Oldfart432

It seems to me that anyone who books any future cruise is just giving the cruise line a free open ended loan, time to be extended with future cruise credit, and no chance of repayment. I recognize that should the cruise line cancel the cruise that the loan may be refunded, but that seems to take months, and then there is the danger of cruise line bankruptcy. Why should I book a cruise now?

I’m retired and can pick up and go on a cruise at any time. I live in South Florida and can get to Fort Lauderdale or Miami in about an hour. Other than the obvious problem of perhaps not being able to get my preferred cabin, why should I not wait until within 30 days of sailing to book a cruise? With this strategy I don’t pay a deposit, I’m in little danger of paying penalties, I don’t need trip cancellation insurance, and I may get a rock bottom price on an unfilled ship. This seems to be an especially good ploy on cruises round trip to Florida, but gets a bit more complicated on those that need air. What am I missing?

A lot of discussion here, but no one has addressed my original question.

"I'm booked on a 33 day cruise on the Regatta from Miami to Papeete with a stop in San Diego. Many people disembark and others embark there. I know that I can carry on three bottles of wine in Miami, but can I carry on another three bottles in San Diego? "

A new wrinkle. I disembark an Oceania cruise in Papeete on Sunday Nov 19 at 9:00AM. When searching for air to Miami on that day I find nothing. On Monday Nov 20 there are 2 stop flights, all of about 33 hour duration, so if I want a decent flight I must wait until Tuesday Nov 21. (I know, there are worse places to be stranded.) However, if I book air through Oceania, they put me on Air Tahiti Nui 620 at 10:00PM on Nov 19, and can even upgrade me to business class. TN 620 does not exist on any search engine, including Google Matrix. But I found that it did exist one day a few months ago on a day when an Oceania ship happened to be in port. Conclusion; Oceania charter!

This was originally posted by Greatam 10 years ago. Here is a link to the original post:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=530322.

I saved this, and it explains many of the situations on this thread.

How Cruise Air/Air Deviation Works

Imagine you have 4 stacks of cards in front of you, each containing 30 cards. The 30 cards represent the allotment the cruise line bought from the airline at consolidator rates.

Stack one is LAX/MIA nonstop. 27 request air deviation-nonstop to MIA. Stack one is now down to 3 cards and the 27 pax paid the same price as "regular" cruise air (where you don't know what you are getting until 30-60 days out).

Stack two is LAX/DFW/MIA. Again, 27 people request deviation, same scenario. Pax accept one stopper at their choice of times.

Stack three is LAX/ORD/MIA. Again 27 people request deviation-ditto

Stack four contains these tickets-LAX/SEA, LAX/ORD, LAX/DFW, LAX/JFK, ORD/JFK, ORD/MIA, JFK/MIA

20 additional pax request air deviation-want LAX/MIA nonstop

3 people get air deviation at the same price as cruise air, 17 have to be booked on "free call" tickets. These are NOT the same as the original 30 tickets. They are generally booked in Q or O class (the lowest, generally available AA class) IF there are tickets available in those classes. If there are no tickets available to the cruise line in those classes, then AA will make available tickets in higher fare classes. Please note that Q and O class tickets are HIGHER priced than the "regular" consolidator class air deviation tickets, so the 17 pax will definitely pay a higher price than "regular" cruise air pax or deviation pax with consolidator class tickets.

IF and this is a BIG IF, the cruise line/airline contract ALLOWS the cruise line to purchase more nonstop tickets, these are FULLY ENDORSABLE tickets, the same as purchasing direct from AA. Depending on time of year and demand, you may be told there are NO air deviation tickets available.

What does the example tell us: Quite a few of the air deviation pax are booked on consolidator class fares. These are group rates given under contract from the airline to the cruise line. The airline states "you will pay us $200.00 per ticket. We don't care what you sell it for". That is how ALL consolidator tickets work. However, there are some VERY stringent restrictions on these types of tickets. USUALLY-very large change fees, if a change is allowed at all, and NON ENDORSABLE tickets (they have no value to another airline).

So most of the pax who requested air deviation are still using consolidator class tickets. If there is a problem, depending on the goodwill of the airline/cruise line, you may or may not (most likely) be put on another carrier to reach your destination.

To be placed on another carrier with a consolidator ticket, the originating carrier has to pay the flying carrier IN CASH-there is no tit for tat exchanging seats, as is common with endorsable tickets. With most airlines in financial trouble, most likely the airline will NOT pay for a ticket on another carrier. And Southwest, AirTran and JetBlue for the most part DO NOT participate in tit for tat exchanges with any carrier, but you will not find cruise lines buying those tickets.

The few lucky people who paid extra have fully endorsable tickets, good on any airline the originating carrier has agreements with and seats available. But they paid EXTRA. They could have booked their own seats and saved money.

What happens to the "regular" cruise air pax? See the remnants of piles 2 and 3? See pile 4???

That is what is left. So somehow, the cruise line has to get those pax from LAX to Miami. Six lucky people will get a one stopper, either ORD or DFW. The rest-Take a combination of cards-lets say LAX/SEA/ORD/JFK/MIA. The cruise line has now fulfilled their obligation to get you to the ship. And because the cruise line does not put the flights together until AFTER final payment, regular cruise air pax are left with PILE 4.

It does not matter that it will take you 12 hours to get to the cruise and you had to leave home at 2:00AM to arrive in MIA at 4:00PM for a cruise that departs at 6:00PM. OOOPS!!! Just missed the connection at ORD. If things weren't bad enough already, you just missed your cruise. Hope the next port stop is within a day and seats on the next flight are available.

Are you sure of that? I thought that this was the policy:

"Bringing wine or Champagne onboard: Passengers may bring a maximum of three bottles of wine or Champagne onboard per cabin for the duration of a cruise (this includes embarkation and purchasing on shore during a port call). A corkage fee of $25 applies if wine is consumed in a public area or dining room."

I'm booked on a 33 day cruise on the Regatta from Miami to Papeete with a stop in San Diego. Many people disembark and others embark there. I know that I can carry on three bottles of wine in Miami, but can I carry on another three bottles in San Diego?

Oceania advertises that their O Life promotion provides free air plus either on board credit, a beverage package, or excursions. But beware if you need to upgrade your flights to business class or to first class. A surprise and hidden costs are lurking.Unlike other cruise lines, Oceania’s upgrade applies only to the international segments of flights; domestic segments are booked economy. This information is not provided up front, and I discovered it long after final payment when the air itinerary was provided and I looked for seat assignments. In my case, a Tahiti to Los Angeles segment was business class, but the Los Angeles to Miami segment was economy. I was offered an upgrade to first class on the latter segment for an additional $875 per person. A search through the fine print of the Guest Ticket/Contract did reveal the statement “Upgrades apply to International flights and may not apply to U.S. domestic or intra-continental flights within North America…”

Oceania advertises that their O Life promotion provides free air plus either on board credit, a beverage package, or excursions. But beware if you need to upgrade your flights to business class or to first class. A surprise and hidden costs are lurking.Unlike other cruise lines, Oceania’s upgrade applies only to the international segments of flights; domestic segments are booked economy. This information is not provided up front, and I discovered it long after final payment when the air itinerary was provided and I looked for seat assignments. In my case, a Tahiti to Los Angeles segment was business class, but the Los Angeles to Miami segment was economy. I was offered an upgrade to first class on the latter segment for an additional $875 per person. A search through the fine print of the Guest Ticket/Contract did reveal the statement “Upgrades apply to International flights and may not apply to U.S. domestic or intra-continental flights within North America…”