Cruise air or not?

[macgirl]

Another question on our upcoming cruise. So far we've opted for RCCL to make our air arrangements. The price is much better than anything we could get on our own, by at least $350 per person if not more.

 

I know they get to pick the airline and connections. I wouldn't mind some feedback from those of you who have gone with cruise air arrangements.

 

Last time we booked Air Canada Vacations (I'm in Canada). We had Air Canada do our flight arrangements, and it was great, but expensive, which is one of the reasons why we are considering RCCL this time.

 

The other thing was this - when we got to Miami, there was an RCCL desk all set up with this beautiful friendly rep in her RCCL garb - it was a sight for sore eyes. What we didn't realize was that because we didn't book our air arrangements with RCCL, we had to take a different bus to the pier - and it was brutal. The RCCL bus looked so clean and nice. We were stuck taking this ratty run down bus to the pier and making about 5 stops to different hotels and stuff along the way. I assume had we been with RCCL, we would have just taken the bus directly to the Pier - correct?

 

Any opinions/feedback would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!

[wrp96]

I've had good and bad experiences with cruise line air.

 

I'd say if the difference is that much, then you might go ahead and pay the $50 custom air fee so you also get to choose your own flights.

 

However, depending on when you are cruising, before going ahead and booking with custom air, I would keep looking to see if you can get cheaper flights on your own and then cancel the cruise air if you do.

 

I've used cruise air for my 1st 3 cruises and have always traveled day of cruise. The 1st cruise we had no problems with the flights, they got us there with plenty of time and they were the flights we would've booked on our own. My 2nd cruise the flight times were good but they booked us into Ft. Lauderdale and out of Miami which meant we were singled out for extra searches because we were traveling on one way tickets. My last cruise they forgot to book my airplane tickets which resulted in me also not getting any documents. It wasn't sorted out until the night before the cruise. On the way there, I again had the flights I would've chosen and got there with plenty of time. On the way home, they booked me for too early a flight (probably because it was all that was left with only a couple of days before the cruise) and I missed the flight. I was able to get on a later flight, but only with the help of a rep from AA. The RCI rep was "too busy" to help me rebook my flights home.

 

The airport to pier transfers are nice ,but you frequently have to wait for the next one to come, so don't book cruiseline air just to get those transfers. Also, you can book transfers without doing cruise line air.

[phantom728]

We tend to book our air separate because we travel in the winter and are leary of the weather living in northeast PA. When we went in January this past year it was a good thing because we would have missed our ship because we got a big snowstorm. Luckily we flew out the day before and avoided the headache that others we met went through. That is the only thing to consider depending on when you're cruising. If you want to book the air through the cruise and fly out the day before, they charge an additional $50.

We book our cruise through a travel agent and then we provide her with our flight information we booked and take out the travel insurance through them, this way both are covered, along with our hotel.

 

My in-laws have used the cruise air and found it was fine in the better weather season.

No right or wrong option here.

[beachbm213]

Do lots of research! What we more or less found was cruise air being good bad or just plain ugly really seemed to depend on WHERE you were flying out of. Several years ago flying out of Pgh, cruise air was the better deal and safe. THE one and only time we paid the extra to pick our flights? We were on the SAME flights as everyone else from our area. Lately we have booked our own air since cruise air seems to have gone up but we also prefer to go a day before.

I do NOT like the cruiseline transfers-takes too long IMO and I hate waiting for the buses to fill though it can also be a good time. I much prefer paying the extra for a taxi-especially leaving the ship as you will usually beat the crowd to the airport. Last cruise we were through security and had drinks and food at a restaurant LONG before our fellow cruisers who took the transfers arrived and said they stood in line for 2 hours.

Good luck!

Mar

[TrentS]

Most of the time you'll get odd flight times and very strange connections when you let the cruise line book the air... BUT WHATEVER YOU DO, MAKE SURE YOU FLY IN AT LEAST ONE DAY BEFORE YOUR CRUISE!

 

Never fly in on the day of your cruise, there are too many flight delays, weather problems, mechanical problems, missed connections, delayed baggage, etc. If you fly in early you can allow for those delays, and be able to get onboard by noon, well rested, and able to fully enjoy that first day onboard that you have paid for.

[kenandlaura06]

If the price is that much better, I say go for it. Cruise air for us was $300 more per person than what we paid on our own.

[lindajmac]

we always book our own air and fly down the day before! No stress and alot less money. Last January we flew down on our own the day before and like this January paid $160.00 for a round trip non stop flight, and our friends who booked their air with rccl paid over $300.00 each for flights with stops. Just be sure to go the day before...

Have fun,

Linda

[Giorgi-one]

Is is that much more expensive to fly to Miami from Canada? You indicated that RCCL was $350 less per person. I never pay more than $200 total for flights to Miami. Not a criticism just a question.

 

I totally agree with everyone who said to fly one day earlier. The cruise line does not guarantee your flight. If you have a problem, they MAY CHOOSE to get you on a flight to meet the ship at the next port, but your vacation is already ruined. More common is that you bags don't get there in time to make the ship. You have two choices; 1) go on the cruise and hope that your bags show up later at one of the ports , or 2) Skip the cruise - no refunds unless you have insurance which still may not refund your cruise fare since they give you a few hundred dollars to buy new clothes. I have met people on many cruises who had one or more bags missing. It happed to my wife the only time we used cruise air and flew the same day. Her clothes showed up three days later at our second port of call but only because someone on the ship tracked the bags down and arranged for delivery. My guess is that this is not the norm.

[mtchg]

Always book your own, and always go in a day earlier.

 

Mitch

[macgirl]

I just did another check on flights. From Ottawa - Ft. Lauderdale on Air Canada it comes to about $1300 CAD (cheap flights outbound, but coming back is almost completely sold out for the entire day).

 

 

I did an Expedia check, and the cheapest flights are between $575 -$700 (not including 15% tax). RCCL quoted $400 inlcuding tax.

 

 

Our last cruise we flew in the day of and were fine. I know everyone says not to do this, but that's out plan for now. Maybe it will change over the next few months.

 

 

Thanks.

[TrentS]

macgirl, you're playing with fire by flying in on the day of your cruise... Sooner or later, you're going to get burned, BAD :(

 

Some things are just worth paying a little bit more for.

[awm]

I booked our air thru RCI. Of course you don't know ANYTHING about the flight until you get your Docs.

Well, we'll be getting up at 3AM to catch our flight :eek: which goes in the opposite direction to Atlanta :eek: where we get to wait and wait and then catch a different plane to Boston.:eek:

Of course you cannot change the flight unless you pay a penalty which in our case was over $600!

You get what you pay for I guess. Next time, I'm booking the air myself!:mad:

[TrentS]

That's a very typical scenario when you let the cruise line book your flights awm. :( They wait until usually about 45 days before your cruise to book them, then they take whatever is left and is cheapest. Many many times it's not pretty. Even if it's more expensive to book yourself it's well worth it IMO.

[Dihead]

wow! i booked air thru RCCL cause it was cheaper flying out of canada as well...im starting to reconsider... :(

[RickT]

Hi macgirl, you don't say where you are living which may help answer some questions. I'm in Ottawa and have used RCCLs flights as well as booked my own. Since there are a number of US airlines flying out of Ottawa there is a good chance they will get booked on them. Your airport may not have many US airlines so you could be lucky. I have however flown Air Canada (lucky I guess) when getting air from RCCL. I've just booked my March cruise and am using RCCLs air since it's a lot cheaper than I can currently find. Another nice feature is that you can cancel the airfare up until final payment is due if you find a better deal.

 

Regarding the comments about flying in a day early, in a perfect world that's what I like to do but I can't always do so. So far I've never missed a ship or even come close.

 

Don't forget that even if you book your own flight you can still book the RCCL shuttle. Pay attention though as often a cab is cheaper...

 

The comment about custom air is also good. I'll be contacting RCCL to request some specific Air Canada flights a little closer to my cruise date.

 

 

To Giorgi-one, flying in Canada is not cheap, especially to Florida in the winter. Current prices for March range from mid $400 (cdn) to over $900 depending on exact departure dates.

[kybill]

Our TA always picks our flights and times then books them through RCCL. The price is almost always as good as I get by doing it seperately. We like the cruise line to have some responsiblity in our transportation, they will hold ships if needed. We general have a pre and a post stay so it isn't as important as it used to be.

 

Bill

[TrentS]

Oh don't count on them holding the ship, they'll only do that if there are a large number of people who are late, and then usually only for a couple hours at the most.

 

As far as flying in at least a day early, that's just something you need to automatically figure into your vacation plans... Flight delays are becomming almost "normal", especially when flying in and out of South Florida as I do frequently. It's almost shocking when something's on time and the luggage is there! Winter is even worse, far far worse! :(

[texancruzer]

I'm not even going to bore you with our details.... but I WILL NEVER USE RCL AIR AGAIN..... I learned an expensive lesson (non-refundable fees !!!!) BIG MESS.

 

Now I have booked direct thru American for same price - and exact times we want with only 1 connection (unavoidable from where we live).

[kenandlaura06]

I booked our air thru RCI. Of course you don't know ANYTHING about the flight until you get your Docs.

Well, we'll be getting up at 3AM to catch our flight :eek: which goes in the opposite direction to Atlanta :eek: where we get to wait and wait and then catch a different plane to Boston.:eek:

Of course you cannot change the flight unless you pay a penalty which in our case was over $600!

You get what you pay for I guess. Next time, I'm booking the air myself!:mad:

 

That is awful!

 

That reminds me of the flight from Boston to Miami that I found...it had a connection in Los Angeles!!! Yeah, that makes sense!:rolleyes:

[justaknucklehead]

For our first cruise, I booked cruise air. Never again. We spent over 20 hours in the air and in layovers on our way home for a two hour flight. And we paid triple what it would have cost me to book my own. We learned the hard way.

[GucciGal]

We do cruise air,even though it was usually a little more. However,for next year,we got a great deal with cruise air out of Wilkes Barre,PA,which is a small airport.RT airfare to Orlando is less than 200 a person. Usually we have to fly out of Philly,a two hour drive.

[aquawater]

I fly out of Montreal and taking any cruise line out of Florida we book our own air. Reasons not to take thier air 1) you wait at the airport for 2 hours for bus (if you take a taxi you would be in your room and having lunch). 2) They fly you into Ft. Lauderdale and bus you to Miami !!! and in conjunction with that on an old bus with no air conditioning - everyone like to travel with 60 sweaty people with hair blowing in the wind! 3) I don't know how RCCL gave such a great deal on Air price. I would check and make sure the price was all in the same currency! It isn't that much of a price difference. I would book air with them and keep price checking on Air Canada's web site every week for seat sales.

[TheWog]

I would book on my own, but then again, I have always been able to get much better fares. You may want to pay for the custom option just so you can choose the flights and still save money.

[macgirl]

To be honest I wouldn't worry too much about it. From all the bookings I've done with Royal Caribbean directly with cruise and air I've never seen a really horrible flight schedule.

 

The cruiselines block space early on with all the major carriers from the gateway cities (i.e ottawa to where the cruise sails from). For example if I looked now at booking air seperately the air to go and come back same day as cruise, will show as being pretty booked up due to the cruiselines blocking many seats. They are very good about sending out hte air sched 3-4 weeks in advance.

 

If ever you'd like to pick your flight you can at $77CAD per person plus any additional fees if applicable. I do this through Royal Caribbean Air deviation department.

[LilRhody]

I've done cruise air once and probably won't do it again. Everyone who was on our cruise wound up in uncomfortable center seats on each leg of our flight (and yes, we had 3 legs for some reason). I much prefer to book my own flights (going out a day early) and choose my own seats.