Pre and Post Hotels

[Twocoasts]

Wow. That's all I can say about the pricing Oceania has on their pre and post hotels. I thought the rate I saw for one night in Athens was $329. Asked my TA to add it to my trip and find out that is was $329 PER PERSON PER NIGHT!

 

Now, you might say, "that's the price for a luxury hotel." Except that the hotel's own website has the same room for $200 USD LESS than what Oceania is charging. Needless to say, I will be booking my own hotel.

 

Moral of the story--read the fine print and do your research. :eek:

[orchestrapal]

Wow. That's all I can say about the pricing Oceania has on their pre and post hotels. I thought the rate I saw for one night in Athens was $329. Asked my TA to add it to my trip and find out that is was $329 PER PERSON PER NIGHT!

Now, you might say, "that's the price for a luxury hotel." Except that the hotel's own website has the same room for $200 USD LESS than what Oceania is charging. Needless to say, I will be booking my own hotel.

Moral of the story--read the fine print and do your research. :eek:

 

No big news! This has been discussed on this board over and over. Most of us do book our own hotels but there are some that need the convenience of having everything booked for them and their hands held all the way. Do what's best for you.

[pinotlover]

True, there pre and post hotel rates are extreme.

 

Remember that typically pick up at the airport to the hotel and then delivery to the boat from the hotel is included in those prices 9or vice versa). At some ports this makes the rates somewhat comparable, at others it's still extremely high.

[Mura]

I also believe you avoid the deviation fee which is worth $350.

 

Still, we book our own hotels as well. Occasionally we're in the same hotel but for half the price. And since we don't go in just the one day before, we do better. We don't mind finding our own cab from the airport to the hotel.

 

Mura

[Noxequifans]

Sometimes the hotel package also includes a tour of the city. We had a terrific tour and lunch in Beijing prior to embarkation.

[Twocoasts]

We are doing our own air so the transfers weren't going to be included. Really not a problem to book our own hotel--I'm just glad I noticed the price issue before I paid for it!

 

I usually plan all my trips myself--taking a cruise to "site see" is new for me. In the past, I've only cruised for sun and R&R and only very short cruises. Heard a lot of great things about Oceania and the itinerary (Istanbul to Athens) fit with my wanting to see that part of the world and a wedding I am attending in Istanbul.

[terry&mike]

Are you on the October sailing of the Riviera?

[Mura]

We did the reverse (Athens to Istanbul) in August 2011 and enjoyed the cruise immensely -- other than the heat. But except for Constantia the heat was quite tolerable. We were lucky. (In Constantia we were there on the hottest day of the year, at least up to that date.) But in general it was quite warm but not overwhelming.

 

Mura

[Twocoasts]

Are you on the October sailing of the Riviera?

 

No--Insignia in June.

[spindrift]

We have done both--O's hotel and our own bookings. it depends on the research of what the expenses are for that particular trip and in what part of the world. Mostly we have done our own hotel, but in some cases we have used the O arrangement which included the transportation, hotel, tours, breakfast, etc. etc., and that has been the best arrangement.

 

Just do the research of all the factors and make your decision from that.

[Bruin Steve]

Wow. That's all I can say about the pricing Oceania has on their pre and post hotels. I thought the rate I saw for one night in Athens was $329. Asked my TA to add it to my trip and find out that is was $329 PER PERSON PER NIGHT!

 

Now, you might say, "that's the price for a luxury hotel." Except that the hotel's own website has the same room for $200 USD LESS than what Oceania is charging. Needless to say, I will be booking my own hotel.

 

Moral of the story--read the fine print and do your research. :eek:

 

From my experience, ALL cruise lines charge a premium for hotel packages...and they all charge "per person"...

 

There are some quirks for the cruise line offering these hotels...

First, they've got to find suitable hotels large enough to accommodate the numbers they need to anticipate and willing to commit to a price far in advance. The cruise lines simply can't shop around for rooms the way you or I would. And the hotels may not be willing to guarantee a large number of rooms for a long period unless it is worth their while.

 

That said, from my experience, Oceania's hotel packages are still priced far above what we've found from, say, Celebrity/Royal Caribbean...Of course, part of that may be due to the relative bargaining position of cruise lines with five ships and less than 5,000 total passengers at any one time versus cruise lines with 40+ ships and 100,000+ passengers...It's somewhere in the laws of economics...

 

We have, on several occasions, booked hotels through Celebrity and Royal Caribbean...usually when we have found packages that are, at least, within a small premium of what we could do ourselves--largely for the convenience of having the cruise line handle a more complete package for us--cases where we have also booked air through the cruise line and they will bundle transfers and other services with the total package...

 

OTOH, whenever we are flying on our own, we'll book our own hotels...especially since we often take longer pre- and post-cruise trips and tend to visit other places in addition to the embarkation and disembarkation ports... With the freedom of finding our own hotels, we have a much wider range of available hotels and can look for relative bargains. Often, we can find better located and even nicer hotels than the cruise lines offer...and at a much lesser price...

 

BUT, yes, truly Oceania's numbers are somewhat incredible sounding...

In 2006, when we cruised on Nautica out of Istanbul, IIRC, Oceania was offering the Conrad at $699 per person for a one-night pre-cruise. The Conrad is truly a beautiful hotel. Five-star, first class all the way. Not the most convenient location, but, we had hired a tour company to provide us with guides and transportation everywhere and they picked us up from the hotel. We ended up passing on Oceania's package...and booked it ourselves over the internet, directly through Hilton.com for four nights...at a rate of $126 per night!!! Yes, that was a fantastic rate for such a hotel, but, yes, with a little searching, we found it...So, we spent around $500 for four nights while Oceania would have charged us $1400 for one night! Of course, I had the advantage of looking for just one room and being able to check and recheck various internet sources, book the rate and still keep my eye out for better deals...plus not being tied to the Conrad and able to consider dozens of other suitable hotels as well. Oceania doesn't have that advantage...

Edited February 27, 2014 by Bruin Steve

[rallydave]

From my experience, ALL cruise lines charge a premium for hotel packages...and they all charge "per person"...

 

There are some quirks for the cruise line offering these hotels...

First, they've got to find suitable hotels large enough to accommodate the numbers they need to anticipate and willing to commit to a price far in advance. The cruise lines simply can't shop around for rooms the way you or I would. And the hotels may not be willing to guarantee a large number of rooms for a long period unless it is worth their while.

 

That said, from my experience, Oceania's hotel packages are still priced far above what we've found from, say, Celebrity/Royal Caribbean...Of course, part of that may be due to the relative bargaining position of cruise lines with five ships and less than 5,000 total passengers at any one time versus cruise lines with 40+ ships and 100,000+ passengers...It's somewhere in the laws of economics...

 

We have, on several occasions, booked hotels through Celebrity and Royal Caribbean...usually when we have found packages that are, at least, within a small premium of what we could do ourselves--largely for the convenience of having the cruise line handle a more complete package for us--cases where we have also booked air through the cruise line and they will bundle transfers and other services with the total package...

 

OTOH, whenever we are flying on our own, we'll book our own hotels...especially since we often take longer pre- and post-cruise trips and tend to visit other places in addition to the embarkation and disembarkation ports... With the freedom of finding our own hotels, we have a much wider range of available hotels and can look for relative bargains. Often, we can find better located and even nicer hotels than the cruise lines offer...and at a much lesser price...

 

BUT, yes, truly Oceania's numbers are somewhat incredible sounding...

In 2006, when we cruised on Nautica out of Istanbul, IIRC, Oceania was offering the Conrad at $699 per person for a one-night pre-cruise. The Conrad is truly a beautiful hotel. Five-star, first class all the way. Not the most convenient location, but, we had hired a tour company to provide us with guides and transportation everywhere and they picked us up from the hotel. We ended up passing on Oceania's package...and booked it ourselves over the internet, directly through Hilton.com for four nights...at a rate of $126 per night!!! Yes, that was a fantastic rate for such a hotel, but, yes, with a little searching, we found it...So, we spent around $500 for four nights while Oceania would have charged us $1400 for one night! Of course, I had the advantage of looking for just one room and being able to check and recheck various internet sources, book the rate and still keep my eye out for better deals...plus not being tied to the Conrad and able to consider dozens of other suitable hotels as well. Oceania doesn't have that advantage...

 

While most everything said is correct, what is missing is that once the hotels are found, for booking so many people tour operators often get discounts from the single booking rate and highly doubt they would ever be charged more than the single booking rate. True, these ship rates do sometimes cover breakfast and transfers which are a very small part of the fare.

 

Let's be honest, the prices charged by O are greatly inflated which covers excess profits beyond a reasonable amount. Don't in the least believe O should work for free or not make money on these hotels but, based on even the "rack" rates, O charges a completely excessive amount of profit especially considering the number of people they book at these outrageous rates. Easiest to take several hours and find a better hotel at a much lesser rate and use the savings to enjoy yourself more on board.