Would you book a cruise without a flight booked?

[dltaeg]

In the US we do it all the time, even for European cruises. But US booking rules are different from UK, so maybe cancellation penalties would be greater for you.

 

Do you have a special reason to sail from Texas (like friends or family to visit or special site to see)? If not, you might be better off leaving TX sailings to the locals who drive to port. I love Texas and Texans, but is not so convenient for flyers (not impossible, but less convenient); trust me, I’ve done it. IAH is a long drive from Galveston. Traffic can be bad. Ground transit options to Galveston are limited. And fog can be problematic. Florida is not immune to some of the above, but many more ground transit option as well as more cruise options.

 

A cruise from one of the South Florida ports might be a good choice. Lots of ships and itineraries. You can fly into MIA or FLL and get ground transit to either port. Tons of hotels and restaurants, etc.

 

Thanks for the advice. I don't mind to much where we go from but Orlando (Port caneveral) is the easiest for flights, Miami and Fort Ld with ok flights but they are 13hr with is a long flight with 3 small children. We would like to sail from Texas too as a few of the cruises go to Mexico but there are no direct flights fromt the UK and then the problems you mentioned above so I think we might give that one a miss for now.

[Keith1010]

Before we book a cruise we get an idea of flights.

 

If it is too difficult to get to a port of embarkation or disembarkation by flight then we wouldn't book the flight.

 

Once we know the flight options and if they look good to us then we would book the cruise first.

 

When I say knowing the options that might mean at looking at current flight schedules since the cruise might be so far into the future that flights are not listed for that time frame.

 

Keith

[Redrobo]

We book way in advance...2 years for our Symphony cruise. So yes...and flights still not available.

 

Haven't read all the responses but why don't you book refundable if you keeping the cruise depends on the flights.

 

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

 

It may help if you look at the responses, you would have noticed the OP is from UK and refundable deposits are not possible.

 

Thanks for the advice. I don't mind to much where we go from but Orlando (Port caneveral) is the easiest for flights, Miami and Fort Ld with ok flights but they are 13hr with is a long flight with 3 small children. We would like to sail from Texas too as a few of the cruises go to Mexico but there are no direct flights fromt the UK and then the problems you mentioned above so I think we might give that one a miss for now.

 

Have no idea where you are based but LHR to MIA is about eight and a half hours. A little more to FLL from LGW. About nine hours to Orlando

[tullers]

Its not the flights to Orlando that are the problem, its the flights to Texas, Fort Lt and Miami :confused:

Sounds to me that the real problem is not so much flights that you are worried about but non-stop transatlantic flights. Don't see how S. Florida would be any harder than Orlando. Many people use FLL & MIA interchangeably and there are plenty of flights in to Miami.

[knittinggirl]

 

Should I risk booking the cruise now or wait until the flights come out?

We almost always book first, and make independent air. We also do two pre-nights at the hotel we also book independently.

 

We didn't use to do this, but when Royal Caribbean did a "force night" on our trip into Boston, we found it so much less stressful, so we've done pre-nights ever since. Within the last few years, we stretched it to two pre-nights, with all the scary stories about the airlines.

[Aggiebuttercup]

Thanks for the advice. I don't mind to much where we go from but Orlando (Port caneveral) is the easiest for flights, Miami and Fort Ld with ok flights but they are 13hr with is a long flight with 3 small children. We would like to sail from Texas too as a few of the cruises go to Mexico but there are no direct flights fromt the UK and then the problems you mentioned above so I think we might give that one a miss for now.

 

Fog in Galveston is only an intermittent problem in the spring - January through March. It's not an issue the rest of the year. The international airport is an hour drive from Galveston, but there are taxis and shuttles.

 

What airport are you wanting to fly out of in the UK? There are lots of direct flights from England, although from Scotland and Wales it seems there are only connecting. I don't envy you the long flight with the kids...

[knittinggirl]

Am I missing something? This is a joke, right? Vegas to Galveston is a 22 hour drive... London to Rome is 3 hours less. London to Madrid is 4 hours less. London to Lisbon is about equal, but still less.

 

Your best choices are: HOU or IAH, both Houston. HOU is an hour from Galveston and IAH is two hours.

 

 

In a pinch, you can try DAL or DFW in Dallas. But that's probably six hours the way we drive to Galveston.

 

 

We usually drive to Austin. Spend the night, then drive to Galveston the next day. That's about 3-4 hours to Galveston.

[broberts]

Thanks for the advice. I don't mind to much where we go from but Orlando (Port caneveral) is the easiest for flights, Miami and Fort Ld with ok flights but they are 13hr with is a long flight with 3 small children. We would like to sail from Texas too as a few of the cruises go to Mexico but there are no direct flights fromt the UK and then the problems you mentioned above so I think we might give that one a miss for now.

 

Orlando (MCO) is about an hour from Port Canaveral. Flights are less than 1/2 hour shorter than MIA and FLL. Although, if budget permits one could work in a day or two at Disney World.

[FOXTROT]

We do all the time. We book cruises 2 years out. Will book our flights 6 - 8 weeks out. For international travel, we will start to look at flights 8 months out.

[SquishTheWhale]

You'll be totally fine! Although I'd probably go with one of the Florida ports as there's super regular flights from the UK, I'm not too sure about Texas. BA flies to FLL every day and the prices are reasonable too- we paid £380 each when I booked a little while ago. Orlando flights get pricier in the school holidays because of Disney etc. I'm not sure where you got the 13hr flight to MIA or FLL from- is that with a change? Virgin and BA both fly direct, I'm sure others do too. I wouldn't want to do a change with kiddies in tow, especially on the way back overnight.

 

The only time I've come across problems with booking the cruise before flights is with our MSC cruise which I helpfully booked out of Palermo Sicily which has very limited flights, but that was my own silly fault for not checking first!

[Lazirus65]

cruises booked in Jan 2019 from Miami, my flights from the UK are not booked yet but I have never had problems flying to Florida airports plenty of direct flights from London airports.

[INGODWETRUST]

Yes. I book my cruise first all the time. Usually I leave a day or two ahead of time. Also you can use the RCCL air flight service, AIR2SEA they can help you.:)

 

I've tried to get an idea on flights but can currently only book a flight to Orlando (from the UK). I ideally need to book the cruise soon as we need connecting rooms and I know these go quick but have no guarantee there will be any flights on the days we need them to anywhere other than Orlando.

 

Should I risk booking the cruise now or wait until the flights come out?

[PrincessBelle39]

I currently have a cruise booked but no flights. The cruise if flexible and I can move the date or cancel if necessary. The airfare is non-refundable, so if I book flights and then can't get what I need on the cruise, I'm stuck.