to Simply More?

[Psoque]

Now that the ONLY "option" you have is with Simply More!!! for new bookings, it is already impossible to really figure out if you are getting a good deal or not, unless the cruise was booked a while back.  And eventually, we will never know if we are getting a good deal or not.  Sad, but also makes me fee a bit liberated...but sad mainly.

[Tranquility Base]

1 hour ago, Psoque said:

Now that the ONLY "option" you have is with Simply More!!! for new bookings, it is already impossible to really figure out if you are getting a good deal or not,......

I find it quite easy. ( I keep things simple for my brain these days).

 

Under the O Life system, I knew on a per day basis, in my normal cabin category, 3 price ranges (for me) :

"That's a cheap cruise"....or

"That's a normal price cruise".....or

"That's an expensive cruise".

 

I would cruise primarily for itinerary, so would book all 3 price ranges on occasion.

Mainly due to some itineraries being expensive.

I found a couple of the 'on sale' ones I booked recently onboard to be to 'expensive destinations', but in a good value price range.....even under SM.

 

Because I like a drink or two onboard, and because I would usually  book a ship's excursion or two.....I find it still is possible to see value under SM.

 

 

 

 

[Psoque]

42 minutes ago, Tranquility Base said:

I find it quite easy. ( I keep things simple for my brain these days).

 

Under the O Life system, I knew on a per day basis, in my normal cabin category, 3 price ranges (for me) :

"That's a cheap cruise"....or

"That's a normal price cruise".....or

"That's an expensive cruise".

 

I would cruise primarily for itinerary, so would book all 3 price ranges on occasion.

Mainly due to some itineraries being expensive.

I found a couple of the 'on sale' ones I booked recently onboard to be to 'expensive destinations', but in a good value price range.....even under SM.

 

Because I like a drink or two onboard, and because I would usually  book a ship's excursion or two.....I find it still is possible to see value under SM.

 

 

 

 

You missed my previous post on this.  With opaque pricing, we will eventually lose an ability to know exactly what we are paying.

1.  The actual quality of "free-included" wines could change without our knowledge

2.  The cost of shore excursion could change, and we would never know of this change until we are ready to book

3.  The actual availability of shore excursions could also change

 

It's not that simple.

Also your current per diem metric will eventually become obsolete.

[ak1004]

11 minutes ago, Psoque said:

You missed my previous post on this.  With opaque pricing, we will eventually lose an ability to know exactly what we are paying.

1.  The actual quality of "free-included" wines could change without our knowledge

2.  The cost of shore excursion could change, and we would never know of this change until we are ready to book

3.  The actual availability of shore excursions could also change

 

It's not that simple.

Also your current per diem metric will eventually become obsolete.

Isn’t this true for any line?

 

As I mentioned many times, the comparison with OL is meaningless and pointless at this point for new bookings. The only relevant comparison is to other lines and what they currently offer.

[Tranquility Base]

21 minutes ago, Psoque said:

You missed my previous post on this.  With opaque pricing, we will eventually lose an ability to know exactly what we are paying.

1.  The actual quality of "free-included" wines could change without our knowledge

2.  The cost of shore excursion could change, and we would never know of this change until we are ready to book

3.  The actual availability of shore excursions could also change

True.....they could.

These items could also have similarly changed under 'O Life' 

21 minutes ago, Psoque said:

Also your current per diem metric will eventually become obsolete.

How so, and when you say eventually, over what time frame do you imagine that would be ?

 

As ak1004 points out, any line can change wine quality including those who include it as part of the fare.

Re excursions; at least we have a choice of which to book under SM, unlike some other lines which include only a few basic ones as part of the fare.

Edited January 25 by Tranquility Base

[AMHuntFerry]

7 hours ago, CptBoatface said:

Is non alcoholic beer included in SM?

Yes

[Harters]

9 hours ago, Psoque said:

And eventually, we will never know if we are getting a good deal or not. 

This surely depends on how you define what might be a good deal. As you say, SM is the only option so what went before is now history (unless you have a long standing booking pre-SM). My decision making process will be unchanged - whether for cruises, land based holidays, changing the car, or pretty much any other major expenditure. I look at the offer; decide if I can afford it and decide if I want to afford it. 

[ORV]

11 hours ago, basor said:

Not everyone's cruise price increased with the advent of SM... we had 3 cruises booked under OLife, 2 of the cruise prices went down by several hundred dollars per person and 1 went up $50.00 per person . 

The current cruise I’m on went down $5000 by changing it to SM.  A third. 

[shepherd really]

44 minutes ago, ORV said:

The current cruise I’m on went down $5000 by changing it to SM.  A third. 

And the one I'm on went down by several thousand with Simply More not even considering the added value of the wine and beer and excursion credit, which saved me more than the Olife excursion option did.

[ORV]

22 minutes ago, shepherd really said:

Yes, but when was the last time you actually cruised on Oceania, I mean aside from this very minute.

Well only 4 days so far this year, but the year is just started. Last year was only 25 or so, but I had to work around medical treatments. We’ve got around 50 more days this year, so as you know we have a little experience on Oceania. 
 

No offense to the Xers and Zers that write these articles, they only know what the cruise lines official response is. But that information is not Puur—fect. 

[ORV]

11 minutes ago, shepherd really said:

And the one I'm on went down by several thousand with Simply More not even considering the added value of the wine and beer and excursion credit, which saved me more than the Olife excursion option did.

I actually had the Ultimate and changed to SM and it worked out better all around. 
 

Your’re an early riser. 

[Psoque]

1 hour ago, ORV said:

The current cruise I’m on went down $5000 by changing it to SM.  A third. 

We are happy that you managed to make that kind of savings when you actually had the option to take advantage of Simply More!!! or not.  For new bookings, we will not have that choice, and for that matter, we can't really quantify the actual "savings" from the program because we will never get a quote without the program.  That's my point.  The whole debate whether Simply More!!! is going to help us in the future bookings or not is entirely philosophical.

[shepherd really]

1 hour ago, ORV said:

I actually had the Ultimate and changed to SM and it worked out better all around. 
 

Your’re an early riser. 

I live on a farm; it's actually required by law that I get up early. 🤠  I'm a shepherd, really.

[MEFIowa]

3 hours ago, ORV said:

The current cruise I’m on went down $5000 by changing it to SM.  A third. 

What specific O SALE did you book this under? Where the price of the cabin declined by $5000. The price of the cruise really doesn't go down if the price of the cabin has stayed the same and all you're claiming as savings are credits worth pennies on the dollars depending upon the specifics.

 

O has had sales since the inception of SM. So, you cannot compare a non-sale price to a sale price. For us, I booked 10 nights in the Baltic for 9/2024 early in 2022 when the itineraries came out. Booked cruise only and used a later sale to change cabins, but stayed cruise only (the sale was pre-SM). Then when SM came out there was a sale with it and I ADDED a 12-night Baltic starting 8/2024 making it a B2B. But notice, I did NOT go from a SM without a sale to a SM with a sale. I booked one pre-SM cruise only and the other SM off a sale. By itself, SM didn't "save" me a penny on the cabin.

[MEFIowa]

2 hours ago, ORV said:

I actually had the Ultimate and changed to SM and it worked out better all around. 

What specific O SALE did you book this under? Where the price of the cabin declined. The price of the cruise really doesn't go down if the price of the cabin has stayed the same and all you're claiming as savings are credits worth pennies on the dollars depending upon the specifics.

[MEFIowa]

2 hours ago, shepherd really said:

And the one I'm on went down by several thousand with Simply More not even considering the added value of the wine and beer and excursion credit, which saved me more than the Olife excursion option did.

What specific O SALE did you book this under? Where the price of the cabin declined. The price of the cruise really doesn't go down if the price of the cabin has stayed the same and all you're claiming as savings are credits worth pennies on the dollars depending upon the specifics.

[Vallesan]

29 minutes ago, MEFIowa said:

What specific O SALE did you book this under? Where the price of the cabin declined. The price of the cruise really doesn't go down if the price of the cabin has stayed the same and all you're claiming as savings are credits worth pennies on the dollars depending upon the specifics.

We changed a cruise from OLife to SM in the Summer Sale and the price was reduced  by £1700. To me that was a decrease in price plus we got the  benefits of SM. I don’t quite understand your point.

If I have an extra £1700 in my pocket how is that not a saving?

Edited January 25 by Vallesan

[pinotlover]

3 hours ago, ORV said:

The current cruise I’m on went down $5000 by changing it to SM.  A third. 

I would suggest that the price reduction you enjoyed had nothing to do with OLife versus SM, but that you were/are on a cruise that was sorely under subscribed. So much so that Oceania found it necessary to make significant price cuts. That it was on an earlier Ultimate Sale is an easy indicator of this. Not even the Ultimate Sale was enough and the big price cut then came. Not an appropriate OLife/SM comparison .

 

We have entered an era in cruising of old KMart “ Blue Light Specials “ and gaint Macys Sales. One’s cost of a cruise is dependent upon which sale they caught. People complaining about prices being opaque are missing the entire point. There are no clear comparison in prices except that Oceania will continue to adjust individual cruise prices until they satisfactorily fill the ship. That’s as clear as it gets. There’s nothing new out there today. Oceania is trying to fill cruises that have been available for booking for 15-16 months that hasn’t sold. Expect another huge sale before the next big cruise release.

 

The best indicator we will get will be in April when Oceania is scheduled to do a new set of cruise releases for late 25-26. A comparison between those prices and similar cruises from the last release ( back in 22 I think) will be an accurate indicator of where prices have gone. Then the sales will shortly resume.

[MEFIowa]

4 minutes ago, Vallesan said:

We changed a cruise from OLife to SM in the Summer Sale and the price was reduced by £1700. To me that was a decrease in price plus we got the benefits of SM. I don’t quite understand your point. If I have an extra £1700 in my pocket how is that not a saving?

YOU used a SALE, the Summer Sale. SM did NOT do anything, the SS did that. Was the price of your cabin reduced by that 1700? Those are hard, real pounds. Unlike OBC or SM credit.

[shepherd really]

32 minutes ago, MEFIowa said:

What specific O SALE did you book this under? Where the price of the cabin declined. The price of the cruise really doesn't go down if the price of the cabin has stayed the same and all you're claiming as savings are credits worth pennies on the dollars depending upon the specifics.

Yeah, that's certainly your opinion.  I'll believe my bank balance rather than your opinion.  As to the details, I'll pass on answering, since I care not at all whether you believe me or not.

[Vallesan]

1 minute ago, MEFIowa said:

YOU used a SALE, the Summer Sale. SM did NOT do anything, the SS did that. Was the price of your cabin reduced by that 1700? Those are hard, real pounds. Unlike OBC or SM credit.

Well those ‘hard, real pounds’ are in my pocket not in Oceania’s! No you’re right SM did nothing it was the Summer Sale, that put the extra money back into my pocket. It wasn’t an OBC. SM was just a bonus!

 

[MEFIowa]

An example of the reality of SM and SALES:

 

For our 8/28-9/9 Baltic Cruise on Sirena, I've booked an inside F (705X).

 

- $2949 Summer Sale (price I've booked and it is with SM)

- $3049 Black Friday Sale

- $3349 New Year's Sale (currently ongoing)

 

So, I've STAYED with the original SS price, since it is less expensive than the other two later sales' prices. The SM program started with the Summer Sale. The SS ran July-Aug 2023.

 

But to compare, we have a 10-night follow up, making this a B2B. The original G booked at $2499 pre-SM and then I upgraded to one of the "big" C1s for just $2849 on a sale in October 2022. The current price for that C1 is NOW $3899. (And the G is $3399, a $900 increase.) So, I've booked it for $1050 less without SM. SM is NOT saving me any real money. And I'm sticking with the original pre-SM booking.

[MEFIowa]

And I compared the available and wait lists for these two cruises.

 

The 9/9-19/24 cruise that was on sale in 2022 is nearly all wait listed with a bit of guaranteed.

 

The 8/28-9/9/24 cruise that has been on SALE three times since July 2023, all under SM, is mostly available. The ONLY wait list today is for a Vista Suite. All the other cabin categories are "Available" except for the G and PH3 which are both "Guaranteed". So SM is NOT moving cabins on this cruise so far.

[Vallesan]

8 minutes ago, MEFIowa said:

And I compared the available and wait lists for these two cruises.

 

The 9/9-19/24 cruise that was on sale in 2022 is nearly all wait listed with a bit of guaranteed.

 

The 8/28-9/9/24 cruise that has been on SALE three times since July 2023, all under SM, is mostly available. The ONLY wait list today is for a Vista Suite. All the other cabin categories are "Available" except for the G and PH3 which are both "Guaranteed". So SM is NOT moving cabins on this cruise so far.

To go back to the original question of this thread … I can’t see any ‘downside’ to SM. I really don’t think people book a cruise because of just one aspect of the pricing.

 

The only  pricing now is under the SimplyMore pricing so it really doesn’t matter if prices are better or worse. It is what it is and at the end of the day, as with all cruise lines, it comes down to your personal priorities and the ‘bottom line’.There really is no point to your posts.

[MEFIowa]

6 minutes ago, Vallesan said:

To go back to the original question of this thread … I can’t see any ‘downside’ to SM. I really don’t think people book a cruise because of just one aspect of the pricing.

 

The only pricing now is under the SimplyMore pricing so it really doesn’t matter if prices are better or worse. It is what it is and at the end of the day, as with all cruise lines, it comes down to your personal priorities and the ‘bottom line’.There really is no point to your posts.

First, O released 2024 itineraries in early 2022. So, LOTS of people like myself TODAY are actively comparing pre-SM and SM prices to our FUTURE booked cruises. O has had at least 3 major sales alone with SM! I pay close attention to each new sale. Sale after sale. And compare what the cold hard cash cost of each is to us.

 

Second, SM raised prices by about $800 or more, depending upon length of cruise and cabin. You are NOT getting $800 or more in cold hard cash value.

 

So, WHAT IS THE DOWNSIDE TO SM for 2024 cruises that have been available for booking since early 2022? You are paying more and getting less. Simple as that.