RetiredFL Posted August 2, 2011 #1 Share Posted August 2, 2011 We are on the Marina and arrive in Istanbul, stay on board overnight and then are off the ship the next morning. Oceania has booked us a flight from Istanbul leaving at 9AM. (We did request an early flight to get home at a decent hour but they booked it without extra charges) Has anyone had an experience using the ship's transfer for such an early flight? Usually they will only transfer for flights after 1PM but they booked the flight as part of the fare. I don't want to get on board, not having arranged anything, and then be told, sorry, your flight is too early. (By the way, cost is not a consideration, we have on board credit to use) Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted August 2, 2011 #2 Share Posted August 2, 2011 My guess is that you'll be okay. I wouldn't be so sure if you were leaving on the day the ship docks, but since you'll already be in port you should be able to leave the ship as early as necessary to get to the airport in time. And if you have a ship transfer, I doubt you'll be alone! And while I didn't go from the port to the airport on our last visit to Istanbul (we went to the airport from our hotel), I don't think it's all that long a trip. Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulchili Posted August 2, 2011 #3 Share Posted August 2, 2011 I think you'll be fine as you are in IST overnight; you (your transfer) can leave early (6 AM?) w/o any problems. I believe the O rule about 1 PM flights applies to cruises that are scheduled to arrive in port the same day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddmel Posted August 2, 2011 #4 Share Posted August 2, 2011 Could you elaborate on the 1 pm rule? We have booked a cruise arriving in Barcelona at 6am and bought our own air with a 10:30am departure. We didn't anticipate any problem with this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CintiPam Posted August 2, 2011 #5 Share Posted August 2, 2011 You really should have nothing to worry about because you are arriving in port a day early and it is not very far to Ataturk airport plus you will be traveling before the awful rush hour traffic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulchili Posted August 2, 2011 #6 Share Posted August 2, 2011 Could you elaborate on the 1 pm rule? We have booked a cruise arriving in Barcelona at 6am and bought our own air with a 10:30am departure. We didn't anticipate any problem with this. This is MY understanding - not official Oceania policy. They will not (usually) provide ship's airport transfer for flights before 1 PM if ship arrives to port the same morning. It probably has to do with possible delays in arrival due to sea conditions, unexpected delays in immigration/customs clearance, etc. These delays do happen - recently Marina was delayed in Miami by immigration/customs for a couple of hours and people had to cancel their flights that were before noon - 1 PM. OTOH, if you are arranging for your own transfers, you can do that for flights at any time at your own risk. If all goes well and ship arrives on time and clears promptly - you are fine and can leave the ship as early you wish (after clearance). However, if delays happen, you are SOL for early flights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrainBonds Posted August 2, 2011 #7 Share Posted August 2, 2011 Not quite on point, but I ended a Black Sea cruise on Regent in Istanbul about two weeks ago. Stayed at the post-cruise hotel for a couple of days. Had a 7:50 a.m. flight and Regent provided a transfer with no problem. Well, almost no problem - to make sure there are no traffic issues, the transfers were leaving about 3-3.5 hours before the flights. Mine left the hotel at 3:15 a.m. (I shared with a couple taking a 8:45 flight.) Made for a long day traveling from Istanbul to Sacramento. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RetiredFL Posted August 2, 2011 Author #8 Share Posted August 2, 2011 Oceania also seems to have a dual policy in that if you take the whole package including air travel and transfers as part of the cruise then they supposedly have to book flights they can get you to on time. If you book independent air arrangements and decide to buy a transfer on board they usually state that it is only for flights after 1pm. However that may be different on some cruises. (For example we arrive the day before and overnight in Istanbul) Remember if you are arriving that morning the ship has to clear port authorities and depending on the country you have to go through immigration and customs. My concern was that although we are taking Oceania's air we requested an early flight and am concerned they may claim it is independent travel and not sell a transfer. Oh well, the joys of traveling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CintiPam Posted August 2, 2011 #9 Share Posted August 2, 2011 Not quite on point, but I ended a Black Sea cruise on Regent in Istanbul about two weeks ago. Stayed at the post-cruise hotel for a couple of days. Had a 7:50 a.m. flight and Regent provided a transfer with no problem. Well, almost no problem - to make sure there are no traffic issues, the transfers were leaving about 3-3.5 hours before the flights. Mine left the hotel at 3:15 a.m. (I shared with a couple taking a 8:45 flight.) Made for a long day traveling from Istanbul to Sacramento. That was idiotic of Regent. There are no transfer issues when going to Ataturk at 5:00 AM! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrainBonds Posted August 2, 2011 #10 Share Posted August 2, 2011 So I discovered as I sat in the airport for what seemed like (and maybe was) hours waiting for the Iberian ticket counter to open so I could check my bag. Oh, well ... just another story to tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted August 2, 2011 #11 Share Posted August 2, 2011 We had a 7:30 am flight from JFK to Vancouver three years ago (to meet our flight to China). We allowed the 1-1/2 hour lead time they require for flights to Canada and got there at 6am, only to discover the airport didn't open until 6:30 or so. Whatever time they opened up the security lines, they were horrendous. The irony was that our flight left two hours LATE because suddenly the engines had to be inspected and there wasn't anyone to do it. So we arrived in Vancouver and raced through the terminal to catch another flight to Beijing. Our original connection had been tight to begin with -- it certainly didn't allow for our arriving two hours late. There were a number of us in the same position -- split between flights to Tokyo and Beijing. That was another long day as well ... it would have been long enough without needlessly having to get up in the middle of the night! And of course when we got to Beijing, Viking knew nothing about it so our transfer was not there either! The joys of travel ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted August 2, 2011 #12 Share Posted August 2, 2011 Things may have changed but a few years ago we had O air & transfers we docked in Dover maybe 5 am we were on the bus at 6:15am & at LHR by 8:30 am the bus driver got lost going to the correct terminal or we would have been there sooner our flight was NOON While wandering aimlessly through the shops we met another couple from Ontario that we had a great chat with ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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