Oceania Shore Excursion Question

[babydrum]

I'd like to know if Oceania Shore Excursions are worth the money.  With SM, we get $1800 of excursion credit, but I don't want to ruin my vacation using it on lousy tours.  I'm specifically interested in the Oceania Magnificent Petra tour if anyone can point me to a review.  Most of the cruise lines that I have used have reviews on the shore excursions page that I've found helpful in avoiding certain tours and for setting expectations. We are on a port intensive cruise so there are some ports that I would normally DIY where I might use the credit but any insight would be helpful.

[GICNJC]

The one constant on O excursions are they are more expensive than purchasing privately.

That said, the reseach you do on the O port tours will determin if appeal to you.  We love the food related ones and find those very good to excellent.  We also watch the time in port to ensure, if we choose a private tour, that there is lots of time to get back aboard before the ship leaves.

[tigerfan75]

10 hours ago, babydrum said:

I'd like to know if Oceania Shore Excursions are worth the money.  With SM, we get $1800 of excursion credit, but I don't want to ruin my vacation using it on lousy tours.  I'm specifically interested in the Oceania Magnificent Petra tour if anyone can point me to a review.  Most of the cruise lines that I have used have reviews on the shore excursions page that I've found helpful in avoiding certain tours and for setting expectations. We are on a port intensive cruise so there are some ports that I would normally DIY where I might use the credit but any insight would be helpful.

We use Ship’s excursions quite often, especially when I do not want to do the detail evaluation of each port on a longer B2B2B sailings. Destination Services use local contractors, so it can be a GREAT experience in one port, and SO-SO in the next.  We also DIY if we know the port requires a more extensive exploration than O’s offerings.  Yes, the O excursions are expensive, but we generally find them well done.

[PelicanLvr]

Babydrum - Have been to Petra on an overnight land tour, not a cruise.  The O tour description seems to cover what you need to see.  Also Petra is a couple of hours drive from the port and you are in Jordan.  We also do alot of DIY shore excursions, but this is not the place for that. 

 

I think it would be smart to use the ship tour.  Petra is one of those once in a lifetime sites that even a less-than-perfect guide will not spoil.  Worry less about the tour reviews here because Petra "speaks for itself". 

 

Suggest you take an hour pre-trip to watch a video and/or read-up about Petra to understand more about it before seeing it.  We find we get so much more out of seeing significant world sites by knowing a bit in advance. 

 

Enjoy Petra, it's spectacular!  Even better than the pictures!

[pinotlover]

1. Avoid all panoramic tours. Nothing but riding around on a bus listening to “ on your left, on your right, blah, blah, blah.

 

2. Due to manpower limitations, Oceania hasn’t done a good job of updating their tour descriptions. This was a common complaint on my last three cruises. Sights shutdown for various reasons, or more recently under crowd sizing restrictions and not available to your bus.

 

3.  The biggest reason we avoid Oceania tours, while some of the tours are excellent and go well? Too high a percentage, especially at the cost, are busts. A percentage of Oceania passengers refuse to read the tour descriptions or specifically pay any attention to the section about mobility. Tours will specifically say one will walk two miles on uneven pavement. People that can’t walk 100 yards sign up expecting to be facilitated. The group stands, and stands, and waits, and waits often being herded back to the bus and ship before seeing all the sights. So you’ve traveled halfway around the world, paid big money, and you’re cut off at the knees by your fellow passengers. Taking mostly 6-8 hour O tours, this is not a 1 in 10 occurrence, but probably closer to a 4-5 in 10 occurrence.

 

4.  Oceania, even after multiple complaints from fellow passengers, allows the same people to trash tours day after day. I’ve seen walkers and wheelchairs in tours where it says they aren’t allowed! I had to help a tour guide carry a passenger about 200 yards because they couldn’t manage it with a wheelchair. I’ll never do that again. 

 

Therefore, if good private options exist, I don’t risk it on O tours. To your question. Petra is an incredible visit. It also involves two long bus rides and extensive walking over uneven terrain. It is exactly the type of tour I would never entrust with Oceania . A large number of private tours, at half Oceania’s price, exist. I would choose one of those.

[babydrum]

Thanks for your responses.  I think for important ports like Petra, I will avoid Oceania tours.  I've been told that they show preference to people taking their tours at tendering ports so I will plan to use some of the credits on those.

[ORV]

Bottom line, you're paying for it anyway, you can't use the money for anything else, you can't book it without the excursion option. I would try to use it all on a private car or private van tour if you're traveling with another couple, if it's offered on the ports or cruise that you're on. Most of the time they offer these tours. 

[shepherd really]

41 minutes ago, ORV said:

Bottom line, you're paying for it anyway, you can't use the money for anything else, you can't book it without the excursion option. I would try to use it all on a private car or private van tour if you're traveling with another couple, if it's offered on the ports or cruise that you're on. Most of the time they offer these tours. 

Those private cars and vans show N/A with Simply more.  It looks like you can't use the credit for that.  

[ORV]

6 minutes ago, shepherd really said:

Those private cars and vans show N/A with Simply more.  It looks like you can't use the credit for that.  

Interesting, I read previously somewhere there were no restrictions. I haven't tried to book one. 

[shepherd really]

11 minutes ago, ORV said:

Interesting, I read previously somewhere there were no restrictions. I haven't tried to book one. 

I already booked up to my SM credit or I'd try to test it to be certain, but it sure looks like that's the case.   They pointedly do not give a SM price.   I guess they don't want people to pool their SM credits and book up all the very profitable private cars without ponying up cash.

Edited August 17, 2023 by shepherd really

[ORV]

4 minutes ago, shepherd really said:

I already booked up to my SM credit or I'd try to test it to be certain, but it sure looks like that's the case.   They pointedly do not give a SM price.   I guess they don't want people to pool their SM credits and bool up all the very profitable private cars without ponying up cash.

I also have used up all my SM credits, what I'm seeing is that you don't get the 25% discount. I'm not sure that means you can't use SM credits to book them if you had them. I have a cruise that will be at 365 days away next week and I have the full complement of credits to use. I'll check it then. 

[LHT28]

28 minutes ago, ORV said:

I also have used up all my SM credits, what I'm seeing is that you don't get the 25% discount. I'm not sure that means you can't use SM credits to book them if you had them. I have a cruise that will be at 365 days away next week and I have the full complement of credits to use. I'll check it then. 

Someone posted that they booked the private car tour   for next year   there was no discount   but it was $1300+  out of their excursion credit

Maybe port  specific  for those tours  or they have  decided not to offer the private  cars  now

I guess  we will have to wait  and see

[Mad Jayhawk]

We booked a few days ago and just about every tour is booked solid.  Is it worthwhile going on the wait list for what maybe, from their description, are quality tours?

 

I second the comments that suggest arranging your own tours through private on-the-dock-vendors.  We have had over 30 cruises and that is the way we do it 90% of the time.  It is funny when we see the ship's tour at the same locations and they have paid considerably more for almost the same thing.

 

Instead of a drive around tour, get transportation to the center of town and walk to nearby places.  We just walk into interesting buildings. If someone stops us we just say we are lost and confused Canadian tourists (we are actually Americans but most people can't tell the difference and everyone loves Canadians).  Everyone always has been nice to us. Did that in New Zealand and found ourselves in a court house so we watched for 30-45 minutes an intense trial that was going on.  Another time we walked into a garden and an old gentleman proudly gave us a personal tour.

Edited August 17, 2023 by Mad Jayhawk
add a word

[WayneLaR]

The private tour options come up for me on a SM Marina TA in April. 

[proton-excitement]

I haven't run into any restrictions so far with the SM credit, and I've booked both a private sailing and snorkeling excursion, as well as one of their all-day culinary discovery excursions.

[the more ports the better]

On 8/16/2023 at 6:30 PM, babydrum said:

I'd like to know if Oceania Shore Excursions are worth the money.  With SM, we get $1800 of excursion credit, but I don't want to ruin my vacation using it on lousy tours.  I'm specifically interested in the Oceania Magnificent Petra tour if anyone can point me to a review.  Most of the cruise lines that I have used have reviews on the shore excursions page that I've found helpful in avoiding certain tours and for setting expectations. We are on a port intensive cruise so there are some ports that I would normally DIY where I might use the credit but any insight would be helpful.

We had 2 days in Petra and Wadi Rum while during our 4 days in Amman.  We used Classic Wadi Rum Tours  classicwadirum@gmail.com.  They were excellent.  They picked us up at the airport, sorted our visas, and picked us up and dropped us off every day.  They do cruise ship tours from Aqaba.  Out Petra guide was fantastic and we had several hours to wander the site after the tour.  I highly recommend!

[LHT28]

3 hours ago, Mad Jayhawk said:

 We just walk into interesting buildings. If someone stops us we just say we are lost and confused Canadian tourists (we are actually Americans but most people can't tell the difference and everyone loves Canadians). 

Most people can tell the difference 🙄

 

 Please  stop giving Canadians  a bad image ...we can do that ourselves  😄

[AMHuntFerry]

@babydrum - just a couple of ideas...

I have had some luck finding some reviews on the NCL website (when there is overlap). If the shorex has the exact same name and exact same description I am guessing they are the same operator.

Also, if you want to use your SM-OBC on one or two high-cost shorex, you can book some inexpensive (e.g. $79 a la carte price) to get the minimum number for 25% off and sometimes pay less than if you just booked the high-cost one(s). In the past I've found shorex like a 2 hour kayak tour, a walking tour, or a HOHO bus that fits the bill.

Edited August 18, 2023 by AMHuntFerry

[babydrum]

9 hours ago, AMHuntFerry said:

@babydrum - just a couple of ideas...

I have had some luck finding some reviews on the NCL website (when there is overlap). If the shorex has the exact same name and exact same description I am guessing they are the same operator.

Also, if you want to use your SM-OBC on one or two high-cost shorex, you can book some inexpensive (e.g. $79 a la carte price) to get the minimum number for 25% off and sometimes pay less than if you just booked the high-cost one(s). In the past I've found shorex like a 2 hour kayak tour, a walking tour, or a HOHO bus that fits the bill.

Thanks, I will check out the NCL website because there may be overlap. I decided to use the Shorex for the tender ports so that we can be assured to get off the ship early enough to enjoy them.  Like Santorini, there will be 6 ships in port.  Fortunately, we will get in port (if the current schedule holds) at 8:00 along with one other ship.  I've cancelled my private tour and booked a Santorini tour that will get us off early.  I've been to Santorini several times so I wanted to see some of the smaller islands but my son hasn't been so this ship tour will give him a great overview.  

[babydrum]

On 8/17/2023 at 9:40 PM, AMHuntFerry said:

@babydrum - just a couple of ideas...

I have had some luck finding some reviews on the NCL website (when there is overlap). If the shorex has the exact same name and exact same description I am guessing they are the same operator.

Also, if you want to use your SM-OBC on one or two high-cost shorex, you can book some inexpensive (e.g. $79 a la carte price) to get the minimum number for 25% off and sometimes pay less than if you just booked the high-cost one(s). In the past I've found shorex like a 2 hour kayak tour, a walking tour, or a HOHO bus that fits the bill.

I checked the NCL website and they do have some of the same titled cruises and at least a review option but most didn't have reviews.  I did find it interesting that the same (or least what seemed to be the same) tours were in many cases significantly cheaper than on O.  I think I found acceptable cruise ship tours to spend my SM on.  These are places I've been before or just don't care about and would not have booked a tour at all.  Mostly tender ports that will hopefully give me a priority on getting off the ship so that I have time to do other things after the tour.  Thanks again everyone!