Air & Hotel thru Cruiseline?

Doing a translantic October 2018; Copenhagen/New York. Plan on spending 5 days prior to the cruise in Copenhagen; do I book on my own or use the cruiseline travel agency? Is there a savings or just a comfort level? Thanks! Eileen

The big positive with booking flights thro' the cruise line (but not simply booking cruise & air thro' the same TA) is that the cruise line bears responsibility if your flight arrives late and you miss the sailing.

In your case, as long as the flight isn't more than 5 days late you won't miss the sailing ;).

The only other advantage I can think of, and it's quite a rare one, is that if the cruise is cancelled (usually due to mechanical issues) everything is refunded to you - including air & hotel. If you bought your air separately that's your problem, ditto a hotel though most hotels are cancellable with a few days notice. But to repeat, cancelled cruises are rare. And there are worse ways to spend a couple of weeks than a land -based vacation or tour in Europe.

Anyone else know of other advantages?

The big negative is that cruise lines use their own pet airline (sorry, their "preferred air partner").

Although other airlines might offer direct flights to Copenhagen, if their preferred air partner doesn't that's just tough luck - they'll book you via a change of flight at Paris or Amsterdam or Frankfurt or Timbuktu. I've seen that happen to folk on our cruises.

Pricewise, check what the cruise line want to add and how much flights will cost if you book them independently of the cruise line. Probably cheaper DIY, but mebbe not.

Cruise lines also have their preferred hotels.

They don't use poor hotels, they're usually very good international chain hotels.

But they don't seem to care quite where those hotels are, and often they're not where you'd choose. For instance, in the suburbs and not walkable to obvious sights.

Again, do your own cost comparisons.

You'll probably find it difficult to get info from the cruise line about flight timing / routing or hotel location until quite close to the date, but you or your TA can only try.

Leaving it to the cruise line is great if you're lazy, it's one-stop shopping.

But I'd rather make my own choices, and I'd probably find it cheaper.

Plus too many links in the chain increase the chances of missed communication and confusion.

Just MHO as always

JB :)

I agree with JB. When we did a Med cruise, we used the cruise line for the air as well because research showed very little saving and the cruise line organised the transfer from Rome to Civitavecchia. Their timings suited us as well.

Flying in five days ahead, I would expect that you could get a better deal, both on the flight and the hotel, especially if you have points you can use.

I prefer using cruise air. Compare cruise air to buying thru a TA. See which is better schedule and price.

Hotel would use when I have never been to the country and city. Cruise hotels are usually double the price of just getting yourself.

We are doing a trans Atlantic, Barcelona to Florida, in October. We needed one way air to Barcelona. This is the very FIRST time we have ever bought cruise air because their price for one way was MANY dollars less than booking our own through the airline. We are on RCCL and had our choice of days, airlines, flight times, etc. As soon as I booked it and received my confirmation, I went on the airline site and selected my seats. We booked our own hotel.

One way airfare will most likely be cheaper. However, hotel and transfers most likely can be done cheaper on your own.

When I was looking at Copenhagen flights and hotel stays last year, the flights I could find through the cruise line were cheaper than I could find elsewhere (and they were also flexible, allowing for changes if I changed my mind). I think, however, that it might be somewhat airline/airport dependent: the cruise line's preferred carriers may not include the cheapest carrier from your home airport. It may be worth doing a price comparison.

Hotels I could definitely find more cheaply than the cruise line's recommendation (and just as central). We also got a Copenhagen Card, which included the train transfer from the airport to the hotel.

Doing a translantic October 2018; Copenhagen/New York. Plan on spending 5 days prior to the cruise in Copenhagen; do I book on my own or use the cruiseline travel agency? Is there a savings or just a comfort level? Thanks! Eileen

Hi Eileen! When I did my Mediterranean cruise, my TA booked our airfare through the cruise lines Choice Air, thus eliminating our travel worries. I booked our hotels in Rome and Civitavechia on my own, saving, I believe a good amount of money.

I just booked our first Transatlantic for next year, and my TA said that although we are flying only one way, airfare can sometimes cost more than round-trip. She has advised us, and I am going with her advice (since we have been using her for years) to go with cruise line choice air since the prices should be better for us.

We will be staying in London for a few days pre-cruise, and I've begun looking into hotels that we will book on our own. Happy travels!