Simply More

[Vineyard View]

I don’t know anything about half  being used for excursions. I was just saying that of the total excursion credit, half of the total amount was under me, and half under my husband. I was told it could only be used for excursions. The ability to use for a cabana is new news to me. I am interested in how that rolls out, because if you can use some for a cabana, then it has turned into an OBC, which I was told could not occur. 

[shepherd really]

6 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

I don’t know anything about half  being used for excursions. I was just saying that of the total excursion credit, half of the total amount was under me, and half under my husband. I was told it could only be used for excursions. The ability to use for a cabana is new news to me. I am interested in how that rolls out, because if you can use some for a cabana, then it has turned into an OBC, which I was told could not occur. 

There are no cabanas on O ships.  There are cabanas for rent on the NCLH owned islands like Harvest Caye.  Are you conflating two different things?

[Vineyard View]

10 minutes ago, shepherd really said:

There are no cabanas on O ships.  There are cabanas for rent on the NCLH owned islands like Harvest Caye.  Are you conflating two different things?

Could be as I do not know. I did not realize that the cabana discussion was for off ship. So if renting a cabana on a private NCLH island would be classified as an excursion then that clarifies my confusion. Thank you for helping me out here shepherd really! 

[Woofa]

Okay so may need some confirmation on this one as SM is new. I do show that Harvest Caye in Belize has a private Cabana rental for $259 but it also says on the bottom "Price listed is per cabana, not per person, therefore, only one person needs to reserve the cabana.". You would think that O has not yet gotten the kinks out of the new SM system for an excursion such as this.  

[pinotlover]

May be more complicated. I don’t believe the cabana is included in any tour prices. You can have a cabana if you choose to pay separately for it. Therefore it is an extra not included in the SM credit, thus requiring a charge to your account. It would be the same as taking a tour without lunch provided. It’ll be there if you choose , but you must pay separately. Not chargeable under SM.

[AMHuntFerry]

4 hours ago, pinotlover said:

May be more complicated. I don’t believe the cabana is included in any tour prices. You can have a cabana if you choose to pay separately for it. Therefore it is an extra not included in the SM credit, thus requiring a charge to your account. It would be the same as taking a tour without lunch provided. It’ll be there if you choose , but you must pay separately. Not chargeable under SM.

In the past they (cabanas, villas, etc.) have been shorex. Here's a sample from Harvest Caye:

and Great Stirrup Cay:

[Hambagahle]

We originally booked with the OLife programme.  When Simply More came out out TA pointed out that switching to it would save us a little money on the excursions  (USD6 !) but that should we wish to add on the Full Beverage package it would save us a lot.  Since we normally do that we switched.  The daily rate under the old programme was around USD70 per person.  The rate we have with Simply More is more like USD 30 pp.   Makes a difference...

[rbtan]

We just think the SM is a waste of money. We always do better selecting our own flights. For excursions, we generally have been to nearly all the Caribbean islands. Only a few specific ones do we use the ship board(such as the river tubing on Dominica) Why pay so much extra if doesn't interest you? It the reason we always refused the former set up. Just a waste for us,.We don't purchase beverage packages etc.as we don't drink that much to make it worth our while.

Edited October 6, 2023 by rbtan
additions

[edgee]

1 hour ago, rbtan said:

We just think the SM is a waste of money. We always do better selecting our own flights. For excursions, we generally have been to nearly all the Caribbean islands. Only a few specific ones do we use the ship board(such as the river tubing on Dominica) Why pay so much extra if doesn't interest you? It the reason we always refused the former set up. Just a waste for us,.We don't purchase beverage packages etc.as we don't drink that much to make it worth our while.

Not sure meaning of your post mentioning flights. SM has nothing to do with flights as you have option to purchase cruise without flights. Understand point about not wishing to be forced to pay for alchohol and excursions.

 

[Victoria51]

Does anyone know, on the next sailings has everyone been changed over to Simply More…or have some stayed on their original bookings with OLife and will just buy their own excursions and beverage packages?  
 

[edgee]

45 minutes ago, Victoria51 said:

Does anyone know, on the next sailings has everyone been changed over to Simply More…or have some stayed on their original bookings with OLife and will just buy their own excursions and beverage packages?  
 

No one is changed over to SM "automatically." Bookings made under old pricing remain the same unless passenger chooses to change the booking to SM.

[osandomir]

I believe that SM would make financial sense for Oceania only if everyone pays this price for the future bookings. If they offer lower price without package for some the SM price should go up for others. Obviously, it’s not something that Oceania is looking to do.

[1985rz1]

2 hours ago, Victoria51 said:

Does anyone know, on the next sailings has everyone been changed over to Simply More…or have some stayed on their original bookings with OLife and will just buy their own excursions and beverage packages?  
 

We have changed to SM on one cruise in the future and kept OLife on 2 others.  These are cruises through 2024.

Edited October 7, 2023 by 1985rz1

[shepherd really]

11 hours ago, 1985rz1 said:

We have changed to SM on one cruise in the future and kept OLife on 2 others.  These are cruises through 2024.

I have a cruise in 5/25 that is still Olife.  I would not be shocked if O "converted" that one to SM between now and then, just to make things more manageable. 

Both scenarios are acceptable if no additional charges are incurred for SM.

[Elbig]

1 minute ago, shepherd really said:

I have a cruise in 5/25 that is still Olife.  I would not be shocked if O "converted" that one to SM between now and then, just to make things more manageable. 

Both scenarios are acceptable if no additional charges are incurred for SM.

My 2025 cruise cost less with SM than the Olife version. It was a no brainer to switch. 

[shepherd really]

2 minutes ago, Elbig said:

My 2025 cruise cost less with SM than the Olife version. It was a no brainer to switch. 

My 2024 cruise was a big savings between the Summer Sale and SM, the numbers didn't work that way for my 2025 cruise, even adding in the added value of the drinks package and the second wifi connection. I already have the olife for excursions, so that is pretty much a wash.   

[MRGACRUZR]

On 9/30/2023 at 10:01 AM, Vineyard View said:

I don’t know anything about half  being used for excursions. I was just saying that of the total excursion credit, half of the total amount was under me, and half under my husband. I was told it could only be used for excursions. The ability to use for a cabana is new news to me. I am interested in how that rolls out, because if you can use some for a cabana, then it has turned into an OBC, which I was told could not occur. 

So, I need to put some context to the the word "cabana" in my original post. It's the Cabanas on Great Stirrup Cay and they are listed as shore excursions. Unfortunately, by tge time I finished fooling with tge Iceania Elite Rep and his supervisor, all the cabanas were taken.

[rbtan]

On 9/20/2023 at 10:01 PM, Victoria51 said:

 

 

On 9/20/2023 at 10:00 PM, LHT28 said:

without knowing more details no one can say

 

What is the price of your cruise now?

What did you pay when you first booked?

What did you pay to upgrade?

 

Did you book with air?

Basically we booked an A-3(with the expanded balcony on the Vista)This is the Jan.19 12 day trip. We do not use O life. Our trip is about $4300PP. with $300 OBC PP. That same trip now with Simply More is over $1200 more PP. The flight we can get for less than $800 total direct.We do most excursions by taking an often shared taxi. We normally just do beach trips. We're not big shoppers. Costa Maya we'll walk to town & have a big beach Lobster fest at the Crazy Lobster. For drinks..My spouse doesn't. I'll purchase about 2 bottles of wine & they'll last the bulk of the cruise. Whether we do Le Bourgeoise dinner in La Reserve remains to be seen. We've done it 3 times, but the menu doesn't change & we skipped it last year. We are looking forward to Vista as we've been on Riviera 4 times & want to see the new ship. We've gotten flyers & cruise info. already about the Allura coming out as well.Just a generalized listing of our upcoming cruise.

[tipsygirl]

On 9/20/2023 at 8:48 PM, Victoria51 said:

We paid for our cruise on Vista before the new Simply More pricing.  We asked our Oceania agent to see if we could switch over and it was terribly confusing. We had to pay a lot more and I have no idea how he priced it.  We finally gave up asking for explanations.  Anyone else have this experience ….switching to SM …and understanding how it priced out?  Thanks. 

We switched ti the Simply More pricing for considerably less.I left it to my TA to work out the pricing