How Much Does Airfare/Air Travel Affect Your Cruise Plans?

We tend to take longer vacations. We have a mid Feb Australian cruise booked. We will leave our land locked frozen city on Dec. 30, fly to Thailand, and make our way south. We cannot justify flying for 24 hours and only taking a cruise. Besides, there is too much to see.

Same for Europe cruises. Because of the cost and hassle of flying we would typically go for 5-7 weeks-sometimes longer.

We use our remaining award points sparing to get the best bang per point. And we have changed our reward cards to dump programs like Aeroplan that tack on large fees each reward ticket in favour of other programs.

Most of my travel (cruises or land travel) are overseas; luckily I live near a major international air hub, so travel time TO the airport isn't a major thing for me. And the length of flights doesn't bother me much, though I prefer direct flights or at most one connection.

I am still working, so can only take off for about 2 weeks at a time, with relatively generous vacation time. I try to squeeze in 3 trips a year. I've been spoiled over the last few years with relatively modest air prices and downright cheap cruise prices to/in Europe.

Now airfare looks like it is up across the board. Every destinaton I have priced this year has been $200-$400 more expensive than last year. It has made me be a bit more picky about where and for how long to travel. There have been a couple of great deals on cruises in the last 6 months that I've passed up -- including a Baltics cruise on a HAL ship with only a 125% solo supplement, a one week cruise around Japan, and a NA Norwegian Fjords cruise -- because the airfare was completely unreasonable for a relatively short trip. :(

I suppose I will have to adjust my mental calculator to these new prices, but it's not making my current travel budget very happy!

As flying as become more difficult and as we are aging, we now tend to cruise out of US or Canadian ports only. Yes, it limits us, but we were lucky to be able to travel to Europe, South America, and Australia during our "working years".

Now that I'm retired (as of last Friday, woo hoo! :D), maybe we will be able to take advantage of some seat sales that will get us to a port city.

Congratulations!

We live in USA, North Carolina and are fortunate to have several ports within a day or two drive. We do not like to fly, especially now with all the restrictions. Also, even on direct flights, my luggage always seems to prefer to vacation elsewhere for several days.

I book a cruise because I want to take that cruise. Either itinerary, going with friends, adding another continent, country, or ship to the collection, all are considered. But not airfare or travel until later.

It is only sometime after the cruise is booked that I cobble together some way to get there. If it's within the US (or Vancouver), that's easy, as I can fly from my home airport. I'm willing to go a day or two in advance, and change planes on the way.

But going overseas is something else entirely! I will only leave the US on a non-stop to my embarkation city (or the near airport); I won't connect in Europe or Asia. So, that usually means finding a city in the US, or Toronto, that I can get to, either by car the day of flight, or by air the day before, then stay over awaiting the non-stop flight. So far I've managed to find those flights.

At times I wish we lived in Florida! It would be so much easier. We have driven, flown, and trained across the country, but DH doesn't enjoy the long-distance driving so much anymore, so mainly we fly. We're saving the West Coast cruises for when the long flights get more difficult. We've done the 14/16 hour flights to NZ, Australia and HK many times - no more - we'll have to find a way to do it by sea. We also try to include one TA if we're going to Europe. Like Mame, we're looking forward to the 42-day cruise in and out of FLL, but we'll break up our flights by staying a few days in Toronto.

When I was three, my mother and I left Shanghai in September, and arrived in Vancouver in time for Christmas - now that was a looong "cruise" - no flights involved, just ships and trains! We're lucky these days that the flights are at least available!

I don't look at the price of the cruise or the air, if it's something we want to do. Years of inside cabins and saving money has altered my attitude. I don't mean to be morbid, but at 60+, we've got to do what we can, before we can't!

Nothing makes me happier than a direct flight. We are lucky to live in a large metropolitan area where it's usually possible to have a large choice of flights. I don't look for the least expensive, but the most convenient.

We may never get to Australia(don't tell DH) because I don't think I could stand the flights. However, I've seen some Polynesia cruises that sail there. Might be able to handle that.

What makes me VERY happy is looking forward to our first TA , where we have 7 glorious days in an SY on Prinsendam.

I'm curious as to how much "port convenience" plays in your decision making process. Would you cruise more if it was were easier to get to the port?

"port convenience",not transportation cost plays a big part in our decision making process. Not how often we cruise but the itinerarys we chose. We can drive to San Diego in 8 hours and that is always our 1st choice. Other west coast ports would be next, then east coast ports.

With our prescription medications, Bi-pap machine, portable oxygen concentrator, and 2 walkers getting through airports and onto planes is quite an ordeal. If we have to fly we will, but it would have to be a direct flight (we both have a tendence toward blood clots) and we will indulge ourselves by flying 1st class.

Living on the "frozen tundra" we simply factor the cost of airfare into our vacation budget. We try to get the best deal possible, but sometimes we just have to go with it in order to get away from the ice and snow of winter.

 

Now that I'm retired (as of last Friday, woo hoo! :D), maybe we will be able to take advantage of some seat sales that will get us to a port city.

 

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

Gerry

Congrats on retirement. :)It's wonderful. Hope you didn't get too wet earlier this week. They showed Regina on our TV news.

I find an itinerary that is intriguing, to places we have never been, then head to Delta to figure out how to get there (oops, as I am typing we just had an earthquake!:eek:) Like others, I play the frequent flier miles game, which makes a long flight affordable, as DH will only fly first class, something I have come to appreciate!:)

Next cruise is just a 3 hour drive to the port for our next adventure.

Karen

Yes air travel is a pain but if we want to travel or cruise it is a necessary evil.

If I can use my FF miles to make that trip across the ocean, I will happily do I it.

That takes time, patience and persistence but if we are going to travel that distance then it's only longer cruises for us.

It doesn't make sense to spend that flying time and/or dollars on a 7 or 10 day tript.

Which, of course makes the entire trip more expensive but much more worthwhile

Honestly, not at all. If we want to visit a place we know a flight is needed and are OK with it. I fly a Cessna and enjoy flights so it's part of the fun.

We recently cruised to Mexico from San Diego. Since we live in San Diego, port convenience played a big role in that decision in a most positive manner.

 

For cruises to Alaska, flight costs and convenience heavily favor Seattle over Vancouver but we will override that bias if other circumstances prevail.

 

igraf

Since I also live in San Diego anytime we can cruise out of SD we love it. We are a bit tired of going to Mexico though. We are doing Alaska this year and between the cruise, the flight and the hotels :eek: We are on a fixed income and it is a lot for us.

Not at all really. If I want to travel, then I accept that I may have a fairly long flight. At this stage in my life I am not interested in cruising from Southampton or Dover.

We choose our cruise first, looking for new ports and itineraries. Then we worry about the flights. It is a 2 hour drive to our nearest airport, then always a connecting flight to most any US or international destination. So it makes for a long day to start the trip. Thus, we don't do 7 day cruises any more - not worth the effort. We try for a longer cruise and maybe some land tacked on, and try for business/first, to make the long flight days more tolerable.

Thank goodness we do live close to a port we can cruise out of because if we didn't, I don't really know how much cruising we would do, and then you add on the cost of airfare. Can and does make cruising pretty expensive.

I don't like to fly, do it as little as possible. I hate flying across country. So..........we stick pretty much to our local ports of SD and SP. I will fly up to Vancouver or visa versa but that really is all the flying I want to do. In all actuality I don't even like doing that. Its really a good thing that we live close to a port that we can cruise out of, even though we have done all the ports many times. When we did fly more to Florida, we did those cruises so many times, it all became the same after awhile too! So now we cruise mainly because we love the whole cruise experience on board.

BIG consideration!

Used to be, we didn't mind the time, only the cost of air. Athens to the West Coast of Canada - no problem! Three fights from Amsterdam to the West Coast - easy!

Then, the cost and hassle of flying made us want to be mostly one-way fliers (to or from homeport cruises).

Now, we're approaching the point where we just can't stand flying.

My children's grandparents live in China. We last went to see them 2 years ago. The flight home was sooo long. I said at the time that I wouldn't be going back unless it was on a cruise ship. I'm currently booked on RCCL's Quantum Global Odyssey that ends in Shanghai next year. :D

I would prefer to take cruises that start or end near home. However, I don't want to do the Caribbean over and over. I want to see the world. So, any cruise, like the one above, that takes me to see the world and departs close to home, is at the top of my list.

Little effect actually. We've lucky in Columbus with many airlines serving Port Columbus and heavy service by Southwest Airlines. They can get us to Florida easily, to any port, and for overseas, we easily fly to NY, Chicago, Atlanta or Detroit for connections. Must admit, however, the flight from Cols to Singapore, via NY, was a little taxing but, Singapore Airlines was wonderful, even in coach!

As far as cost for airfare when considering a cruise (25+ days or greater these days) we:

1. Certainly prefer a RT from a local east or west coast port. Obviously this can not be done for many foreign itineraries.

2. Depending on the itinerary, I try to make the long flights (12 hour plus; can actually turn out to be two days or so with time changes and dateline crossings, etc.) at the start of the cruise and only have a shorter 2-4 hour flight at the end to avoid the inevitable jet-lags & hatred of travel that develops with long flights & airport connections.

3. With that said, we enjoy going to the embarkation port (I'm talking foreign ports here) several days before embarkation to explore and enjoy the local cultures & sites prior to boarding.

4.We consider the flight fares as a necessity to our goal of exploring something we'd like to see and have planned for quite some time and budget accordingly.

Life's too short. In so far as travel on a cruise ship, everyone does their thing and that is, indeed, a blessing.

Bon Voyage & Good Health!

Bob:)

The time it takes (10+ hours to Florida) plus layovers and the cost of 5 tickets is the #1 reason we don't take cruises shorter than 12 days (14 preferably). Other than the length of the cruise, we just know to budget flights into our plans- $500 pp for West Coast, $900 pp for East Coast, etc.

I'm curious as to how much "port convenience" plays in your decision making process. Would you cruise more if it was were easier to get to the port?

Distance to port is definitely a consideration.

We always have a connecting flight since no direct flights to port. So we no longer cruise for less than 14 days at a time to make the flight hassle worthwhile. And now that my husband's mobility problems mean he needs a wheelchair and escort in airports it is even more of a hassle, especially when airlines try to give short connecting times.

If we lived closer to port we'd cruise more often since we'd also look at shorter cruises.

I must say that I admire anyone who can say "only a ten hour flight." Sterner stuff!

Personally, I've not yet been to Sydney (from London) for the weekend, but I got very close to it a couple of years back.

It's definitely a consideration for us. The flight to/from Asia for our cruise in 2012 was by far the least enjoyable part of that trip (everything else was great!). I actually got very sick after I got home as well, and since I was in Asia for almost 3 weeks with no issues, my gut says it was the flight. So it was long, expensive and made me sick. :(

We are about 3 hours flight from Florida and generally speaking there are multiple options in the $400-500 range return. This makes even 7 day Caribbean cruises a reasonable cost, and is why we have done a number of these.

Would love to do longer itineraries (just did the Med this year), but the flight time and cost are barriers.