Flatbush Flyer

Have you already deposited this cruise with air included? If so, your Oceania invoice will show the air credit per person on the first page. if you haven’t deposited this cruise already, the mock booking exercise (as I described it) will show you what your fare would be with and without air. The difference is your “air credit.”

InsureMyTrip has a far more robust and comprehensive search engine that helps you look at policy options you may want to discuss with their agents over the phone.

You don’t need anyone to figure it out for you. Just start a mock booking on the O website: First page is O Life “with air”. On next page check “no air.” The difference in price is the “air credit.”

Actually, you get zero ($0.00) “bang for your buck” with O Life SBC. Do the math. The fare cost per cabin for that O Life SBC option (w/o air) is exactly the same cost as the Cruise Only option to which you add the dollar amount of the offered SBC per cabin. It’s a wash: you’re buying the SBC outright! That said, I do agree that, in looking at O Life available tours, you should pick from among those allowable ones close to the $199 list price (thus approaching double the value of the SBC option. The other value of picking the tours option is that your selections will count towards the per person minimum number required on your itinerary for the YWYW 25% discount on paid tours you add.

You could opt for very expensive “cancel for any reason” insurance but I expect the passport issue you describe would be excluded. That said, you can request from the State Dept, an emergency passport renewal within about two weeks (?) of the trip. But, the appts. Are in major cities with an agency office and reservations are often hard to get - this requiring possible domestic travel to get one.

Use the search feature here on CC to look for one or more of my several detailed sets of instructions (and strategies) for getting the most value from the combination of O Life excursions option and YWYW. (Note that seldom is the Unlimited Passport worth the upfront cost.)

OP: Read your Oceania T&Cs and Ticket Contract. In selling you air tix, O acts only as a Travel Agency and bears no responsibility for airline issues. O (directly or through its Port Agent) will assist you in rebooking flights as needed. But, any additional costs will be your responsibility.

Though most can be opened temporarily for maintenance activities, balcony separators on cruise ships serve as fire breaks. That said, you would need the ship’s Master’s permission to have a non-bulkhead one opened for your personal preference.

A related important item for those folks new to O: On many other cruise lines, you pay extra to get the “better” food in their “specialty” restaurants. On Oceania, the quality of ingredients and preparation is equally excellent across all dining venues. The only difference in the specialty restaurants (which are no extra cost) is the menu focus and ambiance of the room.

Wrong cruise line for a caste system.

In all honesty, it sounds like you just don’t want to do what it takes to acquire the correct documentation. Citing past experience in other places serves zero purpose. Not only might a new (to you) country require hard/fast adherence to their rules but, on any given day, the border authority person you encounter may be the strictest one in their group. Why not just do the right thing and get updated documents?

“Traveled 3k miles to us” ??? No birth certificate??? Sounds like you don’t have court ordered full custody of this 13 yo kid. If so, not only should she have a valid passport (if for no other reason than an emergency flight home during the cruise), you’ll need the written permission of the other custodial parent (or family member or guardian) to take her out of the country. If you don’t want “anxiety,” have the correct documentation with you. BTW, that would include adequate international travel/health insurance for the child as well as a “permission to treat” letter from whoever has legal custody of her.

Of course not. There job is to serve the guests and most O crew consider themselves very lucky to get a spot on an O ship.

If you’re doing a major cruise from SF and have two checked bags plus one or two rollaboards, a standard Uber will usually not have the luggage space you need.

Let me guess? Carnival?

Look no further… choose the Intercontinental Miami. Perfect location - 5 minute taxi ride from the ship (you can see from your hotel window. Great Italian restaurant around the corner. Supermarket w/wine is a two block walk. Hotel price (unless there’s a major convention) will run about $200/night.

Negative on the Uber. They are not allowed to pick up at the baggage area. Apparently, there’s a spot in the garage. Get a private transfer. AND get a good hotel (e.g., Marriott Marquis or Intercontinental. Unless there’s some monster convention in town, you should be able to get a room for under $250/night.

The cruise terminal is conveniently located right on the SF Embarcadero (major street fronting the Bay). Many excellent hotels (and restaurants) in the area. Unless traffic is bad (e.g., rush hour), SFO is less than 30 minutes away. I highly recommend Marin Luxury Limo for private transfer. http://marinluxurylimo.com

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KaO_yp1KU2g

Will not happen - cruise travel factors are much more complicated and time consuming than are air tix sales.

There’s your problem. Get a TA who is a cruise specialist (particularly for your preferred line) who will share commissions in the form of cash rebate or refundable SBC. That’s how to save $$$ on your bottom line costs.

LOL. Wages are only the “tip of the iceberg.” As aforementioned, “outsourcing” to TAs saves $$$ on marketing, reservations, customer services, facilities, etc. CLIA studies over the years have demonstrated the considerable value related to cruise lines’ preference for using and commissioning TAs. Perhaps discount lines like Carnival use “call centers” in foreign lands. I wouldn’t know because you couldn’t pay me to step foot on any of their ships. But, with their relatively low fares, the paltry amount of their TA commissions would still make their preferring TAs to their own reservationists a better deal for all concerned. That said, I doubt American based cruise lines (despite their flag state) catering to premium/luxury passengers would use foreign call centers where limited English fluency could be problematic in trying to do a 5 figure purchase. So, even with some of their own phone reps working from home due to the Covid era, the cruise lines still need to deal with wages, benefits, many hours of their own limited direct phone sales staff doing passenger “handholding” (which often doesn’t translate to any sales). Again, bottom line: cruise lines will never jettison TAs.

He told me it’s been a while but didn’t get specific. I assume it was once cruising restarted in mid-2022.

Actually, they might or might not be depending on who’s arranging the group, what’s included, are there TA perks/rebates involved (and who gets them)….(the list goes on….)

This “no tipping” attitude would get you a load of grief in the US. That said, understand that a default gratuities charge (automatic or buried in the fare) across the bulk of the cruise industry will never go away because the bulk of the passengers are Americans. In any case, it’s a non-issue on most premium/luxury lines where gratuities are not charged - particularly for “preferred” customers (e.g., on Oceania, as little as five short cruises nets you complimentary gratuities for all future cruises).