O Life Flight Questions - New Oceania Passenger

[chelsea922]

I'm new to Oceania and have just booked a Mediteranean cruise for 2021 on Riviera.  This will be my first trip to Europe so we are going all out with a river cruise and two ocean cruises and some days in between on land.  Since I booked an O Life fare which includes air fare.  My trip will be 5 - 6 weeks long but my cruise on Oceania is only 10 days.  Does anyone know if I can book my flights through Oceania to come in really early and leave really late - as in fly in 8 - 10 days early and fly out 3 1/2 weeks later? 

 

Does anyone know the general cost of cocktails/wine on board  Oceania? 

 

Any exciting things I should know about in the next year and a half before we go?

[LHT28]

I think you can come  in or leave up to 2 wks either side of the cruise dates  but do check with your TA

It may be better just to book your own air  (it is not part of O Life perks anyway)  then you can come & go as you like

you also will get a discount in the price

 

I posted some menus from 2017  @  

https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-bnXmLm/i-xMqb2SR

it will give you an idea  of prices

[Flatbush Flyer]

40 minutes ago, chelsea922 said:

I'm new to Oceania and have just booked a Mediteranean cruise for 2021 on Riviera.  This will be my first trip to Europe so we are going all out with a river cruise and two ocean cruises and some days in between on land.  Since I booked an O Life fare which includes air fare.  My trip will be 5 - 6 weeks long but my cruise on Oceania is only 10 days.  Does anyone know if I can book my flights through Oceania to come in really early and leave really late - as in fly in 8 - 10 days early and fly out 3 1/2 weeks later? 

 

Does anyone know the general cost of cocktails/wine on board  Oceania? 

 

Any exciting things I should know about in the next year and a half before we go?

Hopefully, you used a TA to book the cruise so that you can get extra perks like a shared commission. If not, you have 30 days from the day you deposited with Oceania to transfer the booking. Search here on CC to find out how to identify member travel agencies that belong to the Oceania Connoisseurs Club.

 

If you use Oceania's included air tix, you will need to pay both a deviation fee and any difference in ticket cost for dates other than arrival on day of embarkation and departure on day of disembarkation. That said, I suggest that you take the optional air credit instead and apply those savings to DIY flight arrangements. (There are many threads here on CC why this is usually the best and most flexible way to do the air).

[chelsea922]

26 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Hopefully, you used a TA to book the cruise so that you can get extra perks like a shared commission. If not, you have 30 days from the day you deposited with Oceania to transfer the booking. Search here on CC to find out how to identify member travel agencies that belong to the Oceania Connoisseurs Club.

 

If you use Oceania's included air tix, you will need to pay both a deviation fee and any difference in ticket cost for dates other than arrival on day of embarkation and departure on day of disembarkation. That said, I suggest that you take the optional air credit instead and apply those savings to DIY flight arrangements. (There are many threads here on CC why this is usually the best and most flexible way to do the air).

Thank you for the information.  I'll try to look up that information!

I did book with a TA because this is a cruise line I've never booked with and I felt that I needed help in navigating the ins and outs.  With that said, being a bit of a control freak, I love to do research into the ins and outs myself. 

[Rob the Cruiser]

Go with OLife without air. You, or your TA can do much better on flights relative to price and schedule. "Free" flights sound great but they aren't.

Edited October 5, 2019 by Rob the Cruiser

[chelsea922]

Just now, Rob the Cruiser said:

Go with OLife without air. You, or your TA can do much better on flights relative to price and schedule. "Free" flights sounds great but it isn't.

But doesn't O Life include air no matter what?  It seems like it's all part of one thing.  Or are you saying that I should give up the O Life and go cruise only and use the savings to pay for the drink package I took as the amenity? 

 

[Rob the Cruiser]

You can take OLife without air. You get a credit for the flight(s) and can still take advantage of the drink package or excursions. 

[LHT28]

7 minutes ago, chelsea922 said:

But doesn't O Life include air no matter what?  It seems like it's all part of one thing.  Or are you saying that I should give up the O Life and go cruise only and use the savings to pay for the drink package I took as the amenity? 

 

You can do the O Life Perks  with the air  or without the air

As mentioned before if you  want to use the  included air & come in early or stay longer than the cruise dates you will need to pay the Deviation fee  & any upcharge for the flights you choose

 

O Life perks are OBC, House select Beverage package (wine/beer ) with lunch dinner only  or the excursions

You can also do the Cruise only fare  ..no air  no OLife perks

If you do not take the air you get a credit  for it

Check the math  & see what works best  for you

Everyone gets 1 free  Wifi account per Cabin unless you are in a top suite

[chelsea922]

52 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

I think you can come  in or leave up to 2 wks either side of the cruise dates  but do check with your TA

It may be better just to book your own air  (it is not part of O Life perks anyway)  then you can come & go as you like

you also will get a discount in the price

 

I posted some menus from 2017  @  

https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-bnXmLm/i-xMqb2SR

it will give you an idea  of prices

Thank you for the pictures and the information.  Really helpful.

[chelsea922]

14 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

You can do the O Life Perks  with the air  or without the air

As mentioned before if you  want to use the  included air & come in early or stay longer than the cruise dates you will need to pay the Deviation fee  & any upcharge for the flights you choose

 

O Life perks are OBC, House select Beverage package (wine/beer ) with lunch dinner only  or the excursions

You can also do the Cruise only fare  ..no air  no OLife perks

If you do not take the air you get a credit  for it

Check the math  & see what works best  for you

Everyone gets 1 free  Wifi account per Cabin unless you are in a top suite

Thank you for the information!  This is really helpful.

[pinotlover]

To answer your original question. On our cruise in August it was announced by the Oceania Club Ambassador that one can utilize O life air ( with deviation fee) both 30 days pre and post cruise. The time schedule you provided would fit with in those windows.

[GICNJC]

Two years ago we asked our TA and she told us 30 day on each side of the cruise.  Would have to pay the deviation fee.  We did opt for the premium economy upgrade .

[Mura]

It's good to hear that O has extended the "window" for the deviation fee ... but I would still suggest that the OP check out fares that they can get on their own and then factor in the deviation fee. Depending on the departure airport, flights can be inconvenient.  We leave from NYC, for example, and getting to Europe even on a non-stop usually isn't difficult with the ship's air.  But for people from the Midwest or even the far west, it can be different.

 

And if they want better than coach seats, that's another reason to look on their own.

 

Mura

[clo]

4 minutes ago, Mura said:

But for people from the Midwest or even the far west, it can be different.

Really good point.  We never want to connect through NYC going to Europe.  And when we go to Brazil we want United through Houston nonstop to Rio.

[sunlover12]

10 hours ago, Mura said:

  But for people from the Midwest or even the far west, it can be different.

 

Chicago O'Hare has many nonstops to Europe on various airlines.  It's our hub airport and we never fly through NYC.  Minneapolis also has many nonstops to Europe on Delta. 

[pinotlover]

I believe Mura’s quite valid point was for those that live in Omaha, Kansas City, or St. Louis! Everyone is very aware that people living near a major hub have different options than those that don’t.

[sunlover12]

pinotlover:  For people who live in the cities you have mentioned, they are more than likely to fly into Chicago and connect through there.

 

I don't live near a major hub. It's 130 miles to O'Hare. Sometimes we will fly there and sometimes we will drive. It depends on the fare.  Madison WI has at least 12 flights a day to Chicago and Minneapolis so we have many options.  There would be no reason for us to fly to New York if we are going to Europe. 

[pinotlover]

Sunlover;

 

Mura’s point did not disagree with you. She was advocating looking at purchasing your own fares so you can get the connections you want!!! If you use O’s Air, you may get great connections or you may not. When O books you instead of BNA- ORD-FCO, you might well get BNA-ORD-JFK-FRA-FCO depending upon what is available on their bulk rate tickets at time of booking. 

 

She uses the NYC airports because that’s where she lives, not because she necessarily advocates for them!

[rallydave]

26 minutes ago, sunlover12 said:

pinotlover:  For people who live in the cities you have mentioned, they are more than likely to fly into Chicago and connect through there.

 

I don't live near a major hub. It's 130 miles to O'Hare. Sometimes we will fly there and sometimes we will drive. It depends on the fare.  Madison WI has at least 12 flights a day to Chicago and Minneapolis so we have many options.  There would be no reason for us to fly to New York if we are going to Europe. 

There are reason I can think of and that is if the fare thru New York or another connecting city is less expensive than a connection thru Chicago.or even an additional connection might create a less expensive fare.  There are connections from Madison and you might even route thru Milwaukee which is only about an hour from you.  Lots of other possibilities and the less that Oceania pays is better for them.

 

In addition as pinotlover stated, available flights for O at the time of booking could and often are quite a few fewer than what you see are available to the public.  So lots of reasons and probably more we haven't identified.

Edited October 6, 2019 by rallydave

[sunlover12]

This is why we always book our own flights because I can see that this can get very complicated if you have O do it for you. You're right that they will choose the least expensive way to get to your destination and I'm getting too old for that!  My apologies to the OP - I drifted away from the original question.

[coconutmonkey]

I'm booked on Oceania and have O Choice.  I want to fly in a day early to get over jet lag.  Will I have to pay a deviation fee?  Can anyone tell me how much that is?

Thanks so much.  I am new to Oceania.

[rallydave]

1 minute ago, coconutmonkey said:

I'm booked on Oceania and have O Choice.  I want to fly in a day early to get over jet lag.  Will I have to pay a deviation fee?  Can anyone tell me how much that is?

Thanks so much.  I am new to Oceania.

It is $175 per person and covers one way or both ways and can be more than a single day early or later.  Should you need to change after you have paid you would have to pay another deviation fee.  And you don't pay anything until you have agreed with O Flight Dept and then you are charged and have to pay immediately.  You don't have to accept what they propose and can send them other acceptable flights.  Some flight option do have additional charges you have to pay if their cost to O is higher than what they would pay for non-deviations.   Good luck,

[chelsea922]

This thread has been very helpful to me.  I originally thought that the flights could not be unbundled.  There is a carrier out of LA that we would like to take that is a discount carrier and probably not on their approved flight list and I figured I would have to pay for that separately (sort of double paying).  If I can get a flight credit, and go first class on the other carrier, that's the best of all situations.

 

One other question that came up from one of the posts - we chose the drink package, but someone mentioned that it's at lunch and dinner only.  Is that true?  And it's only alcohol - no coffee or tea?  Or is espresso and tea included in your fare?  How about bottled water?  The OBC may be a better choice for us.

[rallydave]

1 minute ago, chelsea922 said:

This thread has been very helpful to me.  I originally thought that the flights could not be unbundled.  There is a carrier out of LA that we would like to take that is a discount carrier and probably not on their approved flight list and I figured I would have to pay for that separately (sort of double paying).  If I can get a flight credit, and go first class on the other carrier, that's the best of all situations.

 

One other question that came up from one of the posts - we chose the drink package, but someone mentioned that it's at lunch and dinner only.  Is that true?  And it's only alcohol - no coffee or tea?  Or is espresso and tea included in your fare?  How about bottled water?  The OBC may be a better choice for us.

First of all the OBC as part of O Life is the wrong choice in all situations.  You see, the difference between O life and non O life is exactly the OBC so all you would be doing is paying the money for non-refundable OBC before your cruise when you simply charge as you go on board and pay a month or two on your credit card after the cruise and not be forced to spend OBC for something you don;t really want or need.

 

As far as the included drinks package, it is only for wine and beer at  meals  no liquor.  Coffee, speciality coffee soft drinks water, etc. are all included for everyone.  You can upgrade the O Life Drinks package for $20/person/day to include alcohol with the wine and beer at any time meals or when the bars are open.

[pinotlover]

There is an additional cost O charges which must be considered. Oceania has a list of gateway cities from which their “ free” fares are computed. If one must fly from a non gateway city, there is a between $99-$199 each way fare that is added on to the contract. So if I use BNA ( Nashville), I would be paying $99x2+ $175 deviation fee for an O flight. From EVV it’s $199x2+$175 to fly in early. To upgrade to PE is on top of that. So for comparison: if a cruise had a $1000 air credit, my Apple to apples cost comparison from EVV would be airline published fare versus $1573 for economy. O would rarely win!