Unlimited Passport Excursion Packages

[papa B me]

I understand that most contributors on CC prefer to either book their own excursions or join with others on roll call to plan their excursions. But I'm looking for any feedback from people who have utilized Oceania's "Unlimited Passport Excursion packages". If you are planning on taking excursions in every port of say a 10-12 day med cruise did you find the package worth investing in? I understand you can still probably save money doing it yourself but if you wanted the convenience of utilizing Oceania's excursions would this be worthwhile.

[Mura]

We only take a very few ship's tours, sometimes none at all on a cruise.

 

But there are people who post here regularly who DO like the package. It gives you the convenience of a scheduled tour (and our experience has generally been that ship's tours are good, just as DIY tours are usually good). Plus, as you say, the discount and the security of not having the ship leave you behind if the tour returns late.

 

If you are happy with ship's tours then you should be happy with booking the package. If you actually prefer smaller tours, then maybe not. But since you ask the question, I assume you'd be happy with the bus tours.

 

Mura

[CAG]

My suggestion is to do the Math. Twice I have looked at the feasibility of booking the unlimited package and both times, I could not find the "supposed" or up to 40% savings that they advertised. Remember that some of the excursions in the unlimited will still require an additional cost, especially some of the more popular excursions. You might be better off just purchasing the requisite number of excursions to achieve the 25% discount. It is all in the numbers.

Cenia

[Arusha]

I bought the Unlimited excursion package on both of my Oceania cruises - one to Alaska and another to New England/Canada/(the Bermuda portion was cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy).

 

I bought the package because I just can't be bothered spending the time to plan and schedule private tours, especially since this was my first trip to both Alaska and the Canadian Maritimes. If I take more trips to those places, I may plan some private tours, now that I know what I want to see in each place a little better.

 

Hurricane Sandy made a mess out of the NE/Canada port schedule, so I was glad I didn't have to deal with cancelling/rescheduling private tours on my own. Oceania's Destination crew offered new excursions in the new ports.

 

Yes, I know O's excursions are expensive, but I just didn't want the hassle of arranging my own. I would do the same again for every new itinerary.

[StanandJim]

I understand that most contributors on CC prefer to either book their own excursions or join with others on roll call to plan their excursions. But I'm looking for any feedback from people who have utilized Oceania's "Unlimited Passport Excursion packages". If you are planning on taking excursions in every port of say a 10-12 day med cruise did you find the package worth investing in? I understand you can still probably save money doing it yourself but if you wanted the convenience of utilizing Oceania's excursions would this be worthwhile.

 

What I would ask you to consider, before considering an Excursion Package of this type, is that you will be committing yourself to a number what will primarily be Bus Tours with a group of people who feel (rightly or wrongly) that their age, disability or socioeconomic background entitles them to a heightened level of consideration.

 

That is all well and good (and you may even agree, as I do, that they deserve such advantages at their time of life) but when there are fifteen or twenty such people, and only one accessible seat or one handicapped toilet (Europe is infamous for not being handi-accessible), the situation quickly degenerates.

 

Guides and Drivers wind up spending too much time sorting such things out, while the rest of the group sits and waits. Similarly, you may find yourself hearing more about "the deplorable condition of the toilet seat in that last ladies room", as you travel from one town to the next, rather than "the glorious little acropolis which we are passing on the left....."

[Mura]

While I often agree with Jim&Stan about these matters, I DO have to say that we have not encountered the kinds of problems he mentions on the ship's tours we have taken.

 

As I said before, we have taken more private tours than ship's tours ... and very occasionally the ship's tour wasn't great, but that was usually because of the guide (sometimes a language problem -- more due to accent than lack of facility in English).

 

But we haven't encountered the kinds of problems he describes. Which is not to say that you shouldn't bear that in mind when deciding what you want to do!

 

I DO recommend private tours unless you have a problem going out on your own. If you do, then by all means take the ship's tours.

 

Mura

[papa B me]

Thank you all for your responses. My initial inclination was to plan our excursions myself. However, we took a river cruise with Uniworld(I know totally different experience from ocean cruise) and we really enjoyed the group excursions(to my surprise). I really enjoyed the lack of stress over details. They were usually 20-40 people and often did include a short bus ride and/or walking tour. At 50, we were definitely on the younger end of the demographic but found the group to be energetic and a great deal of fun. Uniworld however was good about scheduling more then one group with one specific group being easy walking for those who would struggle. So based on the experience it does have me considering utilizing Oceania's excursions for our first Oceiania cruise. The unlimited package appealed to me since every port will be new to us and I know we will want to be off the ship. I certainly don't mind the package savings as well but it will be the convenience factor above all else if I decide to go this direction. Thank you again for your insight.

[jakes47]

We are a couple that like a balance of tours and leisure. We book tours for the ports we have A listed, and the rest we like to do our own thing, whether it be last minute bookings of just ship activities.

Only you can decide if you want to be touring every daylight hour to make the most of this offer. Personally - I couldn’t imagine anything worse. I find 1 full on day touring requires a more leisurely day the next. To do 10 -12 days of tours would not be fun for us and we would definitely need a holiday afterwards.

 

Have a look at the ports and see if the attractions are within walking or ship shuttle distance. You may find you will enjoy doing you own thing father than going cattle class.

 

You have to decide if you want to be on the go every day of if you want to leave some time for relaxation and spontaneity – then you can assess the value of the package.

Edited September 3, 2014 by jakes47

[travelglobetrotter]

Well, we prefer private tours, too, and I have arranged them as well as taken advantage of tours others have arranged, and always been pleased.

 

But....for our upcoming 7 day Med cruise, there are only a few on the roll call, and nearly all have said, been there, done that, not doing it again. So we are planning on booking the Unlimited the day we board. My contact at O has emailed me confirmation that we can book it on board then, at a 10% premium, using our on board credit. Seems like a good deal to us, since our status level gets us a 10% discount. These ports are new to us, or ones we have visited in the 80s, so after planning our 4 days in Nice prior to the cruise, I'm ready to let someone else do the planning. Marlene