Booking air,cruise, hotel togather or sep.

[Charlie2na]

Looking at Massdam in Jan,out of Boston or Portland Me to arrive in Norfolk a day early in case of weather delays . Will need one night in hotel and transfer from hotel to cruiseport then from cruiseport back to airport. Pricing online though Travelocity or Orbitz , airfare is double if booked togather with cruise and hotel is at least double as it is sold per person not per room! Is this a no brainer to book sep. or can I get into a mess somehow?

[Krazy Kruizers]

:)

 

Just check the various airlines in your area and see what prices they are charging.

 

Also do the same thing for the hotels - go the various hotel sites - like Sheraton - Hampton Inn - I can' think of the other hotels in that area. And see what they charge for a one night stay.

 

Count on using cabs from airport to hotel to pier, etc.

 

The cruise lines charge a lot more for their hotel packages because they are including transfers from hotel to pier and vise versa. And unless you use the cruise line's air, they don't include transfers from the airport to the hotel. That is another charge.

 

:)

[Charlie2na]

Thanks Krazy,...I understand an additional charge for transfers, but from 140.00 to 340.00 pp airfare if booked togather.... thats really crazy!I'll just book it all sep. and save about 700.00.

[stillfrantic]

We always book things by themselves too, and fly in the day before to eliminate the "what if the flight is delayed" problem. A one night stay pre flight or pre cruise is a great time to give Priceline a try. I've gotten hotels where the lowest price I could book conventially was $250+ for in the $40-50 range. www.biddingfortravel.com is a wonderful resource for information about Priceline.

[jhannah]

I've found a great site named Travelaxe. You go there and enter your town and dates and it goes out and searches abour 5 different hotel booking sites for the best prices.

 

We always book separately. Much cheaper that way. Since we almost always go in a day ahead of sailing, we don't have fear of missing a connection and therefore missing the ship.

[Tatka]

I've never booked air through the cruiseline or cruise agencies!

 

It's way overpriced! I understand wishing to be on the ship on time but it's still crazy.

 

I just booked an air R/T Boston - San Francisco non-stop with very convinient times to arrive and depart for $260 pp , (almost the same prices on AA site , Orbitz and Expedia) ....for my Mercury cruise. Quote from Celebrity, even cruise quick was $700 pp!!!

 

 

Can you imagine paying $2100 for 3 of us instead of $780 ?

[Cruiseoften]

If you're leaving from and returning to the same port there's no percentage in having the cruise line do the air. Many hotels have free shuttles from the airport to the hotel. However, if you're leaving from one port and returning to another, it's a different story - cruise line air is usually much more economical.

[Budget Queen]

I always book my own air, hotels and transfers. Extremely easy to do on your own, especially in the US. Since you already priced out the options, I think that speaks volumes. :)

[Charlie2na]

Thanks all, I was nervous booking all separate... but the alternative is a huge increase in price

[superstein61]

Looking at Massdam in Jan,out of Boston or Portland Me to arrive in Norfolk a day early in case of weather delays . Will need one night in hotel and transfer from hotel to cruiseport then from cruiseport back to airport. Pricing online though Travelocity or Orbitz , airfare is double if booked togather with cruise and hotel is at least double as it is sold per person not per room! Is this a no brainer to book sep. or can I get into a mess somehow?

 

I always book separate. the money you save can be significant. Especially since you are flying down the day before. I would suggect you look into booking your hotel via priceline - you can save significantly more in some cities (I don't know abot Norfolk - but I save between $80 and $120 in Fort Lauderdale each time I use priceline. In Vancouver - I was able to get a 4 star hotel for $50 on Priceline when the going rate elsewhere was around $250

[Charlie2na]

Thanks... I will look at priceline once our plans are final.

[Sue's Mom]

We're from the UK and are great fans of the US. We always book separately and saved a lot of $$$$. This time around we have an extra two days since we fly out of UK two days early.

 

I am our own "travel agent" and like doing all the research to see what bargains I can get. So far, fingers crossed, everything has worked out OK.

[Krazy Kruizers]

:)

 

The money you save, means that you can go on another cruise.

 

:D

[Orcrone]

Charlie,

 

A couple of suggestions.

 

The Radisson on Monticello Ave has a package. One night in the hotel, parking in their lot and I think breakfast the morning of departure for $134. But I guess if you're flying that doesn't buy you anything. As far as inexpensive flights, Southwest flies into Norfolk. I know that they fly out of Manchester NH. I don't know if it's worth it but AirTran has non-stops from Logan to Newport News. It's probably about 30 - 40 minutes from there to downtown Norfolk. If you get a really good fare it may be worth flying into there.

Regardless, if you're allowing an extra day for weather problems I would book it on my own and save the $$$.

[Tatka]

We're from the UK and are great fans of the US. We always book separately and saved a lot of $$$$. This time around we have an extra two days since we fly out of UK two days early.

 

I am our own "travel agent" and like doing all the research to see what bargains I can get. So far' date=' fingers crossed, everything has worked out OK.[/quote']I love doing my own research and saving $$$. Because of this we are able to cruise twice per year!!!

 

Btw we are also fans of UK. We have been to London in May and absolutely loved it. Can't wait to return back for more days. I think it'll happen very soon as my husband's recently become a huge Chelsea fan and wants to fly for there game. :)

[Charlie2na]

Thanks all, prety good buy on airfare from Bos, nonstop 1 3/4 hrs ... nice ..$140.00 Marriott waterside sounds good! close to the pier and stuff to see prior to sailing. Will do a park and fly in Bos...97.00 for one night and leave the car as long as needed... good deal.