Baggage Allowence BA Gatwick to Rome

I may have posted this before but I am still confused. My Wife and I are travelling to Rome in October to pick up the Queen Victoria for a Med cruise to Southampton.

I noticed that the Air confirmation stated "1 piece of Luggage Max 23KG". I checked with Cunard and was told thats exactly correct and it must be able to fit into the overhead locker. I was flabbergasted. I double checked and asked if that meant no checked in baggage and the Cunard operative said yes only carry on luggage Sir.

I thought about cancelling at this point as theres no way you could carry 9 days of clothes, Tuxedos, shoes etc in some sort carry on bag. A second Cunard operative was unsure but thought that it meant 23KG checked in and whatever extra you might carry on. As Cunard operate this Cruise on a regular basis I thought the lack of information was shocking. Having just come back from the Far East 6kg overwight (my mistake) I dont want to get caught again.

Has anyone been on a BA flight to pick up the Queen Victoria and can you advise how the baggage allowance actually worked. Checked in baggage is a must for us but we will obviously need hand luggage for our tablets, mobiles medications etc. Cant believe the information I was given is correct

When we contacted Cunard and checked with BA you can take 1 23 kg hold bag and 1 23kg cabin bag and a hand bag or laptop bag, we are flying the same route in September.

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Your previous thread is here

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2587650

We travel on BA a bit and they have just introduced three level of Euro Traveller economy tickets. Here is what is quoted on their website.

Our short haul fares

Our fare structure gives you a choice of three economy fares when you fly in Euro Traveller: Basic, Plus and Plus Flex.

• Basic - Ideal when you want the lowest possible fare but still includes hand baggage.
  
• Plus - Includes checked baggage and allows for extra flexibility.
  
• Plus Flex - Perfect if your schedule is likely to change as this fare gives you the greatest flexibility.
  

So if Cunard have booked you a basic fare then you will only have cabin baggage, if its the Plus fare then you will get 23 kgs checked in and 23 kgs hand baggage.

We always choose to have our flight booked through our TA so it always a Plus fare and we usually have a few days in Rome before we join the ship, which is what we are doing at the end of September this year.

I would suggest that if you have the BA booking details then go to "Manage my booking" on the BA website and you can check the type of fare you have. If not then give BA a call and see if they can help.

Peter and Jenny

Thank you so much for your replies.

Yes the tier system is actually correct. I managed to get a reference number for our May Hamburg flight from a short Queen Mary cruise. Having put in the details our baggage is showing as I checked in bag max 23kg, 1 carry on bag max 23kg and an additional carry on bag of 23kg. I called BA and it was confirmed that our max allowance was 69kg. Crazy.

I havnt been able to check our October flight as Cunard could not provide a BA flight reference number..hmm. Part of the problem is that the Air Confirmation document is completely incorrect. It simply says 1 piece of baggage max 23kg. Its totally confusing and should be changed. I am guessing therefore that Cunard books everyone on the "plus" plan. Would be helpful if they stated that.

Online check in is after departure so I guess thats going to be fun trying to get internet etc. My Wife says we should give any Cruise with a flight element a miss and I am inclined to agree. We asked for a Gatwick return but got Heathrow. £360 to change flights which we declined . A lovely trek across London and train to the south coast. May give Cunard a miss after the October trip. So easy to deal with P&O. Roll on our Canaries and Fjords cruises with them later this year.

How do you plan to trek across London? You may find that the easiest way is to take a shuttle bus from Heathrow Airport to Gatwick Airport and then take the train from Gatwick. When I did it some years ago, I think the cost of the coach was £20.

Alternatively, depending where you are going on the South Coast, check to see if there are convenient coaches at Heathrow to take you there.

Thank you for the shuttle bus idea. We will look into that. We were going to to go tube to to Victoria then Train to south coast. Not fancying it with 2 suitcases. I guess the lesson learned is "no I wont book this Cruise unless you can get us on the return Gatwick flight" Is simply not good enough.to be told we will put you on "Gatwick preferred" and see how it goes. There are hundreds of cruises out there that dont have this level of hassle. We opted for Cruising over 30 years of long trek Far East holidays to cut down on stress levels. Not intending to reintroduce that now. Hop on and off at Southampton...Wonderful

It's probably too late now but if you are not happy with the flights offered when you book, you can book cruise only and arrange your own flights and transfers.

Hi hattie,

Never thought of that. Its an idea but think we will stick to no fly cruising for the time being until we are more familiar with matters. Certainly a drive to Southampton and park up is the easiest option. We were looking at a Dubai/ Singapore stopover cruise in the future so you you never know maybe we will give fly/cruises another go at some point (having said that I just remembered our October cruise is fly/cruise ahhhh) At least its Gatwick and a 45 minute ride home.