Shore Excursion Packages

We have just booked our first Oceania cruise. Could someone please explain the shore excursion packages, and their experiences with them.

It looks like Oceania's shore excursions are very expensive.

thanks

We have just booked our first Oceania cruise. Could someone please explain the shore excursion packages, and their experiences with them.

It looks like Oceania's shore excursions are very expensive.

thanks

The excursions are very expensive. You can save money and avoid them by doing your own in most ports as well as joining others on tours from the your roll call for your cruise.

Cost is not the only factor in evaluating shore excursions. Quality, ease of booking, reliability and insurance carried by the provider are important. Given that, we use O excursions or explore on our own in some locations.

and it was up to them to get to next port,we use ship tours in places that can be complicated and hard to book on own.Then for some ports we feel confident in to see on own,that s what we do.

Try to google tourism in ea. port and see what s available(HOHO, private guides,etc) then compare to what ship offers.

Maybe try a few ship tours and vary with private.Not ALL one or the other.;)

and it was up to them to get to next port,we use ship tours in places that can be complicated and hard to book on own.Then for some ports we feel confident in to see on own,that s what we do.

Try to google tourism in ea. port and see what s available(HOHO, private guides,etc) then compare to what ship offers.

Maybe try a few ship tours and vary with private.Not ALL one or the other.;)

I agree. We were left on our own in South Africa over Christmas as we had planned a several night safari with a couple of other cruisers. We had to find our own way after the ship skipped the port we were to meet it in. On the other hand for most day tours we will definitely do our own thing as it is much less expensive.

or who is Hoho private guides....is it an agency or web site? Are they regional or area specific.. But mostly are they a good company to deal with and if so how do we find them. I searched the name but came up blank....help

or who is Hoho private guides....is it an agency or web site? Are they regional or area specific.. But mostly are they a good company to deal with and if so how do we find them. I searched the name but came up blank....help

HOHO = hop on hop off buses

they are in most major cities whether are good or not depends on what you get out of the experience

We have just booked our first Oceania cruise. Could someone please explain the shore excursion packages, and their experiences with them.

It looks like Oceania's shore excursions are very expensive.

thanks

It depends on the packages you are looking at

is it the Discovery package or the package of shore excursion where they are discounted the more you book??

Some of the shore excursions are fine a bit pricey but offer you the security of the dealing with the ship's excursion

Some ports it is just easier to do it yourself = DIY

Some ports work out better price wise if you find other to share private guide via your ROLL CALL

We have done all of the above options & all worked out for us

You have to find you own comfort level sometime the price is more for that security feeling

Research is the key

Lyn

Yes, they are quite expensive. But in many cases, they are worth the cost. If you do a bit of research, you can figure out the ports where it is easy and relatively risk-free to do-it-yourself. On a recent Accent on Italy cruise, we did a mix of shore excursion and do-it-yourself days. We figured ports like Monaco, Dubrovnik, and Venice were easy enough to do on our own. Places involving shorter time periods (e.g. Sorrento) or longer distances to travel (e.g. Mt. Etna) we wanted the security of a pre-arranged tour. I couldn't complain either way. The tour guides were wonderful and informative. I think you're paying a premium for the high quality of the tours to a certain extent.

For Petra, Luxor and Cairo, O offered executive vans. We chose this alternative because it was still an O excursion and we knew they'd wait for us if needed, but we were still able to design our own tour, and we saw much more than those on big buses. We had a group of 6 or 8 in each port, and splitting the cost was very effective. Of course, one person booked and was charged prior to sailing, but it worked very well. If it's available in a port you're visiting, it's worth considering.

HoHo tours are usually owned by Viator. Try researching them. We have used them in many, many ports and love them.

We have just booked our first Oceania cruise. Could someone please explain the shore excursion packages, and their experiences with them.

I, too, am interested in this specific information. Being new to Oceania, I don't understand the "package" concept in booking shore excursions, and would very much like to so I can consider all my options.

I, too, am interested in this specific information. Being new to Oceania, I don't understand the "package" concept in booking shore excursions, and would very much like to so I can consider all my options.

The way I understand it (I could be wrong )

You pre book a specific number of excursions of your choice from the offerings at the ports & you get a certain discount

"YOUR WORLD COLLECTION" À La Carte Excursions you get 25% off the selected excursions there is a minimum number you must book

"UNLIMITED PASSPORT COLLECTION" you pay 1 price & choose as many as you like

the price will probably vary by itinerary

Page 79 of the Winter Collection brochure or

http://www.oceaniacruises.com/documents/New_ShoreExcursions_Packages.pdf

We normally use CC Roll Call & do private excursions. On this summer's 21 day Viking Expeditions cruise to the Iceland, Greenland, Faroe Islands, Shetland Islands, Isle of Skye, etc. we had concerns because several of the ports had virtually no tourist infrastructure, cancellation policies if the ship had to skip the port because of conditions (this actually happened with one port, and timing and distance in a couple of ports. So we decided to try Oceania's "YOUR WORLD COLLECTION" À La Carte Excursions for which you get 25% off the selected excursions there is a minimum number you must book. On our cruise we had to book 8 excursions to qualify for the 25% off. Even at 25% off, I wouldn't consider Oceania's excursions a bargain. We spent $1624 for the 8 excursions (16 excursions/slightly over $100 each). What did we think of the excursions? Two were excellent, four were fair/adequate and two were awful. With hindsight, I would book the 2 or 3 really problematic excursions with Oceania at list price and do the rest of the ports as private excursions. However, the 8-pack, as I called it, it was relatively painless involving minimal effort.

Thank you both for the info. It's all learning a new concept that's very different than what I am used to.

It's that "selected" that bothers me, for one thing. Oceania may pick one excursion, while I would prefer another, so that one won't count.

And that one price for as many as I want could be very expensive if I don't want to take an excursion in some ports.

I'd love a discount that increases as the number of excursions goes up. With no restrictions on which excursion is selected. That would be nice.

I'm having trouble getting my head around it. But I'll keep reading and eventually I'll figure it out!

Thanks again.

Yes thanks for all the imput! Since we are doing the Baltic cruise, one definate "problemic" port will be St Petersburg. We will look into both - the ship and CC groups getting together.:)

Yes thanks for all the imput! Since we are doing the Baltic cruise, one definate "problemic" port will be St Petersburg. We will look into both - the ship and CC groups getting together.:)

They work out pretty close in price the big difference is the size of the group

Smaller groups seem to cover more in the same time frame

On the bus tours there are always those that seem to think the time to return to the bus does not mean them & you waste time waiting for the stragglers

Lyn

Yes thanks for all the imput! Since we are doing the Baltic cruise, one definate "problemic" port will be St Petersburg. We will look into both - the ship and CC groups getting together.:)

For any number of reasons I almost always go with the ship's shore excursions. But St. Petersburg is the one place where I highly recommend using a private service.

The first time I was there I used Red October, and could not have been more pleased. I was sailing HAL, and saw everything that was on every single HAL tour. I would not have been able to see nearly as much had I been with the ship excursions.

We went right to the head of the line, in any place where there were lines. We had a small group, so were right with the guide as she explained things. We could see what she was talking about, rather than getting to the item as the group walked on, and we could ask questions immediately.

Everything from initial contact to final farewell went smoothly.

I have read many good reviews of companies such as Alla, DenRus, Red October, SPB Tours, and have never read a bad word about any of them.

Hello,

Just returned from 10 days aboard Marina. I can highly recommend http://www.toursbylocals.com We did 3 tours with them and were very happy with what we were able to see in a short time. It was also fun to get to know someone who lived, and grew up, in the town we were seeing (Istanbul, Athens and Ephesus).

We didn't do any of the Oceania excursions because we prefer smaller groups. The idea of getting up early and on a bus just didn't appeal to either of us.

Some folks we met hooked up ahead of time with folks from cruise critics roll call and had a great experience doing that and going on privately arranged tours. Next time we will do that and enlist toursbylocals guides.

Happy traveling, Kim

Thanks for the info. Will definately check out that site! Its great to hear from people that like to share their good experiences!

Hubby and I went to the Med and purchased the Oceania Unlimited Excursion package. It was worth every penny. Our guides were locals, gave us information on the best, non-tourist, places to shop and eat. Since they live in these places, they know the people and know where to get the best deals. Not one excursion we booked through Oceania was a disappointment. And most of them only had 10 or less other people. It was fabulous and we are planning to do it again on our upcoming Alaska Cruise on the Regatta.

is there a good website to find shore excursions in various cities as I will be cruising the MED with Oceania in June.

is there a good website to find shore excursions in various cities as I will be cruising the MED with Oceania in June.

Search for the Ports you'll be visiting under the "Ports of Call" Forum, here on Cruise Critic.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=5

You'll find tons of resources, and probably hook up with a passenger or two from your voyage who is also there looking. ;)

Yes thanks for all the imput! Since we are doing the Baltic cruise, one definate "problemic" port will be St Petersburg. We will look into both - the ship and CC groups getting together.:)

Last summer we did a private three day tour with Alla Tours. They were great. It was our second time using them and they were as good or better than the first time. :):):)

We have just booked our first Oceania cruise. Could someone please explain the shore excursion packages, and their experiences with them.

It looks like Oceania's shore excursions are very expensive.

thanks

With the O life, if you booked you get like 5 of them included along with Internet, and pre paid Gratuities. But they, if purchased can me 2x as expensive as you could get yourself........

With the current O choice, you have the option of getting a set of 4 or 5 included shore trips

In either case, you can choose which ones you want with a few exceptions.

In the south pacific the ships tours tend to use up ALL available resources and there really exists no other option...Nuka Hiva for example.