Booking flights

Taking our first cruise next May. I've put a deposit with a big discount store travel agent, but not sure if I should book flights through that agent or directly with cruise line. Same question about airport transfers. Advice?

With out knowing more details about your flights...where from and to, and the port involved, it is very hard to give any advice. I will say that in probably 95% of the time you can transfers cheaper and easier on your own, as opposed to cruise line transfers. Same for hotels.

Airfares can be tricky. Do some test bookings on your own before you talk to the TA. Then you will have some basis for decision making. Cruise line airfares can look real good on the surface, but the fine print can be surprising.

My only experience with booking air through the cruise line was not positive. The fare was okay, but the connecting flights were not good - they had us laying over eight hours in Heathrow after an overnight flight from North America, then more flying to Frankfurt, then to Venice. We looked for ourselves and saw that we could fly directly to Frankfurt, then three hours later to Venice. Much better! However we had to pay the cruise line $150 each for a "deviation fee" for changing the arrangements.

Good time to learn about booking air. I do not think agents get paid a commission so they would book whatever is quick and easy for them. A good Cruise Air section here on CC. Also Flyer Talk website on line. Cruise lines offer air also, one ways often good buys.You want a big airline/ consortiom that has mutliple flights to your cruise port in case your flight gets cancelled too.

Taking our first cruise next May. I've put a deposit with a big discount store travel agent, but not sure if I should book flights through that agent or directly with cruise line. Same question about airport transfers. Advice?

If you want control on when you depart your home town and when you arrive at the port city, and the return flight as well, look into booking the flights on your own directly with the airline(s). While some people like the convenience of booking their cruise and flights together, it's not always the best idea. Cruise lines and travel agents don't always look for the lowest airfare, or try to get you the best flight times to and from your destination. Also, sometimes booking two one-way flights is cheaper than round trip. I would suggest doing your own research before going through a travel agent or the cruise line.

Never let the cruise line book your flights. You may end up all over the place with long layovers. Book your own and you have control over all of it.

You didn't say where you are going but it's always a good idea to arrive a day early before your cruise, overnight in a hotel and the next day start refreshed.

My apologies for leaving out details. We'll be traveling from US/Washington, DC to Rome. Celebrity Reflection ship departs from Rome around 5 pm on May 29. I assume I should get to Rome on May 28 and get a hotel room rather than risk arriving in Rome morning of cruise. So basically everyone seems to think I should make travel arrangements on my own. Anyone think I should go with Choice Air?

My apologies for leaving out details. We'll be traveling from US/Washington, DC to Rome. Celebrity Reflection ship departs from Rome around 5 pm on May 29. I assume I should get to Rome on May 28 and get a hotel room rather than risk arriving in Rome morning of cruise. So basically everyone seems to think I should make travel arrangements on my own. Anyone think I should go with Choice Air?

Rome is such a magnificent city you need at least two days to enjoy. Wise idea to arrive at least one day in advance...for Rome perhaps a couple of days.

Yes, I think you should book your own flights, hotel and transfers. A trip over to the Italy board will get you all sorts of info on all of these topics.

My apologies for leaving out details. We'll be traveling from US/Washington, DC to Rome. Celebrity Reflection ship departs from Rome around 5 pm on May 29. I assume I should get to Rome on May 28 and get a hotel room rather than risk arriving in Rome morning of cruise. So basically everyone seems to think I should make travel arrangements on my own. Anyone think I should go with Choice Air?

Choice air offers you no real advantage and there is an extra charge. Last year I took a cruise from Venice. I looked up flights and booked my own based on length of the flight, layover time and cost. I flew from Philadelphia to Venice non-stop. When we arrived at the airport in Venice it was easy to get a cab to the hotel which we also booked on our own. I like to have control of things. Anyway that worked out just fine.

Look on the Italy board for hotel suggestions. I would arrive in Rome at least a day early and preferably 2 as there is lots to see there.

My apologies for leaving out details. We'll be traveling from US/Washington, DC to Rome. Celebrity Reflection ship departs from Rome around 5 pm on May 29. I assume I should get to Rome on May 28 and get a hotel room rather than risk arriving in Rome morning of cruise. So basically everyone seems to think I should make travel arrangements on my own. Anyone think I should go with Choice Air?

First, realize that Rome is 6 hours ahead of DC. Add your 8 to 9 hour flight(s) duration (plus any jet lag) and you've basically shot one day in transit and recovery. On top of that, spending less that three days (two nights) on your first trip to Rome is a mortal sin (even if you're not Catholic!). So much to see and eat! And, at a plane ticket easily exceeding $1,000 RT during the high season, you'll want to get as much out of this trip as possible. In addition, the port is not near the city (as much as an hour taxi ride in Italian traffic). So, one night in Rome is a waste and arriving the morning of your cruise is foolish for all of the obvious reasons.

That said, hotels in Rome in late spring are not cheap. A good 4 star hotel in a prime location (like North Rome), will cost you at least 200 euros/night.

I know this sounds like you'll blow your budget. But, you will regret not seeing Rome now if, when you decide to go back in the future, you are looking at a surely more expensive plane ticket.

If you or your travel partner have any frequent flyer miles, any international flight over 8 hours is when to cash them in, at least for a premium coach seat's greater legroom, or at best for a business seat upgrade. With different fare bases affecting different frequent flyer point expenditures, you may want to do your own research and book direct through your preferred airlines. For Europe and Far East travel, I recommend Star Alliance partner airlines (United, Lufthansa, et al.)

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Never let the cruise line book your flights. You may end up all over the place with long layovers. Book your own and you have control over all of it.

You didn't say where you are going but it's always a good idea to arrive a day early before your cruise, overnight in a hotel and the next day start refreshed.

So true. The one time we had our TA book our flight through the cruise line, we regretted it as we were given red eye flights that would mean arriving in Miami (from LA) early the morning of the cruise. I called the TA as soon as I saw the plane tickets and said no way! We got changed to flights arriving the evening before and were well rested the next morning as opposed to those we ran into who were bleary-eyed from their flights.

My apologies for leaving out details. We'll be traveling from US/Washington, DC to Rome. Celebrity Reflection ship departs from Rome around 5 pm on May 29. I assume I should get to Rome on May 28 and get a hotel room rather than risk arriving in Rome morning of cruise. So basically everyone seems to think I should make travel arrangements on my own. Anyone think I should go with Choice Air?

I would agree with those who say two days ahead. You'll have a time difference to adjust for, and this way you can do some exploring before your cruise. And, you won't risk being stressed out if there's some flight delays (hopefully not a major delay).

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

We prefer to book our own air and hotels.

As a rule the cruise lines tend to select the worst flights possible as they are the cheapest.

You really should go over a couple of days early -- not just because you will have to overcome jet lag -- but there is so much to see in Rome.

Taking our first cruise next May. I've put a deposit with a big discount store travel agent, but not sure if I should book flights through that agent or directly with cruise line. Same question about airport transfers. Advice?

We took the same cruise from Rome last month on the Reflection (LOVED IT, by the way) - flew from Washington Dulles to Rome non-stop on United a day ahead. We booked it ourselves because the Choice Air prices were not better and most involved a connection. I would suggest 2 days because of all of the things to see and do. We were very tired when we arrived, but hit the ground running! We did hit the hay early, though! We stayed an extra day after the cruise so we wouldn't have to rush off to the airport. We had time to tour the Vatican. What a great trip it was!

Allyson

My apologies for leaving out details. We'll be traveling from US/Washington, DC to Rome. Celebrity Reflection ship departs from Rome around 5 pm on May 29. I assume I should get to Rome on May 28 and get a hotel room rather than risk arriving in Rome morning of cruise. So basically everyone seems to think I should make travel arrangements on my own. Anyone think I should go with Choice Air?

No one thinks you should go with Choice Air where the cruise line picks your flights. Especially internationally you will end up with too many transfers & hideously inconvenient times. Book it yourself.

Definitely arrange to be in your port city the day before so you have LOTS of wiggle room should things go wrong.

Enjoy.

I let the cruise line book a flight for me once, and then never again. This was for a cruise in the Caribbean, so the flight should have been easy, but the cruise line had me bouncing all over the place. I went from Milwaukee to St Louis to Memphis, to Montgomery, to Tampa and finally to Ft Lauderdale. Totally insane and no reason other than it was cheap for the cruise line.

We flew to Rome in June and made the arrangements ourselves for both the air and transfers. We got to Rome around 11 am (their time). We arranged for Bob's Limo to pick us up and take us to the hotel. There are cheaper ways, but after an overnight flight, plus the time you spend getting up, getting to the airport, waiting and everything else, you are pretty tired when you arrive. We left our bags at the hotel, went and had lunch and returned to the hotel for a nap. Others advise not to do that but we find that just taking about an hour or hour and half nap is just so refreshing that it helps. We went out, had dinner, strolled around the Trevi fountain (which right now has scaffolding and no water because it's being renovated) and went to bed early. We next day was an extra day to be able to see Rome. The following morning we had Bob's Limo pick us up and take us to Civetavecchia to board the ship. At the end of the cruise, we had the limo service pick us up, take us back to the hotel where we left our bags for another day in Rome. The following day, the limo service picked us up to take us to the airport. By using the limo service for 4 transfers, we got a discount and it made our trip so carefree that it was worth every cent to have someone waiting to handle the luggage and allow us to sit back and watch the scenery go by. I think at one point, we added it up and decided that the ship transfers would have been more expensive than the limo service. There were 5 of us, but you can always go to the Roll Call for your cruise and find others to split the costs with to balance it out. They are very reliable. This is the second time we've used them for Rome.