AirFare is killing us!

[frediver]

I just thought I would toss this out for comment.

As others have already said, airfare is becoming a major obstacle

to cruising. More so for those of us from the west coast.

I am wondering why Cruise lings do not offer more round trip

cruises ? If not an actual round trip of the ship then at least a

round trip to the port of embarkation with return air as part of the

package.

With return air to the embarkation point then passengers would be able

drive to one port or utilize a round trip airfare.

Perhaps I'm missing something but I think a round trip plan would improve

a cruise overall and open cruising to a wider market.

[CruiserBruce]

I just thought I would toss this out for comment.

As others have already said, airfare is becoming a major obstacle

to cruising. More so for those of us from the west coast.

I am wondering why Cruise lings do not offer more round trip

cruises ? If not an actual round trip of the ship then at least a

round trip to the port of embarkation with return air as part of the

package.

With return air to the embarkation point then passengers would be able

drive to one port or utilize a round trip airfare.

Perhaps I'm missing something but I think a round trip plan would improve

a cruise overall and open cruising to a wider market.

 

Ahhh, as far as I can see, most cruises are roundtrip. For example, the hundreds, if not thousands, of 7 and 10 day trips out of Ft Lauderdale and Miami each year. The hundreds of 7 day trips out of Seattle and Vancouver. Long cruises out of LA or San Diego to Hawaii and back.

 

Yes, there are some one way, other that repositioning cruises, like Seattle/Seward or Vancouver/Seward, but I doubt those are more than 1/3 of all cruises. People love those exotic trips that go from, for example, Sydney to Singapore. Or Florida to South America. Some cruises are very difficult roundtrips, like full transits of the Panama Canal.

[paul929207]

There are lots of round trip cruises. Most cruises originating in the US return to the first port at the end.

[rvsullivan]

And of course the cruise lines already offer air fare included in your trip if you want it! However, it certainly is not usually cheaper. No one has the leverage with the air carriers and as long as fuel costs are where they are, airfare is not likely to come down.

[Ashland]

I just thought I would toss this out for comment.

As others have already said, airfare is becoming a major obstacle

to cruising. More so for those of us from the west coast.

I am wondering why Cruise lings do not offer more round trip

cruises ? If not an actual round trip of the ship then at least a

round trip to the port of embarkation with return air as part of the

package.

With return air to the embarkation point then passengers would be able

drive to one port or utilize a round trip airfare.

Perhaps I'm missing something but I think a round trip plan would improve

a cruise overall and open cruising to a wider market.

Basically what you might be saying and what I continue to hope for is bring back an RCI ship to the west coast

[JanineM]

It's not the cruise line's fault that airfares are up ...

 

Most cruiselines do offer the opportunity to add air to your trip, but you're not going to get a great price break. It's all about economics ... there is no reason for an airline to give a cruiseline a break on a fare when planes are flying FULL. And it's going to get worse. I just heard on the news that flights though our home airport (Atlanta - also known as the busiest airport in the world) are expected to drop 2% this year. That means 2% fewer seats, which means an incremental increase in airfares.

[BruceMuzz]

I just thought I would toss this out for comment.

As others have already said, airfare is becoming a major obstacle

to cruising. More so for those of us from the west coast.

I am wondering why Cruise lings do not offer more round trip

cruises ? If not an actual round trip of the ship then at least a

round trip to the port of embarkation with return air as part of the

package.

With return air to the embarkation point then passengers would be able

drive to one port or utilize a round trip airfare.

Perhaps I'm missing something but I think a round trip plan would improve

a cruise overall and open cruising to a wider market.

 

You are missing something - You need to do more research.

The vast majority of cruises out of the USA are round trip already.

The Passenger Vessel Services Act requires it in most cases.

Cruise passengers who cannot afford to purchase open jaw airline tickets force the issue in most other cases. Cruise Lines will not offer a one-way trip unless we are guaranteed to fill the ship EVERY time.

 

The airlines are in direct competition with the cruise lines. Why would the airlines want to give a discount to their competitors? That makes no sense.

[Zach1213]

And of course the cruise lines already offer air fare included in your trip if you want it! However, it certainly is not usually cheaper. No one has the leverage with the air carriers and as long as fuel costs are where they are, airfare is not likely to come down.

 

It's not just cost of fuel. Fuel is just a small part of what goes in to a fare. The airlines have tons of employees doing anything from flying the planes to cleaning them, and they all need to get paid, and like the rest of us, they would like to get a cost of living increase...which many of them do get. Taxes keep going up, which impacts the taxes you pay on your ticket (not something the airline necesarilly keeps, but you still pay it). People want, and the airlines need, new planes, which are not cheap. A new 737-800 is around $80 million, give or take, and people want to spend $120 to fly it across the country. That math doesn't bode well for the airlines. And international wise, a new 777-300ER can run around $300 million...each.

 

Fuel is just a small part of what goes in to today's airfare. Fuel may or may not be going up (it isn't right now), but everything else sure as heck is.

[euro cruiser]

I think the OP is looking for cruises that leave from the West coast and end elsewhere, with one-way air back to the embarkation point.

 

The only ones I know of that do this are Panama Canal cruises, which require a significant time commitment.

 

HAL offers 17-day San Francisco - Ft. Lauderdale cruises or 14-day San Diego to Ft. Lauderdale.

 

Right now, a one-way flight from FLL to San Diego is less than $200 in February 2013.

[maureencruiser]

Yeah, I hope OP comes back to clarify what he is saying. I think you're right, he lives in CA? and cruises out of FL? and wants airfare back to CA?? Very confusing. If that is what youre looking for, OP, be aware that sometimes its cheaper to book RT airfare and just not use the return ticket, youd have to search around. I assumed there were plenty of RT cruises being offered out of CA??

[frediver]

Sorry 4 the confusion. I wonder why more cruises

are not offered as round trips to the port of embarkation.

Consider a cruise from Honolulu to Sydney, should the

Cruise Line sell the fare with air back to Honolulu as

part of the trip? Doing this would enable a round trip

from Honolulu to your home town eliminating open ended

flights or wasting one leg.

[fleckle]

You are missing something - You need to do more research.

The vast majority of cruises out of the USA are round trip already.

The Passenger Vessel Services Act requires it in most cases.

Cruise passengers who cannot afford to purchase open jaw airline tickets force the issue in most other cases. Cruise Lines will not offer a one-way trip unless we are guaranteed to fill the ship EVERY time.........

...... or unless it is a repositioning cruise where the cruise line needs to move the ship to a new location regardless.

Many great deals on cruise prices are found on some of the repositioning cruises.

 

Sometimes the low cruise fare even compensates for the high air fare.

[NoobCruise]

I just thought I would toss this out for comment.

As others have already said, airfare is becoming a major obstacle

to cruising. More so for those of us from the west coast.

I am wondering why Cruise lings do not offer more round trip

cruises ? If not an actual round trip of the ship then at least a

round trip to the port of embarkation with return air as part of the

package.

With return air to the embarkation point then passengers would be able

drive to one port or utilize a round trip airfare.

Perhaps I'm missing something but I think a round trip plan would improve

a cruise overall and open cruising to a wider market.

 

There are lots of round trip cruises and you can get round trip airfare with it, though you can usually find it cheaper if you search on your own. Flying is just downright expensive now because everything else is so expensive. Why would you think the cruise companies could fly you cheaper than the airlines? Planes fly full so they aren't going to sell cheaper in bulk to the cruise lines.

 

You know Princess sails out SF round trips don't you? They have cruises to Baja, Mexico and the Mexican Riviera, Hawaii, Pacific Coastal that go clear up to Vancouver and back, and in the summer they go to Alaska round trip.

 

Anything that sails to the Caribbean is going to be expensive for us West Coasters because flying is so expensive.

 

You might also check out cruises out of Long Beach, LA, and San Diego. Driving down there the day before would be cheaper than airfare to the east coast. We have limited destinations, but we do have options that don't require flying.

[ab0si]

Sorry 4 the confusion. I wonder why more cruises

are not offered as round trips to the port of embarkation.

Consider a cruise from Honolulu to Sydney, should the

Cruise Line sell the fare with air back to Honolulu as

part of the trip? Doing this would enable a round trip

from Honolulu to your home town eliminating open ended

flights or wasting one leg.

 

Using your example, I found one way fares at 50%-60% of the round trip fare. So, I don't understand the problem.

[celle]

Sorry 4 the confusion. I wonder why more cruises

are not offered as round trips to the port of embarkation.

Consider a cruise from Honolulu to Sydney, should the

Cruise Line sell the fare with air back to Honolulu as

part of the trip? Doing this would enable a round trip

from Honolulu to your home town eliminating open ended

flights or wasting one leg.

 

Because there's no such thing as a free lunch. As long as the cruise lines are filling the ships sufficiently to make a profit, there is no incentive for them to give away an air fare. They already offer to book you a flight back to Honolulu, if you pay for it.

 

A ship sailing from Honolulu to Sydney is doing so because it will be about to start a season cruising out of Sydney. The return trip, Sydney to Honolulu will happen several months later.

 

As I live in New Zealand, I almost always have to factor in huge air fares, unless I want to cruise endlessly between NZ and Australia.

[frediver]

OK I guess there is no way to make booking any easier than it already is.

[LHT28]

Sorry 4 the confusion. I wonder why more cruises

are not offered as round trips to the port of embarkation.

Consider a cruise from Honolulu to Sydney, should the

Cruise Line sell the fare with air back to Honolulu as

part of the trip? Doing this would enable a round trip

from Honolulu to your home town eliminating open ended

flights or wasting one leg.

Have you tried booking an open jaw ticket

 

multi city on the airline website ...no need to buy R/T tickets

 

LAX to HNL then SYN to LAX or whatever city pairs work for you

 

Check the routes @ http://matrix.itasoftware.com/

[n0w0rn3v3r]

Exactly the reason we have been waiting for the FLL to SEA Panama Canal trip in 04/14 on Holland America.

I don't even want to have to travel to SEA from Vancouver.