Please HELP! Flying out of Venice after Med cruise

[bigeyeparrot]

Going on a Med cruise at the end of May and want to start looking at air options. Plan is to arrive the day before the cruise into Venice, spend the night and then board the ship the next day. However on the return trip we would prefer to leave the same day as the cruise end.

 

1. How much time should I leave for disembarking the ship and getting to the Venice airport? When looking online the latest flight I see leaving out of Venice is 12:40pm. Is that cutting it too close? I guess I won't mind spending another day in Venice after disembarktation, but last time we went on a Med cruise, we disembarked in Barcelona way early and by 8am we were off the ship and checked into the hotel we were staying in that night. I wonder if the disembarktation in Venice would start just as early.

 

2. If I am keen on leaving the same day, should I book thru the cruiseline and let them take care of getting me to the airport ontime or should I book my own? Which way is better for Med cruises? I'm crusing with RCL, btw, if that makes a difference, and we live Boston so that'll be the airport we fly in and out of .

 

Thanks in advance.:)

[PoohUnderstands]

12:40 seems very doable, but have you thought of adding an overnight just in case. Case in point was that fisherman's strike in Barcelona last fall where they kept the BOS from arriving at 7:00 and they finally pulled in around 5. Needless to say flying out was a nightmare even for those that purchased RCCL's air. If one hadn't, even with insurance, they were initially out around $1700 a couple to get home!!!! Therefore not only am I flying in a couple days early for my BOS cruise next September, I am staying one day after too!!! My flight leaves at 11:10 a.m.

 

I am sure you will be fine, but why end your wonderful Med. cruise by "worrying" if you will get on the flight in time!

 

Pooh

[critterchick]

If you have the time, stay a couple of days - Venice is a magical city, and just one day isn't enough to see the sights.

 

I think a 12:40 flight on the day out would be easy enough to make, but as Pooh said, anything could go wrong. The reason people on Brilliance had to shell out so much money to get home was that they were no-shows for their flights - if you call before & cancel, you can rebook (with penalties perhaps, but sometimes the airlines will work with you), but if you're just a no-show, your ticket is voided. Apparently the Brilliance purser had promised to call & cancel for them but did not follow through. The moral of that story is: carry an international-capable cell phone so that you can make the call yourself.