Airport VCE- Frankfort or Munich?? HAL crazy flight schedule

[LuckyLoon]

Hi All,

 

Didn't find this question anywhere. Which airport is better to change planes in Frankfort or Munich? We have a Lufthansa flight from Venice to Frankfort, then to Boston. Which I have to change. So hence the question.

 

What is it with HAL giving us a 6:55am flight on debark day anyway? They have us booked for the transfer that says you can't use it if you flight is before 12pm plus I doubt we will even be off the ship before 8:30am. So how can we make a 6:55am flight?

 

While I'm ranting, I asked for a day before flight to FLL and got a same day flight to MIA.

[iancal]

We like Lufthansa.

 

Our choice would be Munich based on our experience.

[CruiserBruce]

Munich would be the better airport for your connection.

 

There is a board here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=128

 

called Cruise Air. There is a sticky there warning readers about Cruise line air. In summary, generally, the cruiseline will get you a flight that works best for the cruise line, not for you. If something goes wrong, chances are you will be very low in the priority list for fixing the problem. So don't use cruise line air!

[sapete]

I like using MUC over FRA but it all depends on connection times. I always recommned to allow at least 2 hours in FRA and I never booked clients for less than a two hour connection in FRA. I like at leat 90 minutes in MUC. I would recheck your departure time out of Venice. I did not see a 6:55am flight on Lufthansa to Frankfurt out of either Venice airport. There is a 7:25am out of Linate (the mostly doemstic airport) and a 6:45am out of Milpensa (the int'l airport).

[2ptu/000]

We booked our our own flights. We decided to transfer in Munich. We wanted to avoid the huge Frankford airport.

When we got home we didn't have our luggage. We flew a little commuter plane from Venice to Munich. There wasn't room for our checked baggage. We would have been better off to fly through Frankford as I'm sure a regular sized plane few from Venice to Frankford.

It took a day for our luggage to arrive. It was a source of worry until it got there.

[LADYLAYLA]

Hi All,

 

Didn't find this question anywhere. Which airport is better to change planes in Frankfort or Munich? We have a Lufthansa flight from Venice to Frankfort, then to Boston. Which I have to change. So hence the question.

 

What is it with HAL giving us a 6:55am flight on debark day anyway? They have us booked for the transfer that says you can't use it if you flight is before 12pm plus I doubt we will even be off the ship before 8:30am. So how can we make a 6:55am flight?

 

While I'm ranting, I asked for a day before flight to FLL and got a same day flight to MIA.

 

Since your final port is Venice and you O/N there arriving the day before, there should be no problem making a 6:55 flight.

[hamrag]

Hi All,

 

Didn't find this question anywhere. Which airport is better to change planes in Frankfort or Munich? We have a Lufthansa flight from Venice to Frankfort, then to Boston. Which I have to change. So hence the question.

 

What is it with HAL giving us a 6:55am flight on debark day anyway? They have us booked for the transfer that says you can't use it if you flight is before 12pm plus I doubt we will even be off the ship before 8:30am. So how can we make a 6:55am flight?

 

While I'm ranting, I asked for a day before flight to FLL and got a same day flight to MIA.

 

That is the precise reason why we always book cruise only, and arrange our own flights....maintains control, and we always go out at least a day early which means we join the ship refreshed!

[LuckyLoon]

Yes, I plan to rebook for the day before the cruise begins. And I probably will have to rebook the return leg too. Since I'm a 3* mariner I will get one free deviation. Hopefully that means the whole round trip. We'll see.

 

I will also check with my TA to see if we can leave the ship early enough to make that flight. According to their info we need to be at the airport 3 hrs. ahead. That means we'd need to leave sometime before 4am.

 

Oh, when I checked the Lufthansa site they showed my flight time. It's not until 4/1, so maybe their schedules change between now and then?

 

I appreciate all the advise.

[hybrn8]

The two airports cited by another poster indicates there are two airports serving Venice. Not so, Malpensa and Linate are MILAN airports. Milan is a longggg way from Venice. Big jets leave Venice but not sure what type of equipment LH uses to go to Munich. Munich is a much nicer and easier to navigate airport than Frankfurt which, though vastly improved of late, is still huge and somewhat confusing. I'd opt for Munich if possible.

[Hawaiidan]

However this is a classic reason for not going with Holland for flights

1. you have no control of the flights

2. you dont get any air miles or perks if you are a fre;)quent traveler .

 

We just flew for venice, from Hawaii, did our own flew into Frankfurt and took the train to Venice a very beautiful alpine tip

 

On return to FT Lauderdale scheduled a flight the next day at 10 am back to Kona and by picking the airline, bought it for 400 per person and got free upgrades from united to First class.... 13 hours of flying Mia-Koa

 

Holland would not do that, nor could you do that.. only on your own

[Arwen]

Hi All,

 

Didn't find this question anywhere. Which airport is better to change planes in Frankfort or Munich? We have a Lufthansa flight from Venice to Frankfort, then to Boston. Which I have to change. So hence the question.

 

What is it with HAL giving us a 6:55am flight on debark day anyway? They have us booked for the transfer that says you can't use it if you flight is before 12pm plus I doubt we will even be off the ship before 8:30am. So how can we make a 6:55am flight?

 

While I'm ranting, I asked for a day before flight to FLL and got a same day flight to MIA.

 

We just arrived home four days ago from a Mediterranean cruise. This was the second time we had our TA book with HAL and we figured it made sense to book our flight and pre-cruise package in Athens with HAL.

 

We did ask for flight deviation as we were entitled to that being 3 Star Mariners. We were initally booked with KLM, but then our TA called about 10 weeks prior to our trip and said it had been changed to Lufthansa with our connecting flight in Frankfurt. We had no issues on the way over. Yes, the Frankfurt airport is HUGE!!!! We really liked Lufthansa, but I think most international flights are a bit nicer than domestic.

 

Our flight home, from Ft. Lauderdale was a different story. My fault for not paying attention to details. We had our connecting flight in Detroit in order to fly home to Seattle. What I did not notice is that we had a little less than one hour between flights. Detroit is also a big airport, not as big as Frankfurt, but big....requiring us to take the people movers and then because our gate was sooooo far away, we took the terminal train to get to our gate. Even with that we arrived at our gate when they had just started boarding their first class pax!!!! Insane!!! If my husband had not noticed that we were able to take the faster terminal train (instead of continuing with the people movers) there is no doubt we would have missed our flight to Seattle.

 

I will not ever again, book flights or pre-cruise packages or terminal to airport and airport to hotel transfers with HAL. They really do not pay attention to important details regarding these bookings.

 

My husband and I signed up on the ship for the HAL transfer from the ship's terminal to the airport in Ft. Lauderdale. Big Mistake. We received our tranfer vouchers six days prior and the day before my husband noticed that it said "for flights after 12 noon". Well, our HAL scheduled flight was at 11:30 a.m.! We talked with someone at the Front Desk and explained the problem. We had every reason to be concerned that we would miss our flight because we were told that we would be called to disembark at around 8:45. The young lady said there would be no problem making our flight as the airport was a mere 10 to 15 minutes from the terminal.

 

Disembarkation day: Customs is having issues with some of the earlier disembarking pax. Announcement made over the ship's intercom that there is a slight delay. Our number is called 30 minutes after the stated time. Then....it took FOREVER, for the one bus driver to load everyone's luggage in the bus hold. We arrive at the airport and have to check in with our luggage and fortunately had a "mere 15 minutes to spare...just enough time to buy a bottled drink and a quick restroom stop. NEVER AGAIN!!!

 

 

And when we took a cruise around New Zealand and Australia, we were booked for a same day flight!!! Now that is partially our fault. No one should ever book a flight for that distance and not arrive a day or even two to three days early. That flight was "no deviation" and was the longest and most convoluted flight I had ever taken with two connecting flights to get to our destination.

 

After 11 cruises, I have finally learned, there are some things you must take care of yourself. Making flight, hotel, and transfer arrangements are just those things.

[sapete]

The two airports cited by another poster indicates there are two airports serving Venice. Not so, Malpensa and Linate are MILAN airports. Milan is a longggg way from Venice. Big jets leave Venice but not sure what type of equipment LH uses to go to Munich. Munich is a much nicer and easier to navigate airport than Frankfurt which, though vastly improved of late, is still huge and somewhat confusing. I'd opt for Munich if possible.

 

Wow! My mistake and apology. (Milan on the brain, no wonder depature times did not line up.) I agree with the above for the same reasons.

[spacepotatoes]

From my experience, avoid Frankfurt whenever possible! It's an incredibly large and busy aiport, and if you've never been there before, can be very confusing.

 

Two or three years ago, we had a connection through there from Budapest. There were 2 hours between our flights, which we thought would be plenty of time. Once we got onto our first flight in Budapest, we ended up sitting on the tarmac for an hour because they said there was too much air traffic in Frankfurt that morning and if we left on schedule, we wouldn't be able to land. We eventually made it with 45 minutes left to catch our connecting flight. We ran the entire way across one terminal, onto the monorail, then ran across the next terminal. We got picked for a random search in the security line, then had to stand there and wait until a female agent was available to do the wanding. We made it to our gate just as our next flight was boarding. That was one of the most unpleasant mornings I've ever had!

[ger_77]

I will also check with my TA to see if we can leave the ship early enough to make that flight. According to their info we need to be at the airport 3 hrs. ahead. That means we'd need to leave sometime before 4am.

 

I can't imagine scheduling a flight for 6:30AM the morning you disembark the ship! I'd be talking to my TA and re-booking flights; there's no way you'll be able to leave the ship before 4AM . You'll be lucky to leave by 7 or 8. If there is any delay that prevents the ship from getting into port at the scheduled time, you've already missed your flight.

 

Don't ruin a wonderful cruise with a headache over "how are we going to get home now?" at the end. If you can't schedule a flight for later in the day, spend an additional day and fly home the next morning.

 

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[jdvmd]

I can't imagine scheduling a flight for 6:30AM the morning you disembark the ship! I'd be talking to my TA and re-booking flights; there's no way you'll be able to leave the ship before 4AM . You'll be lucky to leave by 7 or 8. If there is any delay that prevents the ship from getting into port at the scheduled time, you've already missed your flight.

 

Don't ruin a wonderful cruise with a headache over "how are we going to get home now?" at the end. If you can't schedule a flight for later in the day, spend an additional day and fly home the next morning.

 

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

 

I think another poster indicated that Venice is the last port and the OP is overnighting there. It sucks to leave that early but they should be able to make the early flight just fine.

[PatsyAnne]

I prefer to book my own flights, but that doesn't mean that my flights and connecting airports aren't changed by the airlines several times between purchase and travel dates, including having safe layover times disappear. One change had us taking off prior to our ship's arrival in San Diego, and at least the airline was *nice* enough to move us to a flight we could actually make. Not simple no matter which way you purchase your tickets.:(

[iancal]

I would not count on Lufthansa substantially changing the schedule time. This is a feeder connection with the scheduled transatlantic flight. We were on that flight in May-it was packed. We were on a land trip. We did see some cruisers but could not say if they had debarked that morning.

[Mary Ellen]

I can't imagine scheduling a flight for 6:30AM the morning you disembark the ship! I'd be talking to my TA and re-booking flights; there's no way you'll be able to leave the ship before 4AM . You'll be lucky to leave by 7 or 8.

Our most recent HAL cruise overnighted in the disembarkation port, as the OP's cruise will do. HAL will be able to get passengers off the ship much earlier than a typical disembarkation. The Lido opened for breakfast at 2 a.m. IIRC for those heading to the airport on the first shuttles starting at about 2:30 - 3 a.m. I'm thinking the flights from Singapore may have started about 5 a.m., but certainly by 6. Since we stayed in Singapore a few days before flying home, I don't remember the exact times. We were still sleeping and VERY appreciative that, given the early times, this was a silent disembarkation. I don't think the OP needs to worry about such an early flight.

[jebhoward3]

LuckyLoon,

 

We are on the same cruise with you and had the same difficulties with flight times. 3* Mariners so did the deviation. Also we wanted to start and return to our home airport in Grand Junction.

 

We ended up with going to FLL on March 31st (1 day early) departing GJT at 6:35am and arriving FLL at 3:35pm. Those flights are on American Airlines. So OK flights for us

 

On the return we also were given a 7:50am flight out of VCE on April 30. We changed to May 1 (will spend 1 night in Venice) and are now to depart VCE at 10:30am on Lufthansa to FRA (Frankfurt), arriving at 12pm. Then depart FRA at 1:45pm and arrive in Denver at 3:50pm. Both of these flights have had 15min time changes since we booked, making out time in FRA 30min less.

 

Lufthansa website indicates that arriving flight will be at Terminal 1 and departing flight also at Terminal 1. We will have 1 hr and 45 min at the airport (given that things are on time), originally we were to have 2 hrs and 15 min. Will there be additional security checks to go through with staying at the same Terminal?

 

Good luck with getting those better flights, they are available. HAL's flights are a whole lot less expensive than the one-way flights that we could have gotten. And our return flights on Lufthansa are booked under class H which according to the website is eligible for 100% frequent flyer miles. As they are a member of Star Alliance of which United Airlines is also a member, we will get United's mileage plus miles for this return flight.

 

See ya on board the NA,

Joyce & Duane

[LuckyLoon]

Hi Joyce, What hotel are you staying at on 4/1? Is it close to the airport? I've only flown home once on debark day and I didn't like it. We will certainly change our 4/1 flight to 3/31. I'd be a wreck worrying about making the cruise if we flew same day. Heck, We've always done two days ahead, though most of those cruises were on the west coast and in early/mid March.

[spacepotatoes]

Lufthansa website indicates that arriving flight will be at Terminal 1 and departing flight also at Terminal 1. We will have 1 hr and 45 min at the airport (given that things are on time), originally we were to have 2 hrs and 15 min. Will there be additional security checks to go through with staying at the same Terminal?

 

 

I think yes, because you will be boarding a flight to the US. On our flights to Europe on that same trip, we connected through FRA coming from Toronto and going into Budapest. We had to go through a quick scan of our carry-ons at that time. On the way back, coming from Budapest and going to Toronto, we had to go through the same type of security that we encounter in our airports at home. It was more thorough than when we were flying between EU countries.

[iancal]

We flew home from Venice-Calgary via Frankfurt this past May on Lufthansa.

 

We did in fact have to go through passport control (not customs) when we arrived in Frankfurt prior to boarding our flight to Canada. On this particular day the customs area was not well staffed and we had a 30 minute wait. We arrived at the gate just in time to board. As I recall, the requirement to proceed through customs was not well signed...but we made it.

 

Frankfurt can be challenging but we will typically do just about anything to avoid transferring through London-especially when there is a change of terminal involved.

[jebhoward3]

Hi Joyce, What hotel are you staying at on 4/1? Is it close to the airport? I've only flown home once on debark day and I didn't like it. We will certainly change our 4/1 flight to 3/31. I'd be a wreck worrying about making the cruise if we flew same day. Heck, We've always done two days ahead, though most of those cruises were on the west coast and in early/mid March.

 

Hi Debbie,

 

We have not yet decided where we are going to stay either in Ft. Lauderdale or Venice. We alway fly into port city at least 1 day early, but usually fly home on the same day the cruise ends. We don't feel comfortable doing that from Venice, so will stay over for 1 night and then be more comfortable that we will make it to the airport on time.

 

Anyone have good idea on reasonable priced hotel in good location in Ft. Lauderdale and in Venice.

 

Joyce

[tcook052]

2. you dont get any air miles or perks if you are a fre;)quent traveler .

 

Have you experienced this? I understood HAL tickets are like any others and so receiving the frequent flyer miles and elite flyer perks are still possible.

[Kuddel Daddeldu]

Hi All,

 

Didn't find this question anywhere. Which airport is better to change planes in Frankfort or Munich? We have a Lufthansa flight from Venice to Frankfort, then to Boston. Which I have to change. So hence the question.

 

 

Depends on the connection.

Munich is Lufthansa's second (as in: smaller) hub, and generally the walking distance to your gate is shorter.

As a German, I fly Lufthansa a lot, and I'd take MUC over FRA any time.

 

If possible, you could check if there is a connection with Swiss (nowadays a Lufthansa subsidiary) via Zurich. Very pleasant airport. The flights to the US leave from the midfield terminal - the automatic subway is a sight to behold. Swiss precision and cleanliness, as the whole airport, and a "Swiss Alps" soundscape. A little weird, maybe, to hear cows with bells underground...