Is this the normal procedure when reserving seats on air flight which is being arranged by cruise line ?

[romy2227]

Booked cruise through a TA...who booked the cruise and the airflight  through the cruise line  We paid the money already for reserved seats ,(about 4 months ago) but are being told (as per the cruise line )that the cruise line will be issuing the airline tickets and have not been able to reserve the seats that we want yet  Our TA (a reputable firm) has called the airlines but they refuse to honour the seats yet..say it is up to the cruise line to reserve them ...Is this all normal?..I'm worried that we will lose the seats that we want 

[pris993]

9 minutes ago, romy2227 said:

Booked cruise through a TA...who booked the cruise and the airflight  through the cruise line  We paid the money already for reserved seats ,(about 4 months ago) but are being told (as per the cruise line )that the cruise line will be issuing the airline tickets and have not been able to reserve the seats that we want yet  Our TA (a reputable firm) has called the airlines but they refuse to honour the seats yet..say it is up to the cruise line to reserve them ...Is this all normal?..I'm worried that we will lose the seats that we want 

yes, always better to purchase you air and hotel separately.

 

[navybankerteacher]

Never trust a series of middlemen: you are trusting the TA and the person at the cruise line to look out for your interests - do you really think they care?

 

When I booked a one way trans-Atlantic flight using HAL’s “cruise air” (or whatever it was called) I was advised that the only way I could get confirmed seat selection was to pay full cruise and air up front - then I could go direct to the airline I wanted - I had choice of American, Delta and a couple of others- I chose American because I liked the configuration : window- two seats, then aisle. It worked like a charm - very low TA one way fare and precise seats.  Paying early was a small price.

 

i have heard too many stories of connecting vs non-stop flights, third rate airlines, inconvenient times, and bad seats from people who let agents and cruise lines do things.

[zqvol]

Yes, that is normal procedure as the cruise line has not yet even reserved the seats. You may even be on a different airline than you expect. There is nothing that you can do until the cruise line actually buys your seats about 30 days prior to sailing.

[LHT28]

If you have paid in full  then ask the cruise line to Ticket your air  then you can usually choose  the seats

Cruise lines usually just reserve space  on the flight but no seats until about 30-60 days out when they ticket you

 

[Flatbush Flyer]

58 minutes ago, romy2227 said:

Booked cruise through a TA...who booked the cruise and the airflight  through the cruise line  We paid the money already for reserved seats ,(about 4 months ago) but are being told (as per the cruise line )that the cruise line will be issuing the airline tickets and have not been able to reserve the seats that we want yet  Our TA (a reputable firm) has called the airlines but they refuse to honour the seats yet..say it is up to the cruise line to reserve them ...Is this all normal?..I'm worried that we will lose the seats that we want 

While using a trusted, top selling TA for your preferred cruise line (in order to share commissions and have a weighty voice if problems arise) is always the best way to go, arranging air, hotels and ground transfers should most often be DIY. And, while, you may use third party search engines to identify choices (e.g., ITA Matrix for air), you should always book items directly with the provider (e.g., actual hotel site vs. hotels.com et al.) who will usually price match what you may find elsewhere and provide other benefits.

When we cruise with Oceania (who includes air tix) we always take a credit instead and DIY.

[klfrodo]

This is a consolidated ticket.

The cruise line has reserved the ticket, but has not “paid” for the ticket. Therefore, the airline has not “ticketed” the flights. The cruise line and the airline will complete this process about 90 days out.

[romy2227]

Thanks to all for prompt replies ...one learns something new every day    I will know better next time      Happy cruising, everyone 

[dfish]

Sometimes, it depends on the airlines what they will allow with cruise air.   Last summer, American would not allow me to choose seats, but did allow me to upgrade to Main Cabin Extra.  My PCC went in and chose seats for me.   

 

This past summer, Delta would let me choose seats, but wouldn't allow me to upgrade to Comfort Economy because HAL owned the booking - this was after it had been paid.   I had to go through HAL to upgrade to Comfort Economy.  

[capriccio]

We've used EZAir from Princess twice (1 one way ticket X 2 passengers; 1 roundtrip ticket X 7 passengers) and have another round trip for 2 scheduled for next summer all on United.  Upon reserving, we were able to pick our seats on EZAir and had no problem upgrading to economy plus seats on the United website that are a perq of our airline status .  We pay for our tickets at final payment and tell Princess to ticket them then.  When we did that this summer for 7 people I made seat reservations for all about 10 months in advance and then we were able to call United and move our son and daughter in law up to available economy plus seats for free (another perq) at final payment.  The important point is that in all cases seats were chosen up to 11 months early and 8 months before final payment and we received exactly what we chose.

Edited October 20, 2018 by capriccio

[romy2227]

Capriccio,      Did you book EZair through a Travel Agency?   or directly through the Princess lines ?..it appears that ,booking the cruise through a TA is fine, but not to book EZAir that way        I booked 7 months ahead  ,paid 3 months ahead 

[capriccio]

Romy2227 - I booked my cruises thru my travel agent but I booked my EZAir directly online with Princess.

[romy2227]

Capriccio,    thanks for the replies...I see my mistake ..now I know    

[klfrodo]

2 hours ago, romy2227 said:

Capriccio,    thanks for the replies...I see my mistake ..now I know    

 

Romy, please read thru this thread. It’s old but has very valuable information regarding cruise air. You didn’t make any mistake. You just went into something not having all the information.

 

Edited October 21, 2018 by klfrodo

[romy2227]

Klfrodo             WOW !!!! is all I can say !!!..my TA said NOTHING about this kind of thing ....although she accepted the total amount of money...and actually gave me an airline and a flight number ..just no reserved seats ...I thought I was "sitting  pretty" as they say       Definitely not going through this when I book a cruise again        Thank you for the information

[SPacificbound]

That is unfortunate.

 

When I have booked cruise air, I did the air seperate from the cruise, picked AA, then called AA with my information and got the assigned seats we wanted.