Gatwick to Montego Bay

[mhugcat]

Hi has anyone flown Gatwick to Montego Bay. My parents are flying to Artemis and sailing back. Would appreciate any comments expecially about the flight.

 

Thanks

[jazzbabe]

:) We will be flying the other way-sailing from Southampton on 30thOctober and flying from Montego Bay to Manchester.

Will post info on our return-16th November.:)

[jeanlyon]

It's 8-9 hours depending on wind conditions. What did you want to know exactly?

[jeanlyon]

and give my love to Horsham, lived there for 20 years while I was flying out of Gatwick!! On the Rusper Road.

[mhugcat]

Jeanlyon - Rusper Road what a small world.

 

My parents have never been 'long' flyers so I was suprised when they told me they were flying to Montego Bay. I would like to know which airline P&O use and whether the flight will be 'comfortable'. They only have to fly one way - which is good for them.

 

Jazzbabe - I would love to hear all about your cruise on your return. Look forward to it.

 

Thanks.

[Stitchman]

Hi has anyone flown Gatwick to Montego Bay. My parents are flying to Artemis and sailing back. Would appreciate any comments expecially about the flight.

 

Thanks

HI mhug

Hopefully the managed to upgrade or go scheduled. Air Jamaica are a bit dire, but we went on christmas day on first choice. Eventhough the seats were premium and it was a day flight, it was a flight that didn't seem to ever want to end. For the first time in years i was counting the minutes til the end !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good luck.

Stitch

[feebee_71]

Mhugcat,

 

Hi,

 

I am doing this cruise in March next year and will be flying from Gatwick to Montego Bay and hopefully we will have either First Choice or Thomas Cook.

 

I think until you know which airline is taking your flight it is all very much guess work.

 

One thing my Cruise Agent said to me when I enquired whether it would be better for me to book an upgrade seat for the flight was that as it is a daytime flight rather than a night flight it is not as if you will be trying to sleep on the way to Jamaica and also there will be no children onbpard the flight so hopefully it will be a more pleasant journey.

 

Feebee_71 :)

[hansi]

:) We will be flying the other way-sailing from Southampton on 30thOctober and flying from Montego Bay to Manchester.

Will post info on our return-16th November.:)

 

we are on that one too, not too long to wait now!

[Pontius Navigator]

The flight time will be nearer 9 hrs than 8 given the prevailing wind is westerly, however you should be below the jet streams.

 

The time difference is about 5 or 6 hrs (5 hrs from GMT) so an 0630 departure from Gatwick, although landing in MG at 1530 UK time will arrive at 0930 or 1030 local time.

 

Transfers to the ship mean you will be boarding at about the time you would do if you were boarding at Southampton. Get a drink, slow down, have some lunch, check your dining arrangements and the layout of the ship. Say at 4 settle down for afternoon tea.

 

BUT - it is now 1030 pm body time and the call for muster drills. After the drills and the sailaway you have another 6 hrs of day ahead of you. Bed time will beckon but the end of the evening show (1st sitting) will be about 4 am (UK) and the 2nd sitting at 7am (UK)

 

Best advice is to switch to local time as soon as you arrive and keep going for as long as you can. If you collapse into bed between 4 and 7 am worry not. You don't need to rise until midday (UK) or later and rise for an early breakfast at 7. :D

[petal3]

Flew return last December with First Choice Premium. Very good flights. Probably best charter airline for long haul,even if not upgrading to premium. Lots of leg room and in flight entertainment varied. Have just found out that we are flying with Thomas Cook November 08 from Barbados after Oceana cruise. Anyone flown with them long haul recently? Am wondering what the flight will be like re:leg room,entertainment,meals etc.

[Laticfanatic617]

Hi has anyone flown Gatwick to Montego Bay. My parents are flying to Artemis and sailing back. Would appreciate any comments expecially about the flight.

 

Thanks

 

 

go speak to keith at tanfield towbars...

 

i'm sure they've done that flight or a similar one! tell him that oldham's biggest fan sent you....

[Laticfanatic617]

Flew return last December with First Choice Premium. Very good flights. Probably best charter airline for long haul,even if not upgrading to premium. Lots of leg room and in flight entertainment varied. Have just found out that we are flying with Thomas Cook November 08 from Barbados after Oceana cruise. Anyone flown with them long haul recently? Am wondering what the flight will be like re:leg room,entertainment,meals etc.

 

 

Thomas cook have had their contract with p&o changed to account for all the complaints about poor legroom.. as of may 1st they have to supply a/c for cruise flights that have had several rows of seats removed to improve the amount of leg room...

 

to add, they can do this now, as for one, the Ventura has two flying days, and the flights we've been on have had rows of seat spare ... if the a/c gets full they simply offer another airport with availability

 

 

entertainment... usual lots of films, music etc meals were OK and i generally hate them!! and the ubiquitous free drinks

[hansi]

Do you get an increased baggage allowance if you upgrade to a premium seat?

[Laticfanatic617]

Do you get an increased baggage allowance if you upgrade to a premium seat?

 

 

i don't think so..... and i think that is because you already have one anyway!

[hansi]

i don't think so..... and i think that is because you already have one anyway!

 

Ok, I'll try again. What is the baggage allowance if you have upgraded to a premium seat?

[Pontius Navigator]

The baggage allowance will be 25kg for any seat, OK?

 

25kg is a very generous allowance although at first sight seems too small. On our last fly-cruise we only had 32kg total and that included 3 suits and 4 evening dresses together with assorted footwear etc.

 

Then near disastrous mistake we made was to pack everything into one large suitcase. At Gatwick we saw that the single case limit is 32kg. We scraped in but life would have been very interesting had we not.

 

One secret it to use lightweight luggage. The other is to think light.

 

The other is to admit that you will pack too many shirts, pants etc and use only half. The half you do use you will probably launder on board anyway. So halve what you assemble in the first instance and then halve again things like socks, underwear, casual shirts, beach shorts etc.

 

Then pack some detergent tablets.

[salsalady]

Ok, I'll try again. What is the baggage allowance if you have upgraded to a premium seat?

 

HI Hansi

 

The baggage allowance used to be 30kgs if you were travelling in premium economy..I know this was the case as we always fly premium economy. When we flew to Acapulco in March 07, we were allowed the 30kgs....however, when we got our flight details for our Sea princess cruise in March this year, it said the baggage allowance was only 25kgs for all passengers, when I queried this with P & O they said that all the allowances had been reduced to 25kgs....we are booked on Oceana in NOvember with premium economy seats, and although we haven't had our pre cruise documentation yet, I am assuming that it will be 25kgs again..

 

Now I find that with a bit of careful packing (But not doing laundry onboard...I'm on holiday for gods sake;) )...25kgs will do it....I do find myself weighing individual dresses and comparing weights before I decide which to take..

 

But we are booked on a 29 night xmas and new year 2009/10 cruise...and with all the goodwill in the world, I think I'm gonna struggle with only 25kgs each....especially considering I've gotta leave some room for xmas decorations for cabin.....might have to dig out one of those laundry bags and sent it off to be laundered.....

 

Karen

[Laticfanatic617]

Ok, I'll try again. What is the baggage allowance if you have upgraded to a premium seat?

 

 

:D sorry hansi..it wasn't meant to sound rude! well it reads back a little like that to me now... isn't it weird that things sound different when you just got back from work???:rolleyes:

 

thankfully others have responded with what i was trying to say, ie that the airline have granted cruise passengers extra weight anyway!

 

seems we're not the only ones who use the 'number' of bags as opposed to the weight of the bag principle.. even though we don't get to see much of them apart from dropping them off at the airport and picking them back up 2 weeks later when we arrive home... these great big sports bags with pull handles are great for keeping the weight down too eh????

[Laticfanatic617]

The half you do use you will probably launder on board anyway. So halve what you assemble in the first instance and then halve again things like socks, underwear, casual shirts, beach shorts etc.

 

Then pack some detergent tablets.

 

 

when i wander over to the RCCL board they seem to rave on about their facilities on those ships..

 

apparently on some (might even be all of the fleet of 22:eek: !) they do something called a $10 bag! it's a huge bag, and i get the impression that a post sack is a fair enough description... and you can get laundered whatever is in said bag for $10.. it seems most people don't worry about ironing as it all gets done after it's washed!!

now wouldn't that be a good idea???

[salsalady]

when i wander over to the RCCL board they seem to rave on about their facilities on those ships..

 

apparently on some (might even be all of the fleet of 22:eek: !) they do something called a $10 bag! it's a huge bag, and i get the impression that a post sack is a fair enough description... and you can get laundered whatever is in said bag for $10.. it seems most people don't worry about ironing as it all gets done after it's washed!!

now wouldn't that be a good idea???

 

HI Sunny side

 

On the two occassions we have cruised on Celebrity, they also have the $10 bag....cram as much as you can in( and I mean...really cram!!)....and they launder it all for $10....however, I don't think a great deal of care is taken, as when we went to Alaska last year, we took a lot of tee shirts and sweat shirts (boy it was cold in Alaska!!) and they all came back covered in a certain amount of 'laundry fluff'...which was a real problem on the dark items....and the standard of ironing wasn't up to much!!

 

Karen

[Laticfanatic617]

HI Sunny side

 

On the two occassions we have cruised on Celebrity, they also have the $10 bag....cram as much as you can in( and I mean...really cram!!)....and they launder it all for $10....however, I don't think a great deal of care is taken, as when we went to Alaska last year, we took a lot of tee shirts and sweat shirts (boy it was cold in Alaska!!) and they all came back covered in a certain amount of 'laundry fluff'...which was a real problem on the dark items....and the standard of ironing wasn't up to much!!

 

Karen

 

 

yeah i guess you have to risk that? would let them dry clean my 'important' items though... and itend to wear a lot of linen when away in hot climates, and as ex-military i find them impossible to iron when trying my best!!!:rolleyes:

 

 

great to know that other lines do it too... must be an american 'thing' ?

[salsalady]

yeah i guess you have to risk that? would let them dry clean my 'important' items though... and itend to wear a lot of linen when away in hot climates, and as ex-military i find them impossible to iron when trying my best!!!:rolleyes:

 

 

great to know that other lines do it too... must be an american 'thing' ?

 

Thats funny what you say about linen clothes....I have at long last persuaded my husband to buy a linen suit for when we go cruising.....I don't think he's too keen on it, as he says it's looks like it needs ironing, despite me standing there pressing it for the previous 10 minutes....but I'm sure once he's worn it for the first smart/casual night on our next cruise, he'll love it, and it will always be first on his list of items to pack....

 

we are lucky, as we have a mini suite on Oceana and they come with an iron and ironing board.... (well....I think they do:confused: )

[Laticfanatic617]

we are lucky, as we have a mini suite on Oceana and they come with an iron and ironing board.... (well....I think they do:confused: )

 

me too...

we have inside rooms booked... my room comes with my wife!!:D

[Pontius Navigator]

as ex-military i find them impossible to iron when trying my best!!!:rolleyes:

 

Shame on you. :D

 

On Aurora it was quite normal to see us men monopolising all three ironing boards. Why, one day, one wife-of asked DH how to use the iron.

 

SalsaLady,

 

he says it's looks like it needs ironing

 

Would he say that if

despite he had been standing there pressing it for the previous 10 minutes

:)

[salsalady]

PN

 

probably not, but there and again he wouldn't have chosen a linen suit in the first place, given the choice....:D :D

 

Karen