Carnival fly aweigh program...experiences?

Or generally any experience with NCL's air program too as I know both lines dont let you choose the flights.

We are cruising with Carnival on the Panama Canal in August and the only airfare we could afford was with Carnival's fly aweigh program which quote us £1037 per person. The cheapest we could find anywhere else was £1270 per person which is out of our budget as we had originally planned a Med cruise where airfare was £450 per person and much closer so our budget is stretched!

We need to fly London to the Tampa then return LA to London. The fact its not a loop flight makes it pricey. We simply cannot afford to book our own flights

Read all the documents and contracts but we are mainly worried about:

1) missing the ship due to delays etc (Carnival will fly us to the next port but obviously we would miss days of the cruise)

2) We do not mind connecting flights but are worried about connections not working and missing connecting flights (Always had direct flights in past so this is new). How to we deal with luggage and documents on connecting flights?

3) Lost luggage on connecting flights (connected with above)

4)We have trip insurance but we worry about not being able to pay for a flight at the time if anything should go awry. Will Carnival book our replacement flight?

5) Carnival promise that we will get our flights 75 days before but I have heard it is usually 2 weeks. Is this true? We are especially concerned as it says we have up until 60 days to cancel the flights or get charged 35% which is a whopping 350 quid!

Would love to hear any experiences good or bad.Don't want to be told to book independently as it really isnt at option at the moment.

Sorry thats a big chunk of rambling but thanks for any advice :)

What exact dates are you looking to travel? Looking at a departure date of Aug. 16 and return on the 30, you can fly BHX-EWR-TPA and return LAX-SFO-FRA-BHX on United for 990.33 GBP. Fly out on the 31st instead, and you can get a return of SNA-EWR-BHX for 917.93, although the schedule isn't the best (overnight flight from SNA, then 13 hour layover at EWR).

Now, to address some of the questions you actually asked :D:

2) Depends on the length of the connection and which airport. If you're on the same ticket, bags are transferred. If your connection is in the US or Canada, you'll have to pick up your bags (usually a separate conveyor for connecting passengers), clear customs, then turn them back in (there again, usually a separate conveyor). Sounds a lot harder than it actually is.

3) Never had much of an issue. Only time bag was lost was when we had a tight connection, and then it was on the next flight.

The rest I can't answer as I have never used cruise air.

What exact dates are you looking to travel? Looking at a departure date of Aug. 16 and return on the 30, you can fly BHX-EWR-TPA and return LAX-SFO-FRA-BHX on United for 990.33 GBP. Fly out on the 31st instead, and you can get a return of SNA-EWR-BHX for 917.93, although the schedule isn't the best (overnight flight from SNA, then 13 hour layover at EWR).

 

Now, to address some of the questions you actually asked :D:

 

2) Depends on the length of the connection and which airport. If you're on the same ticket, bags are transferred. If your connection is in the US or Canada, you'll have to pick up your bags (usually a separate conveyor for connecting passengers), clear customs, then turn them back in (there again, usually a separate conveyor). Sounds a lot harder than it actually is.

 

3) Never had much of an issue. Only time bag was lost was when we had a tight connection, and then it was on the next flight.

 

The rest I can't answer as I have never used cruise air.

Wow...where did you get those prices from? Your are an absolute genius.

The fact the price/dates you quoted is perfect and its a stones throw away from where we live is great as we are 15 minute train ride for Birmingham airport. The only option with Carnival was London airport.

Thanks so much for the advice. I have only flown around Europe/Africa so flying TA is a bit crazy for me. :)

Wow...where did you get those prices from? Your are an absolute genius.

 

The fact the price/dates you quoted is perfect and its a stones throw away from where we live is great as we are 15 minute train ride for Birmingham airport. The only option with Carnival was London airport.

 

Thanks so much for the advice. I have only flown around Europe/Africa so flying TA is a bit crazy for me. :)

Ah, no, not a genius, just a girl with a computer and a dream...:D

Firstly, I checked http://matrix.itasoftware.com/, a wonderful search engine for flights - you can't book on this site, but it will steer you in the right direction. Using their multi-city option, I noted that United seemed to have the best pricing, so checked on the UA website (the UK version to ensure that I got pricing in sterling), and found those flights. Several combos available, so you can see what works best for you. The key here is to price the flight out as an open-jaw rather than two one-way flights - you usually get much better pricing that way, especially for TA flights.

If you have questions about your itinerary, do ask here BEFORE you book. The connection times are particularly important.

Thanks guys

A flight I liked the look of (as well as the one posted above) have 3 hr connection times and a 1 hour 50 min connection in Frankfurt on our return.. is this too short?

I do not mind missing the plane in Frankfurt as it takes 2 hours tops to get back and I am familiar with train routes back to the UK as well (European land travel is my speciality...unlike planes! :))

I think I am going to bite the bullet by cancelling my fly aweigh and booking tonight. It is especially helpful to fly from Birmingham as I know the airport well and it will help my flying nerves.

Not to mention that by not needing to book a hotel in London we can fly out a day early and spend more time in the US!

Thanks guys

 

A flight I liked the look of (as well as the one posted above) have 3 hr connection times and a 1 hour 50 min connection in Frankfurt on our return.. is this too short?

 

I do not mind missing the plane in Frankfurt as it takes 2 hours tops to get back and I am familiar with train routes back to the UK as well (European land travel is my speciality...unlike planes! :))

 

I think I am going to bite the bullet by cancelling my fly aweigh and booking tonight. It is especially helpful to fly from Birmingham as I know the airport well and it will help my flying nerves.

 

Not to mention that by not needing to book a hotel in London we can fly out a day early and spend more time in the US!

I would do the 1:50 connection at FRA. Your reasoning is the same as mine would - go with tighter connection at the point where you could get home easily by land (thus why I will change a close connection at YUL, which is a 2:30 drive from home, but want longer at YYZ).

The 3 hour connection is pretty much my comfort zone for connections, so that one should be fine.