Experience with itinerary of included flights for Oceania cruises?

[Isidoro]

We were advised by the travel agent that we will not know the flights itinerary until approx. one month before departure.

 

We live in Toronto and we are concerned that lack of choice or options as to how the itinerary will be sorted out will result in having maybe two connections to get from Toronto to Venice, instead of just one.

 

Does anybody have any experience with flights booked by Oceania? Are our concerns justified?

 

Thank you.

[LHT28]

We have only done Air with Oceania once so far but opted for the deviation so we could choose our flights. You can do that I think it is 270 days out.

We will be doing the same on our next cruise as we want to fly to Venice a day earlier to unwind & get over the jetlag.

[Sharicruz]

We were advised by the travel agent that we will not know the flights itinerary until approx. one month before departure.

 

We live in Toronto and we are concerned that lack of choice or options as to how the itinerary will be sorted out will result in having maybe two connections to get from Toronto to Venice, instead of just one.

 

Does anybody have any experience with flights booked by Oceania? Are our concerns justified?

 

Thank you.

 

 

Air itineraries are done approximately 75 days prior to sailing.

 

Shari

*****

[pappy3393]

You will get notice of your flight arrangements approximately 75 days in advance. I am pleased with what Oceania provided for our upcoming trip later this month. My TA told me that Oceania is generally pretty good with the arrangements they provide.

[merryecho]

They picked the same flights for us we would have picked ourselves- the only direct flight from our town to Europe. We did deviation anyway so we could book an upgradeable class.

[Rickey 88]

We were advised by the travel agent that we will not know the flights itinerary until approx. one month before departure.

 

We live in Toronto and we are concerned that lack of choice or options as to how the itinerary will be sorted out will result in having maybe two connections to get from Toronto to Venice, instead of just one.

 

Does anybody have any experience with flights booked by Oceania? Are our concerns justified?

 

Thank you.

 

If you are concerned and don't wish to wait until just before your cruise to see what Oceania arranges for you or if you wish to use a certain airline or a specific routing, then you would be better off to get your TA to ask for a deviation right now.

You will have to pay a deviation fee and whatever the increase in fare might be, but you will get exactly the route, class of service and flight times that you want....

[Bruin Steve]

When we did the Nautica Istanbul to Venice, we did a "deviation", but rather than try to find our own flights, we left it to Oceania to find the flights for us...

 

The reason for our deviation was to arrive three nights early and depart three nights late and do the hotels on our own...The deals we found on hotels blew away Oceania's offerings and more than made up for the deviation charges...(For example, we were able to book the Conrad Istanbul for $113 per night--a fraction of booking it through O)

 

Anyway, we let them choose the flights...and we could not have done better on our own--

 

They put us on Delta leaving LAX at 8:20 am, arriving JFK 4:35 pm, then Delta leaving JFK at 5:20 pm arriving Istanbul at 10:15 am...

 

It's hard to top those times and the short layover at JFK...

 

For the return trip, they flew us on Lufthansa...10:55 am out of Venice to Frankfurt, arriving 12:25 pm...then nonstop Frankfurt to LAX 2:05 pm, arriving LAX at 4:35 pm...

 

The flight out of Venice worked great as we didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn to get to the airport ...the 1:40 turnaround in Frankfurt was actually needed--what a zoo! And we got back home with time left in the afternoon...

 

One stop in each direction is not bad since I don't think there are any nonstops LA to Istanbul or Venice to LA...

 

We will probably do something similar for our next Nautica cruise next Summer...Take the deviations and let Oceania handle the details...

[hrprof]

Steve

 

Wow! A 45 minute international connection through JFK? You have greater confidence in on time arrival than I have these days. On our SA cruise in February, 31 pax were delayed and arrived without luggage as a result of tight connections through MIA - weather delays on arrival did them in. Many complained about the arrangements notwithstanding an outstanding cruise experience. We solve the problem by always booking our own air.

[lovecruisingtoo]

45 minutes in JFK is a "legal" connection. However, I would never book such a tight connection. By arriving 3 days before the cruise, even if the luggage does not make the flight, they will get it to you before you leave on the cruise.

 

Just make sure that you carry on the necessities that you will need for a day or two.

[Bruin Steve]

Steve

 

Wow! A 45 minute international connection through JFK? You have greater confidence in on time arrival than I have these days. On our SA cruise in February, 31 pax were delayed and arrived without luggage as a result of tight connections through MIA - weather delays on arrival did them in. Many complained about the arrangements notwithstanding an outstanding cruise experience. We solve the problem by always booking our own air.

 

It actually went off like clockwork...no problem at all...and our flight got into Istanbul early...

 

And, yes, if anything got missed, we had a three day hedge...One of the reasons I like to arrive in port early...

[ClaudiaF]

After a few marathon flights, left to ship discretion..I always book my own air!

:D

[Isidoro]

I want to thank you all for the helpful insights and diversity of experience.

 

We insisted and, with the assistance of our travel agent and Oceania's prompt cooperation, we resolved with very good choices for flights both ways, with a very minimal additional cost (deviation fee plus fare difference) so we're all four (two couples travelling together) satisfied with the results.

[Rickey 88]

I want to thank you all for the helpful insights and diversity of experience.

 

We insisted and, with the assistance of our travel agent and Oceania's prompt cooperation, we resolved with very good choices for flights both ways, with a very minimal additional cost (deviation fee plus fare difference) so we're all four (two couples travelling together) satisfied with the results.

 

Yay!! Enjoy your cruise!!! :D