Flatbush Flyer

The problem with cruise line bizclass (or even coach) air vs DIY is that, most often, “all things are NOT equal.” Their bizclass prices are based on their contracted airlines flying mostly connecting routes at often inconvenient times (e.g., very short layovers). What appears to be a great cruise air deal may quickly unravel when you want to deviate from their offered itinerary to your Plan A. Add to this the fact that, in these very uncertain air travel times, not booking DIY has more negatives than positives. Sure, you may be fine with any savings you get with “cruise air” (despite the absence of your Plan A). But, if the “poop hits the fan” with airline issues like delays/cancellations/rebooking (so common these days), you’re stuck with needing to contact your “middleman” while DIYers are on the phone with the airline directly. This is particularly important if you have high FF status with your preferred carrier, have a dedicated call number and understand “how to’s” for options like “ticket assignment” (which can save your whole vacation).

Whether it’s hotels land packages or travel insurance, anyone considering using O’s arrangements needs to realize that the pricing is PER PERSON. And, yes, we’ve often stayed pre-Cruise at O’s chosen hotels for at least 50% less due to rates “per room” rather than “per person.”

Mostly for folks newer to cruising: The term “medevac” can be a bit misleading - particularly in terms of travel insurance. When it comes to helicopter or fast boat transportation of an ill passenger or crew from a ship, the more accurate term is “field rescue.” And, in most countries worldwide, field rescue is provided by the “local” Coast Guard at no cost to the passenger. That said, the insurance world considers MedEvac primarily as transportation from the first shoreside emergency/acute care facility to a more appropriate hospital and/or to home.

Perhaps you mean Concierge. What’s waitlisted on the multi-segment is the same cabin for each segment. On the individual segments, the availability is for different cabins.

I feel your pain (though not quite as much). At FRA in May, we used almost half of our layover’s three hours just getting through passport control.

Let’s get two things straight about “luggage forward” and similar services: 1) Some lines have preferred providers who are allowed to access your luggage early in the process (e.g., having a rep onboard). This restricts who can best handle the challenge. 2) Folks who are cruising on bargain lines may keel over when they find that shipping their luggage costs more than their cruise. Also, FWIW: having FF status with a particular airline - sufficient to get you a highly visible “priority” sticker attached to your bag tags can make a big difference if your connections are within that airline’s consortium hubs and partners’ handling.

Then things really have changed. It used to be (at least, pre NCLH?) that you could not get a bizclass quote unless you had already paid a fare with whatever air was included. (See post #7 by LHT28 above and a quick CC search will turn up numerous similar comments). Since we DIY air for a variety of reasons, I haven’t kept up with these reported air changes. Maybe Jan can weigh in on this with a definitive comment regarding the O air policy.

Again- where does PDX fit into this?

How does PDX figure in this? Is London to Seattle non-stop? What about the return to London?

Well - you learn something new everyday. if coach credit is now given with a bizclass upgrade, it may be worth a look-see. Of course, there will remain the issue of deviation costs (even if that fee is comped). Hopefully someone will post here who has deviated with a better routing (e.g., non-stop) and preferred airline that is not an O contractor. That said, the other question is the fare classes used by O and how they affect FF points and or lifetime miles etc. It will be interesting....

As I’ve said many times, do NOT use O bizclass. There’s no credit for the coach tix that are part of the fare base needed to get an upgrade quote. In essence, you’re paying for two tix per person (the total of which is not that good for O Contract flights which are seldom non-stop and often have inconvenient connections). And, if you choose deviation, you then have to pay fare differences from what they proposed as well as the deviation fee (unless you have higher O Club status). Take the air credit and DIY bizclass.

United flies non-stop from SFO to SYD and from PPT to SFO. The Polaris (their best bizclass) tix were just over $6k per person for the multi-city tix. I also looked at the one way tix alternative and, in this case, it was more expensive. Just checked and cash price today is approx. the same. And, today, the FF points tix for this itinerary are 375,000 per person. BTW: the coach air credit from O was $1850 per person. The United coach fare today is $1800 per person. It would be interesting to know what O would charge extra for those non-stop bizclass tix (in addition to the initial $1850 air in the cruise fare).

No matter how you slice it or dice it, O’s bizclass is NOT a good deal. That bizclass quote may look good at first. But, remember that you’ve already paid for the required coach ticket in your cruise fare and you won’t get credit for it. Add to that the limits on what the contracted airlines and often less than optimum routings (e.g., connections) offered are and how much more it will cost you to deviate (even if your O Club level gets comp deviation fee, you still have to pay the fare difference). And speaking of deviation: it is my understanding that the O included “transfer” is from airport to ship. What happens if you’re spending several land days pre-embark at a hotel you’ve booked on your own. IMO, for bizclass, always take the O air credit and DIY.

Ever had grated Pecorino (alone or in combo with Parmigiano) on your pizza or pasta? It’s goat cheese and, for many folks, hard to tell the difference from a cow cheese.

Sophomoric try at redirection. But the reality remains: If some lower level functionary at O erroneously does not grant “permission” for your cruise number to see available purchase options (whether it’s specialty reservations, excursions, Priveé, LaReserve, pre-cruise hotels et al.), there’s no way to book it until there’s a “button to push.” In those cases, the right TA may be able to hasten the correction via their Regional Sales Rep (or someone else on their closely guarded Rolodex). The O forums here on CC are full of examples of this “human error” conundrum (with or without a TA). And it’s also not exactly “rocket science” to understand the underpinnings of these issues.

And therein lies the problem- it’s NOT “rocket science” and, ergo, is it is very prone to human error. As much as your “professional” TA might try, if the loading of an optional purchase offer is not loaded into the O accounting system for your cruise (in the case of an extended journey, a cruise number with an “A” on the end), there is no way for him/her (or their O contact) to book what doesn’t officially “exist”. The sometimes missing internal O communication’s affect on smooth accounting transitions has been a known problem since Mike Moore ran O’s IT before moving over to Regent. Note that it doesn’t happen with every multi-segment cruise. Rather, it’s occasional where someone at O forgets the “A” in word processing Again, with/without a TA in the mix, if the O accounting software does not see “A” or one of quite a few other letters after the O cruise number (due to human error in data entry at O), the optional item cannot be purchased. What can occur (and having the right high volume O TA could quicken) is hastening a correction that allows an option that is available to single segments to be associated with the “extended journey” for which you are booked. With the understanding that many of us use a TA for all of the obvious reasons, there is also the reality that having the right direct contacts at O can sometimes achieve what you need much quicker while also reducing the need for your TA to constantly “hold your hand.”

Close but no cigar. At least in the veranda cabins, the two singles are put together with a topper.” It results in a bed that is somewhere between a queen and a king (closer to a standard Queen found in the US).

With or without a TA in the mix, one nagging little problem regarding optional O purchases is that multi-segment cruises (extended journeys and custom cruises) sometimes get lost in O website and accounting systems. When changes are made to ports/excursions and opening of food reservations and related add-ons, the multi-segment cruise items are often not processed at the same time as the individual segments within that longer cruise.

We’ve enjoyed several Priveé dinners, both invited and shared, and they certainly can be a special evening. But, with the understanding that we all can have different interior decorating preferences, I have to add that the decor of the room is (IMO) less than inviting (at least, when compared to La Reserve). Other opinions?

Worth It? With the understanding that London is one of our favorite cities, the short answer is NO. Most importantly, a scheduled 9:00AM arrival could easily become 10:00AM (and you still would need to get out of the airport and then into London with what could be a very uncertain transfer time). At the other end (departure), there’s getting back to the airport with the same uncertain ground transfer time. Most importantly (and you mentioned this in your post), you may find that the “security” line(s) would eat up more time than you think. FWIW: We recently connected at FRA on our way from SFO to ARN. Our planned 3 hour layover ended up with almost 90 minutes just to get through passport control. That left less than an hour before boarding started to head to the Lufthansa bizclass lounge for a break. Imagine the situation if our plane had not left SFO on time. That said, rethink your “7 hr layover” and be realistic regarding “about 4 hours” in London. Of course, you could always change your flight times to add a three day “layover” and actually visit London.

I have heard this “one and done” comment from others as well.

This is more along the truth of O’s “panoramic” bus tours. Often they are multiple forty passenger busses for a single panoramic (I.e. mostly driving/sightseeing) trip and there are usually empty seats on each bus). If these busses do stop (e.g., for museum tours), there will often be more than a single tour guide meeting the bus to take over fir that stop. It should be added that O has increased its offerings of full day excursions (6-8 hours) that include a meal and exclusive access to certain attractions. These are not inexpensive at retail cost. But, combining the included O Life tours (picking the most expensive ones that interest you can double the perk value from $100 to $200) and enough paid ones to meet the YWYW minimum number of tours required for your cruise gets a 25% discount on the paid ones. In many cases, the net cost May pleasantly surprise you. Of course, independent private/semi-private tours are a best bet in many situations (e.g., Maohe Nui in Bora Bora). So, bottom line for us is usually a combination of ship and private. And, with so many port changes these days, ship’s Destination Services handling all the changes is an important consideration.

Oceania has an occasional pool deck takeover by the culinary staff - full on lobster and ribs barbecue (and heavenly desserts)or regional cuisine based on current location. There’s also live music. Quite the great evening. And then there’s “country fair” - usually on a transoceanic sea day with good weather- not to be missed! But, fortunately, no “prom nites.” On O, it’s always “country club casual” which, along with the excellent food and service plus truly interesting itineraries (especially the long ones of 3-5 weeks plus), is what makes the O experience so wonderful.

There’s no one answer here. Depends in large part on the nature and disposition of the issue as well as the dictates of the policy. For example: Some insurers have no copay for an ER visit if it ends in an admission but do have a copay if there is no admission.

Hardly snarky. Next time, you may want to explain the circumstances since complete information has a better chance of getting informed response. BTW. You also could’ve called the US State Dept. number used to get the emergency appointment.