New to Oceania, Tell All Please

[clo]

4 minutes ago, Hoopster95 said:

In Feb I was on Marina Brazil to Argentina, with a land trip to Iguassu Falls.

We did that cruise in December with pre/post days in Rio and BA. We did Iguassu Falls about 25 years ago and it IS stunning. Great rec.

[Flatbush Flyer]

2 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Cha Ching !!!!

Want to really enjoy Oceania? Want to really enjoy glaciers? Want that ultimate cruise. Skip Alaska and head to Patagonia. I recommend Rio to Lima (or opposite direction) or if that's too long for you, substitute Buenos Aires for Rio.

 

What more could you ask for- Patagonia's glaciers, rounding Cape Horn, Nazca Lines, Penguins in the Falklands.....

[Jimbo]

Maybe after we retire....................do something like that........

[pinotlover]

We going BA- Lima on the Marina next January. Pre cruise to Iguazu Falls and post to Manchu Picchu! Looking for to it!

[clo]

10 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

Pre cruise to Iguazu Falls and post to Manchu Picchu!

We did those on a DIY land trip about 25 years ago. Wonderful. It's too bad that Macchu Picchu has gotten so overrun with tourists.

[samiam0403]

On 5/3/2020 at 10:11 AM, mafig said:

 

I have read that upgrading to the Prestige package is the way to go.  Trying to figure out how that's better than using the $400 obc to purchase drinks.  DH doesn't drink wine, just cocktails and considering that soft drinks and coffee and juices are free, I'd have to figure that out, especially if my TA gives us even more OBC.

 

I might find the Concierge useful because I have read (and I DID use Search and read some reviews) that pool lounge chair  saving is alive and well on Oceania.  We

would use the Spa deck.  I already mentioned we really want a table for two at the specialties also.

 

 

 

It may be different cost-wise as I sailed solo, but it worked out better for me to use the OBC to purchase the Prestige package. Taking the basic package and then upgrading cost $20 a day ($140 out of pocket), while taking the OBC and buying the Prestige package only cost $19.65 out of pocket. YMMV.

[clo]

1 hour ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Want to really enjoy Oceania? Want to really enjoy glaciers? Want that ultimate cruise. Skip Alaska and head to Patagonia. I recommend Rio to Lima (or opposite direction) or if that's too long for you, substitute Buenos Aires for Rio.

 

What more could you ask for- Patagonia's glaciers, rounding Cape Horn, Nazca Lines, Penguins in the Falklands.....

We did an escorted land tour of Patagonia, Argentinian and Chilean, and then a cruise of the Chilean Fjords, Antarctica (disembarking)and Falkland Island, ending back in Chile. But it was almost a month.

[Paulchili]

1 hour ago, Hoopster95 said:

So try to book an Oceania cruise one either Marina or Riviera... better specialty restaurants, better public venues, bigger staterooms, decent productions shows.

Agree.

Do Alaska with Princess and try Oceania in Europe/Asia/S.America or Australia on Marina or Riviera.

[Sea42]

I would definitely go with the Princess itinerary. It's so much better than the Oceania Itinerary. We've done a similar cruise with Princess and I think you will enjoy it very much.

We don't cruise much, 7 cruises in the last 20 years. We book by itinerary first. We have cruised with Princess, Holland America and Oceania. We enjoyed them all but our last cruise was on Oceania (1st time) and it was fantastic! We have a South America cruise booked with them for 2022. But again, it was the itinerary that was our first criteria. HAL had a similar itinerary but with Oceania's air credit, included specialties and WiFi Oceania was actually cheaper for a smaller ship. For us, on a longer cruise, included specialties and WiFi are more important than on a short cruise.

I guess I would recommend that you determine what is the most important aspect about this trip to you and what line offers that and go with that. No matter who you end up going with I wish you safe travels!

[Jimbo]

36 minutes ago, Sea42 said:

I would definitely go with the Princess itinerary. It's so much better than the Oceania Itinerary. We've done a similar cruise with Princess and I think you will enjoy it very much.

We don't cruise much, 7 cruises in the last 20 years. We book by itinerary first. We have cruised with Princess, Holland America and Oceania. We enjoyed them all but our last cruise was on Oceania (1st time) and it was fantastic! We have a South America cruise booked with them for 2022. But again, it was the itinerary that was our first criteria. HAL had a similar itinerary but with Oceania's air credit, included specialties and WiFi Oceania was actually cheaper for a smaller ship. For us, on a longer cruise, included specialties and WiFi are more important than on a short cruise.

I guess I would recommend that you determine what is the most important aspect about this trip to you and what line offers that and go with that. No matter who you end up going with I wish you safe travels!

Curious how much did you pay for the air credit?

Now let me get this Oceania Air Credit right, the reason you buy it is because you think it will be much better to pay something like $800 for air though them because you think the real price for air would be like $1400.............so that is why you take the air offer through Oceania? Is that how it works? Am I getting this right?

 

[Sea42]

10 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Curious how much did you pay for the air credit?

Now let me get this Oceania Air Credit right, the reason you buy it is because you think it will be much better to pay something like $800 for air though them because you think the real price for air would be like $1400.............so that is why you take the air offer through Oceania? Is that how it works? Am I getting this right?

 

If you choose not to use Oceania's included air arrangements, Oceania gives you an air credit, which works as a price reduction on your cruise fare. I believe it is the price in the second column shown on the website. As I have only been on one cruise with Oceania perhaps someone else can explain better than I can. The various options are a bit overwhelming for a first time passenger!

For our cruise I believe it was $1200 less pp if you made your own air arrangements. We wanted premium economy and to fly in early and leave later than the included air and we paid for our air with mileage points so it worked great for us. A TA is a big help in working out what works best for you.

 

Edited May 4, 2020 by Sea42

[Paulchili]

It's simple. Do a dummy booking with air and one without air and you'll see how much credit you'll get back if you do your own air.

Then see what you can do on your own. If it;s similar, it's better to do your own as you can choose the airline you want and times you want.

[Flatbush Flyer]

42 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Curious how much did you pay for the air credit?

Now let me get this Oceania Air Credit right, the reason you buy it is because you think it will be much better to pay something like $800 for air though them because you think the real price for air would be like $1400.............so that is why you take the air offer through Oceania? Is that how it works? Am I getting this right?

 

The difference between O Life w/air and O Life w/o air is the value of the "air credit." In general, since O's air arrangements are contract rates, they may not be upgradeable with your FF points and they may not be the most desirable routings. Paying a deviation fee (no charge for higher loyalty levels) plus any fare difference gets you arrival dates other than same day embarkation/disembarkation on airlines/routes of your choIce.

Though we get free deviation, we have always taken the air credit because we fly bizclass and use the air credit to offset those tix costs (which might be a combo of O's air credit, FF points and/or cash).

Never have O quote bizclass tix. You must have taken the basic air to get a quote and then pay the bizclass tix cost without getting the air credit for not using the economy tix. In essence, you're then buying two tickets per person. Even the O air office will tell you it's a bad deal. 

[clo]

1 minute ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Never have O quote bizclass tix.

My O rep flat out told me that biz through them isn't a good deal.

[TrulyBlonde]

4 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Want to really enjoy Oceania? Want to really enjoy glaciers? Want that ultimate cruise. Skip Alaska and head to Patagonia. I recommend Rio to Lima (or opposite direction) or if that's too long for you, substitute Buenos Aires for Rio.

 

What more could you ask for- Patagonia's glaciers, rounding Cape Horn, Nazca Lines, Penguins in the Falklands.....

We did Lima to BA with O and it was a memorable trip. We then flew to Rio to spend a few days on our own. Agree!  Plan to spend a month and enjoy.

[Hoopster95]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

Curious how much did you pay for the air credit?

Now let me get this Oceania Air Credit right, the reason you buy it is because you think it will be much better to pay something like $800 for air though them because you think the real price for air would be like $1400.............so that is why you take the air offer through Oceania? Is that how it works? Am I getting this right?

 

 

Jimbo, O air is very much like RCL's Air2Sea... they get you to the cruise on the day of, and fly you home on debarkation date.

If you want to fly a couple of days early to visit the embarkation port city, you pay a $175 per person "deviation fee".

Because O gets contract flight rates (call it "wholesale" if you will), the credit you get back usually is a little less than if you book flights on your own (economy seats anyways)

 

I have discovered through reading many threads on this forum that pretty much anywhere in the world (except for French Polynesia) it's usually better to get your own airfare if you're savvy enough to do so (ie. using miles, points, booking fduring a seat sale, flying weekdays or red-eyes, etc etc)

 

A simple example I recently had... I was booked on Oceania for Cuba before Cuba sailings were cancelled.

I purchased the OLife with air. The credit from YVR to MIA was only $350US. I was seeing flights that I could choose on my own (adding an extra day or so to hang out in Miami) at around $400US. If I were to take O's airfare and add the $175 deviation fee, I actually pay more using O airfare. Hope that makes sense. I chose to take the $300 credit and book my own flights

[clo]

1 hour ago, TrulyBlonde said:

We then flew to Rio to spend a few days on our own. Agree!  Plan to spend a month and enjoy.

We had an apt there and loved every minute. Hung out with the locals and developed a very "specialized" Portuguese vocabulary 🙂

[Hoopster95]

53 minutes ago, TrulyBlonde said:

We did Lima to BA with O and it was a memorable trip. We then flew to Rio to spend a few days on our own. Agree!  Plan to spend a month and enjoy.

 

Oh... next time you'll need to go back and do the Rio to BA sailing with all the Brazilian coastal stops. Just 3 of hundreds of amazing photos and experiences I had daily. Totally amazing and unexpected.

 

Is this Florida? Nope.... Belneario Camboriu, Santa Catarina (1/2 hour north of Porto Belo in southern Brazil)

 

Sailing in to Ihla Grande

 

Praia Azeda (Azeda Beach, Buzios)

 

 

 

 

[clo]

24 minutes ago, Hoopster95 said:

all the Brazilian coastal stops

We actually didn't like those cause we're not beach people. After the fact we wish we'd flown to Rio, spent a week or so, and then flew to BA. YMMV.

[Mura]

3 hours ago, clo said:

My O rep flat out told me that biz through them isn't a good deal.

Absolutely!!!!  It's far more expensive than if you book biz air on your own.  We have on one or two occasions taken an upgrade they offered for PE which worked out well.  For us, that was BA from JFK to CPH (SAS), returning from LRH on BA three years ago.

 

But most of the time -- now that we only fly biz -- we book our own.  Also, the biz class that O offers is real biz air if you are flying "over water" but if you are flying over land (whether here or there) you will be back in coach.

 

Mura

[Jimbo]

In my case the air didn't sound to over paid?

 

PHL to Vancouver   and LAX to PHL  $400 per person RT

 

Pretty sure I couldn't even come close to beating that when you add in bags, etc.

[pinotlover]

Jim;

 

No “ one size fits all” in any category. Every  circumstances requires its own analysis. Even something 99% sure still has that 1 percent that some demand to be given equal attention.

 

Most travelers, on most Oceania cruises, can do better buying their own air and taking the credit. Not all travelers, on all Oceania cruises, can do so. Easy enough?

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

In my case the air didn't sound to over paid?

 

PHL to Vancouver   and LAX to PHL  $400 per person RT

 

Pretty sure I couldn't even come close to beating that when you add in bags, etc.

Use ITA Matrix to compare air prices.

[LHT28]

55 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

In my case the air didn't sound to over paid?

 

PHL to Vancouver   and LAX to PHL  $400 per person RT

 

Pretty sure I couldn't even come close to beating that when you add in bags, etc.

but if you want to choose the flights/routing

fly in early or stay after the cruise add $175 pp  so you can choose the flights you want  ..like non stop for example

 You can always book with the air included  then once the air schedules open up  for  next year  see if you can get it  cheaper

Then remove the air  from the deal

 Looking  at  flights  for this Sept  Delta  have that routing for  around $300 PP  with 1 stop each way

Just  saying

[Jimbo]

35 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

Jim;

 

No “ one size fits all” in any category. Every  circumstances requires its own analysis. Even something 99% sure still has that 1 percent that some demand to be given equal attention.

 

Most travelers, on most Oceania cruises, can do better buying their own air and taking the credit. Not all travelers, on all Oceania cruises, can do so. Easy enough?

True.

24 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Use ITA Matrix to compare air prices.

I will check it out, Thanks

23 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

but if you want to choose the flights/routing

fly in early or stay after the cruise add $175 pp  so you can choose the flights you want  ..like non stop for example

 You can always book with the air included  then once the air schedules open up  for  next year  see if you can get it  cheaper

Then remove the air  from the deal

 Looking  at  flights  for this Sept  Delta  have that routing for  around $300 PP  with 1 stop each way

Just  saying

I think that $300 price is a sign of the times........Covid-19............any other normal year I believe those flights would be in the $475 to $575 range before bags added on.