Cost vs. Benefit of OLife Add-on

[Psoque]

Hi.  I apologize in advance if this topic has been discussed elsewhere.

 

We haven't done an Oceania cruise yet, but are looking at an itinerary for 2022.  Looking at the Oceania Cruises website, it is quoting three different prices:

-brochure price (which I understand is really a "reference" price to impress customers on how much they are "saving.")

-OLife with airfare pricing

-cruise only pricing

 

My understanding is that OLife package includes internet plus a choice of either beverage package, 4 shore excursion tickets, or $400 on board credit for this particular itinerary.  Also, it appears that we can buy this OLife add-on without buying airfare through Oceania.

 

However, the website does not show pricing for cruise plus OLife (and NO airfare) option.  Is this typical?

 

It is impossible for me to know the cost of the OLife add on without this number.

 

I contacted Oceania and had one of their "concierge" person call me, but he could not answer this question, or at least he pretended like he didn't.  He was more interested in telling me that Oceania is the best and the only cruise line we should consider.  That was not very useful.

 

I guess what I want to know is if the additional cost of OLife is actually saving me money, or is this more of a "convenience charge" so that I don't have to pay for these separately???

 

Thanks.

 

 

 

[YoHoHo]

4 minutes ago, Psoque said:

Hi.  I apologize in advance if this topic has been discussed elsewhere.

 

We haven't done an Oceania cruise yet, but are looking at an itinerary for 2022.  Looking at the Oceania Cruises website, it is quoting three different prices:

-brochure price (which I understand is really a "reference" price to impress customers on how much they are "saving.")

-OLife with airfare pricing

-cruise only pricing

 

My understanding is that OLife package includes internet plus a choice of either beverage package, 4 shore excursion tickets, or $400 on board credit for this particular itinerary.  Also, it appears that we can buy this OLife add-on without buying airfare through Oceania.

 

However, the website does not show pricing for cruise plus OLife (and NO airfare) option.  Is this typical?

 

It is impossible for me to know the cost of the OLife add on without this number.

 

I contacted Oceania and had one of their "concierge" person call me, but he could not answer this question, or at least he pretended like he didn't.  He was more interested in telling me that Oceania is the best and the only cruise line we should consider.  That was not very useful.

 

I guess what I want to know is if the additional cost of OLife is actually saving me money, or is this more of a "convenience charge" so that I don't have to pay for these separately???

 

Thanks.

 

 

 

From other posts on the forum it seems the cost of O-Life will be equal to the dollar amount of the OBC choice. So $400 OBC offer means the cruise w/o O-Life will be $400 less. Thee are posts advising taking the OBC is a bad choice because it in essence converts the $400 into non-refundable OBC so better to just keep the cash in your pocket and spend on board as you prefer.

 

4 minutes ago, Psoque said:

My understanding is that OLife package includes internet plus a choice of either beverage package, 4 shore excursion tickets, or $400 on board credit for this particular itinerary.  Also, it appears that we can buy this OLife add-on without buying airfare through Oceania.

 

This O-Life/ air fare issue comes up often and is confusing. You can purchase the basic beverage package (beer/wine only & only with a meal) that is one of the O-Life choices separately.  And upgrade it to the the include-spirits-at-anytime package if one or both of you want.

 

The confusion I think comes from O only showing pricing for cruise only and cruise plus air plus O-life (ignoring the ridiculous "brochure rate" that other industries have not gotten  away with advertising.), You can purchase cruise only,   cruise plus air plus O-life, or remove cruise from that all-in price so cruise plus O-Life. The amount of credit that O uses to reduce the price if you remove air varies by cruise and apparently (anecdotally) by how close to sail date for request the air credit. The closer to sailing the less the credit. A good TA familiar with O can help you navigate this. Or you can price out a cruise on O's website selecting/deselecting  air on the first page when getting pricing. If air is selected later on near the end of the procing pages you will be prompted to choose the airports and be offered pricing for the air upgrades, if any.

 

Hope that helps but maybe I have mangled that too much. Corrections / additions by others to follow.

 

[1985rz1]

54 minutes ago, Psoque said:

 

My understanding is that OLife package includes internet plus a choice of either beverage package, 4 shore excursion tickets, or $400 on board credit for this particular itinerary.  Also, it appears that we can buy this OLife add-on without buying airfare through Oceania.

 

However, the website does not show pricing for cruise plus OLife (and NO airfare) option.  Is this typical?

 

It is impossible for me to know the cost of the OLife add on without this number.

 

Yes, the cost of O-Life is the OBC listed, but the OBC listed is per cabin, so the  OBC per person is 1/2 that amount.  Same apples to the Shorex excursions.  What is listed is per cabin, or half that per person.

 

So the cost of O-Life per person is 1/2 the OBC listed.

 

Internet (one account per stateroom) comes with the cruise-only fare.  It is not an O-Life perk.

[Psoque]

So, is there any benefit in paying for OLife if you plan on taking the on-board credit?  It seems not.  So if we were to get the OLife, it makes more sense to either choose the shore excursions or beverage package?  I have this funny feeling that Oceania is intentionally making this confusing.  I don't like it.

[1985rz1]

13 minutes ago, Psoque said:

So, is there any benefit in paying for OLife if you plan on taking the on-board credit? 

It seems not.  So if we were to get the OLife, it makes more sense to either choose the shore excursions or beverage package? 

Correct analysis.

 

You can make out on the Shorex, if you choose wisely.  You basically pay $100 per excursion with O-Life, but you can choose excursions that have values of up to $199.

 

The beverage package only makes sense to those who drink a lot more that me 🍸🍹🍷🥂🍺😁.  You really need to price out the cost of your daily imbibing to know. It's not straightforward, given there are 2 for 1 Happy Hours daily and free drinks at the Captain's Welcome Party.

[njhorseman]

18 minutes ago, Psoque said:

So, is there any benefit in paying for OLife if you plan on taking the on-board credit?  It seems not.  So if we were to get the OLife, it makes more sense to either choose the shore excursions or beverage package?  I have this funny feeling that Oceania is intentionally making this confusing.  I don't like it.

Since we rarely drink alcoholic beverages we find that the shore excursion benefit has the most bang for the buck...provided you don't mind taking Oceania's shore excursions .

[clo]

4 hours ago, 1985rz1 said:

he beverage package only makes sense to those who drink a lot more that me 

And Oceania has no problem with you bringing on as much wine, beer, spirits as you wish.

[Psoque]

14 hours ago, 1985rz1 said:

Correct analysis.

 

You can make out on the Shorex, if you choose wisely.  You basically pay $100 per excursion with O-Life, but you can choose excursions that have values of up to $199.

 

The beverage package only makes sense to those who drink a lot more that me 🍸🍹🍷🥂🍺😁.  You really need to price out the cost of your daily imbibing to know. It's not straightforward, given there are 2 for 1 Happy Hours daily and free drinks at the Captain's Welcome Party.

Based on my previous experience with  cruises at different price points, I'm assuming that most shore excursions of any substance (other than something silly like "we take you to the beach!") would cost more than $100 per person, but what are the typical prices on Oceania, specifically?  Is there any way to look this up somehow.  I am assuming that the excursion prices for 2022 are not set yet, though.

 

Also, what are the typical costs of a drink package if it is purchased separately?  We don't really consume alcohol that much, but we are just curious.

[LHT28]

42 minutes ago, Psoque said:

Based on my previous experience with  cruises at different price points, I'm assuming that most shore excursions of any substance (other than something silly like "we take you to the beach!") would cost more than $100 per person, but what are the typical prices on Oceania, specifically?  Is there any way to look this up somehow.  I am assuming that the excursion prices for 2022 are not set yet, though.

 

Also, what are the typical costs of a drink package if it is purchased separately?  We don't really consume alcohol that much, but we are just curious.

Prestige Select

Enjoy unlimited premium spirits, Champagne, wine and beer wherever and whenever you wish from $59.95 per guest, per day.

House Select+

Enjoy unlimited Champagne, wine and beer with lunch and dinner from $39.95 per guest, per day.

check under the Ultimate Value  tab

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/value

 

You can check under port excursions  usually but since  no ships are sailing  there is no pricing 

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/shore-excursions/#all

There are some descriptions of the tours  for some ports  but no prices to compare

 

 

[sunlover12]

52 minutes ago, Psoque said:

Based on my previous experience with  cruises at different price points, I'm assuming that most shore excursions of any substance (other than something silly like "we take you to the beach!") would cost more than $100 per person, but what are the typical prices on Oceania, specifically?  Is there any way to look this up somehow.  I am assuming that the excursion prices for 2022 are not set yet, though.

 

Also, what are the typical costs of a drink package if it is purchased separately?  We don't really consume alcohol that much, but we are just curious.

It depends on the cruise and the ports as to when shore excursion prices will be listed. For my South Pacific cruise in March 2022 the prices are listed for some ports but not all.  Purchasing O Life and choosing shore excursions can be a very good value.

 

Choosing the House Select drink package can also be a good value at $30/day with O Life.  I drink wine exclusively so having 3 glasses total at lunch and dinner is a very good value for me.  Otherwise, the package is $39.95/day.  I really just enjoy wine with a meal so the Happy Hour 2 for 1 is not something that interests me. Every person is different so look at all options and decide what's best for you.

 

 

[ORV]

I would highly recommend doing a search here in the forum on Olife. It really has been discussed a lot. You will find more information than you want to read. 

[pinotlover]

Every cruise is different and requires its own analysis. No one size fits all answer.

For example, we typically take the drinks package and upgrade, but if it’s a port intensive cruise, we are gone at lunch, therefore getting no benefits except at dinner from the basic package. The package isn’t worth it.That’s us, though. Some rarely get off the ship or are back to the ship  , for lunch, nearly every day. Different math for those folks.

 

The shorex package is a different beast altogether. For us, it is rarely a good option. For others it works fine.

 

Most shore excursions start showing up around 270 days prior to cruising with most all posted by 180 days out. Since that is typically before your payment in full date, I’d suggest browsing those and see how the package included shorex  fit into your lifestyle and travel expectations.

 

A final decision on which package to take doesn’t have to be made until 14 days prior to sailing. I believe one has enough knowledge prior to full payment date to decide if they want an OLife package or not.

[Croooser]

Just to muddy the waters - you can also purchase cruise with air but not with O Life. I don't believe that's readily apparent on the website.  We have an upcoming cruise booked that way to take advantage of a favorable Premium Economy rate (pending being able to arrive at mutually satisfactory flights). No O Life for us. YMMV

[LHT28]

42 minutes ago, Croooser said:

Just to muddy the waters - you can also purchase cruise with air but not with O Life. I don't believe that's readily apparent on the website.  We have an upcoming cruise booked that way to take advantage of a favorable Premium Economy rate (pending being able to arrive at mutually satisfactory flights). No O Life for us. YMMV

If/when you can  do the deviation (fee based)  you can choose the time/airline etc

 if you just take the basic  air you are at the mercy of Oceania

 

I would check the price of DIY  then decide if the Oceania air is a good fit your your needs

 

You can check different scenarios if you do an online booking or better still have a TA that is well versed with Oceania booking system

it can get complicated 😉

JMO

[Qruzon]

The Olife package is one that we most always take.

The key is that it includes air as well as the option of OBC,tours...

Air usually gets you there the day of the cruise and you do not get to pick the details.

We have yet to miss a departure.  If the first port was a week away, like a TA, then we would go on our own a day early.

If you want to travel before or stay after, that can be accommodated, but the price will be high.

If you want the olife package and want to buy your own airfare, O will give you a discount.

It amounts to what the cheapest airfare might be.

We usually pick the OBC.  It can be used onboard for tours, drinks and even for gratuities.

We will usually buy a 7 bottle wine package that amounts to $40 per bottle, including gratuities and they will store unfinished bottles for you.

 

The number of tours is by cabin, not by person.

The included tours are the very basic ones.  Think city bus tour for example.

The tours are considered to be expensive, more than what  you could arrange on your own.

 

 

Edited January 31, 2021 by Qruzon

[LHT28]

24 minutes ago, Qruzon said:

The Olife package is one that we most always take.

The key is that it includes air as well as the option of OBC,tours...

 

Just to clarify  O Life   does not include air or internet (everyone gets  1 free internet account per cabin)

You can take the  airfare  you are paying for it

If you do not want the air you can still take the O Life perk

 

The key is to do the math 

 

We always fly in at least 1 day early  & pay the deviation fee  if we use O air

But in most cases we book our own air

 

[Paulchili]

25 minutes ago, Qruzon said:

We usually pick the OBC.  It can be used onboard for tours, drinks and even for gratuities.

It is generally considered  to be the worst option of O Life options. You are essentially prepaying your OBC ahead of the cruise and then you must spend it as it is non refundable.

O values excursions at $100 each. If you pick wisely and excursions that would go for $150 and higher (up to $199) then you are getting more value. Ditto if you choose the drinks provided you drink enough.

33 minutes ago, Qruzon said:

The Olife package is one that we most always take.

The key is that it includes air as well as the option of OBC,tours.

As pointed out above by Lyn, O Life and air are entirely separate items to choose - you can take O Life w/o the air and air w/o O Life.

29 minutes ago, Qruzon said:

The tours are considered to be expensive, more than what  you could arrange on your own.

This assumes that you find few others to share your excursions. If it's a private tour for just the 2 of you, chances are that it will be more expensive than O's price for that tour.

[clo]

6 hours ago, pinotlover said:

Most shore excursions start showing up around 270 days prior to cruising with most all posted by 180 days out. Since that is typically before your payment in full date, I’d suggest browsing those and see how the package included shorex  fit into your lifestyle and travel expectations.

 

Seeing this made me wonder. What if O requires pax to use their shore excursions or not go ashore. I wonder how that will affect the price.

[1985rz1]

8 hours ago, Psoque said:

Based on my previous experience with  cruises at different price points, I'm assuming that most shore excursions of any substance (other than something silly like "we take you to the beach!") would cost more than $100 per person, but what are the typical prices on Oceania, specifically?  Is there any way to look this up somehow.  I am assuming that the excursion prices for 2022 are not set yet, though.

 

Also, what are the typical costs of a drink package if it is purchased separately?  We don't really consume alcohol that much, but we are just curious.

I think other answered most of your question.  The one still left (unless i missed and answer) is what are typical prices for Oceania excursions.  Pre-pandemic, they ranged from around $89 to over $500.  I have seen a few $69 ones, but they were 2 hour see the city bus tours.

 

The $100 to $199 tours tend to be half day, which could mean anything from 2 hours to 6 hours, with coaches as the mode of transportation.  They could be park visits, museum visits, coastal tours to small villages, led by tour guides.  The more expensive ones are longer tours, helicopter rides, etc.

 

We haven't done many ship tours over the years, but recently we tried some out, usually in the $159 to $199 ranges and they have ranged form satisfactory to quite good.  We read the description of the tours in detail and do our own research to pick them.

 

In these cases, we did not pursue private tours because they were either too expensive, since we try to limit "private" tours to 4 or sometime 6 pax, often just the two of us. We find it a pain to arrange tours with others...the more pax, the painful is the process. The other limitation was in unavailability of recommended tour and tour guides. The private tours typically ranged from very good to excellent, but we have had some rather poor tours, especially in the Caribbean.  Our private tours tended to be full day tours.

 

There is also an option to to add to the O-Life tours a number of additional one (the number various with itinerary and port days) to meet the Your World Collection minimum which afford a 25% discount on the additional tours.  Typically we select the$200 to $300 tours for the 25% discount.  They have tended to be very good, but, still, they are (or were, pre-pandemic) groups of 25 or so.

 

I hope this helps.

Edited January 31, 2021 by 1985rz1

[Tedferg]

8 hours ago, LHT28 said:

Prestige Select

Enjoy unlimited premium spirits, Champagne, wine and beer wherever and whenever you wish from $59.95 per guest, per day.

House Select+

Enjoy unlimited Champagne, wine and beer with lunch and dinner from $39.95 per guest, per day.

Why does it say from $39.95. When would it not be $39.95 ? Also assume gratuity is added to this amount ?

[Psoque]

Two more questions:

 

I was told that for $400 that I pay for OLife, we can choose two excursions for two people.  Is there any $$ limit to the "value" of the excursions that we can choose?  If we end up booking more than just two, how does Oceania decide which excursions are paid for by OLife?

 

Also, looking at other threads, I head people booking Air with or without OLife, then booking the flights on their own then asking for "air credit."  How does that work?  It does not make any financial sense to do that, unless I am not understanding this.

 

I haven't even been on my first Oceania cruise but I am not getting a very good feeling about how Oceania is making their price structure complicated and (either intentionally or unintentionally) describing it very poorly on their website.  I don't understand why they have to do this.

Edited February 1, 2021 by Psoque
correctin typo

[YoHoHo]

26 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

Why does it say from $39.95. When would it not be $39.95 ? Also assume gratuity is added to this amount ?

No idea why the word "from". Sort of standard marketing boiler plate but as it implies there is more than one price within that package can add to confusion. 

 

No, the tip (18%) is included so that makes the packages an even better deal, IMHO especially the additional $20 for the upgrade to the "not restricted to meal times and includes a great range of spirits" Prestige package for $20 more (so about $17 pre tip additional)

[1985rz1]

1 hour ago, Psoque said:

Two more questions:

 

I was told that for $400 that I pay for OLife, we can choose two excursions for two people.  Is there any $$ limit to the "value" of the excursions that we can choose?  If we end up booking more than just two, how does Oceania decide which excursions are paid for by OLife?

 

Also, looking at other threads, I head people booking Air with or without OLife, then booking the flights on their own then asking for "air credit."  How does that work?  It does not make any financial sense to do that, unless I am not understanding this.

 

I haven't even been on my first Oceania cruise but I am not getting a very good feeling about how Oceania is making their price structure complicated and (either intentionally or unintentionally) describing it very poorly on their website.  I don't understand why they have to do this.

 

Yes, there is a limit.  Standard excursions $199 or less are included in the O-Life selections.  OE and OS excursion, which tend to be above this limit, are not included.

 

Oceania's web site does a good job on providing the maximum return for O-Life selection, even when you add more.

 

Yes, you can book O-Life without air.  If you add the per person O-Life cost to the cruise only fare, then that is what you pay per person without air.  The difference between that amount and the O-Life with air is the credit you get for not taking the air.

 

Are you working with a TA?  The TA can should be able to explain this fairly succinctly. If you're not working with a TA (no extra cost, but additional benefits if it's a seasoned Oceania TA), you should consider this option.

 

Your posts seem to suggest that you are pre-disposed to a negative impression of Oceania.  I hope that is not true.  It really isn't as complicated as you seem to believe, once you understand their marketing.

[LHT28]

3 hours ago, Tedferg said:

Why does it say from $39.95. When would it not be $39.95 ? Also assume gratuity is added to this amount ?

The IT people   are not paying attention I guess 😉

 

 NO  the gratuity is included in that price

[LHT28]

3 hours ago, Psoque said:

Also, looking at other threads, I head people booking Air with or without OLife, then booking the flights on their own then asking for "air credit."  How does that work?  It does not make any financial sense to do that, unless I am not understanding this.

 

 

Some people just do the cruise only fare  & book their own air  usually cheaper than paying for the air with Oceania

If you want the O life perk  the best one to take as mentioned  is the excursions

usually taking the OBC you are just paying yourself  for a non refundable  credit

 

A TA  well versed in Oceania  marketing is  well worth the effort in searching one out 

 

I do not know why  O makes booking so complicated