Included O Transfer Question

[bbtondo]

Just booked my first O cruise for Spring 2020 - 10 days Barcelona to Rome.  For now, I booked O air with prem econ air leaving out of MIA, one night O precruise hotel, two nights O post cruise Hotel, and O air deviation.  On O's receipt it lists:  Hotel Transfers included.  When booking a "dummy" booking online it doesn't give you any options to pay for any transfers when their pre and post cruise hotels are added.  Now for my question.

 

Exactly what transfers are included?  Airport to pre cruise Hotel day before cruise? Pre cruise hotel to ship day of cruise? Ship to Post Hotel? after 2 day Post Hotel to airport ?

 

My TA has told me that yes, all of these transfers are included. I will also call Oceania, but haven't had much faith in what they tell me.  Thanks!

 

 

[Mura]

Never having used O's hotel offers I can't answer your question definitively but I believe all the transfer you mention will be included.

 

However, you are paying a fortune for your accommodations.  Virtually all of O's hotel offers are on a per person basis, so usually you are paying at least double for the hotel as compared to what you would pay if you booked the same hotel on your own.  If you booked the hotel on your own and paid for your own transfers, you'd still be way ahead.

 

If you don't care how much you pay for the pre- and post-cruise visits, if you prefer the ease of "being taken care of" -- which isn't invalid! -- then by all means use O's hotels.

 

But we never have, even though occasionally we've stayed in the same hotel.

 

Mura

[LHT28]

we  did the pre cruise hotel package once 

transfers from the airport to hotel & the hotel to the ship were included

I agree with Mura

check out other options  probably less $$

 but if you want the no fuss travel option the packages could work for you

JMO

[ORV]

I believe the deviations are included when you take the Hotel package. 

[LHT28]

8 minutes ago, ORV said:

I believe the deviations are included when you take the Hotel package. 

yes  that would  be a factor to consider also

[bbtondo]

Thank you all for your responses!  I do realize that I will save money if I do this on my own, that's why I said for now. I've been reading all I can regarding this cruise.  I was getting conflicting answers regarding the transfer question.

 

From what I understand regarding air deviation, I don't have to pay the deviation fee as far as flying in the day before and 2 days after if I stay in O hotels.  But, I may pay the deviation fee to get better air choices ex nonstop.  When the time comes for air, I'll weigh whether it's worth it to use O air or my own. Since I have chosen the prem econ air upgrade, I'm curious if O's air is a better deal.  Not sure.

 

This is DH and I's first trip to Europe, so we're a little nervous doing things on our own.  We've traveled and cruised often, just not in Europe.  

 

 

[LHT28]

if we do the air deviation I pick the flights I wanted  as in NON STOP

but  usually the PE  are more expensive  if going it alone

I would compare pricing with the air & hotel separately  & see what works for you

you need to do the math

last summer we did our own BUS  class flights  ..it was worth the price to us for the lie flat seats 😉

YMMV

 

[Mura]

I certainly understand some nervousness if this is your first trip to europe and especially if you don't speak the languages.  We usually take cabs (sometimes pre-reserved car services) but in both Barcelona and Rome we've never had a problem communicating with drivers.  My Italian is still pretty decent although Spanish is much less so, so I wasn't particularly concerned about language difficulties but in general I haven't needed to speak the local language.  If you have a car service those drivers (in our experience) speak decent English.

 

I'd forgotten about the benefit of "free" deviation when using their hotels, and that is certainly a factor to consider.

 

As to air fares, check what you could do in premium economy on your own and compare it to your costs through Oceania.  Our experience has been that O's PE fares are often advantageous, whereas booking business class through O is NOT.

 

Mura

[bbtondo]

LHT and Mura:

 

Thanks so much for your advice!  I'm now in the process of researching everything.  I look forward to asking all of you a lot of questions as I plan our trip.

 

 

[Mura]

We're both always happy to help if we can.

 

Mura

 

[chuckcarole]

6 hours ago, bbtondo said:

Just booked my first O cruise for Spring 2020 - 10 days Barcelona to Rome.  For now, I booked O air with prem econ air leaving out of MIA, one night O precruise hotel, two nights O post cruise Hotel, and O air deviation.  On O's receipt it lists:  Hotel Transfers included.  When booking a "dummy" booking online it doesn't give you any options to pay for any transfers when their pre and post cruise hotels are added.  Now for my question.

 

Exactly what transfers are included?  Airport to pre cruise Hotel day before cruise? Pre cruise hotel to ship day of cruise? Ship to Post Hotel? after 2 day Post Hotel to airport ?

 

My TA has told me that yes, all of these transfers are included. I will also call Oceania, but haven't had much faith in what they tell me.  Thanks!

 

 

Yes transfers from airport to hotel and then to the ship are paid for when you book O air, and the pre-hotel

[melody hounddog]

We are doing this same trip, Barcelona to Rome, in two weeks. Please feel free to ask me any questions when we return, mid May. 

 

In the meantime, we did the O air and are not overly happy with our flights. We booked this trip only 6 weeks out so we didn't have much choice so you should do much better. The flight times are good, but we could not get business class. We did choose our own hotel in Rome and it was $450 for 2 days. It is in a great location and has a terrace. 

[Mura]

If you aren't happy with the flights and would have preferred business, is it too late to see if you can't book your own air?  You would get a credit on the fare for the cruise if you can do so.

 

This is why we prefer to book our own air, especially since these days we want business seats -- extra especially on a long flight.

 

Mura

[melody hounddog]

I believe it is too late. We leave May 1st. I was able to upgrade to premium economy. We just booked this trip way too late and we will book our own airfare on the next cruise. Thanks for your help!

[Mura]

Given the time frame I thought it probably would be but sometimes it's worth trying for a last minute ticket, especially if you are looking for a more expensive seat!

 

This from someone who usually books air WELL in advance.  When you book the cruise at the last minute, it creates another problem.  We've done so in the past ourselves but NOT since we upgraded our air seats ...

 

Good luck!

 

Mura

 

[LHT28]

BUS class  with O is  a lot more than doing your own

JMO

[bbtondo]

Melody:

 

Have a wonderful time on your cruise! 

 

[Mura]

5 hours ago, LHT28 said:

BUS class  with O is  a lot more than doing your own

JMO

Plus it is limited.  That is, it's business class over water -- such as the east coast to Europe, west coast to Hawaii, and so on.  But if you have to fly overland either in the U.S. or Europe, you will be in coach for that leg.

 

Given OP's limited time and inability to book her own because of that, it's irrelevant at this point.

 

Mura