Psoque

How is a ship "Americanized?" I'm really curious to know what a Canadian considers "Americanized."

I have met interesting people on every one of the cruises we have taken, so unless I have really low standards, there are "interesting people" everywhere, even on non-Oceania ships.

It’s really amusingly weird and disturbing that too many people on here (entire Cruise Critic spectrum) like to define themselves by the cruise lines they patronize and vice versa. Life is not that simple or predictable.

We are currently booked to be on the Riviera for Thanksgiving next year. Is it the case that even the specialty restaurants will be featuring the traditional Thanksgiving fare on that day? Or would they have their own twists on Thanksgiving dinner? For Christmas, would the Italian venue offer the Feast of Seven Fishes? Or am I just dreaming?

Are we required to participate in this "walk in show?" I did not know that the "exciting evening shows nightly" meant this.

Cruise lines charge more than the going rate of any hotels, even five-star hotels. I have routinely arranged for our own pre-cruise stays at the exact same hotel as the ones cruise lines are using, and routinely paid 2-3 x less (even including our own "private transfer" in a cab instead of a bus chartered by the cruise line) than what the cruise lines were charging for the package. In my opinion, pre-cruise package is only for those who are unwilling/unable to make their own pre-cruise arrangements, or for those whose money is no object to them.

That's good to know, I guess. I asked this question because there was a post somewhere by someone who thought somehow air deviation fee combined with (an outrageously inflated) cost of the hotel booked through the curise lines makes it somehow justified.

I think what you mean by the "$300 pp credit for not using the flights" is actually the cost of O Life. I don't think Oceania gives you anything for not paying them for the air add-on. It just makes your cruise fare lower by a fixed amount (for that particular itinerary). I did the math on a few real and "fake" Oceania bookings and here's what I think is the breakdown: As you have noted correctly, the actual cost of air add on is: Cost of the cruise with "Olife with airfare" - "cruise only fare" - amount of O Life OBC In the case of the cruise we just booked, the "cost of air add-on" was $1,100 and the "cost of O Life" was $300. -If you choose to take O Life promotion, you pay $300 more than the "cruise only fare." -If you choose to pay for air add-on, you pay $1,100 more than the "cruise only fare.***" -If you choose to take the O Life promotion and if you choose to pay for air add-on, you pay $1,400 more than the "cruise only fare". ***However, if you want to arrive before the day of embarkation/dpeart after the day of disembarkation, you will pay $175 more per person for that flight. Also, if you want Oceania to fly you from "non-gateway" airports, you will pay approx $200 per person more. So the real cost of air-add on could be higher than $1,100. So, in simple terms, there is no "air credit." Basically you pay them less if you choose to buy your own airfare. Also, the O Life OBC is not really a "deal" or a "perk," but a way for you to permanently convert $300 (or whatever the cost of O Life is for that particular itinerary) to non-refundable credit with Oceania. When I first called Oceania about this pricing structure, none of the people were willing or able to explain it like it, which I found somewhat disappointing. I think this particular "business practice" is making a lot of people rather confused about what I think is a very simple pricing structure, which is not described clearly at all on the website.

I think you should be able to find a plenty of acceptable flights on your own especially because you will be flying out of one of the airports in the NYC metro area. Just out of curiosity (since I never had an occasion to ask Oceania myself) does Oceania require you to buy hotels through them if you book the flights that arrive in Lisbon earlier than the embarkation day?

I agree with what you say here. However, I still don’t find the prices palatable, especially in light of what you elaborate here. I find this practice somewhat opportunistic and predatory. I am definitely not singling Oceania out on this though, since all other cruise lines do the same.

I guess the pricing of everything could vary from cruise to cruise and also where you are coming from. However, I rarely buy airfare from the cruise lines (since they are usually consolidator fares with a lot of restrictions) unless the air add-on is substantially cheaper that getting the flights on your own. I am not sure if you are obligated to book a pre-cruise hotel with Oceania also when you buy airfare (with the flight arriving a day or more before embarkation), but if that’s the case, we need to do a very careful analysis (if you wish to do so) before paying Oceania for everything. I have routinely done this analysis, and I have not seen any serious savings on airfare, unless the required flights can only be bought as on-way fares (especially in the past). Also, it’s really the pre/post cruise hotel pricing that blows up the equation in favor of booking everything on our own. Furthermore, we are perfectly comfortable taking public transportation in many of the cities we visit, and that also completely changes the equation, since private transfers are typically overpriced. But my point is that it is rather silly to think that one is getting some value commensurate with the additional $$$ you pay the cruise line for their pre or post cruise hotel reservations.

I guess it might be more "convenient" to pay the cruise line to arrange everything, but the fact that you paid air deviation should not really make it an overpriced hotel stay any more palatable. That makes no sense to me. That's like volunteering to get scr**ed twice.

In my experience, cruise lines (not just Oceania, but all others that I have looked at also) charge 2-3x the typical rates for hotels. I just can't imagine how anybody would want to overpay for their pre- and pos-cruise hotels, when, in many cases, a reservation at the same hotel can be made for much less.

Does this mean that we don’t have to pay for the shore excursions (that we book before the cruise) until the end of cruise?? That was the case with the old Crystal Cruises, but it was not the case with other lines that we have encountered so far.

You can get to Portsmouth either with a train from Waterloo or a bus from Victoria. Bus is crazy cheap, and might be easier with a lot of luggage since Victoria Coach Station is much smaller than Waterloo Train Station. But this is also dependent on where you are coming from. If you are staying near Waterloo, I would consider taking the train, for example.

It’s true that none of the options will result in tangible benefit. Perhaps I did not write this clearly enough. My point is that if you actually pay for OLife without air for the purpose of on board credits, you are guaranteeing NOT to receive anything more in return. Basically you are permanently converting some of your money to “funny money” that can only be used on the ship. In the case of using the OLife without air benefits for shore excursions or alcohol package, you could come out ahead based on what you choose to do with it. In my opinion, if you are not planning to use the OLife benefits for shore excursions or alcohol package, it’s probably even better not to pay for the OLife benefits up front.

There are busses that take you from London (from Victoria coach station, I believe) to Southampton. We have used it before and it’s not too expensive. If you are concerned about not getting to the port on time because of road delays, etc., you can choose to get to Southampton the night before. We did that and had some time to explore Southampton.

I’m saying this because the OLife add-on airfare, which is touted as “free airfare” by Oceania is NOT free. You actually have to pay Oceania for the cost of this “free” air add-on. I’ve heard many people here who somehow believes airfare is a free gift from Oceania. It is not. And in some cases, you can find airfare that is about the same or cheaper on your own, especially if you account for the $175 per person deviation fee (to arrive before the day of the cruise, for example) and $200 per person fee to fly out of “non-gateway” airports.

So you prefer that you pay Oceania, say $300 ahead of time so that you can spend that $300 as on-board credit while you are on the cruise?? If that floats your boat, I can’t argue with that. I think the point made by many of us is that the only tangible advantage of paying for OLife (wihtout air) is possible discount on shore excursions (if you are going to do shore excursions that, combined, cost more than the cost of OLife) or alcohol package (if you plan on actually plan on consuming alcohol that cost more than the cost of OLife add-on if paid by the glass).

Also, never think that “free” airfare is not really free.

Also, never assume that you have to buy air add-on to get the OLife Choice benefits.

The single time we purchased airfare through the cruise line was a time when we did a Panama Canal cruise that started in Costa Rica and ended in Florida. It was not cheap to get a pair of one-way flights for this, since airlines did not price this as an open-jaw ticket. The cruise line, for some weird reason, was offering ridiculously low air add-on, so we used it. It turned out that the air department for this luxury cruise (and not Oceania) had at least one terrible person working, and when we had fog issues the day of departure, we had to take the matter into our own hands, and it took months to get this reimbursed. But hey, when everything works perfectly, cheaper flights are, cheaper and good. Anyways, I did the math on the Mediterranean cruise we just booked to show to those who are still fooled by Oceania about the "free " airfare. For this itinerary: -"OLife with Air" prices are consistently higher by $ 1,400 compared to "cruise only." -When we inquired about "OLife without airfare," the prices were consistently $ 300 higher than "cruise only." Therefore, for this particular 10 night cruise, the breakdown is the following: -Cost of "free airfare" add-on is $ 1,100 per person. If we want to adjust the arrivals (to arrive at the embarkation city a day earlier, et.) it would cost $ 175 per person. If we need to fly out of "non-gateway" airports, that approximately $ 200 per person. So the REAL COST of Oceania airfare could be as high as $ 1,475 per person for someone who likes to arrive a day before the cruise and wants to fly out of, say Indianapolis, instead of Chicago. We can use this number to see if we can get the flights cheaper. (further Oceania is misleading people by referring to the money you save by not taking air add-on as "air credits.") -Cost of OLife without the cost of "free" airfare is $ 300. So doing this with an intention of taking an on-board credit of $ 300 is rather silly. Here's my analysis that I use to make the decision re: OLife with/without air. -If we want to take three ship excursions per person onboard, OLife add-on without air makes sense. -If we plan on consuming 3+ servings of wine/beer on mealtimes, OLife add-on without air makes some sense also, since that drink package is $39.95 per person, per day. I believe the cost of a single glass of basic wine is around $14 including automatic tips. I hope this would help people make a more informed decision about OLife with or without air add-on.

That’s why I put the word “free” in quotation marks. Oceania really should stop saying that their OLife Choice package with air includes “free” airfare. It is very misleading.

Just to make sure OP knows: It is possible to book a cruise with OLife benefits without paying for the “free” airfare with Oceania, despite what the website makes it look like.

I think we all can (maybe?) agree that buying airfare through the cruise lines (which usually ends up being booked on consolidator fares) is not necessarily a great option. We have only done this a couple of times, and on both occasions, we regretted the decision later.