Alaska cruise & airfare question

[endoellen]

Wondering if most of you book your airfare through the cruise line or separately on your own?  For many cruises out of Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, etc. I have

booked my airfare on my own.  This would be our 1st time to cruise Alaska & not sure what's best.  I do know that with the way airlines are cancelling flights

these days I would want to arrive to our embarkation port at least 1-2 days ahead.  Thanks!

[JT1962]

We generally book our own flights so we can choose the best departures, direct flights, if possible, etc. I have read comments that the airfare through the cruise lines does give you more flexibility to arrive a few days early, pick your flights, etc., than when we last used it about 15 years ago. The advantage to booking through the cruise line is that if something happens to cancel the cruise, you aren’t dealing with two companies and possibly getting stuck with an airline credit instead of a refund for the flights. 

[donaldsc]

I am very picky about my flight arrangements.  I always book my own flights.

 

DON

[Gsel]

Ditto! I do the air or my TA will take care of that chore.

[Baltodave]

For cruises out of Florida and Texas we book our own flights (because we live near BWI and there are so many options on SWA from there).  However, for our recent Greek/Adriatic cruise we got the flights from Royal's Air2Sea department (with the help of our TA).  We also used Air2Sea for our Alaska cruise next June.

[CruiserBruce]

22 hours ago, JT1962 said:

We generally book our own flights so we can choose the best departures, direct flights, if possible, etc. I have read comments that the airfare through the cruise lines does give you more flexibility to arrive a few days early, pick your flights, etc., than when we last used it about 15 years ago. The advantage to booking through the cruise line is that if something happens to cancel the cruise, you aren’t dealing with two companies and possibly getting stuck with an airline credit instead of a refund for the flights. 

Cruise line airfares give you more flexibility to arrive days early, etc? I would think booking your own (which we do) would give you all the flexibility, all the time?

[JT1962]

31 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Cruise line airfares give you more flexibility to arrive days early, etc? I would think booking your own (which we do) would give you all the flexibility, all the time?

More flexibility than they used to, not more flexibility than booking your own.
 

When I used Cruise Line airfare 15 years ago, we had no choice in our flights. From what I understand now, they do give you some flexibility and arriving a few days earlier or choosing your own flight times from options they have.From what I understand now, they do give you some flexibility and arriving a few days earlier or choosing your own flight times from options they have.

[spleenstomper]

On 9/1/2022 at 11:17 AM, endoellen said:

Wondering if most of you book your airfare through the cruise line or separately on your own?  For many cruises out of Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, etc. I have

booked my airfare on my own.  This would be our 1st time to cruise Alaska & not sure what's best.  I do know that with the way airlines are cancelling flights

these days I would want to arrive to our embarkation port at least 1-2 days ahead.  Thanks!

The only non stop from MSY to SEA is on Alaska and it also happens to be the most economical. It departs MSY at 7 pm and arrives at SEA at 10:30 p.m. so I’m arriving Friday night for a Sunday cruise. 
 

I put the cruise for sept 11 on hold 2 days ago and paid today (nothing like last minute). 
 

Anyway, just though I’d add since I see you are in la

Edited September 2, 2022 by spleenstomper

[nini]

For domestic flights, we book our own and use Alaska Airlines. To fly to Europe, we book through the cruise line because it is much less expensive. We have found that there really is not a real difference in cost for domestic flights when going through the cruise line.

[endoellen]

7 hours ago, nini said:

For domestic flights, we book our own and use Alaska Airlines. To fly to Europe, we book through the cruise line because it is much less expensive. We have found that there really is not a real difference in cost for domestic flights when going through the cruise line.

Thanks for your comment! I've checked Alaska Airlines but the flights are quite high & not good flight times.  So far 2 one way flights on United has the best price.  I'm going to watch fares for awhile before I commit.

[endoellen]

On 9/2/2022 at 7:16 AM, Baltodave said:

For cruises out of Florida and Texas we book our own flights (because we live near BWI and there are so many options on SWA from there).  However, for our recent Greek/Adriatic cruise we got the flights from Royal's Air2Sea department (with the help of our TA).  We also used Air2Sea for our Alaska cruise next June.

We are cruising with RCI to Alaska in May 2023 & I looked online at Air2Sea to book our airfare & because we didn't book the cruise directly with them but with CruCon.com it states that we cannot book our airfare with RCI & CruCon said they can't book the Air2Sea.  Had I known this in advance, I probably wouldn't have used Crucon to book the cruise.  They had a Labor Day special with a few good perks & since I've read so many negatives lately about booking with RCI that I decided to use them.  I've booked several cruises with them in the past with no issues but I booked my own airfare & hotels.  Guess that is what I will have to do this time as well.

[CruiserBruce]

58 minutes ago, endoellen said:

We are cruising with RCI to Alaska in May 2023 & I looked online at Air2Sea to book our airfare & because we didn't book the cruise directly with them but with CruCon.com it states that we cannot book our airfare with RCI & CruCon said they can't book the Air2Sea.  Had I known this in advance, I probably wouldn't have used Crucon to book the cruise.  They had a Labor Day special with a few good perks & since I've read so many negatives lately about booking with RCI that I decided to use them.  I've booked several cruises with them in the past with no issues but I booked my own airfare & hotels.  Guess that is what I will have to do this time as well.

We are not allowed to name travel agencies on Cruise Critic...

[nini]

5 hours ago, endoellen said:

Thanks for your comment! I've checked Alaska Airlines but the flights are quite high & not good flight times.  So far 2 one way flights on United has the best price.  I'm going to watch fares for awhile before I commit.

Understandable. We belong to the Alaska credit card and get miles. Alaska also is part of One World network which also includes Virgin Air, British Airways and more so it works well for us- we get special. "" Companion Fates" annually.

[RussNJodi]

Related question: For those of us debarking in Seward, and taking the train to Anchorage, what is the earliest you would recommend booking a flight out if flying same day? Thanks 

[Gray Lady]

One thing to consider when booking air….what if you get COVID while on your cruise? Booking through your cruise line allows for flights to be rebooked at no extra cost to you. They do all of the rebooking and do not charge you extra. If you book on your own, you are responsible for change fares. The prices are very competitive, at times even cheaper, than booking on your own. They offer many choices of flights, and you don’t pay until final payment is due. Just something to consider…….

[Losnab]

On 9/1/2022 at 12:17 PM, endoellen said:

Wondering if most of you book your airfare through the cruise line or separately on your own?  For many cruises out of Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, etc. I have

booked my airfare on my own.  This would be our 1st time to cruise Alaska & not sure what's best.  I do know that with the way airlines are cancelling flights

these days I would want to arrive to our embarkation port at least 1-2 days ahead.  Thanks!

We booked our own flights to Vancouver, originally arriving one day ahead of cruise.   Two weeks before the trip we decided to extend it to two nights and we’re so glad we did.  (Airlines are pretty flexible these days and we only had to pay the relatively small fare difference). P  Vancouver is a fabulous city and we so enjoyed the extra time there.  We booked a 12:30 pm return trip, walked off with our luggage and had plenty of time before boarding.  

[Longsx3]

We normally book our own Air Fare, however the price of NCL air fare from TPA to SEA next June could not be beat, we have 2 cabins with 4 people total and so 2 people are flying free.

 

[cat shepard]

We were so happy that we booked our flights through the cruise line. American Airlines changed our flights five times, and the last time was a seven hour difference with us arriving in Orlando at midnight. One call to the cruise corrected rectified it at no cost to us, because the airline made the initial change.