Flight Questions

[cruiseguy2]

Here are my questions:

 

1) I planned a cruise that leaves at 4pm on Friday, June 24th. It starts boarding at 11am. I am looking at flights on Southwest Airlines and it leaves from MDW at 7:35am and arrives at SEA at 9:40am or something like that. (Celebrity Cruises by the way in Seattle) Will this allow me enough time to get my bags and take a taxi to the port so I could board on-time? Or should I get a flight the day before and get a hotel?

 

2) The cruise is scheduled to get back in port at 7:00am. Is a 11:00pm flight good? Or, should I plan a hotel stay after the cruise (I would like to, but Seattle downtown hotels look expensive!)

 

3) Does Celebrity have a cruise insurance program that can be used on my own-booked flights, or do I have to go book a cruise-line flight to get the insurance? And, how much does the insurance cost?

 

THANKS in advance!

-Chris

[DanJ]

Flying to a port city the day ahead is always a good idea. You never know what kind of delays you may run into, including your luggage not making the journey with you. Plus, you get to have a good night's sleep and not have to be so rushed on cruise morning. Starting Day 1 of your cruise with a 4 hour flight is no fun LOL. But that said, the times are fine. Boarding doesn't have to be at 11am. They will be boarding people up until an hour or less before sailaway, so you would have plenty of time to get there if those flight times stay as advertised.

 

As for debarkation day, I'm not sure what Seattle is like, but I tend to think an 11am flight is too early (I'm assuming that was a typo, and the flight is 11am, and not 11pm). If you can find something around 100pm, that will probably work out fine. If you really meant 11pm, and if you want to fly that late, there is no problem.

 

I don't think the cruise line has insurance for air you purchase separately. But if you use a TA to book your air, they probably have some type of insurance for it. I had the TA that booked my cruise, book my air for me, and they offered me insurance which I declined.

[CruisinMatt]

I'd go a day before. Three weeks ago I was flying MDW-SJU at 6:30 AM and the flight was overbooked by 40 people. It was a mess to cram as many onboard and we were nearly late. This was ATA.

[cruiseguy2]

Thanks guys! I will go on a flight the day before and get a hotel. I guess that will relieve some pressure. And yes, I meant 11pm, my family and I are fine travelling at the time? Does Celebrity ever have any delays getting back to port?

 

Thanks again,

Chris

[kitty9]

The general rule is not to purchase cruise insurance through the cruise line. Those policies don't cover nearly as much as a third party insurance. Look at the website insuremytrip.com and take a look at all the policies they offer and find one that will meet your needs.

[cruiseguy2]

Thanks again! Insurance looks expensive, though. Oh well, its worth it, I guess.

 

-Chris

[DanJ]

We do take the insurance on the cruise. It's not nearly as expensive in relation to the cost of the cruise, compared to the flight insurance we declined. We figure that if something happens and we have to cancel the cruise a week before we leave, our cruise insurance should cover that cost (depending on the reason of course), and most airlines will give you a future credit for fare paid so long as you cancel before flight time.

[hajekfam]

Celebrity's insurance does not cover air unless you book your air with Celebrity.

We now arrive at least a day early for our cruises. It gives us time to rest, relax, and get used to the time change. When we board the ship, we are all set to enjoy ourselves instead of feeling tired and cranky from traveling. Makes for a much nicer vacation.