Shared transfers

We've just been caught out by a "shared transfer"

It wasn't something we asked for, it was just part of the deal and no mention was made of the transfer when cruise was booked. However, after a two hour flight to Rome, we were made to wait for 2.5 hours at the airport for another flight to land before transport finally arrived to take us and passengers from the other flight to our hotels! It was 4 hours after landing that we were eventually dropped at our hotel due to the fact that the transport dropped off 8 other couples at various different hotels all over Rome. Is this what you would expect? I thought the "share" meant just people on our flight...

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No, shared just means shared with other people. If you booked through the cruise line, this is usually more expensive and inconvenient than just booking a private transfer for yourself.

Not much of a "deal".

Even if it was included in your package waiting for 2.5 hours for the next flight is not normal. Especially just into the city. I could see waiting an hour for other flights for a longer transfer to the port for example. Stopping at other hotels is par for the course though.

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Oh well, I'll let it go and move on. Live and learn...

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This is common. Unless you are a solo traveller, this rarely pays it's nearly always cheaper or at least the same price as a taxi.

There are a lot of fare calculators out there which allows you to compare prices. , take in account that taxi takes you directly to your destination with no detours. It can be the best option for families.

If the airport has good transport links I will often take public transport, which can be the cheapest option , but I am a light packer & confident traveller.

If going by taxi I ensure to bring printed copy of address of hotel for the driver.

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This is common. Unless you are a solo traveller, this rarely pays it's nearly always cheaper or at least the same price as a taxi.

There are a lot of fare calculators out there which allows you to compare prices. , take in account that taxi takes you directly to your destination with no detours. It can be the best option for families.

If the airport has good transport links I will often take public transport, which can be the cheapest option , but I am a light packer & confident traveller.

If going by taxi I ensure to bring printed copy of address of hotel for the driver.

 

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Agree...doing transfers on your own is almost always cheaper and more convenient. I will say that in many cases, with people sprinkled over many flights, the cruise line might send you (and possibly one or two others on your flight)on your way to the ship (or hotel) in a smaller vehicle, even a cab.

But waiting for others from other flights is not uncommon. 2.5 hours is a bit long, but the port/airport matters too. The port is more than an hour away at Rome...so sending 2 or 4 people off in one vehicle is not the most cost efficient way for the cruise line to do it. If the port were closer, perhaps.

Where large numbers of passengers are involved, for instance London's Heathrow airport or Gatwick airport to Southampton, cruise lines like Cunard, RCI & Princess, charter half a dozen buses or more. A couple of buses trawl the airport terminals from about 9am then when one is full it heads to Southampton & another is called forward. So there's a continuous service til gone noon, and the wait for passengers is rarely longer than 30 minutes.

Not the best value-for-money, but very quick & efficient.

But putting folk from a morning's worth of flights onto one bus is bound to mean those who arrive early have an unacceptably long wait.

It's why I'd be happy to share a taxi or van with other cruisers via the RollCall for the end-of-cruise drive to the airport, but not from airport to ship unless they were on the same flight as me. Even if two aircraft are scheduled to land within a few minutes of each-other, we all know that flight delays of 2 hours or more aren't uncommon.

JB :)

We've just been caught out by a "shared transfer"

It wasn't something we asked for, it was just part of the deal and no mention was made of the transfer when cruise was booked. However, after a two hour flight to Rome, we were made to wait for 2.5 hours at the airport for another flight to land before transport finally arrived to take us and passengers from the other flight to our hotels! It was 4 hours after landing that we were eventually dropped at our hotel due to the fact that the transport dropped off 8 other couples at various different hotels all over Rome. Is this what you would expect? I thought the "share" meant just people on our flight...

 

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Next time, call your hotel concierge at least a week before you arrive to arrange for a car to pick you up.