Air travel thru RCI

[Meltiphil]

Friend of mine who is cruising to Alaska just received her docs from her TA. Her flight to Alaska is very good, but her flight home is awful. They have her leaving at 6am and she will not get home until 11pm. She gets to fly around all day along with a 3 hours layover, ?somewhere? ARe all flights scheld through the cruise line this bad???? This is really worry -:eek: some for me, wondering what our flight sched. will be.

[B-52]

I used the air travel through a Cruise line ONCE! NEVER AGAIN!

Cruise lines contract with particular air carriers. They will do their best to book you on the best flight available only with the airline they are contracted with. Not the best flight available if all carriers from that airport are considered. They also charge you a rate long before they even know what you flight(s) are going to be.

I found I can do better if I book air travel myself.

[OHCruisin]

I've used the cruise air several times, usually with not very good results. I live in Cleveland and can get direct flights to all the ports I've sailed from. Yet the cruise lines always manage to send me through at least one other airport. The worst was on Carnival several years ago from Puerto Rico. The flight down wasn't too bad, but the flight back was late. We sat in the airport all day, for reasons that escape me now. Then, flew past Cleveland to Detroit, where we waited another two hours. Of course, it was free air as it was after 9/11 and the cruise lines were desperate to fill the ships. I find I can get better pricing and better flights on my own. I've even stopped taking the transfers through the cruise line (well, except for this May) thanks to the advice from these boards.

[lauren0309]

I always book my own flights. The first cruise I took I let them book it and it was a big mistake. They had me on a late flight and I got to the ship about an hour before sail time. All the food in the buffet was practically gone and looked dried up. Never again! Its so much better to book your own flights and pick your own time. We like getting on the ship early around 11:00 a.m. because its like you have an extra day on the ship. We get on, we eat, explore, take pictures and relax by the pool.

[Inshape]

As said already, make your own plans. There are too many problems doing it with the cruise ship. Make it a day earlier and get to the ship early on the day of cruise and it is like a full vacation day.

[CVU]

We had a horrendous flight home when we got our documents for our last cruise. We then paid extra to have a direct non stop flight home instead of flying across the country and back again to get home.

 

Our TA did get RCL to give us back the extra amount we paid, as it was so ridiculous.

Good for RCL to realize they made a mistake.

 

Now we book Custom Air if we are using RCL.

[Meltiphil]

So, can I change and book my own flights, or is it to late? We leave on June 1st out of DFW, (Dallas.):cool:

[B-52]

So, can I change and book my own flights, or is it to late? We leave on June 1st out of DFW, (Dallas.):cool:

 

In my case, RCCL gave me our air arrangements 30 days prior to our cruise. They were really terrible! I checked other airlines on my own and found other options. GOOD ONES. I called RCCL and for 5 people, had to pay a penalty for each person. Can't remember how much, it was a few years ago. I think it was $35.00 per person.

 

I then did the math. Booked my own flights, then called RCCL and canceled theirs.

 

However, even with paying a penalty, I booked my own flights, non stop round trip, good traveling times, picked the seats we wanted, and still came out even.

 

You need to do your own research before you make your decisions.