katz Posted July 7, 2011 #1 Share Posted July 7, 2011 If we make our own flight arrangements, do we get a $500 deduction, per person, made towards the final amount of our cruise? We live in the Washington D.C. area with access to two airports. One is listed as free airfare, the other has a charge of $199. Why is this? Since we live on the east coast, I am more concerned with our seats than will layovers. Can we choose our seats? Can we change seats after O makes our reservations? If we want to customize our flights, how soon do we need to talk with O? Do they wait until final payment is made to make the reservations. As I am writing this, I think my bottom-line question is: How much control do we have over seats? Thank you for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted July 7, 2011 #2 Share Posted July 7, 2011 If we make our own flight arrangements, do we get a $500 deduction, per person, made towards the final amount of our cruise? The air credit varies by cruise Since we live on the east coast, I am more concerned with our seats than will layovers. Can we choose our seats? Can we change seats after O makes our reservations? We used O air & I was able to change my seat with Air Canada not sure how other airlines work If we want to customize our flights, how soon do we need to talk with O? Do they wait until final payment is made to make the reservations. If you want to make changes you can start 270 days out for deviations..talk to your TA if you used one or Oceania If you do a deviation then you can get the details when you accept what ever flights O puts together for you or what you choose ..once you accept them there is the deviation fee $100 pp maybe an upcharge if the flights you choose cost more than Oceania normally pays for the bulk tickets There are several other threads here on how deviations work ..just use the search feature for DEVIATIONS I am sure others will post there experiences Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aZ4me Posted July 7, 2011 #3 Share Posted July 7, 2011 We used Oceania's "free air" to Barcelona and back home from Rome in April. We could have received a $500 pp credit if he had booked our own air, but I didn't find any airline prices in that price range. We paid the $100 pp for deviation, since we arrived three days earlier than the cruise and departed three days after the cruise ended. O booked our seats exactly as we asked, but we ended up changing seats about 5 weeks before the departure date to get ones with more legroom. There was no problem doing that with Continental Airlines. O also found flights that matched the departure / arrival times we had requested. We're on another O cruise in Nov-Dec. '12, and we'll use O's air again. I've already looked into the current rates for air to Rome then home from Rio, and we can't beat what O is charging per person (as part of the cruise fare). We don't fly enough for FF miles, so this works well for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katz Posted July 7, 2011 Author #4 Share Posted July 7, 2011 Thanks, Lyn and Az. Is the deviation price $100 each way per person or round trip? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted July 7, 2011 #5 Share Posted July 7, 2011 Thanks, Lyn and Az. Is the deviation price $100 each way per person or round trip? Round trip ask your TA to check what flights Oceania will give for the dates you are looking at travelling Look at the flights going the same time frame ..I like to use http://matrix.itasoftware.com/ to find out what is available If you like the flight time O offers then go for them if not get your TA to submit the ones you would prefer (I hate early morning flights) ;) then see if they can get them with or without an upcharge I think you have 48 hrs to decide Recommend flying in at least 1 day early more if you have the time Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imagineer Posted July 7, 2011 #6 Share Posted July 7, 2011 ...we've gone with Oceania's air for all of our cruises with them, and have been relatively pleased, the only drawback, as was alluded to above, is the fact they can toss some very early departure times at you. On our next cruise our ship arrives 8am at Civitavecchia the day before our flight home, no problem there, but the flight leaves FCO at 6:05 the following morning, yes, 6:05, as in very early in the morning, which makes for getting up at 3am or sooner to board your shuttle to the airport in time to clear mandatory security checks. We deliberated making changes, but we're already paying a deviation fee for arriving two weeks ahead of the cruise, so we don't wish to pay any further fees. The really great thing about our early flight is it gets us home twelve hours ahead of any of the alternate flight arrangements, after a veeerry long day on airplanes, that is a good thing, and worth getting up early for in my opinion. I point this out to you so you're aware that you need to glean through the initial flight arrangements that O gives you with their free air in case you find the schedule not to your liking... ...enjoy your trip! cheers, the Imagineer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katz Posted July 7, 2011 Author #7 Share Posted July 7, 2011 Thanks, Imagineer. How soon did Oceania let you know about your free air arrangements? Was it soon enough for you to ask for the deviation and get what you wanted? Do they give you a few options at the sametime, or do you have to go back and forth with them? I am more anxious about the seats than the flight times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katz Posted July 7, 2011 Author #8 Share Posted July 7, 2011 Another question-----------how much control do you have over seats if you go with the free air? Just thought of this to0---if you wait for them to make the free air arrangements, at what point do they notifiy you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted July 7, 2011 #9 Share Posted July 7, 2011 Another question-----------how much control do you have over seats if you go with the free air? Just thought of this to0---if you wait for them to make the free air arrangements, at what point do they notifiy you? Some airlines allow the passenger to request a particular seat when a third party (Oceania) has purchased the ticket, some don't. There is no hard and fast rule as to how far in advance Oceania will make your air arrangements, when you leave it up to them, but you'll get the flight details with your final documents (and luggage tags) at 60 to 75 days out. If you need more control than that (and I certainly do!), I'd suggest paying the deviation and choosing what you prefer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imagineer Posted July 7, 2011 #10 Share Posted July 7, 2011 Thanks, Imagineer. How soon did Oceania let you know about your free air arrangements? Was it soon enough for you to ask for the deviation and get what you wanted? Do they give you a few options at the sametime, or do you have to go back and forth with them? I am more anxious about the seats than the flight times. ...we contacted Oceania about our air arrangements as soon as we were able to, which, I believe, is when they have sent you confirmation that you're booked for your cruise. Our TA said we could request other options but they were with a different carrier and not the routing we desire, we don't like going through Britain so will always go with Air Canada or Lufthansa as they fly YVR/FRA/FCO or YVR/YYZ/FCO. We've not had good experiences going through British or French airports. Our flights are all on Lufthansa, nonstop from Vancouver BC to Frankfurt, then on to Rome, the return trip is the same in reverse. Our TA says we shouldn't have any issues picking our seats as we're traveling in Oct-Nov which isn't as busy, when we last went to Italy in 08, it was spring and a lot busier so we were stuck with what Lufthansa gave us. All you can do is ask, it never hurts to try... cheers, the Imagineer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted July 7, 2011 #11 Share Posted July 7, 2011 [quote name=Imagineer;29703692 We deliberated making changes' date=' but we're already paying a deviation fee for arriving two weeks ahead of the cruise, so we don't wish to pay any further fees. the Imagineer[/quote] I do not understand if you paid the deviation fee on the outbound flight why you did not request flight that suited you for the inbound there is no extra deviation fee?? If you request flights there may be an upcharge for flight O cannot get with their contracted air You can get flight details before you commit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted July 7, 2011 #12 Share Posted July 7, 2011 There is no hard and fast rule as to how far in advance Oceania will make your air arrangements, when you leave it up to them, but you'll get the flight details with your final documents (and luggage tags) at 60 to 75 days out. I think it is closer to 30 days if you do not do a deviation If you do a deviation you can start at the 270 mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted July 7, 2011 #13 Share Posted July 7, 2011 I think it is closer to 30 days if you do not do a deviation If you do a deviation you can start at the 270 mark I verified with Oceania before I responded. They are working toward sending Final Docs out at 75 days (the standard is 60 now). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tropicalkerry2002 Posted July 7, 2011 #14 Share Posted July 7, 2011 If the documents come out 60-75 days before your cruise, are your flights ticketed then? Even if you have a deviation, are they ticketed then? Thanks for any help! Marian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
no fuss travel Posted July 7, 2011 #15 Share Posted July 7, 2011 We checked with Oceania for our SA cruise and it is costing us $50 more to make our own arrangements than to book with Oceania. This way we do not have to make several hops, skips and jumps across the US before we arrive home in Vancouver. They said that they could not accommodate us even with paying the deviation fee if we wanted to fly home via Toronto from Rio next February. We have the same flight they were able to book for Vancouver to Santiago, but a completely different flight from Rio to Vancouver. On our Med cruise this past May, it was better to use Oceania's air. It just depends on where you are going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted July 7, 2011 #16 Share Posted July 7, 2011 If the documents come out 60-75 days before your cruise, are your flights ticketed then? Even if you have a deviation, are they ticketed then?Thanks for any help! Marian If you pay the deviation fee, then Oceania is committed to getting you booked onto the specific flight that you agree to, so they book it when you agree. If you don't do the deviation, then they might book it anytime between when you choose Oceania Air and when you get your final docs. In any case, you get the flight information with the final docs (if you haven't asked before). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted July 7, 2011 #17 Share Posted July 7, 2011 We checked with Oceania for our SA cruise and it is costing us $50 more to make our own arrangements than to book with Oceania. This way we do not have to make several hops, skips and jumps across the US before we arrive home in Vancouver. They said that they could not accommodate us even with paying the deviation fee if we wanted to fly home via Toronto from Rio next February. We have the same flight they were able to book for Vancouver to Santiago, but a completely different flight from Rio to Vancouver. On our Med cruise this past May, it was better to use Oceania's air. It just depends on where you are going. :confused: What you are saying here sounds strange to me, because Oceania and you would be pulling from the same pool of flights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted July 7, 2011 #18 Share Posted July 7, 2011 If the documents come out 60-75 days before your cruise, are your flights ticketed then? Even if you have a deviation, are they ticketed then?Thanks for any help! Marian Our were not ticketed until under 30 days that was with a deviation so I did know the flights Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted July 7, 2011 #19 Share Posted July 7, 2011 I verified with Oceania before I responded. They are working toward sending Final Docs out at 75 days (the standard is 60 now). I have never used O air without a deviation ( I need some control) so we know our flights as soon as I agree with what is presented . We did not receive the air e-tickets until closer to sailing We did get the booklet much earlier at about 4-5 weeks out Just my experience Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tropicalkerry2002 Posted July 8, 2011 #20 Share Posted July 8, 2011 I know our deviation is booked, but it is not ticketed...wish THAT would happen more than 30 days before! Marian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imagineer Posted July 8, 2011 #21 Share Posted July 8, 2011 I do not understand if you paid the deviation fee on the outbound flight why you did not request flight that suited you for the inbound there is no extra deviation fee??If you request flights there may be an upcharge for flight O cannot get with their contracted air You can get flight details before you commit ...we have our flight details already, we are arriving two weeks before the cruise leaves, which we paid deviation fees for, if we'd changed our return flight from Rome to a later flight we would have been traveling for an additional twelve hours, something we did last time and don't wish to repeat - its worth it to us to have to get up earlier in order to shorten our travel time by ten hours. We fly Lufthansa from Vancouver BC to Frankfurt, ten hour flight, two hours changing planes at FRA and then two hours later we land in Rome. The same times for our return flight. Last time we came back on Air Canada from Rome to Toronto, eight hour flight, four hours in Pearson, six hour flight to Vancouver, six hours sitting in Vancouver waiting for our connection to Victoria BC... ...my point in the earlier post is that when you allow O to arrange your air, sometimes they come up with some departure times that are pretty darn early in the morning, this time we don't mind as it works out for the better...:) cheers, the Imagineer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted July 8, 2011 #22 Share Posted July 8, 2011 ....my point in the earlier post is that when you allow O to arrange your air, sometimes they come up with some departure times that are pretty darn early in the morning, this time we don't mind as it works out for the better...:) cheers, the Imagineer I guess I did not express my thoughts clearly enough (DH always says that I know what I am talking about but no one else does) :D When you do a deviation you can choose the flights/routing you want ...you do not have to leave it up to Oceania I saw there were later flights FCO-YYZ-YYJ (10:35 am) It is still a long day to the west coast from Europe no matter how you cut it enjoy the cruise Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imagineer Posted July 8, 2011 #23 Share Posted July 8, 2011 It is still a long day to the west coast from Europe no matter how you cut it enjoy the cruise Lyn Thanks Lyn, All the more reason to try and keep it as short as we can...:) cheers, the Imagineer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragnar Danneskjold Posted July 8, 2011 #24 Share Posted July 8, 2011 We decided not to use O air, as we have a lot of FF miles and are using them to go biz class for our April Riviera cruise. They gave us $800 off per person. We also decided to skip the "free" hotel and use the 250/pp credit towards two nights at another hotel. Here are the credits we got after going through the on-line booking procedure and getting the .pdf receipt (we are just in a Veranda cabin): Guest # Per Person Total Savings Air Credit 1,2 $ 800.00 1,600.00 Hotel Credit 1,2 $ 250.00 500.00 Bonus Discount 1,2 $ 500.00 1,000.00 Total Savings 3,100.00 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted July 8, 2011 #25 Share Posted July 8, 2011 We decided not to use O air, as we have a lot of FF miles and are using them to go biz class for our April Riviera cruise. They gave us $800 off per person. We also decided to skip the "free" hotel and use the 250/pp credit towards two nights at another hotel. Here are the credits we got after going through the on-line booking procedure and getting the .pdf receipt (we are just in a Veranda cabin): Guest # Per Person Total Savings Air Credit 1,2 $ 800.00 1,600.00 Hotel Credit 1,2 $ 250.00 500.00 Bonus Discount 1,2 $ 500.00 1,000.00 Total Savings 3,100.00 It was very generous of you to share your financial details with us, but it must be considered that, aside from the hotel credit, those numbers will fluctuate on a cruise by cruise basis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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