Tansy Mews Posted October 14, 2012 #1 Share Posted October 14, 2012 I was considering a cruise which would lend itself well to an extended stay or tour after the cruise. I am prepared to pay the air deviation fee and any fare difference that is necessary. My concern is the flights. Is there a limitation on how many days I could add after a cruise before I fly home - 5 or 6 days? More? To be clear, I don't want to use Oceania's hotels or tours. Anyone with personal experience? Thanks for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted October 14, 2012 #2 Share Posted October 14, 2012 Our friends have done this & I think the maximum was 14 days pre or post cruise Not sure if it is 2 wks either end of the cruise Your TA should be able to get the correct information for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KirkNC Posted October 14, 2012 #3 Share Posted October 14, 2012 Or you could just book the air yourself and then there are no restrictions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bashful3 Posted October 14, 2012 #4 Share Posted October 14, 2012 we used frequent flier miles for business class independent travel. Because we did not use the Oceania 'air included' travel, we negotiated a $1,000 discount off our cruise fare. We were more than satisfied, and we were able to fly into Barcelona one day early, and book 4 days post cruise in Istanbul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted October 14, 2012 #5 Share Posted October 14, 2012 we used frequent flier miles for business class independent travel. Because we did not use the Oceania 'air included'travel, we negotiated a $1,000 discount off our cruise fare. What did they offer before your negotiations??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tansy Mews Posted October 14, 2012 Author #6 Share Posted October 14, 2012 What did they offer before your negotiations??? Guess the amount depends on the routes you must take. We took the money for our Baltic cruise and booked flights ourselves for that price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted October 14, 2012 #7 Share Posted October 14, 2012 Guess the amount depends on the routes you must take. We took the money for our Baltic cruise and booked flights ourselves for that price. Yes the amount varies by cruise & location I have never negotiated a discount though so just wondered if they got a better deal ;) Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earl Rosebery Posted October 14, 2012 #8 Share Posted October 14, 2012 Yes the amount varies by cruise & locationI have never negotiated a discount though so just wondered if they got a better deal ;) Lyn It's not really a discount. If you arrange your own flights, you will get a credit. About $1000 pp for an overseas flight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted October 14, 2012 #9 Share Posted October 14, 2012 It's not really a discount. If you arrange your own flights, you will get a credit. About $1000 pp for an overseas flight. I was curious as to how BASHFUL negotiated the credit It the past we have taken the air credit on some cruises but never negotiated it ..that was my question I have never heard that you could negotiate with Oceania for the credit ...I just take the credit they offer for not taking their air In some cases the "FREE" air works better for us Yes I know it is not really FREE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDMOREU Posted October 14, 2012 #10 Share Posted October 14, 2012 The only thing I can add is IF you take Oceania's insurance - it will cover a total of 4 days pre and/or post your cruise and it doesn't matter what hotel you stay at. This was told to us via phone with the Oceania rep we originally worked with. Hope this helps. Dolores Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jancruz Posted October 15, 2012 #11 Share Posted October 15, 2012 I was curious as to how BASHFUL negotiated the credit It the past we have taken the air credit on some cruises but never negotiated it ..that was my question I have never heard that you could negotiate with Oceania for the credit ...I just take the credit they offer for not taking their air In some cases the "FREE" air works better for us Yes I know it is not really FREE Lyn, There is no negotiation on the air fare.."it is what it is!!" Jancruz1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jancruz Posted October 15, 2012 #12 Share Posted October 15, 2012 The only thing I can add is IF you take Oceania's insurance - it will cover a total of 4 days pre and/or post your cruise and it doesn't matter what hotel you stay at. This was told to us via phone with the Oceania rep we originally worked with. Hope this helps. Dolores My suggestion is take third party insurance..there are a lot of good ones out there with pre-existing condition provisions.. Jancruz1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tansy Mews Posted October 15, 2012 Author #13 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Very helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted October 15, 2012 #14 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Lyn, There is no negotiation on the air fare.."it is what it is!!"Jancruz1 Exactly my point ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bashful3 Posted October 15, 2012 #15 Share Posted October 15, 2012 To answer your question as to how we negotiated the $1,000 discount: It was easy. There was a published rate, that had other discounts, but said 'air included'. Because we wanted to use frequent flier miles, I asked our travel agent to negotiate a discount for us, given that we would not be using Oceania's air arrangements at all. She was glad to, and told me the suggested discount was $1,000 per person. Which was fine. It turned out that our travel agent belonged to an association that made it possible for her to offer us an additional discount of $405 to cover all gratuities. We did not negotiate that; our travel agent made that available to us without our even asking. About the insurance, again, we simply asked our travel agent to suggest an insurance carrier to us. Her price was lower than the Oceania price, but it also included coverage for our independent air arrangements, which the Oceania travel insurance would not have. A brief summary is that I did not do the negotiating; I asked our travel agent to do it for us. It was easy for her as well: no problem. But, we weren't really given anything; since we did not use the coach air arrangements. However, if we had not asked for it, I'm not sure we would have been given anything. It never hurts to ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted October 15, 2012 #16 Share Posted October 15, 2012 To answer your question as to how we negotiated the $1,000 discount:It was easy. There was a published rate, that had other discounts, but said 'air included'. Because we wanted to use frequent flier miles, I asked our travel agent to negotiate a discount for us, given that we would not be using Oceania's air arrangements at all. She was glad to, and told me the suggested discount was $1,000 per person. Which was fine. It never hurts to ask. You nor you agent needs to NEGOTIATE any air credit All you have to do is decline Oceania's air & you are given the cruise only rate So your TA did nothing special ...everyone that declines the air program gets the credit You can even check the price difference online by booking with & without air on Oceania's website so you know in advance what the price difference will be Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted October 15, 2012 #17 Share Posted October 15, 2012 You nor you agent needs to NEGOTIATE any air credit All you have to do is decline Oceania's air & you are given the cruise only rate So your TA did nothing special ...everyone that declines the air program gets the credit You can even check the price difference online by booking with & without air on Oceania's website so you know in advance what the price difference will be Lyn Lyn is 100% correct, but I'd like to add a small caution if I may...:D It has been my experience that Travel Agents who allow their clients to believe that "normal course of business" transactions are the result of "negotiations" are to be avoided. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.