Does Celebrity Fly You In Early?

[carol459]

We have booked the May 3,2008, Baltic cruise on the Constellation. It is a RT cruise from Harwich, England, and we are investigating airfare costs now.

My Question-If you purchase airfare from Celebrity, do they fly you in a day early(this would be from LAX to Heathrow)?? Does anybody have any experience with purchasing Celebrity air for a European cruise?

 

Any input would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Carol and Rick

[Petert]

Hi Carol,

 

We sailed out of Harwich several times, with one trip using RCI bus transfers. The bus transfers are for the day of your sailing, and they board you at the airport for a two and a half hour ride to the Harwich cruise terminal. The cruise line (Celebrity/RCI) has one and two night precruise hotel stays in London, with bus transfers from these hotels to Harwich on your sail day.

 

The cost of transportation to Harwich can be quite expensive, but there are some excellent alternatives. There are regularly scheduled trains from London Liverpool station to Harwich or the Harwich cruise terminal that cost about $30. We have gotten together on the Celebrity Roll Call with several fellow cruisers to reserve a minibus to take us from the airport to the cruise terminal. We have even stayed in Harwich for two nights prior to sailing, and found the city quite interesting.

 

Petert

[Host Anne]

Carol ~ if you choose air deviation through the cruise line, you can choose to fly in a day early (and I highly recommend that you do so). Otherwise, you are at the mercy of the flights Celebrity chooses for you (after nearly missing a ship a few years back when our air connection was too close to sailing, we now book our own air). If you are a certain level in Celebrity's Captain Club, they do not charge you for air deviation. If you do not qualify for free air deviation, there is a charge to select your flights. Going from LA to London, I'd pay the fare for deviation or book my flights on my own. Far too many potential delays could occur if you fly into Europe the day of departure.

 

I should add that I haven't used the cruise line air for a European cruise so they may automatically build in a bit more time than for US based departures. Perhaps someone who has used cruise line air to Europe can be a bit more specific.

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

[Mooneydiva]

We're taking the Century out of Amsterdam in September, and I checked into Celebrity's doing the air before I booked my own. I know this is a different country, but it deals with Celebrity. . . .

 

What I found is this: They would not tell me when Celebrity would fly us in. . ..They said it would most likely be the day of departure. . . .Actually, we would leave the night before and arrive morning of embarkation. They said any deviation would be a $75 pp charge extra. In addition, the cost of the flight was about $1500 pp.

 

I decided to check on my own air, and I found flights on US Air for $640 pp to Amsterdam and back from Barcelona. And, we leave two days before just to be safe.

 

Hope this helps. . ..

 

Chris

[Kathie44]

When you are going that far, it would be too scary to fly in the day of the cruise. Last year we cruised the British Isles/Nor. Fjords on Jewel of the Seas with my HS friend and her husband. We had decided that it would be terrible to be in London and not see anything but the airport, so we flew in 3 days early and spent a long weekend touring London and outlying areas. I'm so glad we did. We booked the hotel & transfers through our TA and the cruiseline.

Our British friends from our first cruise met us at the hotel (City Inn Westminster) on Fri. 6/16 and after lunch took us on a personalized walking tour of the main tourist area near the hotel--Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament, Buckingham palace, Trafalgar Square, St. James Park and much more.

The next day we went on a motorcoach to Leeds Castle, Canterbury and Dover with High Tea on the way back. We pre-arranged that tour through Evan-Evans (a UK travel company) on the web. It was 1/2 the $$ the cruiseline was charging for the same tour.

The last day we bought a ticket for the double-decker bus and rode around London all day. We toured the Tower of London, took a boat ride on the Thames, rode the London Eye, had a quick visit to St. Paul's Cathdral and passed all the sights we had already seen.

There was an RCI/Celeb. rep at the hotel helping pax from both lines. (The Connie sailed from Dover for the Scandinavia/Russia/Baltic cruise on that Sat. We saw it from the beach on our photo op stop.) We bought our bus and London Eye tix from her, to avoid standing in lines later. The ship sailed on 6/19 out of Harwich. We had RCI shuttle service from Gatwick to the hotel (private car), hotel to ship and ship to Heathrow. No hassle at all.

Our experiences with both lines have been about the same--great! :D

 

1/02 Explorer E. Carib.

1/03 Explorer W. Carib.

8/03 Summit Alaska cruise/tour (Cruise line air)

2/04 Adventure S. Carib.

2/05 Galaxy Panama Canal

6/06 Jewel Brit. Isles/Nor. Fjords + 3 days in London (Cruise line air/hotel)

1/07 Mercury Mexican Riviera

1/08 Mercury Aust/NZ (Cruise line air/hotels)

[caviargal]

My friends choose Celebrity air for the June Alaska cruise and just got their flights. They have to sit in Anchorage til 9:52 and then take a red eye with a 4 hour connection. Horrendous and they live in Chicago. WHat a nasty way to end a nice cruise.

 

I never choose cruise line air. I fly in the day before if my flight is not within FL.

[hajekfam]

Hi Carol,

 

We sailed out of Harwich several times, with one trip using RCI bus transfers. The bus transfers are for the day of your sailing, and they board you at the airport for a two and a half hour ride to the Harwich cruise terminal. The cruise line (Celebrity/RCI) has one and two night precruise hotel stays in London, with bus transfers from these hotels to Harwich on your sail day.

 

The cost of transportation to Harwich can be quite expensive, but there are some excellent alternatives. There are regularly scheduled trains from London Liverpool station to Harwich or the Harwich cruise terminal that cost about $30. We have gotten together on the Celebrity Roll Call with several fellow cruisers to reserve a minibus to take us from the airport to the cruise terminal. We have even stayed in Harwich for two nights prior to sailing, and found the city quite interesting.

 

Petert

 

When we do transatlantics, we use Celebrity air to fly us into Barcelona (much cheaper since we need a one way flight). Since we use Celebrity air, in our documents there is a voucher good for transportation between the airport and pier on the day of cruise only. We always fly in a few days earlier to sightsee and book the hotel on our own. The hotel (Le Meridien) that we book is also used by Celebrity. I called Celebrity to see if our transfer voucher could be exchanged for one between the hotel and pier on the day of sailing, since they were already picking up passengers at that hotel. They told me I couldn't, but I could go to the airport on the day of sailing and take the transfer fromt there. In Barcelona, the cost of transportation from the airport to hotel cost more than from the hotel to pier so it wasn't worth it to us to go back to the airport. But in some embarkation ports, it might be cheaper to go back to the airport on sailing day.

 

If you are a certain level in Celebrity's Captain Club, they do not charge you for air deviation. If you do not qualify for free air deviation, there is a charge to select your flights.

As far as the fee for air deviation, that fee is waived for any level of Captain's Club for Celebrity (Royal Caribbean doesn't waive the fee until you reach platinum). That fee is just for the cruiseline changing to your specified air. If you do a deviation and you request flights from hubs or airlines not used by used by Celebrity, or seating other than economy, you will be charged for any airfare over their contracted rate - this applies to all - captains club members or not.

[BurBunny]

My friends choose Celebrity air for the June Alaska cruise and just got their flights. They have to sit in Anchorage til 9:52 and then take a red eye with a 4 hour connection. Horrendous and they live in Chicago. WHat a nasty way to end a nice cruise.

 

I never choose cruise line air. I fly in the day before if my flight is not within FL.

 

Unfortunately, most of the flights back to the "Lower 48" from Anchorage and Fairbanks are overnights. However, a 4-hour layover is no fun at all.

 

For Alaska and Europe, I always recommend deviations. Even if you're not going in early or staying later, you can usually get better flight options than what they offer without deviation.

[azman]

Although we may be a little late, my wife and I are considering the 5/3 Celebrity Baltic cruise from Harwich. I came across your post and I'm curious as to what travel arrangements you've made. It seems that the transfer from the London airport to Harwich is a little dicey. We would want to arrive a day early, but not spend a fortune on a London hotel or the transfer. Can you tell me what you've decided on? We would be leaving from Phoenix, Arizona. Thanks

[carol459]

Although we may be a little late, my wife and I are considering the 5/3 Celebrity Baltic cruise from Harwich. I came across your post and I'm curious as to what travel arrangements you've made. It seems that the transfer from the London airport to Harwich is a little dicey. We would want to arrive a day early, but not spend a fortune on a London hotel or the transfer. Can you tell me what you've decided on? We would be leaving from Phoenix, Arizona. Thanks

 

We found a package that includes transfers from London to Harwich and includes 2 nights in London. The air fare at that time from the TA was $980 RT per person. We just booked our own airfare for $760 per person RT(LAX to LHR), non-stop on British Airways. We are looking into transfers back to LHR after disembarkation. Check the roll call thread for the cruise and others might have more info for you.

Rick

[CaliforniaDreamin]

I booked this cruise through =X= on Constellation with =X= air cost of $499 pp with transfers R/T from LAX on 6 Dec 07. =X= had a promotional price on the air, it may still be on, it was a few days ago.

[tom_uk]

In general I think that you will be flown in on the day of departure, unless you ask for a change (a 'deviation') and pay for it.

 

Last June we were on Galaxy. We're happy to fly in on the departure day (we're only flying from the UK), and we arrived at Rome at about about 10:45. By 11:30 or so we were directed to a coach which was already pretty full of americans who had arrived a short while earlier on overnight flights from the US. This was a group of very tired and rather irritable people. The fact that the air-con on the coach wasn't working (in 90 degree heat) didn't help matters, nor did the slight accident en-route & subsequent delay during the journey. (I blogged about it here: http://tomtotley.wordpress.com/2007/06/23/galaxy-2007-day-1/ )

 

So this can be a stressful experience!

[carol459]

I booked this cruise through =X= on Constellation with =X= air cost of $499 pp with transfers R/T from LAX on 6 Dec 07. =X= had a promotional price on the air, it may still be on, it was a few days ago.

 

Good show! Where on the Celebrity site did you find this? They still do not have shore excursions yet?

 

Rick

[CaliforniaDreamin]

Good show! Where on the Celebrity site did you find this? They still do not have shore excursions yet?

 

Rick

 

Just go into the Book A Cruise process and select this cruise and under (3) Chose Air Transportation click on Select and Airport and then choose LAX. Continue throught the booking process with cabin type etc. until the price comes up. It will show the Air as a separate entry.

 

It is still $499 pp.

 

There is a Roll Call started for this cruise, so come on over and join in. It is not too active right now, but hopefully it will pick up soon.

[Oakman]

Hi Carol-

We did the Baltic Constellation cruise 2 years ago sailing RT from Harwich. We arranged our own air (at the time much cheaper than what was offered by Celebrity), stayed 2 nights in London at a hotel of our own choosing and purchased the Harwich bus transfer from Celebrity. At the time it was $45 p.p. We took a cab on departure morning to the designated bus station in Central London, checked in, bags loaded on tractor trailers(which departed immediately) and had a very relaxing and scenic drive to the pier. Checked in at the pier, and our bags were wainting for us in our cabin. Also purchased return transfers to Gatwick. Off the ship early, and at the airport, checked in, and happily having a Bloody Mary at 815AM for a 12:05 PM departure. Very smooth and stress free!!

[carol459]

 

There is a Roll Call started for this cruise, so come on over and join in. It is not too active right now, but hopefully it will pick up soon.

 

We found it already. Thanks.

 

Rick

[carol459]

Just go into the Book A Cruise process and select this cruise and under (3) Chose Air Transportation click on Select and Airport and then choose LAX. Continue throught the booking process with cabin type etc. until the price comes up. It will show the Air as a separate entry.

 

It is still $499 pp.

 

There is a Roll Call started for this cruise, so come on over and join in. It is not too active right now, but hopefully it will pick up soon.

 

I looked and you are correct. The 2a Balcony is the good deal. The 2b balcony airfare is $979. No More 2c balconies. The total for the 2a is still more than we are paying through the TA for a 2c. It is interesting that there are different airfares for essentially two identical cabin types.

 

See you on the other thread.

 

Rick

[DMRick]

Oakman, can you email me at personalizedyourway@aol.com. I'm trying to do something similar, and it's so confusing compared to here in the states for me.

We arranged our air, but when we get to London the night before, we want to stay for a night in London. We thought we would have to come back to the airport to catch the transger, but it sounds like you caught the transfer in London. Is that right? How did you get to your hotel from Gatwick?

Thanks so much.

 

 

Hi Carol-

We did the Baltic Constellation cruise 2 years ago sailing RT from Harwich. We arranged our own air (at the time much cheaper than what was offered by Celebrity), stayed 2 nights in London at a hotel of our own choosing and purchased the Harwich bus transfer from Celebrity. At the time it was $45 p.p. We took a cab on departure morning to the designated bus station in Central London, checked in, bags loaded on tractor trailers(which departed immediately) and had a very relaxing and scenic drive to the pier. Checked in at the pier, and our bags were wainting for us in our cabin. Also purchased return transfers to Gatwick. Off the ship early, and at the airport, checked in, and happily having a Bloody Mary at 815AM for a 12:05 PM departure. Very smooth and stress free!!