Unable to book shore excursions

[Vineyard View]

We are booked on a sailing beginning May 18, 2024. Under our account when I sign in, it shows our shore excursion credits and states that you can book shore excursions up to 365 days ahead. When I click onto shore excursions, it states that ‘due to excursions restrictions you cannot shop at a this time’. This same response has been occurring since our booking. Is this typical?  

[NYAS]

Seems to be working fine now for our June 2024 booking. I notice they have deleted the Unlimited Passport Collection package as an excursion pricing option. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

2 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

We are booked on a sailing beginning May 18, 2024. Under our account when I sign in, it shows our shore excursion credits and states that you can book shore excursions up to 365 days ahead. When I click onto shore excursions, it states that ‘due to excursions restrictions you cannot shop at a this time’. This same response has been occurring since our booking. Is this typical?  

Do the excursions display? If so, do what I strongly recommend (over and over again). NEVER use the Cart to purchase excursions. 
Instead, peruse the most recent Shore Excursions PDF (call O to get the newest one- they’re updated from time to time). Make your list of preferences. Then call O to book them and make sure you get a copy of the pre-purchased shore excursions PDF that your purchase generates. It has all the math you need should changes happen once onboard.

Establishing a working relationship with an O rep for tour purchases gives you their contact info and a valuable resource when you need to change tours pre-cruise. Do this even if you use a TA (your TA will thank you too).

[Vineyard View]

Nothing displays. No excursions whatsoever. That is what is perplexing. My TA is trying to obtain them from Oceania, but so far no luck. For now, I simply want to view what is offered in a couple of ports. 
I will follow your advice and call O directly for assistance. I appreciate your response. Thank you. 

[EJL2023]

11 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

Nothing displays. No excursions whatsoever. That is what is perplexing. My TA is trying to obtain them from Oceania, but so far no luck. For now, I simply want to view what is offered in a couple of ports. 
I will follow your advice and call O directly for assistance. I appreciate your response. Thank you. 

Assuming the Barcelona to Rome? If so, when I look at the cruise and click on the ports it is loading the excursions.  However they are not including the pricing for some reason. But if you just want to see what is being offered it may give you an idea at least. It is odd that there is no pricing. Our cruise for July 2024 includes the pricing. 

Edited July 10, 2023 by EJL2023

[Flatbush Flyer]

38 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

Nothing displays. No excursions whatsoever. That is what is perplexing. My TA is trying to obtain them from Oceania, but so far no luck. For now, I simply want to view what is offered in a couple of ports. 
I will follow your advice and call O directly for assistance. I appreciate your response. Thank you. 

FWIW: I’ve seen that message before and it was long before our cruise dates - perhaps even within the 365 days prior to embark. The easiest way to check is exactly what you’re going to do (which is get the PDF). If the PDF only has Page 1 boilerplate, you have your answer. Either the tours haven’t been loaded OR that cruise’s changeover to the SM pricing (and notation change from YWYW discounted price to the SM one has yet to happen.

[Vineyard View]

Apparently, this is also the first scheduled cruise coming out of dry dock. Which makes me a little nervous. Or maybe FF it hasn’t been loaded with SM. IDK.
And yes, it is the Barcelona to Rome. I would think that if I am logged into my account I could at least view the excursions, so EJL2023 I don’t understand but thank you for letting me know.
I will dig into this later today. Thanks for your responses. 

[LHT28]

Would  just seeing the excursions   for those ports even if you cannot book them yet  work for you?

 

You could click on each port  & then decide what tours you might like  make your list   then call Oceania  & book them

 

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/mediterranean-cruises/barcelona-to-rome-MNA240518/port-valencia-VLC/?voyageday=2&sr=#ports=VLC

 

 

[EJL2023]

On 7/10/2023 at 11:44 AM, Vineyard View said:

Apparently, this is also the first scheduled cruise coming out of dry dock. Which makes me a little nervous. Or maybe FF it hasn’t been loaded with SM. IDK.
And yes, it is the Barcelona to Rome. I would think that if I am logged into my account I could at least view the excursions, so EJL2023 I don’t understand but thank you for letting me know.
I will dig into this later today. Thanks for your responses. 

As also noted above.  Since you just wanted to see what was available, don’t log into your account. Just get to yours and any cruise via the Find a Cruise button.  Once in the desired cruise, click on the various Ports.  

[shepherd really]

On 7/10/2023 at 11:44 AM, Vineyard View said:

Apparently, this is also the first scheduled cruise coming out of dry dock. Which makes me a little nervous. Or maybe FF it hasn’t been loaded with SM. IDK.
And yes, it is the Barcelona to Rome. I would think that if I am logged into my account I could at least view the excursions, so EJL2023 I don’t understand but thank you for letting me know.
I will dig into this later today. Thanks for your responses. 

In case you are not aware, this cruise is included in the current Summer Sale.  The sale price for a B3 (for example) is $1700pp lower than the listed price on the Oceania website.  If you haven't done so already you should contact your TA to reprice it for you.

[Vineyard View]

5 hours ago, EJL2023 said:

As also noted above.  Since you just wanted to see what was available, don’t log into your account. Just get to yours and any cruise via the Find a Cruise button.  Once in the desired cruise, click on the various Ports.  

Thank you we did do that and were able to view excursions. Strange that we can’t see the same when logged in so I appreciate this. 
What would be really helpful would be know what they are charging. We will have a SM credit, but without understanding what that value is against the small group excursions would be helpful. Maybe some who are experienced with these would be able to offer up a general expected price pp range. I am sure that it varies based on the port, but would a max 16 person excursion typically be $300, $400, etc?  Those smaller excursions would be of value to us, so we are trying to determine how to set expectations. 

[Vineyard View]

5 hours ago, shepherd really said:

In case you are not aware, this cruise is included in the current Summer Sale.  The sale price for a B3 (for example) is $1700pp lower than the listed price on the Oceania website.  If you haven't done so already you should contact your TA to reprice it for you.

Thank you. I appreciate this.  I reached out to our TA. She confirmed that she quoted this price to us. It did save an unexpected amount of money over our originally booked same cruise price done the day prior to the SM initiation. 

[EJL2023]

15 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

Thank you we did do that and were able to view excursions. Strange that we can’t see the same when logged in so I appreciate this. 
What would be really helpful would be know what they are charging. We will have a SM credit, but without understanding what that value is against the small group excursions would be helpful. Maybe some who are experienced with these would be able to offer up a general expected price pp range. I am sure that it varies based on the port, but would a max 16 person excursion typically be $300, $400, etc?  Those smaller excursions would be of value to us, so we are trying to determine how to set expectations. 

It is kind of odd prices are not showing and I see the same thing. There is a Barcelona to Rome in May on Sienna that has the same ports and prices. Not sure if any of those would be some of the ports you are interested in. Perhaps check out that cruise. Otherwise it sounds like a good idea to call O and request the pdf with the pricing if they have it yet. This most likely will be the initial Marina cruise after retrofit and perhaps that is reason for delay??  

[Vineyard View]

It is apparently the first sailing after retrofit. I wonder if that should concern me???
I also did not know that Sienna has the same itinerary. That seems strange. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I will look further at that tomorrow. I appreciate this information. 

[EJL2023]

6 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

It is apparently the first sailing after retrofit. I wonder if that should concern me???
I also did not know that Sienna has the same itinerary. That seems strange. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I will look further at that tomorrow. I appreciate this information. 

It is not the same itinerary.  Just has a couple of the same ports so may give you a few ideas on the cost of the OE and OS excursions in at least a couple of your ports.  But as noted best just to call them and see if they have the pdf to send 

[Vineyard View]

Just now, EJL2023 said:

It is not the same itinerary.  Just has a couple of the same ports so may give you a few ideas on the cost of the OE and OS excursions in at least a couple of your ports.  But as noted best just to call them and see if they have the pdf to send 

Thank you so much! 

[EJL2023]

Sorry, Sirena. 

[Vineyard View]

I thank you. Was repeating previous statement. I would think they meant Sirena but haven’t looked into the details. 

[AMHuntFerry]

1 hour ago, Vineyard View said:

Thank you we did do that and were able to view excursions. Strange that we can’t see the same when logged in so I appreciate this. 
What would be really helpful would be know what they are charging.

This method is a bit tedious, but you will be able to gather a good idea of prices:

Go to the regular website (don't log on to your account) and find your cruise. Click on a port where you want to know about excursions. At the bottom right of each excursion is a link that says, "Cruises Visiting This Port". Click on that and pick a cruise that is less than one year away (one similar to your itinerary will be useful if it exists). O often has the same shorex at individual ports, and if the other cruise is the same season as yours, the prices should be similar. Repeat this exercise until you have a list of A-list (and maybe B-list) shorex. By the time you finish doing this, the pdf will probably be published and you'll be cursing me for making you slog through all the clicking and data gathering. 😉

Edited July 12, 2023 by AMHuntFerry

[WESTEAST]

On the subject of shore excursions, we were looking at one of our 2024 cruises that is currently with OLife Shore Excursions selection to see prices and times.  Took a screenshot of what is displayed on the new page for one excursion. We're assuming that SM Package is where the permitted Shore Excursion value is calculated (deducted) along with other selected excursions and if reached the min for the 25% off, the reduced total price will show?  Tour Pricing has nothing stated on the (?) notation so not sure what it means? Haven't tried adding excursions to our cart to analyze further and will call Oceania for an explanation and find out where the OLife excursions will display and have them book once we have made our selections.

[basor]

12 hours ago, WESTEAST said:

On the subject of shore excursions, we were looking at one of our 2024 cruises that is currently with OLife Shore Excursions selection to see prices and times.  Took a screenshot of what is displayed on the new page for one excursion. We're assuming that SM Package is where the permitted Shore Excursion value is calculated (deducted) along with other selected excursions and if reached the min for the 25% off, the reduced total price will show?  Tour Pricing has nothing stated on the (?) notation so not sure what it means? Haven't tried adding excursions to our cart to analyze further and will call Oceania for an explanation and find out where the OLife excursions will display and have them book once we have made our selections.

Tour pricing is the cost of the excursion if you are purchasing less than the minimum (in this case 6) to qualify for the package.

[AMHuntFerry]

15 hours ago, WESTEAST said:

On the subject of shore excursions, we were looking at one of our 2024 cruises that is currently with OLife Shore Excursions selection to see prices and times.  Took a screenshot of what is displayed on the new page for one excursion. We're assuming that SM Package is where the permitted Shore Excursion value is calculated (deducted) along with other selected excursions and if reached the min for the 25% off, the reduced total price will show?  Tour Pricing has nothing stated on the (?) notation so not sure what it means? Haven't tried adding excursions to our cart to analyze further and will call Oceania for an explanation and find out where the OLife excursions will display and have them book once we have made our selections.

You need to get the shore excursion pdf that FF mentions. It will have the details regarding discounts that apply to you under OLife (e.g., the minimum shorex for the YWC 25% discount may be different than the SM minimum). It also has other important information like cancellation rules. Without this document you are flying blind.

[WESTEAST]

7 hours ago, AMHuntFerry said:

You need to get the shore excursion pdf that FF mentions. It will have the details regarding discounts that apply to you under OLife (e.g., the minimum shorex for the YWC 25% discount may be different than the SM minimum). It also has other important information like cancellation rules. Without this document you are flying blind.

We have the Excursion PDF that our TA sent us for this cruise in 2024 when we booked sometime ago and are well versed on the OLife program thanks. It is pre-SM, We went to our online booking to see how excursions were now displayed with SM and that prompted the question.  We also want to see how prices compare, etc.

[AMHuntFerry]

2 hours ago, WESTEAST said:

We have the Excursion PDF that our TA sent us for this cruise in 2024 when we booked sometime ago and are well versed on the OLife program thanks. It is pre-SM, We went to our online booking to see how excursions were now displayed with SM and that prompted the question.  We also want to see how prices compare, etc.

I'm not sure what you are asking then. If you have OLife, the SM info doesn't apply. Use the old rules to choose your Olife shorex. If you also purchase some and qualify for YWC 25% off, you will receive the discount. Everything you need (prices, discounts, etc.) is in the shorex pdf.

 

Actually, I went back and reread your post. Maybe this is the answer you were looking for...(or maybe basor's answer was sufficient)

• Tour Price -as Basor said, this is full price
• Simply More Shore Excursion Package - this is 25% off (so also YWC price)
• Unlimited - N/A for you, but this would be the price with UPC
  I find the Unlimited column handy since shorex that say "N/A" are typically OLife qualifying shorex (haven't seen an exception yet).

Edited July 13, 2023 by AMHuntFerry

[SATaxman]

I booked our Excursions months ago. I just noticed one that looks better to me than the one I booked. It is sold out. Are there waitlists anywhere? I know I can check when I am on the ship; however, this stop is the first day, probably too late to cancel then even if the other one becomes available. First time sailing on Oceania, not sure about the policies for this situation. Thanks