RCCL Cruise/Air package to the Med?

[bambam2972]

I understand that most book separate air when cruising, but what about flying abroad? My parents are flying into Barcelona in Oct. 08 for their med cruise (notice my use of "they" and not "we" :mad: :p), and booked the rccl air. They wanted to know others' experiences with rccl air to Barcelona. Thanks! :D

[leftyrn]

We too are flying into Barcelona on a cruise with RCCL in Sept 2007. When we booked we chose the airfare portion knowing that we could cancel before final payment is due. We were quoted somewhere in the neighborhood of 1065/pp for air. I was able to get air myself for about 400 less than that. We did it ourselves so we had the choice of arranging air without layovers and flying direct from Atlanta.

 

We are also going a few days before to see some of Barcelona. I am not sure what airfare is now, but if they continue to look daily they may be able to do better on their own. Of course you need to add transfers to that. Booking with cruiseline will include transfers. Last time I looked airfare was very expensive so they now may be better off with cruiseline. We booked our air the day or two after we could book it, about 330 days from date of return home from cruise, we have had arrangements for quite awhile. Good Luck

 

I have heard various experiences with using that feature with cruise line. It depends on where they live. I would want to be in Barcelona a few days in advance of the cruise to get acclimated to the time change and see some of the city. Everyone has their own opinions and time needs

[bambam2972]

Thanks for the response, leftyrn! I think they too wanted to get to Barcelona a few days before. I'll let them know to start looking at airfare separately and watch the prices. Thanks again! :)

[seetosea]

We are on the Brilliance of the Seas 6/14/07. When we booked, we also booked air and kept an eye out for a better price. Unfortunately, since we are going in June and out of San Francisco, we just couldn't find a better price so we ended up staying with RCI air.

 

We wanted to go early, so we chose custom air and are flying Delta from SFO to JFK to BCN. We should be arriving in BCN on the morning of the 12th.

 

The return flight was at their discretion (meaning, if I had it to do over again, I never would have taken their arrangement). They have us leaving BCN at 9:55 AM on debarkation day on Iberia airlines. Tell your folks to stay an extra day. It's not worth the hassle and turmoil.

 

Will we make our return flight? I'll let you know when we return :D .

 

I was nervous about making overseas air arrangements, but after all this was said and done, I could have booked my own flight for about the same price, but I would have had control over which airline and what time.

 

Advice: Keep the RCI air until something better comes up. Then book it yourself.

[bubbadog]

we have done our air several times going abroad,the reason being that we get it cheaper,cost less,better seats,more direct flight usually,just seems like you dont get very good seats and layovers usually,plus like i said it costs more,so if it were me id book my own,have a great cruise and good luck to you:))))):p ;)

[Hedy31]

We had originally booked our airfare with RCI for our trip to Barcelona in September. After reading so much on CC we decided to do our own air. We saved about $700.00 total. We also have the comfort of knowing which airline (British Airways both ways) and having the flight schedule. We were told we wouldn't have that information until a few weeks before our trip if we stayed with RCI's air. I'm a planner so it worked better for us to do it on our own. Just remember to research everything well...we also used our travel agent to book it for us. I hope everything works out.

 

Hedy