Summer '21 Europe cruisers... when are you going to buy airfare?

[cruisin from florida]

We're booked on a July 24 cruise out of Venice. Ordinarily by now we would already have plane tickets in hand. Obviously, "ordinarily" doesn't apply this year. I'm starting to look at tickets, and don't WANT to wait until last minute, but... I just don't know what the sweet spot is for pulling the trigger, given the strong possibility of another cancellation.

If you're in the same boat, how are you making the decision?

 

Thanks!

[bouhunter]

Don't envy being in that position - hard to know what to do.   Celebrity has already cancelled Europe through October on some ships.  Never thought I'd say this, but we're now happy that RCCL cancelled our October cruise on Jewel......

[Ourusualbeach]

12 minutes ago, cruisin from florida said:

We're booked on a July 24 cruise out of Venice. Ordinarily by now we would already have plane tickets in hand. Obviously, "ordinarily" doesn't apply this year. I'm starting to look at tickets, and don't WANT to wait until last minute, but... I just don't know what the sweet spot is for pulling the trigger, given the strong possibility of another cancellation.

If you're in the same boat, how are you making the decision?

 

Thanks!

Book refundable air through Air 2 Sea.  Do not pay until final payment and you can cancel without penalty up until that time.  

[sellwingri]

51 minutes ago, bouhunter said:

Don't envy being in that position - hard to know what to do.   Celebrity has already cancelled Europe through October on some ships.  Never thought I'd say this, but we're now happy that RCCL cancelled our October cruise on Jewel......

I’m on Celebrity Edge out of Rome in September and they haven’t canceled me.  American has a non-stop flight from and to Chicago and the cost came down $200 yesterday so I’m tempted but still will wait.  I’ve got so much airline credit on American and United that I don’t want any more.

[mac_tlc]

49 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Book refundable air through Air 2 Sea.  Do not pay until final payment and you can cancel without penalty up until that time.  

This is what we did for the Harmony 10/31 TA. Pretty much risk free. By final payment date the magic 8 ball will be a little less cloudy. 

 

mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

6 minutes ago, sellwingri said:

I’m on Celebrity Edge out of Rome in September and they haven’t canceled me.  American has a non-stop flight from and to Chicago and the cost came down $200 yesterday so I’m tempted but still will wait.  I’ve got so much airline credit on American and United that I don’t want any more.

You may not have been officially notified yet, but the Edge 2021 Europe season is cancelled.

[cruisin from florida]

I called Air 2 Sea, and right now due to current travel restrictions they are only booking flights in and out of the port city (Venice). Since we want to do a week in the south of France and a week in Italy before and after the cruise, we'd like to do an open jaw, Paris/Lyon and Rome. I think we'll sit on the sidelines for a bit longer, or book a refundable fare on the itinerary we want.

On the other hand, if Celebrity is cancelling, Royal probably isn't far behind, so I may wait and see for a couple of weeks. 

[bouhunter]

29 minutes ago, cruisin from florida said:

I called Air 2 Sea, and right now due to current travel restrictions they are only booking flights in and out of the port city (Venice). Since we want to do a week in the south of France and a week in Italy before and after the cruise, we'd like to do an open jaw, Paris/Lyon and Rome. I think we'll sit on the sidelines for a bit longer, or book a refundable fare on the itinerary we want.

On the other hand, if Celebrity is cancelling, Royal probably isn't far behind, so I may wait and see for a couple of weeks. 

I can't imagine trying or hoping to book a cruising, multi-week, multi-country trip to Europe this fall.  Good luck.

[Seville2Cabo]

We have September out of Rome. I have flights on AA oh hold, but keep letting hold expire and booking hold again. I will say there are about 10 seats taken on entire plane. 

[NancyIL]

1 minute ago, Seville2Cabo said:

We have September out of Rome. I have flights on AA oh hold, but keep letting hold expire and booking hold again. I will say there are about 10 seats taken on entire plane. 

 We have enough AA miles for our flight to Rome before b2b Odyssey cruises in October, so I keep putting those on 5-day holds. I’m doing the same for my August Baltic cruise, but I’m pretty confident that one won’t sail. 

[Seville2Cabo]

13 minutes ago, NancyIL said:

 We have enough AA miles for our flight to Rome before b2b Odyssey cruises in October, so I keep putting those on 5-day holds. I’m doing the same for my August Baltic cruise, but I’m pretty confident that one won’t sail. 

The good news is that when I canceled my Rome return for March 2021, they put the points back, no charge

[Billy Baltic]

3 hours ago, bouhunter said:

I can't imagine trying or hoping to book a cruising, multi-week, multi-country trip to Europe this fall.  Good luck.

I agree with this. I live in Ireland and have a land vacation booked in Europe for October. It’s a direct flight from Dublin to the destination, stay in one location for a week and return home. At the moment I’m not confident that will be an experience that I’m willing to spend money on. 

[nunuc2000]

We are currently booked for a 24 day cruise out of Rome for Sept 8 (With Princess though, not Royal) and booked our air a few weeks ago through the cruiseline with payment for air not due until final payment of cruise, which is in June.  At this point, there's no way we'd book independent air unless it's fully refundable... none of this nonsense only granting "future cruise or air credits".  If something gets cancelled, I want my money back period. 

 

The whole travel industry is just too volatile right now to risk any of our hard earned money. It's very likely that our Sept cruise will not be allowed to proceed,  but hopefully 2022 will bring much hope for the industry.

 

[Ashland]

6 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Book refundable air through Air 2 Sea.  Do not pay until final payment and you can cancel without penalty up until that time.  

All air on Flights By Celebrity are being booked as refundable. No payment due until final, no fee to change air to reprice at a lower rate and if you make final payment air will be credited back to the credit card used.

 

I have this exact situation with a final due May 1st and waiting to make a decision. We are booked with X for British Isles July 30, 2021 Reflection and hoping they cancel before final due.

Edited January 14, 2021 by Ashland

[MechE31]

We booked a refundable ticket for our summer European cruise. 99% certain we're not going at this point though.

[ONECRUISER]

8 hours ago, cruisin from florida said:

We're booked on a July 24 cruise out of Venice. Ordinarily by now we would already have plane tickets in hand. Obviously, "ordinarily" doesn't apply this year. I'm starting to look at tickets, and don't WANT to wait until last minute, but... I just don't know what the sweet spot is for pulling the trigger, given the strong possibility of another cancellation.

If you're in the same boat, how are you making the decision?

 

Thanks!

In 2022, already canceled my TA/EU Cruises couple weeks ago, looking forward to Spring 2022. Now some Airlines still giving/guarantying flight change and cancellations. Just changed a Domestic flight from couple days ago to March, this 12hrs before flight and no extra charges 

[nancy2vues]

I am pretty sure that we won't be buying airfare for our June cruise out of Southampton as we believe that this cruise will be cancelled.  We still have the booking, but have also booked the closest thing to a replacement that I could find for this cruise--the Arctic Circle Fjord cruise in late July of 2022. 

[Tin can]

We are coming the other way, UK cruisers on Oasis out of New York in August 2021.

 

We have our flights booked and our hotel in New York for a few nights pre cruise. All based on the theory of hope that things have to improve with all of this.