Manhattan Cruise Terminal and Oceania Air (will this be awful?)

[bahamamama11]

I'm taking an Oceania cruise roundtrip New York to Bermuda.Oceania is supplying air and transfers.I'm just in a regular balcony cabin, and am still Blue with their loyalty program. I hope someone has experience with a similar situation, and can give me an idea of just how awful the first and last day of the cruise are going to be.

 

We are arriving into LaGuardia at 9:30 am on the day of embarkation, after a red eye flight. Will Oceania take us from the airport directly to the cruise ship terminal? Will they let us board the ship on arrival (I know the cabins won't be ready), or will we be expected to wait in the terminal until boarding commences in the early afternoon? 

 

At the end of the cruise (Manhattan again) they have booked us on a 3:30 pm flight out of LaGuardia. Will they dump us at the airport right after disembarkation to sit in the airport for 6 hours, or will they let us remain aboard (out of our cabins) and transfer us later, for a more humane wait at the airport?

 

Thanks so much for any insight!

[1025cruise]

I would assume that you will be brought straight to the port, where you will wait to board, and then stuck at the airport.

[bahamamama11]

This sounds epically awful! This is what happens when you relinquish control and take cruise air!

[ORV]

Well lets see, if you arrive at 9:30 you'll need to collect your luggage, find the Oceania rep, wait to board the bus, wait for the bus to fill up, then drive from LGA to the Manhattan cruise port. I don't know how far that is, but I'd say you're going to be pushing 11 or later by the time you get there. They are already boarding people by this time. Plenty to eat and things to do on the ship until your cabin is ready later in the day. 

 

That won't be so bad. 

 

On the tail end it might all depend on what time they send people that have their transfers with Oceania. One thing you can pretty much count on is you'll be off the ship no later than 9 or 9:30 unless there's an issue. If you're not going to transfer with them sometimes they will offer a tour of the city with airport drop off. I did one of these a few years ago on another cruise line, from Newark. So, it's not all doom and gloom. Even without a tour by the time you go through the process and check in and go through security you only have a 3 or 4 hour wait. Do you have access to any airport lounges? I have Priority Pass that comes with my Hilton Card that has come in pretty nice while traveling. I think it's good for 10 visits a year. 

 

I wouldn't beg trouble too much in advance. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

Though my answer is worthless if O is doing your transfers, I’m taking this opportunity to make a recommendation to folks wanting to take an Uber anywhere from disembarkation at Pier 90 at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal. 
 

On our recent arrival at Pier 90 (SF to NY on Insignia), the info from O gave the wrong address for the specific pier. Instead, it provided the address for the Terminal’s main office, which is several piers distant (about 4 blocks).

To avoid this FUBAR, search on the Uber app for “MUSICA,” which is a well-marked building directly across 12th Avenue from the entrance to Pier 90. You’ll avoid all the chaos.

[navybankerteacher]

3 hours ago, bahamamama11 said:

I'm taking an Oceania cruise roundtrip New York to Bermuda.Oceania is supplying air and transfers.I'm just in a regular balcony cabin, and am still Blue with their loyalty program. I hope someone has experience with a similar situation, and can give me an idea of just how awful the first and last day of the cruise are going to be.

 

We are arriving into LaGuardia at 9:30 am on the day of embarkation, after a red eye flight. Will Oceania take us from the airport directly to the cruise ship terminal? Will they let us board the ship on arrival (I know the cabins won't be ready), or will we be expected to wait in the terminal until boarding commences in the early afternoon? 

 

At the end of the cruise (Manhattan again) they have booked us on a 3:30 pm flight out of LaGuardia. Will they dump us at the airport right after disembarkation to sit in the airport for 6 hours, or will they let us remain aboard (out of our cabins) and transfer us later, for a more humane wait at the airport?

 

Thanks so much for any insight!

Cheer up:

 

If your plane lands at 9:30 you are unlikely to get your luggage and be ready  to pick up your ground transportation much before 10:00 - meaning that you shouldn’t expect to get to the MCT until 11:00 or so - by which time boarding should have commenced. Your cabin may or may not be ready, but there will be ample opportunity to get something to eat or drink and relax.

 

When you return, you will probably head to the airport around 9:30 or 10:00, getting there close to 11:00 - time to check in and get some lunch. There is no way you will have that dreaded “6 hours” to sit at the airport.  Your 3:30 flight will start boarding at 3:00 - perhaps four hours after you get to LGA and roughly three hours after you finish checking in and clearing security.

 

They will be reading the ship for the next batch of passengers and will not want you hanging around —- or would you be happy to delay your boarding to let the previous lot hang around? 
 

p.s. I am on the 9/13 sailing to Bermuda - and am looking forward to it with reasonable expectations. Fortunately I live just about an hour’s drive from MCT.

 

p.p.s. Your mention of a redeye suggests you come from California or someplace similar.  Your choice of course, but that is a pretty good way to make sure you will not enjoy your first day of a seven day cruise.

Edited August 11, 2023 by navybankerteacher

[WESTEAST]

We have experience with taking OAir transfers. Upon arrival at the airport, we were met at the airport by a private car service presumably because we were the only O passengers on the flight. It was at Heathrow around noon so a busy airport and we had no issues in finding the driver with the O sign after departing customs with our luggage. Timing for embarking was straight forward as it was late mid-day by the time we reached the port and our stateroom was ready.  Otherwise, we would have found a quiet spot to wait (we like the Library for this purpose). A few days prior to departing, you will receive a Disembarkation Form to complete (where you include/confirm your flight details) and they will advise what time you are to disembark with colour coded luggage tags. On this form, Oceania will often offer a tour for passengers who have a late flight e.g., your will board a bus, take a tour and then they drop you off at the airport. If you are not taking a tour, you will board the designated bus to the airport. Considering crowded airports, traffic conjestion in large cities, we rather have more time at the airport than being in a panic to miss our flight.

[Wynterwynd]

Better to have extra time than not enough.  There are plenty of ways to spend time at airport (empty gate area with a book is what I do…or just people watch…or find a bar or a lounge).  Nothing worse than worrying about making your cruise departure or your flights.  

[princeton123211]

17 hours ago, bahamamama11 said:

We are arriving into LaGuardia at 9:30 am on the day of embarkation, after a red eye flight. Will Oceania take us from the airport directly to the cruise ship terminal? Will they let us board the ship on arrival (I know the cabins won't be ready), or will we be expected to wait in the terminal until boarding commences in the early afternoon? 

 

At the end of the cruise (Manhattan again) they have booked us on a 3:30 pm flight out of LaGuardia. Will they dump us at the airport right after disembarkation to sit in the airport for 6 hours, or will they let us remain aboard (out of our cabins) and transfer us later, for a more humane wait at the airport?

I agree with other posters-- off the flight (assuming it runs on time which doesn't happen a ton at LGA), getting luggage, finding the rep, getting into Manhattan-- you'll be at least 11am if not a little later and you'll just board. 

 

On the return you don't HAVE to take their return transportation. If you wanted to spend some time in Manhattan you could easily do so and just Uber to LGA when you were ready to head there. For a 6pm flight on a weekend I would leave Midtown Manhattan no later than 3pm. Obviously it will be an additional cost but you wont be sitting at the airport. LGA does have much better lounges now than it ever has with the ongoing rebuilding so not the end of the world there either. 

[ORV]

18 minutes ago, princeton123211 said:

For a 6pm flight

3:30 flight, so they won't be there near as long as they seem to think. 

[princeton123211]

3 minutes ago, ORV said:

3:30 flight, so they won't be there near as long as they seem to think. 

Didn't catch that-- yeah, they would be headed to the airport by noon anyway then. Doesn't make a ton of sense to try anything in Manhattan unless they were really motivated to. 

 

When we got off the Insignia from Bermuda a few years ago it was a leisurely disembarkation (compared to others we've had) and we were curbside by about 9:30. My guess is with a 3:30 flight they would let them get off the ship towards the end of the process. 

[JFontaine]

Are you sure you are going to LGA?  LGA has a perimeter rule of 1500 miles (except for 4 flights on Saturdays only on Delta starting next month) making red eyes unusual.  I think the longest flight now is Denver. 

[AMHuntFerry]

11 minutes ago, JFontaine said:

Are you sure you are going to LGA?  LGA has a perimeter rule of 1500 miles (except for 4 flights on Saturdays only on Delta starting next month) making red eyes unusual.  I think the longest flight now is Denver. 

Flying from the west it is common to have a redeye that stops part way, like Chicago (or other hub city - Dallas, Atlanta, etc.), when getting the cheapest fare.

[JFontaine]

32 minutes ago, AMHuntFerry said:

Flying from the west it is common to have a redeye that stops part way, like Chicago (or other hub city - Dallas, Atlanta, etc.), when getting the cheapest fare.

Got it - thanks. 

[Snaefell3]

Uhh...  6+ hour delays are getting too common.  Have a plan if along the way they tell you that you are now expected to arrive at LGA at 3:30pm instead of 9:30am.

 

::hands you some Malox::

 

Our last trans-Atlantic, we arrived in Miami at 1:30am instead of 10:15am (15h15 late -- fog plus mechanical plus re-ticket).   Fortunately we'd planned to arrive the day before embarkation.   First port of call was Day 6 in the Azores.  😳

[bahamamama11]

Thank you everyone for the input and advice. I very seldom use cruise air, but had a really great experience with Oceania to the South Pacific so I thought I’d give them another chance booking flights  for our Bermuda as the price was right.  
When we went to Papeete, we flew from the west coast. Oceania had us connecting to a charter flight from LAX which gave us far better flight times than I could find myself. On the way home flights left at Papeete at midnight and Oceania let us stay onboard until very late afternoon (no cabins but could use facilities onboard) and then transferred us to the airport with a very reasonable wait time. 
All in all a very positive experience. I was hoping for some similar care this time. 
 

[Hlitner]

Surprised nobody talks about the risk of same day air (for embarkations).  And the OP might want to consider that late/delayed flights have become very common.  So, if that flight is an hour late, and cruise line arranged transport is typically slow (while waiting for others) then being at the port too early will likely not be an issue.  
 

Hank

[LHT28]

12 hours ago, bahamamama11 said:

When we went to Papeete, we flew from the west coast. Oceania had us connecting to a charter flight from LAX which gave us far better flight times than I could find myself. On the way home flights left at Papeete at midnight and Oceania let us stay onboard until very late afternoon (no cabins but could use facilities onboard) and then transferred us to the airport with a very reasonable wait time. 
All in all a very positive experience. I was hoping for some similar care this time. 
 

I think PPT  is  a unique situation

 Never seen  this happen in any other  port 

Off by 9:30 at the latest 

 

[pinotlover]

I believe Oceania only ran the charter Air when the cruise was on an O ship. There is/was enough commercial air options for the R ships.

 

I believe Oceania arranged a day room at the Intercontinental in PPT for those on O Air and O transfers not on the Charter. Everyone still had to be off by 9:30. We did have a chartered cruise after ours, so everyone was disembarking.

[Snaefell3]

36 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

I think PPT  is  a unique situation

 Never seen  this happen in any other  port 

Off by 9:30 at the latest 

 

Dunno 'bout O, but Papeete was a special case when RSSC had Paul Gauguin.  After a morning debarkation, we were put up in a hotel until late afternoon and an included evening flight out.

 

Lots of SCUBA excursions on the day before plus dive-to-fly recommended surface interval.  (Let's not drag the PADI vs DAN vs USAF vs USN argument in here 😉 )

[edgee]

4 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Surprised nobody talks about the risk of same day air (for embarkations).  And the OP might want to consider that late/delayed flights have become very common.  So, if that flight is an hour late, and cruise line arranged transport is typically slow (while waiting for others) then being at the port too early will likely not be an issue.  
 

Hank

You are so right. Flying into the most delayed air space in the U.S. apparently with a connecting flight is so risky. On the other hand, when folks ask for advice regarding plans which are already set in stone, it is not very constructive for others to point out it is a bad idea in the first place and pointing out the error, or at least high risk of the decision.

[Redtravel]

Using Oceania air can be wild and crazy.  Your flight times sounds fantastic compared to our most recent cruise.  Arriving at LaGuardia at 9:30 is excellent.  You may have to wait for people arriving on other flights before you get on the bus that goes to the ship.  It’s not a long ride from the airport to the ship.   Keep in mind, that Oceania air guarantees gettting you to the ship.  On our most recent cruise, we embarked in Southampton, UK.  Oceania assigned us 2 flights flying into Gatwick with a 2 hour bus ride to the ship.  When we arrived at Gatwick, we waited more than a hour before we were put on a bus. We arrived at the ship 2 hours before it sailed.  That was too close for comfort.  This time we asked to be flown into BCN a day early.  You can fly in or depart up to 3 days before or after the cruise with no charge. Your return flight is also at a good time. They will take you to the airport early.  A good book may help pass the time.  Sometimes they offer excursions on the last day for guests flying on late planes.  Relax, all will be well.  Bermuda is beautiful.
 

[shepherd really]

never mind

Edited August 12, 2023 by shepherd really

[Snaefell3]

2 hours ago, Redtravel said:

…Keep in mind, that Oceania air guarantees gettting you to the ship….

Haven't checked O specifically (never was tempted based upon comments we heard), but on that TA where we were 15 hours late, <mumble> also "guaranteed to get us on the ship".  Had we been arriving on debarkation day, "to the ship" would have been at the first port of call on Day 6.

Edited August 12, 2023 by Snaefell3
typo

[Redtravel]

Going in the day of the cruise can be very stressful.  If you have time, going in early is a better choice.