want to book the a cruise out of san juan but

[dis2cruise]

we would be going next year presidents week (2/14/09-2/21/09)

however, the thing that scares me is the airfair prices... they aren't up

yet and we can only really go that week due to the fact that my kids are

in school so we have to work around their vacations.

 

for the people that are going this year (presidents week 2008) flying to san jaun about how much was your airfair just to give me an idea of what I might be paying.

 

thanks

cheryl

[commonsense2]

where are you flying from? did you try and run a search for flights this year? chances are they will not be less next year.

[dis2cruise]

we are flying out of ny...you are right there aren't any flights out yet but when they do we will book right away.

[FlyerTalker]

Think of two words: Supply and Demand. President's week is high demand, just because of people like you. IF you decide to take this trip, I would purchase tickets early. Remember that others in your same situation will be facing the same issue, and will likely do the same.

[JJPNYC]

I was thinking the same thing, supply & demand.

 

The good news is that your trip is over a year away so you can have a few days now to get a sense of what airfares are and then be ready to purchase fares ASAP fares for 2009 become available and you see fares that you feel comfortable with.

 

A couple of tips in possibly looking for "cheap" fares:

- consider a connection somewhere

- consider secondary airports (i.e. from NYC, either Long Island,Lehigh-Valley, or Newburgh)

- use a search engine like a Kayak to scan all available air fares

- if you can, look on a +/- day basis if you can...the cost of a hotel in San Juan for one night could more than offset airfare savings

[dis2cruise]

thanks everyone for all your responses i will set up kayak asap.

 

cheryl

[NCTribeFan]

I very much want to book Carnival Victory sailing out of San Juan on 12/14, returning 12/21. I would fly in on 12/13 and, since it's an all-port cruise, stay a day or two post-cruise.

 

Airfares just opened up for that time period and it doesn't look good.

 

USAir appears to be the best, so far ($753.60 from RDU for 2 people). Delta is outrageous ($1,254 for two).

 

Unfortunately, if I wait to see what AirTran might be like, the decent price for the USAir may be gone.

 

Unfortunately, my second choice, Carnival Legend out of Tampa, isn't that much better! And the cruise itself is considerably higher.

 

I'm so depressed. :(

[greatam]

I very much want to book Carnival Victory sailing out of San Juan on 12/14, returning 12/21. I would fly in on 12/13 and, since it's an all-port cruise, stay a day or two post-cruise.

 

 

Your return flight is in the Xmas travel time frame (usually Dec. 15-Jan 3/4). There is no incentive for airlines to sell seats cheap. They can fill every plane with Puerto Ricans going to the US for Xmas. Sorry.

[NCTribeFan]

It isn't just San Juan. It's everywhere.

 

We flew Delta Connection RDU to FLL for our Miracle cruise this past December (12/16-12/24) and air was $238.81 each. Comparable fares for the same time frame are $249. Unfortunately, my 2nd choice is out of Tampa, and the lowest I've found, so far, is $272 each, on USAirways.

 

Not drastically higher, but high enough that I'm starting to think about driving. Unfortunately, that isn't an option on a San Juan cruise!

 

I was just disappointed because I'd seen some people here recently that got really good prices to San Juan and was hoping that would hold for next year.

 

I may go ahead and book the sailing out of Tampa, and then when AirTran comes out with their SJU flights for December, switch it over if their prices are reasonable.

[letmetellya]

I very much want to book Carnival Victory sailing out of San Juan on 12/14, returning 12/21. I would fly in on 12/13 and, since it's an all-port cruise, stay a day or two post-cruise.

 

Airfares just opened up for that time period and it doesn't look good.

 

USAir appears to be the best, so far ($753.60 from RDU for 2 people). Delta is outrageous ($1,254 for two).

 

Unfortunately, if I wait to see what AirTran might be like, the decent price for the USAir may be gone.

 

Unfortunately, my second choice, Carnival Legend out of Tampa, isn't that much better! And the cruise itself is considerably higher.quote]

 

753.60 is actually good for 2 people. I flew from bwi to sju and it was the same , july 07 for 2 . we are looking right now at Carival air for 674.00 per person (going down on their terms of course) we would love to see 753.00 for 2 people because we have 7 people to pay for. we are going the end of Dec.

[Host CJSKIDS]

I very much want to book Carnival Victory sailing out of San Juan on 12/14, returning 12/21. I would fly in on 12/13 and, since it's an all-port cruise, stay a day or two post-cruise.

 

Airfares just opened up for that time period and it doesn't look good.

 

USAir appears to be the best, so far ($753.60 from RDU for 2 people). Delta is outrageous ($1,254 for two).

 

Unfortunately, if I wait to see what AirTran might be like, the decent price for the USAir may be gone.

 

Unfortunately, my second choice, Carnival Legend out of Tampa, isn't that much better! And the cruise itself is considerably higher.quote]

 

753.60 is actually good for 2 people. I flew from bwi to sju and it was the same , july 07 for 2 . we are looking right now at Carival air for 674.00 per person (going down on their terms of course) we would love to see 753.00 for 2 people because we have 7 people to pay for. we are going the end of Dec.

 

Why not go on American? You can have a direct flight and it's $322.80 per person. This price includes all your taxes and surcharges. That's a direct flight out of BWI into SJU. They only have 1 direct flight per day, otherwise it's a connect.

[JJPNYC]

Also through all of this is the issue that vacations are a luxury and not a necessity (although sometimes it's hard to tell on these boards).

 

Since it is a luxury item, it's not imperative that one goes on a trip, especially if prices are too high for one's budget. That is the choice we have as consuemers.

 

I just wanted to bring some perspective to all of this.

[Host CJSKIDS]

Also through all of this is the issue that vacations are a luxury and not a necessity (although sometimes it's hard to tell on these boards).

 

Since it is a luxury item, it's not imperative that one goes on a trip, especially if prices are too high for one's budget. That is the choice we have as consuemers.

 

I just wanted to bring some perspective to all of this.

 

I'm not quite sure anyone needed to get a new perspective or a lesson on the fact that vacations are a luxury not a necessity so I'm not quite sure why you felt the need to post this!

[JJPNYC]

The reason I felt to post this is that through all of the recent discussions of "air fare is so high that I won't be able to take my cruise" is that I feel, in my opinion, that people are forgetting that taking a cruise is not a right nor a necessity, but rather a vacation & a privilege.

[breakiron]

If you could fly out of Washington Dulles airport American has a fare of $293 for those date. Ken...

[FlyerTalker]

Following up on JJPNYC's line of thought.....people get sucked in with a low upfront price on a cruise, then all of the other items that are involved blow the budget out of the water.

 

Consider....let's say I get a great rate of $100 per night at the Peninsula Hotel. Hot dang, I'm all over that and I get all set for a great time. Then I research and it will cost me $1700 to fly to Hong Kong. Oops. Changes the equation.

 

Lots of people don't work out the TOTAL cost of their cruise vacation and are very unhappy when the true costs come to light. Look at how many posts are in the cruiseline sections talking about the size of the onboard bill. It's a cognitive disconnect between the price of the cruise ticket and the overall cost.

 

Finally, JJPNYC is making the point that no one is/was holding a gun to your head and forcing you to make these travel plans. It's your decision, and if you don't like the price - DON'T GO. Find something else that fits your budget.

[NCTribeFan]

The OP was going to fly out of NY. I'm in NC. No direct flights to San Juan.

 

Delta appears to have just gone up $60 pp for the dates I was looking at.

 

Regarding the "total cost" issue, I have a massive spreadsheet where I put in the various cabin prices on a handful of cruises I'm interested in, then "fake" book to see how much the port fees and other charges might be, then calculate an average per port day on what I might expect to spend on excursions, and come up with an estimated cost per person, per day for the cruise.

 

Then I factor in airfare as well.

 

So, I do my homework. Hey, I'm an accountant. If I didn't obsess over the cost, I wouldn't be peforming my due diligance, would I? ;)

 

My conclusion, at this point, is that if I steer clear of MIA and FLL, I can drive to the ports and "save" enough that I can cruise twice this year. The overall cost will be slightly higher, but the per person/per day cost is lower. So, I figure I'm getting a better value if I drive.

 

And if some airfare sale comes up prior to sailing, I'll jump on it and fly anyway. But I'm just not going to book a cruise that requires me to fly this year.

 

It will be nice when DD is out of college and we won't be tied to her schedule, although I'll continue to be chained to my deck for a good portion of the year. Being able to cruise and fly during off peak periods will be a nice change.

[JJPNYC]

I've done the same thing for the past few cruises I've gone on - creating the mother of all spreadsheets. After each cruise I find a couple of more things to include and as a result I'm getting pretty spot on for an estimated total cost.

 

Some newer things that I've been factoring in:

- parking at my local airport

- ground transportation to/from the pier

- tips (amazing how many people forget about these)

- visa fees (big in my trip to China two years ago)

 

I've also eliminated some potential cruises as the numbers just don't add up (i.e. that cruise out of Galveston is super cheap but getting to/from Galveston sure costs some extra dollars....guess that cruise out of Port Everglades isn't that bad after all).

[jtravelbug]

I had the same concern with booking a cruise out of San Juan a year in advance. I'm planning to cruise in December of 2008. I didn't want to book the cruise and then find that the flights are outrageous! The airlines post the cruise schedule about 330 days in advance. So you can still book your cruise and flight a good 11 months in advance if you are willing to wait another month to compare rates, before booking.

 

I repeatedly checked orbitz.com to compare flights and then checked the price with the airline directly. I would book my flight through either one, or a like serach engine, such as the previously suggested kayak.com. Orbitz can find cheaper flights by cross comparing flight times, mixing airlines for departure and arrival and so on. It does in minutes what It would take me FOREVER to do!

 

Anyway, the lowest flight that I found out of New York during that highly sought after vacation period, was around $550. Too bad, because flights were half as much during other times of the year. The cool thing about orbitz.com is that you can also search nearby airports, and those airports often have significantly lower prices! I found a great rate for under $400, but then checked nearby airports and found rates closer to $250 roundtrip!!!

 

Anyway, good luck with your search!!! I hope you find a steal of a deal!!!

[jtravelbug]

we are looking right now at Carival air for 674.00 per person (going down on their terms of course) we would love to see 753.00 for 2 people because we have 7 people to pay for. we are going the end of Dec.

 

 

Sorry to change the subject, but I see that you cruised on the Victory before. I've been trying to decide on wheter to cruise the southern caribbean on Victory, RCCL Serenade of the Seas, or Crown Princess. My final choice is based on the ship itself, because the itineraries are very similar. Anyway, I heard the Victory was not as nice as the others because it was old and that the voyager class ships lack some of the ammenities of it's newer siblings. Having said all that, I would LOVE your personal opinion of the ship. (I actually posted a bulletin on the very subject!;) )

 

Thanks for your help!!!

[letmetellya]

Sorry to change the subject, but I see that you cruised on the Victory before. I've been trying to decide on wheter to cruise the southern caribbean on Victory, RCCL Serenade of the Seas, or Crown Princess. My final choice is based on the ship itself, because the itineraries are very similar. Anyway, I heard the Victory was not as nice as the others because it was old and that the voyager class ships lack some of the ammenities of it's newer siblings. Having said all that, I would LOVE your personal opinion of the ship. (I actually posted a bulletin on the very subject!;) )

 

Thanks for your help!!!

 

We did jsut get off the Victory . We really did like it ,we did the Destiny in July 07 to the Southern Carribean and the Victory was the same but newer and nicer. We are happy with the Victory , they have the new movie screen on the lido deck and of course the huge water slide . my 17 year old loved the teen club . We have been on 3 Royal Carribeans and 3 Carnivals so we really dont have a preferance of cruise lines , we do mainly go for the itineraries and we have found that Carnival does have bigger rooms for the price and more to do later at night (our experience) although we dont stay up too late . I would go for the price and ship you like the best , we know the Victory now and it does make it easier to navigate around the ship when you have been on it a couple times. The Southern Carribean is totally worth going to no matter what ship you choose.

[soilcruiser]

We have booked the aos for 2009 presidents week. the air that we were qouted was 689/pp out of new york