Air included or added on

[Thrifty]

On our next to the last cruise on a different, smaller cruise line, we purchased an air add on for the first time and were very unhappy with the results. The problem was not the price but the scheduling. Any reports on experiences with Azmara air arrangements would be greatly appreciated.

[Susan-M]

I booked our upcoming cruise with Az's air as the price was much less than I could have arranged on my own. I then did custom air, selecting the airline and schedule that I wanted so that we could go 3 days early and stay 3 days later. I was lucky that my original fare covered the custom air (i.e. no additional charge) .... if you are new to Celebrity/Azamara, there is a fee (either $50 or $75) for custom air, but once you become a Captains Club member (after your first cruise) they waive the fee.

[daju22]

We booked our Az cruise with air included last year. Decided we could get non-stop flights on our own and private transfers for the price Az wanted for included air. We are captain's club, but if we went in early and stayed later, the included transfers would not be used unless we booked Az hotels. Our TA took off the air and the price dropped $1800. Booked nonstop both ways for $1400, so had 400 for transfers. It all depends on where you can fly from and if you want to go early/stay later, and if you want to book Az hotels. Just lots of variables and homework for us to make this decision.:rolleyes:

[Bodger]

The cruise lines will give you the flights that suit them not you. If they can save a nickel by routing you through Timbuktu they will do so. Your convenience never enters into the equation.

 

My rule of thumb is book your own air with the exception of either an incredible promotion price or if you start at one port and finish at a different port.

 

We had Azamara (on an incredible air add-on) book our return flight out of Newark at 6PM to Montreal, sit around Montreal for a while and then on to Toronto getting home close to midnight. The best the custom air department could do was geet us home about an hour earlier for an extra $300! (To put this into context the flying time between Toronto and Newark is about one hour.)

 

Resigned to our fate, I asked at the Air Canada counter when we arrived in Newark, if we could get on an earlier return flight. They changed us to a direct return flight that left at 11:30AM and waived the change fee. We were home about eleven hours earlier thanks to the help of Air Canada. Azamara could certainly have arranged this except they don't want you on a flight due to leave before noon. (Again their convenience not yours.)

 

Air Canada 1 - Azamara 0

 

And don't believe the story about "the ship will wait for you if you are late". As we flew into San Juan on our Princess arranged air, via Timbuktu, we saw our ship sailing away.

 

Bodger

[Dick in Falls Church]

>>>Azamara could certainly have arranged this except they don't want you on a flight due to leave before noon. (Again their convenience not yours.

 

 

I certainly can't, and won't, argue with your view. However, we came in this morning to Miami, and for a number of reasons, explained and otherwise, debarkation ran about an hour later than programmed. Had Azamara booked folks on early flights, there probably would have been many more problems than with later flights. We were booked on a 2;55 PM flight to Charlotte, then on to DC. When we got to the counter, found we could get on a 1:00 pm flight, getting us back about 2 hours earlier. Well, yes, if the plane from Charlotte hadn't had a problem. In the long run, we got in a full 20 minutes earlier than scheduled-- we said goodby to cruise friends in Miami (they were still on the later flight), and again in Charlotte!

 

We did notice that most of the incoming flights from the states to Brazil arrived about 7-8am, which made it a lot more convenient to arrange busses. And, of course, the same was true of the busses in Miami for departure.

[cruzebunny]

Hi,

We booked our flight with azumara journey. They scheduled us to leave with less that 1 hour to get our international flight from New York to Venice, Italy. I called my travel agent-Expedia who then called the folks at Azumara . They told me via the cruise company that it was too late to change the flight, even though we received our documents from expedia and azumara 2 days late from the airline cut off change.They all said it was too late to change the flight despite the fact that we had less than a hour to get the next flight out of the country. I contacted Delta directly-and the agent told me it was illegal for them to book an international flight within an hour of departure. She changed the flight -said there would be no additional charge because it should not have been booked that way in the first place! I contacted Azumare who would not take the new info -I had to go with expedia. I am still apprehensive because the cruise summmary on line does not give any details about the flights even before this fiasco.

I never had problems with Carnival with sea and air.We always received a detailed confimation of air flights.

Beware. I will never book through this crusie line for air -even if it is a good deal-because it would not be a good deal if we missed the boat or lost our luggage. Customer service does not seem important. Hopefully when we get on the ship it will be better