No More Flying

[AncientWanderer]

We are also in San Diego, and, yes, home port and Los Angeles cruises now get our first attention.  If we have to fly, we do all the workarounds that others have mentioned to make the whole thing less strenuous.  I'm glad we were able to see so many wonderful places before travel conditions changed so much!

[cruisemom42]

2 hours ago, Hawaiidan said:

If you plan in advance... almost anyone can afford it.  if you can afford a cruise you can afford  business. if you make it a priority... 

 

...and it's just not a priority for some. 

 

Sure, there are a few special deals out there, but most anytime I've looked at the kind of flights I take (long-haul, overseas) Business is 2-3 times more expensive than Coach, sometimes more. 

 

I'd rather bite the bullet, fly over a couple of days early and stay in a nice hotel for "recovery" purposes -- which takes a significantly smaller bite out of my travel budget AND lets me acclimate to my new time zone/climate while still being able to do a little light exploring.

 

I get that I am younger than a lot of the cruisers on this board, and maybe my mindset will change as I get older. But my parents were the same way -- don't think they ever, in their traveling life, flew anything other than Coach -- and they traveled internationally right up into their mid-80s.

 

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, Roz said:

If we could afford to fly business class we would be doing it already.

 

Roz

 

  I'm making this my unofficial signature line. 

[AncientWanderer]

Discussing air options...premium economy is on some airlines really great and well-priced.  Kind of the Signature Suites of air travel.

[mcrcruiser]

All great responses  .Whether you are able & willing to fly or not we wish every one wonderful cruises for the future👍

 

[DeeniEncinitas]

6 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

All great responses  .Whether you are able & willing to fly or not we wish every one wonderful cruises for the future👍

 

WHAT A WONDERFUL QUOTE!!!

cruising for ever!!!

That's our motto 👍👍

Denise😊

[Hawaiidan]

6 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

Surprisingly, people are intelligent enough to decide for themselves when and where to spend their vacation dollars.

One would hope so...   options are always good and ever changing as are we.

[Hawaiidan]

3 hours ago, AncientWanderer said:

Discussing air options...premium economy is on some airlines really great and well-priced.  Kind of the Signature Suites of air travel.

A HUGE word of caution.    There is no standard to what is "prem economy" with any airline....please research and compare you will be shocked.     On some airlines it s just a row of regular coach that the middle seat is blocked.    That is also European Business class....     Do your homework

[Hawaiidan]

4 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

...and it's just not a priority for some. 

 

Sure, there are a few special deals out there, but most anytime I've looked at the kind of flights I take (long-haul, overseas) Business is 2-3 times more expensive than Coach, sometimes more. 

 

I'd rather bite the bullet, fly over a couple of days early and stay in a nice hotel for "recovery" purposes -- which takes a significantly smaller bite out of my travel budget AND lets me acclimate to my new time zone/climate while still being able to do a little light exploring.

 

I get that I am younger than a lot of the cruisers on this board, and maybe my mindset will change as I get older. But my parents were the same way -- don't think they ever, in their traveling life, flew anything other than Coach -- and they traveled internationally right up into their mid-80s.

 

Your parents like mine had a depression era ideal......  Mine did too.     Age will affect your thinking...like a fine wine  it will open up new things.  Honestly  for a younger person... get into a FF program now at 55-60 even...  save  the miles for 10 years... build a war-chest.  Then when father time kicks you in the butt.....  you have an option.     Planning in the past for the future may open new doors...... like why pay coach when you  can fly Business for $10.00 !      Plan  Plan  Plan

[AncientWanderer]

5 minutes ago, Hawaiidan said:

A HUGE word of caution.    There is no standard to what is "prem economy" with any airline....please research and compare you will be shocked.     On some airlines it s just a row of regular coach that the middle seat is blocked.    That is also European Business class....     Do your homework

 

Absolutely correct.  There are no standards.  Research is essential.  We did have a great experience in premium economy on Air New Zealand.  Such a long flight and it was quite pleasant.

 

Also...you earlier mentioned health considerations.  Right you are.  Maybe in the old days one could get up, walk around in coach.  But those days are gone.  The aisles are too narrow and they leave the seatbelt light on more often so that meal and drink service can continue.  I personally can't healthfully sit in a coach seat for a long period of time.  There are probably many out there like me.

[cruisemom42]

1 minute ago, Hawaiidan said:

Your parents like mine had a depression era ideal......  Mine did too.     Age will affect your thinking...like a fine wine  it will open up new things.  Honestly  for a younger person... get into a FF program now at 55-60 even...  save  the miles for 10 years... build a war-chest.  Then when father time kicks you in the butt.....  you have an option.     Planning in the past for the future may open new doors...... like why pay coach when you  can fly Business for $10.00 !      Plan  Plan  Plan

 

No thanks -- I've seen airline points massively devalued over time, and airlines that no longer exist. I use up my points as I earn them. Besides, what if I waited to use them until I retire -- and then die a couple of years after 65, like my grandmother did?

 

I repeat, since you seem unable to understand -- NOT EVERYONE'S PRIORITIES ARE THE SAME AS YOURS. Let it sink in. There is nothing wrong with your priorities, you just shouldn't push them on anyone else.

 

It is my priority to travel as much as I can at what I consider a reasonable cost. I'm not talking hostels and backpacks, but also don't need suites or Business class. My enjoyment comes from other aspects of travel.

[Hawaiidan]

1 minute ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

Absolutely correct.  There are no standards.  Research is essential.  We did have a great experience in premium economy on Air New Zealand.  Such a long flight and it was quite pleasant.

 

Also...you earlier mentioned health considerations.  Right you are.  Maybe in the old days one could get up, walk around in coach.  But those days are gone.  The aisles are too narrow and they leave the seatbelt light on more often so that meal and drink service can continue.  I personally can't healthfully sit in a coach seat for a long period of time.  There are probably many out there like me.

I am one.....  The days of flying 12 hours in a bulkhead seat at 32.... would be impossible at 72     Plus internationa coach has shrunk to 30 to 31 inches pitch....

[Hawaiidan]

1 minute ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

No thanks -- I've seen airline points massively devalued over time, and airlines that no longer exist. I use up my points as I earn them. Besides, what if I waited to use them until I retire -- and then die a couple of years after 65, like my grandmother did?

 

I repeat, since you seem unable to understand -- NOT EVERYONE'S PRIORITIES ARE THE SAME AS YOURS. Let it sink in. There is nothing wrong with your priorities, you just shouldn't push them on anyone else.

 

It is my priority to travel as much as I can at what I consider a reasonable cost. I'm not talking hostels and backpacks, but also don't need suites or Business class. My enjoyment comes from other aspects of travel.

my only point  is to stimulate a person to think that maybe there are other options........ Yes things get devalued   but they still have a value that remains.     II just want to have people think  beyond today.  You still have choices... but more options.

[RuthC]

13 minutes ago, Hawaiidan said:

my only point  is to stimulate a person to think that maybe there are other options........

Which you make over and over and over and over again. Kindly give it a rest.
Most of us have not made it to this stage of life without learning a little something about finances and what makes us happy. If we haven't learned by now, we never will.

[DeeniEncinitas]

21 minutes ago, RuthC said:

Which you make over and over and over and over again. Kindly give it a rest.
Most of us have not made it to this stage of life without learning a little something about finances and what makes us happy. If we haven't learned by now, we never will.

Ruth you should hear him over on Oceania!!!

we hope he gives it a rest with Machu Picchu!! Love your Ruth you give good advise here and when your  it your over it.

Thank you

Denise😊

[Wayfairers]

We very rarely fly to a port.  The drive there is part of the trip....be it 12 hours to south FL or across country.  Doesn’t matter....why ride in a flying bus when you can drive and see things as you go.  For cruises leaving from across an ocean....no big deal just cruise over to the port rather than fly if we can st all.  

[Ineke]

We far prefer not flying  but sailing out of Vancouver or Seattle, but if that’s not possible we try to make sure we have a direct flight, which usually means driving to Seattle the day before, and spending the night there, and the same when we return.  But far less stressful to do it that way for us.

[mcrcruiser]

When talking about seat pitch , In the past we have found that the best airline is  Southwest for both seat pitch &  no fees for checked luggage . Thus ,if we did have to fly in the USA we use SouthWest airlines👍 .However ,we  are committing ourselves to using cruises from our local San Diego port or the Los Angeles area ,San Oedro port which we can easily drive to  & stay one night hotel  with free parking 👍

[Larry613]

Since the airlines (particularly the legacy airlines) and the TSA combined to make flying such a disagreeable experience out of what had once been the most elegant way to travel, I've taken only two flights in the last 15 years. These were a short flight on Qantas from Auckland to Sydney, followed by a Hawaiian airlines flight from Sydney to San Diego with a stop in Honolulu. We could have eliminated the Qantas flight, but that would have required a stop at either LAX or SFO which I would absolutely avoid.

We live in Tucson, AZ, and find that we have plenty of options within driving distance. In addition to San Diego and Los Angeles, we've also managed Houston (during it's brief time as a cruise port), staying overnight in El Paso, and again in San Antonio (which was very enjoyable) while en route.

DW has also taken a Med cruise with our daughter because I wouldn't fly to the east coast to embark. Greeting them when they got back to Tucson in Zombie-like condition solidified  my decision to drive or stay home!

[kangforpres]

Funny story about sailing without having to fly. The first time we cruised RT from San Francisco, (technically our home port) since we live 8 miles away in Oakland we forgot our passports!

 

Luckily a cabbie agreed to take DW back across the Bay Bridge to retrieve passports and race here back to SF cruise ship terminal. (There is a law in Bay Area forbidding such behavior, you're not suppose to take the same passenger back and forth across the Bay Bridge in a cab, one-way fares only)  She made it back in plenty of time but god we had this awful felling not being allowed to enter the SF Cruise Ship terminal because we just both plain forget to pack passports because we where sailing to start the trip and not flying first.

 

What if you drove same day as departure 3 hours to the embarkation port and forgot your passport! 

 

-Paul