Question on Oceania's airfare inclusive rate

[Baby_Bear]

Hi, my first time on the Oceania boards! We are considering a cruise in the Med for either July or August this year. At this point, choices are narrowed down to HAL's Niew Amsterdam in a Deluxe Verandah Suite or Oceania's Regatta in a PH3 (if I get the terminology wrong, feel free to correct me).

 

My question is on Oceania's airfare inclusive rate. On several sailings (including the dates we are looking at), the airfare is included. I know it is coach, but my question is - which airlines do they typically use and are the flights non-stop or one-stop usually? Also, I recall seeing something (maybe earlier this year) that for $999 they would let you upgrade to business class. Is that something that is still around? Also, if any of you can compare HAL to Oceania, that would be most helpful. We went on HAL last year to Alaska and loved it, as HAL gives suite pax lots of nice goodies like the Concierge Lounge, free laundry, etc.

[JimandStan]

The Oceania versus HAL comparison was just discussed, at length, in another thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1604485

 

There are umpteen variables that can effect your Airline arrangements, so you might want to discuss that with your TA (or with Oceania directly, if you are not using one); but be sure to inquire about Oceania's Air Deviation fee and policy.

[Mexfolkart]

We use Oceania's air and pay a deviation fee for going ahead and staying longer, and also a separate fee for choosing our own flights. It is still cheaper than we could get it for..plus if there are ANY changes of itinerary then they have to get us where we are going.. We have the non-stop flights we wanted.

 

We have travelled on both Oceania's smaller ships (Regatta etc) and the Nieuw

Amsterdam. As well as the Eurodam. Although we have liked HAL we were not thrilled with the Nieuw Amsterdam. Several of the crew were even asking for transfers..maybe it has changed. Needless to say we are back with Oceania's

Nautica for our upcoming May cruise and can't wait. You will LOVE the service

you receive on Oceania!!

Sherry & Kimber

[swissyrescue]

Although the Oceania specials advertise "free airfare", it's not really free. For example, booking my PH3 w/out airfare costs $1,100 less. So, how is the airfare "free"?! I don't think they should advertise it as "free" but instead advertise it as "included" in the cost. If it were truly "free", then you wouldn't be able to back out the cost of the airfare or book the suite w/out it.

 

Still going on the trip, but just disappointed in the misleading term they are using for the airfare.

[neilrr]

Hi, my first time on the Oceania boards! We are considering a cruise in the Med for either July or August this year. At this point, choices are narrowed down to HAL's Niew Amsterdam in a Deluxe Verandah Suite or Oceania's Regatta in a PH3 (if I get the terminology wrong, feel free to correct me).

 

My question is on Oceania's airfare inclusive rate. On several sailings (including the dates we are looking at), the airfare is included. I know it is coach, but my question is - which airlines do they typically use and are the flights non-stop or one-stop usually? Also, I recall seeing something (maybe earlier this year) that for $999 they would let you upgrade to business class. Is that something that is still around? Also, if any of you can compare HAL to Oceania, that would be most helpful. We went on HAL last year to Alaska and loved it, as HAL gives suite pax lots of nice goodies like the Concierge Lounge, free laundry, etc.

 

Baby Bear - We are going on the Regatta (and Oceania) for the first time too. This is our 22nd/23rd cruise. The air inclusive was a great deal on this TransAtlantic from Miami in June -- plus a SBC and gratuities for 2 weeks. The whole cruise was $2,200PP (plus the $125 Air Deviation Fee) - not bad considering oceania is usually $5,000 - $7,000PP minimum for a week.

We tried last year to secure air to Europe and it was pretty expensive -coach was $1,700 -$1,900PP. We ended up using 1-800-Fly-Europe (web site and phone) and secured a one way to London - Heathrow from Miami direct for $560PP (coach).

We are going to stay on in Barcelona for 4 days and we utilized the Air Deviation Oceania offers. It is now $125 PP The flights we received were fine and you can (from what I undersatand??) refuse them and try for something better. These were not bad, as we fly from Barcelona, Spain to Zurich, Switzerland (SwissAir -about a 1 hour flight) and then go SwissAir - non-stop direct to Miami. I had to look at the map to see how far Barcelona was from Switzerland. :p The travel times were good too.

 

Like JimandStan said there are a lot of variables - so check everything out ahead of time -- and Good Luck BabyBear...:)

[LHT28]

Although the Oceania specials advertise "free airfare", it's not really free. For example, booking my PH3 w/out airfare costs $1,100 less. So, how is the airfare "free"?! I don't think they should advertise it as "free" but instead advertise it as "included" in the cost. If it were truly "free", then you wouldn't be able to back out the cost of the airfare or book the suite w/out it.

 

We all agree on the wording thing

It has been discussed here several times before

 

It is marketing......seems to work & now several other lines are now using the

2 for 1 marketing strategy as well

[GJH123]

I have done a search on Oceania Air and am still confused. This year I requested a deviation for our September cruise, Barcelona to Lisbon. I requested specific flights non-stop out of Newark with connections out of Indianapolis. I thought cost would not be an issue as they were within $50 of the lowest fare for this itinerary cited on Kayak. However, the Oceania quote came back for an additional $950. This was only $100 less than I could book the flights for on my own, and since the "premium economy" seats were in short supply, I decided it was worth the peace of mind to go ahead and book on my own, selecting and upgrading to the seats immediately.

1) Could someone please clarify when I can select seats using Oceania Air? Can this be done as many as 270 days out as this is when I can book a deviation?

2) Is it necessary that the cruise be paid in full to book seats?

3) Should I have first asked Oceania for a deviation only, not specifying flights to see what would have been offered without additional cost?

Any help will be appreciated.

[JimandStan]

1) Could someone please clarify when I can select seats using Oceania Air? Can this be done as many as 270 days out as this is when I can book a deviation?

Yes, but you have to be ticketed to pick a seat which means that your cruise has to be paid in full, and you have to tell Oceania that you need that segment ticketed early.

 

2) Is it necessary that the cruise be paid in full to book seats? Yes, because Airlines won't let you pick seats until you are ticketed

 

3) Should I have first asked Oceania for a deviation only, not specifying flights to see what would have been offered without additional cost? Yes, because when those flights are offered, you would still have the option of asking for another routing without incurring additional fees

[YoHoHo]

1) Could someone please clarify when I can select seats using Oceania Air? Can this be done as many as 270 days out as this is when I can book a deviation?

2) Is it necessary that the cruise be paid in full to book seats?

3) Should I have first asked Oceania for a deviation only, not specifying flights to see what would have been offered without additional cost?

Any help will be appreciated.

1. Our seats have been assigned when the booking was made. You may find it easy/hard/not possible to change the seats yourself. I have had to go through my TA, others on the same airline have reported they have managed with a phone call to the airline. Also you might not have been able to purchase an upgrade.

 

2. No. But if you do not complete payment you will be out the $125 per person deviation administration fee as it is paid when you accept the deviation.

 

3. We have never requested specifc flights but waited to see what they offer. We might then reject them and request "earlier" or "later" or "another day" or ... and see what else they have to offer. If you are specific they may not have any of those specific flights/carrier available in their inventory at that time so that might be why so expensive (also unclear if that $950 included the $125 admin fee.) I was surprised recently with a deviation we were offerred because if I booked it (based on a search) it would have been a more expensive than the cheapest I found that also had really lousy (for me) schedule. I expected the cheapest.

 

The beauty of the system is it costs you nothing to ask. Also if you do not make final payment for some reason you are out only the $125 and not the cost of (possibly non-cancelable due to pricing) tickets. However some folks will never take cruiseline air and want to buy their own regardless of pricing- better control (upgrade & seats), pay with points, collect points, etc. I find O's deviation dept and the procedures very good.

[LHT28]

3) Should I have first asked Oceania for a deviation only, not specifying flights to see what would have been offered without additional cost?

Any help will be appreciated.

I usually check flights that I can DIY

then see what the credit is from O

I ask my TA to find out what flights Oceania will give me ...if I do not like what is offered

I ask for the flights I want

If there is no upcharge & the flights are better priced that what I can get on my own then I take the deviation

 

You have to weigh your options before you decide

Sometime the deviation works sometimes you can do better on your own;)

 

Lyn

[Anna201213]

Although the Oceania specials advertise "free airfare", it's not really free. For example, booking my PH3 w/out airfare costs $1,100 less. So, how is the airfare "free"?! I don't think they should advertise it as "free" but instead advertise it as "included" in the cost. If it were truly "free", then you wouldn't be able to back out the cost of the airfare or book the suite w/out it.

 

Still going on the trip, but just disappointed in the misleading term they are using for the airfare.

 

I agree with you why they said "free airfaire" and "free room" it is not free at all

[Benita]

Neilrr- American Airlines flies nonstop from Barcelona to Miami. Since you are already paying for the air deviation, you may want to consider having Oceania book that flight, instead of having to fly through Zurich.

Glenda- when I requested the deviation and accepted the flights, my travel agent had seats assigned. If I go on the airline website with my locator number, I see they are assigned. I would like to upgrade with points, but American won't allow that until the tickets are issued, which won't be until after final payment is made.

[GJH123]

Thanks to everyone (J&S, YoHoHo, LHT28, and Benita) for your helpful replies. It sounds like it pays to be an early bird on the deviation to assure that you will not be seated in the dreaded middle section. Also important to ask if specific seats can be booked and/or upgraded with your airline once the deviation has been purchased.

Last year, we had booked an Oceania cruise from Papeete to Auckland and taken their airfare with no deviation. When the the flight assignments came, the Auckland to LA segment with Qantas did not allow seat assignments until airport check-in; thereby, nearly guaranteeing a seat in the packed middle. At one point in time, that might have been a good thing; but with the airlines traveling at full capacity, it was concerning. Unfortunately, we had to cancel the cruise because my friend suffered a detached retina; so will never know what might have materialized.

[LHT28]

We were able to change the seats on our AC flights booked through O but all airlines are not created equal

You can always call the airline & see if they will change the location for you if you do not like the assigned seats

 

There was a post someplace here that if you pay in full (with deviation flights) you can ask Oceania to ticket you & then you can upgrade your seat if allowed by the airline

I would check with the airline first though

 

Lyn

[neilrr]

Neilrr- American Airlines flies nonstop from Barcelona to Miami. Since you are already paying for the air deviation, you may want to consider having Oceania book that flight, instead of having to fly through Zurich.

Glenda- when I requested the deviation and accepted the flights, my travel agent had seats assigned. If I go on the airline website with my locator number, I see they are assigned. I would like to upgrade with points, but American won't allow that until the tickets are issued, which won't be until after final payment is made.

 

Benita - Thank you for the information on the flight. We will check on it. We have had problems before with getting those direct flights to/from Barcelona to Miami, as they are very popular and more expensive. To tell you the truth, I would rather fly on Swiss Air than American - we find the foreign carriers treat their passengers better. That is probably one of the reasons American is in bankruptcy. :eek:

[chocchic]

We also did HAL's Alaska cruise last year. In my book (I've traveled a lot but only 3-4 other cruises) HAL was just ok and we had booked the Concierge level. ON HAL the Concierge service made the whole cruise tolerable. We went to the Concierge lounge for good coffee, for good fresh fruit and vegies even bottled water. Those are all things i expect to be readily available on our Oceania cruise next month. This cruise on O we booked O's hotel at beginning and end. I think we may have paid a bit of a premium but it included air deviation (because we were extending dates) and transfers. We called O a few months out and they secured reasonably decent flights -Chicago to Athens with 1 connecting stop in Franfurt. Coming back Barcelona to Chicago with a connection in JFK. The one glitch we've had is that I booked the extra day in Athens because I wanted to see Athens. We get in on 5/1 - Labor Day in Athens - not a good day for sight seeing and they are insisting my transfer that i consider I paid for with high hotel cost be at 10:30 am for an 8pm sailing time. From my conversations with O's returning guests I'm expecting to have a much higher rate of service and superior food than on Holland. Oh the other difference - concierge level on O does not include free laundry (pressing only) - Holland did.

Have a great cruise - Hope this answered ?'s rather than muddying them.

Pam

[LAexNY]

Benita - Thank you for the information on the flight. We will check on it. We have had problems before with getting those direct flights to/from Barcelona to Miami, as they are very popular and more expensive. To tell you the truth, I would rather fly on Swiss Air than American - we find the foreign carriers treat their passengers better. That is probably one of the reasons American is in bankruptcy. :eek:

 

FYI, Swiss Air went through bankruptcy in the past decade as well.

[Benita]

Benita - Thank you for the information on the flight. We will check on it. We have had problems before with getting those direct flights to/from Barcelona to Miami, as they are very popular and more expensive. To tell you the truth, I would rather fly on Swiss Air than American - we find the foreign carriers treat their passengers better. That is probably one of the reasons American is in bankruptcy. :eek:

 

Long flights in coach are pretty awful, no matter who you fly with. Having a nonstop flight lets you get all the suffering over at once, without the fear of missing a connection. I did have to pay an extra $100 a ticket to get the nonstops, but I think part of that was because the flight back (on TAP from Lisbon) is with an airline that is not part of the same alliance as American Airlines. To get nonstops in both directions to Miami is pretty unusual, especially when it is not from the usual hubs like Paris or London, so I am delighted.

 

As far as bankrutcy, I think every airline has used that as an excuse to reorganize.

You can check the pricing for the flights on a site such as kayak.com - just put in the particulars and they will show you availability and pricing with almost every combination of flights- it will give you an idea of whether it would be pricier for the nonstop.