BOOKING CRUISE & AIRLINE TOGETHER?

[MDBOUTTE]

DO I ALSO BOOK MY AIRFARE WITH THE SAME TA AS THE CRUISE? WE'RE GOING IN APRIL, 05 AND I'M FINDING SOME GREAT PRICES ON MY OWN FOR THE AIRFARE. ANY SUGGESTIONS?

[pg.]

Hi we have always done the cruise air and it isn't worth it, the flight times suck and the prices are not that good. Book your own air, but book early as the good flight times to get filled up fast! We decided to try and cancel the cruise air and book our own last time( april)but we had waited too long and ther e were no good flights left. You have lots of time!

[hajekfam]

Our TA books our cruise with air and then both of us start looking for cheaper air. You can usually cancel the air portion of your cruise up until final payment with penalty.
A lot of times, you can get cheaper airfare on your own.
We found a great cruise price for an adults only cruise on the cruise company's website about two months before sailing date. Before I could call my TA to book the cruise, I checked on ATA's website for airfare. They were having a special sale and we were able to book the air round trip Chicago to Tampa for $232 total for two people. I immediately booked the air and then called our TA. I asked her to book the cruise and told her about the great price I got on air. She told me that she would not have been able to get us that air price and would have been mad at us if we didn't book the air ourselves and taken advantage of that price.

Zenith-Western Caribbean-6/92
Zenith-Eastern Caribbean-6/93
Century-Maiden Voyage-12/95
Galaxy-Southern Caribbean-11/99
Mercury-Northbound Alaska-6/00
Millennium-Westbound Transatlantic-9/01
Horizon-Western Caribbean - Adults only cruise-11/02
Millennium-Westbound Transatlantic 10/26/03
Century - Western Caribbean 1/31/04

[caviargal]

Research the air on line yourself and know what it will cost you. If you are travelling a great distance it may be worth paying for the cruise line air because it gives them total responsibility for getting you there if there are any delays. Transfers are also included and if you are a senior or an inexperienced traveller, it may be worth it.

I have found getting my own air to be less expensive most of the time but there are other considerations.

CG

RCI(37),NCL(12),Princess(1),HAL(2),Celebrity(3), Carnival(2), Eastern (13),Radisson(2), Star Clippers(1),Home Lines(2), Costa(5),Big Red Boat (6), Dolphin (1), Commodore (2), Others (11)