European Cruises - Airline Prices

[PattiG]

I am considering a Mediterranean cruise which departs from Lisbon and arrives in Rome at the end of the cruise. One-way fares to and from Europe are exorbitant. It would cost me more for the flights than the cruise. Is there any way to get around this? Would appreciate any advice.

[Hlitner]

That would not necessarily be considered a one-way fare. The airlines call that an "open jaw" fare you can often get a price similar to a normal round trip. Try using any of the good online booking engines such as Kayak.com. sidestep.com or even Orbitz and click on the option for multiple destinations. Another option is to check with Aer Lingus (we like this airline) who flies to both those locations. They have flights going out of Boston, NYC, and Dulles that require a change in Dublin...which is not a bad thing. The reason is that they will also allow you to stop-over in Dublin for up to 30 days for no additional charge, and you keep the higher US baggage limits on the entire flight.

 

Hank

[cynbar]

We did a Med cruise in June (it was Barcelona round trip) and found that you really have to do your homework and give yourself some time. Flight prices were very high but they do go up and down ---- when they reached a rate we thought was fair, we grabbed them and paid about 1/2 of the highest rates we had seen. We got the best info by going directly to the airline's own websites.

[paul929207]

You will be eligible for an "open jaw" fare. You get an open jaw, when you are flying to one city and home from another, IF you meet the following restriction:

 

If you look at your route as a triangle where you are not flying one leg, the leg you are not flying must be the shortest of the three legs. In your case, Lisbon to Rome is shorter than either of your transatlantic legs, so you would qualify.

 

Open jaw fares are lower than two one-way fares.

[WeBeGone]

Also consider cruiseline air. Sometimes, it is less expensive than purchasing it yourself.

[cruising g-mom]

We use "open jaw" through our agent who deals with a consolidator. She watches the prices for us and grabs a good one when it comes up. Since we do our cruises through her, she doesn't charge extra for the flights. Of course, I watch also as suggested on other posts, but she has always gotten the best prices. A really good agent is hard to beat.

[Toto2Kansas]

I agree that many open jaw flights such as you are describing are sometimes much less expensive if booking through the cruise line. Once in awhile you can beat them on your own, but many times the cruise line price is the way to go.

I would check into both of them before deciding.

[Hlitner]

I agree that many open jaw flights such as you are describing are sometimes much less expensive if booking through the cruise line. Once in awhile you can beat them on your own, but many times the cruise line price is the way to go.

I would check into both of them before deciding.

 

I am going to be a bit of a contrarian and counsel using a lot of caution when using cruise air. If you look on the air boards you will see all the nightmare stories of folks who got awful schedules, impossible transfers (45 min to change terminals at Heathrow) etc. Over the years we have learned to generally do our own air and always fly-in at least a day early (to get over jet lag, better chance of having our luggage, etc). However, if the cruise line is offering a great deal on air, you might want to inquire about their "custom air" options. This usually does not cost much more and gives you some options on choosing your own flights.

 

Hank

[h3rjp]

You could try flying to a single destination in Europe and then booking your own internal flights with one of the lost cost airlines.

 

Both http://www.easyjet.com and http://www.ryanair.com offer some good prices for internal flights - plus you might be able to pull in a few extra cities too!

[agabbymama]

You could try flying to a single destination in Europe and then booking your own internal flights with one of the lost cost airlines.

 

Both http://www.easyjet.com and http://www.ryanair.com offer some good prices for internal flights - plus you might be able to pull in a few extra cities too!

 

Be careful when doing this, as your luggage allowance will be significantly reduced. I booked round trip from LAX to Paris (Air Tahiti Nui), planning on taking the train to Rome. Train plans fell through so I found another flight from Paris to Rome/Venice back to Paris, with Air France.

 

For the International flight from LAX to Paris I'm allowed 2 checked bags of 50 lbs each. For the DOMESTIC flight from Paris to Rome, I'm allowed 1 checked bag of 44 lbs. And the fees are atrocious. 150 EURO for a second bag. That would negate the savings I had on the airfare.

 

But Princess wanted $1600 for their airfare, so at $1150 I still saved

$500 pp. And will just have to keep my luggage under 44 lbs and do laundry :eek:

[Pia1913]

I am considering a Mediterranean cruise which departs from Lisbon and arrives in Rome at the end of the cruise. One-way fares to and from Europe are exorbitant. It would cost me more for the flights than the cruise. Is there any way to get around this? Would appreciate any advice.

 

I just did a quick search and found that leaving NY on May 3rd and returning on May 17th, Lufthansa non/stop is $1086. This is about average to/from Europe at this time.

[Toto2Kansas]

I am going to be a bit of a contrarian and counsel using a lot of caution when using cruise air. If you look on the air boards you will see all the nightmare stories of folks who got awful schedules, impossible transfers (45 min to change terminals at Heathrow) etc. Over the years we have learned to generally do our own air and always fly-in at least a day early (to get over jet lag, better chance of having our luggage, etc). However, if the cruise line is offering a great deal on air, you might want to inquire about their "custom air" options. This usually does not cost much more and gives you some options on choosing your own flights.

 

Hank

 

Good point I neglected to make Hank. When using cruise line air, we always pay the deviation fee to have a little more control over our flights. The charge is normally $75 per person and well worth the extra.

[Pam in CA]

I agree with the others in that it makes sense in this case to check into cruiseline air. Yes, I've heard some of the horror stories but I have also used cruiseline air several times and never had a problem or weird schedules. If you are leaving from an East Coast city, such as the OP would leave from NY, there are probably quite a few flights available through the cruiseline's consolidator and I doubt there would be "weird" deviations. The only thing to really watch would be connecting flight times but if you're flying from NY to Lisbon, my guess is that you'd have a direct flight; from Rome to NY, you'd probably go through Paris or Heathrow. Check those connecting times as either airport and be a nightmare.

[Strawberry]

We have booked this same itinerary for 2009. We did put the Princess air on our booking until we could see what was available on our own. They were charging us $1339 each without any deviation charges and without airport transfers. As soon as Continental opened up those days a month ago, we booked our flights direct to Lisbon from Newark and direct return from Rome to Newark. Total cost for our flights through Continental were $966 each and we got exactly the flights we wanted. We are arriving two days early in Lisbon and staying two days in Rome at the end of our cruise. Also, we can check two 50 lb. bags each if we want to with no extra charges.

Remember if book through Princess and you want to get there early or stay longer you will have to pay deviation charges plus any additional costs there may be for the air fare.

[Globaliser]

Is there any way to get around this?

To clarify the way that "open jaw" fares are priced, if you're flying (for example) New York->Lisbon, then Rome->New York, the "open jaw" ticket should be priced by adding half of the New York->Lisbon round-trip fare to half of the New York->Rome round-trip fare.

 

So there is absolutely no need to buy two one-way tickets, even if you're booking it yourself.

 

That means that when you're considering the familiar debates over whether or not to get the cruise line to arrange your air travel for you, it really is no different from a normal round-trip air ticket. You just have to book it on a different page on the airline's or travel agent's website.

[greatam]

I agree with the others in that it makes sense in this case to check into cruiseline air. Yes, I've heard some of the horror stories but I have also used cruiseline air several times and never had a problem or weird schedules. If you are leaving from an East Coast city, such as the OP would leave from NY, there are probably quite a few flights available through the cruiseline's consolidator and I doubt there would be "weird" deviations. The only thing to really watch would be connecting flight times but if you're flying from NY to Lisbon, my guess is that you'd have a direct flight; from Rome to NY, you'd probably go through Paris or Heathrow. Check those connecting times as either airport and be a nightmare.

 

The weird schedules are the least of the problems with cruise line air. The BIG problem is the NON ENDORSABLE feature of cruise air tickets. They are NO GOOD on another airline UNLESS the originating carrier pays the flying carrier IN CASH for your tickets. Your cruise air tickets have NO VALUE to another airline. They are non published fares and other than the originating airline, no other airline has any idea what the price was. Consequently, CASH on the barrel head to put you on another carrier. And in today's environment, ain't going to happen.

 

So if your originating airline has a problem getting you to your destination on time (doesn't matter what-crew, mechanical, airport, weather), you are STUCK with the originating airline. Maybe 2 hours or 2 days before there is space available on the originating airline. Meanwhile, you watch flights to your destination on carriers XXX, YYY and ZZZ leave with space YOU COULD HAVE BEEN IN if you hadn't booked a cruise air consolidator class ticket.

 

And then there is the famous wording in most cruise contracts. Most say something like this: "We book air, hotels, shore excursions and hotels as a CONVENIENCE to you. We have NO LIABILITY for the actions of a third party vendor. Our only responsibility is to refund your money"

 

No, the cruise line does not guarantee they will get you to the cruise. No, they don't hire private planes to fly you to private cruise line islands, so you can catch up with your cruise. And Princess goes so far as to put in writing that they are not liable for "disappointment". So you have no right to sue if you miss most of your cruise. Cruise air, in today's airline environment, could be your WORST move.

[vjmatty]

Sorry to jump on the cruise-air bashing wagon, but another drawback is that many cruise lines are now saying they will not lock in the price of the air unless and until final payment is made. I know Cunard has started this practice recently and someone mentioned Princess does now as well.

[EviesCruisin]

Try http://www.lessno.com - we got very reasonable rates one-way to Venice this fall. About $600 per person for the times we wanted, nice layover and nice airline. They don't have a lot of the harsh cancellation or change policies that some consolidators do. Also, once you are booked, you can work with the airline directly for seat changes and to manage your reservation. Worked for us ;) Good luck.

[FlyerTalker]

We use "open jaw" through our agent who deals with a consolidator. She watches the prices for us and grabs a good one when it comes up. Since we do our cruises through her, she doesn't charge extra for the flights. Of course, I watch also as suggested on other posts, but she has always gotten the best prices. A really good agent is hard to beat.

Please note that just because you get a consolidator ticket through your travel agent, you still have all of the restrictions and limitations on a self-bought conso ticket. If you aren't aware of those restrictions, do a search of this forum - many discussions on the inherent liabilities in using these before/after a cruise.