airfare

[carmal]

I booked my cruise through Travelocity. Valor Eastern Caribbean March 22. If I book my airfare through the cruise, do I pay now or later when final payment is due? Im a first time so I dont know all the terms. I can pay a deviation fee & pick my own flight? Whats fee custom air? Do I do all this with Travelocity or directly with Carnival. I knew of the Air & Sea but didnt know about Best Fare Air. Whats the best route?

[OhioJeff]

I booked my cruise through Travelocity. Valor Eastern Caribbean March 22. If I book my airfare through the cruise, do I pay now or later when final payment is due? Im a first time so I dont know all the terms. I can pay a deviation fee & pick my own flight? Whats fee custom air? Do I do all this with Travelocity or directly with Carnival. I knew of the Air & Sea but didnt know about Best Fare Air. Whats the best route?

 

You would pay when final payment is due. Deviation is usually $50pp for domestic flights.

 

We can't mention Travel agencies by name, so I hope your thread doesnt go poof.

[Illinoisgal]

save yourself a headache and cash and book your own flight :)

[Gayle V]

I totally agree with Illinoisgal, You will be much happier if you book the air yourself. With the cruise line air, you start by paying their designated price for a flight from your home to the port. Whether that alone is a good price, varies from city to city. But that amount alone has always been considerably higher than we would pay ourselves, every time we'd priced it out. Now if you go with the flights they would book, just be prepared to fly on the day of the cruise, and to have some really lousy times and connections.

 

So, you already intend to get the deviation. Then you add on that deviation cost, $50 per person. Then, depending on the flights you choose, you have to pay anything extra the flights you chose would cost. The cruise lines supposedly get a "deal" on the price. ( Although it never appears to be one, if you ask me.) So the final cost of the airfare can be very much more expensive than you would get on your own.

 

For the cruise we took in February, the cruise line air, with the deviation so that we could travel the day before, price out to be more than twice the cost that I eventually bought the air tickets for. And even then I was would no have been getting the flights I wanted because the cruise line claimed they were not available.

 

Much easier and cheaper to book them on your own.

 

Sorry, I forgot to answer your question. If you do decide to buy through the cruise line, the price of the air would just be added into your total. You make your usual deposit and you then just pay the remainder due at time of final payment.

 

One more addition, I do believe you may have to pay that deviation fee for each way. I'm sure someone else here can tell you for sure, as I don't know that for a fact.

[wasiii]

.....my first cruise was to Alaska. We booked it through the cruise line because I didn't want anything to get screwed up. We probably could have saved a little bit of money but because the flight was 6 hours there and 10.5 hours back I wanted the cruise line to take care of it for us.

 

On my upcoming cruises flying from NY to Tampa and Fort Lauderdale, I booked them myself because the savings was way larger than it was from NY to Vancouver and Whittier to NY.

 

:)

 

wasiii

[jayscore]

A couple of months ago I signed up for cruise air because it was actually cheaper at that time. Since then I found flights to and from Miami that are cheaper and better time wise. I'm going to give my PVP the bad news soon, and get the flight canceled. I might add, I'm going the day before the cruise to avoid any delays.

[sjcruiser]

I normall book air through the other online site, but booked through SW this time around due to price. I also changed flight time with them when the fares went down without any penalties.

[CRUIS'N CHICK]

I have always used RCL to book my airfare on the off chance that if a freak snow storm should hit Toronto, I'll be covered if things go wrong (how that matters, I don't know -- like the Captain will hold the ship?!). However, through experience of others, I've come to realize that it doesn't matter. I'm sailing in January '09 and managed to save almost $800 (Cdn) on my flight. Bigger bonus - the flight I've booked is direct. Total 4 and 1/2 hours flight time versus 7+ hours with the connections RCL wanted me to do. I''d rather spend the extra time in San Juan!!

[deepnite10]

due to a long flight from OAK to FLL then to miami..we decided to come

in 2 day s early..can t see arrving in the late afternoon in the day befor, getting to hotel..then finding a good dinner in a city we ve never been in..

 

atleast given an extra day will allow us to unwind from the flight and see

a bit of south beach befor embarking on our cruise..

 

then booking a late flight so were not hurried disembarking or rushing to find a cab..which may be difficult on a hurried sunday morning in the POM..

[janetz]

You have until final payment to cancell your air with the cruiseline. You can, if you choose have them book it and start looking for a better deal. I would however, be sure to fly in a day before since it will be winter. You would not want to be delayed, etc. :)