I wish the cruiselines would make it a policy to offer cruiseair for arrival the day before (rather than charge the passengers for requesting it). Many people, especially those new to cruising, assume that if there's a problem with the flight, the ship will wait for them. That's not always true.
The only time we booked the air through the cruiseline was for my second cruise, my first out of Miami. The Carnival brochure said the booking included a hotel room. We were given a redeye out of LA, with arrival the day of our cruise with a dayroom. We found out when the tickets arrived at my office. I called the TA and said we need to change this. Can't remember if we got charged, but we got a flight arriving around 8pm in Miami with a hotel room.
Since then, we booked our flight and/or train trip on our own. For arrival at least a day before. We're there in our embarkation city on sailaway day so we can get to the port by noon. For our cruises out of San Pedro, we try to leave the house by 11am at the latest so we can get to the port by noon. No trying to get to the ship at the last minute for us. Even if there's a savings booking air thru the cruiseline, it's not worth it to us.
I wish the cruiselines would make it a policy to offer cruiseair for arrival the day before (rather than charge the passengers for requesting it). Many people, especially those new to cruising, assume that if there's a problem with the flight, the ship will wait for them. That's not always true.
Since then, we booked our flight and/or train trip on our own. For arrival at least a day before. We're there in our embarkation city on sailaway day so we can get to the port by noon. For our cruises out of San Pedro, we try to leave the house by 11am at the latest so we can get to the port by noon. No trying to get to the ship at the last minute for us. Even if there's a savings booking air thru the cruiseline, it's not worth it to us.
We have never been charged for flying out a day early, we have done it often with Princess and once with Celebrity. We do book our hotel through the cruise line so maybe that makes a difference. Have always booked flights thru cruise line too and once we were late and missed connecting flight. I called Princess and they said don't worry, the ship wouldn't leave without us. There were other pax on that flight too. Fortunately the airlines got us on another flight and we got there an hour before it was to sail. We were pre registered on line with Princess, and we boarded quickly. As we were walking to our cabin they were announcing the muster drill would be in 15 min. This was one of the few times we didn't go out a day early.
Flying in the day of the cruise used to be common because there were more airlines (and empty seats) than grains of sand on the beach.
Now that the airlines are dropping like flies, merging, etc.....pilots are being stretched to the limits....equipment being stretched to the limits....and then throw in weather and a terror "event" (even just a prank call) and it can all go "south" quickly.
The only time we flew in the day of the cruise as a family of four was when we cruised out of San Juan several years ago. We booked the air through Carnival.
(They booked it through Northwest).
Reader's Digest Condensed Version: An airbus full of cruisers went out for maintenance before they left Memphis. Thankfully, we got to the airport before the rooster did and a wonderful ticket agent got us 4 first class tickets on American. Others were not so lucky. Friends of ours did not arrive until the first port after we had been at sea for a day.
Even with that wonderful agent...we still only had 30 minutes to spar when we stepped on the ship.
I have heard of some people who have travelled to catch a cruise in Vancouver and literally missed the boat. Apparently this is one port which has definite times the ships must sail by because of tides.
My cruise last month on Carnival had already been implementing some of these. Namely boarding an hour early.For the most part we were made aware of these things in the literature we received from the cruise line as well as announcements for boarding times while the trip was in progress.
We have never been charged for flying out a day early, we have done it often with Princess and once with Celebrity. We do book our hotel through the cruise line so maybe that makes a difference. Have always booked flights thru cruise line too and once we were late and missed connecting flight. I called Princess and they said don't worry, the ship wouldn't leave without us. There were other pax on that flight too. Fortunately the airlines got us on another flight and we got there an hour before it was to sail. We were pre registered on line with Princess, and we boarded quickly. As we were walking to our cabin they were announcing the muster drill would be in 15 min. This was one of the few times we didn't go out a day early.
When you book a air/hotel package through the ship, the custom air fee (the fee the cruiseline charges for using air arrangements other than their standard air) is already in the price of the hotel package along with transfers to and from the hotel (part of the reasons why you can usually book that same hotel at a much lower price on your own).
Celebrity waives the custom air fee for Captain's Club members(but they don't lower the hotel package price for that custom airfare waiver. You do have to pay for any additional airfare for your customization - flying on a carrier or from an airport that the cruiseline doesn't use, flying business or first class, etc. We usually do custom air for one way flights (domestic round trip flights we book on our own) and book the hotel on our own (unless it is our first time in the city). We have never had to pay additional airfare as our TA asks Celebrity what airlines it is using and we select from those airlines.
We always fly in a day early because we like to arrive at the ship relaxed and ready to go rather than tired and stressed out from traveling. That way we can enjoy all our time on the ship instead of using the first day to recoup from traveling.
Unfortunately there are so many things these days that are out of the Cruiselines control where flying is concerned. Weather, shortage of pilot hours (Northwest), terror threat, nonscheduled maintenance.....
This extra requirement certainly should get everyone to thinking about coming in the day before if at all possible.
We noticed on our January RCCL cruise everyone we met had come in a day early unless they already lived someplace close by in Florida.
Note: We did get a note from our TA around Thanksgiving about this. Since we were driving in a night early, it was not a factor for us.
Gosh, I remember when we use to fly into San Juan the DAY OF the cruise and think nothing of it! Things have changed!
[quote=daysatsea;1029830]When you book a air/hotel package through the ship, the custom air fee (the fee the cruiseline charges for using air arrangements other than their standard air) is already in the price of the hotel package along with transfers to and from the hotel (part of the reasons why you can usually book that same hotel at a much lower price on your own).
quote]
We haven't done custom air yet. But on our Aug cruise we used our frequent flier miles, booking the flights on our own and definitely going out a day early. We priced our hotel with Princess and hotel on our own. It is a hastle for us to find transfers on our own so we prefer to book them with Princess. With out TA we compared prices on our own for hotel and transfers and then both through Princess. For this trip we found the better deal was to book both through Princess. Being 3 gals in an unfamaliar city, Barcelona, we went with Princess.
Gosh, I remember when we use to fly into San Juan the DAY OF the cruise and think nothing of it! Things have changed!
I remember doing that too, LuLu! We would be dressed in warmer sweat suits, leaving MN in the winter, get outside in San Juan and the sweat would immediately start pouring out! Just weren't used to all that humidity! We were so ready for a shower when we got to our cabin, of course no luggage was there yet. Was glad I had packed shorts in my carry on. Going out a day early we would get to the hotel, clean up and relax and leisurely walk around the city. Much more relaxing and dressed more comfortably to board the ship the next day.
Going out a day early when flying is the way to go!!!
Cruise Line Fans: Cruise Reviews and Chat From Real Cruisers
-
Centrum Deck
-
Ask a Cruise Question
-
New boarding rules???
#
#
We noticed on our January RCCL cruise everyone we met had come in a day early unless they already lived someplace close by in Florida. 
Linear Mode
