Olife issues

[azam71209]

I just booked another Oceania cruise, Barcelona to London June 23. There will be three people in the cabin and despite the fact that OLife says "amenities per cabin" the 6 excursions cannot be shared by three people, only the first two. Also the $600 OBC is really nothing. If you take cruise only, the price is reduced by the same $600. Why pay a cruise price that is $600 more just to get $600 in OBC? Used to be ok because it included internet but now everybody gets internet.  Don't drink much so included drinks also has no appeal.

 

Mary

[Paulchili]

14 minutes ago, azam71209 said:

I just booked another Oceania cruise, Barcelona to London June 23. There will be three people in the cabin and despite the fact that OLife says "amenities per cabin" the 6 excursions cannot be shared by three people, only the first two. Also the $600 OBC is really nothing. If you take cruise only, the price is reduced by the same $600. Why pay a cruise price that is $600 more just to get $600 in OBC? Used to be ok because it included internet but now everybody gets internet.  Don't drink much so included drinks also has no appeal.

 

Mary

Mary,

Actually O Life can be a very good value if you choose excursions instead of OBC or drinks.

Some included excursions can be up to $199 - thus your $600 can buy you as much as almost $1200 worth of excursions.

This is the case for 2 people in the cabin - math may be different for 3 people but even then the first 2 people can still almost double their monetary input.

[carollouise]

19 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

Mary,

Actually O Life can be a very good value if you choose excursions instead of OBC or drinks.

Some included excursions can be up to $199 - thus your $600 can buy you as much as almost $1200 worth of excursions.

This is the case for 2 people in the cabin - math may be different for 3 people but even then the first 2 people can still almost double their monetary input.

Is there a place to see the prices of the excursions before you book and make your choice of o life or not?  I went to Oceania and saw the descriptions of the excursions but didn't see prices. 

[Paulchili]

24 minutes ago, carollouise said:

Is there a place to see the prices of the excursions before you book and make your choice of o life or not?  I went to Oceania and saw the descriptions of the excursions but didn't see prices. 

The definite answer will come when your actual excursions are released (about 240 days prior to the cruise).

Until then you can look at the same/similar cruise in the near future that will have prices.

Also, you can change your choice of adding or not adding O Life until 14 days prior to the cruise which is the latest time by which O Life tours must be booked.

Edited September 19, 2019 by Paulchili

[Petoonya]

This is silly but my husband does not pay attention to our finances so much. He feels "deprived" if he doesn't have enough OBC. He's not stupid nor does he have dementia- just likes to spend money on something frivolous for himself like a new watch. Something he wouldn't spend on himself otherwise. Wasn't going to get it this time but he will be wondering where his $800 extra OBC is. So I might add it to my Olife just before I make final.

 

So sometimes the extra OBC with OLife actually has a purpose other than pouring money into O's coffers 🙂

[Cruise Junky]

Sounds like you'd be better off just not taking any Olife perks. 

[carollouise]

1 hour ago, Paulchili said:

The definite answer will come when your actual excursions are released (about 240 days prior to the cruise).

Until then you can look at the same/similar cruise in the near future that will have prices.

Also, you can change your choice of adding or not adding O Life until 14 days prior to the cruise which is the latest time by which O Life tours must be booked.

Thank you!  Learned a lot with your post!

 

[Paulchili]

23 minutes ago, Cruise Junky said:

Sounds like you'd be better off just not taking any Olife perks. 

Do you not agree that OP could potentially double their investment by choosing O Life excursions perk - in other words, by paying $100 extra per excursion one can get up to $199 value per excursion?

Also, they would be 3 included excursions closer to getting 25% off on additional YWC excursions.

Of course, this implies that the person does not object to O ship excursions and OP did not express that sentiment.

Edited September 19, 2019 by Paulchili

[Cruise Junky]

2 hours ago, Paulchili said:

Do you not agree that OP could potentially double their investment by choosing O Life excursions perk - in other words, by paying $100 extra per excursion one can get up to $199 value per excursion?

Also, they would be 3 included excursions closer to getting 25% off on additional YWC excursions.

Of course, this implies that the person does not object to O ship excursions and OP did not express that sentiment.

But isn’t there a third person involved? They would have to pay full price for O’s overpriced tour. 

[Mura]

But do we assume the third person would want to take the tour?

 

Maybe compare price differentials.  By sharing a room the third person is saving a lot of money -- no longer having to pay a single supplement.  I'm guessing that even the lowest category room would cost more as a single than sharing a larger room with a couple does.

 

(I won't get into the discomfort that might be involved for everyone with three people in a room designed for two!)

 

And I'm wondering if the three people can't pass around the tickets.  I hear that people have done that when they had to cancel a tour after the refund period, so why couldn't the threesome do the same?  Does it really hurt O if the two people using ship's tour tickets are not always the same two people?  I'm asking -- NOT advocating!  If Oceania WOULD object, then I wouldn't try it.

 

Perhaps the third person can take into account the cost of the room as a triple (as opposed to a single with a single supplement) and then calculate what just paying for those tours would cost?

 

I'm just trying to think of ways to calculate real costs.

 

Mura

[Paulchili]

4 hours ago, Cruise Junky said:

But isn’t there a third person involved? They would have to pay full price for O’s overpriced tour. 

Yes, but that person also does not have to pay the $300 for O Life. Thus the cost for this person is only the amount above $100. Hence a tour costing $149, for example, would cost only $49 extra for this person.

[Flatbush Flyer]

12 hours ago, Paulchili said:

Mary,

Actually O Life can be a very good value if you choose excursions instead of OBC or drinks.

Some included excursions can be up to $199 - thus your $600 can buy you as much as almost $1200 worth of excursions.

This is the case for 2 people in the cabin - math may be different for 3 people but even then the first 2 people can still almost double their monetary input.

And the chosen O Life excursions can be counted toward the minimum number required to get the 25% YWYW discount on the more expensive non-O Life excursions.

[oceansandseas]

 

What was the cost of the 3rd person in the cabin for this cruise?  I am sure it was a lot less than the 1st and 2nd person paid. 1st and 2nd person could use the OLife excursions they received with their fare, and the 3rd person could use the saving from the cruise fare for their ship excursion if they wanted to go along.

[ORV]

1 hour ago, oceansandseas said:

 

What was the cost of the 3rd person in the cabin for this cruise?  I am sure it was a lot less than the 1st and 2nd person paid. 1st and 2nd person could use the OLife excursions they received with their fare, and the 3rd person could use the saving from the cruise fare for their ship excursion if they wanted to go along.

I’m not sure there is a discount for extras in a cabin. Maybe someone with knowledge about that can chime in. 

[Paulchili]

1 hour ago, ORV said:

I’m not sure there is a discount for extras in a cabin. Maybe someone with knowledge about that can chime in. 

Yes, there is a discount for the third person.

[rallydave]

The real answer to this $199 "value" to $100 paid is that by using "value" companies are psychologically working on you making you think you are getting a good deal.  See this all the time in car advertising where they list the "value" savings and not the true dollar savings.  Would bet if you look at the Monroney sticker on the car for these "value"advertisements the difference to the advertised price is much less than the "value" savings advertised and simply marketing and not real dollars avings. 

 

In reality using private excursions you can probably get that $199 "value" excursion for less than the $100 price you pay for O Life.  Anytime the word "value" is used rather than discount beware as value and discount are two completely things in all advertising and when "value" is used it is subjective and not really the savings in real dollars...

[FetaCheese]

O life choice also includes free air from O's U.S. gateways. Don't know about Europe originations.

[rallydave]

6 minutes ago, FetaCheese said:

O life choice also includes free air from O's U.S. gateways. Don't know about Europe originations.

Free air and o life choice are as have been said many times mutually exclusive items.  O offers free air to all passengers no matter O life or not and should you not want the  free in either case you will get a credit to your fare.

 

Only for US origins.

[Paulchili]

2 hours ago, rallydave said:

In reality using private excursions you can probably get that $199 "value" excursion for less than the $100 price you pay for O Life

This can often be the case but not always. Most private tours will cost well over $100 unless you can get a group of about 6+ others to join you.

Let’s remember that this is not always possible in some parts of the world or this is not an option that some wish to or can accomplish.

We are trying to organize some tour to Seville and Santiago de Compostela on our roll call but have not had ANY takers so far.

Spain Day Tours offers a good option but has a requirement of 10 - 14 people minimum which may or may not be reached. If not reached, private tours for just the 2 of us would cost more than the $100 O Life tour for sure.

 

1 hour ago, rallydave said:

Free air and o life choice are as have been said many times mutually exclusive items. 

I would say that they are independent of each other rather than mutually exclusive 😊

Edited September 21, 2019 by Paulchili

[Tansy Mews]

On 9/21/2019 at 9:32 AM, rallydave said:

Free air and o life choice are as have been said many times mutually exclusive items.  O offers free air to all passengers no matter O life or not and should you not want the  free in either case you will get a credit to your fare.

 

Only for US origins.

Canadian too. Or st least 4 major airports.  
 

Frances

Edited September 25, 2019 by Tansy Mews