Can I put a case on at Southampton for when I join a cruise in Auckland?

[Ukulele girl]

I am considering joining for the second half of a World cruise boarding in Auckland. This would be after a 3 week NZ tour of our own organising. As I live near Southampton it would be easy to take a 'cruise clothes' suitcase and put it on at the start of the cruise in January. Would this be allowed?

 

Second question. The fare includes the cost of a flight. Is it possible to have this flight at a time to suit our 3 week tour of NZ or can the flight cost be removed from the total cost of the cruise?

 

Help gratefully received, thanks.

[molecrochip]

Yes you can put a case in, although I’ve heard rumours this is now dealt with by the Baggage Handling Company rather than direct.

 

Re flight: yes you can have the date moved forward although it might change the price if the desired flights are more expensive. You should find that cruise only is also an option although the removal of the flight can save as little as nothing!

 

In either case, your TA or P&O should be able to assist.

[BrianI]

About eight years ago I put a suitcase on Aurora in Southampton. Two months later we boarded Aurora in San Francisco and it was waiting for us in our cabin.

Not sure what the current procedure is but it should be possible 

Brian 

[Pippa04]

Interesting.  Any ideas on the price comparison with paying for an extra case on the plane?

 

[david63]

If I recall correctly it used to be about £40 per case with a maximum of one case per passenger and was also on a first come basis as there was a limit as to how many cases could be forwarded.

 

This can/could also be done in reverse - leave a case on to collect at Southampton.

[Ukulele girl]

Thank you all for your responses - very helpful so far. I hadn't thought about a cost, very naive of me! We will be touring NZ by car and moving on every other day plus managing our own cases from airport etc so I don't want the hassle of an extra case with us. We like to travel light when touring but there will be a whole set of clothes and other items only necessary for the cruise part of the holiday.  

 

The flight is more of an unknown but interesting to see if we can use that cost towards our flights out. Probably travelling via Bangkok then to Christchurch, NZ so we can do the bottom end of the South Island. 

[david63]

6 minutes ago, Ukulele girl said:

so we can do the bottom end of the South Island. 

Not enough down there to take three weeks. We toured the whole coastline of South Island in three weeks.

[Ukulele girl]

We have been to NZ before and would spend the first week in the South Island then cross to the North Island where we have friends. We expect to spend a week with our friends at their 'batch' on Lake Taupo and the rest of the time on places we didn't get to see last visit. Fine tuning the times/days etc takes lots of planning but 3 weeks is a rough guess. We would spend 2 nights in Bangkok where we have people to visit too. It probably would be our last very long trip and the second half of the World cruise takes in lots of places we would like to visit and would be a good way to come home slowly.

[Lady Meer]

On 9/18/2023 at 4:03 PM, Ukulele girl said:

 

The flight is more of an unknown but interesting to see if we can use that cost towards our flights out. Probably travelling via Bangkok then to Christchurch, NZ so we can do the bottom end of the South Island. 

Do you have air-miles? If not, the price of a one way ticket will be ridiculously expensive, not far off the price of a return!

[Ukulele girl]

3 hours ago, Lady Meer said:

Do you have air-miles? If not, the price of a one way ticket will be ridiculously expensive, not far off the price of a return!

Thanks you for your comment. Sadly we only have 4,500 points with Air Canada so using air-miles isn't an option. I realise the one way tickets will be pricey but we will try to pick the best time to travel and book as early as possible. We will get a little towards the flights from the package for a half world cruise. I did some looking for January 24 (we will actually be travelling January 25 but flights are not available yet for then) and it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. 

 

Any advice on how to mitigate the costs would be very welcome. We plan to travel business this time as I am better if I can lie flat and will be flying London to Christchurch. Always helpful to have input from others.

[david63]

14 minutes ago, Ukulele girl said:

Any advice on how to mitigate the costs would be very welcome.

Generally speaking flight costs are the cheapest upon release which, depending on airline, is between 10 - 12 months from the flight date.

 

When we fly to NZ we fly Emirates which we have found to be the cheapest with the added advantage that if you fly business class you can use their free chauffeur service to and from the airport at both ends. Depending on your views you do have to change planes at Dubai but their business lounges are amongst the best I have used, and you can now go straight from the lounge onto the plane.

 

BA can sometimes look cheaper but watch for the add-ons - not sure if BA do direct to Christchurch.

Edited September 20, 2023 by david63

[Ukulele girl]

David63, thank you, that's very helpful. I knew the opening for booking was around those times prior to the travel date but I hadn't looked at Emirates. We had thought to stop somewhere on the way but if we travel business the need won't be there. I will look at Emirates following your advice.

[sleepingcat]

On 9/18/2023 at 1:52 PM, Ukulele girl said:

I am considering joining for the second half of a World cruise boarding in Auckland. This would be after a 3 week NZ tour of our own organising.

Hi Ukulele girl, yes, we did exactly what you are proposing, back in 2014.  One of the nicest parts of the trip was finding the case with all our posh cruise clothes, plus nice new not travel worn stuff waiting in our  cabin when we boarded in Auckland.  the case was picked up from our house by a courier and we saw it again 2 months later on Arcadia in Auckland. 

 

I booked the flight and cruise as a package through a certain well known East Midlands cruise specialist.  I dont know what the flight cost as they just gave me an all in price. there was no problem about the flight being 4 weeks before we boarded the ship.  and we flew emirates out of Birmingham and stopped off in Bangkok for a night.   the routing to Christchurch meant we had to change planes in Sydney,  which made the travel rather long.I got flight times which were exactly what we wanted, we left the UK on 20th January and boarded Arcadia on something like 22 February. I suspect it might be cheaper to fly into Auckland, but we wanted to spend most of our 4 weeks in the South Island, so opted for Christchurch where we picked up a motorhome. 

As you know NZ already I wont go on at length about how we organised our trip. but if you search on the 'Australia and NZ ports' board you will find several postings from CC members who have done just what you are planning and including some lengthy replies from me. 

 

It was a truly memorable trip from start to finish .  we still to hope to do the other half of a worldie some time in the future. 

 

[Ukulele girl]

Sleepingcat - thank you for this, I will seek out your postings on the port boards. I have been doing further research and can fly from London to Christchurch with only a short stop in Singapore with Singapore Airlines. Flying business will make it comfortable and it only takes 25 hours in total. We have had a motorhome in this country for many years so prefer other holidays to be more of a treat and I enjoy hunting out interesting hotels and B&Bs. Although it is a long time off just the thought of it has lifted my spirits and I have started to plan the route. I hope you can get to do the other half of the world cruise some day.