Has anybody ever purchased a ticket through a cruise line? What was the experience like? Can you alter the dates to extend your stay at the port of departure or arrival?
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Not worthwhile. My parents were once bussed by NCL for three hours since it was less expensive for them to depart from Montreal than from Quebec City.
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@Nidal Normally, I’d be all over the complaining bandwagon about these absurd NCL chosen flights, but Quebec is a small airport with extremely few flights. Flying from Quebec to Montreal and then going through pre-clearance might make your connection to numerous US destinations anything between frustrating to impossible.
We have decided to take Holland America’s post-cruise bus twice, from Quebec to Montreal. There were four full buses full of folks who took the same decision on our previous tour. Not including all of the people who booked trains on their own.
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Not even my NCL PCC endorses it. If their own staff members don’t think it’s a good idea, they ought to inform you.
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I always do that. But since I’m from the EU, the legal landscape is different.
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I succeeded, and although I arrived at my cruise, I was really anxious due to a brief connection time they had scheduled. They also scheduled the earliest flight for my descent and the latest flight for my return. They don’t select flights based on your personal preferences.
I made my cruise and saved a big amount of money. However, ever since then, I’ve developed a strong predilection for purchasing my own tickets.
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I’m going to defy expectations. My experiences using Princess to book flights have been positive. You select the exact planes you wish to reserve, therefore the grievances people have about the cruise line selecting the itinerary (poor airports, awkward connections, etc.) are unfounded. Usually, I like to make direct reservations, but Princess’s significantly lower tickets were too good to refuse. Furthermore, nothing locks you in until 45 days from now. Bookings can be made a few days before to or following the trip.
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@Adele We ALWAYS book via Princess ez-air. The fares are good, they guarantee you won’t miss the cruise, and they’re super flexible and easy. I book them immediately as soon as they’re available, and then I check on them regularly and rebook if the price goes down. It really is easy. And yes, you can book them a few days before and after the cruise. You also don’t pay a dime until your cruise balance is due - so you could even cancel the flights if you found a better deal. It’s literally risk free until the payment is due.
There were only two times we didn’t book with Princess - once we almost missed our ship, and the second time I booked independently the cruise ended up getting cancelled due to Covid, and -even with travel insurance- the airline made us pay a cancellation fee, so we lost whatever we saved booking with the airline. In contrast Princess cancels your flights if they cancel your cruise.
There’s never been a downside to booking thru Princess. Other cruise lines may vary.
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Its ok with princess,royal and Holland. You pick your flights and airlines just like expedia. I wouldn’t let NCL book me anything blindly .
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Never make a reservation via a cruise line It is never pleasant.
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In general, people advise against it. On our previous cruise, we experienced no problems. We made plans to arrive early, but we did so before making the reservation. Once tickets are issued, I don’t think there are much modifications you can make.
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Just don’t act on it. This channel alone has a ton of horror stories. What possible advantage does it have? Make all of your flight reservations directly.
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Yes, you can schedule extensions to arrive early or depart later. We’ve completed it. Depending on the deal being offered, it may save you money. However, as others have noted, things may not be going well right now and connections appear to be in style.
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We used it to take a HAL cruise and fly into Reykjavik. Although it was $30 less expensive per person, there were more limitations than when you made a direct airline reservation. We used TAP to arrange our own flights for the return trip home from Amsterdam. It worked well for this trip, but we’re not sure if we would do it again. As an aside, during our NCL trip last year, we received nothing but negative feedback regarding the flights that were reserved through NCL. Avoid using NCL to book flights. Sounds like a pain at best, and a tragedy waiting to happen.
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Though it really depends on the line, the major ones are typically poor.
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I would never make a cruise line reservation. To the extent that it is possible, I prefer to be in charge of my flights, including the airport, the length of the layover, etc.
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It depends on the cruise line. Some of them are a royal pain. NCL for sure. But the higher end cruise lines will bend over to get you the flight you want. And they will charge you to do it.
For instance, Viking will do your air, but if you want to go in early (not on one of their extensions), you pay $100 each to get “deviation.”
They will also let you choose your own flight. If you find one on Google Flights or Kayak you can just ask them to book that flight. That’s called “Custom Air” and it costs $150 per person.
The reason to book with many of the cruise lines is that they may offer you either free air on some special deals or a greatly reduced airfare. Many times they get great deals. Example: we are flying to Madrid via London next month in Business Class. I priced the tickets on my own and they were $4,500 per person. Viking found them for $3,500 per person for the flight I wanted.
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Very reliant on cruise lines. I used Cunard’s flying option, and for around $300 more than the Econ cost, they upgraded me to a mix of premium economy and business, which was a great deal. They were also able to schedule it on the day I wanted, which was not the cruise day—rather, it was a week before the ship sailed. I was allowed to utilize my frequent flyer account and choose my airline.