Cruise Air packages

[dalgirl]

We booked a cruise with Celebrity in 2015 with the air package included (flying into Hong Kong and out of Shanghai). We have always made our own travel arrangements in the past. Can anyone share their experience with purchasing air as part of their cruise package? When were you notified about dates, airline(s) and seats? How many days pre/post cruise did you have if any? Were you satisfied with the experience?

 

thanks for any information you can provide!

[BEAV]

I've never booked a cruise/air package, however unless you specifically book a pre or post-night package your air arrangements are generally designed to arrive at your destination the day you board the ship. And consequently the day you disembark, you are booked on your flight home.

 

Generally speaking, once your air itinerary has been announced, and you have your airline booking number, you can usually go to the airline's website and select your seats. There may be some restrictions on advance seat selections, however, based on the type of fare you're on.

 

Finally, be prepared for quite an array of feedback on this subject. The experiences people have had will vary greatly!

[CarolRick]

Our last cruise (of 14), we used Celebrity's Air. We were leary but it worked out fine. It was for IAD to MIA and Santiago, Chile to Miami. The Celebrity Air was half the price we could find.

We received itinerary more than 30 days out and immediately booked seats with the airline. We did not do and pre or post cruise days, so do not know if that is available. It is available when you book Choice Air.

[Redtravel]

Booking with air may save you money. For that reason, you may let the cruise line book your air. If they allow you to use choice air, you will have options. If not, do they guarantee that you will arrive before the ship sails? Many land tour companies package tours with air. I have booked them many times. The arrangements may not be the most direct. However, they will get you there. Recently I did a land tour with included air. The tour company would have allowed us a fixed amount if we wanted to book on our own. I tried to book independently. Price was outrageous. I let the tour company book us. We had no say in the arrangements. We did have to change planes twice going and once on the return trip. Not what I would pick. It did work out. In traveling, I try keep an open mind.

[Tiggertastic]

We normally book our own however for new year 2013 we chose the flight inclusive. We were given the flight details just less than a year out and was given a reference that we could use to log into the airline so that we could select our own seats when they opened for selection. We were flown the day before so were also given the name of the hotel approximately 6 months prior to the trip. By booking with then and them selecting the flight etc it included all transfers. This meant that at the hotel the morning of the cruise, we went to a conference room to register where we were given a number, dropped our bags at a van outside and then waited for approximately 30 minutes for the number to be called, board a bus and go to the port.

 

It worked really well, ran smoothly. Although it was a hilton and a good hotel, if we had booked ourselves we would have picked something more nearer to shops or sights but as it was only 1 night we grabbed a cab to where we wanted to go.

 

Note that this was not the same as doing choice air where you can log onto their choice air website and select your flight. The inclusive we picked meant we took whatever flight they put us on.

 

We decided to do it this way so that if any delays etc happened it was up to celebrity to get us to the ship.

Edited January 8, 2014 by Tiggertastic

[RickT]

Is this using Choice Air or through your TA? The reason I ask is that Choice Air lets you choose your route and airline just as you would if booking tickets on your own.

[dalgirl]

Thanks everyone - we booked this through our TA so I think it will be Celebrity's staff booking flights. On our paperwork there is a separate line item for "Air Add-On" with a separate price breakdown. Looking online at my Celebrity booking, I don't see any mention about any air at all from Celebrity's standpoint, which is worrisome.

 

The TA said that Celebrity will "typically" ticket 30-35 days out, but it could take longer. And that we can contact the TA about 60 days out for possible "preliminary" arrangements. Since we normally book our own flights sometimes 9 months out depending on airfare deals, this makes me nervous.

 

Is it possible that we might know sooner? I can't even make a hotel reservation before knowing our flight schedule.

[BEAV]

I would suggest you read through this "sticky" thread that's posted over on the Cruise Air forum here on Cruise Critic. It will help to explain a little more how booking air through the cruise line works (the pros and cons).

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=530322

 

Airline inventory generally opens up 11 months in advance. If you're able to break down the price difference between booking cruise-only and cruise w/air included, then you compare the options of booking air on your own or not.

[RickT]

Something doesn't sound right. Perhaps it's due to your cruise being for 2015 but to my knowledge Celebrity doesn't offer that type of flight option any more and instead uses Choice Air (here is the link http://www.celebritycruises.com/genericHtmlTemplate.do?pagename=celebrity_choiceair) which can be booked at the same time you book your cruise (or as soon as airlines publish their flight schedules). As previously mentioned it allows you to select the travel dates and times (as well as specific airlines) that best suit your needs.

 

The Cruise Air sticky link that BEAV provides has some good information but it also contains (IMHO) a bit of misinformation in that it implies that all cruise air is consolidator type flights. My last 3 cruises have used choice air and have not been done using consolidator flights.

 

I suggest you contact your TA and specifically ask if your flights are being provided by Choice Air or someone else. Either way you need to find out the cost and once airfare is available for booking check the flights/costs yourself and decide if you are better off booking your own.

[dalgirl]

Thanks again for this information. We have already booked and paid deposits, etc. Air was 1380 RT which I thought good considering it is multi-city. But I will send an email to my TA to get more info on how it is booked and take a look at that thread.

[dalgirl]

According to my TA we have air through Celebrity. "as a UNIT price including your cabin and airfare cost."

 

And it may be only 30 days before leaving that we have our flights. For an over planner like myself this will be a slow torture if that is true.

[BEAV]

I get the feeling you think you're stuck with the arrangements as they are now and have to "live with it". Since your cruise is not until 2015, I can't imagine a circumstance where you can't alter your arrangements and just change your booking to cruise-only and handle your own airfare. Or is this some super, super deal combining air and cruise together that you know for sure will beat any other arrangements?

 

Have you tried doing a "mock" air fare booking in 2014 to get a handle on what air costs are separately? Although air prices aren't out yet for 2015, you can certainly check 2014 prices now and get an idea.

[TN Vol Fan]

We booked a cruise with Celebrity in 2015 with the air package included (flying into Hong Kong and out of Shanghai). We have always made our own travel arrangements in the past. Can anyone share their experience with purchasing air as part of their cruise package? When were you notified about dates, airline(s) and seats? How many days pre/post cruise did you have if any? Were you satisfied with the experience?

 

thanks for any information you can provide!

We did this itinerary in 2013 and used Choice Air because it allowed us to book our own hotels pre & post cruise as well as giving us about a $400 pp savings in the air fares. I checked the possible flights first and just told Choice Air how we wanted to come in and leave. I recall they accommodated all our requests except one and that just allowed us to stay an extra day in Hong Kong.

We really enjoyed the schedule and wished we could have stayed even longer pre cruise.

it was our first time in Asia and we had a ball!

[dalgirl]

I have my TA checking prices to see if it would be better to rebook without the air. I did do a mock booking on kayak for April 2014 -traveling on Korean air with 1 stop both ways saves around $200 a ticket, which is not to sneeze at since that can pay for hotel, etc. But if Celebrity plans to book us with no stops, then I would forget the money difference.

 

Should I expect a stop no matter which carrier I fly?

[Busman723]

I have friends who booked their tickets with Choice Air. They were booked on a 21 day cruise to the Caribbean this week. The ship waited 3 hours to depart because of the cold weather and waiting on Choice Air passengers. There were about 100 passengers who make the cruise because they were booked with Celebrity, others did not make it. Just some to think about.

[dalgirl]

OK - I checked out my reservation through Choce Air and it would not give me a price for Choice Air because we have the cruise/air package.

 

I have the option to cancel the air from my cruise (saving about $100 off the cruise only reservation) and that will open me up to making my own travel arrangements -

 

Should I cancel the included air and then start pricing out choice air and regular fares on my own? Pros/Cons???

[CathyCruises]

OK - I checked out my reservation through Choce Air and it would not give me a price for Choice Air because we have the cruise/air package.

 

I have the option to cancel the air from my cruise (saving about $100 off the cruise only reservation) and that will open me up to making my own travel arrangements -

 

Should I cancel the included air and then start pricing out choice air and regular fares on my own? Pros/Cons???

 

You can check the ChoiceAir prices without putting in your reservation number. Try that first, just click the tab. Also look at matrix dot itasoftware dot com and see what kinds of options come up.

 

I have found ChoiceAir to be great for one way flights but not all that competitive on r/t, and if you want to stay a few days beforehand you wouldn't have to worry about their guarantee.

[TN Vol Fan]

I have my TA checking prices to see if it would be better to rebook without the air. I did do a mock booking on kayak for April 2014 -traveling on Korean air with 1 stop both ways saves around $200 a ticket, which is not to sneeze at since that can pay for hotel, etc. But if Celebrity plans to book us with no stops, then I would forget the money difference.

 

Should I expect a stop no matter which carrier I fly?

Leaving out of Atlanta might get you a non stop but do you really want one? We flew to Chicago and then non stop to Hong Kong. It was a 17 hour flight! Returning, we went from Shanghai back to Chicago and it was 15 hours. I'd imagine from Atlanta a non stop would be even longer.

If you want the option of finding out what Choice Air would cost, you probably should cancel your X air package. I think Choice Air might give you a better rate than just $100 off the regular fares.

If you are looking for a great place to stay in Hong Kong (good price and nice venue), try the downtown YMCA Salisbury Hotel. Shanghai is amazing.

Good Luck.

[dalgirl]

I decided to drop the air package and book on my own. I only considered the package because one way fares are so expensive. I will go to my usual airline suspects and add in Choice Air and Matrix. I really feel better because now I know that I can go in a day or two early and maybe stay a day or so over in Shanghai. Our last trip to Copenhagen we flew through Chicago and missed our connection there (no surprise). If we hadn't built in a few extra days, we could have missed the cruise. Coming back we also missed our connection, but I don't worry that much about getting home:)

[dalgirl]

And thanks for the YMCA recommend - I have seen that posted at several places on the boards and it will be our first choice.

[BEAV]

I only considered the package because one way fares are so expensive.

 

I think you made a very wise choice. Just because you're flying into Shanghai and returning from Hong Kong (or vice versa!) doesn't mean you would have got socked paying high, one-way air fares. An itinerary like yours is what's called a round trip with "open jaw". On a long flight such as this, arriving a few days early to "recover" is worth it's weight in gold.

[atlgators]

We have had a similar experience... Booked our Feb. 2015 b2b to Australia/New Zealand with the advertised special air package. Our TA quoted Celebrity's air price for the open jaw Auckland/Sydney at around $2400. The more I thought about it, the more I was uncomfortable with the arrangements in that it did not allow any flexibility in booking or pre and post trip travel options. BTW, the fine print did state that this was a different arrangement than Choice Air. I did a mock booking with a round trip ATL/Sydney with an additional one way to Auckland that turned out to be definitely cheaper than the Celebrity's included price. Also, we had booked before the 123 promotion. So, with that in mind, we changed our reservation to exclude the air and added the 123. Your included air sounds like a better deal than we were quoted, so good luck. (ps. I worked in Paulding for many years. We're practically neighbors.)

[CathyCruises]

We did a 'special' one time, combo of business class air and a Sky Suite on Century. This was before I discovered Cruise Critic.

 

We were on a Med cruise that began in Barcelona; after I booked I realized I needed at least a day to explore Barcelona since I had never been there. I asked if we could fly in a day early, and they first denied me, then held me hostage; said the only way was if I booked their hotel, which was $500/night!!! What a ripoff! We got a tiny room overlooking the air conditioning units, in a hotel that was far from what I wanted to see. I'll never make that mistake again. Always book all segments on my own, love the flexibility.

[dodger1964]

I guess I'm not sure what some are saying about choice air not being flexible?

 

You have complete control (I think) to have them book whatever flight you want on any day.

 

Even if you book on your own, using the cheaper/non-refundable type tickets, you can't change those later (without penalties). So you are really locked into your original flights once booked, same as choice air.

 

I would guess you can even have choice air book "refundable" tickets with the airline, where you would be able to cancel/change later without penalties...of course those flights are ridiculously expensive.

[dalgirl]

We have had a similar experience... Booked our Feb. 2015 b2b to Australia/New Zealand with the advertised special air package. Our TA quoted Celebrity's air price for the open jaw Auckland/Sydney at around $2400. The more I thought about it, the more I was uncomfortable with the arrangements in that it did not allow any flexibility in booking or pre and post trip travel options. BTW, the fine print did state that this was a different arrangement than Choice Air. I did a mock booking with a round trip ATL/Sydney with an additional one way to Auckland that turned out to be definitely cheaper than the Celebrity's included price. Also, we had booked before the 123 promotion. So, with that in mind, we changed our reservation to exclude the air and added the 123. Your included air sounds like a better deal than we were quoted, so good luck. (ps. I worked in Paulding for many years. We're practically neighbors.)

 

We were lucky to get the same "perk" - prepaid gratuities - so it is a win for us. I have just worried about it. I am glad we dropped it and look forward to seeing Hong Kong and Shanghai on my own schedule. I also have to book tickets to Brazil this year - it is going to be a busy planning year for us this year, glad we only have 2 "easy" cruises in 2014!

 

If you worked in Paulding we are practically neighbors - but we are less than a mile in the county line - all of our activities, work, etc. are in Cobb/Atlanta - we only "live" in Paulding:)