Simply More "Free Excursions"

[Kay S]

Newbie on Oceania.  I don't understand the excursions part of Simply more.  I see there is a credit for excursions, and I assume that makes it "free."  I see also that there are reduced prices for SM.  Can someone please enlighten me?  Many thanks.

[1985rz1]

1 minute ago, Kay S said:

Newbie on Oceania.  I don't understand the excursions part of Simply more.  I see there is a credit for excursions, and I assume that makes it "free."  I see also that there are reduced prices for SM.  Can someone please enlighten me?  Many thanks.

The cruise price includes SBC that can be used only for excursions.  The amount depends on the length of the cruise. It's used first when paying for the excursions; any amount above that amount is charged to your credit card.

 

The SM package is a 25% discount on all the excursions you book once you hit a set number of excursions.  The set number is dependent on the length of the cruise and the number or ports.  That number is given in the pdf of the excursions for the cruise.

[thebsinmiss]

Welcome !  They definitely are not "free" as the cost is baked in to the total package that Simply More provides (Basic drink package etc...) 

 

You use the credits which show up on your account to "purchase" the shore excursion(s) that interest you. They offer two prices.  Standard price and "volume" discount price (25% off?) if you purchase a specific number of O excursions as defined in your booking.  Note the credits under simply more are only valid for O shore excursions.

 

Hope that helps

[clo]

1 hour ago, 1985rz1 said:

The cruise price includes SBC that can be used only for excursions.  The amount depends on the length of the cruise. It's used first when paying for the excursions; any amount above that amount is charged to your credit card.

 

The SM package is a 25% discount on all the excursions you book once you hit a set number of excursions.  The set number is dependent on the length of the cruise and the number or ports.  That number is given in the pdf of the excursions for the cruise.

Here's a pertinent quote from the one after you. You DO get some "free" ones.

 

You use the credits which show up on your account to "purchase" the shore excursion(s) that interest you. They offer two prices.  Standard price and "volume" discount price (25% off?) if you purchase a specific number of O excursions as defined in your booking.  Note the credits under simply more are only valid for O shore excursions.

[1985rz1]

17 minutes ago, clo said:

Here's a pertinent quote from the one after you. You DO get some "free" ones.

 

You use the credits which show up on your account to "purchase" the shore excursion(s) that interest you. They offer two prices.  Standard price and "volume" discount price (25% off?) if you purchase a specific number of O excursions as defined in your booking.  Note the credits under simply more are only valid for O shore excursions.

I don't get your point.  They are "free," only in the sense you get a credit in the form of SBC towards excursions, the cost of which is included in the cruise fare. And, depending on your selection (OS, OE, etc), the credit may not cover the cost of a single excursion.  Sixes of one; half a dozen of the other, as a friend of mine would say.

Edited March 10 by 1985rz1

[daydreamer62]

And It pays to do the maths if you are doing multiple excursions. For us it physically cost less to book 6 excursions than to book 4 . Two of the 4 I wanted to book were quite expensive. 6 was the minimum set to get the discount. . I added 2 much less expensive excursions which bought the price up by $269; but then 25% was deducted from all of them bringing the total down by a lot more than the extra2 excursions. Then the credit was applied to that balance after the discount had been applied. 

[Kay S]

30 minutes ago, 1985rz1 said:

I don't get your point.  

I was referring to the promotional ad on the website that literally says "free excursions."  Obviously nothing is "free" so hence my question.

[1985rz1]

14 minutes ago, Kay S said:

I was referring to the promotional ad on the website that literally says "free excursions."  Obviously nothing is "free" so hence my question.

I knew what you meant.  It was clo's post for which I didn't get the point.

 

I thought my response to you was that the excursions are not free, but the costs are bundled into the cruise price.  Sorry I wasn’t clearer.

 

Nothing is free in rhis world.  You pay for it one way or another.  It's only a question is how well the cost is hidden  😕 .

 

 

 

Edited March 10 by 1985rz1

[gailellen12]

11 hours ago, daydreamer62 said:

And It pays to do the maths if you are doing multiple excursions. For us it physically cost less to book 6 excursions than to book 4 . Two of the 4 I wanted to book were quite expensive. 6 was the minimum set to get the discount. . I added 2 much less expensive excursions which bought the price up by $269; but then 25% was deducted from all of them bringing the total down by a lot more than the extra2 excursions. Then the credit was applied to that balance after the discount had been applied. 

When and where do you get the information regarding the minimum to get the discount. I did not see anything on my original invoice. Could it be because we are still a long way off -May 2025- and can’t even book excursions for two more months.  First time Oceania cruiser. 

[Visitors4]

I will be sailing with Oceania for first time this Fall 2024. Here's what I did for booking my ship excursions -

• Called customer service to obtain copy of the detailed descriptions of the ship excursions for my sailing, which includes prices. I had a copy emailed to me.
• Booked excursions via phone with customer service. Being new to the process, I wanted to make sure my ship credits and 25% discount were applied correctly to excursions. For our booking, the 25% discount required booking 5 or more excursions per person; the discount is described in the above mentioned ship excursions description document. 
• Reviewed the excursions description document and decided which ports I needed a ship excursion vs. self or local tour guide. In the end, booked 5 excursions - had the 25% discount applied, applied all my ship credits, and paid the remaining balance. Customer service was very helpful.
• There are different types and levels of excursions - general tour, smaller group size, focus/ theme of tour, etc. - all with different prices. Read the tour descriptions carefully to see if fit for you.

Enjoy!

[EJL2023]

1 hour ago, gailellen12 said:

When and where do you get the information regarding the minimum to get the discount. I did not see anything on my original invoice. Could it be because we are still a long way off -May 2025- and can’t even book excursions for two more months.  First time Oceania cruiser. 

Yes, excursions are not available until 365 days out. At that point you can request the excursion pdf and it will be indicated in it. Also, at that point it should appear in the excursions section if you have set up an online account. I might add, sometimes on a specific cruise they may not be available at 365 days out, but that should be your starting point to monitor the situation.

Edited March 10 by EJL2023

[gailellen12]

Thanks for all the great advice. 

[Harters]

You should have no problem, in due course, in booking your "free/included" excursions online. The only issue we found is that the excursions we wanted took us a few pounds over the excursion credit. There doesnt appear to be an online method of making a card payment for this additional, so we had to phone Oceania. 

[gailellen12]

24 minutes ago, Harters said:

You should have no problem, in due course, in booking your "free/included" excursions online. The only issue we found is that the excursions we wanted took us a few pounds over the excursion credit. There doesnt appear to be an online method of making a card payment for this additional, so we had to phone Oceania. 

Thanks. We will probably be doing quite a few excursions over the course of 33 days so I imagine we will be above our credits😲

[daydreamer62]

3 hours ago, gailellen12 said:

When and where do you get the information regarding the minimum to get the discount. I did not see anything on my original invoice. Could it be because we are still a long way off -May 2025- and can’t even book excursions for two more months.  First time Oceania cruiser. 

Look online when you go to shop shore excursions there is a tab with Simply More and a question mark. Hover over that and it will tell you. I think it's also in the shore excursions pdf. 

[FetaCheese]

20 hours ago, Kay S said:

Newbie on Oceania.  I don't understand the excursions part of Simply more.  I see there is a credit for excursions, and I assume that makes it "free."  I see also that there are reduced prices for SM.  Can someone please enlighten me?  Many thanks.

2 prices for cruise:

 

1.  SM with air, including Shorex credit (only)

 

2.  SM without air, including Shorex credit (only)

 

Cruise only cannot be booked.

 

Hope this helps explain fare pricing.

 

[basor]

Perhaps the simplest way is to say - as part of your cruise, you have a specific amount of ship board credit that can only be used on shore excursions.  You choose the shore excursions you want and the SM shore excursion credit is applied  against the cost of the excursion/s.  If the total cost of your excursions is less than your credit than you owe nothing, if the total cost of your excursions is more than your credit than you pay the difference.  You can continue to book excursions using up your credit.  As others have said, you will receive a 25% discount of each excursion if you book the required number or more for your cruise.  The number of excursions required to receive the discount varies and is dependent upon the length of the cruise and the number of ports.

[clo]

9 hours ago, Harters said:

You should have no problem, in due course, in booking your "free/included" excursions online. The only issue we found is that the excursions we wanted took us a few pounds over the excursion credit. There doesnt appear to be an online method of making a card payment for this additional, so we had to phone Oceania. 

We were $38 🙂 over and our TA contacted me and asked if I wanted her to put it on our credit card.

[clo]

5 hours ago, FetaCheese said:

2 prices for cruise:

 

1.  SM with air, including Shorex credit (only)

 

2.  SM without air, including Shorex credit (only)

 

Cruise only cannot be booked.

 

Hope this helps explain fare pricing.

 

1 and 2 also include the wine, champagne and beer at lunch and dinner.

[ronrick1943]

Can you use the credit for a private car tour at a port?

[Vallesan]

1 hour ago, ronrick1943 said:

Can you use the credit for a private car tour at a port?

If Oceania has a private car tour listed in their trips then yes. Be warned they have become very expensive in 2024!

[dirtydan]

Be sure to use the credit up before your final port of call.  While on our Vista cruise in January, we skipped the last port (Cozumel) due to weather and never got another opportunity to spend the unused credit.

 

While I can understand that the credit is non-refundable (use it or lose it), Oceania should at least consider allowing guests to roll-over unused excursion credit on a subsequent cruise.