why pay for a deviation if you are arriving on the day of the cruise?

[beachchairs2]

first time on O....

 

we have our air with O....

 

is there any advantage to paying for a deviation even if you are flying in on the day of and returning on the day of.....

 

some think they have a better chance to chose a better flight if they pay the 350.....

[hondorner]

I wouldn't. But then, I personally think it's much better to arrive the previous day. Too much chance of too much going wrong to depend on getting there the same day. Of course, you may not have much choice if your work or some other activity prevents the extra day.

 

As for whether it's worth it, only if you have a pressing need to know the schedule of the flights now, rather than after final payment. Or, if you have a specific need to schedule a specific flight on the day.

 

Otherwise, it's most likely you would get exactly the same flights in either case. The fee is an administrative fee for performing something out of the ordinary (that's why it's not refundable). The air department is already committed to finding you the best flights on the day of arrival -- and they will, if humanly possible -- I've always been impressed with the choice of flights they've offered. I've never asked for a specific flight -- the only reason I deviate is to arrive early and/or depart late.

 

If you DO have a strong preference for some airline with which they have no contract, and you pay the fee to deviate to that airline, it will also most likely cost you the "overage" of what Oceania has to pay for your flights versus the ones they are choosing for all the other passengers -- so it could end up costing you a lot more than $350.

[beachchairs2]

this all makes sense to me...

 

when we travel in winter to florida, we always go a day ahead...but this is in early november to lisbon.....from toronto

[orchestrapal]

You never know why flights are held up. Personally we would never arrive the day of departure especially with an international flight involved.

[Travelcat2]

Must agree about not flying in the day of embarkation. Our friends had a "simple" flight from Arizona to Vancouver. The weather was fine -- it seemed easy. Due to airline delays, they missed the ship and had to embark two days later (after flying to the next port and spending two nights at a hotel). Don't think it is worth the risk.

[beachchairs2]

was their flight arranged by the cruiseline? and of course there is insurance for exactly that...

Edited January 17, 2014 by beachchairs2

[Travelcat2]

was their flight arraigned by the cruiseline? and of course there is insurance for exactly that...

 

They arranged their own flight. They were not concerned about the money or insurance ...it was the two days they missed on the ship that was upsetting.

[pacheco18]

was their flight arranged by the cruiseline? and of course there is insurance for exactly that...

 

Insurance does not make up for a missed vacation!!

 

We also recommend against flying in on the same day

Between the vagaries of air line travel nowadays and jet lag, we always go early. It also gives us an extra day to get our luggage in the unlikely event it is delayed. If it's a city where we want to spend time we go in several days early. If not, then we go at least one day early. Everyone can share a nightmare story about flight delays and cancellations.

Edited January 18, 2014 by pacheco18

[beachchairs2]

O is arranging our flights......so looks like we will take our chances....

 

have flown many times overseas....seems we have had better luck getting there than to florida...but of course going to florida in winter, we face all kinds of weather issues....

 

thanks for all the advice....

[Paulchili]

It also gives us an extra day to get our luggage in the unlikely event it is delayed.

Everyone can share a nightmare story about flight delays and cancellations.

 

It may not be as unlikely as one might think.

We were recently on a T/A from Barcelona to Miami and our friends did not get their luggage until we arrived in Miami 14 days later :eek: There were several others that got their luggage in Bermuda some 11 days later.

It all started with a change of planes (and airlines) due to engine problems in LA and the rest of the story followed.

[ronrick1943]

I agree, arrive a day or two early. You can relax, get some rest, enjoy the city and enjoy your cruise. Once that ship leaves dock, it's won't be fun no matter who's fault it was if your late.

Rick

[ChatKat in Ca.]

On one cruise we were all checked in for our flight. We overhead something about a strike and so I asked. We were using Air France and we were going on Regent; We were chatting with people going to Barcelona on Oceania - they use the same air department; Proactively I called my TA and the Air department; We had to uncheck our bags and claim them, change terminals and wait at the airport for 8 hours but both of us got re-routed via Switzerland on Swiss Air. We would have missed our flight from Paris to Barcelona because of the strike and would have missed the ship because Air France told us that we could not leave Paris until 2 days after the ship had sailed.

 

We were very lucky to get the rerouting with seats in Business Class as were the travelers on Oceania. We needed the extra day to travel on our next flight. We would not have been so lucky without the deviation. We planned two days in Barcelona and only got part of one.

 

We were very gratelul to have taken the deviation and selected our airline planning to go in TWO days early.

Edited January 18, 2014 by ChatKat in Ca.

[Travelcat2]

You were very fortunate! Interesting that you were told that Regent and Oceania use the same air department as I was recently told by my TA that they don't. In fact, Oceania's air department would not permit us to fly on an airline that Regent uses. After much going back and forth with Oceania's air dept. We cancelled the cruise.

[JimandStan]

first time on O....

 

we have our air with O....

 

is there any advantage to paying for a deviation even if you are flying in on the day of and returning on the day of.....

 

some think they have a better chance to chose a better flight if they pay the 350.....

 

Getting back to the original question, it's not that the passenger will have a better chance to choose if they buy the Deviation, it's that the passenger won't be aware of any kind of a choice if they don't Deviate.

 

Oceania does not submit the Itinerary to the Passenger for approval (before reserving it) unless that passenger has a Deviation Request in play.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

this all makes sense to me...

 

when we travel in winter to florida, we always go a day ahead...but this is in early november to lisbon.....from toronto

 

If this is a transatlantic crossing, think about where you'd pick up the ship if you missed it in Lisbon. I agree that insurance doesn't make up for a lost holiday. And Lisbon is such a wonderful city.

 

It may not be as unlikely as one might think.

We were recently on a T/A from Barcelona to Miami and our friends did not get their luggage until we arrived in Miami 14 days later :eek: There were several others that got their luggage in Bermuda some 11 days later.

It all started with a change of planes (and airlines) due to engine problems in LA and the rest of the story followed.

 

I also met some of these people (but not you, for some strange reason, Paul). Felt so sorry for them, couldn't even buy a bathing suit to fit, so not hot tub.

[tanny18]

Getting back to the original question, it's not that the passenger will have a better chance to choose if they buy the Deviation, it's that the passenger won't be aware of any kind of a choice if they don't Deviate.

 

Oceania does not submit the Itinerary to the Passenger for approval (before reserving it) unless that passenger has a Deviation Request in play.

you pick you flight [/color]to be a non-stop or a short layover. You won't know what flights Oceania has scheduled for you. Deviation gives you control over the air you want. Arlene;)

[Paulchili]

you pick you flight [/color]to be a non-stop or a short layover. You won't know what flights Oceania has scheduled for you. Deviation gives you control over the air you want. Arlene;)

 

I agree about deviation giving you more choices but I don't know about short layovers - too risky to miss your connection if things go wrong (or have to change terminals, like in LHR).

I prefer a little longer layover (if I cannot go non-stop) for some safety margin. Better to spend a little extra time in the airport than having to scramble for a new flight, IMO

[tanny18]

I agree about deviation giving you more choices but I don't know about short layovers - too risky to miss your connection if things go wrong (or have to change terminals, like in LHR).

I prefer a little longer layover (if I cannot go non-stop) for some safety margin. Better to spend a little extra time in the airport than having to scramble for a new flight, IMO

 

Paul, I totally agree about the layovers, but if you can control your flights, then you can pick and choose how much you need. I never take a connection that less than 1.5 hours and of course depending on what airport, it could vary to 2.5 hours. When one considers the "free air" credit Oceania supplies coupled with the air deviation, the cost itself may be less than booking on your own. Before the air deviation was free for us (15 cruises), we checked to see what would be the best way to go. We live in Miami and can fly to many places in Europe non-stop. But Oceania may have us fly to New York for a connection. And some times we took the deviation to have more control. Now that it is free, we always take the air deviation! Arlene;)

[beachchairs2]

for us there are no direct flights to lisbon anyway..or back from rio....on the way back we dont care if we are delayed........in fact there are only a couple of flights that make sense and looking at the prices are the most economical....we would be ok with either of them...

 

if luggage was lost for weeks....then a day deviation would not be of use anyway....

 

ah yes if deviation was free...but it is now $350 plus hotel....we dont have 15 cruises...over 30 with celeb but this is the first on O.....

[Mura]

I've not tried this myself (mainly because we go in 2-3 days early and not one, so we'd never consider O's hotel packages) ...

 

But I believe people have pointed out that if you take the hotel package for one night you have no deviation fee and transfers to the hotel/ship. I may be missing the finer points here since we ourselves haven't done this, but this is what I have gathered.

 

Also, while the hotel package prices used to be per person, nowadays there are at least some that are per room. Which is another consideration.

 

Mura

[Paulchili]

 

if luggage was lost for weeks....then a day deviation would not be of use anyway....

 

Luggage wasn't lost for weeks - it might have been delayed by only a day (or perhaps even just hours) - so it might have caught up with the passengers had they arrived a day earlier instead of on the day of the cruise.

It was a "perfect storm" of sorts. First stop after Barcelona was in Morocco where O refused to forward the luggage as customs wanted $1000 customs fee/bag. Our second stop in the Azores was changed last minute due to weather and became Madeira instead (luggage might have been sent to the Azores). Thus it happened that our friends didn't get their luggage till Miami.

We had other friends who had a tight connection in Munich on their way to Istanbul for a Black Sea cruise (different cruise line). They made it but their luggage didn't - again not until we got back to Istanbul at the end of the cruise.

This time the luggage was severely looted in addition to everything else and they might have gotten it if:

1 their connection on Lufthansa was longer

2 they arrived a day early.

It doesn't happen all the time but when it does.....

Edited January 19, 2014 by Paulchili

[Caroldoll]

They had tight connections and they didn't make the ship until three days later out of a 10 day cruise. I think going several days early is the right thing. We never chance it.

[beachchairs2]

I doubt O would give us tight layovers....the few choices I have picked all have a reasonable time for the next leg..

 

of those of you that are all in favour of paying for the deviation, how many of you have it free?

 

jim and stan, I get it now...that by asking for a deviation, you get a preview of what they might give you anyway....then you can decide if you want to wait a couple more weeks and get the same one anyway...

[DaveFr]

I doubt O would give us tight layovers....the few choices I have picked all have a reasonable time for the next leg..

 

of those of you that are all in favour of paying for the deviation, how many of you have it free?

 

jim and stan, I get it now...that by asking for a deviation, you get a preview of what they might give you anyway....then you can decide if you want to wait a couple more weeks and get the same one anyway...

The only guarantee you have with cruise air is that O will give you a legal connection time. It might be tight or it might be lengthy.

 

Here's an explanation of how cruise air/air deviations work from a very experienced traveler on the CC Cruise Air forum. (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=9672797&postcount=1) The gist of the message is that cruise lines only contract for a limited number of seats per airline itinerary. There may be a big difference between what is available at the 270 day mark (when air deviations become available) and the 60 to 70 day mark (when cruise air is allocated). Unless you book a cruise close to final payment date, I think everyone should explore an air deviation (it costs nothing until you accept the deviation) to avoid disappointment over your assigned air itinerary.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Dave

 

P.S. I don't get free air deviations.

[JimandStan]

I doubt O would give us tight layovers....the few choices I have picked all have a reasonable time for the next leg..

 

of those of you that are all in favour of paying for the deviation, how many of you have it free?

 

jim and stan, I get it now...that by asking for a deviation, you get a preview of what they might give you anyway....then you can decide if you want to wait a couple more weeks and get the same one anyway...

 

I don't believe that anyone get's the Deviation Fee waived, although people may choose to believe that one of any number of credits from the Cruise Line serves to offset that fee.

 

One of the best things about asking for a Deviation, is that the fee is not charged until the passenger accepts the new routing from Oceania. Therefore, if the passenger does not find a route that is appealing enough to pay the extra money for, no money changes hands, and the standard flights will be purchased at the 75 day marker.

Edited January 19, 2014 by JimandStan
capitalization error correction