Transatlantic newbie

[dr.bill]

Hi everyone. Many thanks to all of you--reading this board really helped us decide to book a Sea Dream cruise.

 

We booked the transatlantic in May from San Juan to Malaga, Spain on SD1. Our friends think we're crazy--but we sorta wanted to drop off the face of the earth for a couple weeks. And you transatlantic vets seemed to love these trips.

 

Now working on getting home from Malaga. Any ideas? Thanks very much.

[surfklutz]

It sounds like a fabulous voyage - I only wish I were coming along. This year when they did the transatlantic they had a blog that followed the voyage- and it looked like they were having a fantastic time. I will see if I can get a link for you.

 

Not sure about Malaga air - but I know it is not difficult.

 

You will LOVE SeaDream. I do, and keep coming back year after year.

[Welshapple]

Dr. Bill: The Iberia website will give you the flights and prices of a one-way Malaga to London Heath Row. We had one (non-refundable) for $100 or so per person before we had to cancel our Sea Dream reservations. One way from London to the US can be pricey though - we were using frequent flyer miles.

 

Last October's crossing, Seville - San Juan, was just wonderful. We hadn't been on either SD1 or 2 for 15 or 16 years when they were Sea Goddesses and part of pre-Carnival Cunard. The changes in the ship layout and facilities improved what what we thought then were perfect cruises.

 

Sorry we won't be able to share the Spring crossing with you, the dates didn't work out for us. Instead we are taking the Seabourn Legend in April, FLL to Lisbon. The comparison will be interesting (and it will probably be impossible not to make one).

 

You are sure to enjoy the crossing on this lovely ship. I think our friend Charles from New York will be a fellow passenger and great company. If you talk to him say 'hello' from Rhoda and Malcolm.

[dr.bill]

Hi Trulli. Thanks for your post. I am seeing quite a few flights from Malaga but I'm surprised at how much the one-way flights are from the EU to the US. It looks a lot cheaper to buy a round-trip and just skip the first part. It used to be legit to do that; don't know if it still is.

 

surfklutz - tell me about that name. I used to be an expert surfer (as a kid) now also in the klutz category. :cool:

[surfklutz]

Hi Trulli. Thanks for your post. I am seeing quite a few flights from Malaga but I'm surprised at how much the one-way flights are from the EU to the US. It looks a lot cheaper to buy a round-trip and just skip the first part. It used to be legit to do that; don't know if it still is.

 

surfklutz - tell me about that name. I used to be an expert surfer (as a kid) now also in the klutz category. :cool:

 

You have one up on me. I tried surfing with my teenage daughter as a bonding type of thing. If humor bonds then it worked. I was the worst student they have ever tried to teach - but my daughter and I never laughed so much in those few weeks. So long story short - I have never been anything but a surfklutz.

 

Still looking for that link. I will have it by tomorrow.

[frequent traveler]

the link is contained in another thread on this page.

go down to the bottom third of page - its titled someing thing like Seadream II Review - Atlantic crossing and its a link in a message - I believe its http://www.freewebs.com/seadream/2/article1.

 

Dr. Bill -

I travel a lot on business and have never had the guts to try traveling on the back half of a ticket after discarding the first. Every TA warns me that the airline doesn't have to honor the 2nd half of the ticket.

 

There are a number of consolidators out there that I've used for one way tickets -- they seem to beat the airline sites.

 

FT

[JoAnne B]

I just read an article (don't recall where) that reported how the airlines are really cracking down on flights taken "out of order" as in not taking the first leg. They're even back billing if you don't use the return ticket., which I have done for transatlantic cruises. I don't think I'd want to take the risk of a problem in London. Having to buy a last minute one-way would be really expensive.

[dr.bill]

JoAnne, thanks. I was thinking it's got to be pretty risky these days to try something like using just the return part of a rt ticket. I'm not going to try it.

 

Surfklutz--thanks for tracking that down. Looks like the link is broken or they took it down. I do appreciate the effort. Take care.

[dr.bill]

For anyone neading one-way tix back to the states from EU the cheapest flights seem to be offered by Aer Lingus, through Dublin. Much cheaper than going through London, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt and any place else I tried. (I think I checked them all). LTU through Dusseldorf is the another option but the LA route starts up a few days after I need it.

 

British Airways has cheap round-trips, but the one-ways cost 4 times what a round-trip costs. Does that make any sense?

 

But Aer Lingus is now one-way fare based. Like Southwest or Jet Blue. So I just booked two segments, Malaga to Dublin, Dublin to LA (non-stop). Very reasonable compared to all other options.

 

If you need to get back to the USA from EU, give Aer Lingus a look.