Coordinating TA cruise with TA flights

[visibilityunlimited]

My wife and I are  older [70-80] and we would like to book a TA cruise  in the Spring of 2023 [Oceania or Celebrity or Holland America;  Florida to  the Netherlands or the Med.] .  However, we can’t nail down a flight itinerary to return home to Cincinnati because we are unable book anything for early May 2023 [our time to return home] this far in advance.  Additionally we are not in a position to “leave it to chance” what the flight arrangements could be.. I’ve looked at some hypothetical dates as far in the future as I can find and many of the flights home are , for folks our age, dreadful with multiple layovers and long delays at each stop. Some of the searches I’ve done have a total time from the European departure city to Cincinnati in excess of 24 hours.  So we’re in a conundrum. If we book a cruise, Oceania at least, wants a $3,000 deposit , which we would have at risk, to say nothing of other pre-payments, before we could confirm flight arrangement, and our possible future claim for canceling being “unacceptable flights”, isn’t going to be in insurable unless we could find some esoteric insurance that would likely be too pricey for us.  Any thoughts?  

Edited May 5, 2022 by visibilityunlimited
Need to move post to General Inquiry , not “P&O”

[Zach1213]

You may not be able to figure out exactly what your flights are going to be this far out, but there will be a LOT of options. Let's say you're coming out of Amsterdam, for example - Delta has a big operation there, and while CVG is by no means a Delta hub anymore, it still has a sizeable operation. So, in that case, you're likely to have a ton of options from Amsterdam to CVG via Detroit, or Minneapolis, or Atlanta, or New York. In each of those, you should have multiple options which will allow you to build as long or as short of a layover as you're comfortable with, especially Detroit/Minneapolis/Atlanta. 

 

If you can't book flights now, and you're not willing to book the cruise with unknown flights, I'm not sure what else we can advise on. You'll have to either wait for flights to be released in about a month, or risk it. Just be aware that booking flights right when they come out usually results in schedule changes over the subsequent 330 days. 

[wowzz]

I think you have posted in the wrong forum.

This is the P&O (UK) forum, and you questions are probably outside our area of expertise.

 

[Globaliser]

16 hours ago, Zach1213 said:

You may not be able to figure out exactly what your flights are going to be this far out, but there will be a LOT of options. Let's say you're coming out of Amsterdam, for example - Delta has a big operation there, and while CVG is by no means a Delta hub anymore, it still has a sizeable operation. So, in that case, you're likely to have a ton of options from Amsterdam to CVG via Detroit, or Minneapolis, or Atlanta, or New York. In each of those, you should have multiple options which will allow you to build as long or as short of a layover as you're comfortable with, especially Detroit/Minneapolis/Atlanta.

 

As I mentioned in the OP's other thread, I think that by then there may also be an option of flying non-stop from Paris. A connection in Paris may be less hassle than a connection at a US gateway, so there could be an advantage in doing that.

[Eli_6]

I have encountered this problem as well in trying to plan an Australian cruise for 2024. It makes me nervous because the flights are just so expensive--especially direct flights from the US to Australia.  And my husband plays the diva in terms of refusing to fly coach on a 17+ hours trip...and there are four of us to book tickets for and my kids are young enough that I can't stick them in coach and put us in business. I ultimately went ahead and booked because of a good deal on the cruise fare and because I am only risking about $250 per cabin/$1k total (we have 2 cabins for 2 cruises) rather than 3k.  

 

One suggestion you might consider if there are no direct flights is to do a longer lay over and get a hotel room in between. Some of the airports have hotels connected to the airport terminal by a walkway that you can even rent for "day use."  Depending on where your layover is, you might even be able to do some sightseeing.  This is a good way to break up your trip.  If you look at the legs of the flights individually when you search, there are probably options the booking/search engine doesn't show you.

[HappyCruiserettu]

On 5/5/2022 at 11:30 AM, visibilityunlimited said:

My wife and I are  older [70-80] and we would like to book a TA cruise  in the Spring of 2023 [Oceania or Celebrity or Holland America;  Florida to  the Netherlands or the Med.] .  However, we can’t nail down a flight itinerary to return home to Cincinnati because we are unable book anything for early May 2023 [our time to return home] this far in advance.  Additionally we are not in a position to “leave it to chance” what the flight arrangements could be..   So we’re in a conundrum. If we book a cruise, Oceania at least, wants a $3,000 deposit , which we would have at risk, to say nothing of other pre-payments, before we could confirm flight arrangement, and our possible future claim for canceling being “unacceptable flights”, isn’t going to be in insurable unless we could find some esoteric insurance that would likely be too pricey for us.  Any thoughts?  

Book your air arrangements with the cruise line. They will coordinate flights with your cruise. In the event of cancellation of the cruise, by you or the cruise line, they will cancel the flights at no cost to you. Also, they often have better pricing, especially for one-way flights such as your TA. If you book the OLife option with Oceania you may get free air or a credit toward the airfare. Give them a call. It should give you peace of mind.

 

[Harters]

18 hours ago, HappyCruiserettu said:

If you book the OLife option with Oceania you may get free air or a credit toward the airfare.

Our 2023 TA with Oceania, includes flights, from our home airport.

 

Manchester-London-Miami

Rome-Frankfurt-Manchester

 

 

[wowzz]

On 6/23/2022 at 12:20 PM, Harters said:

Our 2023 TA with Oceania, includes flights, from our home airport.

 

Manchester-London-Miami

Rome-Frankfurt-Manchester

 

 

I would have wanted to take the VS non stop flight from Manchester, rather than faff around changing aircraft.