Rare Pirouette Posted March 31, 2012 #1 Share Posted March 31, 2012 We have just reserved a cabin on the July 22nd departure for the Baltic cruise. The cruise begins on a Sunday. Does anyone have any experience with which airline Oceania will likely use for us and which day we would likely depart from Vancouver? I am a little concerned because I have to work on the Friday so I hope they don't choose that day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoHoHo Posted March 31, 2012 #2 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Welcome to Cruise Critic, Piroutte! It is very hard to predict for number of reasons but let me take a stab at a few things. First off the disclaimer that I have not flown from YVR to CPH so no first-hand experience. That said I could get completely different routing than you in any case. I am also in Vancouver. When O has arranged our flights they are *usually* with a Star Alliance partner. We've been offered flights on deviation requests for within North America that were not with Star Alliance. Checking some flight routings I see that there are a several Star Alliance partners that fly from YVR to CPH without changing carriers such as Singapore Airlines and United. So it *might* be one of them. Another factor is simply what is available to them at this time because it is fairly close to embarkation – at this point there would be fewer options available. So what they might prefer to put you on (cost, available prepurchase slots, etc.) might not even be available to them. To get an idea of flight times plug-in the day before embarkation into search tool such as kayak.com and see what comes up. I have no idea of what O considers a valid arrival time – for example I doubt they would book you on a flight that arrives at 3 PM. So from there you can get an idea of what a departure time might be and if you would have to perhaps leave on the Friday. If it was Friday it would most likely be an evening flight and you would have to arrange a hotel in Copenhagen yourself. I suspect if there is an flight on Saturday that would get you in on Sunday morning that's the one you'd be getting. All that is just speculation. If it is really a significant concern, and there are many on this board who would never fly in on the day of the cruise in any case, you should look at O's air deviation program. (for our upcoming July cruise I have nervously done both – accepted deviation and yet still flying in on the day of the cruise. Seems I like running with scissors :-) ) With their deviation program you can request when it is you want to leave and/or return (stay a few exra days even). O respond with suggested flights. There may or may not be an increase in cost to take those flights and if there is you are responsible for them and they will be quoted on that deviation request. If there is no additional cost for the airfare and if you accept the deviations they are proposing then you are immediately charged $125 per person. If you do not like the flights that they are offering you can simply ignore it and the request will expire with no cost involved or you can request they make you another offer. You can also do your research and select a specific flight on a specific airline and ask O to quote you on that for the deviation. My understanding is that if there is no additional cost for the airfare for that spefic flight(s) and if O's deviation department can get you the flights exactly as you request they will be booked immediately and you will be charged the $125 per person fee. Or you can ask your TA how much O will give you as a credit if you do not book the 'free' air. You can then be in complete control and book and pay for flights yourself and take the credit. The air credit is not large and you may find as you are <90 days away from flight time booking your own air could be quite a bit more expensive though you do get the control. I am guessing that you've only booked and perhaps paid the deposit but not paid in full yet. The one time we did not make a deviation request we received our flight information shortly after making final payment (in fact I think the same day). It costs you nothing to make a deviation request if you don't accept it so you may want to get on this right away to see what they offer. You may not hear back for a day or two and then you have 48 hours to accept so it all takes a little time. Or, you could just wait and see what they do book for you after you've made final payment and hope for the best. If after making final payment you don't get your flight arrangements then just ask for it. Sorry I don't have a definitive answer for you but there are a lot of things to consider, money, time, control, available seats, your peace of mind, ... Sorry, this is far too long I know. Excuse my wordiness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted March 31, 2012 #3 Share Posted March 31, 2012 If it were me I would take the deviation & fly out Friday night you will not arrive until Sat evening but if there are any delays with flights at least you have some time to catch up There are a few flight leaving at 8:40 pm...if you can get to the airport right from work There are few flights leaving in the morning getting in before noon on the 22nd but if there are in hiccups in the connections or flights you may be rushing for the ship or getting it at the next port of call JMO Ask your TA(if you used one) what flights you can get with O deviation leaving on the 20th in the evening check routings at http://matrix.itasoftware.com/search.htm Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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