Recommendations - urgent today

[Rev22:17]

Sorry -- Duplicate Post Due to Web Site Error.

[Susan-M]

Here in Canada, it is a package - cruise and air. It probably is a bit cheaper.

 

Sunbeam - I hope your plans work out .... one good thing about going on Friday, with it being the start of the school break, you may get out of Ottawa ahead of the rush. Also - you never know what the weather will bring at that time of year, so going on Friday gives you a better chance of making it to the ship on Saturday.

 

Celebrity cruise/air can be booked separately in Canada, but perhaps your TA told you otherwise? Since our first cruise, I've always booked cruise & air separately so that I can get the air line and flight times that suits us best. In some cases, air fares are close to the cruise line's price, but in other cases we've saved a fair bit by doing it on our own.

 

Enjoy your cruise :)

[EGG]

The travel agent probably booked Celebrity air because of the good possibility of bad weather on March 10th, either in Ottawa or in some city in the U.S. that will cause delays. The travel agent wanted the headache to be Celebrity's if there was bad weather. I am surprised Celebrity even accepted a booking out of Ottowa on March 10th with same day air. That might be the real problem. When someone with brains in the Celebrity office went to book the flight, they red flagged it as too close for comfort.

 

Yes, this date might be more expensive for Celebrity and they did not want to pay for the more expensive air and the good possibility that with any bad weather anywhere in North America you would be on the trip to Miami (or the next port) from hell. Just because Celebrity takes on the responsibility of getting you to the next port if there is a delay, does not mean it is a fun thing. So Celebrity made an offer which I would jump on in a second - and offered a free hotel room for a night.

 

Unfortunately, you have the problem of not being able to get off from work a day early.

 

I would search for an evening flight (with availability) out of my home airport for somewhere in the southern U.S. Anywhere in Florida, Atlanta, maybe even Houston. Ask for a hotel at the airport and an early flight out the next morning to Miami or Ft. Lauderdale. Be nice. There is still time to do this. Usually if you show you are trying to work with them, and tell them how great it is that they are trying for you, you will get better results than if you make demands. Try to contact Celebrity without your travel agent, even if you tell them you know your TA has to do the official booking but you want to discuss posssibilities.

 

I honestly would not give up Celebrity air on this date out of Canada to book it myself with the possibility of getting there late.

 

We have a Dec. 23 cruise booked next year out of NJ (I live 40 minutes from cruise terminal). We are planning to take a limo so I do not have to worry about snow on my car when we get back. If there was a hotel near the cruise ship terminal I would probably stay there the night before so I did not have to be concerned if there is bad weather on the day we are scheduled to leave.

[BrendaJ]

We also book out of Ontario, and our previous travel agent used to insist that we book through Encore Cruises, a package operator who puts together air and cruise for a variety of cruise lines. Their prices were always similar to what Celebrity had on their website, and it seemed simplest to just go along. However, the past few times, we have booked our cruise through Celebrity instead of Encore, the main advantage being that, as Captain's Club members, we can do custom air.

 

We Canadians are unfortunate in that we have very few airline options flying south. We are pretty much stuck with Air Canada most of the time, and Air Canada's prices are horrific - usually, the cruise line air price is better than Air Canada's, depending on where you're flying. I've seen Air Canada charge $750 to fly from Toronto to Montreal. Where we live, we have the option of driving a bit farther and flying out of Detroit, but the longer drive and crossing the border by car make that less than appealing for us.

 

Booking cruise line air also has the advantage of transfers. Althoug for Ft. Lauderdale transfers aren't necessary (the port being so close to the airport), we've been on some cruises where transfers were pretty much a necessity, and Celebrity sometimes charges quite a large sum for them if you don't book your air with them.

 

Just a few reasons why perhaps the original poster did not book their own air.

 

Enjoy your cruise and happy anniversary, Sunbeam. Personally, with the kind of weather you can get in Ottawa, I'd be happy to fly out a day early and have that extra cushion. A day's pay is significant, but missing your cruise due to the airport being closed would be worse.

 

Brenda

[Sunbeam56]

The information that you all gave me was valuable. I cannot thank you enough for the time that you took in writing on this forum.

 

I have learned a lesson that I will remember.

 

Only once we left a day earlier and the departure of the ship was delayed about an hour because some passengers had trouble leaving Windsor because of the weather. Did we learn from that experience, I guess not?

But now, I will remember it.

 

I sent an e-mail to Reservations last night, explaining (in a 1000 words - that was hard) the situation and what we would like. I did not take a chance that our travel agent did not transmit our wishes.

 

I will know on Monday how Celebrity will deal with this.

[Susan-M]

Sunbeam - I agree that it can't hurt asking for what you would like, but normally when you book with a TA, Celebrity only deals with the TA. Also, Celebrity is providing what they've agreed to in their contract - flight, transfers and cruise, and have added a hotel because you need to fly a day early. I think that if they can arrange flights for you at the time you want on Friday, that will be about as much as you can expect over and above what they are already including. Just a guess though .... I may be wrong :)

 

I'll be following your thread and hope that things work out well for you.

[TAXLADY070]

Have your TA ask for custom air from Celebrity, they work with you for flight and time.

[Kathie44]

Chessbriar--was that "can't" a typo? Going to our first cruise we missed our flight from Charlotte to Miami after cabin phone problems before we took off from Dayton. We later flew to Ft. L and they vanned us to Miami, about 30 min. away.

[Sunbeam56]

Thanks everybody for your input.

 

I received my answer (finally) today. The problem was the flights, so that they cannot do anything about perks on ship. I find that very hard to believe, but we are at their mercy. I can tell you that I will not be booking cruise and air together anymore.

 

We will be leaving a day before and staying at the hotel that they have chosen for us - Marriott Miami Airport -, not a bad hotel, just in the middle of nowhere.

 

The only thing that we were able to "negotiate" was the period during the day for the flight - morning, afternoon, evening. So, we chose "morning" and they will be able to accomodate us. At least, we will have a bit of a holiday at the hotel, even if we cannot get our room before 3pm, we will still be on holidays.

[Rev22:17]

Sunbeam56,

 

We will be leaving a day before and staying at the hotel that they have chosen for us - Marriott Miami Airport -, not a bad hotel, just in the middle of nowhere.

 

I'm not at all convinced that this hotel is "in the middle of nowhere" as you make it out to be. Most of the major hotels in Florida that are away from downtown locations are near major convention centers or other facilities that draw a lot of visitors to the area. These areas also tend to have a lot of daytime activity geared toward spouses and other "significant others" of those attending conventions, a lot of night life, and decent restaurants and shopping centers within easy walking distance.

 

In any case, I hope that you enjoy your stay as well as your cruise!

 

Norm.

[Baltic Express]

I'm not at all convinced that this hotel is "in the middle of nowhere" as you make it out to be. Most of the major hotels in Florida that are away from downtown locations are near major convention centers or other facilities that draw a lot of visitors to the area. These areas also tend to have a lot of daytime activity geared toward spouses and other "significant others" of those attending conventions, a lot of night life, and decent restaurants and shopping centers within easy walking distance.

 

This hotel is located just off the freeway to the south of the airport. While not quite in the middle of nowhere it is in the middle of "I wouldn't want to walk anywhere". Best bet is to take a cab down to Coconut Grove or out to Miami Beach. Downtown Miami is fairly dead and not worth your effort in the evening.

[Ichiban Nekko]

Sunbeam,

So glad you were able to come to an agreement. We wish you the very best holiday and fabulous cruise!:D