Cost vs. Benefit of OLife Add-on

[Psoque]

10 hours ago, 1985rz1 said:

 

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.

I have been on a few cruises on multiple lines, on mass market (Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Princess, Holland America), “intermediate” (Windstar), and “luxury” (Crystal) ocean and river cruises, but I find the way Oceania advertises their offering to be a more problematic than others.  This is not a criticism of the Oceania product as a whole, or for that matter a criticism of people who have enjoyed their product.  Obviously, I can’t make that type of an assessment since I haven’t experienced the product yet.

 

I am just complaining that many of the cruise lines (and other businesses) are using marketing PR, especially on their website, to give a misleading or exaggerated impression about the value of the products they offer.  I think Oceania is offering a reasonable product through their OLife promotion (especially if the option not to buy airfare from Oceania is excercised).  If that’s the case, Oceania should make that option very obvious on their website.  A few example of misleading/ambiguous language in the website includes:  1) making it look like purchase of airfare is linked to OLife benefits. 2) OLife gives you “free” shore excursions, instead of the program is more like a advance payment/discount program (still a potentially good deal to many without the hype) 3) Not making clear “free internet” is part of the “cruise only” benefits, and 4) Burying the information that “free unlimited internet” only gives one log-in per cabin.  Another example of misleading marketing is having a “brochure price” set on each cruise.  Oceania is not the only company that does this, but it is really misleading, when the “brochure price” is a rather arbitrary price that NOBODY pays.  Some may call it “clever marketing,” but I call it something less palatable.

 

Oceania is really making OLife unclear to understand on the website and for that, they win the cake.

 

Almost without exception, I have been working with a travel agent who has been working with me for many years, and he books a lot of cruises with Oceania.  But as long as Oceania has a “customer facing” marketing website, they should make the information there also less misleading.

 

I may still book a cruise with Oceania, but Oceania and other companies should reconsider how they interface with their customers, especially now when they need all the goodwill from their potential customers.

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, Psoque said:

I have been on a few cruises on multiple lines, on mass market (Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Princess, Holland America), “intermediate” (Windstar), and “luxury” (Crystal) ocean and river cruises, but I find the way Oceania advertises their offering to be a more problematic than others.  This is not a criticism of the Oceania product as a whole, or for that matter a criticism of people who have enjoyed their product.  Obviously, I can’t make that type of an assessment since I haven’t experienced the product yet.

 

I am just complaining that many of the cruise lines (and other businesses) are using marketing PR, especially on their website, to give a misleading or exaggerated impression about the value of the products they offer.  I think Oceania is offering a reasonable product through their OLife promotion (especially if the option not to buy airfare from Oceania is excercised).  If that’s the case, Oceania should make that option very obvious on their website.  A few example of misleading/ambiguous language in the website includes:  1) making it look like purchase of airfare is linked to OLife benefits. 2) OLife gives you “free” shore excursions, instead of the program is more like a advance payment/discount program (still a potentially good deal to many without the hype) 3) Not making clear “free internet” is part of the “cruise only” benefits, and 4) Burying the information that “free unlimited internet” only gives one log-in per cabin.  Another example of misleading marketing is having a “brochure price” set on each cruise.  Oceania is not the only company that does this, but it is really misleading, when the “brochure price” is a rather arbitrary price that NOBODY pays.  Some may call it “clever marketing,” but I call it something less palatable.

 

Oceania is really making OLife unclear to understand on the website and for that, they win the cake.

 

Almost without exception, I have been working with a travel agent who has been working with me for many years, and he books a lot of cruises with Oceania.  But as long as Oceania has a “customer facing” marketing website, they should make the information there also less misleading.

 

I may still book a cruise with Oceania, but Oceania and other companies should reconsider how they interface with their customers, especially now when they need all the goodwill from their potential customers.

 I do not disagree with your assessment on their marketing hype

Many of us have discussed the 2 for 1  marketing deal  & I do wish they  would drop that advertising  it is misleading

But many other lines use deceptive or things hidden in the fine print  to market their product

JMO

 

[1985rz1]

2 hours ago, Psoque said:

I have been on a few cruises on multiple lines, on mass market (Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Princess, Holland America), “intermediate” (Windstar), and “luxury” (Crystal) ocean and river cruises, but I find the way Oceania advertises their offering to be a more problematic than others.  This is not a criticism of the Oceania product as a whole, or for that matter a criticism of people who have enjoyed their product.  Obviously, I can’t make that type of an assessment since I haven’t experienced the product yet.

 

I am just complaining that many of the cruise lines (and other businesses) are using marketing PR, especially on their website, to give a misleading or exaggerated impression about the value of the products they offer.  I think Oceania is offering a reasonable product through their OLife promotion (especially if the option not to buy airfare from Oceania is excercised).  If that’s the case, Oceania should make that option very obvious on their website.  A few example of misleading/ambiguous language in the website includes:  1) making it look like purchase of airfare is linked to OLife benefits. 2) OLife gives you “free” shore excursions, instead of the program is more like a advance payment/discount program (still a potentially good deal to many without the hype) 3) Not making clear “free internet” is part of the “cruise only” benefits, and 4) Burying the information that “free unlimited internet” only gives one log-in per cabin.  Another example of misleading marketing is having a “brochure price” set on each cruise.  Oceania is not the only company that does this, but it is really misleading, when the “brochure price” is a rather arbitrary price that NOBODY pays.  Some may call it “clever marketing,” but I call it something less palatable.

 

Oceania is really making OLife unclear to understand on the website and for that, they win the cake.

 

Almost without exception, I have been working with a travel agent who has been working with me for many years, and he books a lot of cruises with Oceania.  But as long as Oceania has a “customer facing” marketing website, they should make the information there also less misleading.

 

I may still book a cruise with Oceania, but Oceania and other companies should reconsider how they interface with their customers, especially now when they need all the goodwill from their potential customers.

Like LHT28, I don't like Oceania's two for one marketing hype,  but I've learned to ignore it.  As for the conflating of free internet, included airfare and the O-Life options, Oceania's market strategy is a mess.  But once I learned how to interpret it, it has become only a minor annoyance that is easy for me to tolerate as Oceania is a good product that I enjoy.  And once the strategy for maximizing the benefit of O-Life options is understood, they can offer an additional value.  

 

But that's me, and if these quirks are an anathema to you, they could degrade your overall Oceania experience. 

 

I hope you keep looking at Oceania as an option, but if their convoluted  marketing is continues to negatively color your overall cruise experience, then it's probably best you don't sail them.  

[Tedferg]

3 hours ago, Psoque said:

I may still book a cruise with Oceania, but Oceania and other companies should reconsider how they interface with their customers, especially now when they need all the goodwill from their potential customers.

I tend to be picky of website interfaces, mostly just a small annoyance but it is irritating to see a poorly designed website. Even worse if it is deemed a marketing ploy to imply a non existent advantage. I was trying to compare prices for Princess, Celebrity and other lines - not O in this case. On RCI I could not tell if Drink package was included and if not how much it cost. I was advised on the RCI board that you have to make a booking before you can see such things in their Cruise Planner. I was only including RCI for completeness and their quirky website cooled my interest. A little off topic but does relate to ease of use of website.

[Psoque]

5 minutes ago, 1985rz1 said:

Like LHT28, I don't like Oceania's two for one marketing hype,  but I've learned to ignore it.  As for the conflating of free internet, included airfare and the O-Life options, Oceania's market strategy is a mess.  But once I learned how to interpret it, it has become only a minor annoyance that is easy for me to tolerate as Oceania is a good product that I enjoy.  And once the strategy for maximizing the benefit of O-Life options is understood, they can offer an additional value.  

 

But that's me, and if these quirks are an anathema to you, they could degrade your overall Oceania experience. 

 

I hope you keep looking at Oceania as an option, but if their convoluted  marketing is continues to negatively color your overall cruise experience, then it's probably best you don't sail them.  

As I made very clear earlier, the less than palatable marketing strategy by Oceania has not, or for that matter continued to form my overall impression of the potential cruising experience with Oceania.  I’m just making a constructive criticism regarding this issue because I know the cruise lines do read what we post here.

 

And I appreciate your advice in the last sentence, but I don’t think I need it.

[Ken the cruiser]

17 hours ago, 1985rz1 said:

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.

A few additional notes regarding the YWC minimum excursion requirement to get the 25% off. If you choose the OLife excursion option, those "free" excursions count towards your YWC minimum requirement. In other words, if you each prebook 2 OLife excursions and the minimum is 4 each (depending on the itinerary) to qualify for the YWC discount, you will only need to prebook 2 additional excursions each to reap the 25% discount off all of your prepaid excursions. Also, keep in mind the YWC discount only applies when you prebook your excursions before the cruise. 

[Psoque]

24 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

A few additional notes regarding the YWC minimum excursion requirement to get the 25% off. If you choose the OLife excursion option, those "free" excursions count towards your YWC minimum requirement. In other words, if you each prebook 2 OLife excursions and the minimum is 4 each (depending on the itinerary) to qualify for the YWC discount, you will only need to prebook 2 additional excursions each to reap the 25% discount off all of your prepaid excursions. Also, keep in mind the YWC discount only applies when you prebook your excursions before the cruise. 

Thanks for your helpful information.  As a follow-up to your information, what happens if your OLife excursions get cancelled (skipped ports, bad weather, cruise not happening, etc.)?   Also, what is the Oceania policy about refunds on prepaid (non-OLife) excursions...it appear they can be cancelled up to embarkation day.

Edited February 1, 2021 by Psoque
More info

[LHT28]

25 minutes ago, Psoque said:

Thanks for your helpful information.  As a follow-up to your information, what happens if your OLife excursions get cancelled (skipped ports, bad weather, cruise not happening, etc.)?   Also, what is the Oceania policy about refunds on prepaid (non-OLife) excursions...it appear they can be cancelled up to embarkation day.

In the past if  O Life excursion is cancelled by the cruise line  you can book an alternative tour if available  or $100 non refundable OBC is give

the terms for cancelling tours  is in the guest contract  & can be found on the website

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/legal/ticket-contract/

 Other  FAQ can be found  at

https://oceaniacruises.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, Psoque said:

Thanks for your helpful information.  As a follow-up to your information, what happens if your OLife excursions get cancelled (skipped ports, bad weather, cruise not happening, etc.)?   Also, what is the Oceania policy about refunds on prepaid (non-OLife) excursions...it appear they can be cancelled up to embarkation day.

If we canceled any excursions prior to a cruise (not sure when that cut-off date is), the refund would be placed back on our credit card. In addition if necessary, we would also "rebook" some of the prepaid excursions while onboard if we had any nonrefundable OBC placed in our account, such as from our TA or from OLife excursions cancelled early on in the cruise. The latter happened once when we were on a long Med cruise a few years ago when they missed some ports where we had an OLife excursion booked. Doesn't happen too often, but it was a nice way to "launder" our nonrefundable OBC as we already had free gratuities included from our TA.

[YoHoHo]

1 hour ago, Psoque said:

Thanks for your helpful information.  As a follow-up to your information, what happens if your OLife excursions get cancelled (skipped ports, bad weather, cruise not happening, etc.)?   Also, what is the Oceania policy about refunds on prepaid (non-OLife) excursions...it appear they can be cancelled up to embarkation day.

If O cancels an excursion while you are on the cruise you get a credit back to your on-board account if you paid for it by credit card or OBC. If the OBC used to purchase the excusrion was then so is the credit. 

If the excursion was from the O-Life amenity, none of which have a refundable in cash value,  then they credit $100 back to your account - not the price of the excursion you booked and not unfortunately as a credit for a different excursion.  I'd expect that credit to be not refundable. So basically it becomes the same as choosing OBC as your amenity for that one $100 purchase.

[GeorgesGal]

Something else to consider:  All specialty coffees without spirits in them are included in O's basic fare, as well as teas and soft drinks.

[LB_NJ]

We went on one NYC to Bermuda cruise and really loved it, really great food (we got 2 specialty restaurants for free).  My only complaint is that I wish they did the cruise in late May or June instead of July. This was pre-COVID so no idea what it will be like now. 

 

We took the basic fare since it made the most sense for us.  We are not big drinkers so the alcohol package didn't work for us.  Also, they pretty much allowed you to bring on lots of wine.  Basically anything non-alcoholic is free (You basically get what Royal C calls a refreshment package included).  We live near NYC so airfare had no value to us.  Bermuda is easy to do on your own so excursions not much value.  My impression is that they overcharge a little for the excursions.

 

If I go on another one of their cruises I would just get the basic fare.

 

BTW, at the time we booked if you had a higher end Amex card they would through some OBC at you

[samiam99]

I booked for January of 2022 of a 20 day South American cruise of 20 days. I picked olife with air as when I booked airline travel was unstable, especially that far out. I just booked my own air this week and get a 1400.00 dollar price reduction per person for air or 2800.00. I looked at cruise only price and took off air and 400 onboard credit and it was the exact amount. So its a wash at least on my particular itinerary. You might come out ahead if you use it on shore excursions , but most of the ones I booked were above the 199.00 price point so I booked 5 that I wanted and got a 25% reduction and used my shipboard credit for those and paid the difference. Anyway I figured it there was not enough difference to worry about so hope this helps. Have a great trip. Sam

[pinotlover]

On our planned November cruise there is exactly one all day tour (7.5 hrs) for $199 which can be booked with OLife. Most tours are 2-4.5 hr tours priced at $129-$169. Most of those are listed on Trip Advisor/Viator for $50 - $80 each. Even with a 25% discount they are not deals. 
 

One of my favorite listings is Oceania taking you down to a hotel beach where you can use one of their umbrellas. Cost $129 each for a partial day at the beach. Hell of a deal! 😂 Would you feel better with a 25% discount? 🤔

 

We do partake of Oceania shorex at times, however we never feel like we got a good deal, usually as an only option.

 

Buyer beware .

[edgee]

1 hour ago, pinotlover said:

On our planned November cruise there is exactly one all day tour (7.5 hrs) for $199 which can be booked with OLife. Most tours are 2-4.5 hr tours priced at $129-$169. Most of those are listed on Trip Advisor/Viator for $50 - $80 each. Even with a 25% discount they are not deals. 
 

One of my favorite listings is Oceania taking you down to a hotel beach where you can use one of their umbrellas. Cost $129 each for a partial day at the beach. Hell of a deal! 😂 Would you feel better with a 25% discount? 🤔

 

We do partake of Oceania shorex at times, however we never feel like we got a good deal, usually as an only option.

 

Buyer beware .

We went with Olife without air for a 2022 cruise. Since one of us drinks zero alcohol, we were planning on choosing the excursion benefit. Even though it is a long cruise with many excursions, we could not find enough  excursions to our liking that were included in O life. I changed to the $800 cruise credit instead of cancelling the Olife. I will get a small benefit because my TA rebates her commission at just under 10% of the fare..so keeping Olife with the cruise credit will add about $80 to my rebate. Disappointed I could not find more value using Olife.

[Qruzon]

Talk about misleading advertising.

Other cruise lines quote fares that does not include port and other taxes.  On O they are part of the fare.

 

To the question of $39/day for Beveridge package, it can be more($59?) if you include premium wines and liquors.   We do not drink that much, but like wine for dinner.  Onboard, you can buy a 7 bottle package @47 per bottle including gratuities.

 That serves us for most of the cruise.  By the glass is also available.

 

With Olife, if you can buy airfare cheaper or you want to pick details, O will give you a credit.

One plus with the Olife airfare is that if there is a problem, O will try to get you there in time.

 

The Olife credit might as well be a cash discount.

After we use it for gratuities and liquor, there may be enough left for a tour.

[ORV]

1 hour ago, Qruzon said:

Talk about misleading advertising.

Other cruise lines quote fares that does not include port and other taxes.  On O they are part of the fare.

 

To the question of $39/day for Beveridge package, it can be more($59?) if you include premium wines and liquors.   We do not drink that much, but like wine for dinner.  Onboard, you can buy a 7 bottle package @47 per bottle including gratuities.

 That serves us for most of the cruise.  By the glass is also available.

 

With Olife, if you can buy airfare cheaper or you want to pick details, O will give you a credit.

One plus with the Olife airfare is that if there is a problem, O will try to get you there in time.

 

The Olife credit might as well be a cash discount.

After we use it for gratuities and liquor, there may be enough left for a tour.

Look around and you'll find a Travel Agency that will pick up gratuities, plus some other stuff. Or just cruise 10 times with them and it's covered. 

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, Qruzon said:

Talk about misleading advertising.

Other cruise lines quote fares that does not include port and other taxes.  On O they are part of the fare.

 

 

maybe it is the other lines that are misleading 😄

 You look at the fare  then when you book there is  an added charge  of port taxes & fees to that cheap fare 

Just depends how you look at things 😉

 

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

maybe it is the other lines that are misleading 😄

This ^^^^^ . 

How anyone could call O's policy of advertising its bottom line fares including all taxes and fees to be misleading is beyond me. 

"You mislead me ! You quoted the actual total cost !! " Really??? 🤣

 

Although in fairness the poster could have meant that it's other lines that are misleading and just didn't word it that clearly. I can see how the post could be read either way, but I did read it the same way you did.

Edited June 4, 2021 by njhorseman

[Host Jazzbeau]

I wish ALL cruise lines were forced to include the taxes and fees in their headline prices.  But I also wish the fake 'two for one' pricing was illegal.

[Ken the cruiser]

5 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I wish ALL cruise lines were forced to include the taxes and fees in their headline prices.  But I also wish the fake 'two for one' pricing was illegal.

OTOH when we missed 4 ports on the last O cruise we went on in 2018, O kept those port fees, as they were included in the base fare. On every other cruise line we've sailed with where we missed a port, those fees were returned to us as refundable credit in our onboard account. I'm not complaing, just stating a fact.

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

OTOH when we missed 4 ports on the last O cruise we went on in 2018, O kept those port fees, as they were included in the base fare. On every other cruise line we've sailed with where we missed a port, those fees were returned to us as refundable credit in our onboard account. I'm not complaing, just stating a fact.

I think that's a different issue.  Those fees should be spelled out when you get to the payment page [as airlines do – they used to quote fares without the fees, but when they were forced to roll the fees into the headline fare they decided to split them out to show how 'little' they keep from your fare...], and then Oceania should refund them when ports are skipped w/o replacement.  That's another annoying policy of Oceania [along with charging credit cards through an offshore bank so that many US customers get hit with foreign transaction fees that don't even enrich Oceania – do they still do that?]

[njhorseman]

49 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

along with charging credit cards through an offshore bank so that many US customers get hit with foreign transaction fees that don't even enrich Oceania – do they still do that?

I've not had that happen on Oceania.

[ORV]

51 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

That's another annoying policy of Oceania [along with charging credit cards through an offshore bank so that many US customers get hit with foreign transaction fees that don't even enrich Oceania – do they still do tha

I think they haven't done that in years. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

Just now, njhorseman said:

I've not had that happen on Oceania.

Good to know.  I avoided the issue by using Amex.