Hotels - Istanbul, Barcelona & Deviation Policy

[Takyla]

We are cruising on Insignia, November 10th - 24th. We plan on arriving in Istanbul, November 8th and require 2 nights hotel. We will also stay in Barcelona for 2 nights at the end of the cruise. Can anyone recommend good, reasonably priced hotels in either city?

 

We read about Oceania's "deviation policy" here and had our TA inquire. Oceania offered a rebate of $973/person and we make all our own flight arrangements, including transfers, taxes, etc., or they would make alternate arrangements from the scheduled flights from Los Angeles for us and charge us $75/person. After checking all available flights to book on our own, we found many of the flights in Europe were blocked out, so we opted for the deviation and with 48 hours we had flights and seat assignents to fit our schedules, this far in advance of our travel dates, Very pleased!

[tak2]

Come join us on Roll Call, where we can exchange ideas on hotels and tours.

I'm staying at Sari Konak, a highly rated ( by trippadvisor.com) boutique hotel in the part of Istanbul very close to Blue Mosque. There are also a number of similar establishments in the same area, nicely written up in the aforementioned website. In Barcelona, I'm staying at Apsis Atrium Palace, good price 4 star, 500 yards form Placa Cataluyna. Both hotels can easily be booked online at their own site.

[Leonid]

Go to TripAdvisor.com and locate Istanbul and Barcelona hotels at the bottom of the page. If they are not there, you can search for them. We use the web site all the time and are satisfied with the recommendations.

[Andee]

We really liked the Hotel Lleo in Barcelona. Very well located, large rooms, beautiful bathrooms, helpful front desk staff, moderate price.

[whyme]

Come join us on Roll Call, where we can exchange ideas on hotels and tours.

I'm staying at Sari Konak, a highly rated ( by trippadvisor.com) boutique hotel in the part of Istanbul very close to Blue Mosque. There are also a number of similar establishments in the same area, nicely written up in the aforementioned website. In Barcelona, I'm staying at Apsis Atrium Palace, good price 4 star, 500 yards form Placa Cataluyna. Both hotels can easily be booked online at their own site.

 

Be sure you have a room on the second floor or higher..the first floor rooms are noise ( from the street) also besure you have air conditioning also

[tak2]

Thank you, whyme.

I was on 3rd floor last time, so I had forgotten to ask for quiet room this time. Just took it for granted. I shall e-mail hotel.

Gracias.

[SeaBop]

My mother, (age 80) husband and I stayed 5 nights at this small hotel.

 

http://www.sultanahmetpalace.com/

 

It had a wonderous location with our rooms overlooking the Blue Mosque, good restaurant and English speaking staff. They have pick-up from the airport. We were within walking distance of just about anything in this old district.

 

For a splurge, go to the Four Seasons Hotel and have lunch or dinner in the garden restaurant.

 

We truly enjoyed Istanbul and would return in a instant. As we were flying to Athens for the start of our Ren cruise my mother whispered to me: "Do you think the Greek men will be as handsome as the Turkish men"? They treated her like a queen. :)

[Takyla]

Thanks everyone, with your help we were able to book 3 rooms for our group of 6 at the Sari Konak in Istanbul and the Apsis Atrium Palce in Barcelona, reaonably priced with very good reviews.

[avidtraveler92583]

Through Tripadvisor and these boards we chose Hotel Sari Konak. It is in the Sultanahmet and got great reviews. It is not the cheapest but not the most expensive either.

[digby]

We spent two nights after our cruise at the Hotel Colon in Barcelona. We enjoyed it very much.

[Suz Ann]

We are cruising on Insignia, November 10th - 24th. We plan on arriving in Istanbul, November 8th and require 2 nights hotel. We will also stay in Barcelona for 2 nights at the end of the cruise. Can anyone recommend good, reasonably priced hotels in either city?

 

We read about Oceania's "deviation policy" here and had our TA inquire. Oceania offered a rebate of $973/person and we make all our own flight arrangements, including transfers, taxes, etc., or they would make alternate arrangements from the scheduled flights from Los Angeles for us and charge us $75/person. After checking all available flights to book on our own, we found many of the flights in Europe were blocked out, so we opted for the deviation and with 48 hours we had flights and seat assignents to fit our schedules, this far in advance of our travel dates, Very pleased!

We are on the same cruise and did the same request with a deviation. We got the deviation the same day but have been unable to get seat assignments. The configuration of the seats on the overseas flights are the only reason we did the deviation and paid the $150. How did you get seat assignments so early? Thanks for your help.

[Benita]

We did the air deviation with Oceania last year and were very satisfied. We were able to fly over to Barcelona on Luftansa and back from Lisbon on British Air - all for an extra $50 per person plus the deviation charge. As soon as we got the flight numbers, we called the two airlines ourselves and booked reserved the seats.

[Penzance]

I have searched all the various threads on the Oceania boards until my eyes are square! My husband and I are contemplating the Istanbul to Athens cruise in May 2008 but we are still a bit confused about the choice of deviated airflights for an extra $75 p.p. Do we first check out the various options on flights from Los Angeles to Istanbul and again, Athen to Los Angeles, then decide which suits us best before presenting the idea to Oceania? We would also like to stay a couple of nights in Athens before returning to L.A.

 

Oceania explained that they would allow $500 credit if we were to book our own flights - surely this must be an error?

 

Is there anyone that could explain, to a square eyed, elderly cruiser, how to successfully book flights to/from the cruise of her dreams?

 

Thank you.

[Benita]

Last year, we booked the cruise directly with Oceania. As there was no independent travel agent involved, I was allowed to deal with the deviation department directly, instead of through my agent. The booking agent gave me the email address for the deviation department. I wrote when I wanted to leave and from where, and received an email back the next day with their suggested flights and the extra costs. I suppose you could let them know what flights you want and have them price it. If you are using a travel agent, they should be able to find out for you.

If they are only offering a $500 credit,you should probably use their air deviation as you will not find flights for any less on your own. You should probably double check that figure, as we are on an Athens to Instanbul cruise with them in July and booked our own air with frequent flyer points and received $800 off per person plus all those taxes.

[Penzance]

Thank you Benita: I do not have a travel agent either. I assume that you would have to be booked on the cruise before Oceania will give you the email address of the deviation dept - right? However, for my husband and I, it is important to know if the airline and flights would be suitable before we make that final decision. It seems to be a catch 22!

 

Maybe there are other cruisers that could share their own good/bad experiences?

 

Thank you.

[LHT28]

I have searched all the various threads on the Oceania boards until my eyes are square! My husband and I are contemplating the Istanbul to Athens cruise in May 2008 but we are still a bit confused about the choice of deviated airflights for an extra $75 p.p. Do we first check out the various options on flights from Los Angeles to Istanbul and again, Athen to Los Angeles, then decide which suits us best before presenting the idea to Oceania? We would also like to stay a couple of nights in Athens before returning to L.A.

 

 

Thank you.

That is about right.

You can choose your flight times, dates etc...then submit them to see if it will cost more than Oceania get the same tickets for .

You pay the deviation fee and maybe a small amount if the flight you choose cost more.

Other option is take the air credit and book your own air ...it will probably cost more than the credit.

The best thing to do is talk to a TA that deals with Oceania.

[hondorner]

Oceania explained that they would allow $500 credit if we were to book our own flights - surely this must be an error?

Probably not. Remember, the cost of the flight is made up of two components -- the air fare and the air taxes (including any fuel surcharge). The air fare portion is what is "free" with Oceania. Of course, it's not really free; in your case, it's an extra $500 built into the price of the cruise. If you choose to do your own booking, they will credit you $500 (per person) against the cost of your cruise.

 

However, on the invoice you should have received from Oceania (via your agent), you will find an additional charge for air taxes. You will pay this portion of the flight costs regardless of whether Oceania books the flight, or not. If Oceania books your flight, they add the cost of the air taxes. If you book your flight, they remove that additional fee and you pay the taxes directly to the airline as part of the flight cost.

 

What's confusing is that if you book your own flight, Oceania subtracts the air credit and removes the air tax fee. If Oceania books your flight, the air credit is part of the cruise fare and the air taxes are added to the bottom of the invoice. I'm sure there is a perfectly sound accounting reason for this, but the end result is that it is confusing.

 

On our upcoming November cruise, the air credit is $500 per person and the air taxes are $374 per person. That gives us a total of $874 per person to spend if we wanted to book our own flights. Since the flights that Oceania booked for us would have cost almost $2,300 per person if we booked them ourselves, we glady accepted Oceania's booking. I found a long, convoluted flight from Miami to Barcelona for $436, about half of the Oceania allowances, but the cheapest flight I could find from Rio to Miami was $988. Oceania put us on the fastest, most direct flights at no extra cost to us beyond the $75 deviation fee. I don't know how they do it, and frankly, I don't care -- I couldn't be happier.

[Penzance]

Thank you Hondorner, for that clarification. I now understand the airfare and taxes, and I agree, I should leave the flights to Oceania. But, when I did my own air search on the various ways to get to/from Greece, the choices didn't seem work in relationship to departures from L.A., changing planes somewhere and arrival in Istanbul prior to embarkation. My concern is that once I have booked the cruise, the flight route booked by Oceania will be laborious - still, I suppose you can't have your cake and eat it too!

[LHT28]

My concern is that once I have booked the cruise, the flight route booked by Oceania will be laborious - still, I suppose you can't have your cake and eat it too!

 

I still don't think you understand.

You need a TA that deals with Oceania

 

Once you book your cruise ...you CAN pick flights that work for you...

then pay the deviation fee.

[hondorner]

LHT is correct, and I forgot to mention that. When you pay the deviation fee, you can pick your own flights, have your travel agent reference those flights to Oceania, and Oceania will try to book your preferences.

 

However, Oceania will also compare the rates they can get for your preferred flights to the rates they can get if they choose the flights, and if your preferences are more expensive, you will pay the difference in addition to the $75 pp administrative fee for a deviation.

 

Since I fall into the category of your basic miser (I prefer "thrifty"), I told Oceania when I wanted to arrive, but did not specify how they got me there. I told my travel agent that my basic goal was to not pay any extra fee. Then, I sat back and waited, and was absolutely pleased when they ended up selecting the best flights possible!

 

However, I must hasten to say that if they had routed me by way of Mongolia and YeeHaw Junction in 8 airplanes over a 3 day period, I probably would have accepted that, also, due to my penurious ways. It's the cruise I care about; getting there is just a greater or lesser nuisance.

 

By the way, I'm convinced that the choice of agent has a lot to do with the way things turn out. The specific person I use is a former Oceania employee who still lives in the area and maintains friendships with the staff. He is an associate of an agent well known on this forum.

[Penzance]

Thanks for enlightening me LHT28 - I got online and found a T.A. that deals with Oceania. We are now booked on a cruise for May 2008. The T.A. says Oceania won't deal with flights sooner than 60 days prior to sailing. This makes me nervous! I even offered to pay upfront in full to get good flights - but no luck.

 

Hondorner - I am also rather frugal but always go for the most direct routes by air. It's the taking off and landing that makes me a basket case!!

Thanks for your help.

[Benita]

Penzance, I don't think that is necessarily true. If you do the air deviation, Oceania can book the flights when they are announced (usually about 9 or 10 months before the travel date). We booked a cruise with them about 8 months before our May 2006 departure. We were able to get our flights at that time, even though we did not have to pay for the flights until our final payment for the cruise. If you are not doing a deviation, perhaps that 60 day rule holds, but not if you are doing a deviation - well worth the $75 per person charge, in my opinion.

[LHT28]

Thanks for enlightening me LHT28 - I got online and found a T.A. that deals with Oceania. We are now booked on a cruise for May 2008. The T.A. says Oceania won't deal with flights sooner than 60 days prior to sailing. This makes me nervous! I even offered to pay upfront in full to get good flights - but no luck.

I agree with Benita ...do the deviation

You should be able to get the flights/routing around 300 days out if not sooner.

 

Check the beginning of July for flight schedules.

[Penzance]

Thank you Benita and LHT28 for the feedback. I was certainly planning to pay the deviation fee as previously mentioned. I called Oceania and they did tell me that they will know more about the flights, 270 days prior to sailing - so that makes me feel far more comfortable. I seem to find out more from these very helpful Boards than from any agent or cruise line. Bravo to all cruisers!

[DELFIN]

Sorry to barge in on your thread folks, but if Benita comes back, please check the "river" cruise board. I have a question for you.

 

Thank you all for use of the space

 

SR