Mar 7-14 Reflection - Canadian Charters

[thon]

Just returned from Reflection on Saturday and we were one of the Canadians that took the Celebrity all-inclusive charters – included whichever cabin you wanted to book, airfare to/from Ottawa (or Hamilton, Quebec City or Halifax), transfer to/from airport/pier, all taxes, gratuities, the classic beverage package and select dining.

 

Thought I would provide some feedback on our experience on the flights portion of this package separately from the cruise itself which I will provide later. This might be of benefit/interest to others who have already booked this package for the remainder of this season or are still contemplating doing so.

 

This was our very first cruise so the ads I kept seeing in the newspaper appealed to me as everything would be handled as one package – no need to book separate airfare, go down a day early in order to ensure we made the cruise, decide which booze package we wanted, etc. The airline Celebrity chartered was ‘Canadian North’ which is an airline that has regularly-scheduled flights primarily in Canada’s north (hence the name). It is also the airline chartered by the CFL (Canada’s NFL) to fly teams around during football season.

 

For some reason, Canadian North sub-chartered another airline – ‘First Air’ – to fly the Ottawa/Miami route, although I understand they used their own planes for the other 3 cities. First Air is another primarily northern airline and has been around for decades. Boy, what a trip both ways – I cannot say enough good things about it! First Air is still what all the mainline domestic airlines USED to be before the all the cost cutting that started years ago. Free hot breakfast, free blankets and open bar that started at 9:30 a.m. – now when I was much, much younger maybe….but others did partake – after all, it was 5 p.m. somewhere! However, no entertainment – no movies, no TV screens, no music, but the flight was not that long so no big problem. Free magazines handed out (when was the last decade we saw that on an airplane??)

 

Landed in Miami at 11:20 and was out of the airport by 12:30. Unfortunately for us we had to clear US Customs in Miami. In Ottawa, US-bound flights usually clear US Customs before leaving (there are US Custom officers stationed at many larger Canadian airports – why we didn’t do this in Ottawa this time I do not know and I forgot to ask).

 

At the Miami airport Celebrity really shone for us first timers. Once we left Customs there were Celerity people to direct us through the airport and directly to our buses – no possible way could we have gotten lost as we were always in sight of the next Celebrity person. We were told that once we handed over our suitcases to the bus driver, we would not see them again until they were in our cabins. Got to the pier at 1 pm. And of course the place was packed at that time. But the line moved fairly quickly and we were onboard by 1:45.

 

Coming home was just as easy. Once we had our suitcases and exited the terminal we just told the Celebrity people that we were on the Canadian charters and they directed us to our special buses. Buses dropped us off at the airport right by our check-in counter. Simple! Another hot meal (late lunch) and open bar again!!

 

So, if I were to cruise again with Celebrity and they still offered this type of package deal I think I would be crazy not to take it. If anything were to go wrong (as happened a few weeks ago) Celebrity still has to get us to the ship one way or the other.

[loupana]

Thanks for reporting...If this is offered again next year I will definitely take advantage of it.

[Payd]

Just returned from Reflection on Saturday and we were one of the Canadians that took the Celebrity all-inclusive charters – included whichever cabin you wanted to book, airfare to/from Ottawa (or Hamilton, Quebec City or Halifax), transfer to/from airport/pier, all taxes, gratuities, the classic beverage package and select dining.

 

Thought I would provide some feedback on our experience on the flights portion of this package separately from the cruise itself which I will provide later. This might be of benefit/interest to others who have already booked this package for the remainder of this season or are still contemplating doing so.

 

This was our very first cruise so the ads I kept seeing in the newspaper appealed to me as everything would be handled as one package – no need to book separate airfare, go down a day early in order to ensure we made the cruise, decide which booze package we wanted, etc. The airline Celebrity chartered was ‘Canadian North’ which is an airline that has regularly-scheduled flights primarily in Canada’s north (hence the name). It is also the airline chartered by the CFL (Canada’s NFL) to fly teams around during football season.

 

For some reason, Canadian North sub-chartered another airline – ‘First Air’ – to fly the Ottawa/Miami route, although I understand they used their own planes for the other 3 cities. First Air is another primarily northern airline and has been around for decades. Boy, what a trip both ways – I cannot say enough good things about it! First Air is still what all the mainline domestic airlines USED to be before the all the cost cutting that started years ago. Free hot breakfast, free blankets and open bar that started at 9:30 a.m. – now when I was much, much younger maybe….but others did partake – after all, it was 5 p.m. somewhere! However, no entertainment – no movies, no TV screens, no music, but the flight was not that long so no big problem. Free magazines handed out (when was the last decade we saw that on an airplane??)

 

Landed in Miami at 11:20 and was out of the airport by 12:30. Unfortunately for us we had to clear US Customs in Miami. In Ottawa, US-bound flights usually clear US Customs before leaving (there are US Custom officers stationed at many larger Canadian airports – why we didn’t do this in Ottawa this time I do not know and I forgot to ask).

 

At the Miami airport Celebrity really shone for us first timers. Once we left Customs there were Celerity people to direct us through the airport and directly to our buses – no possible way could we have gotten lost as we were always in sight of the next Celebrity person. We were told that once we handed over our suitcases to the bus driver, we would not see them again until they were in our cabins. Got to the pier at 1 pm. And of course the place was packed at that time. But the line moved fairly quickly and we were onboard by 1:45.

 

Coming home was just as easy. Once we had our suitcases and exited the terminal we just told the Celebrity people that we were on the Canadian charters and they directed us to our special buses. Buses dropped us off at the airport right by our check-in counter. Simple! Another hot meal (late lunch) and open bar again!!

 

So, if I were to cruise again with Celebrity and they still offered this type of package deal I think I would be crazy not to take it. If anything were to go wrong (as happened a few weeks ago) Celebrity still has to get us to the ship one way or the other.

 

Happy that you enjoyed it. We are envious - the deal wasn't offered out west. We would have taken it and "run".

[kruise runner]

Hi Cruiser

I'm certainly glad you posted this. If the offer Is still out for next season. We are looking to use it .Provided we do it from the Hamilton /Toronto area . Thanks for all your input . Looking forward to more on your review. Keep on cruising.

Looking to cruise

kruise runner:cool:

[juanita1767]

We took this same offer out of Halifax and I agree they were fantastic!!! I would recommend it for sure. The service was the best I have ever had on an airline in a very long time. I hope they offer it every year from now on. I would definitely take advantage of it.

[bouhunter]

We've flown First Air and Canadian North several times to Northern Canada. I couldn't agree more, some of the best flight experiences I've ever had!:)

[Texed]

Hey, I guess they don't fly to Texas! :D

 

We used to have a great airline, (Continental), but United ruined it.

[juanita1767]

I wish Texed, after the amount of snow we have gotten since we got home I am ready to move to Texas, 100 cms in two days it just too much

[leenie77]

I wish Texed, after the amount of snow we have gotten since we got home I am ready to move to Texas, 100 cms in two days it just too much

 

As a fellow Nova Scotian, I wish that too! 16 days until my first Caribbean cruise. I can't wait.

[maggie.1008]

I wish they would offer that from California !

[iMedic]

Not sure why you had to clear customs at MIA, as YOW is most definitely a preclearance airport.

[Queen of Oakville]

Thanks for the review!

 

I think one pays a significant premium for the charter cruises, but as you know there are benefits to the package vacation.

 

I'm close enough to the Buffalo airport, that the savings for me outweigh any perks that the charter offers.

 

Happy to hear that it was a positive experience for you.

 

What did you think of your first X cruise? Was it also your first cruise?

[thon]

Not sure why you had to clear customs at MIA, as YOW is most definitely a preclearance airport.

 

Not sure either. We originally lined up at the Canadian North check-in counter in the pre-clearance area along with others only to be told by someone from the airline that we had to check-in on the domestic side (where they also had a check-in counter). Not sure why I hadn't thought at the time to ask why - maybe it was still too early in the morning - we had arrived earlier than normal assuming that clearing US Customs could add more time onto our check-in time.

 

In hindsight I'm thinking that maybe it was because there weren't any available gates for our charter. I noted at the time that there were quite a few regularly-scheduled US-bound flights leaving that morning.

[sp2]

Thon, was your plane full? Just curious as to how popular these charters are.

[juanita1767]

Thon, was your plane full? Just curious as to how popular these charters are.

 

Our plane from Halifax was full.

[thon]

Thon, was your plane full? Just curious as to how popular these charters are.

 

No it wasn't full. Quite a few empty seats and some completely empty rows. I think about 87 people coming home (presumably the same number going down). The reason I know this is that we were ready to leave almost 45 minutes early coming home but were still missing 2 passengers who had checked in but not boarded. So the crew kept going up and down the aisle counting passengers. Before leaving the gate they announced that people could spread out in to the empty rows if anyone wanted to.

[thon]

Thanks for the review!

 

I think one pays a significant premium for the charter cruises, but as you know there are benefits to the package vacation.

S

I'm close enough to the Buffalo airport, that the savings for me outweigh any perks that the charter offers.

 

Happy to hear that it was a positive experience for you.

 

What did you think of your first X cruise? Was it also your first cruise?

 

Actually I don't think we paid much of a premium if any at all. I can't remember the details exactly but I did check before booking and the difference between the all-inclusive charter and doing everything myself was not significant. Plus we didn't have to go down the day before and pay for a hotel room. So for us it was worth it.

 

Yes, our first cruise. What did we think? Well, cruising is not for everybody and I don't think we'll be rushing to book again any time soon. Maybe some day in the future, but not now. But Celebriry - if we ever book again it would be our first choice. Still struggling to write a review.

[eg1]

We were on the March 14-21 version of this Canadian charter out of Hamilton. Our plane was full bar two empty seats. I don't fly often enough to make any helpful observations about Canada North other than to say that the crew were friendly, the food quite good, and the complimentary drinks welcome.

 

I concur that X did a great job keeping us all together once we cleared US Customs, but before that, finding our way through the crowded chaos of Miami airport was trying (especially for the inexperienced traveller such as myself).

 

It was nice to leave our bags behind once we boarded the bus from the airport to the port. Schlepping them through the expanse of the airport was tiresome.

 

My only complaint about the charter experience was the return trip. We were off the boat by 8am and our flight out of Miami wasn't until 12:30pm. Four hours of the tender mercies of Miami airport were a little much to take at that hour, and it made for a long travel day at the end of our trip.

 

Another time I might drive across the border to Buffalo airport (did this successfully for a Disney trip) to escape the customs line in Miami. Then on the way back I'd stay in Miami the day of disembarkation to avoid the "hurry up and wait" experience we had this time. Only by comparing the two methods (and the price of both) could I make a definitive claim about the merits of the charter.

[bbeltmom]

As a Canadian, I looked in to the Charters.

Since I would have had to drive to a Canadian Airport just as far as I had to drive to Detroit I still would have had to pay for a hotel the night before as well as parking for the week.

It was still a better deal for me to book my cruise separately and fly Delta First Class to Miami and/or FLL. That having been said, I book my air early enough that I paid or First Class what people were paying for economy in the last few months leading up to the trips.

As well as the perks the charter provided for the cruise, I also got an upgrade to the premium beverage package from my on-line TA.

I also had my choice of dates and ships and was not limited to those of the charters.

 

If do agree, though, that if you are not convenient to a US Airport, this would be an attractive deal.