anyone book flight using RCCL going to Europe

[thesaintjim]

We want to book the air using RCCL, but we are worried on how long the flight will be. Expedia shows 11 hours, but they have some flights that are 15-20 hours long. Has anyonedone air using RCCL and was your flight time decent?

 

Thanks,

 

Jim

[pcur]

They use commercial carriers, so the flight times depend on whether it's nonstop or you change planes.

 

For instance, we took British Airways nonstop LAX to London, and it was 10 hours. Then, we took a 2 day stopover in London, and then flew to Barcelona. That flight was about 2.5 hours.

 

So, if we had gone straight through LAX to Barcelona, it would have been about 15 hours with a layover in London between flights.

 

I believe RCCL uses domestic carriers, so I would suggest going to expedia or travelocity and seeing what flights are available, and how long they take, what the connections are. Then if you pay an extra $35 pp you can do custom air with RCCL (unless you are Diamond or D+ Crown and Anchor members), and request the flights you want, or at least the carrier.

 

I hope this makes sense and helps you.

[thesaintjim]

thanks

[jcanino]

We want to book the air using RCCL, but we are worried on how long the flight will be. Expedia shows 11 hours, but they have some flights that are 15-20 hours long. Has anyonedone air using RCCL and was your flight time decent?

 

We used RCCL's air last summer for a Splendour cruise out of Barcelona. Having booked the cruise about 10 months in advance, I booked with air and kept an eye on fares on my own. I never was able to find air Boston to Barcelona less expensive than what the cruise line was asking. Nevertheless, we were place on flights that I would have picked travelling from Boston to Paris to Barcelona with a 1.5 hour layover with the same on the return. Boston to Paris is only 6.75 hours with another 1.75 hours to Barcelona.

[aqua]

We always book flights ourselves, but my parents usually let the cruise line do it. They have had several instances where the cruise line gave them very little time to change planes, even before the last transatlantic flight of the day. They had to fight with the cruise line to get things changed. (My father kept a log of how many times they would have missed the transatlantic flight do to delays with connecting flight.) I suggest you do whatever you can to arrive in Europe the day before the cruise departs, whether it is custom air or do-it-yourself. I have seen too many people miss ports when their flights were late.

[pcur]

We used RCCL's air last summer for a Splendour cruise out of Barcelona. Having booked the cruise about 10 months in advance, I booked with air and kept an eye on fares on my own. I never was able to find air Boston to Barcelona less expensive than what the cruise line was asking. Nevertheless, we were place on flights that I would have picked travelling from Boston to Paris to Barcelona with a 1.5 hour layover with the same on the return. Boston to Paris is only 6.75 hours with another 1.75 hours to Barcelona.

 

This is a better time estimate than mine, because you are coming from the East Coast like the OP. We fly from the West Coast.

[negc]

Prior to each of our transatlantic sailings from Harwich to Boston, we found that RCI's one-way fare was the cheapest we could find. We used their custom air department to book the flights that we chose (a morning flight on American Airlines from Boston to Heathrow) and because of our C&A level, the customair fee was waived. In both instances we also flew to London well in advance of our cruise (one was 6 nights before the cruise, the other 4 nights prior). It worked out very well. Because we were flying from Boston to London, the flight time was only about 6 hours, we left at 9:00 am Boston time and arrived in London about 8:00 pm. By the time we got to the hotel and checked in there was time for a quick bite to eat before turning in. The next morning we were pretty much adjusted to London time and ready to begin sightseeing.:)

[thesaintjim]

Yeah, we are going to do a 2 night pre cruise just to play safe. Thanks all for your help.

 

- Jim

[pcur]

thesaintjim:

 

Keep an eye on British Airways. We really enjoyed the 2 night stopover in London, on our way to Barcelona. The hotel room was free. BA runs this special several times a year.

 

Their total airfare, including the hotel and taxes, was $801 pp LAX to BCN, with the 2 nights in London. I was noticing last year that other pax were paying that much to fly from further east than us, without the hotel deal.

 

Just a suggestion.

[thesaintjim]

Wow, was this a special from RCCL? We might just do that.