Air through Celebrity or purchase on own?

[emeraldcitycruiser]

I am a first-time cruiser taking a cruise in February on Celebrity. I am seeking advice re: air travel to the port. Is there any advantage to purchasing with the cruise line (other than the fact that transfers are included)? Celebrity's air rate is $689 for roundtrip travel to the port, and I found fares on my own for $350.

 

I'd appreciate any thoughts and advice.

[6rugrats]

I am a first-time cruiser taking a cruise in February on Celebrity. I am seeking advice re: air travel to the port. Is there any advantage to purchasing with the cruise line (other than the fact that transfers are included)? Celebrity's air rate is $689 for roundtrip travel to the port, and I found fares on my own for $350.

 

I'd appreciate any thoughts and advice.

 

Thoughts? Why would you pay $689 for cruise air, when you can book your own, where you control the flights for only $350? I have never seen a case where the ship's transfers are cheaper then just catching a cab. Do you think it would cost you $339 to get to and from the airport on your own? I don't.

 

Read this sticky at the top of this forum and it will explain cruise air to you:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=530322

 

To me, there is absolutely no advantage to booking cruise air when it's not less expensive, and in fact, there are disadvantages, which are covered in that sticky.

[ginagirl]

DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!!!!! YOU CAN END UP NOT EVEN RECEIVING THE TRANSFER LIKE WE DID AT THE END OF THE CRUISE. THEY MADE AN ERROR AND GAVE US THE WRONG COLOR LUGGAGE TAGS. UNKNOWN TO US, OUR LUGGAGE JUST SAT AT THE TERMINAL. AND AFTER DISEMBARKING, WE WERE TOLD THE BUS TO THE AIRPORT HAD LEFT. wHEN I SHOWED MY TRANSFER VOUCHER, THEY SHEEPISHLY SAID IT WAS THEIR MISTAKE AND THEN GAVE US VOUCHER FOR A CAB. BUT FORTUNATELY, I SAW OUR LUGGAGE IN THE TERMINAL AND QUESTIONED IT. THEY SAID THAT WAS THEIR MISTAKE ALSO. AND LET'S NOT DISCUSS THE 25 MINUTE CONNECTION, WITH A CHANGE OF TERMINAL, THEY GAVE US AT LAX GOING TO HONOLULU AT 5 PM. FOR GOODNESS SAKE, DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND BUY YOUR OWN TICKETS. HAVE A WONDERFUL CRUISE!:)

[Keith1010]

Sometimes the transfers can be important if you have a long transfer outside the country. But I'm assuming that is not the case for the one transfer and flight you are talking about. But assuming you are flying to a USA port or one that is in close proximity to the airport sounds like you would do better on your own based on the prices you are quoting.

 

Where is your port of embarkation?

 

Keith

[eandj]

Sounds like you are smart enough to book flights on your own. Don't waste the money to have X do the work for you. People that don't want to be bothered with any planning or don't know how, are the ones that should use someone's help. But they will pay ridiculous amounts for that convenince.

 

Pick out the flights you want. You don't mention where your port is. If you need help, just ask here. Like the other poster said, shuttles from the cruiseline are not worth it at most US ports.

[darcy24]

Also suggest that you arrive the day BEFORE your cruise and stay in a hotel that night. Not worth taking a chance on airline/airport problems or weather delays. Start your trip off right and you'll have a great time. If you do post your port, am sure there will be more info.

[Darkwolfe]

Also suggest that you arrive the day BEFORE your cruise and stay in a hotel that night. Not worth taking a chance on airline/airport problems or weather delays. Start your trip off right and you'll have a great time. If you do post your port, am sure there will be more info.

 

Second that! Getting in to your port city the day before can be a lifesaver. Sure you wind up spending a little more $$ for a hotel, but it beats rushing from airport to ship and fretting about any delays. Going the day before all but eliminates those worries.

[DanJ]

I'm guessing you are flying to Ft Lauderdale for a quote of $689 from Seattle. I don't consider flying the day of a cruise out of Florida and my local airports are in the same time zone and a 3 hour direct flight away. You are three time zones away, and about 5 hours in the air, if you can even get non-stop from SEA to FLL. So it's not like you can catch a 6am (9am on the east coast) flight, and expect to catch the cruise. The cruise line will have you taking some weird red-eyes with either really tight connections or really long connections somewhere, and you'll arrive at the ship feeling like you just did an Olympic triathlon. Great way to spend Day 1 of your vacation. The cruise line will charge you even more to take a more reasonable flight in the daytime the day before, so you are that much again further ahead to book your own the day before. Arrive late afternoon, early evening, have a nice dinner, and nice night's sleep to try to get used to the time difference, and be prepared to start your cruise right. And it also gives you some leeway in case weather or lost luggage causes some headaches along the way.

[scottbee]

I am a first-time cruiser taking a cruise in February on Celebrity. I am seeking advice re: air travel to the port. Is there any advantage to purchasing with the cruise line (other than the fact that transfers are included)? Celebrity's air rate is $689 for roundtrip travel to the port, and I found fares on my own for $350.

I'd appreciate any thoughts and advice.

 

Transfers from FLL to the pier should be pretty cheap, given it's all of about 3 miles.

[iancal]

We never use cruise air and we never use cruise tranfers. We don't book pre cruise hotels through the cruise lines. The money we save pays for a nice or two day pre cruise stay. Apart from saving money, we want to decide our own air itinerary so that we fly when we want to with as few stops as possible.