Rare cjwags Posted February 22, 2023 #1 Share Posted February 22, 2023 We will be flying home from Athens after our Vista cruise in July. We are in a concierge verandah and are planning on doing O Air. What is the earliest departing flight that would be a reasonable choice? Disembarkation is listed at 8:00 am. We are trying to have a game plan if the air from Oceania ends up not being a good choice, and we have to do our own air. We will be doing custom air with deviation fee as we plan to fly in a week before the cruise. Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted February 22, 2023 #2 Share Posted February 22, 2023 8 minutes ago, cjwags said: We will be flying home from Athens after our Vista cruise in July. We are in a concierge verandah and are planning on doing O Air. What is the earliest departing flight that would be a reasonable choice? Disembarkation is listed at 8:00 am. We are trying to have a game plan if the air from Oceania ends up not being a good choice, and we have to do our own air. We will be doing custom air with deviation fee as we plan to fly in a week before the cruise. Thanks in advance! I would say anything after 12 noon would probably be fine find the flights that work for you & submit those to O & see if they can get them without an upcharge You can go back & forth until you get the flights that work for you Then once they are agreed upon you pay the non refundable deviation fee If you cruise in in July I would start the process now the longer you wait the best flights are gone JMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare terrydtx Posted February 22, 2023 #3 Share Posted February 22, 2023 (edited) We will be disembarking in September in Athens and we have a noon flight to Santorini. We have 4 in our group and have hired a private transport to the airport for the 4 of us in a mini van for 109 Euros total. We are using Welcome Pickups. It is 40-60 minutes to the airport from the ship depending on traffic. Keep in mind that most of the good connecting flights back to the states leave before 11am. The airport is located pretty far outside of the city too. Here is a link to the transport: Welcome - Making travel easy, friendly, personal (welcomepickups.com) Edited February 22, 2023 by terrydtx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godfreyb Posted February 22, 2023 #4 Share Posted February 22, 2023 From our experience in Athens last summer, they will throw you off the ship pretty quickly - 8 a.m.! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cjwags Posted February 23, 2023 Author #5 Share Posted February 23, 2023 Thanks to all of you for your help. Will look into the transport. I agree, it feels like we are waiting too long to book air, but my TA insisted on waiting. Emailed them last night and said it was time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted February 23, 2023 #6 Share Posted February 23, 2023 1 hour ago, cjwags said: Thanks to all of you for your help. Will look into the transport. I agree, it feels like we are waiting too long to book air, but my TA insisted on waiting. Emailed them last night and said it was time! if you are going to pay the deviation fee to go in earlier or stay longer you can start the process for the air at 270 days out .you are late to the party 😉 Maybe your TA is not used to Oceania & their ways ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alainciao Posted February 23, 2023 #7 Share Posted February 23, 2023 Does anyone know if Oceania and Regent share the same air department? BTW, Regent has just advised that they are not trying for air at 270 days, now 210. Makes sense since the airlines are making so many changes nowadays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare terrydtx Posted February 23, 2023 #8 Share Posted February 23, 2023 8 minutes ago, alainciao said: Does anyone know if Oceania and Regent share the same air department? BTW, Regent has just advised that they are not trying for air at 270 days, now 210. Makes sense since the airlines are making so many changes nowadays. I wouldn't be surprised since they are both part of NCL holdings. I would think NCL use them as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted February 23, 2023 #9 Share Posted February 23, 2023 1 hour ago, alainciao said: Does anyone know if Oceania and Regent share the same air department? BTW, Regent has just advised that they are not trying for air at 270 days, now 210. Makes sense since the airlines are making so many changes nowadays. Probably still 7 mths in advance but yes airlines are not back to normal either Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare pinotlover Posted February 23, 2023 #10 Share Posted February 23, 2023 When PCH was acquired by NCL one of the first combination of services was the air department. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cjwags Posted February 24, 2023 Author #11 Share Posted February 24, 2023 Our TA is very familiar with O, so we are surprised about her advice to wait. She did mention that with the current state of airfare and airlines, she has had better luck not booking so early due to changes and cancellations. I have NEVER waited this long to book air. Glad I asked all the experts here. I have reached out to her and am waiting to hear back. If I don't hear from her in the next day or two, I will reach out to O directly, I guess. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare terrydtx Posted February 24, 2023 #12 Share Posted February 24, 2023 9 hours ago, cjwags said: Our TA is very familiar with O, so we are surprised about her advice to wait. She did mention that with the current state of airfare and airlines, she has had better luck not booking so early due to changes and cancellations. I have NEVER waited this long to book air. Glad I asked all the experts here. I have reached out to her and am waiting to hear back. If I don't hear from her in the next day or two, I will reach out to O directly, I guess. Thanks! Waiting makes no sense at all. We have a cruise from Amsterdam to Athens in September and we booked our business class airfare last November. We booked at more than we wanted to pay, but since then prices have only gone up and BC today on the same flights is $3000 more than we booked back in November. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted February 24, 2023 #13 Share Posted February 24, 2023 2 hours ago, terrydtx said: Waiting makes no sense at all. We have a cruise from Amsterdam to Athens in September and we booked our business class airfare last November. We booked at more than we wanted to pay, but since then prices have only gone up and BC today on the same flights is $3000 more than we booked back in November. Did you book through Oceania?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare terrydtx Posted February 24, 2023 #14 Share Posted February 24, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, LHT28 said: Did you book through Oceania?? No, that was for a Celebrity cruise, and we booked with Celebrity air. Prices have continually gone up since last November both with cruise line and with booking directly. From all the issues I have seen on CC, I would never book BC with Oceania. I like having control over my flights, seats and airlines, which it doesn't seem you get with Oceania's air. We have a South America cruise booked with O in 2025 and I can already see that prices are going to be high to fly. Edited February 24, 2023 by terrydtx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted February 24, 2023 #15 Share Posted February 24, 2023 1 hour ago, terrydtx said: No, that was for a Celebrity cruise, and we booked with Celebrity air. Thanks I would never book BIZ with O either 😉 But the discussion was about booking with O & paying the deviation fee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare terrydtx Posted February 24, 2023 #16 Share Posted February 24, 2023 (edited) 15 minutes ago, LHT28 said: Thanks I would never book BIZ with O either 😉 But the discussion was about booking with O & paying the deviation fee Agreed, but the discussion was also about waiting until 6 months out to book with O for air, which IMO is just ridiculous. I was trying to point out we got better deals and flights on our air in November than we could have gotten currently, almost 6 months out from our September cruise. Edited February 24, 2023 by terrydtx 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted February 24, 2023 #17 Share Posted February 24, 2023 36 minutes ago, terrydtx said: Agreed, but the discussion was also about waiting until 6 months out to book with O for air, which IMO is just ridiculous. I was trying to point out we got better deals and flights on our air in November than we could have gotten currently, almost 6 months out from our September cruise. Yes we do the math & see what works for us DIY or book through O ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alainciao Posted February 25, 2023 #18 Share Posted February 25, 2023 On 2/24/2023 at 12:23 PM, LHT28 said: Thanks I would never book BIZ with O either 😉 But the discussion was about booking with O & paying the deviation fee We have Singapore to Barcelona in April 2024 on Riviera. I used to always book our own air and we mostly cruise Regent and Seabourn but have 62 days on O. We're returning to O after 9 years! For the itinerary. I used Regent air for our Barcelona to London cruise this May because air is so unpredictable nowadays and R was able to get us great flights, nonstop both ways for only $1,000 in total added cost. My previous question about O and R being the same air department was asked because I was wondering if O has as good a shot at BC as R. As noted by many, air is extremely expensive compared to the past. Ironically, I put in a dummy booking (too far out for real quote) for BC air on google flights and got an excellent price with Turkish air which we have flown and found excellent. Anyway, I ramble. Why don't you and Terry book bizair with O? Oh, BTW, we can't fly long flights without BC. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted February 25, 2023 #19 Share Posted February 25, 2023 1 hour ago, alainciao said: Anyway, I ramble. Why don't you and Terry book bizair with O? Oh, BTW, we can't fly long flights without BC. Thanks. Because even if O & R shared the air dept they do not share pricing O BIZ air pre covid was more than what I could book myself Maybe different these days ?? I know Paulchili (RIP) liked Turkish air when they used them Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alainciao Posted February 26, 2023 #20 Share Posted February 26, 2023 Interesting. I need to ask my very knowledgeable TA about this. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polos12 Posted February 26, 2023 #21 Share Posted February 26, 2023 (edited) On 2/25/2023 at 2:19 PM, LHT28 said: Because even if O & R shared the air dept they do not share pricing O BIZ air pre covid was more than what I could book myself Maybe different these days ?? I know Paulchili (RIP) liked Turkish air when they used them Good luck Hi LHT80, May I ask for some advice for saving on flights (max 2 stops of 2-3 hrs layover) route from YUL, YYZ, or YOW to ATH. I find AC is pretty expensive but Swiss Air is bit cheaper, however return flight to Toronto departs at 5:30AM ie We will have to chcek in hotel again for a night and wake up early to arrive at airport at 2AM. Europ Med Cruise (Jade) booked for May23. Any pointers are appreciated here or PM please. Thanks Edited February 26, 2023 by Polos12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted February 26, 2023 #22 Share Posted February 26, 2023 18 minutes ago, Polos12 said: Hi LHT80, May I ask for some advice for saving on flights (max 2 stops of 2-3 hrs layover) route from YUL, YYZ, or YOW to ATH. I find AC is pretty expensive but Swiss Air is bit cheaper, however return flight to Toronto departs at 5:30AM ie We will have to chcek in hotel again for a night and wake up early to arrive at airport at 2AM. Europ Med Cruise (Jade) booked for May23. Any pointers are appreciated here or PM please. Thanks I usually check https://matrix.itasoftware.com/ Then check the airline site for the one I like I prefer non stops so I would fly from YYZ if that is close to you I am not seeing 5 am flights but that would not be my choice not a morning person & no way I am getting up in the middle of the night to get to the airport 😉 We flew SAS years ago & they were fine depends on what you want connections or non stop I will pay extra for non stops but that is me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChadnKate Posted March 4, 2023 #23 Share Posted March 4, 2023 Book your own flights and Oceania will give you a reduction in the cruise fare. Maybe 500 to 1,000 per pax depending on where but you get total control. Arrive at least a day early and stay at least a day at the end, then getting to the airport early opens up flights for you, particularly west to east. There are usually things to do and see in the first and last ports where O will not have optional excursions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Psoque Posted March 6, 2023 #24 Share Posted March 6, 2023 On 2/21/2023 at 10:30 PM, LHT28 said: I would say anything after 12 noon would probably be fine find the flights that work for you & submit those to O & see if they can get them without an upcharge You can go back & forth until you get the flights that work for you Then once they are agreed upon you pay the non refundable deviation fee If you cruise in in July I would start the process now the longer you wait the best flights are gone JMO I’m sure you were aware of it, but Athens is not on the water. The cruise ship terminal is in Piraeus, which is about an hour drive from Athens International Airport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted March 6, 2023 #25 Share Posted March 6, 2023 5 minutes ago, Psoque said: I’m sure you were aware of it, but Athens is not on the water. The cruise ship terminal is in Piraeus, which is about an hour drive from Athens International Airport. I am sure you are aware that disembarking the ship will be prior to 9 am usually they start by 8 am... book a flight accordingly but as I said after noon probably would be fine NOON would be pushing it depends on your comfort level Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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