Cruise Air to Alaska

[madkil]

We are going on a RCCL cruisetour to alaska in June 2007. We booked with air and the price they gave us is $719 from Newark, NJ. The tour leaves from Fairbanks and there are no direct flights. The cruise ends in Vancouver so the flights are from different cities. I was able to find a Continental from Newark to Seattle, Seattle to Fairbanks. The return was from Vancouver to Newark Non Stop. The price is 888.

What I am nervous about is if we stay with the cruise air we will have multiple stop overs. Does anyone know how far in advance we can find out what flights RCCL has booked for us?

[penguin6969]

Hello fellow Alaska June 2007 cruiser. DH and I are leaving from Vancouver on June 1 for a 12 days cruisetour. I booked our flights from Chicago to Vancouver one way tickets (it ended up being cheaper this way), then another one way from Fairbanks back to Chicago at the end of the tour. We also booked them directly ourself, not thru RCCL.

 

We were going to use Frequent flier miles, but they only had First Class seats available (yea right this is Nov and we leave next June), so we ended up paying for the flights but because the flight prices keep going up and up - this is there busy time of year, we decided to book them now.

 

I think we paid something like $535.00 pp RT. So you may want to surf alittle bit and see what else is out there and maybe one way tickets is the way to go for you to.

 

Oh, we will be doing the Cruisetour pkg # 2- can't wait....

[mrchips14]

A few years ago we booked with princess and had them book air.

I could not find flights to fairbanks from ny.

They booked ny to minn. and minn to fairbanks.

return was vanc. to montreal to ny.

 

We cheaper with only one stop each way.

Keep checking. you can alway change flights booked with cruise lines for about $50. If you don't like what they give you.

 

Have a great time, We are thinking about going back to alaska in 2008.

[cruiseco]

Keep checking. you can alway change flights booked with cruise lines for about $50. If you don't like what they give you.

 

.

 

Not always. The problem is that they may not make your air itinerary available until 21 days or so prior to departure at which time it's too late to do anything about it if you've got a schedule you don't like.

 

It's pretty much a gamble. You can pay the additional air deviation fee (plus possible additional airfare) to get exactly what you want but it's also possible that you're giving up air arrangements that would have been perfectly acceptable anyway. It's a tough call.

[springtxbill]

You may want to look at the return from Seattle also thus making a round trip flight. Add in the cost of the transfer from Vancouver in figuring the total cost.

[tinkerme1]

Flying to Alaska is sometimes difficult, and often is riddled with delays. I would try and use RCCL air deviation and fly in at least one day early to ensure a smooth trip. Also, customs in Vancouver can be very lengthy on the day you arrive into Vancouver. Again, I would suggest a night's stop in Vancouver, then leaving the next afternoon when customs isn't so long.

 

We did our Alaska trip this year and LOVED it so much. Taking a little extra time makes the trip easier and more comfortable. :D

[Bruin Steve]

A little different view here...

In July 2004, we did a 13 night cruisetour on Celebrity Summit (Celebrity, as far as the land tour and air goes, is the same operation as RCCL)...

 

We did EVERYTHING through the cruise line: air, cruisetour, 2 night post-cruise hotel package in Vancouver...

 

I would do EVERYTHING through the cruise line again, if I ever did it again...

 

First off, RCCL/Celebrity got us WONDERFUL flights...We could not have gotten better flights if we did it ourselves...

We had a flight from LAX straight to Fairbanks with only a stop in Seattle...no change of planes, just a stop to pick up other passengers--a lot of whom were on our cruise tour...and most seemed to have had non-stops from wherever they came from to Seattle to meet this flight...Most of the passengers on our cruise tour arrived with us in Fairbanks...

 

Our flight home was NONSTOP Vancouver back to LAX...

 

Now, here's the key to why I would keep the cruiseline air: Like I said, they put everyone on the same flight arriving into Fairbanks...When we got to Fairbanks Airport, there was a whole crew of "Royal Celebrity" (what they call the combined operation) folks, clearly identifiable, wearing matching green golf shirts with logos, waiting for us...They had everyone organized onto three buses...they coordinated our luggage retrieval and whisked it off to the buses for us...We met our tour guides as a group and went together to the hotel...

 

It was all incredibly well orgnized and we felt quite pampered...

 

If you do your own air, you are on your own to get to the hotel...

 

In my book, unless you are getting one tremendous price break, what's the point?

 

There are limited flights into Fairbanks...You are going to have to connect with one of them anyway...

 

Especially when RCCL has given you a better price (and remember, it includes ground transportation as well), GO WITH RCCL...It's a no brainer...You're trying to complicate things unnecessarily...

[tinkerme1]

Steve, I agree that coming from LA, you made a great choice.

 

For the OP, however, I would definitely consider a day before and day after approach. They are flying across country and even RCCL flights have "issues" with connections.

 

Also, for those that are flying into Fairbanks, this area is very easy to hire a taxi or cab to get you to your hotel, unless you plan on renting a car. We had a great time driving all over Fairbanks and saw so many wonderful things that the tour does not provide. We loved Fairbanks, and would definitely have an extra day planned there, if for no other reason than to get used to the daylight and time change. The RCCL/Celebrity folks are already in Fairbanks the day before the tour begins. The airport is so small, you'll be very surprised at how small it really is. Very easy to get around. This is one area where pampering is not required, IMHO.

[madkil]

Went on Continental.com last night. Was able to get a flight out at 8 AM to Seattle and the seattle to fairbanks. We arrive in fairbanks at 3:30. Our cruisetour starts the following day.

We are staying overnight in Vancouver after the cruise ends fly back non-stop from Vancouver to Newark the next day.

Price was 680 per person down from about 900 just last week. I checked the site again today and the price is up to 1082 per person. I think I was just lucky.

[CVU]

We booked our last cruise with the air and hotel through RCCL and they messed up our return flight. It was a horrendous flight home from Hawaii. They had us leaving Hawaii and arriving in Chicago at 5 AM and then 5 hours later on to Vancouver, BC .

 

Our TA got them to change it when he got the documents 30 before the cruise. So we are now going with the Deviation Air and we already know our flight for next April and it is very good. From now on we will pay to have better flights.