WE MADE THE SWITCH TO SIMPLY MORE! A PERFECT FIT FOR US!

[MEFIowa]

13 minutes ago, ORV said:

Hey, thanks for letting us know that valuable information. I don't think I've ever seen you post that here before. 🙄

Odd that you comment to me since I'm responding to someone else's comment & request for information; nothing to do with you. So feel free to skip over comments and threads you don't find informative. Trust me, I do. And that includes some of your postings.

 

BUT just booked the Aug 28-Sept 9th 2024 cruise in the Baltic as the B2B for the previous one booked in 2022 from Sept 9-19. Both on Sirena. That original one just not going on the 2023 sales. This one did, the Summer Sale. So, 12 nights in an F right now. Hope to upgrade one or both after this in the future!

Edited July 10, 2023 by MEFIowa
Added a clarifying comment

[shepherd really]

6 minutes ago, ORV said:

Hey, thanks for letting us know that valuable information. I don't think I've ever seen you post that here before. 🙄

In a related vein, I'm going to miss the repeated cut and pastes of why Olife excursions are the best choice...

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, SATaxman said:

We booked our first O cruise directly with O. Very helpful person. I asked about Simply More, and he told me that we have the best deal on our cruise. Is that because it is totally sold out and waitlisted? I am not sure if others who have posted their gazillion dollar savings were booked on waitlisted cruises, or if there were cabin/suites available to "re-book" at the lower price. Thanks everyone.

I think the SM switch is not the same as  a SALE  deal with cabins  wait listed

 

Oceania would be happy to may more money  on the SM  deal

 

 I would call and ask again if you are interested in the SM deal

[stonepebble]

4 hours ago, SATaxman said:

We booked our first O cruise directly with O. Very helpful person. I asked about Simply More, and he told me that we have the best deal on our cruise. Is that because it is totally sold out and waitlisted? I am not sure if others who have posted their gazillion dollar savings were booked on waitlisted cruises, or if there were cabin/suites available to "re-book" at the lower price. Thanks everyone.

We did not get any savings by switching to SM. 

Our cruise was almost sold out when we booked. So there will be no sale on it!!

But we did book a cabin....we were not waitlisted.

It was actually $800 (total-$400/pp) more out of pocket to switch to the SM program.

We just think with the added internet which we would have purchased, included wine at dinner (really hoping they have good wines by the glass!), and the fact that we will do some Oceania excursions (we tend to only like the expensive ones!) we will end up saving a bit!

And we may as well try it as it will be the only way going forward!

Chris

Edited July 10, 2023 by stonepebble

[TFree]

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

I think the SM switch is not the same as  a SALE  deal with cabins  wait listed

 

Oceania would be happy to may more money  on the SM  deal

 

 I would call and ask again if you are interested in the SM deal

Right.  As I have reported elsewhere, our November 3 Vista Panama Canal cruise is wait listed in all categories.  When our TA first called Oceania to inquire about whether we could switch to SM and if so, for how much, she was told no, because of the cruise being waitlisted.  But after checking with a supervisor, the TA was called back to say after getting supervisor approval, that we could switch for $798 ($399 per person).  This was not a great deal, but good enough, all things considered, to make the switch in our case.  It appears, based on our experience and that of others who have reported the same thing, that you can switch a sold out booking to SM, but it requires the approval of a supervisor.

 

Tom & Judy

[EJL2023]

5 minutes ago, TFree said:

Right.  As I have reported elsewhere, our November 3 Vista Panama Canal cruise is wait listed in all categories.  When our TA first called Oceania to inquire about whether we could switch to SM and if so, for how much, she was told no, because of the cruise being waitlisted.  But after checking with a supervisor, the TA was called back to say after getting supervisor approval, that we could switch for $798 ($399 per person).  This was not a great deal, but good enough, all things considered, to make the switch in our case.  It appears, based on our experience and that of others who have reported the same thing, that you can switch a sold out booking to SM, but it requires the approval of a supervisor.

 

Tom & Judy

Perhaps at the beginning all changes are/were requiring supervisor sign off. When we called to change for a cruise in July 2024, our O rep said we would be able to do it but she had to send it to her supervisor for final approval/processing.  We then received all the updated information within an hour.  Our cruise and specifically our category was not wait listed. 

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, stonepebble said:

We did not get any savings by switching to SM. 

 

Probably because your cruise is not  listed in the Summer Sale

 There seem to be 2  different  topics here

the summer sale & the Simply More  program

[Hlitner]

Just got off the phone with our cruise agent, and it sounds like switching to SM is a no brainer (for us).  We had originally booked a 35 day cruise and chose our o-life option as the basic drink package (lunch/dinner).  If we change to SM, our cruise price will increase $200...but we will get $1600 in shore excursion credits + the 2nd Internet account.  Even though we are not big fans of cruise line excursions, we will manage to find a few excursions to use that credit.

 

Hank

[SATaxman]

5 hours ago, LHT28 said:

I think the SM switch is not the same as  a SALE  deal with cabins  wait listed

 

Oceania would be happy to may more money  on the SM  deal

 

 I would call and ask again if you are interested in the SM deal

Thanks

[patty1955]

I just called and added Simply More to our TA in 4/2025. $700 more per person but we make that up with the excursions. I found it curious that both my email contact at Oceania and their phone customer service, made a point of commenting that it was "significantly higher" than the original price. 

[jakes47]

2 months ago we saw a $3500AUD pp reduction in our 32 day 2025 cruise. Our TA was able to change to the cheaper fare.  Now Simply More has come out and it feels like we have had another win as we usually do a mixture of O and private tours and pay for the basic beverage package so for the extra $1000 pp cost of SM we are ahead again and very grateful.

I noticed on the Ausie O web site it says SM includes Specialty Dinning - which seems a little odd as Specialty Dining has always been included , so has Gratuities for Australians. I am wondering if down the track, those that opt out of SM will have to pay for Specialty Dinning? 

[basor]

27 minutes ago, jakes47 said:

 

2 months ago we saw a $3500AUD pp reduction in our 32 day 2025 cruise. Our TA was able to change to the cheaper fare.  Now Simply More has come out and it feels like we have had another win as we usually do a mixture of O and private tours and pay for the basic beverage package so for the extra $1000 pp cost of SM we are ahead again and very grateful.

I noticed on the Ausie O web site it says SM includes Specialty Dinning - which seems a little odd as Specialty Dining has always been included , so has Gratuities for Australians. I am wondering if down the track, those that opt out of SM will have to pay for Specialty Dinning? 

As others have said, the explanation for all that is included with SM is for new to Oceania that may be unfamiliar with the O product.  O wants to be clear as to what all is included for no extra charge when onboard an O ship

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, jakes47 said:

 

. I am wondering if down the track, those that opt out of SM will have to pay for Specialty Dinning? 

down the track you cannot OPT out of SM

 It is Marketing  just like free air

[stonepebble]

2 hours ago, jakes47 said:

 

2 months ago we saw a $3500AUD pp reduction in our 32 day 2025 cruise. Our TA was able to change to the cheaper fare.  Now Simply More has come out and it feels like we have had another win as we usually do a mixture of O and private tours and pay for the basic beverage package so for the extra $1000 pp cost of SM we are ahead again and very grateful.

I noticed on the Ausie O web site it says SM includes Specialty Dinning - which seems a little odd as Specialty Dining has always been included , so has Gratuities for Australians. I am wondering if down the track, those that opt out of SM will have to pay for Specialty Dinning? 

So glad that SM is going to work for you, like us.

It is going to be the program moving forward. As long as the wine with dinner (we don't drink wine at lunch) is a good selection, SM will be a good program for us. 

I feel certain they will continue with the free specialty restaurants...it is Oceania's claim to fame...The Finest Cuisine at Sea!

Chris

 

[Lenbro1944]

Just another example of how SM and summer sale works out to be better pricing than booking the we made February 2023 for cruise on Vista August 2024. Since we booked pretty early and got free 20th anniversary $600 ship board credits we got a pretty good deal. Under SM and summer sale the cabin costs were about the same. We lose our anniversary ship board credits but get $800 excursion credits to make up for that. We now have the beer and wine package and an extra free WiFi. The big savings is now we get air included that we excluded from the original booking. Although we will be upgrading to business class, I calculated that this saves us $1500 per person over what business class would have cost us before. Just my savings. As stated everyone needs do their own math but if you get both SM and summer savings it probably will be a savings.

[LHT28]

21 minutes ago, Lenbro1944 said:

Although we will be upgrading to business class, I calculated that this saves us $1500 per person over what business class would have cost us before. Just my savings. As stated everyone needs do their own math but if you get both SM and summer savings it probably will be a savings.

Have you checked what Oceania will charge you for BIZ class ?

 

 

[Lenbro1944]

$3798 person round trip.

[LHT28]

3 minutes ago, Lenbro1944 said:

$3798 person round trip.

How does that compare to what you can get on your own??

[Lenbro1944]

I think much more. Recently saw $7000 one way per person for business. I’d keep on checking but when it starts that high I can’t believe it will become reasonable.

See lots of people who say they booked themselves. If someone knows where I can get cheaper fights let me know.

[clairol]

15 hours ago, LHT28 said:

down the track you cannot OPT out of SM

 It is Marketing  just like free air

But you can opt out of the "free air" by getting a air credit, right?

[1985rz1]

29 minutes ago, clairol said:

But you can opt out of the "free air" by getting a air credit, right?

Yes.

[Lenbro1944]

I’m not sure. You could with Olife. You can book a dummy fare on line without air on simply more sailings and see.

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, clairol said:

But you can opt out of the "free air" by getting a air credit, right?

YES

 new bookings  you can get SM  with the air  or SM without the air

[clairol]

7 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

YES

 new bookings  you can get SM  with the air  or SM without the air

Sorry, my response was confusing. Lost in translation. I know you can because, well, we did. 😉 I was just noting it is not really "marketing" like the free air because you can opt out of the air whereas you cannot (or will not be able to) opt out of SM. 

[LHT28]

4 minutes ago, clairol said:

Sorry, my response was confusing. Lost in translation. I know you can because, well, we did. 😉 I was just noting it is not really "marketing" like the free air because you can opt out of the air whereas you cannot (or will not be able to) opt out of SM. 

yes  you are correct 

bad example on my part

 How about   Marketing as in 2 for 1  😉

 

Just more BS  IMO