Carnival Booking Air Travel

[samzing]

Hi! We are making plans to cruise on the Breeze on 8/2 and the airfare is cheaper through Carnival then anything I have been able to find. Would you trust having them arrange air travel to the save the money? Do they contract with specific airlines? Has anyone used Carnival to fly out of Phila. Airport to Miami? If so, what airline did they book you, were there any connections and what time were the flights to and from Miami? Any and all input and experiences appreciated! Thanks!:confused:

[CruiseinNJ]

I haven't used it. Friends have and were put on flights that landed in Miami after 1:00 on the day of sailing.

 

I see you are from NJ. Just a thought - Look into Frontier airlines which now flies out of trenton. (no I dont work for them) I used them for my spring break cruise. We landed in Ft. Lauderdale at 9:00 am, had a shuttle to Miami and was checked into the cruise by 10:30. Since theres only 1 flight a day have a back up plan (mine was having insurance that covered flight delays of more than 3 hours and driving 45 minutes and get on a flight out of Philadelphia or Newark.)

[Cruising Golfer]

I wouldn't... To easy to do yourself, and you can make sure you will be there on time... Better safe than sorry... The money can't be that much... C.G.:)

[klfrodo]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=530322

 

Please read a portion of the link I provided above to help educate yourself anytime you purchase "Cruise Air".

As long as you have the knowledge and you still decide to buy your air through the cruiseline,,, at least you're making an informed decision.

 

Personally,,, I would never buy my air travel from anyone other than directly from the airline. Yes, I probably pay more,, but then I've got options and I've got control.

[Gari]

I am going to suggest that you use Carnival to make your arrangements. They guarantee you will get there and if anything happens they take care of it. I have used Carnival air on many trips and I have had nothing but great luck. When I arrange my own flights (which I have done several times as well) I plan to get there the day before so I don't have to stress about flights and missing anything. I figure the hotel often times is just about the cost of travel insurance.

 

Good luck with whatever you decide

[winddawn]

Hi! We are making plans to cruise on the Breeze on 8/2 and the airfare is cheaper through Carnival then anything I have been able to find. Would you trust having them arrange air travel to the save the money? Do they contract with specific airlines? Has anyone used Carnival to fly out of Phila. Airport to Miami? If so, what airline did they book you, were there any connections and what time were the flights to and from Miami? Any and all input and experiences appreciated! Thanks!:confused:

I would look into flying Southwest Airlines from Philadelphia to Fort Lauderdale. You can purchase transfers from Carnival from Fort Lauderdale to Miami if you are not comfortable making your own transfer arrangements. Try using Southwest's calendar to view the fares for each day of the month for comparison purposes. If you fly in a day early you can save, and that is a good idea anyway. And if you took a late evening flight home, you can purchase that roundtrip for $264 per person. Both flights are nonstop with no transfers or change of planes. The Everglades tour is a great way to spend the extra time in Fort Lauderdale before your flight home.

Edited June 20, 2014 by winddawn

[smac67]

We used them for our first cruise 2 years ago because we knew no better and also because we had a travel agent book the trip on very short notice. They had us arriving in MIA at 2:05 pm on the day of the cruise. We had to be the last people on the ship. The positive was they booked us, and several others from the cruise, in first class on the way home. If it were cheaper I would not hesitate using them, but this year we booked ourselves and arrived the day before our cruise and were on the ship at around 11 am. This gave us 4 more hours on the ship and made it more enjoyable.

[D4]

I wouldn't get my air through Carnival. And it doesn't matter what anybody's experience has been with airlines/times/nonstops --- you may be booked on any airline with horrible flight times and may have multiple flights each way.

 

Do you have passports so you can fly to a foreign country to get on the ship if you miss it? Even if you do, most cruises have a sea day before any ports so you could miss 2 nights of the cruise.

Edited June 20, 2014 by D4

[jenng1976]

I would look into flying Southwest Airlines from Philadelphia to Fort Lauderdale. You can purchase transfers from Carnival from Fort Lauderdale to Miami if you are not comfortable making your own transfer arrangements. Try using Southwest's calendar to view the fares for each day of the month for comparison purposes. If you fly in a day early you can save, and that is a good idea anyway. And if you took a late evening flight home, you can purchase that roundtrip for $264 per person. Both flights are nonstop with no transfers or change of planes. The Everglades tour is a great way to spend the extra time in Fort Lauderdale before your flight home.

 

I agree ... I would fly Southwest as well (the day before), if it were me!

[winddawn]

I agree ... I would fly Southwest as well (the day before), if it were me!

Southwest is easy to do business with. No baggage fees for the first 2 bags and no change fees.

[Gizmo88]

Used to do it, mainly side did not know much of airfare. If Carnival does it, it is actually done through a company partnered with CCL, and it will show up in your cruise Docs. You will get in no later my last recommended arrival time on day of cruise. The good thing about using this is if there are airline delays which cause you to miss boarding the ship, just call the carnival travel hotline (able to find on there website or google it) about the situation and they will make sure they work with the airline to get you to first port of call (w/ an airport). Accommodations will be provided and food allowance will most likely also (keep your food receipt).

 

If there is a hurricane and there is a delay in getting back to homeport, they will find new flights for you and leave a note with flight info.

 

The flight itinerary depends on where you are departing from, form will have tight connections some do not. You also will not know what the airline is until checking cruise docs.

 

both of those situations happened to me on 2 of the 9 cruises i took.

 

although I recommend that you do your own flights since i have control on timing and getting in at least a day early to avoid delays.

Edited June 20, 2014 by Gizmo88

[klfrodo]

Well, since a couple of people feel this is a Southwest love fest/advertising site,,,,, I wouldn't fly Southwest if they were free. No interline baggage agreements, no assigned seating, no possibility for first class upgrades, no meals, and no cross country non stop flights.

 

Ready,,, Set,,,,, Ignite! :)

[shipty2]

We used Carnival air for our first cruise because our travel agent recommended it. They put us on a connecting flight that stopped in philly for hours when if we flew direct the flight would have been under three hours. That was the last time I used travel agent.

We flew the same day on that trip as well and I wouldn't do that again either.

[misguidedangel]

For some, booking air with Carnival works, but not everyone. It you don't mind flying in the day of the cruise and possibly scrambling to get to to port to be the last, or in the last few, people boarding the ship before she sails, then go for it.

 

It is so much easier to fly in the day before and stay overnight. My experience with letting Carnival to book air for me to Florida from Canada has mixed. I had one not so bad day before (but very little connecting time and between terminals too) flight and two red eye flights. I have been fortunate to find reasonable fares to get me in the day before and get a good deal on an overnight hotel...

 

The way the airlines work now I would never want to fly in the day of the cruise, ever!!!

[ferfoodle]

Before you go the route of Carnival booking your flights, read this thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1390690&highlight=aweigh

 

Pay particular attention to the posts by the OP, #1, 8, and 18. And make sure you have passports, because flying out of the Country requires those.

[jayscore]

First, forget CCL's flight deal. I looked into it a few years back, and it WAS cheaper than the "usual deals." But, after a couple of weeks I found the fares weren't that great, plus, the scheduling for the flights were insane! I canceled, and booked my own flight(s).

Even if it costs you a night's hotel fee, fly in the day before, if possible. (This is another subject with many opinions on these boards....)

Just my opinion, of course!:rolleyes:

[winddawn]

Well, since a couple of people feel this is a Southwest love fest/advertising site,,,,, I wouldn't fly Southwest if they were free. No interline baggage agreements, no assigned seating, no possibility for first class upgrades, no meals, and no cross country non stop flights.

 

Ready,,, Set,,,,, Ignite! :)

I can understand that airline employees might not like Southwest since it does eliminate the possibility of them getting to fly first class. But since most of us are not airline employees with interline benefits, this isn't very meaningful to most of us.

 

Booking cruise air also opens the possibility of ending up with double connections. That is something that most of us would avoid at all costs. For me, I never cruise unless I can get direct non-stop flights both ways. Having direct flights cuts down on the hassle factor and reduces the chance of delays and lost luggage. The way the airlines are these days, it pays to play defense as much as possible.

[Shaded Lady]

Our second cruise we were flying from Dallas to San Juan, and meeting my DD & boyfriend who were flying in from Toronto Canada. I THOUGHT we booked both flights through Carnival... and everything was seemless and reasonably priced. No issues, flights were appropriately timed to avoid nervousness about arrival times, we were all at the airport within an hour of each other... just a lovely experience.

 

When we got home our TA followed up to ask how the cruise was and we told him that we'd happily let Carnival arrange our airfare in future. He was horrified- said don't do that! It's horrible what they put you through- either your costs are 50% higher or you have to have 2-3-4 stops to get to your destination, which increases your chances of a problem!

 

In fact, he booked our airfare himself, taking into consideration local times for departure, fewest # of stops (only 1 for each of us) and when we'd arrive at the airport... he even took care of arranging a shuttle for us (we thought it was part of the airfare package :)) to get to the cruise ship. He specifically told us to let the TA arrange airfare, or do it ourselves, never let the cruiseline do it (he said they're all the same, Carnival, RCCL, NCL- they offer airfare as a convenience to their passengers so they find a way to do it as cheap as they can without regard for your stress or inconvenience).

[klfrodo]

I can understand that airline employees might not like Southwest since it does eliminate the possibility of them getting to fly first class. But since most of us are not airline employees with interline benefits, this isn't very meaningful to most of us.

 

 

Not sure what airline employee has to do with anything.

Interline baggage agreement is about checking luggage on one airline, changing planes and airline at a connection and having luggage checked all the way through to your destination....

 

IOW: lets take San Francisco to Miami

Southwest to St. Louis, then change planes to Delta to Miami. You would have to retreive luggage in St. Louis, go upstairs, recheck luggage with Delta.

Now,,, Lets go Delta from San Francisco to St. Louis and American on to Miami. These airlines have interline agreements. Check luggage in SFO,,, not see luggage again until Miami.

[samzing]

Thanks to everyone. I am not going to book my air through Canival. Sounds too risky. I'm still having a difficult time getting a reasonable flight from Miami to Philly on Sunday. This is supposed to be a free cruise. We want to upgrade to a balcony (spoiled from the last two) and because we are booking so late airfare is high. Our free trip is up to $900 each! May be staying in an inside room or cruising on the Splendor out of NY (no air needed) I'm ok flying in that morning. We did it last month on NCL Breakaway and it went well but I am looking into flying in Friday night for peace of mind. One question about departure flights home. Is an 11:20 am departure ok? Thanks.

[cruisinpips]

Thanks to everyone. I am not going to book my air through Canival. Sounds too risky. I'm still having a difficult time getting a reasonable flight from Miami to Philly on Sunday. This is supposed to be a free cruise. We want to upgrade to a balcony (spoiled from the last two) and because we are booking so late airfare is high. Our free trip is up to $900 each! May be staying in an inside room or cruising on the Splendor out of NY (no air needed) I'm ok flying in that morning. We did it last month on NCL Breakaway and it went well but I am looking into flying in Friday night for peace of mind. One question about departure flights home. Is an 11:20 am departure ok? Thanks.

 

I would suggest looking at Kayak dot com. just looked and flying on friday 8/1, returning 8/10, flights are as cheap as $333.00 most likely for the times you need they would be closer to $350.

Our LAST time booking through a cruise line, we were booked the day of the cruise, they booked us out of TRI, in NE Tenn., to Detroit, then to FLL, and bussed us to MIA. I complained several times after we recieved the itinerary, but was told to trust them they booked thousands of these per week, and it would be $125 pp to change.

We were on the last bus, only 8 ppl on there, and were literally the last ppl on the ship. Never again!!!! Day before, or don't go!! :D:D

[Drose716]

When it came to leaving out of FL for the first time on the 2nd cruise & needing to fly I didn't know any better & booked thru carnival. We sailed from Miami but they flew us to FILL as per a rep at the 1800# it was "probably cheaper for them". I then had to pay twice as much in shuttle fees than if I had gone into MIA. It wouldve been cheaper, to boot, had i booked my own flights to MIA thru airline or a TA site.

 

Our flight home was scheduled for 11:30am from FLL. Its a 45 minute ride! Cutting it waaaaay close especially considering we were set in the last debark groups. In the end, our arrival back to MIA was severely delayed by Hurricane Isaac. We missed our original flight & the one carnival rescheduled for us. We were put in a hotel for the night on carnival but so were the pax that hadn't booked thru carnival. We flew home the next day. Left FLL at 130 had a ridiculous stop in Charlotte & didn't get home until fairly late.

 

In the end booking through carnival did save me having to make the phone call to reschedule myself but the flights that we got were less than ideal & more expensive in our case. I booked independently last year & again for our upcoming freedom cruise.

[sjcruiser]

We book SW out of Philly when we go to MIA, and fly into FLL, and use SAS (http://www.ridesas.com) to get from the airport to the port and back ($15.00pp each way). Frontier out of Trenton usually don't have the days or times we need to fly, and Spirit which touts itself as a discount airline, is usually higher or more than the regular airlines when you take into account the nickel and diming for the seats selection, and baggage fees (checked on carry on). I like to control my travel arrangements, and wouldn't leave it up to Carnival, especially if some are having arrivals at 1:00pm. I like to arrive on the first flight out of PHL, or the day earlier, so if its possible, I'd do that in place of going with Carnival air. I'd keep checking on pricing to see which is the better deal or option. I hope everything works out, and you find a early flight, or possible come in the day before.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Like others here have said already, US/AA both fly to Miami from PHL quite a few times a day nonstop. Lots of conx options if something happens with your direct flight or the timing/price is better connecting. US goes to FLL also as does WN. Again plenty of connecting options with them as well. Spirit goes ACY-FLL also but I'm not sure if they go daily or not and they will get you with fees. They also sometimes have issues with irops as well because nobody else really flies the routes they do from ACY so that's always a concern. Someone mentioned that F9 goes from TTN also but you could run into the same issues with them as with NK out of Atlantic city. If you're in the south Jersey or north of philly, EWR is always a good option and no more than a few hours drive at worst. UA and JetBlue fly to pretty much everywhere in Florida minus MIA from there. So does WN from BWI and depending on where you are coming from, a couple hours drive or train ride can save you alot of money in some cases.

 

Bottom line is that I wouldn't book airfare thru carnival. It's always easier and you have more control when you book it yourself. At least that's my opinion. I have heard way too many bad stories from people who had carnival book their flights for them.

[Shaded Lady]

Thanks to everyone. I am not going to book my air through Canival. Sounds too risky. I'm still having a difficult time getting a reasonable flight from Miami to Philly on Sunday. This is supposed to be a free cruise. We want to upgrade to a balcony (spoiled from the last two) and because we are booking so late airfare is high. Our free trip is up to $900 each! May be staying in an inside room or cruising on the Splendor out of NY (no air needed) I'm ok flying in that morning. We did it last month on NCL Breakaway and it went well but I am looking into flying in Friday night for peace of mind. One question about departure flights home. Is an 11:20 am departure ok? Thanks.

 

One thing I've found is that if you can afford a hotel for a night and another vacation day, sometimes it pays to fly home the next day instead of the day of debarkation... may be worth checking on, depending on the cost of your airline tickets...