TFree

@PumpkinPatches: I can't tell from your post if you are talking about purchasing pre-cruise slots credit or pre-cruise table play credits. Table play pre-purchase is different from slots. I purchased some slot play credit pre-cruise once when I maxed out the amount of table play we could pre-purchase. It worked out, but I understand that the slots work differently from ship to ship. So I have nothing really to offer you on explaining slots, other than that with the 10% bonus you might come out ahead, but more likely a little behind and will have successfully converted most of your OBC to real money. Table play is easier to explain, and as far as I know, it is the same on all ships. You buy it in $50 increments, and you get $55 in table play promo chips. You can't cash in the promo chips. So you have to play them all. We just play hand by hand, setting aside any winnings (paid in real chips) and continuing to play the promo chips until they are all gone. Then you either cash in the real chips, or keep playing. We have actually ended up ahead most of the time (the 10% bonus helps). I don't think doing this is in any way considered a loophole or bad form by the player. I suppose that Celebrity hopes you keep playing after using up your promo chips, but there would be no way I can think of to enforce that. Tom & Judy

Interesting. I, too, pointed out to my TA that we would not have switched to SM if we had known that 2 logins will now be included. She was able to get it switched back to OLife. This weekend I planned to try to figure out if the excursions are priced correctly under OLife (I don’t think they are), so was waiting to see that before posting about it. But since you got the opposite response, here is an excerpt from my TA’s response. “I spoke to Oceania and they were able to put your reservation back to the original O Life. Now you will have the 2 WIFI log ins. You will receive a credit on your [credit card] for $798.00 ( page 2 of the Guest Booking ).” Tom & Judy

Thank you for doing the legwork. I think the page you quoted from is located here (click on WiFi on the page): https://www.oceaniacruises.com/value As I read this page, WiFi is considered an amenity of the state room or suite. And it seems to have nothing to do with either OLife or simplyMORE. Therefore, I think that this does demonstrate that effective October 1, each state room or suite will have two logins, regardless of whether the reservation was booked under simplyMORE, with OLife, or without OLife. Tom & Judy

I hope this post doesn't confuse matters more. It seems to me that there are 3 different situations that people are talking about. I think the answer should be clear as to 2 of them. I am not sure as to the third. 1. simplyMORE Booking. If you have a simplyMORE booking, either because you booked after July 1 or because you changed a prior booking to simplyMORE, then you will have 2 logins per stateroom. 2. OLife Booking. If you have a booking made prior to July 1, where the basis of the booking is either OLife with air or OLife without air, then the promotional information shown in post #2 seems to me to be pretty clear that you will have 2 logins per stateroom (you will have 2 logins per suite or stateroom "regardless of whether your clients have made a reservation with OLife Choice or simplyMORE.") 3. Cruise-Only Booking. If you have a cruise-only booking made prior to July 1, i.e., without OLife, it is not clear to me if you will now get 2 logins per stateroom. Some people on this thread seem to think you will, but unless I have missed it, I have not seen anything that suggests that that is true. Maybe it will turn out to be true, because the internet logins that are basic amenities of the stateroom have been expanded from 1 to 2, and therefore OLife and simplyMORE have nothing to do with it. But I have not yet seen anything from Oceania saying that. Tom & Judy

Good idea. This reinforces my tentative conclusion that I should call the TA. (No point in doing it until Monday, as I think Oceania may not be open on the weekend.) When she originally got the pricing, she tentatively made the switch but told us that it could be switched back if we didn't want it. We said go ahead and we paid the difference. I, too, doubt that we can switch it back now. But I will at least ask. I see you on the Roll Call spreadsheet. I hope to meet you on the cruise. Tom & Judy

This is our situation. We are on the Vista Nov. 3 Panama Canal cruise (16 days). Our TA (after getting supervisor clearance to offer SM on a sold-out cruise) came back with a cost of $798 ($399 pp) to switch to SM. We thought it was pretty close to a wash for us, but the two additional benefits to us: second WiFi login (worth about $400) and "free" wine and beer (worth at least another $400) made it worth it to us to switch. Now it turns out that half of the benefit was about to be handed to us free of charge. Yes, it feels like a bit of a bait and switch. No, we would not have made the switch if we knew then what we know now. It is probably too late to switch back, but I will at least raise the question with our TA. Tom & Judy

Thanks. There are no guarantees here, but this tends to reinforce my hunch that our TA is not part of the program. I see you on the Roll Call spreadsheet. I will send you an email. Tom & Judy

You are right. Sorry for my confusion. Tom & Judy

We have had one experience with this, although it was for a much shorter period of time. Our first Oceania cruise was on Marina in October, 2021. On October 25, 2021, during the cruise, we received letters offering us each a future cruise credit of $250, which had to be on a cruise booked within one year, and for a cruise leaving in less than two years. We had booked, while onboard, the November 3, 2023 Panama Canal cruise on Vista. So the sailing was 9 days past the expiration date of the FCC's. Our TA called Oceania on our behalf, and was able to get the FCC's applied to this cruise. Tom & Judy

Bottom line: I don't know. When I look up the agency's name on Virtuoso, nothing comes up. Same with her individual name, same with the agency owner's name. So I think probably not. But based on @pinotlover's separate comment, it may be that even if they were members, benefits on a given cruise might not be offered to their agency. I understand Cruise Critic's rule on agency names not being used. But I have found it very frustrating over the years. Tom & Judy

I had never heard of OCAPP until yesterday. I looked at that Virtuoso website for our November 3 Panama Canal cruise on Vista, and I found: Guests may also be entitled to the following complimentary benefits. Please consult your Virtuoso travel advisor for restrictions that may apply. Prepaid Onboard Gratuities Oceania Cruises: Virtuoso Guests will enjoy complimentary prepaid gratuities on select voyages. Restrictions apply; please see Terms & Conditions for details. So it appears to me as if this cruise is one of the "selected cruises" as to which the right kind of travel agent would be able to pass on prepaid gratuities. So I asked our TA about this. She responded by saying: "I spoke to Oceania this morning. The agent did not see the OCAPP promotion with [agency name redacted] for this sailing. He was nice enough to go to a higher level to be sure and it is not being offered to [agency name redacted]." So, question for those more knowledgeable. Is this an indirect way of saying that her agency does not participate in OCAPP? Or are OCAPP benefits offered to some OCAPP participant agencies and not others (so that on a different cruise in the future, it is possible that we might get such benefits). This cruise is past final payment and has been booked for a long time. So there is no possibility to change TA. Tom & Judy

@terrydtx: Based on our experience with our November 2023 Panama Canal cruise, it will not happen automatically. Our TA was first told that we could not switch to SM because the cruise in all categories is sold out. But the Oceania rep said he/she would check with a supervisor. The next day our TA called to let us know that the supervisor had approved the switch if we want to make it, and that it would cost us $399 pp extra. This was pretty close to a wash for us, but we opted to go to SM to get the second WiFi login and the "free" wine and beer with lunch and dinner. (We had booked OLife w/o air and had chosen the excursion option.) So I think you will find that you can switch on one phone call if the categories of your cabins are not sold out, and you can switch with supervisor approval if they are sold out. Tom & Judy

Right. As I have reported elsewhere, our November 3 Vista Panama Canal cruise is wait listed in all categories. When our TA first called Oceania to inquire about whether we could switch to SM and if so, for how much, she was told no, because of the cruise being waitlisted. But after checking with a supervisor, the TA was called back to say after getting supervisor approval, that we could switch for $798 ($399 per person). This was not a great deal, but good enough, all things considered, to make the switch in our case. It appears, based on our experience and that of others who have reported the same thing, that you can switch a sold out booking to SM, but it requires the approval of a supervisor. Tom & Judy

Yes, we asked the Travel Agent if SM could be applied to our cruise, and if so, how much that would cost. Tom & Judy

Just for your information, I wanted to let you know that we had booked with OLife without airfare, and all categories on our cruise are now waitlisted. Nevertheless, after getting approval from a supervisor, we were able to get a price for simplyMore. I saw a report either here on Cruise Critic or on FB that others have had the same experience. In other words, a supervisor can authorize providing a quote for simplyMore, even if the cruise is waitlisted. Tom & Judy

Felice and Ivan: we live half an hour south of SLO. If you want to say hello prior to the cruise, we could come up and visit you, or meet somewhere. Tom & Judy

I posted our experience in a different thread: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2944622-simply-mores-impact-on-current-bookings/?do=findComment&comment=65662265 Bottom line: Vista November Panama Canal Cruise, in an A2 Concierge cabin. Previously booked with OLife without air, chose the excursions option. Cruise currently sold out and waitlisted, but our TA was still able to get a price to change to Simply More: $798 for the cabin ($399 pp). Pros: 2d Wifi Login + wine/beer at lunch and dinner. Con: the theoretical $796 pp excursions credit (with which we booked 4 eligible "free" excursions costing $586 pp) is replaced with a $500 pp excursion credit applicable to any excursions. My thinking is that this works out pretty much as a wash for us, not being big drinkers, but we would have wine or beer with dinner (and maybe sometimes with lunch). Tom & Judy

@LHT28: thanks for the link to the post with the wine and beer listing. @1985rz1: thanks for the reminder on the 20%. @carosou: In our case, this seems to work out, so I assume it will for you, too. Our TA went ahead and made the change for us (but said it could be switched back to OLife if we prefer). So when I go to my account now, I see that all the excursions (including those waitlisted) are still shown as having been purchased, and then the $500 pp Simply More credit plus the $250 shareholder credit have been applied against the excursions. By all means, ask, but I don't think this will be a problem. @the mice and @Benita: maybe we will see you on board. EDIT: Oh, and by the way, there is a small and relatively inactive Roll Call for our cruise: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2802489-3-november-2023-19-november-2023-panama-canal-adventure-los-angeles-to-miami/ Tom & Judy

Here is another example of the way that the Simply More program would apply to an existing booking. We are booked on the Vista Panama Canal Cruise on November 3. We booked it with Olife without air. We chose the excursions option, so we would get four “free“ excursions each in the non-excluded categories, up to $199 each. We are not big drinkers, so that the beverage package option would never make sense for us, but we would each have a wine or beer at dinner, and possibly at lunch. The cruise is currently waitlisted in all categories, so I was not even sure if they would give us a quote on the difference, if we wanted to choose Simply More instead of our existing booking. The travel agent reported that in her original call, she was told that they could not quote this since the cruise is sold out. But after checking with some supervisor, they called her back to say that we can make the switch, and the total difference for us would be $798 (meaning, $399 per person). I am going to study this in more detail , when I get a chance, but the way I am looking at it, it is probably worthwhile to us. It is not an amazing deal by any means, just probably worth it. First, we would definitely use the second Wi-Fi login, and probably would have purchased it. This is a 16 night cruise, so the charge for an additional login would be just under $400. I don’t know if they ever or frequently discount that on board, but that is the list price of the additional login. Then, I don’t know what the going rate for a glass of wine or beer at dinner is, but I am guessing that for a glass of wine and a beer, that might be around $20 per dinner. So that would be about $320 worth of liquor, even if we never have a wine or beer at lunch (and we probably would). We currently get (in effect) an excursion credit that would be worth up to $796 person ($199 X 4), but with very few if any of the excursions eligible and right at the $199 price point that would max out the benefit and based on excursions currently booked, we would get $586 benefit per person. Instead, under Simply More, we would get $1000 worth of excursions, with no limitations as to which excursions we must choose. So, all told, I can argue it either way. I could say that we might end up spending a few additional dollars with simply more, because the size of our excursion credit will be shrinking. But, on the other hand, if wine and beer are more expensive than I am guessing, or if we have more than one at dinner, and occasionally a wine or a beer at lunch, we would probably come out a little ahead with simply more. I would be curious if others have any reaction to this. Also, anybody with recent experience who can give a better ballpark estimate of the cost of a glass of wine or beer within the categories that would be included in Simply More, that would be helpful. Tom & Judy

Yes. In a heartbeat. For our B2B sailings, the S3 (Magic Carpet Sky Suite) seemed like a better value, and we never regretted the choice. The main issues some people mention are the Magic Carpet moving up or down past the cabin occasionally, and the big orange post at the corner of the balcony. Neither one bothered us in the least. I will add a couple of pictures to this response. Tom & Judy

Don't worry about having made the recommendation. I had heard of both Carmel (didn't Carmel at one time call themselves "Dial 6"?) and Dial 7 for years; I had just never used them until now. This thread just reinforced my thought that the car services are a viable option, and I chose Carmel over Dial 7 for no particular reason. I realize, obviously things (including traffic problems) can happen. It is just the combination of two negative experiences three days apart that has left me with a bad taste. Tom & Judy

Just to follow up on my own post, we arrived at JFK after 11:00 pm on a Friday night. I had pre-booked a car with Carmel. We notified them when we had our bags. It took somewhere between 30-45 minutes after we called for the car to show up. Three days later, when we headed back to JFK to head out to Europe, we again booked Carmel from the Manhattan hotel to JFK. First it was going to be 10 minutes late, then 20 minutes late, then I called and they couldn't give me much assurance as to exactly when the car would get there. So we cancelled and took an Uber instead. So, for whatever it is worth, our first experiences with Carmel were not good. I might try Dial 7 the next time we have a similar trip in mind. Although they have offered me a "Digital Discount" on a future trip in an attempt to win me back. Tom & Judy

Sorry, @LHT28 - my question was completely unrelated to cruises. We will be in NY, staying in Manhattan for 3 nights, before heading out on a non-cruise trip to Europe. I regularly look at the Cruise Critic boards, and since this topic was posted, it seemed like a good group to ask. Tom & Judy

We arrive at JFK in a couple of weeks at 11 pm, and have no recent experience. I sort of thought we would either use an Uber or a regular taxi to get to Manhattan (I see that there is evidently a flat fare for taxi trips to Manhattan). For those of you with more experience, for an arrival at that time of night (plus will need to retrieve checked luggage), do you still recommend Carmel or Dial 7 over an Uber or a taxi? Thank you. Tom & Judy

I mean, there is always another use, right? You could buy old iPads or tchotchkes you don't need from the Celebrity stores (not a good investment in my book) or sign up for Celebrity excursions you did not want. I look at it very differently. If I have $500 in OBC that I had not planned to use on something else, I will use that $500 (if it is still being offered) to buy prepaid table credits. So I will start with $550 in promo chips, and I will play on and off during the cruise until I use all the promo chips, setting aside any real chips I win and (hopefully) having the self-control not to play them. Let's say I lose 10% of my money. Since I started out with a 10% bonus, I end up with $495 in real cash ($550 - 10% = $495). If I win even a small percentage, I am way ahead since I started out with a 10% bonus on the prepaid deal. But the main point, the way I look at it, is that I am taking non-refundable OBC and converting it into real dollars. Tom & Judy