Psoque

Could a TA actually re-book an already-booked cruise with the promotional pricing, if it exists, after the fact with Oceania? If so I need to see if I can contact my TA in anticipation of possible re-pricing.

Just to make it simple and clear: I’m not completely comprehensive by any means, but I think this will answer a lot of questions, both new to and not so new to Oceania: This illustration is for double occupancy for passengers who need to fly to and fly home from the cruise, either on their own or buying that through Oceania: The total “retail price” of a cruise consists of three components: A-Cruise Only Fare-this varied depending on itinerary/cabin class/and possibly date of purchase B-OLife Add-on….this is an OPTIONAL ADD ON, not a free perk. C-Air Add on…this is an optioal fee to pay Oceania for them to buy you airfare in a particular manner they offer it. (more of that later). When you look at Oceania website, they list two different prices per itinerary, for each cabin category: “OLfie with air fare”. is A+B+C ”Cruise only fare” is A B is typically the same amount per person as the per-person dollar amount of O Life OBC….so basically if you decide to pay for OLife with an intention of just gettin OBC, you are permanently converting your liquid cash to cruise-only funny money that has to be used up during the cruise. So by using this information, you can calculate C, the cost of “free airfare. Some travel agencies can quote you online “Cruise with OLife add on only” which is A + B. You can use that to calculate B and C also. The true cost of airfare is a bit more complicated, since the airfare you get by paying C is arrival on embarkation day only, departure on disembarkation day only, from selected “gateway” airports only, most likely on consolidator fare classes. If you wan’t to have Oceania book you flights outside of these constraints (if they can do it, of course), the extra add ons include, but not limited to: -Flight from/to non-gateway airports….$99 per each way, per person (approx $200 per person for round trip/open jaw). -Arriving/departing date adjustments…$175 per person for the entire itinerary. Oceania also reserves rights to charge you other fees, especially if the desired flights are more expensive, in that case the difference in fare will also be levied to you. So the “true price” of “free airfare” could be as high as C + $198 + $175 per person. That, or the variation thereof that is based on your flight needs, is the price you should beat if you want to book your own flights. In case of an open-jaw flights for our Barcelona-Istanbul cruise in Nov. 2023, flights out of Indianapolis (non-gateway airport city) and arriving/leaving a few days before and after the cruise, our “true cost” of “free airfare” from Ocenia turns out to be something like’ C=$1,100 per person (this of course depends on the itinerary/and date of purchase) + $198 + $175 If we want to drive to Chicago, stay a night before and after the flights (which we don’t really want to do), the true cost would be: $1,100 +cost of parking at ORD minus cost of parking at IND or lack therof +cost of transport to ORD +cost of hotels near ORD either way, If we can get flights at around $1,473 per person or less, we break even. I hope this explains the whole mess enough for now.

The discussion here is another evidence that a simple sticky to explain how Oceania cruises are priced may be helpful to many new and experienced Oceania customers, since Oceania is doing an excellent job of making is really unclear.

Thanks for your detailed description. I was primarily interested in knowing if our ship is definitely going to be disembarking in Galataport. When I go to some of the websites describing the location where cruise ships dock in Istanbul, there are fairly conflicting and vague information regarding the fact that there are multiple ports that cruise ships have used, but no information whether the new Galataport facility is now being used exclusively for that purpose of not. This would make a big difference since we would definitely need to arrange for a private transfer from our disembarkation port to the hotel in Istanbul.

Perhaps you could explain to all of us what is the difference between docking and mooring in this particular case, to make your posting a bit more constructive??

Let me outline my formula again...making it even simpler....then I invite anybody to tell me a concrete example how this does not work. Oceania cruise fare is made up of three components: A-Cruise Fare B-optional OLife add on C-optional coach airfare (consolidator fare) add on Oceania only shows on their website and brochure two types of fares: "OLife Fare with Airfare" which is A+B+C and "Cruise Only Fare" which is A Furthermore, some online agencies list other fares, including: "Cruise with OLife Fare" which is A+B How do we calculate A, B, and C? A is self-explanatory...it is always available online or on brochures B+C is just the difference between "OLife Fare with Airfare" and "Cruise Only Fare" B can be calculated two ways: -You can look at the OLife OBC amount (per person), which is typically the same as B, the cost of OLife add on. -Or it can be calculated by looking up the "Cruise with OLife Fare" and subtracting A from it. I have not seen an example of B different from the OLife OBC. C, the cost of "free coach airfare" is calculated by subtracting B from B+C Finally, to calculate the actual cost of "free airfare," other factors need to be considered: 1. The standard "free airfare" is only from a select number of "gateway airports." To fly from other airports, if that is even possible, requires $99 per person, per way (so $198 per person for a round trip or open jaw airfare) fee. 2. The standard "free airfare" flies you in on the embarkation day, and flies you home on disembarkation day. To change any of this, there is a $175 per person fee. 3. If you choose to fly from the "gateway city" but you don't live in the "gateway city," there is a real cost of doing so, including the cost of transportation to the airport, possibly hotel stays before the flight to the cruise and after the flight from the cruise. 4. Also of note: the "free airfare" from Oceania are consolidator fares with various restrictions which may come in play when there is a service disruption. This may add more $$ to your true cost. So C, the cost of "free airfare" may not be the actual cost of your airfare for the cruise, and that true cost should be compared to the cost of booking flights on your own.

If you actually say that you "know exactly what each component of my cruise vacation costs are," you must using some way to figure this out, since Oceania is not spelling it out on their website and brochures. Then you say that the WAY to figure it out is never the same for each cruise, and you keep saying that the simple way that I outlined to do so is somehow "gone sideways." However, you are utterly unable to explain what has gone sideways, other than to say that there is no way to figure these out. Your statements are utterly conflicting, despite the fact that you have done many Oceania cruises. I think the way I outlined should work for most Oceania itineraries with "free" economy airfare. If you really think what I outlined is grossly inaccurate, please post your own version.

I still say that whether you use a travel agent or not, every passenger should, ideally, know the actual breakdown of everything he/she is paying when booking a cruise. I strongly sense a lot of hesitation/hostility from some of us here who likes to keep the cost breakdown somewhat of a esoteric mystery, and I have no idea why/how that is a good approach for one to be an astute consumer. And yes, I always use a travel agent to book a cruise, but I typically typically book our flights because I have never had a travel agent find any flights that I could not find, especially in the past 20 years. Obviously, if someone is unwilling/unable to even think about the cost/value of a cruise, but prefer their travel agent to just spoon feed all of that, or lack thereof, that's OK. That's exactly what most cruise lines want their customers to be...blissfully unaware with a loose wallet.

I thought that the basic drink package paid for by OLife is only for meal times???

Obviously, we have a very different idea about the difference between actual cost of "free air," which is specific to each itinerary, and the WAY to calculate that amount, which is the same. I think you are confusing the two greatly. I NEVER said that the cost of "free air" is always the same across itinerary, or for that matter, it stays the same even for the same itiinerary...that's just crazy talk. What I said is that, at the time of making any decision point to decide what add-on to purchase with Oceania, or for that matter whether a particular itinerary makes sense to you in terms of value vs. cost, there is a way to calculate the actual cost of each component of the total price, and that method is virtually the same for any itinerary at any given point in time. And as soon as you buy the cruise, the cost of "free airfare" becomes fixed, as long as the cruise fare does not get re-priced. And the math can be repeated at that juncture. I have no idea why some of you are so irritated to read what is something every consumer of Oceania should know correctly. And calling the cost of "free airfare" "credit" is bat crazy. Basically, as a consumer, you can choose to pay Oceania to for them to book your airfare, or you choose not to do so and book yourself. By calling it "credit," Oceania is reinforcing the false idea that airfare is "free."

I posted this because: At the time of booking (regardless of how close the cruise is), as long as Oceania publishes “O Life with Air” and “Cruise Only” prices for each category, the cost of each component is easily calculated. And I just showed how it can be done. I think it is very easy and not all that complicated. It just seems complicated because how the numbers are presented by Oceania is confusing. I had to understand two important factors before I figured this out. 1. There is no such thing as “free airfare.” There is a real and simply calculable cost of airfare. 2. If you elect to receive OBC, you are basically getting the money you already gave Oceania back as an inflexible “funny money” that is only usable on that cruise. And that dollar amount is the amount you paid when you elected to take advantage of OLife. The OBC is not really a “perk.”. When a customer says “it is too complicated” or it is different on different cruises, that customer is either totally confused and/or helping Oceania with their mysterious marketing practice. The formula is always the same as long as we are talking about coach airfare.

I made this comment, not because I was unsure about the T&C/contract, but because people here are a bit confused about three different things: A -the COST of “free airfare”. This is how much you are actually paying Oceania for airfare when you buy the cruise with “free” airfare. B-what Oceania will “credit” you when you decide to do make your own flight arrangements. I hope that it would be identical to A, but I haven’t looked into it and I don’t want to waste my time reading T&C and the contract. C-the “true cost” of having Oceania take care of your flights “for free.”. That is the cost of “free airfare” or A, plus various fees (to fly from/to “non-gateway airports,” fly in/out before/after the embarkation/disembarkation days, etc.) or the cost of positioning yourself to the “gateway airport.”. Also this cost may include the cost of recovering from potential service disruption while flying on a consolidator ticket….that also comes with a real dollar cost in some cases. Obviously, not all of you are interested in thinking about it and prefers that have your TA decide everything for you. That’s fine. It’s just that it is entirely possible to calculate the real cost of “free airfare” Oceanina is offering, and the formula is fairly simple, as long as you get past the fog of misleading information Oceania puts out in their marketing material.

I've looked at a variety of itineraries. It is possible (and I am not sure) that Oceania might not give you back all of the cost of "free" airfare as "credits" if you first agree to pay for it and ask for it back. But the actual real cost of "real" airfare is extremely easy to calculate, and they are consistent across all cabin categories on a given itinerary. For example, that cost is approximately $1,100 per person for the Barcelona--to-Istanbul cruise in Nov. of 2023. Obviously, the true cost of this "free" airfare is even higher if you need to pay the $175 per person deviation fee, $99/person/each way "non-gateway" fee, etc.

I agree that it is not easy to describe how Oceania charges and hides the real cost of "free" airfare. Ideally there should not be a reason for anybody to work so hard to figure it out. I have once had an Oceania "advisor" who could not do even the simple "math" for me. I fired that person. If Oceania actually makes everything simpler, we would also spend so much more time doing something else more enjoyable. Shame on Oceania.

I don't think it was that inaccurate, perhaps not as clear enough for you... 1. Difference between "OLife with Airfare" and "Cruise Only" is the actual cost of Oceania airfare plus OLife "perks." 2. The actual cost of OLIfe "perks" is the dollar amount of the OLife OBC. 3. If you subtract subtract (2) from (1) you get the actual cost of "free" Oceania air. 4. If you want to calculate the "true cost" of the "free airfare" from Oceania, you should do the following: A. If you want to fly in before embarkation day AND/OR fly out later than the disembarkation day, there is a $175 PER PERSON fee to make any changes of that kind. B. If you want to fly out of airports other than the "gateway" airports, it could be possible to pay Oceania $200 PER PERSON. However, Oceania may not let you fly out of some airports. C. If you want to do A AND B, it would cost $375 PER PERSON COMBINED. This means, your true cost of the "free airfare" could be... (3) plus $175 per person (3) plus $200 per person (3) plus $375 per person or higher* *if you decide to drive to the "gateway" airports, the cost of doing so (and staying in a hotel near the airport) will add more to your true cost. Oceania may charge even more for custom air. And this "math" is for coach flights. Oceania makes it even more harder to calculate for premium economy tickets.

As far as I have looked into this by asking Oceania directly, this is the way to calculate the cost of "free" airfare.

I wonder if there is a good reason to have a sticky (that gets updated if/when Oceania changes how they display the pricing information on their website and how much they charge for non-gateway departures and flight modifications) that shows how to do the "math" on figuring out how much one is actually going to pay for these things. Here's my "math." 1. Difference between "OLife with Airfare" and "Cruise Only" is the actual cost of Oceania airfare plus OLife "perks." 2. The actual cost of OLIfe "perks" is the dollar amount of the OLife OBC. 3. If you subtract the OLife OBC (1) from the cost of OLife "perks" (2), you get the actual cost of "free" Oceania air. 4. If you want to calculate the "true cost" of the "free airfare" from Oceania, you should do the following: a. If you want to fly out of airports other than what's listed as "gateway" airports, add $200 to (3). b. If you want to arrive before embarkation day or after disembarkation day, add $175 to (3). c. If you want to do both, add $375 to (3).

I’ trying to “refocus” the topic to the original one, unless that’s of no interest to anyone. So is it the case that all cruise ships will dock at the new Galataport in Istanbul? If that’s the case, it makes it a lot more predictable for us, making it easy to arrange our post-cruise plans. We are probably going to stay in Saltanahmet after the cruise since we want to stay in the “old” part of the city.

Local transportation/tour industries can be very sketchy in many countries with unstable political/economic situations. We have experience similar situation in various ports around the world (Buenos Aires, Bali, Cozumel, Piraeus, and more that we can’t even remember). However, to me, getting overcharged $10-20 for a cab ride is much more acceptable than willingly pay a cruise line $200-$300 a night more for a hotel for the “convenience” of not thinking about how much it costs. I think what is important to me is to know what everything should cost and decide for ourselves what is “worth it” for us in terms of money, time, and the hassle. Obviously, for some, doing exactly that is not really a viable option, and I have no personal problem with it.

Thanks for this info. I'm sure we can figure something out and find a reasonably priced hotel and a reliable transportation.

Thanks for your info. I’m hoping there is a way to get a reasonably priced and reliable transportation from the ship to our hotel when we disembark. The reason I do not find the hotel through the cruise line, or paying for transfer through the cruise line is because we end up overpaying for them. Everyone have his/her way of looking at the same realities, but for me, being ripped off by a taxi driver or the cruise line are both unacceptable. Ideally, I prefer finding a hotel in a reasonable location for a fair price, as well as transportation to it from the ship at a reasonable price.

Thanks. If the taxi drivers are not honest, is there a better option to get to our post-cruise hotel? We are looking at options in either Karakoy or Saltanahmet.

Hi. I apologize if this has been extensively covered elsewhere. We want to know where the Oceania ships typically dock in Istanbul. We will be arriving there on Oceania Riviera on November 28, 2023. I did some looking on the internet and saw that there is a new large cruise ship terminal called Galataport that just opened last year in Karakoy. Would that be our best bet? Or is it the case that the ship could go to any of the other facilities in the area?

I have never took a cruise from New England/Canada to Greenland and to Iceland. It looks like an interesting itinerary. However, it does have a couple of segments of multiple days at sea, including 3 straight sea days between Halifax and Greenland and 2 straight sea days between Greenland and Reykjavik. If the ship does not encounter any extended periods of rough seas, your husband should be just fine. On the other hand, if the seas happen to be rough (and from what I gather, it can get very rough, even in August), you may have to endure 2-3 straight days of rough seas, twice during the cruise. I don’t think anybody can predict how rough (or not) the seas will be, even at the time of embarkation. Also, there is no medication, natural or not, that works perfectly on everyone, especially when the seas are very rough. I guess if you want to take this cruise, the first thing is to do is to accept the fact that you may encounter rough seas, potentially for 2-3 straight days, for up to 5 days total (in addition to overnight between ports). Then, if seas are calmer, you will be pleasantly surprised.

So, you both got sick, so you were both isolated in your own cabin. The whole discussion was about the need for the ship to have some extra cabins for quarantine. As you mentioned, if one or more of the occupant gets sick, and if one or more remaining occupant in the same cabin remains to be not sick (not test positive for COVID-19, in this case), the occuptant(s) who remain not sick will need to be moved to another cabin for quarantine, while the sick ones remain in their own cabin for isolation.