Rare llarsen Posted January 2, 2013 #1 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Hello, We will be taking our first Med cruise Oct 9, 2013. out of Barcelona. We live in So. California and purchased our cruise with "free" Oceania airfare included. We are considering arriving a day early in Barcelona using the air deviation. My question is, if we are flying out of California when would our "normal" (non deviation) departure/arrival flight time be for that leg of the trip? Would Oceania put us up in a hotel the night before our cruise, or would we be arriving in Barcelona the day of our cruise? Also, our traveling companions live in PA. If we do an air deviation do you think Oceania could get us on the same flight from the East Coast to Barcelona, with us having a connection in PA? Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare PaulMCO Posted January 2, 2013 #2 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Hello, We will be taking our first Med cruise Oct 9, 2013. out of Barcelona. We live in So. California and purchased our cruise with "free" Oceania airfare included. We are considering arriving a day early in Barcelona using the air deviation. My question is, if we are flying out of California when would our "normal" (non deviation) departure/arrival flight time be for that leg of the trip? Would Oceania put us up in a hotel the night before our cruise, or would we be arriving in Barcelona the day of our cruise? Thank you! No way to know what air reservations will likely be. Yes you will arrive the day of your cruise if you do not do a deviation. That is why it pays to do a deviation as you get to chose the specific flights and you can arrive earlier which reduces the chances of missing the cruise if there any airline delays and allows you to decompress from what surely will be some jet lag. Hello, Also, our traveling companions live in PA. If we do an air deviation do you think Oceania could get us on the same flight from the East Coast to Barcelona, with us having a connection in PA? Thank you! The beauty of using a deviation is that anything is possible - yes likely that they can arrange for you to be on same flights (with you both doing a deviation) from say NY or Washington gateways. Oops gotta run -- our countdown says 1 day til we leave on our cruise :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChatKat in Ca. Posted January 2, 2013 #3 Share Posted January 2, 2013 We were on another cruise (Regent) last year leaving from Barcelona. There were a number of people going on the Oceania Cruise as well because Oceania and Regent share the air department. We all were on Air France which leaves at 3:35 pm. We flew Bus. Class and there was a strike. We called the air department as soon as we heard and they were able to reroute all of us though Swiss Air to Geneva to Barcelona. The air connection time between flights in Paris was only one hour - it was a legal connection but very tight. We have flown that route many times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruin Steve Posted January 2, 2013 #4 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Oceania has typically flown us from Southern California to European destinations via Lufthansa--which inevitably means flying nonstop LAX to Frankfurt and, from there, to any destination in Europe...the reverse going home...And we've used deviations--not to specify certain flights, but rather to specify the dates of arrival and departure, leaving the specific flights up to them... If you do it without using a deviation, that is generally what they will do... If you must have certain routes (like flying via Philadelphia), beware: 1) There may not be convenient flights via Philly, so you may be making one extra stop somewhere (like LAX- Phila- JFK-Frankfurt or Heathrow to Barcelona), and 2) Your cost for the deviation may be signigficantly higher. I may be mistaken, but I believe you pay for a fee for the deviation services as well as any difference in the cost of the flights. Costs will vary based on route and on airline...When you talk to the Deviation department, I would ask all of the cost questions...It may well be that, if you want to be on the same flights as your friends, it may work out better for one of you to fly indepemndently, a day or two ahead, to the others' home, then have Oceania book all four of you on the same route... Good luck... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nana541 Posted January 2, 2013 #5 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Regent/Oceana has always flown us direct from LA to Franfurt and then to the city we embark from .... Each time it was Lufhansa. Trying to fly with your friends will add HOURS of layovers and travel time, not to mention a much greater likelihood of your Luggage not making the cruise with you! We did Barcelona to Istanbul last April on Regent, fly in 2 days early this is a wonderful city....buy tickets to Sagrada Familia on line and avoid 3 hr lines and go straight in, this is a don't miss wonder!! Deviate it is so worth it!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare llarsen Posted January 3, 2013 Author #6 Share Posted January 3, 2013 First off, Thank you everyone. Wow, this is getting complicated. I now see the difficulty with travel times trying to connect with our friends. I guess I'm nervous about flying out of the country by ourselves. I'm afraid we won't know where to go or what to do in a foreign airport. I've been waiting so long to travel to these wonderful ports, and I feel like I'm cutting our first time experience short, because I'm worried about the foreign air travel and something going wrong. Also, our cruise departs in Rome and our friends don't want to stay an extra day because they've already been to Rome. My husband and I would love to see Rome, but I'm just afraid of getting to the airport and knowing where to go on our own. Funny because we've been on like 17 cruises and always fly in ahead of our cruise, drive on the islands, and plan our own excursions in ports. But these were in the Caribbean and French Polynesia which we are very familiar with the islands. I just don't know what to do. We are in our 50's and totally capable (fitness wise, lol) of doing many things. I don't know why I'm so nervous about it. Btw, I also saw another problem I will be able to fix, thanks to these boards. Our passports expire a few days short of being within the 6 month after travel period. Going to renew NOW! Bruin Steve- How was the experience flying Lufthansa? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinTek Posted January 3, 2013 #7 Share Posted January 3, 2013 We flew the Trans-Atlantic on the Riviera last November and were booked LAX-BCN via JFK on American, arriving in the early morning of the embarkation date. Since we'd arrived at BCN so early (7AM), the transfer service from Oceania included a tour of the city before we arrived at the port terminal. All in all, it was close to perfect. Most of the flights leaving LAX for Europe left in the evening and arrived in the late morning at the connecting city (Frankfurt, Paris, London, Zurich, whatever). This put you at real risk of missing the ship by the time you connected to a flight to BCN unless you arrived the previous day. And in our case, it was a good thing we didn't arrive the previous day, since there was a general strike in Barcelona on the date of arrival and our flight would have been cancelled. That, however, was just a stroke of luck, as you can't plan around such things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruin Steve Posted January 3, 2013 #8 Share Posted January 3, 2013 First off, Thank you everyone. Wow, this is getting complicated. I now see the difficulty with travel times trying to connect with our friends. I guess I'm nervous about flying out of the country by ourselves. I'm afraid we won't know where to go or what to do in a foreign airport. I've been waiting so long to travel to these wonderful ports, and I feel like I'm cutting our first time experience short, because I'm worried about the foreign air travel and something going wrong. Also, our cruise departs in Rome and our friends don't want to stay an extra day because they've already been to Rome. My husband and I would love to see Rome, but I'm just afraid of getting to the airport and knowing where to go on our own. Funny because we've been on like 17 cruises and always fly in ahead of our cruise, drive on the islands, and plan our own excursions in ports. But these were in the Caribbean and French Polynesia which we are very familiar with the islands. I just don't know what to do. We are in our 50's and totally capable (fitness wise, lol) of doing many things. I don't know why I'm so nervous about it. Btw, I also saw another problem I will be able to fix, thanks to these boards. Our passports expire a few days short of being within the 6 month after travel period. Going to renew NOW! Bruin Steve- How was the experience flying Lufthansa? First, no reason to panic... Let's deal with it one step at a time... I take it the cruise is Barcelona to Rome, correct? Barcelona is easy... I really advise maybe getting in at least two days in advance...more if you can. There is a lot to see in Barcelona and it is also a wonderful city in which to just walk and lounge around in...But, you'll definitely want to see La Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, Casa Mila and Casa Batllo...and to stroll Las Ramblas and the Barri Gotic...If you have time, take in a Flamenco show, go to Montjuic and visit the Museo Picasso...and there is more, of course...And, this is an easy city to get around on foot for the most part...but there is also a HOHO bus...and public transportation is easy...Buy a copy of the AAA Spiral Guide Barcelona (the best guide I've found)...Use a hotel as close to the Placa Catalunya as possible (this is the transportation and cultural hub of Barcelona...most sites are walkable from here and there are loads of restaurants and nightlife right there--as well as the great department store El Corte Ingles--with a fantastic supermarket in the basement for all of you drink and snack needs at good prices)...For a bargain hotel, the Hotel Continental has as good a location as one can find...And there are several other hotels in the vicinity--Jazz, 1898, Le Meridien, to name a few)... Anyway, back to the logistics... Even if you can't get on the same flights with your friends, you may be able to end up with relatively close arrival times...If so, one can wait for the other and meet at the airport... If you come in separately, getting into Central Barcelona is no problem...You can just grab a taxi...or...there are shuttle services, trains and buses--just like most other large airports... http://bookings.aerocity.com//airport-city?lang_req=en&tipo_tarifa=a_c§ion_sel=3 I think it's about 22 Euro for two from airport to Central Barcelona hotels for a shared shuttle...Easy...So, you can always do this and meet your friends at the hotel...If you are there with time before them, gop out and explore...Barcelona is charming... Taxis from the hotel to the port are cheap and easy...it's not a long distance from Placa Catalunya to the port...you could almost walk it but for the luggage... For Rome on the way home, last time, when we disembarked off Marina summer before last, we joined a tour with some others on our cruise who were doing a back-to-back...The driver/guide brought us all on a tour, then dropped us at our hotel before returning the others to the ship... It was a group of eight for a tour of the main sights of Rome with Valerio Nacci of NCC. For only 50€ per person, he picked us up at the ship and took us to the Vatican, Trevi, Piazza Navona, Vittorio Emanuel, Pantheon and Coliseum, then dropped us off at our hotel and returned the others...This was the guide: http://it-it.facebook.com/people/Valerio-Nacci/100000180156934 Perhaps you can find a group wishing to do the same on the Roll Call... Otherwise, pre-book a taxi into Rome... In Rome, we stayed this last time at a great little hotel: http://www.residenzafarneseroma.it/default_en.asp One of the absolute best locations in Rome. About a block from the Campo di Fiore and about three blocks from the Piazza Navona on a quiet side street. The Campo di Fiore is now one of my favorite piazzas in all of Rome. A vibrant piazza lined with several very reasonably priced restaurants with ample outdoor seating. We ate in two of them: Maranega: http://millerrome2011.blogspot.com/2011/04/new-addition-to-campo-de-fiori.html and Sloppy Sam’s: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sloppy-Sams/101906753220836?v=info I had pasta in both and both were VERY good. It is hard to beat the outdoor tables on the Campo. My wife loved the Gelato at Blue Ice. They have not one, but two, locations within a block of each other on the road leaving the Campo in the direction of the Piazza Navona. We're staying there again this coming July after our cruise... Again, I'd recommend getting a copy of the AAA Spiral Guide Rome...and, as with Barcelona, I'd recommend staying two nights or more if you can...Rome wasn't built in a day...and it can't be toured in a day either... Just arrange for another taxi back to the airport for your return home... As to Lufthansa, we really enjoyed it...Of course, this last trip, we traveled Business Class, so we got to enjoy the departure lounges at the airport...and the nice spacious reclining seats...It did take me a long tome to figure out the remote controls though! Have fun... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nana541 Posted January 3, 2013 #9 Share Posted January 3, 2013 Meet up with your friends in Barcelona at your Hotel... We stayed at 1898 which is right on Los Rambles and close to everything! Lovely to just walk out the door of the hotel and ramble :) The taxi ride from the airport was fast and there are plenty of taxi's just outside the door .. If you are nervous at all, arrange for a private car service to pick you up, as you leave baggage claim your driver will be waiting with a sign with your name to wisk you off to the hotel.... No worries about being tired and not knowing the language. Everyone speaks English !! As for Rome!!!!! Waive goodbye to your friends as they head to the airport. They have seen Rome, you have not!! There are several ways to get to Rome from the port, it is about an hour away... Go to the ports section on Cruise Crutic to get recommendations on transfer companies and pre-arrange a transfer. I am sure that Oceania can do this for you also while on board. Rome is one of the hi-lights of this trip, don't miss it!!! Stay a full two days at the very least, three is better so you can wander and enjoy! Good luck and enjoy the adventure :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traveler916 Posted January 4, 2013 #10 Share Posted January 4, 2013 As to Lufthansa, we really enjoyed it...Of course, this last trip, we traveled Business Class, so we got to enjoy the departure lounges at the airport...and the nice spacious reclining seats...It did take me a long tome to figure out the remote controls though I agree....I finally figured out that the button that looks like a flat bed turns your seat into a bed...and the button that looks like an upright seat turns your seat back into an upright seat :) Its amazing what we can learn in our 60s :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare llarsen Posted January 4, 2013 Author #11 Share Posted January 4, 2013 Thank you, thank you! I am feeling a little better about this :-) I think my anxiety has been building up due to the fact that I am so unfamiliar with these ports. I read about strikes, getting here and there to sites that I have no idea what they even are and wonder how everyone else seems to know so much about them. So I ordered Rick Steves Cruising the Med book, and as Bruin Steve suggested- I will be getting a few AAA guides. Nana51- You are right, we need to waive goodbye and take in the sites. Life is just too short to put things off for another day. Thank you Bruin for all the information! Yes, we are on the Barcelona to Rome itinerary. Any suggestions for those ports? These are the only things we know we are doing. We know we want to do Cinque Terre from La Spezia Our friends have been to Pompei and Florence, so we're considering Lucca, Siena and San Gimignano Amalfi we want to see the coast and Postano, Ravello That's about all I know, lol Thanks to all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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