Airline add-ons

We are taking a Panama Cruise in October and decided to purchase the airline add-on. It was $1900.00 for two of us and that is roundtrip economy. Given that this is our big vacation for the year, we decided that we wanted to fly business class. DCL advised me of what I needed to do which was to contact the office handling the airline arrangements, provide them with our request, and they would provide us with a quote as to the revised costs. We could accept or refuse the new arrangement without penalty so we went ahead with this.

My expectation was that the new price (the difference between the $1900.00 and the cost of business class seats) would be around $500.00 as I had done my own search and found two round trip tickets in business class for $2400.00. I provided DCL with the information. The quote came in at approximately $4000.00 which means in total the airline portion would have been about $5900.00! We declined and booked the tickets ourselves.

I can see how the airline add-on could be helpful to ensure that you arrive and depart in a timely way and everything is looked after from the airport to the ship, etc. However now I am not sure whether it is a good value despite the convenience.

I don't blame DCL at all and the agent explained that Disney has contracted airlines to provide these airline add-ons. It appears that the airlines don't give DCL any deals. Also, we are travelling from Canada to San Diego and then from Houston home. I am not sure if that is a factor.

Given this experience we will likely book our own flights from the start. Does anyone have another perspective on these airline add-ons?

I avoid them on all cruise lines. The advantage is that the line can sometimes get some discounts, but as you can see they only have access to certain fare classes, and once you are booked, you are stuck.

Generally speaking you can do better yourself and/or with a good TA...

We are taking a Panama Cruise in October and decided to purchase the airline add-on. It was $1900.00 for two of us and that is roundtrip economy. Given that this is our big vacation for the year, we decided that we wanted to fly business class. DCL advised me of what I needed to do which was to contact the office handling the airline arrangements, provide them with our request, and they would provide us with a quote as to the revised costs. We could accept or refuse the new arrangement without penalty so we went ahead with this.

 

My expectation was that the new price (the difference between the $1900.00 and the cost of business class seats) would be around $500.00 as I had done my own search and found two round trip tickets in business class for $2400.00. I provided DCL with the information. The quote came in at approximately $4000.00 which means in total the airline portion would have been about $5900.00! We declined and booked the tickets ourselves.

 

I can see how the airline add-on could be helpful to ensure that you arrive and depart in a timely way and everything is looked after from the airport to the ship, etc. However now I am not sure whether it is a good value despite the convenience.

 

I don't blame DCL at all and the agent explained that Disney has contracted airlines to provide these airline add-ons. It appears that the airlines don't give DCL any deals. Also, we are travelling from Canada to San Diego and then from Houston home. I am not sure if that is a factor.

 

Given this experience we will likely book our own flights from the start. Does anyone have another perspective on these airline add-ons?

Avoid buying air thru DCL if at all possible. I did it a couple times when I was younger and stupider. My experience:

Air thru DCL is always more costly than what I could find on my own--sometimes double or more the price or purchasing on my own. Unless you are willing to pay an "air deviation" charge, you have no choice in what airline is used, cannot request direct flights only, etc. You are not even promised that your family will be able to sit together on the plane....although when they sit your child 3 rows away from any parent, the flight attendant will find someone who wants to trade. Also, you will not get your flight info until about 30 days before embarkation. You can only elect to come in a day early if (1) DCL deems it necessary, in which case there is one of their selected hotels included or (2) you stay in a hotel that they book for you at their specified rate or (3) you pay an air deviation fee.

I think what happens is that they contract with the airlines way in advance for X number of seats at a specified discount over market value with the stipulation that the airline can put the guests on any flight that gets them into the correct airport by a specified time. The airline then uses these people to fill any empty seats on flight knowing that the passengers can't yell about it.

What they would typically do with us was to route us thru Atlanta with a flight change there despite the fact that I could depart 2 hours later on a direct flight/same airline and arrive at essentially the same time. OR I could take a direct flight on Southwest (which DCL doesn't use) and get free bags. I wouldn't even howl too loudly about the baggage charge, but the fact that they wouldn't put us on the direct flight that had seats available unless I paid the "air deviation" charge was not nice!

I book my own flights now because I can book a direct flight on the airline of MY choice, coming in the night before and staying at the hotel of MY choice. I've even been able to get the Hyatt MCO at rates lower than the DCL rate! Most of the time, I can purchase direct flights myself and add the transfers for a lot less than the cost DCL was charging. And yes, I've done it on transatlantic cruises, etc. There, you can get HUGE savings by avoiding the "Official" hotels.

As to the upcharge to business class....the airline doesn't give DCL a break on those prices, so you are suddenly in the world of "whatever the traffic will bear." We hit the same thing with the upgrade to economy plus. You can book your own flights and add DCL transfers if desired.

Bottom line--I'd need a REALLY good reason to book air thru DCL.

AND, the myth that if you book air thru DCL and the plane is delayed they will hold the ship is just that--a myth. They will hold the ship BRIEFLY if your plane has already landed and rush you to the cruise terminal (and chances are that there are other guests involved as well), but they will not hold it till you are able to board regardless of the situation. They set up air times so you should arrive at the airport no later than noon or 1 pm and sail away is 5 (all aboard time is 4). Example--if you are at MCO at 4, they will get you to the terminal in time to depart. But if you are sitting in Atlanta at 4, the ship is leaving without you! And the guy in the next seat who booked his own flight just needs to be at the cruise terminal before you are in order to be on board. We have seen this situation (fortunately, we weren't those guests).

SO, unless you can't get a decent fare on your own, I see NO reason to book air thru DCL.

I have had mixed experiences with DCL booking air: generally, they have been higher, but my suggestion is to have the DCL air deviation team provide quoted and compare that to what you can purchase on your own. For example, we are on Southwest on the Panama Canal return in November, which will also require that we arrange our own ground transportation to Houston Hobby airport. It was substantially cheaper than what DCL offered flying out of Bush International in Houston. But, for a cruise out of San Juan, and then repositioning to Miami, DCL's fares were quite competitive, and we were offered non-stop fares back west on the airline we prefer, whereas on my own I couldn't get the same price without taking a connection. DCL did book seats at the back of the plane as part of their fare deal, but we had frequent flyer status and moved the seats, at no cost, closer to the front with extended leg room after DCL ticketed the reservation. So, bottom line, do some homework and comparison shopping. DCL air deviations are sometimes a good option and their team is helpful. We think we could have saved some money had we used them for European travel as well. And to the folks from Calgary, it's hard to beat Westjet, which we now use to get back and forth to Vancouver for Alaskan cruises.

WE generally book thru the cruise line, until I get prices/times/seats I like..then I cancel with the cruise line, and book my own.

Only once have I kept the cruise line's air arrangements.