Experiences of RCI included flights?!

[louhun88]

Ive booked a Greek Isles & Turkey cruise next May and took Royal Caribbean's included flights from Newcastle but have since found out that these will be indirect!

Has anyone done indirect flights through RCI before - did things run smoothly or should I consider cancelling these flights??

[MM27]

They aim for the cheapest flights. I was sent from Vancouver to Dallas in order to get home to NJ on one trip. On another, our cruise was leaving from Miami and at the last minute they changed our flight so that we had a connection in Atlanta and we ended up in Ft. Lauderdale. They switched airlines going down, but we were supposed to be on the original one coming back. Well, they never contacted the return airline and when we tried to get on our flights to come home, we were listed as no-shows for the flight down. Called RCI and they said it wasn't their problem even though the air was done with them. Thank goodness we found a really nice lady at the Continental counter in the Miami airport that felt sorry for us and was able to get us on a later flight.

[peteukmcr]

Originally Posted by louhun88

Ive booked a Greek Isles & Turkey cruise next May and took Royal Caribbean's included flights from Newcastle but have since found out that these will be indirect!

Has anyone done indirect flights through RCI before - did things run smoothly or should I consider cancelling these flights??

Not done indirect but that's not to say that isn't what RCI wanted us to use to get from Manchester to Barcelona last year. I asked about using the direct option and it was possible, but I had to pay up front for these as they were classed as a 'budget no frills' airline (I'm sure the particular airline wouldn't like that tag as they see themselves as the only 'scheduled' service to Barcelona). The price was no different so I didn't mind paying upfront to get the direct option. So if there are direct options from Newcastle, which I presume there is, then I'd call RCI and ask as the tickets will not have been issued until you have made final payment (if you have made final payment, then they may have been issued but I doubt it this far in advance).

[ticktoneer]

RCI are awful for doing the indirect flight thing !!! I always just shop around for flights and have nearly always got them for 50-70% of RCI's price.

[purescottish]

Just returned from Liberty med cruise 2 weeks ago..........sigh !
anyway we had to drive past Edinburgh airport (we live on the doorstep of it !) and had an hours drive to Glasgow airport at 4 am for a flight to Barcelona on jet2... it was kinda direct if you miss out the drive lol.
would have prefered it from my home airport though

wendy
x

[xcell]

I would just book your own flight, go one day in advance and you should be fine. The only positive of booking thru RCCL is if you miss the boat, they will get you there at their cost not yours. But like I said, get there a day earlier...the cheapies travel insurance you can get. Hell, go two days in advance and make it a holiday!!!

[kyriecat]

I've had horrible experience with RC air! I used them once for Houston to San Juan. There are direct flights but that's not what RC did! They booked us Houston to Atlanta to Miami to San Juan. It took us 13 hours for a trip that could take 4. They didn't even have my husband and I sitting together for the trip. We had a 6 AM flight then had a 4-hr layover in Atlanta followed by a 45-minute layover in Miami. Despite what the airlines say, 45 minutes is not enough time in Miami - we were RUNNING to switch terminals because they booked us on different airlines. Continental to Atlanta then Delta to Miami then American to San Juan. I'm amazed our luggage arrived with us.

I used RC once again when I reached Platinum and was allowed to pick my flights without a deviation fee. I picked the flights that I wanted and paid extra for them. When we got our flight confirmation months later with our cruise documents, the flights listed were not the ones that I had picked. Instead of one layover, we had two. RC claimed the airline has switched the flights but when I checked, my original flights were still available. I was eventually able to get my original flights but had to pay the deviation fee.

Since then, I book my own flights. Even the promise to get us to the ship if we have a delay is not worth the aggravation of dealing with RC!

[sanwin]

I was on the phone this morning regarding RCI flights for our cruise next October out of Barcelona !
We have booked as a Fly/Cruise package....but we are booked with flights in and out of Dublin ( we live in Belfast 3 and 1/2 hour journey from our home to Dublin )
We sail on a Tuesday and there are no Belfast flights to Barcelona on a tuesday but there are Belfast flights on the day we return, Sunday,
I asked if they can fly us out thru Dublin and fly us back to Belfast.......answer was in theory yes and we pay £20 each redirection fee.......in practice NO...because we are more than 10 months out and they don't know what their contracts will be ,with each airline !!!???
So how come , I asked, I can book and Air package out of Dublin for our cruise, and also people can book out of Belfast for the next 2 cruises on Serenade after ours, but they can't split my bookings NOW....TODAY ??????

The answer RCI Flights gave me was......the price I am locked into paying in my booking is what they have next March to spend on fights to get me to Barcelona in time to make the ship , and to get me home again.
So therefore if the Airline changes its schedules for next year then RCI have to get me to Barcelona whatever way they can within the budget they have .......which is when indirect flights come into it !!

As the flight prices of fly/cruises is always the section that rises the most closer to sailing time , this would mean for us to change the return flight it could work out a minimum of around £500 for the 5 of us to fly home to an airport 30 mins away , instead of one nearly 4 hours travel time away !

As usual RCI never lose money only make it !!!!

[ticktoneer]

What a naff situation Sanwin ! Sorry about the hassle you're having !!

[sanwin]

Originally Posted by ticktoneer

What a naff situation Sanwin ! Sorry about the hassle you're having !!

Thank you x
We did all this last year for Liberty out of Barcelona !!.....we had to leave home at 10.30pm on the Friday night to get the 11pm coach from Belast to Dublin Airport.....we got into Dublin at 1am Saturday morning......nothing open in the Airport until 3.30am...then checked in... thru to departure lounge where we were finally ( after nearly 5hrs !! ) able to get something to eat and drink !!!....we flew out at 6.50am to Barcelona !!

On the way home ...we were off the ship at 8am....checked into Barcelona Airport and on our way 2hrs later.
Got back to Dublin about 1pm......no coach until 2pm......back in Belfast coach station 5pm ....home about 5.45pm.

Is it too much to ask to fly into our own home airport (UK) Belfast and be home in less than an hour !!!


I know we have very good airfare this time ....£261....and lots of people will be saying STOP MOANING !!....but a wee rant does you good !!!...lol



Sandra x

[ticktoneer]

Originally Posted by sanwin

Thank you x
We did all this last year for Liberty out of Barcelona !!.....we had to leave home at 10.30pm on the Friday night to get the 11pm coach from Belast to Dublin Airport.....we got into Dublin at 1am Saturday morning......nothing open in the Airport until 3.30am...then checked in... thru to departure lounge where we were finally ( after nearly 5hrs !! ) able to get something to eat and drink !!!....we flew out at 6.50am to Barcelona !!

On the way home ...we were off the ship at 8am....checked into Barcelona Airport and on our way 2hrs later.
Got back to Dublin about 1pm......no coach until 2pm......back in Belfast coach station 5pm ....home about 5.45pm.

Is it too much to ask to fly into our own home airport (UK) Belfast and be home in less than an hour !!!


I know we have very good airfare this time ....£261....and lots of people will be saying STOP MOANING !!....but a wee rant does you good !!!...lol



Sandra x

I agree !! Rant all you like (but book your own flights next time - lol).

Also book your cruise with A USA travel agent for much better flexibility and cheapness

[louhun88]

Originally Posted by peteukmcr

Not done indirect but that's not to say that isn't what RCI wanted us to use to get from Manchester to Barcelona last year. I asked about using the direct option and it was possible, but I had to pay up front for these as they were classed as a 'budget no frills' airline (I'm sure the particular airline wouldn't like that tag as they see themselves as the only 'scheduled' service to Barcelona). The price was no different so I didn't mind paying upfront to get the direct option. So if there are direct options from Newcastle, which I presume there is, then I'd call RCI and ask as the tickets will not have been issued until you have made final payment (if you have made final payment, then they may have been issued but I doubt it this far in advance).

The only direct flights from Newcastle are on thursdays or sundays which
is no use unfortunately, cant take more than a week off work!

[nbsjcruiser]

Originally Posted by louhun88

Ive booked a Greek Isles & Turkey cruise next May and took Royal Caribbean's included flights from Newcastle but have since found out that these will be indirect!

Has anyone done indirect flights through RCI before - did things run smoothly or should I consider cancelling these flights??

We once booked flights with Carnival. As the time progressed I talked to our TA and was shocked to learn that we would probably be flown to Miami on the same day as the cruise - from eastern Canada - in FEBRUARY! I thought she was kidding me. We immediately cancelled the flight and found our own. We've since learned that booking flights on our own is cheaper and allows us to book flights at a time WE CHOOSE that best suits us, not RCI.

IMHO, you ought to book your own flights. Fly in a day or two early and enjoy a peaceful start to your trip instead of hopping and skipping all over the globe probably the same day you cruise as you cheew your fingernails hoping you arrive on time.

[smoosh21]

I used them, and had no problem. I got a direct flight, but I also live in Atlanta.

Speaking to our Travel agent I was assured that Royal will always try and book direct/non-stop flights first. They don't want to worry about having to take care of any problems you have if the connection goes bad.

[JRS2010]

I had used them as well for my trip to Barcelona a few years ago and it was fine up until the return trip. When our flight was cancelled, they literally just dropped us off at the airport and said good luck. Definitely keep all of your travel documents and phone numbers handy just in case. Although this experience was very annoying, I did have a peace of mind that I wasn't going to be charged anything extra by having the insurance. Going through Royal has some pros and cons...just your prefence of carriers and timing I suppose. Good luck!

[sanwin]

Oh I just have to laugh...!!!......after all my ranting it has been announced on the TV news tonight , that AERLINGUS, the airline I have been talking about......is changing it's base to Belfast City airport and are dropping the Barcelona route.....only doing Faro and Malaga !!!

So it looks like I am stuck going in and out of Dublin now anyhow !!!.......would you believe it !!!

I wonder what RCI are going to now about the fly/cruises they have sold as flying out of Belfast International to Barcelona next year on Serenade and Liberty ???

Sandra x

[smoosh21]

Originally Posted by sanwin

Oh I just have to laugh...!!!......after all my ranting it has been announced on the TV news tonight , that AERLINGUS, the airline I have been talking about......is changing it's base to Belfast City airport and are dropping the Barcelona route.....only doing Faro and Malaga !!!

So it looks like I am stuck going in and out of Dublin now anyhow !!!.......would you believe it !!!

I wonder what RCI are going to now about the fly/cruises they have sold as flying out of Belfast International to Barcelona next year on Serenade and Liberty ???

Sandra x

That seems interesting, an Irish airline basing itself in the UK.

[toxicfairy]

When you say your flights where through royal caribbean are you talking about choice air?? I am trying that this time or at least I was going to but now I may want to call them and change that. We are not cruiseing until August 2013 so I have time . I thought Choice air would be good as they get you to the ship even if you are late but it may be cheaper (emotionally at least) to go a day ahead of time ,which is what we usually do.

[sanwin]

Originally Posted by smoosh21

That seems interesting, an Irish airline basing itself in the UK.

It's their Northern Ireland base they are changing.....from the International Airport to the City Airport......in Belfast we have 2 airports....1 in the city center and one 30mins away from Belfast near Antrim.

Their main hub is still in Dublin in the Republic of Ireland......nearly 4 hours travel time from my home !

Oh by the way thank you for understanding that Belfast is in the UK and not in another country...ie Ireland.....lol.......wish RCI could understand this fact !!.....just because the 2 are joined geographically ( like Canada and USA ! ) doesn't mean they are the same country....!!

Sandra xx

[clarea]

Originally Posted by toxicfairy

When you say your flights where through royal caribbean are you talking about choice air?? I am trying that this time or at least I was going to but now I may want to call them and change that. We are not cruiseing until August 2013 so I have time . I thought Choice air would be good as they get you to the ship even if you are late but it may be cheaper (emotionally at least) to go a day ahead of time ,which is what we usually do.

Good question, because I'm confused by some of the posts that say you cannot choose flights and connection times. That sounds like the old traditional cruise air, which has been gone from Royal bookings for a while now.

Choice Air lets you choose airlines, flights, connections, etc. Basically the same choices you would have on any airline's web site. You can arrive days early and stay days after the cruise. Choice Air prices for purely domestic travel are the same as the airlines, however prices for overseas travel, especially one-way, have been very good.