UK to Med ports

[Elizanessie]

Hi everyone,

 

Have you flown from the UK to join a cruise on the Med...perhaps Malaga or Barcelona and can offer up tips on flights and transfers?

 

Please though do not name the Travel Agent you booked with as this is against CC guidlelines.

 

Did you have direct flights or did you have to change ?

[Clio1610]

Hi Liz,

 

I'll be doing just this in 6 days time, so will be happy to report back !!!

 

We are flying BA direct LHR to Malaga, staying overnight in Malaga, then joining Adventure of the Seas for our 1st Med Cruise - celebrating our 25th Annv and our DS's 14th B'day !!!

 

Will make notes !!!

[welshlady39]

we are going on adventure of the seas next sept so can not wait for our first cruise we r flyin from manchester please let us know how it goes if you are goin to rome are you doing it urself or on a ship tour have a great time

[jocap]

Normally we do it ourselves.....but decided to take up the cruise line's offer for Barcelona, in the snow of winter last year ( thought we'd be covered if we didn't make it, etc...)

Flight from Newcastle to Bcn? No problems....about 2 1/2 hours.

Ah...we can't get you a flight on sailing day....you'll have to come 2 days early (and pay for our specially arranged hotel, where you'll find a rep etc...Ah, well, let's have a look at Bcn....).

Oh, BTW- you change at Amsterdam.

It took us from 10am to 7pm Spanish time to do what should be a short hop.

Everything after that was good- taxi waiting, super hotel, eventual bus to the ship.

Returning...same infernal change at Amsterdam. We sat in Bcn, watching an Easyjet going to N/C, due there in less time than it was going to take us to Am. Had to pay for a hotel in N/C, as no trains would get us nearer that 50 miles from home.

Excellent cruise, by the way!!!:cool:

Jo.

[Toftwood]

We have sailed from Barcelona with NCL. We booked the flights independently and flew into BCN late morning and transferred straight to the ship. NCL were happy for us to use their ground transportation service even through we had not booked the flights through them.

 

It was all very efficient.

[Clio1610]

we are going on adventure of the seas next sept so can not wait for our first cruise we r flyin from manchester please let us know how it goes if you are goin to rome are you doing it urself or on a ship tour have a great time

 

Thanks Welshlady and yes one of our ports is Civitavechia for Rome and we are going to 'do it ourselves' Had some friends do this and they said it was very easy, so I will make notes and report back !!!

 

If you want me to take any specific photos or have questions just post here !!!

[jocap]

We have sailed from Barcelona with NCL. We booked the flights independently and flew into BCN late morning and transferred straight to the ship. NCL were happy for us to use their ground transportation service even through we had not booked the flights through them.

 

It was all very efficient.

Yes, it was NCL we sailed with....nothing wrong with the cruise- in fact, excellent....just the air arrangements.

Jo.

[gosport11]

You can also use the train, to a lot of ports in europe :):)

[Greghouseo]

Hi Liz,

 

I'll be doing just this in 6 days time, so will be happy to report back !!!

 

We are flying BA direct LHR to Malaga, staying overnight in Malaga, then joining Adventure of the Seas for our 1st Med Cruise - celebrating our 25th Annv and our DS's 14th B'day !!!

 

Will make notes !!!

 

Yes exactly what I am doing on Adventure of the Seas (apart from the fact I'm going from LGW) on 7th November.

Doing B2B

I know at Malaga it is easy to get a taxi but I'm doing a shared transfer both ways.

[upthewavey]

Hi everyone,

 

Have you flown from the UK to join a cruise on the Med...perhaps Malaga or Barcelona and can offer up tips on flights and transfers?

 

Please though do not name the Travel Agent you booked with as this is against CC guidlelines.

 

Did you have direct flights or did you have to change ?

We flew easyjet Newcastle to Barcelona this year for a rccl cruise. Taxi from airport to port €35, plenty of taxis available. Had to get flight a day early as it would have been too close to departure time. Flew home day of return approx 14:00, again taxi to airport no problems. Paid £30 to leave car at Newcastle airport for 8 days. All booked independently no problem.

[welshlady39]

had our flights from rccl today so happy flyin direct from manchester to malaga leavin at 645 so not bad at all coming home leavin malaga at 11.15 so really happy now just got ages to go :)

[Balloon Man]

Flew with BA to Istanbul then back from Athens earlier this year for a cruise with Seabourn. Got to see only the road from airport to docks in Istanbul because Seabourn would not let us move our booking forward to the previous day, even though the price was the same. At Christmas we are going up the Amazon with Princess (same family as Seabourn), flying initially to Miami. We know it is with BA; we know the flight number, but Princess say they can't give me a locator number so I can sort seats through BA's Exec Club.

[Lobbylin]

I usually book my own flight and then either arrange transfers or take a taxi.

 

Twice, I have done cruises with RCI from Barcelona, and getting to/from the port by taxi is very easy, so that is my preferred option. But I travelled with my mum earlier this year and she wanted to comfort of knowing we were using the ships arrangements... The only snag with this is that they booked us on a 1pm flight, but had us disembarking on a coach to the airport by 8.30am. Never again, that very long wait at the airport really is a real turn off after such a nice cruise!!!! We could easily have made the 11am flight, but were booked on the 1pm flight.

 

A word of caution for those disemabarking at Civitavechhia - there are very few taxis, so do book a transfer in advance, either privately or with the ship if you plan on disembarking here.

 

As always, people on CC have all the knowledge so ask in advance about what is available to make sure there are no hiccups.

 

Balloon Mans post reminded me of one other niggle - if you book your own flights you can do online check-in and choose your seats etc (if you book on a decent airline..) but if you book with the cruise-ship, you end up on a group booking so cannot do online check-in at all.

 

My preference is definitely for doing your own arrangements.:)

[Cazz]

I usually book my flights separately and travel a day or two before, which proved useful when my luggage didnt arrive once.

 

I have used cruise arrangements too, and will be doing this way on 13 Nov for a cruise from Malaga. Disappointed with the flight time though - 7am. I'll be travelling with my Mum (82) and Aunt (80) this time so thought it preferable to 'be taken care of', fingers crossed.

 

I've cruised from Genoa, flew Easyjet, airport bus to centre and had hotel nearby. Very easy to the port, a short taxi ride from most hotels, possibly walkable from the train station although the route is quite uneven so not so good will luggage.

 

For Venice flew to Marco Polo and got bus to terminus in P.Roma. Then a free bus from P.Roma to the ship - either port supplied or by cruise company. We walked with our luggage last year but wouldnt do it again!

 

Also cruised from Copenhagen and Stockholm, flew KLM via Schipol both times - but they are not med :)

[gooners1968]

We booked back in July for our first cruise-Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas from Barcelona in August 2011.

We rewquested flights with RCCL from Birmingham to Barcelona.When we got details last week they couldn't get us direct flights and wanted us to go Birmingham-Amsterdam-Barcelona! Not likely.........

 

Anyway our TA has got them changed to a direct flight from Heathrow,and at a cheaper price,after a lot of haggling(the TA originally said it would be £75 extra PP,where Heathrow was showing as cheaper on RCCL website).

 

Just another 10 months to wait now!!!

[Goldryder]

Not flown to a cruise at a Med port, but have flown back from Genoa after a cruise that ended in Savona (started in Singapore), and will be doing exactly the same flights again next April when home from Buenos Aires.

 

The flights were arranged by the cruise line since I do not have the required plastic to DIY flights.

 

I flew with BA (not the best choice but bearable) from Genoa to Gatwick, then onto Manchester.

 

A couple of pointers that could be useful to others flying to or from a cruise with a connection at Gatwick.

 

Make sure you have AT LEAST 3 hours layover time tween flights at Gatwick. Reason being is that they do not have gate screening facilities yet. So this entails getting off the incoming flight, walking down through baggage collection - though you DO NOT collect the luggage - then you go out into arrivals (ie NOT airside), up in a lift to the departures/check-in area, through check-in and into security as if you had just walked in off the street, once through security you then have to go get your connection flight...which is usually the same plane that you just flew in on :rolleyes:

 

Gatwick for connections is a dogs dinner, you get held up, you walk miles and you are treated as if you have not been security checked at the airport of departure - in my case Genoa. The airport is fine if that is your point of departure or arrival but connecting it is lousy. I did ask why there were no gate screening facilities as per other main gateway airports across Europe and was met with hostility...'this is Gatwick, we do things differently'. The security checking takes the longest of any airport I have ever used, they check your handluggage with sniffer patches for drugs, food etc, they pat you down, x-ray you, they x-ray bags etc too. The reason why it can take over an hour is that you are mixed up with people who have just checked in for their first flight.

 

It is ridiculous that an airport the size of Gatwick has no gate facilities...especially now that they are about to handle A380's. I hope I am not there when they have a couple of those plus the usual traffic on connections.

 

So a tip for everyone using Gatwick for connection flights....leave at least 3 hours minimum tween flights or you will definitely miss your connection.

[Single Cruiser]

Well don't get flights with NCL!! Booked what was believed to be direct flights from Manchester to Barcelona for next May.

 

It now appears they have me booked on in-direct flights via Amsterdam with KLM.

 

Outbound 5hrs! , return 9hrs!! Leaving Barcelona at 8AM, ship docks at 5AM.

 

Just about to cancel but looking elsewhere as its Sunday only direct from London airports!

[BristolGolfer]

Hi

 

Monarch fly Man - Bar

[Single Cruiser]

Hi

 

Monarch fly Man - Bar

 

Epic turn-around is on a Sunday. The only monarch flight I could find arrives after the ship has sailed. Any other day of the week is fine!

 

Only one I've found is Easyjet from Luton. Can you really rely on them ? So would have to fly the day before and stay in hotel in BCN.

 

Not sure what my rights are on cancelling. Apparently they did have direct ones but ran out. I booked in August and NCL repeatedly said flights hadn't been sorted yet, TA has been told all direct had been sold out before I booked!

[Greghouseo]

......

 

Anyway our TA has got them changed to a direct flight from Heathrow,and at a cheaper price,after a lot of haggling(the TA originally said it would be £75 extra PP,where Heathrow was showing as cheaper on RCCL website).

 

Just another 10 months to wait now!!!

 

Can't blame him for trying:eek:

 

One tip for the future.

Try to establish your flight details before booking.

I am not sure if there are any directs BHX - BCN on the dates that the Lib sails, but I may be wrong.

[tom_uk]

We've done Mediterranean fly-cruises four times, once from Genoa (MSC) and the other three times from Civitavecchia (Celebrity). We live in Sheffield and our nearest airports are Manchester and East Midlands.

 

On three of the fly-cruises we've used the cruise line air. To get to Genoa we flew from Manchester to Milan Malpensa and were then transferred, in an almost empty coach, to Genoa. I wouldn't have wanted to do that on our own, and the fact that it was our first cruise meant that we didn't really consider it.

 

When we did our first Celebrity cruise out of Civitavecchia we flew from Heathrow to Fiumicino with BA. We had decided that we definitely wanted a direct flight, and at that date (2006) the BA/Heathrow option seemed the best. From Fiumicino we took the Leonardo express up to Roma Termini where we switched to a coach from central Rome to the port - this was arranged by someone posting in the CC 'Celebrity Connections' group for that cruise. On the way back we got the train from Civ to Rome, then the Leonardo Express to Fiumicino. It was all cheap but a real hassle and very tiring, so for the following two Celebrity cruises we paid for cruise line air which included the transfers from Fiumicino to Civ & back. If we do another ex-Civitavecchia cruise we might stay in Rome for a few days first, and in that case we'd probably make our own arrangements, ideally from one of our local airports. Our thinking is that this would also give any missing bags the opportunity to catch up with us before the cruise. On our first Civ cruise we met a couple from Liverpool who had had to change flights in Paris and their bags hadn't made it. The cruise had reached Mykonos before they were reunited with them.

[Floflegs]

No chance of getting a direct flight to Barcelona or Venice from Glasgow. Flew to Barcelona via Amsterdam and to Venice via Gatwick where the first time they lost all our luggage!

[Single Cruiser]

No chance of getting a direct flight to Barcelona or Venice from Glasgow. Flew to Barcelona via Amsterdam and to Venice via Gatwick where the first time they lost all our luggage!

 

Ironically flying direct from Glasgow (albeit to Reus near Barcelona) was what NCL offered as available..

 

Agents have welcomed NCL’s launch of a 2011 schedule of regional flights to Copenhagen and Barcelona.

 

Cruise passengers will be able to fly direct from Newcastle, Gatwick and Belfast to cruises that depart Barcelona, and from Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham and Heathrow to its new 2011 departure port, Copenhagen.

 

NCL’s partnership with airline Jet2.com meant agents could already book guests on flights from Manchester and Edinburgh direct to Venice for Jade’s Eastern Mediterranean itineraries.

 

Now Thomas Cook will provide flights from Belfast, Glasgow, Newcastle and Gatwick to Barcelona’s Reus airport for western Mediterranean sailings on new ship Epic.

[peteukmcr]

Sailed out of Barcelona twice previously and will be again twice this year, 61 days to the first sailing, and again in Oct for a TA taking Liberty back to Fort Lauderdale.

 

We have direct flights from Manchester to Barcelona with Monarch which we've used before. If you want to take the chance of no delay, then the direct option is OK as it is scheduled to arrive in BCN at 11:20 and the return leaves at 12:20. The only other thing to consider is that this is the only flight Monarch offer each day, so any problems and you're in trouble.

 

Last year thanks to the Icelandic volcano we had to change plans at the last moment and travel by train.

 

This year the Monarch prices were and still are ridiculous so we chose Easyjet from Liverpool, but couldn't fly in on the day of sailing due to the late flight time.

 

However, now thanks to the threat of the strike by Spanish airport workers we've had to make alternative arrangements to get there by train. However, with much more notice this time we have got some cheap fares on Virgin, Eurostar, TGV and RENFE. The new TGV service to Figueres in Spain makes the journey so much more manageable.

 

We'll stay overnight in Paris and then set off on the train to Spain the next day and be in Barcelona in about 7 hours.

 

For the Oct sailing we've used RCI for flights as they could get a better price than we could for the one way fare back from FLL.

 

They did offer us KLM via Amsterdam to Barcelona or direct with Monarch. We chose the direct option but had to pay up front for the flights. We are flying in a day early to BCN.