skiladyldp Posted October 16, 2011 #1 Share Posted October 16, 2011 This is my first cruise so I am a little confused on some details still. I don't know if the transfers such as from/to ship are included in the price. I don't know if it is a deviation if you have pre/post hotels prior to the cruise. I also can't seem to find this information in Oceania's website. Any help will be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skiladyldp Posted October 16, 2011 Author #2 Share Posted October 16, 2011 Okay I see that I am paying for transfers from the airport to the ship from my reservation paperwork. If I decide to get my own do I pay deviation? Oceania's tranfers seem very high. $238.00 for the both of us in Rome to ship and $258.00 from Venice to airport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted October 16, 2011 #3 Share Posted October 16, 2011 This is my first cruise so I am a little confused on some details still. I don't know if the transfers such as from/to ship are included in the price. I don't know if it is a deviation if you have pre/post hotels prior to the cruise. I also can't seem to find this information in Oceania's website. Any help will be appreciated. Normally transfers to/from ship are NOT included, and if you use the cruiseline's services you pay through the nose. We normally get to and from on our own. An exception can be if the transfer is very long -- say, from Civitavecchia to Rome, or vice versa. But even then many people take the train which is inexpensive. (We transfer from Rome to Civitavecchia next Friday and we are using a limo service, sharing with two other couples.) If you use hotels before and after the cruise, part of the equation is are you booking them on your own or using the cruiseline's package? If you are using their package, again, you are paying double what you could find on your own for the same room. But if you are insecure about traveling on your own, many people don't care about the extra cost -- they are more interested in the convenience And a package may well include some perks like a city tour. If you have booked hotels on your own, you will need the flight deviation (assuming you aren't also doing your own airfare, which many of us do as well -- it depends on how well you can do on your own) because you will be going in early, coming back late. I hope this answers some of your questions. Mura P.S. I just saw your query about the Rome transfer. Wow, that is expensive. We're paying €140 to Faciletaxi.com to transfer three couples. That works out to a little over €23 per person. A lot less than $238 (I assume that is for both of you, not pp). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skiladyldp Posted October 16, 2011 Author #4 Share Posted October 16, 2011 Yes Mura you did answer my question and I see that we selected something we don't need. We are booking hotels ourselves and now are considering booking the air ourselves as well. At first we were a little nervous about our travel to another country but my husband speaks Italian so I am becoming my comfortable. We have a travel agent but she really is not helping us and I am doing all the work to find hotels and such. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted October 16, 2011 #5 Share Posted October 16, 2011 That's good to hear. With your husband speaking Italian, you should be in great shape. We always book our own hotels via the internet ... we do use a wonderful TA who is very helpful, but we prefer to do this ourselves. We haven't booked any real losers yet! Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted October 16, 2011 #6 Share Posted October 16, 2011 Okay I see that I am paying for transfers from the airport to the ship from my reservation paperwork. If I decide to get my own do I pay deviation? Oceania's tranfers seem very high. $238.00 for the both of us in Rome to ship and $258.00 from Venice to airport. If you are using Oceania air & arriving the same day as the cruise you do not need to pay a deviation fee nor take the transfers You can cancel the transfers & DIY (much cheaper for Venice to DIY) If you are taking Oceania air & what to arrive a day or more before the cruise or stay after the cruise then YES you will pay a deviation fee You have other options as well Take the air credit from Oceania & book your own air Join the roll call for your cruise & share a transfer to the air port or just book your own It does get complicated if you have not done it before;) Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted October 17, 2011 #7 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Yes Mura you did answer my question and I see that we selected something we don't need. We are booking hotels ourselves and now are considering booking the air ourselves as well. At first we were a little nervous about our travel to another country but my husband speaks Italian so I am becoming my comfortable. We have a travel agent but she really is not helping us and I am doing all the work to find hotels and such. From reading what you have written here, it seems that you don't have a clear understanding of what you are buying from Oceania and what you are not. This is a serious matter, because while some decisions that you make (such as purchasing transfers) are revocable, other decisions (especially regarding airline reservations) may or may not be. You can easily make a multi thousand dollar error if you don't understand what it is that you are signing up for. This is not a joke. If your Travel Agent isn't explaining these (VERY COMPLICATED) contracts to you BEFORE asking you to agree to them, then you need to get a new Agent. It is a very common procedure to switch an existing booking to a new Travel Agent when the customer is not happy with the old Agents service. I would strongly suggest that you shop around for an Agent that YOU find it easy to talk to, and then change Agents as soon as you can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skiladyldp Posted October 17, 2011 Author #8 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Jimandstan, thank you for your advice. We were already thinking about switching to a new TA. I have been having a very hard time with the one we have now. We normaly don't use one but we have never done anything like this before either. We have not got ourselves into anything yet that we can't get out of either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted October 17, 2011 #9 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Jimandstan, thank you for your advice. We were already thinking about switching to a new TA. I have been having a very hard time with the one we have now. We normaly don't use one but we have never done anything like this before either. We have not got ourselves into anything yet that we can't get out of either. Better communication isn't the only reason to get a "better" Travel Agent, either. Cruise Lines perceive that Agents are able to steer business their way (after all, the Agents fee comes out of the Cruise Lines cut), so the Lines will often offer promotional benefits (such as prepaid gratuities or additional onboard credits) to passengers who book through Agents that do a lot of business with them. Cruise Critic won't permit us to recommend Travel Agents on these boards, which is probably for the best, but if you are going to book any travel that costs more than a few hundred dollars, you are doing yourself a disservice if you don't at least compare what an agent can offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silkman Posted October 17, 2011 #10 Share Posted October 17, 2011 From reading what you have written here, it seems that you don't have a clear understanding of what you are buying from Oceania and what you are not. This is a serious matter, because while some decisions that you make (such as purchasing transfers) are revocable, other decisions (especially regarding airline reservations) may or may not be. You can easily make a multi thousand dollar error if you don't understand what it is that you are signing up for. This is not a joke. If your Travel Agent isn't explaining these (VERY COMPLICATED) contracts to you BEFORE asking you to agree to them, then you need to get a new Agent. It is a very common procedure to switch an existing booking to a new Travel Agent when the customer is not happy with the old Agents service. I would strongly suggest that you shop around for an Agent that YOU find it easy to talk to, and then change Agents as soon as you can. Is it possible to change travel agents and maintain your present booking, even if you already have a deposit with a travel agent for a cruise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted October 17, 2011 #11 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Is it possible to change travel agents and maintain your present booking, even if you already have a deposit with a travel agent for a cruise? Your present TA has to agree to sign off on your booking so you can transfer to a new agent They will be losing their commission, also check if they charge you any fees for cancelling some TA's do You could try talking to your TA and tell them you expect more service from them, if they have a manager then speak with them & tell them you are not happy with the service The other option is to cancel with them (if before final payment) again check if they charge any fee Then rebook with a new agent or the cruise line Be careful if the cruise is selling well you may not get a cabin if you cancel Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted October 17, 2011 #12 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Is it possible to change travel agents and maintain your present booking, even if you already have a deposit with a travel agent for a cruise? Yes, it is very possible and much more common than you might think. You won't need to involve yourself with the old Agent at all, simply give the new Agent written authorization and let them work it out between themselves. IMHO it is a mistake to get involved in the back office intricacies of the situation, they are presenting themselves to the public as professionals and I would trust that they will comport themselves as such. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gillianrose Posted October 17, 2011 #13 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Better communication isn't the only reason to get a "better" Travel Agent, either. Cruise Lines perceive that Agents are able to steer business their way (after all, the Agents fee comes out of the Cruise Lines cut), so the Lines will often offer promotional benefits (such as prepaid gratuities or additional onboard credits) to passengers who book through Agents that do a lot of business with them. Cruise Critic won't permit us to recommend Travel Agents on these boards, which is probably for the best, but if you are going to book any travel that costs more than a few hundred dollars, you are doing yourself a disservice if you don't at least compare what an agent can offer. Prepaid gratuities are what I would most like to see Oceania offer passengers (Azamara does this already), and it would level the playing field a little better (not completely, but somewhat) in the travel agent community. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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