RCI airfare for transatlantic?

[39august]

Can someone tell me what the RCI airfare was for the recent eastbound transatlantic cruises? Or for the Jewel westbound this September? I'm guessing/hoping their price will be better than I can get on my own.

[PSCruiser]

Bumping this one up. I'm interested also - particularly Baltimore/Washington or New York to Barcelona, in the late fall.

[sas80]

Just go and simulate booking the actual trip.

 

Simulate booking the first time without air and then, go back and choose the airfare option and see how much it adds on to the total cost of the cruise.

 

Then go and see how much you could get air for on your own....

[negc]

Just go and simulate booking the actual trip.

 

Simulate booking the first time without air and then, go back and choose the airfare option and see how much it adds on to the total cost of the cruise.

 

Then go and see how much you could get air for on your own....

 

When you make your comparison make sure you include the cost of getting from the airport to the ship on your own, since transfers are included in the ship's airfare charge. Since transatlantic cruises frequently require only one-way flights, you might find that using the air that the cruiseline provides will save you a significant amount. But it always pays to compare before you decide.

[pooh3901]

Can someone tell me what the RCI airfare was for the recent eastbound transatlantic cruises? Or for the Jewel westbound this September? I'm guessing/hoping their price will be better than I can get on my own.

we are on the same TA ON THE JEWEL, We got our air fare Oct 05 and paid 830 with transferes out of Heathrow through RCCL, HOWEVER,I UNDERSTAND FUEL SIR CHARGES HAVE INCREASED THIS:(

[truffles2]

Our flight from Hsv to Miami and then from Barcelona-Hsv was less then $750. That was MUCH better than we could have done on our own. Because we do not live in a major hub, we almost always do better with the cruise line's air than on our own.

[happy cruzer]

Many issues to look at with airfare. TA air is usually hard to beat the cruselines offering because you have to do one way fares. Here's what I have found to watch:

 

1) Do you want extra days on each end of the trip? If you book the fare yourself, I think you would almost have to arrive a day early and leave a day later than the cruiselines arrangements. You can not risk your flight making you miss the ship or vice versa. Then you will need to add the cost of the hotels.

 

2) If you do want to add days i.e. do air deviation, the cruiseline will charge a fee + any additonal cost on the change. They will offer hotel room and waive the air dev fee, but they charge so much for the hotel it's still usually better to pay the fees and book the hotel on your own.

 

I find that I always save using the cruiseline's air on TA. If I want extra days, I do the air deviation and book my own hotel.

 

Also some cruiselines offer better air rates than others so you may want to compare cruise and air on two different cruiselines TAs. My experience is that RCI and Celebrity give me the best air, HAL and Princess the airfair usually adds too much to the cost. But I always check.

 

FYI on the nov14 Voyager TA Barcelona to Miami I got air for around 750. If you do a TA with London on one end, you might be able to have air of around $500.

 

Happy Cruzin!

[Swabb3]

FYI. i just booked the TA on Brilliance and when I checked cheap tickets for airfare it wsa DOUBLE the airfare one way from PHI to BCL from rccl.

[cruisnfool]

Historically I have found that if you are doing an "open jaw" meaning your are going and coming from 2 differant cities its hard to beat RCI air

conversely...r/t are higher.....

We sailed Splendour of Seas r/t from Barcelona in Sept 2004......RCI wanted $1100.....keep in mind Kansas City is not a hub......we did our own by booking Southwest to Fla $150 r/t and Iberia...Miami to Barcelona for $600 r/t...we were quite happy with the price and we picked the flights.

Have a great trip!

[suzyluvs2cruise]

We're looking at TA's next spring. Right now airfare through RCI is $909 from LAX including transfers. Princess air is $868 with transfers. I've checked and couldn't come close with 2 one way flights.

 

What experiences have you had with cruiseline scheduling from Europe?

 

This will be a 1st for us. Is it easy to do the air deviation and stay an extra day or two. Any suggestions for hotels Barcelona?

[AFT_LOVER]

CLE-LGW nonstop on Continental & back for $1019 which includes the $185 transfers. CO wanted $900 + $185 for transfers = $1085 so we save $66

[Murphy]

We're looking at TA's next spring. Right now airfare through RCI is $909 from LAX including transfers. Princess air is $868 with transfers. I've checked and couldn't come close with 2 one way flights.

 

What experiences have you had with cruiseline scheduling from Europe?

 

This will be a 1st for us. Is it easy to do the air deviation and stay an extra day or two. Any suggestions for hotels Barcelona?

 

I have not use the air deviation option to Europe, but have on a Hawaii cruise and one San Juan repositioning cruise. If you are a Platinum member or higher, there is no charge for the air deviation.

 

Here's how we did it. Book the RCCL air with our cruise. When we were within 6 months of the cruise and we knew we weren't going to cancel, I researched what airlines and flight times worked best for us (we were attempting to upgrade with FF miles to first class). Call the air deviation department and told them what flight we wanted and on what day we wanted to fly. While I didn't have the pay the air deviation fee for using this service, on one flight we wanted to arrive 5 days before the cruise and RCCL hadn't blocked any seats for that far out, so they did tell me I would have the pay a ticket price difference which for our trip was insigificant and we took it. "Usually" if you are just arriving or departing a day or two extra, there won't be any additional charge for the airfare either. Good luck and enjoy your trip.

[rubrrick]

On our transatlantic and Baltic trip this past spring, we asked RCCL for one way air fare from London to Miami, and they got it for us for $460.00 per person.

 

Rick

[truffles2]

On our transatlantic last April, we had RCI do everything--air, hotel (both pre and post), etc. We couldn't come close to their airfare and the Barcelona hotel (Gran Havana) was a great place. Because we left the hotel at 7 AM when the breakfast started, they fixed us a picnic breakfast which was very interesting. The hotel also provided slippers and an extensive toiletry kit.

All transportation was provided. We took a tour of Barcelona after debarking and they dropped us at the hotel about 2 PM. Hotel is within walking distance of good shopping (El Cortes Englais and Las Ramblas).

[montekat]

Can someone tell me what the RCI airfare was for the recent eastbound transatlantic cruises? Or for the Jewel westbound this September? I'm guessing/hoping their price will be better than I can get on my own.

 

We go the RCCL air for the Jewel westbound this Sept. We will be RT to BWI for $600 each. This includes the flight to London, transfers to Harwich and then the transfers to Boston Logan and return flight to BWI. I tried to find competitive prices, but it was always higher. We could do Aer Lingus from BWI to London for about $450 each, but would still need to add in the transfers and return flight to BWI.

[kimberley]

I am also booked on the voyager out of Barcelona on the 14th November doing the Transatlantic. I booked using the kayak site( orbitz), i know we are not allowed to advertised but it was from this board that i got that site. I managed to get a flight back from Miami into London for $340 one way with Virgin. I had tried numorous sites and couldn't come close. They check all the available airline prices and I was really impressed. On the other sites it appeared that it was nearly double the cost of a return!!

I guess it pays to shop around.

[capecodrealtor]

DW and I are booked for 8/3/2006 Brilliance Med. 12 night. As Platinum Crown and Anchor members, we used custom air, BOS to CDG to BCN, Air France for $970 each. Kayak, Qixo, etc were $100+ more per person. We found the flights that suited our schedule (flying in two days early), then called custom air who actually booked flights. In 8 cruises, this is the first time I have booked air with RCCL directly. They could not have been more helpful, answered all my questions, and were very pleasant. They immediately emailed the confirmation numbers and itinerary to me. I was pleased with my experience contacting them.

 

I'll let you know how we made out upon our return.

[Shak]

Always keep in mind transfers when choosing cruise air to buying your own. This is especially true when you get custom air. If you travels are out of England both the transfers from the airport to London and from London to the cruise terminal are high. If you go to London a few days early and have custom air the cruise transfers will not cover you transfer to London and it won’t cover your transfer from London to the cruise terminal unless you go back to the airport on the day the ship sails. You could buy a hotel package whereby the transfers are covered to both the hotel and cruise terminal. You pay a real premium for this convenience though. You only have to stay one night for a hotel package so if you are planning on staying multiple days then that you may want to consider booking your own hotel and book RCCL hotel package for one night the day before sailing. You will still have to get your own transportation from the airport but you won’t have to from the hotel. RCCL doesn’t advertise the fact but if you ask they will tell you that you can buy transfers from Victoria Coach Station in downtown London to the cruise terminal on the day of sailing for $85 each. I asked the custom air department if I could use the transfers from Victoria Coach Station and they told me no. They said I would have to return to the airport for transfers.

 

Shak