cheapest flying from Los Angeles CA - ? for a cruise-HELP

[CJJSmith]

:confused: I live in OC California and have been on the Mexican Rivera cruise once and the Baja Mexico cruise 2 times, also just did the Majesty Bahamas cruise this month.

 

I WANT to book another cruise I have never been on, but want to fly into the cheapest place possible from CA to do it... any ideas what cruise might be the cheapest for me? I don't think any others go from CA other than the 2 I have been on... (What airport do you fly into if you are cruising out of Galveston Tx?)

 

Thanks for helping if you can.

[TidePrideGA]

Hi, Cathy, have you considered Alaska? The Alaska cruises generally cruise out of the Pacific Northwest, which I would think would be reasonable for you.

 

To cruise out of Galveston, one would generally fly into IAH (Houston Intercontinental) or HOU (Houston Hobby).

 

The general rule for airfare is the bigger the airport of departure and arrival the more flight choices and the less expensive. Since you've got LAX available (along, of course with LGB and others), you've got the departure thing down. Probably the biggest airport that's a common cruise port is MIA (Miami) or FLL (Ft. Lauderdale). FLL is often cheaper than MIA but not always.

 

These are just general rules and exceptions certainly do apply.

[CJJSmith]

I just flew into MIA when I went on the Bahamas cruise in early December. I have considered the Alaska cruise but am not sure where it sails from… My husband would love that cruise.

[wrp96]

Usually, roundtrip Alaska cruises sail out of Seattle or Vancouver, although a couple of lines, not RCI, have roundtrip Alaska cruises out of San Francisco. Northbound Alaska cruises sail out of Vancouver and end at either Whittier or Seward which both use Anchorage as an airport, and the opposite is true of southbound cruises.

[imsulin2]

Alaska cruises sail from SFO, Seattle, Vancouver, and Seward/Whittier, AK...just depends on the cruise line. Just make sure you want either a round-trip or a one-way north or southbound. You'll see and experience far more on the one-way cruise!!

[critterchick]

You could book one of the Pacific Coastal repositioning cruises from LA or San Diego to Vancouver in the spring or the reverse route in the fall. If you stay over a night or two in Vancouver (and I highly recommend it - Vancouver is a beautiful city with tons to do and see), you can can a decent price on a one-way flight.

 

Several of the booking engines allow you to select more than one airport to do your search. I think the pricing changes almost daily, so it's hard to predict which is your best option. But you could select LAX, Long Beach & John Wayne as departure points and then Ft. Lauderdale & Miami as arrivals, for example, and do a comparison.

[tezbear]

We are flying into Miami Int'l in June and I got tix thru American Airlines for 285.00 per person. This is a good price (i think) since we are flying out of SFO, direct flight and good times. We have always flown into MCO (Orlando) for past cruises and it's hard to find direct flights to the East Coast. Booking early is usually cheaper also.

[CJJSmith]

GREAT Ideas - I can't wait to check them out!!!

 

As for Tezbear - that is a GREAT price! When we flew from LAX to Miami in December our flights were 399 pp - and I booked very early! Also American and also direct flight.

[Leafpeeper]

I bought airfare for my son and family from LA to Orlando for $216pp on United roundtrip. There are great cruises out of Port Canaveral that vary from 4 nights to 7 nights. There are also western caribbean cruises out of Tampa.

 

Galveston, Texas has the best values for western caribbean cruises.

 

My son living in LA took the Alaska cruise on Saphhire Princess from Seattle in May. However, he later found out he could have taken an Alaska cruise from San Francisco.

 

Have you considered flying to Hawaii and taking a 7 night NCL cruise?

 

We sailed the Mexican Riviera on RCCL, but next time we will sail NCL Star out of LA or Carnival Spirit because they go to Alcapulco and other ports we didn't see on Vision of the Seas. We also sailed to Ensenada and Catalina on a short cruise out of LA.

[wrp96]

Oh, one other option. Have you done the 14 night roundtrip sailings to Hawaii yet. I know RCI is offering two next year, one out of LA one out of San Diego, and Celebrity, HAL, and Princess are offering several next year.

[davelly1]

You just need to keep an eye on fares. I find that flying out of LAX is usually cheaper than Burbank or Ontario airport. If you keep an eye out you can usually find flight around $200/pp. We flew to Orlando in May and paid $216 pp. Also, if you want to take a cruise from the New York area you can usually find flights around the same price. As far as Alaska cruises go the airfare is usually more expenisve to fly to Seattle. My sister lives there and I rarely find airfare less than $250 pp.

 

But, the Caribbean is so much nicer than Mexico. The water is warmer and clearer. Definitly worth the price of the airfare.

[TidePrideGA]

The mega online TAs will let you put a "watch" on the airfare for a certain airport and email you when good prices are available in your timeframe. Of course, flying out of ATL, I can usually get cheap airfare and go at any time of the day to anywhere!

[Jimbo]

Try flying Southwest from Lax to FLL.....Lots of cruises leave from there too, Airfares can be had for around $200 per person Round Trip, they are not non stops but some have only 1 stop.

 

Jimbo:)

[PVDCruiser]

Talk to me if you have any questions about your flight! I'm not a fare expert, but I can give you specifics about the airports and the types of planes. :D (If anyone cares...hehe)

[funforsun]

One thing to think about (I live in San Diego) is when cruising during the winter, be careful about connections in the northern part of US. Go at least one day earlier and return one day later.....better on the stress level.

[PVDCruiser]

One thing to think about (I live in San Diego) is when cruising during the winter, be careful about connections in the northern part of US. Go at least one day earlier and return one day later.....better on the stress level.

 

Good advice...as a New Englander I know how crazy the weather can be!

[bargainshopper]

I found it is cheaper to fly LAX-FLL-LAX than LAX-MIA-LAX. We paid $197 round trip included taxes on Am Airlines in Oct 2005 for our Navigator OTS cruise. The same flights to MIA would have been $50~$100 more.

[steve20832]

Fort Lauderdale is usually pretty cheap to fly into. Another option is go to Orlando and cruise on the Mariner. Orlando has always been inexpesive due to the fact that around 40 different airlines fly there. The general rule with flying, the more airlines that serve an airport, the lower the price is to fly there. This is why airports like Chicago, Las Vagas, Orlando, New York are usually cheap to fly to.

[sundeck]

Try flying in to Philadelphia and taking a Bermuda cruise. They run from there in starting in the spring through the summer into early fall. Bermuda and the beaches there are beautiful if you have never been there.

 

Check out Southwest or America West/UsAirways. Both fly into Philadelphia and often have great deals on nonstops if you book early.

 

There are some interesting cruises leaving from New York also going either way - South to the Bahamas or North to New England/Canada.

 

You can tack on a day or two pre or post cruise to tour either of the East Coast cities. Great stuff to see and do there!

[smoothdancer]

Does JetBlue fly in your area? They have great prices. How about trying TavelZoo? They sometime find great prices also.

 

Agree on the day early idea. Earlier this month(we are in New England) a large snow storm was predicted they day we were to fly out. We had to purchase a one way ticket a day early so that we would not miss our cruise and it ended us costing us a lot. Actually, it was just a short 3 day cruise and by the time it was over the flight came close to costing us near as much as the cruise! Sometimes the gamble just does not pay

[PVDCruiser]

Try flying in to Philadelphia and taking a Bermuda cruise. They run from there in starting in the spring through the summer into early fall. Bermuda and the beaches there are beautiful if you have never been there.

 

Check out Southwest or America West/UsAirways. Both fly into Philadelphia and often have great deals on nonstops if you book early.

 

There are some interesting cruises leaving from New York also going either way - South to the Bahamas or North to New England/Canada.

 

You can tack on a day or two pre or post cruise to tour either of the East Coast cities. Great stuff to see and do there!

 

I would avoid flying into PHL on USAirways - though Southwest changes this somewhat.

 

Since PHL is a USAirways hub - they really want you to continue your trip. For example, when my dad booked a trip to LAX it would be $312 (from PVD via PHL). If he just wanted to go to PHL, it would be $500.

 

The same usually applies to the other big airlines (for hub routes) unless if a LCC has a competing route.

[bob278]

Another possibility (if you can go for 2 weeks) is a Panama Canal transit. That way you would have only a one-way flight. Several lines go from LA or San Diego to FLL or MIA.

 

I would second the idea of the R/T Hawaii cruise out of LA. Major savings with NO flights at all.

[CJJSmith]

WOW - you guys know your cruise and flight info! Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to think up so many different itineraries for me. I am going to print these post responses and go to work looking up flights and cruises. Thank you all very much!

[user339993]

Hi Cathy! When checking airfare, I like using orbitz.com and selecting "check surrounding airports". You can also check days preceding or after your selected dates. Once I find the right deal for me, I usually then would purchase through the airline direct. Just some thoughts on airfare! Laurie in Cincinnati :)

[tiffnco]

Hi there! Another OC cruiser here...

 

Fly out of Long Beach and take Jet Blue to Florida for caribbean cruises...Seattle or Vancouver are not expensive (and you can go from SNA) on Alaska Airlines.

 

Also, I second the full-transit of the canal. We're planning on doing that in 2007 and it will be so nice to only fly one-way.

 

Another option is look into Oceania Cruises. They often feature free airfare with their European itineraries.

 

You can also go on a New England cruise out of Montreal or New York in the fall and flying there isn't too expensive.

 

One other trick...get a credit card attached to an airline and earn FF points for all your purchases. You'll be amazed how quickly they add up...then you can fly for free! Another option along this idea is get an AmEx (if you don't already have one) and sign up for Membership Rewards. You can use your points to "buy" airline tickets...so you don't have to mess with limited availability of FF tickets.

 

Hope this was helpful...

 

Tiffany