Flights arranged with Oceania

[sammyboots]

We'll be using Oceania's air arrangements for the first time this March when we sail on Marina from Miami to Barcelona. We've had to pay extra to fly from and back to Las Vegas where we live. Can anyone tell us when we should hear about our air arrangements and what experiences/advice others have had with this? Thank you :)

[JimandStan]

We'll be using Oceania's air arrangements for the first time this March when we sail on Marina from Miami to Barcelona. We've had to pay extra to fly from and back to Las Vegas where we live. Can anyone tell us when we should hear about our air arrangements and what experiences/advice others have had with this? Thank you :)

 

If you haven't paid the Air Deviation Fee,

http://www.oceaniacruises.com/guestservices/faq.aspx?Cat=Air%20and%20Land%20Programs

then you will hear about your Air Arrangements at eight weeks out with your final documents, or slightly earlier if Oceania deems that the traffic requires a more advanced reservation.

[Sharicruz]

We'll be using Oceania's air arrangements for the first time this March when we sail on Marina from Miami to Barcelona. We've had to pay extra to fly from and back to Las Vegas where we live. Can anyone tell us when we should hear about our air arrangements and what experiences/advice others have had with this? Thank you :)

 

 

Air itineraries are done 75 days prior to sailing, unless there is a deviation that has been requested

.

 

Sharicruz

[GeorgesGal]

I will be using Oceania's air for a Baltic cruise 8-21-12 and requesting deviations - arriving early, addl flight to Naples after,as well as return from Rome a week later. Do I request this from Oceania directly, or go through my TA?

[Sharicruz]

I will be using Oceania's air for a Baltic cruise 8-21-12 and requesting deviations - arriving early, addl flight to Naples after,as well as return from Rome a week later. Do I request this from Oceania directly, or go through my TA?

 

You go through your TA...Deviations can be requested 270 days prior to the sailing.

 

Sharicruz

[JimandStan]

I will be using Oceania's air for a Baltic cruise 8-21-12 and requesting deviations - arriving early, addl flight to Naples after,as well as return from Rome a week later. Do I request this from Oceania directly, or go through my TA?

 

What many people don't realize is that if you have used a Travel Agent then you MUST make any changes to that reservation ONLY through that Agent. You do not have a choice.

 

That said, you have a rather complicated journey planned there, and I probably would have referred you to the Agent, anyway.

[GeorgesGal]

Sharicruz, JimandStan, thanks to both of you! Here is another question then: Should I check my routes/lines/schedules first and give them to my TA, or trust them to get the best schedule?

[orchestrapal]

Sharicruz, JimandStan, thanks to both of you! Here is another question then: Should I check my routes/lines/schedules first and give them to my TA, or trust them to get the best schedule?

 

Always best to do your homework and control your own situation.:)

[JimandStan]

Sharicruz, JimandStan, thanks to both of you! Here is another question then: Should I check my routes/lines/schedules first and give them to my TA, or trust them to get the best schedule?

 

You have asked a big question there, with a LOT of variables, but here goes:

 

When you opt into the Oceania Air program, Oceania works up a "base fare" for your journey.

 

If you ask for a specific route, the cost of those flights are compared to that base fare. If there is an additional cost to doing it your way, you will be given the option of paying that difference as a surcharge, or trying for a different route.

 

If you decide not to pay the surcharge, you may continue to suggest routing options until you are satisfied, or, you may let it revert to whatever Oceania will plan for you.

[neepawa]

On two of our Oceania cruises, we selected our preferred routing, airline and dates, then gave the details to our TA. In both cases, Oceania agreed with our choices with no extra charges except for the deviation fee.

 

Don

[GeorgesGal]

To all of you, thank you. I can always rely on the experienced crew on CC for good info.

 

Here is what I have found out from my TA: O will provide only in-coming and out-going flights from the Continent, and we will make our own internal arrangements (in spite of what an O agent had told me at the outset when I had booked directly with them, but this is no biggie!). They will fly us into STO and out of FCO on our desired dates. Great!

 

O will submit a planned ininerary in a few days - Wed or Thurs - for our review which we can acceept or decline. If we don't care for the itin, we can get back to the TA > Oceania with a preferred itin including carrier/times, etc which may or may not cost more, and above the deviation fee. This is so much fun! My sister and I are ADDICTED to planning and travelling, so the more complicated it gets, the more adventures we experience in life!

 

May all have a Happy Chanuka and a Merry Christmas. Wish some of you guys were sailing with us next year! :D

[Shining Clem]

when we spoke with our experienced TA which maybe helpful knowledge to the air arrangements through Oceania:

 

We are going in the opposite direction: to NZ in early 2012. Late summer we established our air routes and deviation fees with Oceania from the eastern US. We requested airlines and times, and were 50% successful with that. We did this in concert with this TA and she got us seats reserved, alternative pricing info, etc. Then a couple of weeks ago, we noticed that the outgoing flights had been re-routed, requiring us to leave our home 3 hours earlier. This is a PITA, because we are 1 1/2 hrs from the airport and will mean driving in even earlier, at a time when daylight & roads might be bad. She had been right on top of things for us, getting good seats as soon as the change came through.

 

In speaking with the TA, she said Oceania contracts the flights out to the airlines. Outbound we will be with one group; coming back from a different location, we will be with another group.

 

So once Oceania hands you off to the airlines, THEY control your schedule within certain parameters, not Oceania. Actually, except for the earlier time of leaving, we like the new schedule better, because there is more time in SF for our luggage to be transferred from one line to another.

 

If they change us AGAIN, though, which they have the right to do, she said she would fight for us directly with the airlines. This whole episode has impressed us with the value of a good local TA when things get sticky. She has a contact with someone at Oceania and says they have been helpful and responsive. For some who live near a city on either coast which has direct flights to foreign airports, this may not be as crucial. She understands the local geography, and that getting to the airport in winter in the snow belt, maybe a greater challenge than getting to NZ, once we are at the airport!

 

Just thought I'd add this to the previous helpful postings which you have seen, because it has helped us understand Oceania's system and where to look for solutions to problems.

[GeorgesGal]

Hi, all, and Happy New Year!

 

I'm pleased to let you know that, after giving our TA our preferred flights and dates, O has agreed to our routing, carriers and dates. We will be flying on our own to Naples, taking the train to Sorrento for a week in a villa on the sea, returning to Rome for three days, then flying out of FCO on 11 September. There is no additional air fare involved in this itinerary, I am happy to say - other than our own booking Cimber Air out of Copenhagen to Naples - just the air deviation fee!

 

Life sometimes works the way we hope it will. So lookingforward to this trip. Sure none of you want to come along? There are other apartments in Villa Terrazzo!

[Lorna Doone]

We did a cruise in July from Stockhome ending in Copenhagen. We paid the deviation fee since we added 2 days on at each end. We were very pleased with the schedule that oceania gave us for the air. We were not committed to it until we saw the schedule from them and accepted it.:p

[eskie]

We just got back a couple of hours ago from our Christmas/New Years Cruise. I will never leave it to Oceania (or anyone else to take charge of my itinerary) I should have known better when I saw the two air times I was given when I wanted to fly one day earlier. The air deviation money was not worth it, I should have just taken Oceania's air credit and booked my own flights.

 

We were given the red eye Edmonton through Toronto to Miami. This flight ended up not to too bad (I was concerned with the overnighter as I had never flown from midnight arriving in Miami by 2:00 p.m. the next day The problem came with the return flight. Oceania booked us on a 4:00 p.m. flight (although there were alot of people from the ship on the 1:15 flight), I guess they felt we had plenty of time leaving at 4, going through customs in Toronto all in 1 hour in 10 minutes to catch the next flight to Edmonton. Well, the plane was a half hour late from Miami (which is not Oceania's fault, I know that). But, this is when you know that the connection time was never realistic - if you have ever been in the Toronto Airport, it has to be the craziest, longest walk to get to customs, then the baggage was slow coming off the carousel, we waited for a half hour for that. So even if we were on time, (p.s. we were given seats at the back of the plane), we were already 55 minutes before we got our bags and being processed through custom gates. We would have 15 minutes to go thru security again, get to the gate, get on the plane. Under the best circumstances it wasn't going to work.

 

So, we missed our flight, Air Canada wanted to put us up in a room 15 minutes away from the airport. They gave us 1 room voucher as they assumed we were travelling with an infant (we were travelling with our grown daughter) but they had no problem rebooking us for the next day's flight and spreading us all over the plane -even the so-called"infant". I was travelling with a wheelchair and refused that hotel, luckily I was put up in the airport hotel. 2 days of flying, we are finally home.

 

REALLY, REALLY check the flights they offer you, then do your own booking if you don't like them. They are not looking out for what's best for you, only you can do that. I blame both groups for a disappointing end to my trip, one that didn't have to happen if they would have only put me on that earlier flight, then I would have caught my connection and been home last night.

 

Learn by others mistakes, good luck!

[sitraveler]

We have gotten reasonable flights both day of cruise and with deviations.

 

When Oceania offers flights, you may ask for modifications and prefer the flights of your choice. If the connection times seem too short, ask for the change then. BTW, most of us prefer shorter times at airports and hope for the best.:D:D:D

[Mura]

That's very unfortunate, Eskie. My sympathies.

 

We usually do our own air arrangements but on the few occasions when we have used O's air, the schedules have been fine. It probably helps that we live in NYC so the gateway airport is HERE.

 

On our first Renaissance cruise we heard so many horror stories about the cruise line's air that we vowed never to use it, but these problems have not seemed to occur with O. Usually.

 

I was unhappy when O booked us on a 7:30 am flight to Miami for a TA a couple of years ago (I'd assumed we'd get something like an 11am flight for a 6pm departure) but that turned out to be serendipity because at the last minute I couldn't find my passport and had to get a new one in Miami. If we'd had the 11am flight I'd wanted, there probably would not have been time.

 

As others have said, if you don't like the schedule you are given, refuse it.

 

A lesson learned, I guess! We haven't complained either in the past but I'll be more careful the next time we use O's air.

 

Mura

[LHT28]

We just got back a couple of hours ago from our Christmas/New Years Cruise. I will never leave it to Oceania (or anyone else to take charge of my itinerary) I should have known better when I saw the two air times I was given when I wanted to fly one day earlier. The air deviation money was not worth it, I should have just taken Oceania's air credit and booked my own flights.

 

Why did you accept the flights if you were not happy when you saw the flight times :confused:

 

Just ask for the flight time you want then decide if you will accept them

 

If you are going to use O air you have to have a GOOD agent that know how the deviation works

 

Lyn

 

P.S. you will never get flights from Toronto RT to MIA for the $250 credit O offers let alone from YEG

[eskie]

Why did you accept the flights if you were not happy when you saw the flight times :confused:

Just ask for the flight time you want then decide if you will accept them

Lyn

P.S. you will never get flights from Toronto RT to MIA for the $250 credit O offers let alone from YEG

 

Lyn,

you are right, and I did refuse some of the itineraries presented to us. I was more concerned with the outbound portion and getting to Miami and the times presented weren't the greatest. I will admit returning was my fault and I didn't catch the transfer time at the Toronto Airport. The other thing going against me was Christmas holiday choices, there wasn't a lot out there to pick from :(

And sometimes the $250 credit and booking my own air, would have been SOOO worth the night stay, 2nd day at the airport , especially when you are a wheelchair passenger. Then money isn't the issue. Westjet would have been a welcome option at that moment.

 

Thank you Mura for your sympathies. I admit my part for not being more observant, I just wanted to pass on the information to others to make sure they keep a keen eye open as it isn't the best way to end a holiday, and I just wanted to make others aware.

[Shining Clem]

Eskie, You wrote: I was more concerned with the outbound portion and getting to Miami and the times presented weren't the greatest.

 

This is probably a common outlook - we have it in our heads, that we mustn't miss the boat; and yet when it comes to returning we figure, if something goes wrong ..... well hopefully our home dwelling won't move on us (!) and if we arrive home late, .... the world won't end.

 

In addition to such things as Customs, it doesn't take much to throw one off plans, even without a wheel chair. Last spring we arrived back in Boston after a trans-Atlantic flight, went through luggage retrieval & customs in great time; only to have an airport employee give us very bad directions to our next flight. We were sent on foot the maximum route possible, and then some, to a hidden desk (there was a shuttle!). There was a lot of signage which was meaningless or missing, because of airport construction. Just made it.

 

And actually, the next night there was so much thunder and lightening across Mass. that area fights were grounded/cancelled/delayed. It never hurts to read stories like yours to remind the rest of us to stay alert and plan for goofy things happening. And while waiting on land between flights isn't pleasant, it's better than some alternatives.

 

Now sitting on the tarmac, in the plane ..... for hours on end, THAT's what really gets my blood boiling. :mad::eek: It's amazing how a meaningful fine from the US gov't managed to cut a lot of that out, that the airlines couldn't take the trouble to care about before.

 

Take care.

[potterhill]

When we are transferring in a major airport, we look for a 3-4 hour window to do this. Gives us time for late flights, washroom break, customs, security, and coffee if there is extra time.

 

Much rather be relaxed and sit and wait a bit than race breathlessly through unfamiliar airports (often in foreign languages)and barely make or miss the flight.

 

Works for us.

 

Mo

[Mura]

That's rather more conservative than we are, but we like around 2 hours to be safe.

 

In October we flew to Rome via Paris (back from Istanbul with another stop in Paris) and the schedule only gave us a scant hour to change terminals at CDG. It was do-able but just barely.

 

They ended up changing our flights going to Rome, so we had to change our Paris-Rome flight to a later one that gave us plenty of time (at least 2 hours), but the run-walk from one terminal to the next took us about 45 minutes (counting passport control).

 

On the way home our flight was late which just about gave us a stroke. Then at passport control they had NOBODY manning the booth for non-EU people. There were two lines for EU people but nothing for us. They finally switched one of them over to non-EU travellers. We were first in line but it took an extra 15 minutes or so to get through. Fortunately we were in premium economy which meant we were treated like business passengers so we didn't have to stand in line anywhere else.

 

Even so, the flight was on "last call" as we arrived at the gate. However, once on board they made an announcement that they were waiting for some more passengers who were delayed in transit so I guess they would have waited for us.

 

But not for much longer!

 

As you say, it's more relaxing to have plenty of time!

[timandnancy]

I've always booked my own air and never bought the package from any cruiseline. I've found it to be always cheaper, except for last year from Azamara (RCCL air program). However, to get the great rate, I would have had to sit in FCO until 2:30 in the afternoon. So I booked it myself anyway, paid a little extra, and got a 10:30am flight. I cut it close, but it was better than sitting 5 more hours in an airport before a 9 hour flight!

Tim

[Lola911]

We have done the air deviation before so I know how it works. My question is: will O let us make a stopover? Itinerary is: Vancouver to Istanbul; Athens to Paris; Paris to Vancouver. Will the Paris stopover be considered? My TA says yes and O says no. Did I get the right answer from O operator?

[neepawa]

I recommend that you give your TA your preferences with routing, dates, stopovers and airlines. Your TA can then ask Oceania for this deviation. The Oceania Air Department will make the decision and may ask you to pay additional fees beyond the normal deviation fee.

 

Don