Arranging own flights

[rubydoobydoo]

To the OP, I don't know when your cruise actually is but initially the Celebrity flight package quoted is often high as they have no schedule info or prices more than approx 9 months in advance. It is worth going back to them when airline schedules are known and mention your preferred choice. My choice this year was early morning flight from Birmingham to Rome with Monarch, cost £350 per person with Celebrity but this also included the transfer from airport to port. Sadly the Monarch option is no longer available, a great shame. I t may be that doing your own thing is still cheaper but its only worth asking when airline schedules are known.

 

I think we will go back and ask Celebrity to price it up when they are released

[rubydoobydoo]

Whilst technically Choice Air (by name) may not be available it is possible to book flights direct with Celebrity in the UK. Celebrity UK have their own dedicated flight team and you can use X to book flights for any cruise, you can book at any time after the initial cruise has been booked, they will quote a price even on your preferred airline if you have researched beforehand. I have nearly always asked X to book flights, their own travel specialists have always been very helpful advising on whether it may be cheaper to do your own thing or not. They have booked flights for me on BA, Emirates, Monarch etc and always after the initial cruise has been booked. You do not have to have a package with transfers and can travel before or after sail date.

 

If the price increase is only small I would always choose booking through X for the reason perfectly illustrated today with the collapse of Monarch Airline. Monarch have always had the best timed flights from the Midlands in the UK to places like Rome, Venice, Barcelona etc and X will now be busy trying to reaarange peoples flights.

 

Good advice

[vadell]

I agree with comments about booking on your own, I asked for a price when we booked and for us to Rome the price was £450 each using Celebrity (prior to the air fares being released), I have booked Easyjet and the price was £120 each, plus we will need to pay for our luggage, we plan to stay overnight which adds a further £100. We will now get an additional night/days holiday and can arrive at the Port when we like and with the transfer cost probably save about £200 .

[Alohaaloha]

I agree with comments about booking on your own, I asked for a price when we booked and for us to Rome the price was £450 each using Celebrity (prior to the air fares being released), I have booked Easyjet and the price was £120 each, plus we will need to pay for our luggage, we plan to stay overnight which adds a further £100. We will now get an additional night/days holiday and can arrive at the Port when we like and with the transfer cost probably save about £200 .

 

 

 

I came dangerously close last week to booking our Rome flight with Monarch for our sailing next May. I didn't because we're cruising in 4 weeks time and it was another expense so we decided to wait until we come back- thank goodness!

EasyJet haven't released their May flights as yet and our nearest airport I think will be Bristol.

We intend to do the same as you fly in the day before and stay over and do the same post cruise too- can I ask what transfer service you're going to be using please?

 

 

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[villauk]

I came dangerously close last week to booking our Rome flight with Monarch for our sailing next May. I didn't because we're cruising in 4 weeks time and it was another expense so we decided to wait until we come back- thank goodness!

EasyJet haven't released their May flights as yet and our nearest airport I think will be Bristol.

We intend to do the same as you fly in the day before and stay over and do the same post cruise too- can I ask what transfer service you're going to be using please?

 

 

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EasyJet flights for May next year have been released :confused:? If you reside in the West Mids, Bristol is a little far? How about Jet2 from MAN? Use Skyscanner and put in various airport to fly from and it will give you several options and costings ;).

[Alohaaloha]

EasyJet flights for May next year have been released :confused:? If you reside in the West Mids, Bristol is a little far? How about Jet2 from MAN? Use Skyscanner and put in various airport to fly from and it will give you several options and costings ;).

 

 

Thanks! Yesterday on EJ it only went to Dec for me? I thought that were a little odd [emoji1]

I've looked at Jet2 but they were a lot dearer than Monarch.

I'll try Skyscanner thanks.

 

 

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[villauk]

Thanks! Yesterday on EJ it only went to Dec for me? I thought that were a little odd [emoji1]

I've looked at Jet2 but they were a lot dearer than Monarch.

I'll try Skyscanner thanks.

 

 

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Luton would probably be closer than Bristol (obviously depending on where you are) and possibly cheaper if you're considering EasyJet.

[Bobal]

Luton would probably be closer than Bristol (obviously depending on where you are) and possibly cheaper if you're considering EasyJet.

 

Agree that Luton with Easyjet may be your best option, particularly as they fly every day. May-Sept flights for next year were released last Weds so have been on sale for almost a week and popular days and times are increasing in price. We booked some flights from Faro within hours of them being released and they are already over double the price we paid.

 

I would act quickly wherever you decide to fly from, especially now Monarch have been taken out of the equation.

 

Also, not sure of your dates but (dare I say it :o) Ryanair from East Mids may be an option, although they don't fly every day.

[compman9]

opinions please on arranging your own flights to meet the ship

 

We are cruising from Barcelona next year and by booking the flights through Celebrity it’s adding on almost £600 to the price and we will not know the flight times or airline until much later on

 

 

We’ve booked cruise only for now and was thinking we could get our own flights there and back as we want to stay on in Barcelona after the cruise

 

 

Has anyone found this is an easy cost effective way to do it ?

 

We will get flights from either a midland airport or Gatwick

 

Thanks

 

I don't wish to be rude, so please don't take this the wrong way, but I am staggered that everyone doesn't book their own flights wherever they go. I thought package holidays had long been abandoned by the savvy holiday maker :o

 

G to Kayak, Sky Scanner or Momondo and search for flights. Make sure you take care when choosing your times - it really is very simple

 

When you arrive at your destination airport there will be taxis outside that will almost always be cheaper than the cruise line transfer and a lot less waiting around

 

I hope that helps