UK cruisers - cruising out of Port Canaveral

[Misself]

Hi

 

Just looking for some opinions and thoughts about RCI Fly Cruise V DIYwhen cruising the Caribbean.

 

We are pricing up a cruise for next October. The RCI price goes up around £1,000 pp when adding on flights, transfers and hotel 1 night before cruise. We are tempted to book the cruise only price, but keep changing our minds!

 

It’s too early to check our flight prices for next October but looking at this year the prices are quite high, although obviously we are a lot closer so guess the prices go up.

 

Is it worth the peace of mind booking everything though RCI or could we get it a LOT cheaper by going DIY??? I’ve seen a link to Fly Snooze Cruise Port Canaveral Packages which may be an option, so next stop is to check these prices against RCI hotel/transfer prices.

 

 

So thought I’d ask the experts on here ;-)

Edited September 17, 2018 by Misself

[kernow]

If RCL are charging £1000 pp it would definitely be DIY for me. I would work on flights being around £500 pp and one night hotel and transfers around 3 or 4 hundred dollars for 2. If you look on the Florida departures board you will find lots of info on hotels and transfers. You could still add on the RCL package at a later date if you can't find anything.

 

We only tend to use RCL for flights on repositioing cruises because they usually come out cheaper than we could do it ourselves then.

 

Julie

[Misself]

Thanks Julie

 

That was one of the questions we were going to ask them, could we add on flights etc later if necessary.

[kernow]

Thanks Julie

 

That was one of the questions we were going to ask them, could we add on flights etc later if necessary.

Yes, I think you can add on flights up until final payment, if you leave it too late the prices may change but not for a few months yet until they start to fill up.

 

Julie

[Tin can]

I wouldnt hesitate DIY.

 

Very easy to get from the airport to a hotel close to the port. Quite a few hotels have shuttles you can then take to the port on the morning of your cruise or you can arrange your own.

 

I agree it’s a bit daunting when from the UK but we found it so easy.

 

 

 

 

 

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[Misself]

I wouldnt hesitate DIY.

 

Very easy to get from the airport to a hotel close to the port. Quite a few hotels have shuttles you can then take to the port on the morning of your cruise or you can arrange your own.

 

I agree it’s a bit daunting when from the UK but we found it so easy.

 

 

 

 

 

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Thank you, that's been a great help

[orla56]

We booked our flights with Virgin as soon as they came out and we rented a car for one night to take us to cocoa beach. We stayed at the Country inn and suites with breakfast included.

We then took the car to the rental place in the morning and there was a shuttle bus to take us to the ship.

Same when we got back we took shuttle to car rental and drove back to Orlando and stayed for another week.

[Cheller1973]

We’ve booked already for September next year. Manchester to Vegas, internal flight with southwest (not yet released) to MCO, two night stay in Orlando then the cruise, fly home direct to Glasgow from MCO. I priced DIY but Thomas Cook came really close so we went with them as it meant not having to pay in full at the time of booking.

 

We’ve done this route before and another two cruises after a week in Orlando. Need to figure out whether we will use a shuttle or Lyft to the port but that can be sorted nearer the time :).

[gillyd42]

DIY your flights - we ended up taking connecting flights through newark from.Edinburgh,very reasonable price.

Stayed night before in cocoa beach took a shuttle from cocoa beach transfers for $100 which picked us up from our Universal resort hotel (managed to squeeze a few days in beforehand)

Took Cortans shuttle after the cruise back to the airport $20 each great service and quick.

[Misself]

Thanks for all the comments. Having now spoken to RCI they explained the fly cruise prices online are only approx (should have read the T&C's) and they confirm prices around 10 months before when flights are released . So booked cruise only at this stage and will decide on rest later.

 

Hint in case you didn't know, if you send them a screen shot of a cash back web site they will take the cashback off the cost. We got 8% which we would have got eventually back if booked online via the cash back site, but nice to get it immediately. (Only off cruise cost, not port fees or gratuities).