Cruise lines providing expensive flights?

I was just wondering why recently most cruise lines have been providing ridiculously expensive flights for their cruises eg. I was looking at a Disney Magic 7 night Mediterranean cruise for 2 adults 2 kids (I like the cruise equivalent of window shopping :p) and the cruise itself was about £3000 (about $5000) but flights were... now get ready for this, this was for flights from LONDON to BARCELONA. 2 1/2 hours on a plane... the flights themselves were just over £7000. That's $11700 approximately :eek:. A lovely 7 night Carnival Dream cruise... about £900 for the cruise (about $1500) and I can't remember the price, but I remember thinking "... WHAT?! THAT'S RIDICULOUS!", and it wasn't in the good way. The thing is with Carnival, you can either not be able to get flights from the UK, or they're unbelieveably expensive.

The only line I know really to provide low cost or included flights is P&O cruises, are there any like that in the US and Canada?

Just wondering...

I think the contracts the cruise lines you mentioned are with US based airlines for the most part, and geared towards the US market. That said, often we find less costly flights on our own rather than what is available in the cruise line bucket...and purchase accordingly.

$11700. I hope that was 1st class :eek:

$11700. I hope that was 1st class :eek:

First Class? From London to Barcelona that better be for a fully stocked Gulfstream!

Hard to understand that pricing. I just booked a trans-Atlantic with Holland America from Rome this coming Fall. Airfare through them, non-stop JFK to Rome, plus Fort Lauderdale to JFK after the crossing came to $866 per person.

First Class? From London to Barcelona that better be for a fully stocked Gulfstream!

I know, full reclining seats and butler! If only Disney and Carnival did that!!!:)

Cruise lines are for profit businesses and will and do make money wherever they can.

Hard to understand that pricing. I just booked a trans-Atlantic with Holland America from Rome this coming Fall. Airfare through them, non-stop JFK to Rome, plus Fort Lauderdale to JFK after the crossing came to $866 per person.

Yeah. I thought it was some mistake or something, but I'd checked Carnival and I was like "Wow. This is messed up. I need to move to the United States!"

I mean, for shuttle and transport to do on my own including petrol (the British word for gas) to Birmingham and taxi to the port from the airport, it seems ridiculous.

Makes no sense at all though. :confused:

P.S. What ship you on???

First Class? From London to Barcelona that better be for a fully stocked Gulfstream!

How true :D

Yeah. I thought it was some mistake or something, but I'd checked Carnival and I was like "Wow. This is messed up. I need to move to the United States!"

 

I would do my own air if that price is correct ;)

Just do your own air. That way you have complete control over it. You should be able to find a decent price on your own.

Yeah. I thought it was some mistake or something, but I'd checked Carnival and I was like "Wow. This is messed up. I need to move to the United States!"

 

I mean, for shuttle and transport to do on my own including petrol (the British word for gas) to Birmingham and taxi to the port from the airport, it seems ridiculous.

 

Makes no sense at all though. :confused:

 

P.S. What ship you on???

Holland America's Prinsendam.

Have used RCCL Choice Air many times and their prices are unbeatable unless you have FF miles.

I was just wondering why recently most cruise lines have been providing ridiculously expensive flights for their cruises eg. I was looking at a Disney Magic 7 night Mediterranean cruise for 2 adults 2 kids (I like the cruise equivalent of window shopping :p) and the cruise itself was about £3000 (about $5000) but flights were... now get ready for this, this was for flights from LONDON to BARCELONA. 2 1/2 hours on a plane... the flights themselves were just over £7000. That's $11700 approximately :eek:. A lovely 7 night Carnival Dream cruise... about £900 for the cruise (about $1500) and I can't remember the price, but I remember thinking "... WHAT?! THAT'S RIDICULOUS!", and it wasn't in the good way. The thing is with Carnival, you can either not be able to get flights from the UK, or they're unbelieveably expensive.

The only line I know really to provide low cost or included flights is P&O cruises, are there any like that in the US and Canada?

 

Just wondering...

Would you buy a cruise from an airline?

I wouldn't.

Why would anyone buy a flight from a cruise line?

We are not a travel agency.

The airlines have recently decided that the cruise lines are competing directly against them for the tourist dollar. The very last thing they want to do is let you believe that a total cruise package (air included) is a better deal than a flight and a land-based vacation.

Those old sweetheart contracts we had with the major airlines are pretty much a thing of the past.

It is always a better idea to book your own air for a cruise.

Even if you do manage to get a good deal through the cruise line, you can expect the worst seats and the worst itinerary.

Would you buy a cruise from an airline?

I wouldn't.

 

Why would anyone buy a flight from a cruise line?

We are not a travel agency.

 

The airlines have recently decided that the cruise lines are competing directly against them for the tourist dollar. The very last thing they want to do is let you believe that a total cruise package (air included) is a better deal than a flight and a land-based vacation.

Those old sweetheart contracts we had with the major airlines are pretty much a thing of the past.

 

It is always a better idea to book your own air for a cruise.

Even if you do manage to get a good deal through the cruise line, you can expect the worst seats and the worst itinerary.

Actually, I have found that Royal Caribbean' s Cruise Air, and Holland America's arrangements do give better value than going it on your own.

I always check the options available, and have found that using the line's arrangements works best. Perhaps not the absolute cheapest - but certainly the cheapest way to get non-stop flights. Two years ago one ways to Rome for under $600 (round trips - throwing away the return would have been over $1,000), last year one ways to London were about $450, and this year we got one way to Rome and one way back FLL to JFK for $866 each. Cheapest on my own would have been a bit more and involved changing planes in Dublin or Madrid - something I'd gladly pay a couple hundred to avoid.

We approach air the same as we do cruises. Just use a simple philosophy of "shop around" for the best overall deal. When it comes to air we seldom use air booked via a cruise line, but there are sometimes when it is truly the best deal (especially if you need a one-way flight to or from Europe).

Hank

Please do not compare flights originating in the US on US airlines to flights originating on foreign carriers in the UK and Europe. The foreign carriers have a far heftier tax on petrol.

And, OP you can certainly find flights for far less even if you have to do a one stop or connecting flight. I know it's tempting to want a direct, nonstop flight but unless you go with Easy Jet, Ryan Air or other no frills airline you should think outside the box. I found flights on Easy Jet to exceed our fare on SAS in May due to all the extra costs. But, I'm sure you know all about these low cost carriers.

And for those of you who swear by cruise air, the poster cited the high cost of cruise air. If you have questions or comments about cruise air go to the CRUISE AIR FORUM. It's just a couple of clicks away.

Would you buy a cruise from an airline?

I wouldn't.

 

Why would anyone buy a flight from a cruise line?

We are not a travel agency.

 

The airlines have recently decided that the cruise lines are competing directly against them for the tourist dollar. The very last thing they want to do is let you believe that a total cruise package (air included) is a better deal than a flight and a land-based vacation.

Those old sweetheart contracts we had with the major airlines are pretty much a thing of the past.

 

It is always a better idea to book your own air for a cruise.

Even if you do manage to get a good deal through the cruise line, you can expect the worst seats and the worst itinerary.

You don't know what you are talking about. Go to choice Air and you will find the same flights, same seats, and same schedules offered on any airline website, but pay about half..

Would you buy a cruise from an airline?

I wouldn't.

 

Why would anyone buy a flight from a cruise line?

We are not a travel agency.

 

The airlines have recently decided that the cruise lines are competing directly against them for the tourist dollar. The very last thing they want to do is let you believe that a total cruise package (air included) is a better deal than a flight and a land-based vacation.

Those old sweetheart contracts we had with the major airlines are pretty much a thing of the past.

 

It is always a better idea to book your own air for a cruise.

Even if you do manage to get a good deal through the cruise line, you can expect the worst seats and the worst itinerary.

I beg to differ. With some lines you can get the same, or better, price through them. And, when you must fly to the embarkation port the day of the cruise if you book through the cruise line and there is a delay they are responsible for getting you to the next port. In today's world of virtually every flight being full and during times of questionable weather that security is a huge thing.

Case in point, my daughter and her roommate took a "We finished our Masters" celebration cruise last year out of Miami. They had to fly out on Saturday morning to catch a Saturday afternoon departure. Booking on their own they would have had to change planes in Chicago (flying Dallas to Miami). Booking through the cruise line they got a non-stop flight for less money even after the fee added by the cruise line.

I have just booked our fifth consecutive Fall T/A (third from Rome - with two from England in between); each time I did a lot of shopping around to get the one way flights from US to Europe. Generally airlines quote almost twice as much for a one way as for a round trip (if anyone can explain THAT, please speak up), and, while some lines - notably Aer Lingus - seemed to come in well below the others, even they were hundreds more than what was available through the cruise line - and they always required a change in Dublin, or the like.

The bottom line: the best deal is booking flight using the cruise line' connection.

A related question - has anyone simply bought a round trip for such a situation and simply thrown the return half away. Is there any downside? Of course, if you can plan far enough ahead within the eleven or so months involved, you could book a round trip - the first leg to get you to Europe for a Fall westbound, and the second to get you home from Spring eastbound. Although I can imagine you might be flagged upon entry for not having a visa long enough to cover that time span.

Have used RCCL Choice Air many times and their prices are unbeatable unless you have FF miles.

Used Choice Air several times as well, and have been pleased with the prices, which were usually lower than I could get on my own. This is especially true for those cruises that depart from one city and end in another. Those "multiple city" destination flights are usually more expensive than a round trip to and from the same airports. Choice Air is very competitive, with the added advantage that they have your back if something goes wrong.

We always choose our flights from the same ones available on the airlines' websites, and have full control of the seat choices, the same as directly with the airline.

BruceMuzz, usually your comments are spot on and I value them. But in this case, you stumbled. I do hope this is only an isolated incident. ;)

Of course, anyone flying from the UK to almost anywhere gets hit by the large departing flight tax (I believe referred to as ADP or APD) which depends on the distance travelled - which drives clever travelers to cross to France or Ireland to catch their long distance flight. So, in addition to being forced to pay higher cruise fares, their government adds that additional burden, making it almost twice as expensive for a Brit to cruise as for a US resident.

No reason to buy airfare from the cruise lines.

No reason to buy airfare from the cruise lines.

Perhaps you should read all of the postings on this tread before making a comment. Posts numbers 15, 18, 19, and 21 contradict you. As do I in this post, #24. I have had good results with RCCL's/Celebrity's Choice Air programs, and would not hesitate to use them again.

Would you buy a cruise from an airline?

I wouldn't.

 

Why would anyone buy a flight from a cruise line?

We are not a travel agency.

 

The airlines have recently decided that the cruise lines are competing directly against them for the tourist dollar. The very last thing they want to do is let you believe that a total cruise package (air included) is a better deal than a flight and a land-based vacation.

Those old sweetheart contracts we had with the major airlines are pretty much a thing of the past.

 

It is always a better idea to book your own air for a cruise.

Even if you do manage to get a good deal through the cruise line, you can expect the worst seats and the worst itinerary.

Sure, but what if let's say I (stupidly) flew in the day of the cruise. The flight is delayed by hours or cancelled. The cruise line is pretty much powerless. However, if the flight is booked with the cruise line, can't they refund you or something because THEIR air travel made you miss your cruise

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