Simply More Excursion Package - Less Flexibility to Cancel than A La Carte?

[Smokeyham]

I'm reading up on excursions for a cruise on Nautica in April, 2025. Looking at the Simply More Excursion Package I see that we will receive a 25% discount if we book 12 more excursions.

 

However, under "Book Your Excursions" I see the following statement:

"All excursion packages have the added convenience of being fully refundable until sail date and must be purchased in advance of sailing to enjoy the maximum savings. Packages will be non-refundable thereafter. Á la Carte excursions will remain fully refundable up until 36 hours before the excursion."

 

This seems like a real loss of flexibility, but I was wondering if anyone else has experience or a viewpoint on this.

Thanks

[mauibabes]

First it looks like the cruise you are booking has quite a number of port calls to require 6 Booked excursions per person to earn the extra 25% discount.  You would just need to ensure you book and use at least 6 excursions each so there is no reason for you to no longer qualify for the Discount. Should you book less than the 6 each, your excursion cost is equivalent to the Ala Carte rate so there was no discount for them to retract. Probably clear as mud. 
 

We had always booked excursions under the old O-Life program and in November we will take our first cruise under the  simply More program so we will have to pay attention to the “new ropes” so to speak. 
Mauibabes

[Tranquility Base]

2 minutes ago, mauibabes said:

First it looks like the cruise you are booking has quite a number of port calls to require 6 Booked excursions per person to earn the extra 25% discount.

I am reasonably sure that cruise is actually 12 excursions per person.

[Trbd4739]

5 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

I am reasonably sure that cruise is actually 12 excursions per person.

I am on a 28 day cruise in April/May 2025, and it is 12 excursions per person,  

[cruisinsusin]

We saw those conditions on our excursion tickets last month but fortunately did not have to cancel any to test the ability to have it refunded 

[pinotlover]

Save more than tge 25% discount by participating on your cruise Roll Call. You’ll save lots more!

[Smokeyham]

Thanks for the responses so far.  Yes, the comment that we have to book at least 12 (not six) excursions for the 25% discount is correct.
 

@pinotlover - Yes, definitely possible to save more by booking privately.  In some ports we prefer the convenience of the ship's provided excursions.

[Tranquility Base]

On 7/4/2024 at 6:06 AM, Smokeyham said:

This seems like a real loss of flexibility, but I was wondering if anyone else has experience or a viewpoint on this.

My viewpoint on this.

 

Yes, loss of flexibility is a factor which does need to be considered.

Different people with different circumstances will place different importance to this.

 

I am reluctant to book the package because of this loss of flexibility....(or lack of suitable tours).

On port intensive segments, I know from experience that we appreciate slow paced DIY days at regular intervals between our organised tours.

 

Having said that, I do have one upcoming segment where we have booked the package.

However it is 6 tours out of 11 port stops; and 2 of the tours are 'on your own' days so basically transport only.

We feel comfortable with that mix so as not to overload our days and suffer 'tour fatigue'.

[roothy123]

The Simply More Excursion Package is just the previous "Your World Collection" package. It's a discount for buying more excursions than perhaps you would before.  O Life was something completely different.  You paid for having it included, or you declined it.  And the excursions were priced accordingly.  There were limitations on which excursions you could choose. Yes, you have less flexibility with the SM Shore Excursion Package. You need to choose wisely and make any decisions/changes (from what I've seen) 14 days pre-sail to be happy with your choices. I research a lot pre-cruise, so that's not a big deal for me.  And I have to say that I'm kind of liking having that excursion credit and the 25% off prices.  And based on my next cruise, it appears Oceania has arranged quite a few more excursions than ever before, and many at lower prices, so that's another thing to give me hope there will be plenty to like.  But of course, there is still going to be room for arranging/joining non-ship excursions, or just using the shuttles or a taxi and doing my own thing.  I'm going to continue to be flexible as things change. 

[ronrick1943]

Because they are included in the price, most people book tours just to use up the credits.  Then they decide to cancel or change is an additional cost to "O" once they book tours.  

 

It's almost like people that book cruises just to keep the savings for booking on a cruise, they end up blocking space that someone may have wanted---then it opens up but to late for the people that really wanted that cruise.

[FetaCheese]

Not all itins offer SM Shorex pick 25% discount.

 

The SM pkg discount availability is dependent upon minimum # of ports on itin.  One can see if pkg discount is available when doing a mock booking.

Edited July 5 by FetaCheese

[BZFamily]

Oceania’s excursion link specifically says book at least 4 excursions to receive the 25% discount. I’m not sure I understand where the 6 or 12 number is being found

[ORV]

3 minutes ago, BZFamily said:

Oceania’s excursion link specifically says book at least 4 excursions to receive the 25% discount. I’m not sure I understand where the 6 or 12 number is being found

That's for your cruise. The minimum number to receive the discount depends on number of ports visited on a cruise. In other words, it varies. 

[Trbd4739]

17 minutes ago, BZFamily said:

Oceania’s excursion link specifically says book at least 4 excursions to receive the 25% discount. I’m not sure I understand where the 6 or 12 number is being found

I am on a 28 day cruise. My link says I have to book 12 excursions in order to get the discount. 

[BZFamily]

K. I stand corrected. Sorry

[goletans]

23 hours ago, FetaCheese said:

Not all itins offer SM Shorex pick 25% discount.

 

The SM pkg discount availability is dependent upon minimum # of ports on itin.  One can see if pkg discount is available when doing a mock booking.

True. Our upcoming Alaska cruise does not offer a 25% discount.

[Redtravel]

We were on Marina in May. While not new to Oceania, using Simply More for excursions was a new adventure. We prebooked 6 excursions each just after booking the cruise. Got the 25% discount.  A month later the itinerary changed.  One of the ports that we had booked an excursion was eliminated. New port was one that I had previously toured. Had no interest in any tours offered.  Looked for a replacement tour. Came up with nothing.  Now we had 5 excursions. The 25% discount went away. The cost of the remaining 5 excursions went way up. Had to book a 6th excursion. Selected the cheapest tour available to get the discount. Not sure that we would take it. Discount kicked in again.  We actually took the tour. It was good. It was better than some of the other tours.  After the first few days, we changed some of the remaining booked tours to easy tours.  We found descriptions of tours were seldom what actually happened. Oceania excursions were mainly big groups with no listening devices.  While we like Oceania, we dislike Simply More.  On previous Oceania cruises, we often booked a future cruise. That didn’t happen. We loved being on the ship. Hope that Oceania will offer cruise only again. 

[roothy123]

For my cruise, I know I need to book and maintain the required number of excursions for the  Simply More excursion package discount of 25% to be applied.  And I know I have to do this before the cruise, as that's clearly stated in the excursion list I received.  At this point, I'm pretty sure I want to go with what I've picked, and I still have time to make changes (or cancel the whole "package") well before the cruise starts.  However, I was wondering what happens when a guest is on board and wants to swap out an excursion that was pre-booked (at 25% off) and add a different one (assuming there's availability).  Can that still be done on board?  Are you penalized?  And if you want to add one onboard, do you still get 25% off?  I know Oceania has to have good counts and payment/credit use figured out before the cruise begins, so I can work with what they require.  And I don't consider having to pay full price a horrendous situation.  But I do like to understand choices before I have to make them, and so far I haven't gotten so far as to ask Oceania or my travel what would happen once I got onboard.  So if anyone can enlighten me, I'd appreciate it.   

[basor]

4 hours ago, roothy123 said:

For my cruise, I know I need to book and maintain the required number of excursions for the  Simply More excursion package discount of 25% to be applied.  And I know I have to do this before the cruise, as that's clearly stated in the excursion list I received.  At this point, I'm pretty sure I want to go with what I've picked, and I still have time to make changes (or cancel the whole "package") well before the cruise starts.  However, I was wondering what happens when a guest is on board and wants to swap out an excursion that was pre-booked (at 25% off) and add a different one (assuming there's availability).  Can that still be done on board?  Are you penalized?  And if you want to add one onboard, do you still get 25% off?  I know Oceania has to have good counts and payment/credit use figured out before the cruise begins, so I can work with what they require.  And I don't consider having to pay full price a horrendous situation.  But I do like to understand choices before I have to make them, and so far I haven't gotten so far as to ask Oceania or my travel what would happen once I got onboard.  So if anyone can enlighten me, I'd appreciate it.   

If there is availability on the excursion and it is before the cancelation date of the excursion you want to cancel, you can cancel and book a different excursion and still maintain your 25% discount.

[jagoffee]

 I am not a fan of the Simple more excursion change.

1.  I find it ignoring that one has to call Oceania to cancel an excursion.  (When you want to make a change).

2.  The process seems to be leading people to book excursions that they might not want- “just in case”.

3.  My cruise is at the end of March (7:months away) and a lot of excursions are no longer  available.  
 

 

i hope they add more excursions options/spots later or when on board.  

[durberville]

I just logged into my account and noticed one of my booked excursions has disappeared. I had booked 7 to get the 25% discount and now only have 6 listed. This excursion has also disappeared from the offerings…which is fine but I had no notification. I would have had no idea if I hadn’t looked at my account.  Also, my “purchases” invoice on the website hasn’t changed and still shows that excursion and the same total shore excursions price. 🫤

 

I tried to add a new excursion at the same port and it says I have a “time conflict” (system obviously still has us booked on the deleted tour). 
 

I assume I have to fix this through my TA, I can’t call Oceania directly? I find this entire system clunky and confusing. 

[EJL2023]

16 minutes ago, durberville said:

I just logged into my account and noticed one of my booked excursions has disappeared. I had booked 7 to get the 25% discount and now only have 6 listed. This excursion has also disappeared from the offerings…which is fine but I had no notification. I would have had no idea if I hadn’t looked at my account.  Also, my “purchases” invoice on the website hasn’t changed and still shows that excursion and the same total shore excursions price. 🫤

 

I tried to add a new excursion at the same port and it says I have a “time conflict” (system obviously still has us booked on the deleted tour). 
 

I assume I have to fix this through my TA, I can’t call Oceania directly? I find this entire system clunky and confusing. 

Yes you can call Oceania directly for excursions even if you have a TA. We always go that route. 

[durberville]

12 minutes ago, EJL2023 said:

Yes you can call Oceania directly for excursions even if you have a TA. We always go that route. 

Wonderful! Thank you! A have a very unresponsive TA and everything becomes a major hassle if I have to go through them to resolve issues. (I won’t be using them in the future - learned my lesson 😬)

[lindaglenn]

On 7/6/2024 at 10:36 AM, BZFamily said:

Oceania’s excursion link specifically says book at least 4 excursions to receive the 25% discount. I’m not sure I understand where the 6 or 12 number is being found

You have to book 1/2 of your ports + 1 for the 25% discount.  If your cruise has 12 ports you are visiting, you would need to book 1/2 of that, 6 plus 1, so 7.  

[Trbd4739]

7 hours ago, EJL2023 said:

 

7 hours ago, EJL2023 said:

 

7 hours ago, EJL2023 said:

I just logged into my account and noticed one of my booked excursions has disappeared.

Which excursion disappeared?