zipher36

I emailed you back with my actual email address! (just in case it went to spam!) Thanks so much!

Completely off topic but I was reading your posts in a different thread and wanted to PM you re: experience with Oceania but obviously that function doesn't work. Any chance you could shoot me an email in my signature (it's a throwaway email account so i don't get spammed but i promise to email you back with my real email address). Cheers!

Unfortunately this has been the case previously. They've never had to do it on their own as they tend to travel with a group of friends. They will get to attempt a dry run at this when they sail on their own with Holland America from Vancouver to San Diego. Crossing my fingers! Haha I do appreciate everyone's input. I have a much better understanding of how "flights + transfers included" work in the cruise industry. I just want to make sure they have a fabulous time from start to finish.

They are experienced travellers but they've always joined tours and/or have had the luxury of traveling with one of their TA friends who knows all the ins and outs of travel. Unfortunately, she has retired and they're on their own this time 🙂

Yes, I agree, knowing how to use Uber/Lyft is a MUST these days! I might resort to booking a private transfer so that they don't have to stress about transportation after 15-20 hrs in the air. I did confirm with the TA that I can opt out of the flight package and reinstate it up to 90 days before sailing. This gives me a few weeks to consider any seat sales and also zero in on flights with decent connections. If I find something good, then I'll arrange flights myself and not have to deal with O.

I can understand if there is a 20-25% markup for the convenience factor, but double the cost is ridiculous. These cruise lines are also able to block off rooms at wholesale rates so their profit margins must be even higher.

I could not believe how much I was being quoted for their hotel option INTERCONTINENTAL SYDNEY $908 pp for 2 nights OR SHANGRI-LA HOTEL, SYDNEY $1018 pp for 2 nights If I book Intercontinental myself, it's $350 per night and Shangri La is only $275 per night. That is a 60-75% difference. Even if I were to book hotels via Oceania, I'm not convinced they would still put the passengers on the direct flight. I think it would require a deviation fee + air differential fee.

This sounds horrifying. You would think that the higher end cruise lines would make more of an effort to make this as seamless as possible. First impressions matter! This could make or break a passenger's decision to book another cruise with the same line.

Really appreciate your insight. In my case, I'm booking for my parents and they're just looking for economy seats but am really worried O Air is going to book them on a multiple connection + unreasonable layover (either too short or too long) segment from YVR-SYD. Ideally they would be on the direct Air Canada flight but it seems highly unlikely due to the current prices of $3300. (Flight credit offered by O Air is currently $2300) They're not too tech savvy so the included transfers to/from airport seem like a no brainer but maybe I should just teach them to use Uber since the airport is only 12 km to the city centre.

Do you mind elaborating on why Oceania offered you a "discount" for booking your own flights? Or are you referring to selecting the cruisefare only option over the cruisefare + air option? Thanks! I'm looking at the Sydney to Sydney - New Zealand Discovery 14 day (Jan 25-Feb 8 ) Regatta cruise and would be flying from Vancouver and I'm trying to figure out if I should take the flight option or receive a $2300 CAD credit and book my own flights . Direct flights via Air Canada from YVR-SYD are ~ $3300 CAD so it seems very unlikely that Oceania Air would put me on that flight. Connecting flights either through SFO or Fiji are ~$2300-2500 so this seems like a much more likely option but the layovers vary wildly from 1 hr to 12 hrs. It would seem ridiculous to pay the $299 per person custom air request to get a better connection. Just not sure how "lenient" Oceania Air is to at least picking a more reasonable connection time (3-4 hrs) so that I don't have to stress about making it on the connecting flight. Really appreciate everyone's input!

Is it fair to say that generally for cruises that embark/disembark at the same port, you're better off booking your own flights but if you embark/disembark at different ports, Oceania can provide better value due to the cost of 2 X 1 way tickets?

Thanks so much for the quick reply! I know that some cruise lines (I know of NCL) will offer these "free" drink packages but they're not actually free because you have to pay additional 18-20% gratuities on the package value which can easily add an additional $15-20 pp pd in drink gratuities regardless of whether I drink anything or not!

I tried searching the forums but couldn't find an answer and hoping someone can chime in. If I opt for the Simply More package which includes "Free Champagne, Wine and More valued at up to US$2,800 per stateroom", do I need to pay additional gratuities on the included drink package? Or should I just be expected to pay the $18-23 (depending on the cabin) pp pd plus whatever additional gratuities I want to give over and above? Thanks!