Cruise in jeopardy because of air $$ !!

[arabrab]

For the record, the flights into Vancouver were $300+tax more round trip per person...if anyone can explain that one, I'd love to hear it!

 

 

Blame Canada?;)

[MercedMike]

OK, I know there are a bunch of independent spirits on this board who like to do it yourself.

 

BUT --

 

This is where a good TA can really be a huge help to you. They have access to tools and programs not available to the average bear on the internet, especially when it comes to international flights, and especially open jaws, which is what you probably want. They also have training and expertise which tells them where and when to look. When the air is international and goes along with a cruise booking there is usually no additional fee.

 

Go ahead and book the cruise/air package, so you have something locked in. Then let a good TA keep an eye on fares for you and I bet they can find something reasonable. We made our round trip open jaw flight to the Med for under $1100 pp.

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[Jade13]

My advice. Stay home until you can really afford this cruise and airfare.

Better yet, stay home a bit longer until you can afford to fly Business or First Class. Then the flight is as enjoyable - or even more so - than the cruise.

 

Why stress or suffer on vacation??

 

Bruce, that is not a helpful response at all. Especially to imply that the OP can not afford to vacation. Even those who can do not want to overpay for air. And, $2K per person for economy sounds really high to me.

 

My other advice to the OP is to go to the CruiseAir board. There are two very active posters who will help you to locate flights if you give them your dates and destination.

[Cruise Junky]

I live in BC too and have just booked for September. We paid $1,160 Vancouver to London direct and Paris to Vancouver via Montreal. I was tickled with that Airfare. Our cruise leaves from Venice too and we booked a cheapie on BA from London to Venice. Go to Air Canada's site and play with the dates, by being a bit flexible you could save a bundle. I was looking for a co-worker the other day and by switching a Monday to a Tuesday the price dropped by about $400.

[ger_77]

I feel your pain - we live in the "frozen tundra" and have ridiculous air service (particularly from Air Canada) and the fares seem to be as high as possible. Our next trip will be routing us from Saskatoon through the US - whether it is Minneapolis or some other American airport. That's the only way we can get a decent fare. We are going to book using HAL's air fare and if we can find a better rate, will drop it before final payment is made.

 

I'd love to be able to fly Business / First Class to Europe, wouldn't we all???

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[haligonian37]

Blame Canada?;)

 

More like Blame Air Canada ;)

[kryos]

That was a rather snarky response...

...and not in the least bit helpful to the OP.

:cool:

 

It might be good advice, though. I know it would be a cold day you know where when I would spend that kind of money to be jammed into a metal tube, elbows and knees up against someone else ... for twelve hours. Frankly, no cruise would be worth that.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Marmarjudy]

OK, I know there are a bunch of independent spirits on this board who like to do it yourself.

 

BUT --

 

This is where a good TA can really be a huge help to you. They have access to tools and programs not available to the average bear on the internet, especially when it comes to international flights, and especially open jaws, which is what you probably want. They also have training and expertise which tells them where and when to look. When the air is international and goes along with a cruise booking there is usually no additional fee.

 

Go ahead and book the cruise/air package, so you have something locked in. Then let a good TA keep an eye on fares for you and I bet they can find something reasonable. We made our round trip open jaw flight to the Med for under $1100 pp.

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

 

Amen to this!!! Believe it or not, the good travel agent is not extinct and I don't understand why people think they can do better or know more, especially for international travel.

 

A thought: do you repair your own car, do your own plumbing, etc? The minor things, yes, perhaps, but not the major.

 

Use a professional travel agent, save money, buy insurance, and then you have a back up/security blanket if something goes wrong.

 

Judy

[paradisegal]

That was a rather snarky response...

...and not in the least bit helpful to the OP.

:cool:

 

 

I agree! I also have a new word "snarky" Never heard it but I like it, really like it :D

[WeLoveCruising]

Travelbug 2,

 

Sorry that you misunderstood.

I wasn't being sarcastic at all.

 

In your position, I would do exactly what I recommended to you.

Vacations should be as stress-free and worry-free as possible.

 

A European Cruise can be the experience of a lifetime.

Starting off with "12 hours of (expensive) discomfort" is not the best way to begin your vacation. Flying economy to Europe from North America is torture.

My vacation time is too valuable to me. I refuse to suffer.

 

If I must wait longer to afford Business Class, so be it.

I recommend the same to you.

 

The OP never said they couldnt afford it. There's a difference between being able to afford something and to be willing to pay for it.

 

I've flown business and coach to Europe many times. Obviously business is more comfortable, but not necessary each time IMHO.

[donaldsc]

Have you checked fares on KAYAK.COM. They are a good site and they also let you easily research alternative routes and airports.

 

DON

[maxout]

I agree! I also have a new word "snarky" Never heard it but I like it, really like it :D

 

 

snark·y (snär'kē)

 

1. Rudely sarcastic or disrespectful; snide.

 

2. Irritable or short-tempered; irascible.

[arabrab]

OK, I know there are a bunch of independent spirits on this board who like to do it yourself.

 

BUT --

 

This is where a good TA can really be a huge help to you. They have access to tools and programs not available to the average bear on the internet, especially when it comes to international flights, and especially open jaws, which is what you probably want. They also have training and expertise which tells them where and when to look. When the air is international and goes along with a cruise booking there is usually no additional fee.

 

Go ahead and book the cruise/air package, so you have something locked in. Then let a good TA keep an eye on fares for you and I bet they can find something reasonable. We made our round trip open jaw flight to the Med for under $1100 pp.

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

 

The big issue there is finding a good travel agent that does air. There aren't that many, and commissions are so low that it doesn't pay them to keep putting effort against a ticket sale that is likely to be under $2500 for both people together. You'll kiss a lot of frogs (and probably take as much time as it would take you to do the fare research) before you find a prince.

[awms]

Our Med' cruise in Sept' 08 is under serious discussion at the moment.

 

After researching air from western Canada it looks like it will cost close to $4000 for the two of us to travel round trip economy class.:eek: That is almost the cost of the cruise!! It seems an awful price to pay for more than 12 hrs of discomfort to travel to Europe.

 

Has anyone any thoughts or bright ideas? I am thinking of checking airfares out of Seattle which is reasonably close to where we live in Canada. I have heard fares from US cities are less expensive. (I haven't a clue about which airlines to look at in the US)

 

We may just re-think the whole thing, we love the Med' but ---------

 

Your right about Airfares being costly when flying from the West Coast to Europe. In May 2006 we went on an Eastern Mediterranean Cruise out of Venice to Athens we flew KLM as arranged by our TA and the airfare was $3,000 (Economy) for the both of us. This May we did the Western Mediterranean and used airmiles which was a great savings. It would be nice to fly business class, however the airfares are outrageous.

 

Flying out of Seattle might be a good option given our Canadian Dollar. The airfares might be cheaper given the air fare competition in the U.S. Some of the hotels in Seattle offer a "stay and park" package. You pay for one nights accomodation and they let you park your car there for up to two weeks or longer depending on the circumstances and provide a shuttle service to and from Seatac Airport. We did it in September to go to Nevada as it was cheaper than flying out of Vancouver even with the one nights accomodation and you save on the parking fees.

 

Anyway there are some good ideas and suggestions from others on your quandry on this site.

 

Good Luck :D

[rochelle_s]

I found A British Aiirways flight (great airline by the way) from Vancouver to Rome for $1335 cdn in September. Not knowing your exact travel dates it is hard to say but prices will definately go down later on. I wouldn't dream of booking my Toronto - Vancoouver flight for May yet as I know for sure the prices will drop. Showing righ now at just under $800 and I know I can get it for atleast $200 less.

[cusyl]

Travelbug 2,

 

My vacation time is too valuable to me. I refuse to suffer.

 

If I must wait longer to afford Business Class, so be it.

I recommend the same to you.

We paid $5000 for the two of us last year for a direct flight from the US to Venice in business class. Even though it was a LOT of money for us from Florida, it was comfortable and stressfree.:rolleyes:

[sammiedawg]

Are you totally wedded to this particular itinerary? The only time I made a booking change on a cruise was last year to the Med. We always book our own air. The air for the original cruise was ridiculously high and flight times were not good for us. I researched other itineraries , air fares and had the TA rebook a new cruise, schedule changed a day or two. We have learned from our area Rome is generally more expensive then Venice. Barcelona is less expensive as well. It definitely depends on where you are traveling from. Good luck

[Marmarjudy]

I really can't believe that no one agreed with the idea of calling a travel agent......

 

And I am NOT a travel agent, but have a great one! She is flesh and blood, a true person, voice on the phone, and really works to always find us the best options for EVERY part of of our travel....cruise, air, hotel, everything.

 

I am done feeling sorry for people that go for the lowest price with a phantom online agent for their cruise to save a very small amount of money and then have problems with the other aspects of the trip and are too stubborn to ask for help other than on a message board....and then complain!!!

 

Bottom line: you get what you pay for.

 

My opinion.

 

Judy....20+ cruises, REAL travel agent, and NEVER a problem

[RedmondCruiser]

I'd try HAL for the air. They normally do very well on multiple location air fares. We always book our own air for domestic flights but have found that the cruise lines tend to have much better prices for trips over the pond. Good luck and have a great cruise.

[Pam in CA]

Here's another suggestion. Why don't you check air from Chicago for the cruise and then book air separately from your original destination to/from Chicago. Just a thought.

 

As has been said, a good TA can explore and price the various scenarios for you.

[Jade13]

I really can't believe that no one agreed with the idea of calling a travel agent......

 

And I am NOT a travel agent, but have a great one! She is flesh and blood, a true person, voice on the phone, and really works to always find us the best options for EVERY part of of our travel....cruise, air, hotel, everything.

 

I am done feeling sorry for people that go for the lowest price with a phantom online agent for their cruise to save a very small amount of money and then have problems with the other aspects of the trip and are too stubborn to ask for help other than on a message board....and then complain!!!

 

Bottom line: you get what you pay for.

 

My opinion.

 

Judy....20+ cruises, REAL travel agent, and NEVER a problem

 

Sometimes the savings are significant, not a "few dollars". We saved $1,500.00 last year. And some discounters do have a live person on a telephone. In fact, HAL told that us that the agency that we used last year was one of their highest producers.

 

Just because an agency is on-line does not mean they are "Phantom" or not legit. Are you suggesting the ones that advertise on CC are not legitinate agencies?

[rochelle_s]

As an added note you should have a look at skyauction.com. You can find some great deals there, which can also include a hotel stay in case you are interested in that or would like to extend your stay. From what I have seen most of the flights show out of New York city (for the auctioned ones) but have a minimal add on of $50.00 for Seattle. It's a little early right now for September, but looking at what is available now you will have a pretty good idea of what the same thing goes for on earlier dates. A little research can prove very worthwhile. Good luck!!

[WYB!]

I'm in New York and flying to Venice along with 4 family members from Amsterdam. I'm also a user of skyauction, and use them in some cases, but not this one. I'm using miles to fly 2 people from New York to Amsterdam.

 

For you I would look at skyauction and specifically flights from New York to Venice, and then pricing from Seattle to New York. Most likely you'll have a better chance find a flight in to and out of EWR - Newark, NJ.

 

This was the cheapest way for me was to do this:

 

http://transavia.com

 

Airline: Transavia - Flight HV5497

Departing 12:00 Amsterdam (Schiphol) (AMS)

Arriving 13:40 Venice (Treviso) (TSF)

 

 

Booked on 18 November 2007

Total: 1022.50 EUR - ($1,499.54 USD) (255.625 EUR/$374.885 USD Per Person)

Passenger 01 240.00 EUR (150 EUR + 90 EUR Taxes & Fees)

Passenger 02 & 03 512.50 EUR (340 EUR + 172.50 EUR Taxes & Fees)

Passenger 04 270 EUR (180 EUR + 90 EUR Taxes & Fees)

 

 

Baggage weight allowance for Transavia

The baggage weight allowance for standard checked baggage on transavia.com flights is a maximum of 20 kg per person. A charge of 6 euros per kg for one-way applies to checked baggage heavier than 20 kg. The maximum permitted weight for a single piece of baggage for Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and Rotterdam Airport is 32 kg.

 

 

Information on Venice, Treviso Airport (TSF): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treviso_Airport

Getting from Treviso to the Port: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=655401&highlight=venice

 

 

Bus Service: http://www.move2sea.com/indexen.php

It's approximately a 1hr 10m bus ride from the Treviso airport to the da Piazzale Roma in Venice. Cost per person is 5 EUR for a one way ticket. Tickets are available at the airport.

 

Return Trip

4 Passengers

Airline: Transavia - Flight HV5498

Departing: 15:00 Venice (Treviso) (TSF)

Arriving: 16:45 Amsterdam (Schiphol) (AMS)

 

Booked on 18 November 2007

Bus Service: http://www.move2sea.com/indexen.php

It's approximately a 1hr 10m bus ride to Treviso airport from the da Piazzale Roma in Venice. Cost per person is 5 EUR for a one way ticket.

 

Hope this helps and safe travels.

 

- CWipes

[Philip217]

I live in Asia and fly to Europe or North America nearly every month.

It ALWAYS costs me US$4,000 to US$5,000 per round trip for Business or First Class.

And well worth it every time.