Travel arrangements

[duceno1]

Hi have booked a cruise for Feb '09 on Liberty of the Seas departing from Miami. Airfare is not yet available, but my TA estimated about $400 pp/rt from Philadelphia through the cruiseline. Given the uncertainty of the weather, we are planning on flying in the day before. So my first question, what hotels are conveniently located to the port? Also, I would like to see if I could save some $$ by booking both airfare and hotel on my own, but the kicker is that I am disabled and use a wheelchair, so I would need a wheelchair van for transfers from airport-hotel, hotel-port. RCL can provide this, but only if I book through them. Any other options? And finally, does anyone know when airfare might become available for Feb '09? Thanks for any help!

[Splinter]

Pick a hotel that provides an airport shuttle. If they do, they MUST provide a wheelchair shuttle for you at no additional cost. This is an ADA requirement. If they shuttle from the hotel to the port, the same applies.

[scb616]

Airlines start booking 330 days in advance. I go to various sites on the internet and look. I have found that several search sites give good information then I go to the airline site I like and book there without extra charges being thrown in. Once you have booked online call the air lines to get a supervisor to open up the special seating if you need it.

[daveco58]

I don't mean to sound rude, but, is your TA not able to arrange all this for you? I know some TA's don't like to do hotels and transportation and all (there's not much profit there), but, really, you should use a full service TA, especially one who understands mobility issues. Most are willing and able to do all these other arrangements, if it is in conjunction with a cruise.