Carnival's Fly Aweigh program??

[Csnorrco]

Has anyone booked their flight through Carnival's Fly Aweigh program? Does it save you any money...or should I book a flight on my own? Also, do you have the option of extending your vacation a few days...or do you have to fly out the same day your cruise returns? Any information/opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Ken076]

Has anyone booked their flight through Carnival's Fly Aweigh program? Does it save you any money...or should I book a flight on my own? Also, do you have the option of extending your vacation a few days...or do you have to fly out the same day your cruise returns? Any information/opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

This is the latest Fly Aweigh Program info

http://www.carnival.com/legal/fly-aweigh.ashx May 2012 .

Many report that they don't get their flight info until several weeks prior to sailaway and MNY report very close connections and/or very tight arrival at the destination airport. You can optionally book your own flight selections for added fee and added cost of the flights, but in this case you might as well book your own elsewhere. They may or may not hold the ship for enough latecomers, and they claim they'll get you to the next port if you miss the departure, but that could be several days of hassle out of your cruise and IMO not worth it.

IMO, if feasible, book your own flights and fly-in the day before.

ken

[chipq]

I have not seen a 'fly aweigh' program that had air fare as good as I am able to get on my own PLUS, I can book to my preference rather than the cruiseline. Next cruise we are arriving a week early and staying a day after. Less stress.

 

 

ChipQ. http://luv2cruise.blogspot.com

[golfadj]

This is the latest Fly Aweigh Program info

http://www.carnival.com/legal/fly-aweigh.ashx May 2012 .

Many report that they don't get their flight info until several weeks prior to sailaway and MNY report very close connections and/or very tight arrival at the destination airport. You can optionally book your own flight selections for added fee and added cost of the flights, but in this case you might as well book your own elsewhere. They may or may not hold the ship for enough latecomers, and they claim they'll get you to the next port if you miss the departure, but that could be several days of hassle out of your cruise and IMO not worth it.

 

IMO, if feasible, book your own flights and fly-in the day before.

 

ken

 

Good advise

[smac67]

Used the Fly Aweigh Program for our first cruise in April. Being new at this (and before finding this board) we did not know any better. I am sure I could do better pricewise on my own next time. Our arrival time into Miami was 2:10pm for a cruise that left at 4. We were pushing it and had to be about the last ones on the ship. We also did not get our actual flight info until about 2 weeks before the cruise, so that was a little disappointing. On a positive note, they booked us first class seats from Miami to Chicago on the way home!

[RWolver672]

It doesn't hurt to check prices through Carnival, then on your own. One cruise in 2001, it was actually cheaper to book through Carnival. At that time, we paid an additional $35 per person to fly in a day earlier and it was still cheaper than booking on our own. It has never been cheaper since then though.

 

When checking prices on your own, try flying in a day or two earlier to see if there is a greater price drop. We have found that by flying in on a Thursday for a weekend departure, we always save more than enough on the airline tickets to pay for the hotel.

[ManyMore]

Going through Carnival isn't generally cheaper and the flight times and connections and be HORRIBLE!! Stick with booking on your own and come in a day or so early.

[joepeka]

On our first couple of cruises, we used Carnival's airline reservations but (like someone else mentioned) we didn't know any better and it was just easier. On one of our cruises, CCL's airfare was actually cheaper than anything I could get on my own. However since then, we've rolled our own and gotten better pricing and avoided those stupid connections when flying cross country.

 

I've read on this board however, that for Europe cruises, CCL can usually do better on the airfares than booking your own. I don't know from personal experience if that's true, I've just seen it reported here.

[kyrisong1]

Especially now days with the delayed flights, overbooked flights and all the other things people encounter daily on air travel I always book my own, get there a day ahead and ENJOY the morning of arrival instead of mad rush, am I going to make it??? stuff that you read about.

I wouldn't use an agency at all to fly, I go to the source!!!

JMO, Carole

[tnsail]

There is a sticky posted on the cruise air section of the main board that you need to read .... It explains very well how you get the flights that you get when using cruise air or "fly aweigh" ...

 

Having said that, we have also heard that it is better to use Carnival on overseas (European sailings) or repo sailings because they can get better 1 way flight prices.... :confused:

 

Joey & Pat

[CrusinCyndi]

There is a sticky posted on the cruise air section of the main board that you need to read .... It explains very well how you get the flights that you get when using cruise air or "fly aweigh" ...

 

Having said that, we have also heard that it is better to use Carnival on overseas (European sailings) or repo sailings because they can get better 1 way flight prices.... :confused:

 

Joey & Pat

 

We are taking a trans-atlantic on another cruiseline next year and the price for their airfare is almost $1,000 cheaper than booking on our own. But that entails flying from Chicago to Denmark and then Miami back to Chicago. For anything domestic we always book our own flights.

[Csnorrco]

Thanks everyone!! Great Advice! I have always booked my own flights whenever I travel, but was wondering if there was any advantage to using the Fly Aweigh program. It looks like I will be booking on my own again this time. Hoping to Cruise in late August!

[songbird1329]

We had an absolutely horrible experience with Fly Aweigh.

 

1. Didn't get our flight information until two weeks before the cruise.

 

2. Flew down from NY to Miami on American Airlines, not my first choice if I'd booked on my own. Flight was overbooked, by the way, but thank goodness it didn't affect us.

 

3. We were very tightly scheduled. Landed in Miami, got our luggage and got on the bus. got to the Port of Miami and the bus stopped at the Glory to discharge passengers before taking us on to the Valor. We were literally the last people to board the ship. There is no "welcome aboard" photo of us, and we were in the middle of getting our sign and sail cards when the announcement came "muster drill in five minutes." We raced to our cabin to dump our carry on luggage and headed to muster drill. Not how I envisioned our arrival on the ship.

 

4. Our flight home was Jet Blue out of Ft. Lauderdale to NY, with a stopover in Raleigh. We were not given complete information about our flight home. Tried to print our boarding passes, and couldn't. No one on the ship was able to help. took a whole afternoon of our day at sea to unravel the mess and print the passes.

 

5. People we met on the flight home had a worse experience than we did. They sailed on the Glory. They actually missed the boat, and spent two days in Miami before being flown to the next port of call to join the ship.