Flying to Barbados from London

[Suzymc]

Hi we have just booked a cruise on the Seaside for November which includes flights from London.  Has anyone ever done this before and if so which airline do MSC use and was it from Heathrow or Gatwick. 
We need to fly down from Glasgow so just looking for a wee idea of what connecting flights to look at.

thanks 

[emmas gran]

We did it 3/4 years ago and flight was Virgin from LGW. I would fly down the day before as the flight was around 10 am

[emmas gran]

23 hours ago, Suzymc said:

Hi we have just booked a cruise on the Seaside for November which includes flights from London.  Has anyone ever done this before and if so which airline do MSC use and was it from Heathrow or Gatwick. 
We need to fly down from Glasgow so just looking for a wee idea of what connecting flights to look at.

thanks 

I have friends doing a January trip and they are flying BA from LGW

[mickey89]

Current Seaside bookings give you the choice of LHR or LGW for their fly/cruise .MSC have chartered a complete flight in the past, also have done a block booking on a scheduled flight.  To be certain you will either have to wait until MSC update you're booking or you can try to contact Customer Services and asked to speak to the flight Reservation Team - best of luck they are seldom helpful. The only certainty is that it will be either Virgin Atlantic or BA (if you are unlucky).

[Suzymc]

Thank you for your reply’s. I can’t seem to get much information from MSC will need to wait for them to update our booking 

[hamrag]

On 8/1/2022 at 10:52 AM, Suzymc said:

Hi we have just booked a cruise on the Seaside for November which includes flights from London.  Has anyone ever done this before and if so which airline do MSC use and was it from Heathrow or Gatwick. 
We need to fly down from Glasgow so just looking for a wee idea of what connecting flights to look at.

thanks 

Presumably it's the 29th cruise for 14 nights? We are on that one, but booked cruise and flight independently flying VA from Manchester on 26th with a 3 night hotel stay to acclimatise .

 

We have done this cruise a couple of times previously, mid-winter to escape the cold weather that you and we suffer from! Someone earlier advised flying down to London a day prior, I would heartily second that advice.

 

We are husband and wife, mid 60s and hope to see fellow Scots on board! Any other questions re MSC, just ask.

Edited August 4, 2022 by hamrag

[azilr]

In January we flew down the day before and stayed overnight, I think it was the Hilton which is connected to the terminal at Gatwick.  Booked a package and the flights were with British Airways.

[mickey89]

On 8/4/2022 at 9:39 PM, hamrag said:

Presumably it's the 29th cruise for 14 nights? We are on that one, but booked cruise and flight independently flying VA from Manchester on 26th with a 3 night hotel stay to acclimatise .

On many of their cruises your cabin selection is drastically reduced if you choose Cruise Only.  Typically, YC cabin are only available if you choose the Cruise/fly option and they just disappear if you choose Cruise only, obviously forcing people to choose their flights.

[hamrag]

4 hours ago, mickey89 said:

On many of their cruises your cabin selection is drastically reduced if you choose Cruise Only.  Typically, YC cabin are only available if you choose the Cruise/fly option and they just disappear if you choose Cruise only, obviously forcing people to choose their flights.

OK, not sure how you conclude such. To date we have 5, perhaps 6, completed YC cruises and another two booked. All of those were cruise only! 😉

[mickey89]

Simple, just visit their website.
As an example try 21st March 2023 Barbados YC cabin available with cruise/fly but unavailable with cruise only. It applies to all Barbados 2023 departures where Yacht Club cabins are still available.

[hamrag]

15 hours ago, mickey89 said:

Simple, just visit their website.
As an example try 21st March 2023 Barbados YC cabin available with cruise/fly but unavailable with cruise only. It applies to all Barbados 2023 departures where Yacht Club cabins are still available.

That's when having the right TA to sort the cruise only cabin category you require really comes into play for you! 😉

[mickey89]

You are joking, why not admit you got it wrong.  I use the same TA as you.

[kelleherdl]

On 8/4/2022 at 4:39 PM, hamrag said:

Presumably it's the 29th cruise for 14 nights? We are on that one, but booked cruise and flight independently flying VA from Manchester on 26th with a 3 night hotel stay to acclimatise .

 

We have done this cruise a couple of times previously, mid-winter to escape the cold weather that you and we suffer from! Someone earlier advised flying down to London a day prior, I would heartily second that advice.

 

We are husband and wife, mid 60s and hope to see fellow Scots on board! Any other questions re MSC, just ask.

Instead of joining you on the 14-day we’re doing the repo up to Port Canaveral in April. PC is our homeport. 😀

[kelleherdl]

9 hours ago, mickey89 said:

You are joking, why not admit you got it wrong.  I use the same TA as you.

Hamrag also knows that the 14-day can start in 3 ports; Barbados, Guadeloupe, and Fort de France. Often us US cruisers can’t even see YC cabins out of Barbados as they are blocked for UK bookings. We can see only Guadeloupe and Fort de France. It does pay to have a very MSC friendly TA, who can sometimes tease inventory, not all the time but sometimes.

 

Dennis

[mickey89]

Exactly the point I made - MSC block cabins for many reasons, now they block certain cabins unless you take their flights. 

[hamrag]

11 hours ago, mickey89 said:

You are joking, why not admit you got it wrong.  I use the same TA as you.

Nope, I have never failed to find a YC cabin and never taken an MSC flight....what do you think I'd gain by joking or being economical with the truth? 🙄

[hamrag]

2 hours ago, kelleherdl said:

Instead of joining you on the 14-day we’re doing the repo up to Port Canaveral in April. PC is our homeport. 😀

Shame, it would have been good to meet up again....and thanks for your support, no idea why mickey is being robust! 🤨

[clemsonlori98]

On 8/15/2022 at 2:29 PM, kelleherdl said:

Instead of joining you on the 14-day we’re doing the repo up to Port Canaveral in April. PC is our homeport. 😀

We are hop on the repo cruise in Guadeloupe on April 9th!  Flying down the day before from ATL.  Will be our 3rd YC cruise.  Second time on Seaside.  Looking at places to stay now.