? For those who book flights via Carnival

[Terre]

Debating on whether or not to book flights through Carnival. It's cheaper than booking on our own this time, but we're afraid of how late they make book our returning flight.

 

What has your experiences been (especially to and from Charlotte) letting Carnival book your flights?

[cocacola86]

We booked our flight from buf to fll, and I couldn't ask for a better experience, they make sure they find flight times that work before the cruise and after the cruise they make sure you have enough time to make your flight. For our trip to San Juan were using Carnival.

 

 

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[Colorado Kat]

We let Carnival book the flights for our European cruise this past May. (Much cheaper than booking on our own.)

 

Paid for 2 nights hotel both before and after cruise. When we finally got the flight info, they had booked us flying in only 1 day early. Said they could not change it. Kept the hotel fees for the second night, claiming that the hotel price had doubled.

 

Big mistake!

[dane225]

We booked our flights through Carnival this past March from Houston to Ft Lauderdale FL and had no problems both going and returning. We booked our flights again through Carnival to Seattle for our upcoming Alaska cruise.

[Terre]

Thanks for the replies. We're still debating...

 

Dane, you will LOVE Alaska!

[snowskier]

A person traveling with us booked return from Spain through Carnival last April. Fight was cancelled and unlike a real TA, Carnival told her too bad - figure it out yourself. After many hours in many different lines she finally got a flight home.

 

Yes it was cheaper and would have been fine if the flights went as scheduled but one glitch and it was miserable.

 

Unfortunately she was not an experienced traveler and didn't know credit card company and the travel insurance she purchased would have helped her.

 

Bottom line -Know that Carnival is selling a seat on a plane, nothing else. Understand what services you credit card company and travel insurance provide to avoid the mess she was in.

[Terre]

A person traveling with us booked return from Spain through Carnival last April. Fight was cancelled and unlike a real TA, Carnival told her too bad - figure it out yourself. After many hours in many different lines she finally got a flight home.

 

Yes it was cheaper and would have been fine if the flights went as scheduled but one glitch and it was miserable.

 

Unfortunately she was not an experienced traveler and didn't know credit card company and the travel insurance she purchased would have helped her.

 

Bottom line -Know that Carnival is selling a seat on a plane, nothing else. Understand what services you credit card company and travel insurance provide to avoid the mess she was in.

 

This is what we were afraid of; we like to pick our flight times and seats. Thank you for your reply.

[jks336]

Thanks for the replies. We're still debating...

 

Dane, you will LOVE Alaska!

 

 

I've rarely read good reviews from ppl who have let carnival book their flights. Remember, the airlines are NOT connected to carnival. airlines can and have delayed flights and/or cancelled them. I've never experienced as much as I have the last few years of flying anywhere, not just for cruising. For cruising, I book myself and fly the day before and stay at a hotel. we generally fly back the same day of return.

 

Again, this is mine and my friends personal choice. The one good thing by booking thru carnival is if anything delays your time to get on the ship. THEY will pay for you to catch up with it. you just miss out on the first day or two of your cruise, which would s*uck.

[dane225]

Dane, you will LOVE Alaska!

 

Thanks! We have been talking about going and decided our girls are now old enough to enjoy the scenery.

[DEL67]

We normally book our own flights because I like to have control over the schedule and prefer non-stop flights. However last year we booked Carnival air from NJ to Florida for our cruise out of Port Canaveral because we could not leave until the day of the cruise and doing so saved over $100 per person.

 

Going to Florida Carnival booked us on a 6;30 AM flight into Melbourne with a 40 minute layover in Altanta. We were 30 minutes late leaving Newark because a cabin attendant was late. We reached Atlanta 25 minutes before the scheduled departure of our connecting flight. We (and at least 10 others) raced to the gate which was in a different concourse, arriving about 10 minutes before the flight was due to depart. Then we waited 30 minutes for a missing pilot.

 

Returning they booked us on a 1 PM flight from Orlando through Chicago. We had no issues, but our travel time was 7 hours instead of 3.

 

Would I do it again for $200 savings? Possibly. However I spent several hours worrying about whether we would make the connection in Atlanta so I am not sure it was worth it

[Terre]

This is the kind of thing we were worried about. We like to pick our flight times and seats...which we ended up doing for our upcoming cruise.

 

Thanks everyone for your input, it has been very helpful!

[SkyMaster]

We've booked two years in a row for Med cruises,,once to Barcelona, and this year to Venice, Italy. EXCELLENT flights, and no problems on either booking. Yes, it was less expensive, and yes, it was comforting to know that Carnival would have taken care of us in case of a delayed, or cancelled flight.

 

"SKY"

[dolphin2012]

we used the carnival air for our sunshine cruise to europe this summer. The flights all were great and on time.. the only problem we had was similar to another post.. the pre-cruise room in barcelona never happened so we had to fly in the same day!! when we made our final payment the precruise room disappeared off our documents! after many many calls and being on hold they insisted that either we or the ta cancelled the room... i know we did not but by the time they called back the hotel we wanted was full... they kept our deposit for about four months for that room.. i had to call over and over ... also my daugther was on a separate flight (underage !!) when we got the first schedule.. it seems like the flight is no problem but they need to work on the reservation area.... i m. still mad we didnt get to see barcelona.... but we had a great cruise....

[ccruisequeen]

I'm hoping that the passengers who booked inspiration last night used Carnival. The LAX airport was shut down due to a gunman and flights into the city were delayed by a few hours. The ship finally left at 8:30pm (normally 5:30-6pm) I hope they made the ship safely.

 

 

[FireEater]

Sounds like a roll of the dice on what you get and when with no option to say no to that time frame they choose.

 

I am booked on an Alaska cruise next summer out of Seattle. Think for peace of mind, I will book our selfs to ensure we get what we want and not just accept what they force down us to save a buck or two. Plus to lose a day in an area you want to see due to carnival just deciding to book you a day later is unacceptable.

[Budget Queen]

Everybody is missing a very important point. Carnival is a booking agent ONLY. They have NO control over any flights and there is no guarantee you will make your ship. Read the fine print.

 

The biggest issue, is the tickets. Many times these are HIGHLY restrictive, can NOT be interlined. If a flight is canceled. delayed, you could be the last accommodated, meaning no flight getting you to the ship in time.

 

Last year- this came very true for several hundred people on a trans Atlantic I was on. I posted on the roll call for people to take advantage of the airlines waiving change fees, and to leave days earlier due to Sandy. Only one person did. Everyone else was "convinced" that "Carnival" would take care of them. ALL missed their cruise.

 

I suggest people go to the Cruise Air message board and read the sticky, along with asking any specific questions they may have. Very experience accurate posters available.

[CdrescherRBL152]

Debating on whether or not to book flights through Carnival. It's cheaper than booking on our own this time, but we're afraid of how late they make book our returning flight.

 

What has your experiences been (especially to and from Charlotte) letting Carnival book your flights?

 

For our first we booked flights thru Carnival. Never again. Nothing that went wrong was Carnival's fault but just feel better booking myself. They got us on a US Air flight out of Providence at 6:00 am. Flight pushed off on time however 30 min ground hold. Connecting flight at Charlotte delayed an hour an half. Got to Miami so late Carnival rep put us in a cab. On the ship just in time to go to life boat drill. By the time diner was finish we had been up for18 hours

 

 

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