Is leaving FCO at 11:15 TO early.

[retiredRx]

Hi:

Need you help. Right now have air thru cruiseline. Can save $$ by booking thru AirGorilla. My problem is the return flight.

Our ship (Noordam) is scheduled to dock at 7AM. Is 11:15 TOO early? Would hate to end cruise stranded at airport. Also, not having travelled abroad before, would the airline get me another flight or will have to go standby.

Would really appreciate help.

Thanx

Mike and Bobbi

Noordam btob 7-20 & 7-30

[cberge]

Hi:

Need you help. Right now have air thru cruiseline. Can save $$ by booking thru AirGorilla. My problem is the return flight.

Our ship (Noordam) is scheduled to dock at 7AM. Is 11:15 TOO early? Would hate to end cruise stranded at airport. Also, not having travelled abroad before, would the airline get me another flight or will have to go standby.

Would really appreciate help.

Thanx

Mike and Bobbi

Noordam btob 7-20 & 7-30

 

I am going to say that you will pushing it to the limit..IF and I say if you can get off at 7am you would be ok,but the ship has to clear customs,you have to get your luggage,and get to the airport which will take you at least an hour(or more) since it will be rush hour.You should be at the airport 2 hours prior to flt. and if you have never been through FCO it can be daunting and confusing to say the least.If I were you I would stick to the airfare you have unless you can get a later flight or out the next day even to allow you a little more time in Rome with the cheaper airfare.I am sure other's will have more to say and they may have a better idea.Rushing to get off the ship and make a flight can add so much stress to the end of a nice cruise,and IMHO I don't think it's worth it unless you are saving a LOT of money.

[virgenia]

See my reply in the other thread you asked this question in. Basically I said the same thing as cberge just did.

[cruisingmimi]

The ships seem to dock much earlier than the posted schedule. Our ship docked at 4:30 am and we were off the ship at 6:15 am. If you can find out what the actual docking time is, and if it is very early, then you would not have any problem getting to FCO for your 11:15 am flight. What airline would you be traveling on?

 

Our check in at FCO was one of the easiest we have ever had. We checked in at the kiosk in front of the terminal (and someone is there to assist you in the process), then just went to the ticket booth and got our boarding passes. Then we went upstairs to wait for our flight.

 

If you booked your airfare through the ship, then you know they will have you off the ship early enough to get you to FCO.

 

If the savings is significant over the cruise line, then it might be worth taking a chance booking it through Air Gorilla. We booked our own airfare through BA and I was able to get a 1:35 pm flight out of Rome. I wouldn't hesitate to do it again, as we saved a lot of money booking our own airfare. Cruise line quoted us $1219.00 pp and I got BA flights for $607.00 pp. Quite a savings!

 

The other thing that you have to think about booking your own airfare is that you will have to get your own transfers to the airport because you are not booking cruise line airfare. That would not be a problem if you share a ride w/ others heading to the airport that day. It is about an hour's trip to the airport, depending upon the traffic.

 

Check to see what departure flights and times are available through a search engine and see what comes up. From what I observed on our cruise, most everyone that booked their own flights had departure times of 11:00 - 11:30 am.

 

Good luck.

 

Mary

[retiredRx]

Thanx everybody. You are right, it's not worth the risk. I guess I just needed confirmation.

Mike and Bobbi

[edinburgher]

If its not too late....

 

You asked about the airline getting you on a flight or putting you on standby if you missed yours.

 

What nobody pointed out, was that unless your ticket is fully flexible...ie...VERY expensive....it is likely to be good ONLY for a specific flight on a specific day with no refunds or exchanges allowed. Thats why some tickets can be sold much cheaper than others.

 

So, if you hold cheaper non flexible tickets and miss your flight, the airline IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION WHATSOEVER TO HELP YOU. Some might try to help, probably at a cost, others would just to tell you that you are not their responsibility. And you would have lost the value of your tickets if they are not refundable.

 

When you are thinking about buying a ticket, its always a good idea to read all of the Terms and Conditions which apply to that particular fare, before deciding whether or not to buy it.