Oceania Air - Pacific & Air Deviation Questions

I know it's very difficult to predict what your Oceania-arranged flights will be unless you pay for an air deviation and have input into the process. However, I was wondering if someone who has flown to Valparaiso using O's included air (no deviation) could tell me what airlines I could possibly expect come January. I live on the east coast if that matters. I know I won't get a nonstop, but haven't a clue as to what flights I might get.

Also, what is the current deviation fee per person? Can you do a stopover (overnight) in the connecting city if you pay the deviation fee? We've used deviations, but only to go to the embarkation city early, so I really don't know what's possible.

Possible connection cities for me seem to be Dallas and Atlanta. One possible route uses Dallas with an hour to change planes; another uses Atlanta with an hour. Are these connections possible, or apt to cause us great heartburn?

I understand Oceania uses Air Tahiti Nui for flights back from Papeete to LA. Does anyone know what carrier I'm likely to get from LA to the DC area? Again, is an overnight stopover in LA permitted with an air deviation? I checked the O website but didn't find much about air deviations.

Thanks.

If you pay the deviation you can request the flights you want & take the stress factor out of the equation

I think the fee is $175 pp

If you pay the deviation you can request the flights you want & take the stress factor out of the equation

 

I think the fee is $175 pp

And by requesting the flights you want I think you certainly could set up a Multi City type flight and stay overnight or longer in the connecting city. I generally always have to connect through ATL or DFW but I really have no desire to spend extra time at either. I'm sure there is plenty to do in both, but most of the time I'd rather get to my port city.

Depending on if your flight arrives on time an hour is doable in either airport, especially DFW, since they have a really efficient tram/sky link system there, but I like a little more layover time. I'm most comfortable with 1 1/2 to 2 hours, more if I'm returning to the US and have to clear customs, or going into an airport I'm not familiar with. Most flights tend to start boarding about 30 minutes before takeoff. I hate being the last to board, very few options left at that point for your carry on.

I would ask specific questions of your TA, they should be able to give you exact answers, with the exception of which carriers you'll get. That is pretty much only known once your flight information is assigned.

And by requesting the flights you want I think you certainly could set up a Multi City type flight and stay overnight or longer in the connecting city. I generally always have to connect through ATL or DFW but I really have no desire to spend extra time at either. I'm sure there is plenty to do in both, but most of the time I'd rather get to my port city.

 

I agree

I just want to get to the port city but then again I do not book cruise that will take me 2 days to get there by plane

I am just not up for that anymore :D

When we did it it was American to Miami.

But it is pot luck.... They used Delta on way down to South America thru ATL even though a direct thru MIA was more convenient.

Also, what is the current deviation fee per person? Can you do a stopover (overnight) in the connecting city if you pay the deviation fee? We've used deviations, but only to go to the embarkation city early, so I really don't know what's possible.

 

It is highly unlikely though remotely possible to do a stopover. You would have to find a connection getting into the stopover city where there is no possible connection until the next morning and in the case you find one you would probably be connecting to a flight leaving 0 dark early meaning you would possibly only be in that city for perhaps 6 to 8 hours overnight so only enough time to pay for your own transportation to and from the hotel plus the hotel. Almost certainly you won't be able to get into the connection city early enough in the day to do much.

What might be possible is to find a connection where you get into the city early in the day with your connection that evening. Suggest you look at http://matrix.itasoftware.com/ and see what you might find in one of the possible connection cities. You can't book at that site but, every airline in the world that you could possibly be booked on for this cruise will be there.

By the way, realize that all airlines are not on that site but, for an international trip, all those possible airlines would be on the site.

If you do the deviation, much as I hate the airport (long walks), I would recommend DC/Miami, followed by LAN to Santiago. If you spend the night you can then get a driver to take you through the wine country with one or two stops for tastings and end in Valparaiso by early afternoon. We then had an outstanding lunch and boarded our SS cruise to BA at 3p.

Regarding the hour connection time: what seems just tight, seems even tighter when the snow starts flying in January (this is your captain speaking and we're about to push off....and it looks like we're 12th in line for de-icing:eek:). Last December I booked a flight with an Atlanta connection and in July just a bit over an hour seemed doable, but, once the winter set in I got nervous and looked for a better connection.

My experience was great... I went with the ships air..no deviation and on the charter Tahiti Nui. When they put together my schedule they offered several flight times ( their offer not me deviating ) and selected one that gave me a nice 15 hour layover at lax...I gladly accepted knowing the Hotel for the layover was to be my responsibility. They then asked if I wanted an up grade to first class on the flight for$700 pp which I took as its normal $1200-$1600 pp

Going with a deviation 1. your paying $175 2. your going to pay the difference between the charter rate and regular fares...and for coach

3. if you want to get business of first on your going to have to pay about $2400 pp for the addition

Going with the deviation is way more costly in every respect. because of the very high air fare to Tahiti and Tahiti nui having a monopoly almost on the route I would NOT take the deviation

Hawaiidan, Greetings fellow Navy. I spent time on USS Essex CVS 9 and teaching at OCS during the '60s. The OP asked about going to Valparaiso, I would definitely do the deviation. For Tahiti you are correct it doesn't make sense.

You are sort of correct newlondon. Why I say sort of is that once the op pays the deviation it covers both way so they can at least check and see if they can specify a specific flight home that doesn't have an up charge since they can then specify the flights that they like and not wait for Oceania to provide what might not be one the OP will like

Thank you everyone for the information. I was a bit shocked when I looked up the return and saw, at least at this point 6 1/2 months out, that it looks like the ONLY flight departing from Papeete are at 11:55 PM. I guess that's OK in a way, as we could hopefully find a place to store our luggage and see a bit of Papeete (nice beach? anything else) before heading home. However, it was a little shocking to go down the list of flight connections and figure out when it was likely I would be departing! I guess I won't be going straight from the port to the airport that day, unless I can check my bags for the almost midnight flight and go back out somewhere.

Whew! Tough travels to get to Paradise! I'm not sure what I'll do, but in the end, I'll probably just take what I get. I did, however, ask my TA yesterday to do some snooping. Apparently the air deviation department is taking its holiday today, will be closed Saturday, and doesn't ever work on Sundays, so finding out what's available won't be quick!

Hawaiidan, surprised to hear you had any choice with Air Tahiti Nui. Did Oceania not provide and give you the flights, or were you able to change them with the airline, or what?

I wasn't really thinking much about that four letter word thing that can delay flights in January, and especially not in connection with Atlanta or Dallas. However, this has been a screwy weather year for many people, so anything's possible.

roothy, Having done it I can tell you getting off Tahiti except in the middle of the night, to the States, is a non-starter.

roothy, Having done it I can tell you getting off Tahiti except in the middle of the night, to the States, is a non-starter.

I'm a little confused. Do you mean there are no choices besides middle of night flights from Papeete (which appears to be the case), that it's useless or foolish to even pay for a deviation for the Papeete home flights, or what?

Tahiti Nui pretty much is the only carrier to the US all flights... arrive aft930 pm and depart between 11 and 1 am to the us. Why??? the airport is so limited that during the day it is reserved for interisland flights Night are for international flights THERE IS NO CHOICE EXCEPT IN THOSE HOURS

Hawaiian served the island 1 day a week Saturday arrive 950pm and depart 1am 3 hours later. Delta, American, air New Zealand are all code share with Tahiti nui which operates 1 flight per day week days and 2 on weekends to the US

Its pointless to deviate because its a choice of days and outside those days the fares are through the roof... Tahiti is best seen from a ship not a hotel staying on land meals room can run you easily 600-1000 per day

Papeete is NOT a pretty place to spend time in nor is the main island of Tahiti

whether on deviation or on the air provided ,your going to have to get a hotel for the day 200 to 300

This is why the smartest visitor to Tahiti arrives in Tahiti to take a cruise that goes to to another place Lima Again in Lima about everything arrives or leaves in the middle of the night !!!

Book a day room at one of the hotels

The airport probably will not accept your bags that far out even in the USA they do not take them much before 3hrs from the flight time

Thanks for the info. Interesting place. Guess I'll look for a hotel.

I seem to recall that passengers getting off were allowed to stay on the ship until later in the day ... no access to cabins but you could eat & drink & use the other facilities on the ship until time to head to the airport of before the ship left that evening

Maybe others that have been there done that will comment

We recently opted to get off the ship (which had docked at 6 pm) after dinner at 9:30 pm, go to the airport and take the 11:55 ATN flight to LAX. When we landed in LA, the other passengers on Marina were just getting off the ship and wondering what to do all day.

All we missed was one more night in that great Oceania bed which was a lot better than spending an expensive day in Papeete. While in security at the airport, we recognized dozens of other Marina passengers doing the same thing.

We recently opted to get off the ship (which had docked at 6 pm) after dinner at 9:30 pm, go to the airport and take the 11:55 ATN flight to LAX. When we landed in LA, the other passengers on Marina were just getting off the ship and wondering what to do all day.

 

All we missed was one more night in that great Oceania bed which was a lot better than spending an expensive day in Papeete. While in security at the airport, we recognized dozens of other Marina passengers doing the same thing.

We did the same thing a few years back :)

Thanks for the info. Interesting place. Guess I'll look for a hotel.

There ARE day flights out of PPT.. April 2014 we were on ATN leaving 10:30AM PPT-LAX. We also stayed overnite in LAX before heading to MTL. All nonstop flights booked with the deviation.

There ARE day flights out of PPT.. April 2014 we were on ATN leaving 10:30AM PPT-LAX. We also stayed overnite in LAX before heading to MTL. All nonstop flights booked with the deviation.

We must have a slightly different itinerary in Jan. 2015, cruise that includes Easter Island, because we don't overnight in Papeete. We get in at 7 AM and if I remember correctly the only flight that doesn't leave at 11:55 PM is at 8:10 AM or something like that, so that's out. I think it's a Qantas or New Zealand flight (or perhaps both if they're code share; not sure) but I haven't looked recently.

I did look briefly at hotels. There's one in the "city"(town? village?) that looks to be not terribly far from the port for $107, so that's not so bad. There's no beach, though - although that will probably be OK with me after that length of time on the ship. There are other hotels on the beach and farther away on the beach, but one thing I wondered about is transportation from the port to the airport and to hotels. Are there regular taxis there? Some of the more modest hotels seem to pick up their guests to bring to the hotel, plus stop at a grocery store and whatnot if desired!!

It would be great if Oceania let people stay on the ship later.

We must have a slightly different itinerary in Jan. 2015, cruise that includes Easter Island, because we don't overnight in Papeete. We get in at 7 AM and if I remember correctly the only flight that doesn't leave at 11:55 PM is at 8:10 AM or something like that, so that's out. I think it's a Qantas or New Zealand flight (or perhaps both if they're code share; not sure) but I haven't looked recently.

 

I did look briefly at hotels. There's one in the "city"(town? village?) that looks to be not terribly far from the port for $107, so that's not so bad. There's no beach, though - although that will probably be OK with me after that length of time on the ship. There are other hotels on the beach and farther away on the beach, but one thing I wondered about is transportation from the port to the airport and to hotels. Are there regular taxis there? Some of the more modest hotels seem to pick up their guests to bring to the hotel, plus stop at a grocery store and whatnot if desired!!

 

 

It would be great if Oceania let people stay on the ship later.

We pre arranged our transfers with Carl's cab.

It is a port with challenging issues because of the few flight options.

The deviation might be a good option for January/winter travel.

We recently opted to get off the ship (which had docked at 6 pm) after dinner at 9:30 pm, go to the airport and take the 11:55 ATN flight to LAX. When we landed in LA, the other passengers on Marina were just getting off the ship and wondering what to do all day.

 

All we missed was one more night in that great Oceania bed which was a lot better than spending an expensive day in Papeete. While in security at the airport, we recognized dozens of other Marina passengers doing the same thing.

We did the same thing a few years back :)

If I'm not mistaken this requires a deviation. I'm looking into this for our return back to PPT in March, from Auckland.

I know some of you get deviations waived, a couple of more years hopefully we'll be there.

We pre arranged our transfers with Carl's cab.

It is a port with challenging issues because of the few flight options.

The deviation might be a good option for January/winter travel.

Just as an aside, Carl left me high & dry for a tour I had booked with him on Moorea over a year in advance. He also became almost impossible to communicate with via email.

I'm okay with an operator canceling a tour, but to not communicate then at the last minute say they can't do it leaves a bad taste for me. He claimed he wasn't receiving my emails. I think he got an easier tour for that day on Tahiti and wouldn't have to take the ferry over. Either way I'd never use him or recommend him.

Fifi on the other hand operates a very responsive, well run taxi service.