Jet Set Sail

Has anyone used the Jet Set Sail offer in the UK?

If so, was it worth the extra cost?

No, not used it because we have not cruised n Europe since it was introduced. It does look amazing and, as they have increased the number of cruises for which it is offered, it must have proved popular.

The only concern I would have is the luggage allowance. We always pay for extra bags on BA. The Jet Set Sail brochure proudly states the higher 25kg allowance but does not say if you may purchase additional bags. As it is a charter flight, I would worry that you could not.

We also habitually book pre- and post-cruise stays and I guess that you cannot do that with Jet Set Sail.

Apart from these concerns, we would book it in an instant.

We will come back and let you know, but that will be September2017!

It is the only reason we decided to sail with Celebrity, we hope the parking, check in, lounges and aircraft live up to promise and cost, if it does the travel will be worth it. Trouble is there is no guarantee that the price of the whole affair will not fall by more than the cost of the flights, as we expereinced. Drop of over £1000 in just over a week.:( Never thought I would be willing to cancel and give up a £300 deposit and still get the package cheaper.

Despite the attraction of travel to the ship, we have this one cruise booked and will not book another with Celebrity, back to good lines.

I also hope the experience lives up to the advertisement.

I have travelled with Celebrity for many years and their pricing system is still baffling. I'm normally lucky and get a good deal, but it all depends on when you check the prices.

I use a German firm to monitor the prices and this is sometimes a guide to price reductions.

A US firm also provides a similar service

Taking the easy way about Celebrity prices...don't sail with them again. But having persuaded my wife, who hates airports, that Jet Set Sail would be OK, we decided to do this fly cruise despite Celebrity trying to teach it's customers they should book late and not early. What a silly business plan.

Taking the easy way about Celebrity prices...don't sail with them again. But having persuaded my wife, who hates airports, that Jet Set Sail would be OK, we decided to do this fly cruise despite Celebrity trying to teach it's customers they should book late and not early. What a silly business plan.

We always book the day a cruise is released and, since we have been doing this (eight years), the price has only dropped once. Every other time the price has risen considerably. The problem in the UK is that most people look no further forward that a year in advance. If you do that, on many cruises you are booking at peek price.

If you have recently booked a 2017 Jet Set Sail cruise, you have chosen (unwittingly?) to book when the price is high. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but you would probably have done better to book at the end of 2015 and added the Jet Set Sail flights one they were released. This is unlikely to be a Celebrity only pricing strategy. It is my understanding that other cruise lines have already released their 2018/19 season cruises while Celebrity is not expecting to release them until this November/December.

For us, booking late would rob us of the anticipation and planning - and, unless sailing from he UK, result in higher air fares.

Booking as soon as the cruise is released also gives you your choice of rooms.

Trouble with that for Jet Set Sail is that there are no cruises advertised beyong 2017 anyway. Indeed you cannot find out if a JSS is available without contacting the UK office. The advertisements do not reflect what they have, they are outdated, as I discovered twice, and not clickable through. Remember this is a new and special promotion in the UK.

Also more difficult to see much further than a year when well past 70!

Trouble with that for Jet Set Sail is that there are no cruises advertised beyong 2017 anyway. Indeed you cannot find out if a JSS is available without contacting the UK office. The advertisements do not reflect what they have, they are outdated, as I discovered twice, and not clickable through. Remember this is a new and special promotion in the UK.

 

Also more difficult to see much further than a year when well past 70!

It is actually the second year the Jet Set Sail has been offered. This year they are offering more cruises than last but they are to similar destinations so you could probably guess what cruises it would be offered for in 2018 from this year's (2017) pamphlet.

You cannot book any flights until much later if you book a couple of years in advance but I am sure that you can add the Jet Set Sail flights once they are released just like other flights with Celebrity.

Booking ahead helps keep you going once you get to advanced years. :D

1. Not convinced one will be able to add these type of flights

2. They were advertising JSS for 2017 at this time last year and they are not 2018, so no guarantee they will do it again some seem to be very stickie at present.

3. As I said will go back to lines that sail from UK and do not do big dippers with their prices with over a year to go. (US and Canada get price promises should do it in UK if they want us to book early).

UK cruisers have many different plans/programs/restrictions. Some to their benefit, some to their detriment. Celebrity can only go by what they are allowed to offer under UK laws regarding cancellations and deposits. I know many UK cruisers wish they could cancel and not lose their deposits, but that isn't allowed.

UK cruisers have many different plans/programs/restrictions. Some to their benefit, some to their detriment. Celebrity can only go by what they are allowed to offer under UK laws regarding cancellations and deposits. I know many UK cruisers wish they could cancel and not lose their deposits, but that isn't allowed.

But nobody is talking about deposits being returnable just a price promise that if the cruise is advertised cheaper then the customer will pay the cheaper price.

Please show me the regulations that suggest that cruise packages cannot have returnable deposits, but which cruise line will want to do that?

Just a price match would be fine and there are NO regulations against that... Virgin offer it.

1. Not convinced one will be able to add these type of flights

2. They were advertising JSS for 2017 at this time last year and they are not 2018, so no guarantee they will do it again some seem to be very stickie at present.

3. As I said will go back to lines that sail from UK and do not do big dippers with their prices with over a year to go. (US and Canada get price promises should do it in UK if they want us to book early).

2. ? Unsure how they were offering the set sail this time last year as the European schedule for 2017 wasn't open at that time (in any country) :confused:

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2272438&highlight=New+itineraries+2017

3. As I've stated previously, if you're looking for price drops then book via the US. If you book in the UK, you have to be happy with the initial price you have paid.

2. ? Unsure how they were offering the set sail this time last year as the European schedule for 2017 wasn't open at that time (in any country) :confused:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2272438&highlight=New+itineraries+2017

 

3. As I've stated previously, if you're looking for price drops then book via the US. If you book in the UK, you have to be happy with the initial price you have paid.

It was being advertised in the UK in the Daily Mail, we looked at the September 2016 prices and noted that they were about the same for September 2017.

and that is a 2015 thread you point to.

Don't fancy having a UK address finishing USA as a poster on another thread said they had with Canada on a UK address and wondering if they are going to be stopped on the gangplank, especially as one will need ones passport for a Uk flight on Jet Set Sail.

It was being advertised in the UK in the Daily Mail, we looked at the September 2016 prices and noted that they were about the same for September 2017.

 

and that is a 2015 thread you point to.

 

Don't fancy having a UK address finishing USA as a poster on another thread said they had with Canada on a UK address and wondering if they are going to be stopped on the gangplank, especially as one will need ones passport for a Uk flight on Jet Set Sail.

It's a 2015 thread because that's when the new itineraries came out for the year (2017), the one you are referring to e.g. late November/early December this year will be when the schedule is released for 2018 (Europe season being April/May to Nov). It's the same every year, so there is no way in September 2015, as you quoted in your post, that you would have been able to view the Europe itineraries for 2017 because they were not released then ;).

If you book with a US TA, X know exactly where you are based. Believe me, I have booked many cruises via the US and no one is the slightest bit bothered when you board where you've booked the cruise. As long as the names match, bingo - they don't even care which cabin you you sleep in :eek:.

Just to underline what I have said before, I really don't care if you can book 2035 now, because I will not book with this cruise line ever again in the US, UK or the moon. Will stick with lines who consider their customers enough not to drop their prices by £1000 (25%) in a few days from booking.

We could have been good customers, all things being equal on the ship, but Celebrity have blown all that and if they do not need our custom, why do they drop the prices to attract customers and fill empty cabins?

UK cruisers have many different plans/programs/restrictions. Some to their benefit, some to their detriment. Celebrity can only go by what they are allowed to offer under UK laws regarding cancellations and deposits. I know many UK cruisers wish they could cancel and not lose their deposits, but that isn't allowed.

Whilst I agree with much of what you say, some differences between the USA and the UK are usual business practice rather than legislation. There is no law that says a deposit cannot be returned to a customer. However, deposits are usually non-refundable and seen as a sign of "good faith" on both sides. It is why we tend to become more upset when a cruise is cancelled by the cruise company. Celebrity conveniently appears to have a blind-spot in this situation.

It is very difficult in this global economy where there are differences in business culture. The most glaring example, IMHO, is being able to purchase "cancel for any reason" travel insurance in the USA. Having started my working life in insurance, this is just so against the basic tenets of insurance as to be shocking. It is an indication of the lack of the "good faith" principle that also allows a company to cancel a cruise.

I cannot see where the solution lies. The electorate in this country has clearly voted against an "ever closer union" of the "market" so there is little chance of ever aligning global business practices. UK cruisers are clearly a subset of UK voters and will always want the good business practices (e.g. greater consumer protection or free trade) without the more onerous business practices (e.g. non-refundable deposits or freedom of movement). Our Aussie cousins have a phrase for us "winging Poms". Our European cousins probably think a lot worse.

If we Brits are so pickie and cannot have the Price promise from Celebrity, how come lines like Virgin offer it?

If we Brits are so pickie and cannot have the Price promise from Celebrity, how come lines like Virgin offer it?

Problem solved then, book your cruises through Virgin if they honour price drops. I'd confirm with them first though ;).

Back on topic.

The jet sail idea was shown in detail on last nights Cruise show and it looks really good.

We are doing our best to have a break from cruising in 2017, but it's something we will be looking for in 2018!

We found the flight/transfer the worst part of our Sept cruise this year...so anything to improve matters would be good.

Back on topic.

 

The jet sail idea was shown in detail on last nights Cruise show and it looks really good.

 

We are doing our best to have a break from cruising in 2017, but it's something we will be looking for in 2018!

 

We found the flight/transfer the worst part of our Sept cruise this year...so anything to improve matters would be good.

The mind boggles at what else went wrong if this was the worst part;).

My wife has developed a phobia for airports, have to drag her kicking and screaming :) and no fly sea cruising and Eurostar and Eurotunnel river cruising made for good starts to holidays and seemed the answer and we had many happy cruises.

She spotted the JSS advertised and said it looked as though it might also be helpful. Had no idea of what Celebrity was like or the ships but we booked for September 2017. Sadly they blotted their copybook with what I have previously described.

The mind boggles at what else went wrong if this was the worst part;).

 

My wife has developed a phobia for airports, have to drag her kicking and screaming :) and no fly sea cruising and Eurostar and Eurotunnel river cruising made for good starts to holidays and seemed the answer and we had many happy cruises.

 

She spotted the JSS advertised and said it looked as though it might also be helpful. Had no idea of what Celebrity was like or the ships but we booked for September 2017. Sadly they blotted their copybook with what I have previously described.

You do not say where in the UK you live but have you tried flying out of a small airport like East Midlands? A very different experience to flying out of Heathrow or Gatwick. Some one was recently described flying from a Cornish airport which sounded even easier. Perhaps it is worth checking out a small airport near you?

Unfortunately they closed our nearest airport at Manston, that was great to fly from though very limited where and with whom. Sadly now the nearest airport is Gatwick, though we have flown from Stanstead and Luton, but they are nearly as bad. Gatwick will be even worse if it gets expansion.:eek:

So this option of Stanstead with parking very close, fast check in and security, with lounges and extra leg room on the plane sounded wonderful and we are still looking forward to it very much.:)

Pity about the way Celebrity do their marketing so we will be looking now for sailings from a port very near to us or something special like business class air (which to some extent is what they have done with JSS) for future cruises, but not with Celebrity.:mad:

You do not say where in the UK you live but have you tried flying out of a small airport like East Midlands? A very different experience to flying out of Heathrow or Gatwick. Some one was recently described flying from a Cornish airport which sounded even easier. Perhaps it is worth checking out a small airport near you?

Agree, we avoid the London airports just to get to mainland Europe. Luckily, we do have several other options in our locality (it's different if long haul, but there again, we prefer flying from local airports to mainland Europe and picking up another flight from there instead of London). We also would not consider sailing from this country with a line such as P&O :eek: - we prefer an international mix on our cruises, but each to their own. After all, we all have our own needs and wants ;). A short flight to the Med from a local airport is ideal :).

The other advantage of JSS was that it was a package and when you are past 70 you don't like risk or having to worry about transport etc etc. Celebrity would take us from Stanstead, cruise and back with no worry about transfers or delays, they had to sort all that out!

A train journey into London and then on somewhere else or a long car journey and then parking is no way to go to get to other airports, JSS will be good, but had enough of Celebrity's marketing strategy. Pity could have been a good deal for both of us, now they will have another two places to fill a couple of times a year. And if they had no problems filling ships they would not be reducing prices a year before sailing.

I am quite happy with having Brits on a ship. At least they dress up for formal nights and probably do for chic nights too!

The other advantage of JSS was that it was a package and when you are past 70 you don't like risk or having to worry about transport etc etc. Celebrity would take us from Stanstead, cruise and back with no worry about transfers or delays, they had to sort all that out!

 

A train journey into London and then on somewhere else or a long car journey and then parking is no way to go to get to other airports, JSS will be good, but had enough of Celebrity's marketing strategy. Pity could have been a good deal for both of us, now they will have another two places to fill a couple of times a year. And if they had no problems filling ships they would not be reducing prices a year before sailing.

 

I am quite happy with having Brits on a ship. At least they dress up for formal nights and probably do for chic nights too!

Age probably does have something to do with it - one evolves and adapts throughout life ;). We'll look more at Azamara once our kids have flown the nest. However at this point in our lives, X is a good fit for us ;). As I said previously, we prefer an international mix rather than sailing a line solely for the British market, just our preference. We feel it definitely broadens our kids' cultural experiences. Additionally, knowing our luck, having to sail with a ship load of Brits in school holidays would undoubtedly result in us bumping into people we know :eek: - we go on holiday to escape all that. I recall one year 4 families in the same class all vacationing at the same resort, the same 2 weeks of the summer holidays - no thanks :mad:.

We still dress for dinner, and so do our boys. But I've also stated that I'd rather have a jester in jeans than a terrorist in a tux at my dinner table - my Mom's old saying comes to mind: fur coat and no knickers ... :eek: :D.

Btw, you will find the onboard experience totally different from that of the shoreside.