Just booked - new england itinerary-but need help!

[PoohUnderstands]

Help! I am now starting to research airfares, etc. to get to my cruise leaving out of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, flying in from Denver, CO.

 

The prices are giving me a gulp, but even more frustrating are the unavailability of flights. Am I missing something? All I can find is through Air Canada and United (really one and the same as United uses Air Canada for some of their flights!).

 

Don't mind that there is no direct flight which is understandable and changing flights in Toronto isn't so bad, but what I am finding is the horrible times available! They all get you into Quebec City in the evening and late evening or even a bunch of overnight flights. The one or possibly two flights that get you into Quebec in the afternoon/late afternoon are hit and miss and if available almost twice the price!? Am I missing something? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

Pooh

[skynight]

This year? Have you tried EZ Air? EZ Air could be less expensive with your open jaw itinerary. Have you tried flexible days of the week with a hotel stay in Quebec? Quebec is a nice city with lots to do and see.

[WAussieSFO]

Something else to keep in mind when choosing connecting flights to Quebec is the size/type of plane. In October last year our luggage along with a number of other peoples luggage did not make it on our United flight from Newark to Quebec. A small plane full of passengers with luggage heading to a cruise ship could mean weight and balance issues which is what we had. Princess were great in dealing with the missing/delayed luggage, and starting the cruise with an overnight in Quebec certainly helped. United customer service were not so great.

[fishywood]

This is why the cruises from Quebec City usually begin with an overnight in port. Because embarking passengers are arriving at such odd hours.

 

One alternative if you have the time to fly in an extra day early is to arrive the night before embarkation in Montreal, spend the night there, and take the train from Montreal to Quebec City the next morning.

 

Though it would be nice if Princess used for these itineraries at least one ship that fit under the bridges to Montreal so it could embark there as other lines do.

[tailspintom]

Something else to keep in mind when choosing connecting flights to Quebec is the size/type of plane. In October last year our luggage along with a number of other peoples luggage did not make it on our United flight from Newark to Quebec. A small plane full of passengers with luggage heading to a cruise ship could mean weight and balance issues which is what we had. Princess were great in dealing with the missing/delayed luggage, and starting the cruise with an overnight in Quebec certainly helped. United customer service were not so great.

Yep we were on that flight too. Princess did indeed do an exceptional job in keeping us informed and aware of what was going on. The hostage bags arrived right before the ship's departure.

 

I believe that Air Canada has some larger craft flying into Quebec. Another suggestion is to fly into Montreal and spend some time there and then train into Quebec. The train takes about 3.5 hrs. This area is very beautiful at this time of year and all the time staying in either or both cities would be well spent.

[MCC retired]

Quebec City is a tuff place to fly to and arrive at a reasonable time from most anywhere in the US , at a reasonable fare.

We are flying there from Florida to meet the QM2 this month , 12+ hrs arriving almost midnight .

 

 

 

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[tailspintom]

This is why the cruises from Quebec City usually begin with an overnight in port. Because embarking passengers are arriving at such odd hours.

 

One alternative if you have the time to fly in an extra day early is to arrive the night before embarkation in Montreal, spend the night there, and take the train from Montreal to Quebec City the next morning.

 

Though it would be nice if Princess used for these itineraries at least one ship that fit under the bridges to Montreal so it could embark there as other lines do.

Beat me by a minute.

[batoryfirst]

The flights that I am finding arrive at 11:30p which means we wouldn't arrive at the ship until after midnight. Would we be allowed to board that late?

[Murphey]

We had this issue with this year's NE/Canada trip. After all the juggling and expense of flights, overnights, train fares, we elected to do the b2b out of NYC. This simplified everything and we were surprised that the overall cost did not increase by very much to take another cruise. Obviously you have to have the time and it's not for everyone, just saying it worked for us. Also, after explaining all this to my better half in justification, there was lots of eye rolling!

[CruiseGal999]

Help! I am now starting to research airfares, etc. to get to my cruise leaving out of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, flying in from Denver, CO.

 

The prices are giving me a gulp, but even more frustrating are the unavailability of flights. Am I missing something? All I can find is through Air Canada and United (really one and the same as United uses Air Canada for some of their flights!).

 

Don't mind that there is no direct flight which is understandable and changing flights in Toronto isn't so bad, but what I am finding is the horrible times available! They all get you into Quebec City in the evening and late evening or even a bunch of overnight flights. The one or possibly two flights that get you into Quebec in the afternoon/late afternoon are hit and miss and if available almost twice the price!? Am I missing something? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

Pooh

 

Are you trying to fly in on same day as the cruise leaves? That doesn't seem possible with what you've outlined. Arrive at least a day early, and stay at a hotel. When is your cruise? A quick search of flights (which auto filled Mid-Sept. dates) were about $400 across the board.

[dreaminofcruisin]

Yeah....we found Quebec really painful and expensive to get to also. We are in the Midwest and the best / cheapest flights I found were flying One Way Air Canada to Quebec and One Way home from NY on American.

Good luck! :cool:

[cjpj]

You might consider taking a flight to Toronto Pearson, then a train to Quebec. There is the UP Express that runs from the airport to Union Station where the trains run from every 15 min. There are two airport hotels (Alt and Sheraton) right at the airport. I'd suggest if you have a late flight, spend the night at the airport hotel, catch the train in the morning and board in Quebec City at your leisure. If you are interested, let me know and I can get you details (links, detailed directions etc.)

 

Cindy

[srpilo]

We arrived the night before and stayed in a hotel in QC, but yes our WestJet flight from Toronto arrived close to 11pm.. It was a very longggggg travel day from the west coast with different 3 connections.

 

Btw.. It was totally worth it :)

Srpilo

[Coral]

We did this a few years ago. We flew in 2 days early. I think our flight was Omaha to Newark to Quebec. We got in at night also.

 

It seemed like everyone I met flew into Montreal and spent a few days there and then took the train to Quebec.

[PoohUnderstands]

You might consider taking a flight to Toronto Pearson, then a train to Quebec. There is the UP Express that runs from the airport to Union Station where the trains run from every 15 min. There are two airport hotels (Alt and Sheraton) right at the airport. I'd suggest if you have a late flight, spend the night at the airport hotel, catch the train in the morning and board in Quebec City at your leisure. If you are interested, let me know and I can get you details (links, detailed directions etc.)

 

Cindy

 

 

Thank you, Cindy! Yes, I am very interested in this. Also do you know anything about the train running from Montreal to Quebec City that people have also mentioned in this post? But I think Toronto would be better for us. No non-stop to Montreal! Do not want to deal with O'Hare! I really like your idea of spending the night in Toronto and then train to Quebec. My husband especially loves to ride trains!

 

Pooh

[CRUZBUDS]

If you can spare the time and don't mind spending some more money - do yourself a favor and get to QC a couple of days early. It is a stunningly beautiful city. We made our first trip there a couple of years ago and enjoyed it immensely.

One day we rented a car and drove to the falls and on to Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré. From there we went over the bridge to Orleans Island. It was a terrific day.

We didn't do too badly on our flights - SD to Chicago, change to a puddle jumper to QC - still got in late in the evening.

We spent two nights at the Port Royal Hotel -- fantastic location. We walked with our luggage the to cruise terminal - just a couple of short blocks.

We will be going back there one of these days -- we love the fly to NY and drive to QC suggestion.

Have a great cruise.

[cruisinggaga]

Help! I am now starting to research airfares, etc. to get to my cruise leaving out of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, flying in from Denver, CO.

 

 

 

The prices are giving me a gulp, but even more frustrating are the unavailability of flights. Am I missing something? All I can find is through Air Canada and United (really one and the same as United uses Air Canada for some of their flights!).

 

 

 

Don't mind that there is no direct flight which is understandable and changing flights in Toronto isn't so bad, but what I am finding is the horrible times available! They all get you into Quebec City in the evening and late evening or even a bunch of overnight flights. The one or possibly two flights that get you into Quebec in the afternoon/late afternoon are hit and miss and if available almost twice the price!? Am I missing something? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

 

 

What dates are you going?

See if it's cheaper booking one way, both ways, sometimes it is. Also you can choose the cheapest airline each way. Sometimes you can catch a great deal from an airline going one way, also you can try going a day earlier and leaving a day later. I find Thursdays and Saturdays are cheapest for flying most of the time. Check every day even past midnight.

My example for 2 of us, we are flying from Providence RI to New Orleans then from New Orleans to Ft Lauderdale for our Cruise and we are flying 3 different airlines booked one way. Cost if I booked multi city( at the time I booked) the cheapest was $864. Doing it one way to each city and back home was AA from RI to NO $268.56 from NO to Fll

Southwest $132.42 and from FLL back to Providence Jet blue $242.48

Total $643.56 saved $220.64 and got a better choice of times. It doesn't always work but it's worth a try. I try it ever time we travel and usually score!

Good luck!

 

 

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[satxdiver]

We did the QC to NYC cruise in the fall of 2015. We took United to O'hare and then to QC arriving late in the evening. Since we had never been to QC we went 4 days early and had a great time seeing QC on our own time. Several on the cruise had arrived in Toronto or Montreal and taken the train to QC. I think next time we will do the plane/train combo as it sounds interesting. We want to do the cruise from QC to PE. I agree flying into O'Hare can be challenging but when I was working and flying every week, I have been to O'Hare many times and it is not that challenging anymore.

 

We did have one couple on our cruise (US citizens) who were doing the B2B and had to leave the ship one night because of US regulations. I never investigated it further other than to know this happened to them. They had to vacate their room. Someone on here may be able to shed more light on the story.

[CineGraphic]

Fly into Toronto and take the train, much cheaper

 

 

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[Janet524]

If you can spare the time and don't mind spending some more money - do yourself a favor and get to QC a couple of days early. It is a stunningly beautiful city. We made our first trip there a couple of years ago and enjoyed it immensely.

One day we rented a car and drove to the falls and on to Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré. From there we went over the bridge to Orleans Island. It was a terrific day.

We didn't do too badly on our flights - SD to Chicago, change to a puddle jumper to QC - still got in late in the evening.

We spent two nights at the Port Royal Hotel -- fantastic location. We walked with our luggage the to cruise terminal - just a couple of short blocks.

We will be going back there one of these days -- we love the fly to NY and drive to QC suggestion.

Have a great cruise.

I totally agree! We spent two days pre cruise and also stayed at the Hotel Port Royal. Liked it so much that we are taking a road trip beginning Sunday to visit again and spend more than just two days. Lovely city, friendly folks and lots of history.

 

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[susancruzs]

Getting to Quebec is an experience even living in NE Wisconsin! :) I flew to Chicago, then to Quebec and it worked out well. I wanted to spend 2 nights in Quebec. I stayed at a small boutique hotel, Hotel du Vieux, quirky but nice.

[cjpj]

Thank you, Cindy! Yes, I am very interested in this. Also do you know anything about the train running from Montreal to Quebec City that people have also mentioned in this post? But I think Toronto would be better for us. No non-stop to Montreal! Do not want to deal with O'Hare! I really like your idea of spending the night in Toronto and then train to Quebec. My husband especially loves to ride trains!

 

Pooh

Hi Pooh,

Attached is information on the trains, hotels, etc. from Toronto to Quebec. If you fly into Terminal 3 and opt to stay at the airport the Sheraton hotel is most convenient. If you arrive at Terminal 1 you'll need to take the terminal link train to either hotel, so it doesn't matter. Also, if you want to do Montreal instead and take the train, use the same site I have in the attachment for booking - Via Rail. Best of luck and if you have any questions let me know.

Cindy

Toronto International Airport to Union.pdf