Buying flights with Carnival

[Agocruisin]

Hello,

 

we are frequent cruisers but are considering buying airfare from Carnival for the first time; wondering what happens if your flight can't get to your port city because of weather/mechanical problems? Do you get flown into the next port, and do you get compensated because of cruising days lost?

 

Also, when you get to the airport, do you get immediately taken to the port of do they combine several flights? We are traveling with two toddlers and waiting for a bus would not sit well with us...or them! Do you have any boarding priority (wishful thinking!)

 

Thanks!

[jleq]

No compensation. Also, "cruise air" is from point A to point B. If nonstop is cheaper....you get nonstop. If "17 connections" is cheaper....you get "17 connections". Their buses hold 50. If their are 50 people on your flight...bus goes immediately. If there are 5 people on 10 flights which come in within 30 minutes [or so] of each other...you leave after the 10th flight arrives. You can often buy a deviation to give yourself some control over their airline [but not bus] decision

[Guest YesitDonna]

I have also heard from people that they were taken to the port at 3:00 with a sail away time of 4:00. Seems to me a lot of good cruise hours, not to mention lunch, are missed. I wouldn't do it but then again we always go down the day before.

[Darcy03231]

I always book my own flights. They are less expensive and I have more control. Given that you are traveling with two toddlers you might want to make sure you have a non-stop flight (been there and done that!). We fly in the day before and stay overnight in our port city. Its a nice way to start your vacation and you don't have to worry about missed or cancelled flights that way.

[ellyzma]

I also urge you to book your own flights and fly down a day early...

 

My story:

 

I flew to San Juan a day early for the southern caribbean cruise in Oct.

Thank Goodness! I forgot my birth certificate and had to get my parents to send it air cargo (for over $100). :eek: They were at home with my DD. If I had flown in the morning of the cruise I wouldn't have gotten on the ship... The flight my BC took didn't arrive until midnight... Talk about a stressful first day in San Juan!

 

The cruise was a much needed stressfree vacation... And we celebrated our 10th anniversary...

 

Ellyzma (Beth)

[big_duck]

Carnival air is not always more expensive. Like anything else, you need to comparison shop (and don't forget to include transfer costs).

 

For our last cruise on the Triumph, I could get anyting close to what Carnival was charging, at the time I thought is was a bargain. When I got my docs from Carnival, the following was included in my $379 pp that Carnival charged:

 

Flight leaving home the afternoon before (2 segments),

Transfer to hotel,

hotel,

transfer to ship

transfer from ship

Flight returning home 1st class <= I have no idea why (2 segments).

 

Booked myself is was looking at about $750 + hotel + transfers. I think I got a steal. ;)

 

Now all that being said, the above was definately NOT the norm.

[shipty2]

I have only let Carnival book my flight once and would never do it again-even if it were free. Too many connections and waiting for that bus to fill in the in the Florida sun was awful .

[cardinalfan]

I generally book my own airfare, but we have just booked an Alaskan cruise and the airfare was about $400.00 a person cheaper with Carnival.

[auburn77]

We used Carnival to book our air for the Liberty Med cruise. This was the only time we had done this through Carnival and we were worreid after reading the horror stories.

 

Not only was the cost much less than what we could have arranged on our own,it was almost effortless. The flight over was direct. We were met by Carnival reps at the airport and were on the bus in decent time. In fact,the transfers to and from airport were excellent. The flight back only had one stop.

 

I'm sure that some people have had legitimate problems, but I believe that they are in the minority. You won't hear from the vast majority that had a good experience.

[Notaveragelady]

Air bookings should depend on your origin airport and the destination airport. I live 15 minutes from a major airport. Sometimes Air add-ons are a bargain, sometimes they (along with the insurance) give you a sense of security. I agree with the previous poster that the air add-on for the Liberty is something I could not have matched, either in price or convenience. However, when cruising out of FL ports, I frequently book my own air, because I know I can shop and get direct flights, just not on the airlines the cruise lines would book with. This is not a situation unique to Carnival, it occurs on other lines too. NCL wanted more than $800 a person for a friend's airfare to catch a ship in Los Angeles, and fly home form Hawaii. They got their combined airfare for about the cost of one air add-on. So, if you're a savvy air travel consumer, you probably CAN do better on your own.

 

My own biggest fear about airline prices, is, right now, they are too unpredictable. and at least I 'lock in' the fare if I book it through the cruise lines now. If I find a better price before the deadline, I can always cancel the airfare portion.

[mabgab]

Both of the cruises we booked Carnival airfare, wasn't what we had haoped.

On both the Glory & Conquest got to the ship just before sailing. We are booking air seperately this time and are planning to go the day before.

[abby and nathan's mom]

We just today got home from Glory. Carnival did our airfare. The boat was supposed to leave at 4:00 p.m. We were boarding the ship right at 4:00 after we got to Orlando at 1:30 then had to wait to get a full bus to get to Pt. Canaveral then a road construction delay. It was not a very good experience. On the way home, traveling with 4 small children in our party of 8, we had a 5 hour layover in Atlanta. Definitely not a positive experience!!:( :(

[krazy4kruisin]

Good info. Thanks

[cardinalfan]

However, if Carnival books your airfare and there are delays, they are going to wait a reasonable amount of time for you as opposed to if you book your own airfare. There are some advantages to letting Carnival do it all.