corpkid Posted November 15, 2012 #1 Share Posted November 15, 2012 DH and I are going on the Baltic Odyssey cruise on Marina next August. It is a very port intensive 10 day voyage, and this is a region neither of us have visited and we are very much looking forward to exploring. That said, is the Unlimited Passport Excursion package (at $1099 pp) really just that - can we book whatever excursion we want under that with no other charges? We are the type to book a day tour and a night tour for what it's worth. If so, it seems like a no brainier as I am sure we'd spend more than that over the 10 days on excursions. Am I missing something? Thanks! Dominic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sitraveler Posted November 15, 2012 #2 Share Posted November 15, 2012 I don't know if your missing anything,but look at your preferences and price them out. We discovered that after selecting our excursions for the 1/3 cruise, the a la carte price with the discount was less. Our ports did not have any overnight stays and no 2nd excursions were offered. We tend to do our own thing in many ports, but know that the independant tour companies in St Petersburg arrange "visas" for their guests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willidc Posted November 15, 2012 #3 Share Posted November 15, 2012 Hi Dominic, We are on the same sailing if it is the August 23 itinerary. I was surprised at the price in your post since when we booked in July (and as late as a few weeks ago) the Unlimited Passport was $999. I did some quick calculations and found it to be worth it to us for that $999 price. In the entire scheme of things, an additional $100 pp doesn't sound like a lot. However, t is a personal decision. But to answer your question about you perhaps missing something, please note that once you buy the Unlimited Passport, not all of the tours in all of the ports are 'free'. Quite a few are available to you under the Unlimited Passport, but you must pay extra---although it is deeply discounted from the onboard price or even the Your World Collection. You can see which tours have the additional charge (or not) by selecting the tours for each port after you sign in under "already booked" and going to your booking to manage. Another consideration is that any of the tours can be canceled should there not be sufficient interest, so you could be disappointed. But I can only think of one tour that was scratched for us on a 15 day sailing this past summer. We have done both the Your World Collection and the Unlimited Passport on previous cruises and have been pleased each time. This coming April we are doing a Mediterranean B2B and are doing the Unlimited Passport for the first leg, but not the second leg. So each sailing is a separate decision for tours. I agree it appears to be an exciting itinerary with so much to discover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corpkid Posted November 15, 2012 Author #4 Share Posted November 15, 2012 Hi there... yes we are on the same cruise. :) I have actually been playing around with the shore excursion booking system and see that some are indeed extra - but like you said, VERY deeply discounted (e.g. $80pp vs. $325pp). And those seem to be only the Choice excursions. We booked back in August (a year out almost to the day). I wasn't even aware of this program until today when I started thinking about this trip and began exploring the excursions. Though when the chips fall, $100 is not much relatively speaking so no worries there... I'll give my TA a call and have them arrange this package for us, and perhaps save us a few $. I do think it is a great value if you are into excursions. Being our first time on Oceania, I will be a little sad to not get to sample as much of the cuisine I've heard raves about (as a foodie) since we'll be out touring so much. But this is a region we are just very excited to explore so the food takes a back seat this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted November 15, 2012 #5 Share Posted November 15, 2012 Hi there... yes we are on the same cruise. :) I have actually been playing around with the shore excursion booking system and see that some are indeed extra - but like you said, VERY deeply discounted (e.g. $80pp vs. $325pp). And those seem to be only the Choice excursions. We booked back in August (a year out almost to the day). I wasn't even aware of this program until today when I started thinking about this trip and began exploring the excursions. Though when the chips fall, $100 is not much relatively speaking so no worries there... I'll give my TA a call and have them arrange this package for us, and perhaps save us a few $. I do think it is a great value if you are into excursions. Being our first time on Oceania, I will be a little sad to not get to sample as much of the cuisine I've heard raves about (as a foodie) since we'll be out touring so much. But this is a region we are just very excited to explore so the food takes a back seat this time. Oceania's Shore Excursions (even the expensive ones) are typically serviceable but not outstanding. Given the proactive nature of your previous posts on this board, I'm going to suggest that you book private tours, instead of doing it through the cruise line. It takes a little extra work in the planning, but the research that you do in planning the tours will open your eyes to so much that you might otherwise have overlooked. The cost to you will be less, and touring with a small group is EONS better than waiting for a busload to assemble, additionally, you'll have the option of customizing the tour to match your interests (in St. Petersburg in particular, that is a MUST!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willidc Posted November 15, 2012 #6 Share Posted November 15, 2012 You may not miss as much cuisine as you would think. On days when we did two tours, we were able to come back to the ship, get a nice lunch and then head out for the afternoon, and be back for dinner. And sometimes dinner hours are extended in MDR or Terrace Cafe when much of the ship is out touring very late (such as our 13 1/2 hour trek to the pyramids). And with tours going out every port morning, you must get a substantial (and delicious) breakfast to pull you through the morning. But if all else fails---there is always room service 24/7. Yum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corpkid Posted November 15, 2012 Author #7 Share Posted November 15, 2012 Oh we will typically do a room service Breakfast on the Veranda. Just our thing, sipping coffee, reading our books and chatting. :) That could perhaps be THE most "looked forward to" feature as our shore lives don't really let us have down time together very much. That work thing (that pays for these trips) keeps getting in the way! As for looking into personal trips Jim & Stan (Dom & Don here, by the way ;))... All for that - and in fact have a bunch set up for our Dec cruise to S. America (including hang gliding, which I LOVE TO DO). It does seem that the Oceania excursions are on the high side. Let me start doing some research and I'd most certainly appreciate any advice you two have for us. We are pretty low key (so no crazy bars) but we do love our nightlife/dining/and cocktails. I have a feeling you understand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted November 16, 2012 #8 Share Posted November 16, 2012 Let me start doing some research and I'd most certainly appreciate any advice you two have for us. We are pretty low key (so no crazy bars) but we do love our nightlife/dining/and cocktails. I have a feeling you understand. __________________ Hi Dom and Don! (How easy monogramming must be for you!) We just LOVE your itinerary! My first suggestion would be that you allow enough time while you are in Copenhagen to visit Tivioli- Did you realize that two of the ten top restaurants in Copenhahen are located in the Park? With three Days in St Petersburg, you'll want to go with one of the top private companies like Denrus, Red October or Alla Tours. They have enough pull to do extraordinary things for you like getting a museum to let you in before opening or watching a a rehearsal if the ballet is in town. We personally prefer Alla in that group, but all of those companies are in the same league. Tallinn is totally doable on your own, as is Helsinki, as long as you book a Harbor Tour. Promise me that you will be awake (with the packing DONE) and on deck for your sail into Stockholm. The archipelago is staggeringly beautiful. Hope that this helped, have a wonderful voyage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corpkid Posted November 16, 2012 Author #9 Share Posted November 16, 2012 Many thanks! I've begun my research and I think this will be much less difficult than our S. America trip. By the way (and not harping on details) but we LEAVE Stockholm and ARRIVE in Copenhagen. I work for Marriott (can you spell mega cheap rooms?) and Don collects starwood points like they are going out of style... so we are thinking of padding each side of the trip by 3 days or so.... That said - and this is a first for us (me the control freak I am) - we bought into the cruise air thing. Just seemed too good to be true for what we paid overall. Can we dictate the days given our desire to arrive early and leave late and pay any applicable difference, if any at all? Thank you again - I think I have a great springboard from which to work on this trip. I do not like motorcoaches / buses one iota. The Lincoln tunnel / NJTransit comes to mind, day in day out back during most of my 20's LOL. Not a big fan. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tansy Mews Posted November 16, 2012 #10 Share Posted November 16, 2012 Many thanks! I've begun my research and I think this will be much less difficult than our S. America trip. By the way (and not harping on details) but we LEAVE Stockholm and ARRIVE in Copenhagen. I work for Marriott (can you spell mega cheap rooms?) and Don collects starwood points like they are going out of style... so we are thinking of padding each side of the trip by 3 days or so.... That said - and this is a first for us (me the control freak I am) - we bought into the cruise air thing. Just seemed too good to be true for what we paid overall. Can we dictate the days given our desire to arrive early and leave late and pay any applicable difference, if any at all? Thank you again - I think I have a great springboard from which to work on this trip. I do not like motorcoaches / buses one iota. The Lincoln tunnel / NJTransit comes to mind, day in day out back during most of my 20's LOL. Not a big fan. ;) You will have to pay an air deviation fee - allows you to do pretty much what you said you wanted. There may be no extra costs beyond the fee. Search for the many previous discussions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted November 16, 2012 #11 Share Posted November 16, 2012 You will have to pay an air deviation fee - allows you to do pretty much what you said you wanted. There may be no extra costs beyond the fee. I'm sorry Tansy, but that is incorrect. After a Deviation has been requested and the desired flights are chosen by the passenger, Oceania will compare the cost of that route versus the cost of the flight that they would have assigned. If the Passenger chosen flight is more expensive, Oceania has the option of charging the differential. At that point, the passenger still has the choice of agreeing to pay that additional cost, or going back to the drawing board. Until a satisfactory route is established between Oceania and the passenger, all costs remain refundable, however, once a route is accepted, the Deviation Fee becomes non refundable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boooomer Posted November 16, 2012 #12 Share Posted November 16, 2012 Check out the roll calls for the other Baltic Odyssey cruises (departing on different dates). There are some pretty good package deals with Alla tours - offering semi custom tours for every port. On our 6/25 Baltic Cruise, one of the members of the board arranged an Alla package deal for $850/person that includes tours for every port of call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wripro Posted November 17, 2012 #13 Share Posted November 17, 2012 I completely agree with JimandStan re: private tours ESPECIALLY in St. Petersburg where it is infinitely better to have your own car with guide and driver than to be on a bus with thirty or forty other people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdvenLee Posted November 18, 2012 #14 Share Posted November 18, 2012 We are booked on the 30 day South American cruise (from Lima to Rio, Jan. 2013) and are trying to decide between the Unlimited Passport Excusion Package and the World Choice Package (must choose at least 12 excursions and then 25% off others). It seems at a quick study that you would have to spend over $150 in each port to even break even.....since the Unlimited Passport costs $2999 per person, which seems pricey to me. There are 21 ports where shore tours are offered and, at one, it is not even offering a free tour for the Unlimited Passport Package. Any thoughts from those familiar to South American cruises or these packages?? I am thinking perhaps the World Choice is the way to go on this cruise. Even though ship tours are usally more expensive than arranging your own, we still feel safer and less hassle, thus are willing to pay for ship's tours. However, Oceania's tours in South America seem unusaully high to me. Thanks for any input. Holly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAKUEHNLE Posted November 18, 2012 #15 Share Posted November 18, 2012 On our Baltic cruise this Aug. we only had 2 days in St. P and found we could take two full day with Denrus in a van for the 4 of us for about the same price as 3 Oceania tours that covered the same sites. We were able to ask for more time at some places and other things not offered on the ships tours. Nice to be able to take your time to do as you please not what the other bus load wants to do.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treasure4two Posted December 6, 2012 #16 Share Posted December 6, 2012 On our Baltic cruise this Aug. we only had 2 days in St. P and found we could take two full day with Denrus in a van for the 4 of us for about the same price as 3 Oceania tours that covered the same sites. We were able to ask for more time at some places and other things not offered on the ships tours. Nice to be able to take your time to do as you please not what the other bus load wants to do.:) We used Denrus when we were there for 3 days and it was great!! We had 8 people in van and got to see all the great places plus stop at little Russian restaurants and get a feel for the people. Best way to go!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geekybiker Posted December 6, 2012 #17 Share Posted December 6, 2012 I completely agree with JimandStan re: private tours ESPECIALLY in St. Petersburg where it is infinitely better to have your own car with guide and driver than to be on a bus with thirty or forty other people. I'll 3rd this. St Petersburg you want a private tour no ifs, ands, or buts. You'll see far more, spend less time in long lines in addition to avoiding the usual large group hassles. For example I was on a Alla tour and we went to the hermitage. Instead of waiting in the several hundred person long line to get in with the cruise tours, we walked right to the front and through the gate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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