Flights By Celebrity - what to expect

[PumpkinPatches]

I'm cruising over the holidays, and it's my first time booking my air through the cruise line.

 

Just remembering the craziness that was holiday travel last year, I am starting to get nervous myself as this will be my first time travelling over the holidays.

 

ICYMI, last year there was a massive winter storm that messed up flights all over Canada and the USA.  Here in Vancouver, flights were cancelled and the customer service desks in the airport just told everyone to go way there's nothing they can do. 

 

Here's my own impression of what FBC offers:

I am looking at it almost like I have a trip interruption insurance policy as a bonus with my already cheap airfare. If my flight is cancelled, I can just basically go grab a coffee and wait for FBC to call me and let me know when my next flight is?  I won't be out of luck and having to fend for myself against the thousands of other travellers looking for a new flight?  Booking with FBC means Celebrity will ensure I get from my home airport to the ship with no extra costs on my part. 

 

This is my impression of what I'm getting by booking with the cruise line.  Please feel free to let me know if I am mistaken about anything or missed something.

 

ALSO: I am an ex-travel agent, and this is basically how the Celebrity reps would train us to sell FBC to our clients. Now I am just a client and I know sometimes the way something is marketed/sold, doesn't necessarily reflect the actual experience.

 

Thanks so much! Hopefully some cruisers here have some experience and advice to share with me.  I am travelling with my hubby and 2 little kids so the idea of being stranded in an airport and missing our holiday cruise scares the @*$% outta me! We are flying out 2 days before the cruise so that should definitely help buffer out any travel mishaps!

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 hour ago, PumpkinPatches said:

I'm cruising over the holidays, and it's my first time booking my air through the cruise line.

 

Just remembering the craziness that was holiday travel last year, I am starting to get nervous myself as this will be my first time travelling over the holidays.

 

ICYMI, last year there was a massive winter storm that messed up flights all over Canada and the USA.  Here in Vancouver, flights were cancelled and the customer service desks in the airport just told everyone to go way there's nothing they can do. 

 

Here's my own impression of what FBC offers:

I am looking at it almost like I have a trip interruption insurance policy as a bonus with my already cheap airfare. If my flight is cancelled, I can just basically go grab a coffee and wait for FBC to call me and let me know when my next flight is?  I won't be out of luck and having to fend for myself against the thousands of other travellers looking for a new flight?  Booking with FBC means Celebrity will ensure I get from my home airport to the ship with no extra costs on my part. 

 

This is my impression of what I'm getting by booking with the cruise line.  Please feel free to let me know if I am mistaken about anything or missed something.

 

ALSO: I am an ex-travel agent, and this is basically how the Celebrity reps would train us to sell FBC to our clients. Now I am just a client and I know sometimes the way something is marketed/sold, doesn't necessarily reflect the actual experience.

 

Thanks so much! Hopefully some cruisers here have some experience and advice to share with me.  I am travelling with my hubby and 2 little kids so the idea of being stranded in an airport and missing our holiday cruise scares the @*$% outta me! We are flying out 2 days before the cruise so that should definitely help buffer out any travel mishaps!

 

Read this... 

 

[PumpkinPatches]

21 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Read this... 

 

Whoa! Such a mixed bag of reviews over there. Although there are some horror stories on there, it does sounds like a lot of people experience what I'm expect FBC to be like. So even though the OP on that post is trying to warn people to stay away, alot of those replies are actually quite reassuring,

 

Thanks for sharing!

[JamieLogical]

I used Flights by Celebrity several times for flights post-COVID. I will say that I experienced delays (and one missed flight) on every single cruise I took, but none of them threatened to make me miss my cruise, as they were all for day-before flights or my flights back home. Every time, I was told to work through the airline for rescheduling flights. As far as I can tell, FBC provided no extra value beyond saving me a little money.

[1Virgo]

I ve posted this before.   Here goes. We had booked FBC from Toronto to Dublin. Mechanical, we returned to Toronto arriving back at about midnight. I got on the phone as soon as we landed and called FBC.  within 10 minutes we were booked the next morning on a different airline. Ship now in Belfast. We were flown to Belfast and a driver picked us up to take us to ship.   So…back to night of cancelled flight, people that booked online were wound up as next flight airline offered would get them to Dublin. Airline, not their job to catch up to ship.      Others that had a TA could not get ahold of their TA that late at night so not sure how they fared

 

Know the flights that work before you call

 

Yay. travelling.   And. Relief if you book through Celebrity, they will get you on the ship

[Stockjock]

Surprised you didn't see this.  Starts of good, but then things went south.
 

 

Edited August 22, 2023 by Stockjock

[cruzzzinma]

10 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

Every time, I was told to work through the airline for rescheduling flights. As far as I can tell, FBC provided no extra value beyond saving me a little money.

Same here.

[Shiba_Lover]

If you use them, be wary of letting them book with American.  American has some system glitches that make their tickets non refundable/non changeable outside their own system.  So even if you ask for flexible tickets, you may not get them.  

Edited August 22, 2023 by Shiba_Lover

[Jeremiah1212]

12 hours ago, PumpkinPatches said:

I can just basically go grab a coffee and wait for FBC to call me and let me know when my next flight is?  I won't be out of luck and having to fend for myself against the thousands of other travellers looking for a new flight?  Booking with FBC means Celebrity will ensure I get from my home airport to the ship with no extra costs on my part. 

 

Oh no. That's not the case at all. As soon as you hit a delay or cancelation, check the app and see if your airline has already rebooked you or gives you new options. If the new flights work, go with it. Otherwise you need to immediately head to the service desk to see what can be done. FBC is out of the scenario at this point. You'll only contact them if the airline can't rebook you on a suitable flight. Their role is only complicating things at this point. Waiting around for them to contact you may never happen or they may not have access to flights the airline can move you to. 

 

12 hours ago, PumpkinPatches said:

Booking with FBC means Celebrity will ensure I get from my home airport to the ship with no extra costs on my part. 

 

They will attempt to get you onto the ship eventually. Of course there have to be flights with available seats, flight times that work, and the next port has to be able to embark new passengers. There are no guarantees at all. 

[JamieLogical]

2 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

Oh no. That's not the case at all. As soon as you hit a delay or cancelation, check the app and see if your airline has already rebooked you or gives you new options. If the new flights work, go with it. Otherwise you need to immediately head to the service desk to see what can be done. FBC is out of the scenario at this point. You'll only contact them if the airline can't rebook you on a suitable flight. Their role is only complicating things at this point. Waiting around for them to contact you may never happen or they may not have access to flights the airline can move you to. 

 

 

They will attempt to get you onto the ship eventually. Of course there have to be flights with available seats, flight times that work, and the next port has to be able to embark new passengers. There are no guarantees at all. 

 

This is all absolutely correct. If you try to call FBC about a delay or cancellation, the first thing they will do is have you contact the airline. I imagine they would only step in at all if there was simply no resolution from the airline to get you to your cruise on time. FBC is definitely NOT going to contact you or step in unsolicited, if your flight is delayed or canceled.

[NutsAboutGolf]

4 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

Oh no. That's not the case at all. As soon as you hit a delay or cancelation, check the app and see if your airline has already rebooked you or gives you new options. If the new flights work, go with it. Otherwise you need to immediately head to the service desk to see what can be done. FBC is out of the scenario at this point. You'll only contact them if the airline can't rebook you on a suitable flight. Their role is only complicating things at this point. Waiting around for them to contact you may never happen or they may not have access to flights the airline can move you to. 

 

 

They will attempt to get you onto the ship eventually. Of course there have to be flights with available seats, flight times that work, and the next port has to be able to embark new passengers. There are no guarantees at all. 

 

I travel a lot and am just pointing out everything is accurate.  99% of the time, regardless if you booked direct or with FBC, when the airline cancels your flight they rebook you on the next one with availability and then MOST airlines will allow you to change to a later flight for no charge.  Some budget airlines are more restrictive with their "basic" fares and will just refund you if the flight is cancelled which means you're on your own to rebook often at expensive last minute flights.  Overall point being, with a FBC flight that was cancelled, check the airline app first and it should be pretty easy to see your next flight and also if you're able to change to a different flight.  If you don't like what you see or understand how to use the airline app, then contact customer service

 

The question I have not seen the answer for is FBC often allows you book a flight during the same day of embarkation.  If that flight gets cancelled and the next flight has you arrive after the ships sail away, then what, does FBC monitor this and just rebooks on a flight to the next port?  If the next port, do they fly you a day in advance and pay for lodging so when you wake up the next day you can enjoy a full day in the port?  Not sure how any of that works

[Stockjock]

2 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

I travel a lot and am just pointing out everything is accurate.  99% of the time, regardless if you booked direct or with FBC, when the airline cancels your flight they rebook you on the next one with availability and then MOST airlines will allow you to change to a later flight for no charge.  Some budget airlines are more restrictive with their "basic" fares and will just refund you if the flight is cancelled which means you're on your own to rebook often at expensive last minute flights.  Overall point being, with a FBC flight that was cancelled, check the airline app first and it should be pretty easy to see your next flight and also if you're able to change to a different flight.  If you don't like what you see or understand how to use the airline app, then contact customer service

 

The question I have not seen the answer for is FBC often allows you book a flight during the same day of embarkation.  If that flight gets cancelled and the next flight has you arrive after the ships sail away, then what, does FBC monitor this and just rebooks on a flight to the next port?  If the next port, do they fly you a day in advance and pay for lodging so when you wake up the next day you can enjoy a full day in the port?  Not sure how any of that works

There's a recent story about a family who spent $60,000 on an NCL (I think it was) Alaska land and sea cruise and they did the cruise line air, arriving in Vancouver the same day.  The first flight got cancelled, the 2nd flight was delayed and they lost all of their money other than $2,500.

They asked if they could fly to the first port and were told no.  I believe they were also told no with respect to flying to do the land tour portion.

The vlogs I've seen criticize the purchaser for not buying insurance and suggest that all would have been fine had they done that.  First off, I'm sure travel insurance on a $60k trip is quite expensive, certainly well into the thousands of dollars, so it's not always a no-brainer.  But importantly, not all events are covered.  For example if one or more flights are delayed for other than weather or mechanical reasons, the insurance generally won't cover that.

I think the short of it is, don't fly same day to your cruise trip, which is the key takeaway.  A second takeaway is that while insurance can make sense, there are a lot of exclusions and fine print, so understand what you are buying.  Don't simply assume that travel insurance will cover you for all issues.  If in doubt, ask and be very specific, because you can be *certain* that the insurance company will not cover you if they aren't obligated to do so, in writing.  But getting where you need to be early will solve many of these potential problems.

FWIW, I fly to Venice shortly for a cruise out of Ravenna.  I arrive 3 days before the cruise, which not only gives me the opportunity to spend some time in Venice, but should allow plenty of time to straighten things out if something goes wrong.

Edited August 22, 2023 by Stockjock

[Jeremiah1212]

1 hour ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

The question I have not seen the answer for is FBC often allows you book a flight during the same day of embarkation.  If that flight gets cancelled and the next flight has you arrive after the ships sail away, then what, does FBC monitor this and just rebooks on a flight to the next port?  If the next port, do they fly you a day in advance and pay for lodging so when you wake up the next day you can enjoy a full day in the port?  Not sure how any of that works

 

I've only encountered this maybe 3 times. It's never made any sense to try to meet the ship in any scenario. Trying to get someone from Omaha to San Juan or Tortola by sail away time was just not happening nor was finding an available hotel that would offer a 1 night stay during peak season.

 

None of Celebrity's documentation on this mention anything about covering additional expenses beyond the flights and it was never offered as an option. I also know someone who was not allowed to board in Messina after missing departure in Rome. They had to embark in Mykonos (which I believe was day 4 or 5 of 11, missing Messina and Santorini) and had to stay in Rome while they waited for new flights. 

[Stockjock]

26 minutes ago, Stockjock said:

There's a recent story about a family who spent $60,000 on an NCL (I think it was) Alaska land and sea cruise and they did the cruise line air, arriving in Vancouver the same day.  The first flight got cancelled, the 2nd flight was delayed and they lost all of their money other than $2,500.

They asked if they could fly to the first port and were told no.  I believe they were also told no with respect to flying to do the land tour portion.

The vlogs I've seen criticize the purchaser for not buying insurance and suggest that all would have been fine had they done that.  First off, I'm sure travel insurance on a $60k trip is quite expensive, certainly well into the thousands of dollars, so it's not always a no-brainer.  But importantly, not all events are covered.  For example if one or more flights are delayed for other than weather or mechanical reasons, the insurance generally won't cover that.

I think the short of it is, don't fly same day to your cruise trip, which is the key takeaway.  A second takeaway is that while insurance can make sense, there are a lot of exclusions and fine print, so understand what you are buying.  Don't simply assume that travel insurance will cover you for all issues.  If in doubt, ask and be very specific, because you can be *certain* that the insurance company will not cover you if they aren't obligated to do so, in writing.  But getting where you need to be early will solve many of these potential problems.

FWIW, I fly to Venice shortly for a cruise out of Ravenna.  I arrive 3 days before the cruise, which not only gives me the opportunity to spend some time in Venice, but should allow plenty of time to straighten things out if something goes wrong.

Just to provide a little more color on the part about travel insurance only covering flight delays or cancellations due to weather or mechanical issues, I actually experienced this. On my last Celebrity cruise, I booked the flights on my own, using my American Express, platinum card, and there are certain insurance coverages baked into that card.  I booked the flight using Southwest rapid rewards miles, but I put the fees and taxes on the American Express platinum card.
 

As I exited the ship to head for the Miami airport for the flight home, I received a text notification from Southwest Airlines stating that they had canceled my outbound flight. However, they did reschedule it for the next day. I called Southwest and they said there was nothing else they could do, but I could contact customer service later to see if they could give me some vouchers, which they later did.

 

I also contacted the insurance folks over at American Express.   They said the only way I would have any coverage is if the flight was canceled or delayed due to weather or mechanical issues. So I tried to find something to back that up.
 

Most of what I was coming up with were delays related to Covid or a pilot shortage, and that would not be a covered event. But I was able to come up with something that showed that there were delays due to weather over northern Texas, and with that documentation, they paid for my hotel for one night as well as meals and expenses.  I think I was reimbursed roughly $400.

 

But of course, the devil is in the details, and if I could not demonstrate that the delay or cancellation was due to weather or mechanical issues, and of course, you have to prove it in writing, then I would not have received any coverage. But fortunately I did receive the coverage.

 

Obviously, this particular comment is not about Flights by Celebrity, but rather about travel insurance, and what may or may not be covered in the event, that you buy it. Again, it’s important to understand that it does not cover all circumstances, and the best solution is to allow yourself plenty of time just in case something goes wrong.

Edited August 22, 2023 by Stockjock