Excursion pricing

[Harters]

I wouldnt usually log on to any forum simply to have a whinge about something. Life too short and all that. But I'm making an exception today.

 

Back in the days before SM, we followed the consistent advice on this forum and took the excursion "perk". Because of our various health conditions, we always looked for the easy trips, mainly panoramic, so the ones available always suited and we didnt have a problem finding three trips. And, a few weeks ago, we cruised on Vista, under SM conditions, and also found three that came just about within the excursion credit - we did need to ring O to make a payment of, literally, a few quid. 

 

Which brings me to today. We'd ID'd three probable trips for a forthcoming cruise, assuming that pricing would be similar to the past. But, no. We can't do these three basically panoramic excursions without an additional cost of £100 each. £150 each to basically sit on a coach for a couple of hours, in one case. In fact, we can't even do two of them within the credit amount. I have a growing sense that O has given with the one hand (in offering the excursion credit) but has taken away with the other hand (in upping the pricing).

 

Whinge ends. 

 

John

[Redtravel]

You are correct.  We just cruised for 2 weeks on Marina.  This was our 7th O cruise. This was the first cruise with Simply More.  Based on our previous excursions with Olife, we prebooked 6 excursions what we thought were mild or moderate.  After a few tours , we knew that moderate was really tough. We rebooked only mild tours. We found the written descriptions often don’t match the actual tours. 

[MEFIowa]

Essentially SM was a way to increase prices significantly without raising their costs much. It was a generalized price increase hidden behind some minor benefits that people may or may not even realize.

[sunlover12]

We haven’t cruised yet with Simply More so can’t comment on that.

 

I have found the descriptions of the excursions match the actual excursions in almost all. I recall one that was listed as “strenuous”. We went on it and the only strenuous portion was walking on a steep paved road for a short distance. The guide gave us plenty of time. The rest of it was easy. In the excursions that I have been on the guides know how it has been described to the passengers and it is followed closely.   
This has been my experience.

[Sthrngary]

If you don't like my long wordy post that seem like I am preaching or come across like I am some sort of cruise expert or influencer, don't read this one.  It is long, opinionated and some might consider it condescending. You have been forewarned. 

Move forward at your own risk. 

 

This post is NOT directed at the author who I consider to be an trusted and respected member of this community.  It is not directed to any one contributor. It is to the topic of issues with a specific cruise brands decisions. I also don't mean to hijack this topic.

 

Goal of my future Cruising:  "Elevate my cruising experience based my my past experiences."

 

Topic of this Tread: "Simply More pricing and quality of excursions are not going in the right direction"

 

Reality of ALL Cruise Brands: Oceania Cruises is NOT perfect cruise brand.  It is like every other cruise brand, not perfect.  However, we as consumers have choices, that is our power. Our money, our choice. With chooses, brands differentiate themselves from their competition some way.  "We are different because of....". The Brand Marketing Department makes claims to attract new clients that quite frankly don't pay off. The Marketing Departments of ALL brands have never understood the notion of "Under Promise and Over Deliver". The same department changes how things work and say it is because the clients asked for it. The notion of Simply More is a great example of this. Human nature is we HATE change even good change.  We like things the way they were. 

 

All Cruise Lines Do The Same Thing: This is NOT an Oceania Cruises issue.  This is an industry issue.  I personally started to cruise on Oceania to elevate my cruising experience as was my stated goal above.  My experience was it did just that. Was it perfect, no it was not. Did the good out weigh the bad, YES.  If it did not, I personally would not have booked another cruise for 2025.  But let us all remember. My and others evaluations was NOT based on 20 cruises on Oceania.  It was based on our past experiences compared to Oceania. My past experience was the NCL Haven, Celebrity Retreat, MSC Yacht Club, Crystal Cruises before being re-purchased. Past experience creates perspective which is everything to my evaluation of my future bookings.  I don't think I am alone on this approach. 

 

Being an Advocate Does NOT Mean Being Exclusive to a Brand: When I got married 44 years ago, my commitment was until death do you part. Product and service done fall under that commitment. I was/am a major advocate to the "Ship-Within-A-Ship" notion created by NCL for its Haven Product.  Yet, I went on Oceania Cruise.  I AM a fan of Oceania Cruises yet my very next cruise is on "Explora Journey".  Why? Because each of us has the obligation to ourselves and our family's to know the great, good, bad and ugly about the vacation/brand we choose.  No one brand is perfect.  Each do things differently.  Changes happen and when they do, your evaluation of your next cruise needs to be considered based on that change. 

 

The Simply More Program: I don't like the Simply More Program but I do understand it.  I don't like Cruise Brand excursions regardless of the brand including if all excursions are included and would prefer they don't offer them at all. My reasons don't matter, just my likes and dislikes realizing everyone is different.  I don't like the Simply More Drink program being just Wine/Beer at lunch and dinners so I upgrade to the Unlimited Plan.  Now I feel inconvenienced having to show my stateroom card at every bar instead of ordering a drink, because everyone has the different packages. I don't think Oceania has the best food at sea or what ever the correct motto is.  The old Crystal was much more to my liking.  This matters because I know what the deal is before I purchase a cruise. So when I have to provide my card, not have a great lobster tail at the buffet, have tasteless cookies, miss Illy Coffee Beans at the Barista or need to have a strategy to use brand excursions that are not really to my liking; I knew the deal before I went on the ship.  I choose it anyway, yet I had a choice. 

 

Increased Prices and Decreased Quality: The prices are going up.  The cost of doing business is going up.  All the cruise lines have huge loans that need to be paid due to Covid.  The quality of some items that before were GREAT have gone down.  Those are the facts, if it does not suite you, choose another brand or don't cruise at all.  Or, simply pick and choose the brand that is right for your next cruise knowing the facts from doing so simply research.  

 

Conclusion: I warned you I was going to write a book.  You read on anyway.  If any of have a issues with any cruise brand, a disappointment with any aspect of their product, by all means share it.  If you care about the brand, share it with them especially so they know how their client base works.  Survey's are worthless, well written letters with the intent of helping the brand and your next experience on the brand is much more productive. Highlight issue so the can be fixed and tell the people who actually can fix them. 

 

"Cruise well and enjoy every moment."

[pinotlover]

We all view Simply More differently. To us, it was merely a price increase. That’s all, just a price increase.

 

I don’t understand all the anxiety people are expressing. Every day aboard ship we have three meals ( at a minimum) paid for along with the Afternoon Tea. I pay for all those meals as part of my cruise fare. When in port, we always eat the local fare ashore. We don’t rush back to the ship to eat that included meal. It’s what we choose to do. Those SM tour credits are the same for us. If We find a ship tour we really want, we’ll use the included tour credit. If we don’t, they’ll be just like those included meals we miss.It’s all just part of the fare, just like the evening shows.

 

I wonder, do people feel compelled to eat three meals a day, with all the offered courses, because it’s part of the fare? If not, why all the hand wrangling over SM tour credits? 🤔

[MEFIowa]

2 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

... I don’t understand all the anxiety people are expressing. ... I wonder, do people feel compelled to eat three meals a day, with all the offered courses, because it’s part of the fare? If not, why all the hand wrangling over SM tour credits? 🤔

If we're staying in or near the port, we tend to go back to the ship for lunch. But if we've got an all-day tour or excursion, it's a big breakfast for us and then maybe Waves at 1530 or TC at 1830. Psychologically, I'm just not designed to pay for meals I've already paid for. But then we're cruising for excursions and doing things. Off the ship early and back late if we can keep ourselves busy. Almost always bringing back some beer, hard liquor and wine!

 

BUT for the SM Excursions, I think many people buy into the marketing hype, thinking they've somehow actually received a significant benefit. Yet, we're seeing excursion price increases (essentially eating up the credit) and non- or limited-availability for specific excursions, as well as cancellation issues. For this SM Excursion credit is limited to excursions and is use or lose. It feels as if O knows that they don't have enough desired excursions to be used by the passengers. But that's how they make money on the generalized price increase that is SM.

[Vallesan]

I think I have to agree with @pinotlover on this occasion…. it’s merely a ‘price increase’. If I looked at it any other way it would probably cause me aggravation, which isn’t what holidays are about.

 

We never eat five courses at a meal maybe two or occasionally three. We have never had the afternoon tea, we don’t eat ice cream, which is available all day and nor do we have the shakes on offer. No, it’s never occurred to me that we have to ‘have’ everything just because it’s ‘included’.

 

As I’ve said before we look at the itinerary and the price as it is and if it ‘fits’ us we go for it!

Edited June 3 by Vallesan

[lilybug]

Well said ... vacation is about enjoying what makes you happy!

[DieselkW]

First post on Oceania - our first cruise is next year in September, and we booked it when Oceania was heavily promoting Simply More.
We had been happy cruising with Celebrity but after 33 days on an Edge Class ship recently we felt nickel and dimed to death so we searched for an alternative.

We're not wealthy. We try to take a cruise once a year and it costs us quite a bit of our discretionary funds to do so. Oceania was an extravagance... but as it turns out... not really all that much more expensive once we did a fair comparison of what is an extra cost on Celebrity that we get as part of the fare on Oceania.

It comes to $50/night more to cruise Oceania. Part of this mathematical gymnastics was how much we paid for ship sponsored excursions, beverage packages, WiFi, and specialty dining that are included on Oceania all divided up into cost per day. 

I gave all that detail because too many people compare booking cost side by side, but don't add in all the associated costs of the experience. Which brings me to the topic at hand.

We have $1600 in excursion credit for our cruise next year. If the cost of those (hopefully plural) excursions goes up, it just means we get fewer (prepaid) excursions. We have no way of knowing what Oceania pays the tour company, hopefully they're not marking it up too much and passing along the volume discount I'm sure they are offered by the tour operators.
The beauty of this marketing ploy is simple: We were "given" $1600 to spend on a product we either use of lose. Perhaps we will enjoy $800 worth of touring and the other $800 is profit for Oceania. I don't know yet because we won't be diving into the details until September. 

Bottom Line, Oceania controls the price as a middle man, but we are hostage to those prices in the use it or lose it scheme. So, if Oceania charges (for instance) $200pp for a tour we could similarly book direct for $100pp I will consider that if/when booking again under the S.M. "benefit".  

[Harters]

Well, we've booked the two excursions for the ports where we  didnt really have other plans. The third wasnt worth the investment of another £100 each, so we'll wing it for that port. It is what it is and we'll include this in our post cruise discussion about whether or not cruising remains a good value holiday for us. 

[ORV]

3 hours ago, MEFIowa said:

If we're staying in or near the port, we tend to go back to the ship for lunch. But if we've got an all-day tour or excursion, it's a big breakfast for us and then maybe Waves at 1530 or TC at 1830. Psychologically, I'm just not designed to pay for meals I've already paid for. But then we're cruising for excursions and doing things. Off the ship early and back late if we can keep ourselves busy. Almost always bringing back some beer, hard liquor and wine!

 

BUT for the SM Excursions, I think many people buy into the marketing hype, thinking they've somehow actually received a significant benefit. Yet, we're seeing excursion price increases (essentially eating up the credit) and non- or limited-availability for specific excursions, as well as cancellation issues. For this SM Excursion credit is limited to excursions and is use or lose. It feels as if O knows that they don't have enough desired excursions to be used by the passengers. But that's how they make money on the generalized price increase that is SM.

When is your next Oceania cruise? 

[MEFIowa]

2 minutes ago, ORV said:

When is your next Oceania cruise? 

Aug 28th--London to Stockholm followed on Sept 9th directly as a B2B Stockholm to Copenhagen. 22 nights on Sirena. We did 10 nights on her in the Caribbean 11/2022. Plus 3 nights in London prior and 3 nights in Copenhagen afterward.

 

We are "slumming" a bit on this cruise. One of the 4 "big" C1s for the first part then an F for the 2nd. Never done an inside room before. We booked the 2nd part originally as a G back on 7 May 22 but upgraded off a sale on 20 Oct 22 for the "big" C1. Booked the new 1st part, the F, 13 Jul 23 during the SM sale last summer.

[osandomir]

We’re not big fans of the organised group tours but there're always some excursions that we’re willing to take on any cruise. When not on the tour we enjoy eating ashore and aren’t missing onboard lunches that we have already paid for. We consider the price of the cruise in whole not the components that may be included or not otherwise.

[mauibabes]

@MEFIowa

If you might be interested in upgraded “slumming”, you might mention to your T Agent or O Rep that you could be interested in an upgrade on that F room, there are often some shuffling that goes on at the last minutes.  We had some friends who were just on Nautica and they were in a C by the Medical Center and picked up a A-1 for $300. For her, a No Brainer because they had already picked up every discount/sale/amenity package possible  and the Concierge Veranda was just ICING on the cake. 
Enjoy your great itineraries. 
Mauibabes

[minabruuke]

I was disappointed with the pricing when browsing excursions for what will be our first Oceania cruise.  I tend to prefer to book privately as opposed to through cruise lines but I also don't want to let our Simply More excursion credit just go to waste.  I had to make myself stop thinking of our $300/person excursion credit as the equivalent of 300USD to get myself to just book something. For my own sanity, I've mentally changed the currency to 300 Oceaniaopoly dollars that have a current exchange rate of approx. 2.5 Oceaniaopoly dollars to 1 USD 😉

 

I do understand that the cruise lines need to make money and one of the ways they do that is through selling excursions but I do wonder if they've gone a bit too far here.  Oceania and NCL's current excursion costs are the highest that I've seen of the lines that I've compared. Aside from using up as much of our credit as we can without going over, we will not consider booking any other excursions through Oceania.  

 

We most frequently sail Princess and their excursions still seem to be competitively priced...for now (though I still prefer to book privately as I can usually find something better, or at least a smaller group, for a similar price). I just helped my Dad with his excursions a couple of weeks ago and Princess still had prices that were identical or very close to what we'd pay to book on our own. I'm not sure that their excursion price guarantee is still active but prices came down when they implemented that.  Granted, I know that Princess can't really be compared to Oceania.  However, I think it is reasonable to compare Princess' prices to NCL and NCL's excursion prices seem to be just as ridiculous as Oceania.  We sailed on NCL in November and one of the excursions we priced out was $299 booked through NCL verses $80 booked independently😬

 

For our Tahitian Legends cruise, one of the excursions we are interested in is $259 booked through Oceania, $125 booked through Paul Gauguin, $139 via Windstar and $117.20 booked directly through the tour operator. Another tour is $499 from Oceania, $309 from Paul Gauguin, $499 via Windstar and $262 from the operator.  A third is $129 from Oceania, $129 from Windstar, $105 from Paul Gauguin and $52.45 through the operator.  I think Paul Gauguin has managed to price appropriately; their prices are higher than booking independently but not so much so that they scare everyone off (lots of people will likely be willing to pay those slightly higher costs for the ease of having it all booked and managed via Paul Gauguin). Thankfully, French Polynesia is a region in which I feel completely comfortable and prefer to book privately so this is not a huge deal for us.  It is just a bummer that we can't get more value out of that credit.

[tarhoosier]

On a Vancouver to Honolulu cruise the stop in Hilo had an all day volcano tour option. Very popular and filled before I could successfully book. I emailed the provider for private booking and was told they accept only cruise line passengers as per their contract wit Celebrity (X). Have others had such an experience at other sites/cruise lines? This was not a capacity issue.

[mauibabes]

I agree with you, the prices can be excessive but many times it has been an apple vs orange comparison. No way a $499 tour is comparable to a local vender tour, probably a 10 person van tour vs a 46 passenger bus, etc. I usually book a combo of ship and private tours, especially on longer cruises.  I will usually try to meet the minimum number of O excursions to earn the 25% discount but then those were under O Life since our first SM cruise comes up in November. We will see how SM plays out. One thing I did do was book my high dollar SM tours first so as to use up the applicable credit in case of cancellations or port issues and then moved on to booking our Private tour options. I have to say however, I did select a few excursions at the OE level to make sure I spent the credit and opted for a “special” tour that I normally, under O Life, would not have done.  I guess I am doing exactly what O hoped we would, spent extra money on excursions. 
On a 30 day trip, London to NYC thru Iceland, I think I got my per tour avg. cost down to $77 and we did about 15 great tours, nothing over $199 on O though. It takes time to learn a new system, OLife vs SM and I know the Board posters will continue to share their successful insights. 
Mauibabes

[mauibabes]

@tarhoosier

Absolutely does happen. The Excursion Contractor is protecting themselves and O and its passengers get to pay a price and both are making money.  It is not really that straightforward though.  We asked these same questions many times and found there are many differences to take into account.  The “big dog” Excursion contractor usually has the best guides and a “lock” on the transportation, aka busses. Older vs newer, vs school buses, vs vans vs vehicles with AC that even works, etc.  At least this has been our experience so can’t say it is an absolute 😇👍.  It really depends on the country and ports and available providers. 
lots of great independent guides out there too as we have never had a bad one thru Tours By Locals and others. 
A great topic to follow though. 
Mauibabes

 

[minabruuke]

6 minutes ago, mauibabes said:

I agree with you, the prices can be excessive but many times it has been an apple vs orange comparison. No way a $499 tour is comparable to a local vender tour, probably a 10 person van tour vs a 46 passenger bus, etc. I usually book a combo of ship and private tours, especially on longer cruises.  I will usually try to meet the minimum number of O excursions to earn the 25% discount but then those were under O Life since our first SM cruise comes up in November. We will see how SM plays out. One thing I did do was book my high dollar SM tours first so as to use up the applicable credit in case of cancellations or port issues and then moved on to booking our Private tour options. I have to say however, I did select a few excursions at the OE level to make sure I spent the credit and opted for a “special” tour that I normally, under O Life, would not have done.  I guess I am doing exactly what O hoped we would, spent extra money on excursions. 
On a 30 day trip, London to NYC thru Iceland, I think I got my per tour avg. cost down to $77 and we did about 15 great tours, nothing over $199 on O though. It takes time to learn a new system, OLife vs SM and I know the Board posters will continue to share their successful insights. 
Mauibabes

In regards to my post, one would be looking at as close to an apples to apples comparison as you can possibly get given the destination.  Nearly all of the tours in French Polynesia are small; the driving tours are primarily 4x4 vehicles (that hold 4-6 people) or ATV's and most of the water based tours are watercraft that hold a maximum of 6-12 passengers.  There are no big bus tours.  It is common in many parts of the world for the cruise lines to have contracts that disallow the excursion operator to book their cruise ship passengers but that is not as common in French Polynesia.  The cruise lines don't have a lot of choice in who they can use on those tiny islands and that gives the tour operators room to negotiate so in many cases you can book independently the exact same tour, with the exact same operator the cruise uses.  They just typically have a separate boat (same size and number of passengers), for those booked via the cruise line verses those booked independently.  That's what makes Oceania's pricing for this specific region so ridiculous; passengers actually can book the very same tour independently and it actually quite easy to figure out who Oceania is using for their tours.  

 

The $499 tour through Oceania that I mentioned is for a 2.5 hour jet ski tour (price is per jetski, which you can have two people on); it is the exact same itinerary, timing and specs as booking independently.  It appears to even be the exact same operator based on TripAdvisor reviews that mention doing the tour through the cruise lines.  The operator states that their tour will have a maximum of 4 total jet skis but when we did this tour through this same operator the last time we were there, there were only 2 jet skis in our group.  Oceania is not offering this as a private tour so it would be a pretty safe bet to assume that you'd have nearly identical experience booking through the cruise line vs. independently. 

 

For the tour that Oceania is charging $139 and the operator $52.45; the name/title of the tour on Oceania's site is the exact, unique name/title of the tour that is used by the only operator of that tour.  You would literally be booking the very same thing either way.

[mauibabes]

Thank you, good to know if we are heading to French Polynesia. Our last trip there was on Princess years ago so nothing really to compare. 

Your analysis was very thorough. 👍

Mauibabes

[CurlerRob]

6 hours ago, minabruuke said:

For the tour that Oceania is charging $139 and the operator $52.45; the name/title of the tour on Oceania's site is the exact, unique name/title of the tour that is used by the only operator of that tour.  You would literally be booking the very same thing either way.

 

Agreed. We are quite used to the cruise lines’ normal markups of 2X or more but found O’s to be simply ridiculous - sometimes as high as 4X versus a DIY tour.

 

An example - on an East Coast sailing, the Newport cliff walk and Breakers tour was $300 for a couple. We precisely replicated the tour for $73 for the two of us (Uber to the cliff walk, bought our own tickets at the Breakers, tram back to ship that included narration).

 

We use both approaches in different circumstances, but like to be informed consumers. 🍺🥌

[pinotlover]

15 hours ago, minabruuke said:

In regards to my post, one would be looking at as close to an apples to apples comparison as you can possibly get given the destination.  Nearly all of the tours in French Polynesia are small; the driving tours are primarily 4x4 vehicles (that hold 4-6 people) or ATV's and most of the water based tours are watercraft that hold a maximum of 6-12 passengers.  There are no big bus tours.  It is common in many parts of the world for the cruise lines to have contracts that disallow the excursion operator to book their cruise ship passengers but that is not as common in French Polynesia.  The cruise lines don't have a lot of choice in who they can use on those tiny islands and that gives the tour operators room to negotiate so in many cases you can book independently the exact same tour, with the exact same operator the cruise uses.  They just typically have a separate boat (same size and number of passengers), for those booked via the cruise line verses those booked independently.  That's what makes Oceania's pricing for this specific region so ridiculous; passengers actually can book the very same tour independently and it actually quite easy to figure out who Oceania is using for their tours.  

 

The $499 tour through Oceania that I mentioned is for a 2.5 hour jet ski tour (price is per jetski, which you can have two people on); it is the exact same itinerary, timing and specs as booking independently.  It appears to even be the exact same operator based on TripAdvisor reviews that mention doing the tour through the cruise lines.  The operator states that their tour will have a maximum of 4 total jet skis but when we did this tour through this same operator the last time we were there, there were only 2 jet skis in our group.  Oceania is not offering this as a private tour so it would be a pretty safe bet to assume that you'd have nearly identical experience booking through the cruise line vs. independently. 

 

For the tour that Oceania is charging $139 and the operator $52.45; the name/title of the tour on Oceania's site is the exact, unique name/title of the tour that is used by the only operator of that tour.  You would literally be booking the very same thing either way.

In Bora Bora, we did the private jet ski tour @$150 each. Part of our contingency that day were four (4) passengers from the ship paying Oceania $450 each to do the exact same tour and eat the exact same food. This scenario has happened several times with us, being in the same van with those on OE ship tour, doing exactly as we at a multiple of our costs. Remember, you’re only promised a group of 16 or less, not who those other participants may be. 😂.

 

Destination Services and the ship tours are a profit center for the ship, not a cost center. No one is forced or obligated to take the ship tours. One can do as many of us do and primarily take private ones. Is the price of a hot dog and beer at the foot ball stadium in any way related to the cost of materials? Your only choice there is to neither eat nor drink, or pay the price . Oceania allows one to choose, but for those that choose the ship tour, it can be a very expensive hot dog! 🙄 But, it’s your choice.

[MEFIowa]

18 hours ago, mauibabes said:

@MEFIowa

If you might be interested in upgraded “slumming”, you might mention to your T Agent or O Rep that you could be interested in an upgrade on that F room, there are often some shuffling that goes on at the last minutes....

It is interesting that the London to Stockholm 12 nights is all available for A1-F and Guaranteed at the G cabin. Final payment was last week. Everything is currently wait listed for the 10 nights Stockholm to Copenhagen, with final payment on June 11. Will be interesting to see if many don't pay and cabins open up.

 

The F is the only cabin I've sailed that I wasn't able to upgrade on a later sale. Never came up.

 

We have had the last-minute upgrade and even cruise change offers from O, but the upgrade prices weren't that good (certainly not real sale pricing) and we can't change the airfare et al (we do that ourselves) at such limited notice to totally change cruises.

[ronrick1943]

It really depends on what you want from the cruise line.  For us it really isn't a problem because tours aren't that important to us.  We really don't enjoy getting on a bus for hours at a time, getting off and on and waiting on people that some how think it's their private tour.

Sometimes we just want to find a local cafe, enjoy the people watching.  Shop around for things we just don't need, have lunch and enjoy the day.  After all as you get older, you've seen a lot and lines just aren't our thing.  Now if we really want to see something on a tour, we'll do it--after we see what we wanted we'll tell the tour we are heading back in a taxi.