Question about availability of excursions

[lackcreativity]

Potential new Oceania cruiser here with a question about excursions. The lists of port excursions seem quite varied for most stops in my area of interest (the Mediterranean). Will the list of excursions for an actual booking usually match what you see beforehand? I want to have realistic expectations when making a decision on itinerary. 

[Kay S]

Related note:  are there likely to be new excursions added before or after sailing?  Likewise, cancellations?

[msn123]

Usually the excursions shown for a port remain similar year to year.  You can book them when they are officially listed about a year out.  My advice would be to book them as soon as they become available.  With the Simply More program, many do reach their maximum number of participants. You can always keep checking and switch things up if something more interesting to you gets scheduled.  Reaching out to customer service is the best way to book excursions. Sometimes on line doesn't figure the prices correctly.

[basor]

I have found the list of available excursions to closely match the ones I see when looking at the generic version.  They may/do add some that involve a local flavor.  Actual excursions for a booked cruise generally are available 1 year in advance of sailing date.  There may be a cancelation of a booked excursion due to the tour operator no longer offering, etc.  

We just booked our excursions for our B2B2B Oct - NOV 24 cruise and in all of the ports, there was only 1 excursion showing "sold out" - the Chef led food one.

[AMHuntFerry]

7 hours ago, Kay S said:

Related note:  are there likely to be new excursions added before or after sailing?  Likewise, cancellations?

I have seen all of these happen at one time or another on our 4 post-pandemic cruises. I wouldn't say that they are likely (i.e., have a high probability) to happen though.

[AMHuntFerry]

8 hours ago, lackcreativity said:

Potential new Oceania cruiser here with a question about excursions. The lists of port excursions seem quite varied for most stops in my area of interest (the Mediterranean). Will the list of excursions for an actual booking usually match what you see beforehand? I want to have realistic expectations when making a decision on itinerary. 

For the most part, yes. Be sure to get the shorex pdf about one year out as sometimes it will have shorex listed that isn't online (and the only way to book is to call O). You'll also want to check for shorex pdf updates if you want to check for any new shorex or new times that may not show online (how often you check is up to you). Sometimes there are last minute additions/changes/cancellations that will be in a printout in your cabin when you board. Even if you have confirmed shorex times (bring your shorex-pdf), when you go to your cabin (or sometime that day) be sure to check your tickets for the correct time and check the booklet for important requirements/alterations (like passport.or specific footwear required).

[Boyracers Girl]

Is the shorex pdf available online?  I see the excursions lists online by day/date…but wasn’t able to find one document.  

[mauibabes]

I request a PDF for every cruise we take on O and I get it thru an O Rep as I have not seen it available on their website. In addition I book out tours, usually a combination of O and Private as early as I can based on availability. We are doing our first cruise under SM in November and I have already booked out tours for a sailing on Riviera. I also used my SM Excursion Credits to book a more expensive and highly desireable tour early in the cruise. If there are cancellations of tours, we should be in a position to rebook, accept refunds and then shift to private tour providers. One thing we have seen on our cruises since Covid, the local tour companies have lost staff and eliminated tours and Oceania has not been able to rehire tour companies to provide the breadth of tours. At least that is what I have heard from O staff. 
My two cents, Do Not wait to book tours, especially not waiting until on board. Make sure you have your SM credits spent. 
Enjoy,

Mauibabes
 

[durberville]

14 hours ago, mauibabes said:

I request a PDF for every cruise we take on O and I get it thru an O Rep as I have not seen it available on their website. In addition I book out tours, usually a combination of O and Private as early as I can based on availability. We are doing our first cruise under SM in November and I have already booked out tours for a sailing on Riviera. I also used my SM Excursion Credits to book a more expensive and highly desireable tour early in the cruise. If there are cancellations of tours, we should be in a position to rebook, accept refunds and then shift to private tour providers. One thing we have seen on our cruises since Covid, the local tour companies have lost staff and eliminated tours and Oceania has not been able to rehire tour companies to provide the breadth of tours. At least that is what I have heard from O staff. 
My two cents, Do Not wait to book tours, especially not waiting until on board. Make sure you have your SM credits spent. 
Enjoy,

Mauibabes
 

Agree with booking excursions as early as possible, but could someone clarify the refund situation?

I’m reading NO refunds for missed or ship cancelled Simply More excursions, so expecting a refund and the ability to use it for another booking doesn’t seem to apply….interested because we’ve used our Simply More Shorex credit and have paid for the remaining balance on our CC. To muddy the waters - I would expect to have our CC refunded for any cancelled tour but I what if we hadn’t paid extra? No refund at all?  (I find this issue really confusing 😵‍💫)

[thebsinmiss]

I believe what the issue is that O will credit your shore tour account for the value of any canceled tour BUT it can only be used to book another shore excursion at a subsequent port on the same sailing.   The issue becomes one of there being any available excursions of interest to you at the remaining ports of call.  That is why others are recommending using the SM credits for excursions early in the sailing, to give yourself more time and options to use the SM credits on another port.

 

If you have a SM excursion canceled due to weather etc. on the second last day of your cruise then there would be little or no chance to book a new excursion using the SM shore tour credits. They basically are lost to you. (If its an excursion paid for on your credit card then they would refund that cost back to your credit card.) 

[daydreamer62]

53 minutes ago, durberville said:

Agree with booking excursions as early as possible, but could someone clarify the refund situation?

I’m reading NO refunds for missed or ship cancelled Simply More excursions, so expecting a refund and the ability to use it for another booking doesn’t seem to apply….interested because we’ve used our Simply More Shorex credit and have paid for the remaining balance on our CC. To muddy the waters - I would expect to have our CC refunded for any cancelled tour but I what if we hadn’t paid extra? No refund at all?  (I find this issue really confusing 😵‍💫)

My understanding is if you have both credit paid for excursions and personally paid for excursions, the credit portion is used first. So if your SM  credit  paid for 3 excursions and your purchased excursions paid for 3 then if number 3 is cancelled then the SM credit is moved to number 4 and at The end of the voyage your refund would be in $$ refundable because you had personally paid for more excursions than you took. If you only booked 3 all paid by credit then if one was cancelled and you didn't book anything else then you would not receive that refund in $$ as it was originally paid for by the non refundable credit. I might be wrong but this is what I was told 

Edited March 26 by daydreamer62