Redtravel

National express works.

We were slightly put off at first. We liked Olife. However, when we actually booked excursions, it was easy. We got $1000 credit. You can pick any of the listed excursions. You are not limited to those under $200. You can pick very expensive tours and get few tours. You can pick less expensive tours and get more tours. You have a choice. Also, if you book the specified number of tours to get the 25% discount, you may get more bang for your credits. We found selecting excursions to be easy. The only thing that annoys me about Simply More excursion credits is that there are some cruises that I don’t want tours. We usually do a winter Caribbean cruise. We have taken many tours over the years. Now we go for the warmth. There are some ports that we never get off. Last winter on a 2 week cruise, we stayed on the ship in 4 ports. There were lots of people who did the same. We are booked on Vista cruise only for winter 2024. Going forward with Simply More not selling cruise only, we will likely look for other vacation options that sell cruise only.

Do a little planning and you can see all the included places. The war rooms were amazing. Viking charges too much money for the tour.

Viking is amazing at making you feel good about your booking. Once you book, if you log on and check prices, you will see higher prices. Once booked, you will not get emails with promos for any cruise. There is a thread on this board that asks people to post promo codes. Since Viking gets full payment way ahead of cruise dates and doesn’t price adjust, you’re better off just booking at a price that works for you. It’s like buying airline tickets.

I would book early. With Simply more, everyone has credit.

The thing that made it work was checking the simply more box in the cart. Since Simple more has just begun, there were bound to be some quirks. Now that everyone has excursion credits, it pays to book early. On past cruises, when we booked late, many excursions were sold out. On our last cruise in June, we booked late. We took Olife mainly to get air. It included 3 excursions pp. The only excursions with availability were not really what I would choose if I had booked earlier. We enjoyed 2 of the 3 excursions. Enjoyed visiting new places.

Reading my posting, never say never. Flying O air in June arriving the day of embarkation was too stressful. We got to the ship 2 hours before sailing. This time we opted for arriving one day early. We chose O air this time because we are booked on the first cruise after dry dock. If for some reason the ship takes longer in dry dock than scheduled or gets canceled, we won't get stuck rearranging flights. We also requested the premium upgrade. TA said upgrades were sold out.

Sharing my experience booking shore excursions online. Today we booked shore excursions using Simply More credit and Oceania club credits. It started like previous trips until we looked at the cart. The cart listed all of our excursions with crazy prices. Some were $0. Some were full price. Some just made no sense. The total matched the full price for all excursions. It said that we owed full prices even though we booked more than the number to get a 25% discount. Time to call O. First time on hold got disconnected after 5 min. Next, left a call back number. Call back rep said that you have to check the "simply more" box to get the discounts. asked if she could book our excursions. She hung up. Checked the "simply more" and the cart looked different. Now there were full prices listed next to each excursion. Some showed a discount. Some showed no discount. The final amount with discounts applied less credits was correct. I paid the difference online. Got an email confirming transaction. Email amount paid reflected the full prices.

What you saved on the new fare will be spent on the excursions. Usually with Olife, we booked the allotted “free” excursions and hired private tours for other ports.

Once we paid the deposit, we could see the excursions.

We booked that cruise. The $1000 shore excursion credit with Simply More compared to previous O life 8 excursions (each cost maximum of $200)for 14 night cruise may not be seen as an improvement. The excursion prices are high. Starting to wonder who gets SimplyMore.

Marina had been scheduled for renovations during the pandemic. It got rescheduled. Think it’s April May 2024? where do they do the dry dock? How long was Riviera in dry dock? Did it meet the scheduled time period? How risky is it to book the first cruise after dry dock?

One login per cabin was adequate. When we cruise, it’s nice to have WiFi. Check news, get port info, and look at emails. However on vacation, we spend less time online than at home. It’s vacation. Disconnect and relax.

T-Mobile is German based. I have a stronger signal in Europe than in USA. Just switched from ATT to T-Mobile. T-Mobile has good deals if you switch…rebates and new phones only pay the taxes. In Europe, T mobile is free data and texts. Calls are 25cents per minute. Att international plan cost $10 per 24 hour period if you use your phone for anything.

Premium air isn’t usually available even way in advance. We are on the wait list for a cruise in May 2024.

The survey is a joke. If they were really interested, they would send the survey after the cruise. I don’t think that they care.

Asked my TA about booking cruise only. She said that it isn’t an option. Everyone gets simply more. Only option is with or without air. not sure if this will last. We were on Celebrity and booked All In. When we booked cruise only wasn’t an option. We are not drinkers. There were many drunks on that cruise. It was enough to drive us away from Celebrity. Now I noticed that cruise only is an option. oceania Olife was a good fit for us. We either took excursions in new ports. Cruise only worked for us on most cruises.

People working on the ships turn over often. We were on Marina in December and June. We didn’t see any of the crew from the previous cruise. Asking who is on the ship only works for that cruise. Next cruise may have new crew. On June cruise, our CD was a one and done. She kept saying that she was filling in on that cruise and was going back to Regent after the cruise.

We were on Marina again in June. Still a beautiful ship. However, the crew was new. This was our 5 th cruise on Marina. Didn’t recognize anyone working on the ship. This time the cruise had issues that I wanted to address on the survey. Went to guest relations and asked for our passenger numbers. Relations guy was amazed that I didn’t know those numbers. That was typical of guest relations on this cruise. My spouse did the online survey. Next I tried to do it. Not surprised when I couldn’t log into it. Called Guest relations who told me computer issues should be addressed by the computer person. Anything that you asked for at guest relations or the concierge was dismissed. They were clueless. When I got home, I sent email to Oceania detailing concerns. Got immediate email that my email was received. No other response.

So it isn't me. We are booked on May 18 th cruise and cannot find prices for excursions Nor any info how to use the SM credit. Also, being the first cruise after refit has me worried. For that reason, we booked cruise with air. Not thrilled using O air. However, if cruise is changed, it's on O. We used O air in June. It was our first time using O air. The price was good. The routing was bizarre.

Spoke to TA yesterday to book a cruise. I asked if there was a cruise only option. TA said no. Everyone booking must take simply more. Only option is with or without air. That limits what type of cruise that I would book with Oceania. Having cruised for many years, we have taken many excursions. As we aged, we have slowed down. My spouse has mobility issues. Now, we only book ship excursions that are slow paced to see new places or book a private guide for just the two of us. Now, if we book Oceania, we are paying for shore excursions whether or not we want to take them. That limits us to only booking cruises that have ports that are either new to us or have an excursion that we haven’t taken previously. We love Caribbean cruises in the winter for the warmth. Last winter when we sailed on Marina, we had such a great time that we booked a Caribbean cruise on Vista winter 2024 cruise only. Still have that booking and am looking forward to it. With simply more including shore excursions, the present price for that cruise has increased. Looks like we will be looking for a different cruise for winter 2025. We are looking at a summer 2024 that has some ports that are new to us. It includes a $1000 shore excursion credit. With Olife I knew how to book excursions. Now, I am clueless. I can see excursions for ports. No prices are showing. Has anyone tried to book excursions using a simply more credit? If so, how does it work?

I wish you an uneventful trip. I have experienced strikes( city museums, vaparettos, taxi drivers), high water, taxis that won't pickup at hotels, not finding porters which are required now to handle baggage,etc. It's Italy where strikes are scheduled and happen often.

Sailing in or out of Venice has always been a challenge. It has so many restrictions that make it the most tourist unfriendly port. While seeing Venice is a kick, the taxis ( land or water) and vaparettos can be a challenge.

We were on Marina in June. Never got luggage tags or usual mailed docs. We got an email telling us our flights and when to do online checkin. Previously we got a nice booklet with all the info for the cruise. My guess is that O wanted to save money. However, while we were on the O transfer bus going to the ship, people were punching out cabin luggage tags . Odd? When we got to the port, we had the porters attach luggage tags with our cabin number hand written on them. It worked. Our bags were delivered to our cabin quickly.

You are going to be billed for the tips. It would make sense if tips were included in the basic cruise fare. Many cruise lines do it. On some we prepay tips.