First Time Overseas Cruising

[mpsrtpsi]

Hey Cruisers:

My DW wants to do a cruise out of Southampton UK when this mess is over. We will be getting the flight and transfer arrangement through RCG.

 

Question: Has any US citizen had RCG arrange the flight and transfer to the ship? We are looking for some insight as to the fine details. It will be her first overseas flight too. Being retired military, I am use to time zone changes.

[CruiserBruce]

"RCG"? I assume that is a travel agency? Keep in mind, we can't discuss travel agencies  by name. 

 

Do you have specific questions? If you do book flight, transfer and hotel thru the cruise line or a travel agency,  you usually receive written itinerary with directions on where to be, when.

 

The provider will book all these items...there can be many variables...flight selection might be available  to you (which you should use, if possible), or the provider might just book the cheapest seats they can get, which may mean less convenience for you, but a good price. Hotels can be luxury, or middle of the road. Usually in good tourist locations, but occasionally not.

 

Try to fly in a couple days in advance,  to tour, and get over jet lag.

[capriccio]

Taking a wild guess that RCG stands for Royal Caribbean (its not an acronym I'm familiar with 😀), it would be best to ask this question on the Royal Caribbean forum:  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/51-royal-caribbean-international/

 

If that's not the case, sorry.

[Philob]

One piece of advise that you'll frequently see here:

 

"If possible try to get to your cruise port at least one or two days prior to your cruise departure."

 

This allows for any SNAFUs for the flight over and in some cases for your luggage to catch up 😎

 

 

[mpsrtpsi]

RCG is the moniker for Royal Caribbean Group. 😄

[ColeThornton]

OP, this will most likely be moved to the RCL forum.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/51-royal-caribbean-international/

Edited November 4, 2020 by ColeThornton

[capriccio]

3 minutes ago, mpsrtpsi said:

RCG is the moniker for Royal Caribbean Group. 😄

 

Cruise Critic forums are by cruise line not cruise company so chose the line(s) you are interested in on the home page:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/

 

and post your question on the applicable forum.

[mpsrtpsi]

WOW

I just asked for a little bit of information so I could give my DW so sort of comfort. Then the cruise police come out of the woodwork. 

 

For those who like that sort of thing move along and let the moderators handle it.

[capriccio]

Goodness if that was directed at me that certainly wasn't my intention!  Recognizing the other posters, I don't think it was theirs either.

 

People try to help each other out on these boards.  You didn't provide enough information in your original post to provide much assistance so we asked for more and directed you to other boards that could help you with your inquiry.

 

Good luck and happy sailing!

Edited November 4, 2020 by capriccio

[mpsrtpsi]

46 minutes ago, Philob said:

One piece of advise that you'll frequently see here:

 

"If possible try to get to your cruise port at least one or two days prior to your cruise departure."

 

This allows for any SNAFUs for the flight over and in some cases for your luggage to catch up 😎

 

 

Thanks will do

[ColeThornton]

1 minute ago, capriccio said:

Goodness if that was directed at me that certainly wasn't my intention!  Recognizing the other posters, I don't think it was theirs either.

 

People try to help each other out on these boards.  You didn't provide enough information in your original post to provide much assistance so we asked for more and directed your to other boards that could help you with your inquiry.

 

Good luck and happy sailing!

 

Yea, I'm not seeing anything other than people trying to be helpful.  

 

~ shrug ~

[sail7seas]

44 minutes ago, mpsrtpsi said:

RCG is the moniker for Royal Caribbean Group. 😄                       (no need to laugh at us)

It seems too much to think we all know what every abbreviation in this whole world stands for... Please, write it out.   I have sailed over 100 cruises and only one on Royal  Caribbean(we chose to never return) and  I  have no clue  about that cruise line now....

 

Please do not laugh at me for not knowing  Every abbreviation.      

 

 

 

Edited November 4, 2020 by sail7seas

[SelectSys]

21 minutes ago, mpsrtpsi said:

Thanks will do

 

In addition to getting in earlier, you will need to decide how you want to get to the cruise port and where to stay in advance of your cruise.  Most people coming early stay somewhere in London - especially on a first trip.

 

Southampton has many options for transport.  This ranges from private car transport, to the train as well as the bus.  The bus is  the cheapest and the private car will obviously the most expensive.  Another factor to consider in selecting your transportation is is how much luggage you have.  Public transportation invariably requires handling baggage.

 

Leaving the cruise also requires planning for transportation to your next destination.  It's best to plan ahead although last minute transportation options can always be found at a price.

 

Tons of information on these topics in the boards at large.

[mpsrtpsi]

2 minutes ago, SelectSys said:

 

In addition to getting in earlier, you will need to decide how you want to get to the cruise port and where to stay in advance of your cruise.  Most people coming early stay somewhere in London - especially on a first trip.

 

Southampton has many options for transport.  This ranges from private car transport, to the train as well as the bus.  The bus is  the cheapest and the private car will obviously the most expensive.  Another factor to consider in selecting your transportation is is how much luggage you have.  Public transportation invariably requires handling baggage.

 

Leaving the cruise also requires planning for transportation to your next destination.  It's best to plan ahead although last minute transportation options can always be found at a price.

 

Tons of information on these topics in the boards at large.

 

Thanks 

I have been scrubbing the forums for information. We were thinking 2022 July/August time frame.

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, mpsrtpsi said:

WOW

I just asked for a little bit of information so I could give my DW so sort of comfort. Then the cruise police come out of the woodwork. 

 

For those who like that sort of thing move along and let the moderators handle it.

And people gave you a lot of good directional advice to help you find unlimited information.

[mpsrtpsi]

18 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

And people gave you a lot of good directional advice to help you find unlimited information.

 

CB:

Yes, you are so right. I have received some great information and have put them into my cruise tip workbook.

 

However there were a few who voiced that my inquiry was on the wrong forum.  I know, there are a few in every barrel. I just put them and clicked, IGNORED.

 

For those who passed on great information; I thank you sincerely.

 

CW2 Ret.

AIRBORNE

[ColeThornton]

11 minutes ago, mpsrtpsi said:

 

CB:

Yes, you are so right. I have received some great information and have put them into my cruise tip workbook.

 

However there were a few who voiced that my inquiry was on the wrong forum.  I know, there are a few in every barrel. I just put them and clicked, IGNORED.

 

For those who passed on great information; I thank you sincerely.

 

CW2 Ret.

AIRBORNE

 

 

People were politely telling you that because they know that the Mods generally move cruise line specific questions to the appropriate forum.

Edited November 4, 2020 by ColeThornton

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, mpsrtpsi said:

WOW

I just asked for a little bit of information so I could give my DW so sort of comfort. Then the cruise police come out of the woodwork. 

 

For those who like that sort of thing move along and let the moderators handle it.

It's a cruise question, no reason not to ask it here. You did mention a specific cruise line, but I'm guessing that the various lines handle transfer, etc. in quite a similar manner. And the hotels are the same no matter how you get there.

 

If you look down the forum page, you will see Europe among destinations. Click on that and you will see a subtitle British Isles/ Western Europe. I believe you will really be able to find better answers there than in the Royal Caribbean forum. There is one particular poster from England, John Bull, who is extremely helpful with information about getting to and from ports, the airport,  and also about hotels. I know I found him very helpful both when we did a cruise from Dover a few years back and had one scheduled for this past summer from Southampton.

[mpsrtpsi]

12 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

It's a cruise question, no reason not to ask it here. You did mention a specific cruise line, but I'm guessing that the various lines handle transfer, etc. in quite a similar manner. And the hotels are the same no matter how you get there.

 

If you look down the forum page, you will see Europe among destinations. Click on that and you will see a subtitle British Isles/ Western Europe. I believe you will really be able to find better answers there than in the Royal Caribbean forum. There is one particular poster from England, John Bull, who is extremely helpful with information about getting to and from ports, the airport,  and also about hotels. I know I found him very helpful both when we did a cruise from Dover a few years back and had one scheduled for this past summer from Southampton.

 

Perfect; will do. Thanks

[shipgeeks]

OP, To partly answer your question, we have done a flight/transfer/cruise/transfer/flight, but it was with Cunard.  It turned out very well for us, as our initial flight was cancelled and re-scheduled.  It was also a very inexpensive package, probably never to be repeated.

We have also done cruise line one-way flight and transfer when we do transatlantic cruises.  The flights were much cheaper than if we had booked them through the airline, we still had our choice of airline, and the transfer gave us peace of mind.  Those were on Celebrity.

The posts above which recommended other places to look and to research are all helpful ones.

[mpsrtpsi]

20 minutes ago, shipgeeks said:

OP, To partly answer your question, we have done a flight/transfer/cruise/transfer/flight, but it was with Cunard.  It turned out very well for us, as our initial flight was cancelled and re-scheduled.  It was also a very inexpensive package, probably never to be repeated.

We have also done cruise line one-way flight and transfer when we do transatlantic cruises.  The flights were much cheaper than if we had booked them through the airline, we still had our choice of airline, and the transfer gave us peace of mind.  Those were on Celebrity.

The posts above which recommended other places to look and to research are all helpful ones.

 

Thanks your insight is appreciated.

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, mpsrtpsi said:

 

Perfect; will do. Thanks

You are welcome. I see by the number of thank you posts you have posted that you are getting the information, or at least the means to find the information that you need. And that would seem to be a good reason for the mods not to move this thread out of ask a cruise question.

[taglovestocruise]

1 hour ago, mpsrtpsi said:

 

Thanks your insight is appreciated.

Be sure to checkout Royals Air2Sea program.  Flights are amazingly well priced, check both round trip and one way, two one way flights are sometimes cheaper than a round trip. If you go the private transfer route we have found Blackberry cars to be a great service and not to expensive. happy cruising.. You will get much more accurate answers by posting on the Royal page. 

[getting older slowly]

RCG   could be RCI, Celebrity, Silversea, Azamara,  Hapag-Lloyd  or TUI Cruises...

 

Your question could well be line specific   RCI would be different to Silversea 

 

But piecing together things.... you have done lots cruise with RCI round round the Caribbean

 

Best to contact RCI direct   or see a TA.   then you get the right answer....

Edited November 4, 2020 by getting older slowly

[mpsrtpsi]

We got a great TA and have given her the mission for the 2021 to 22 cruise time frame.