Air deviation question

We've taken 3 cruises out of Miami so we're not newbies to cruising or
the area. Next year we have the Radiance of the Seas booked for an 8 day
out of Fort Lauderdale. As usual we plan on going down 2 days early and
have already tentatively booked air and cruise together with RCI. In
fact we did it last May when gas prices were high anticipating that the
fee they were offering for air would only go up- early bird catches the
worm.

Anyway, my question is, we'll need to book air deviation and pay the $50
pp to fly down 2 days early and I understand that (don't agree but
understand). We've been thinking that it would be nice to fly into Miami
instead of Fort Lauderdale and spend a day out at South Beach. Is it
possible to request that RCI fly us into Miami instead? If so, how would
they get us to the ship in Fort Lauderdale? I'm guessing that if they
accommodate the Miami request that we would need to cab ride it out to
Miami Airport and pick up the RCI bus to Fort Lauderdale but I don't
know that for sure.

Thanks for any response.

-mgb

The way you are proposing to do all of this seems unnecessary and expensive.
JMO, of course. When I was new to cruising, back in the mid-90's, and
internet access wasn't an option yet, I had the cruise line book our air,
for a total of two cruises. In the past many years with online access at
everyone's fingertips, it's so easy--and yes, usually much cheaper, to just
book your own airline tickets, and save money, and have the freedom to
choose your flight schedules, and even which airport you want to fly in to.
For lots of airlines, there is no penalty for booking one-way tickets
(Airtran, Southwest, AA). I think this is especially true for flights to
Florida, which are so plentiful and affordable. Here's what I would do if I
were you: Fly into Miami, pick up a rental car, spend the day in
Miami/South Beach (great place by the way, you will enjoy it!), and then
drive up to Ft. Lauderdale (about 35 minutes straight up I-95.) You can
have the convenience of the rental car during your two night stay and then
return it to the rental agency (they're all located at FLL airport, which is
only minutes from the cruise port), and most car rental agencies (at least
Budget does) will shuttle you to Port Everglades. It's all very easy and
you won't be paying inflated airline fees imposed by the cruise line, OR a
deviation fee.

Whatever you decide to do, I hope you have a great cruise!

Karen
Owings Mills, MD



"mgb" wrote in message
...
We've taken 3 cruises out of Miami so we're not newbies to cruising or the
area. Next year we have the Radiance of the Seas booked for an 8 day out
of Fort Lauderdale. As usual we plan on going down 2 days early and have
already tentatively booked air and cruise together with RCI. In fact we
did it last May when gas prices were high anticipating that the fee they
were offering for air would only go up- early bird catches the worm.

Anyway, my question is, we'll need to book air deviation and pay the $50
pp to fly down 2 days early and I understand that (don't agree but
understand). We've been thinking that it would be nice to fly into Miami
instead of Fort Lauderdale and spend a day out at South Beach. Is it
possible to request that RCI fly us into Miami instead? If so, how would
they get us to the ship in Fort Lauderdale? I'm guessing that if they
accommodate the Miami request that we would need to cab ride it out to
Miami Airport and pick up the RCI bus to Fort Lauderdale but I don't know
that for sure.

Thanks for any response.

-mgb

mgb wrote:
We've taken 3 cruises out of Miami so we're not newbies to cruising or
the area. Next year we have the Radiance of the Seas booked for an 8 day
out of Fort Lauderdale. As usual we plan on going down 2 days early and
have already tentatively booked air and cruise together with RCI. In
fact we did it last May when gas prices were high anticipating that the
fee they were offering for air would only go up- early bird catches the
worm.

Anyway, my question is, we'll need to book air deviation and pay the $50
pp to fly down 2 days early and I understand that (don't agree but
understand). We've been thinking that it would be nice to fly into Miami
instead of Fort Lauderdale and spend a day out at South Beach. Is it
possible to request that RCI fly us into Miami instead? If so, how would
they get us to the ship in Fort Lauderdale? I'm guessing that if they
accommodate the Miami request that we would need to cab ride it out to
Miami Airport and pick up the RCI bus to Fort Lauderdale but I don't
know that for sure.

Why book your air through the cruise lines? I don't know where you live,
but most of the time it is much cheaper to book your own flights. With
the cruise air not only is it usually much more expensive, but then you
would be paying an air deviation to get the flights you want.

Book your own air to Fort Lauderdale and rent a car for the days you
will be there pre-cruse. When you get off the ship, you can get a cab to
the airport, we have never had a problem getting one.

sue

Sue and Kevin Mullen wrote:


mgb wrote:
We've taken 3 cruises out of Miami so we're not newbies to cruising or
the area. Next year we have the Radiance of the Seas booked for an 8
day out of Fort Lauderdale. As usual we plan on going down 2 days
early and have already tentatively booked air and cruise together with
RCI. In fact we did it last May when gas prices were high anticipating
that the fee they were offering for air would only go up- early bird
catches the worm.

Anyway, my question is, we'll need to book air deviation and pay the
$50 pp to fly down 2 days early and I understand that (don't agree but
understand). We've been thinking that it would be nice to fly into
Miami instead of Fort Lauderdale and spend a day out at South Beach.
Is it possible to request that RCI fly us into Miami instead? If so,
how would they get us to the ship in Fort Lauderdale? I'm guessing
that if they accommodate the Miami request that we would need to cab
ride it out to Miami Airport and pick up the RCI bus to Fort
Lauderdale but I don't know that for sure.

Why book your air through the cruise lines? I don't know where you live,
but most of the time it is much cheaper to book your own flights. With
the cruise air not only is it usually much more expensive, but then you
would be paying an air deviation to get the flights you want.

Book your own air to Fort Lauderdale and rent a car for the days you
will be there pre-cruse. When you get off the ship, you can get a cab to
the airport, we have never had a problem getting one.

sue

Thanks for the reply. The only reason we booked air with the cruise line
was to baseline what we would be paying. We live in Canada next door to
Maine so we priced air from Bangor and got it for about $500pp. Where I
live, that's a steal. So I figured we'd hold that price until we get to
within the booking period (330 days?? - cruise in Feb 2008) and then
compare the price on our own out of Bangor.

What you suggest is a viable option for sure and we've actually talked
about doing just that so I'm just getting my ducks in a row now.

mgb wrote:
Sue and Kevin Mullen wrote:


mgb wrote:
We've taken 3 cruises out of Miami so we're not newbies to cruising
or the area. Next year we have the Radiance of the Seas booked for an
8 day out of Fort Lauderdale. As usual we plan on going down 2 days
early and have already tentatively booked air and cruise together
with RCI. In fact we did it last May when gas prices were high
anticipating that the fee they were offering for air would only go
up- early bird catches the worm.

Anyway, my question is, we'll need to book air deviation and pay the
$50 pp to fly down 2 days early and I understand that (don't agree
but understand). We've been thinking that it would be nice to fly
into Miami instead of Fort Lauderdale and spend a day out at South
Beach. Is it possible to request that RCI fly us into Miami instead?
If so, how would they get us to the ship in Fort Lauderdale? I'm
guessing that if they accommodate the Miami request that we would
need to cab ride it out to Miami Airport and pick up the RCI bus to
Fort Lauderdale but I don't know that for sure.

Why book your air through the cruise lines? I don't know where you
live, but most of the time it is much cheaper to book your own
flights. With the cruise air not only is it usually much more
expensive, but then you would be paying an air deviation to get the
flights you want.

Book your own air to Fort Lauderdale and rent a car for the days you
will be there pre-cruse. When you get off the ship, you can get a cab
to the airport, we have never had a problem getting one.

sue

Thanks for the reply. The only reason we booked air with the cruise line
was to baseline what we would be paying. We live in Canada next door to
Maine so we priced air from Bangor and got it for about $500pp. Where I
live, that's a steal. So I figured we'd hold that price until we get to
within the booking period (330 days?? - cruise in Feb 2008) and then
compare the price on our own out of Bangor.

What you suggest is a viable option for sure and we've actually talked
about doing just that so I'm just getting my ducks in a row now.


This is why I said "most of the time", there are always some exceptions.
I hope in the long run you find cheaper air then cruise air!!

sue

Yes, booking transportation to the port city and to the cruise ship on your
own could save money.
BUT..... we were on the Zenith last month when the channel into Tampa was
fogged in and the Coast Guard wouldn't allow ships to go to Tampa to dock
for over 4 hours. This hampered people getting off the ship for about 6
hours, causing many to miss their flights. A few had to spend the night in
Tampa before they could get a flight out. I heard of extra charges of $200
to almost $1,000 to rebook and in some cases to make hotel reservations.
Those that had booked flights with the cruise line could 'sit back and
relax' while the cruise line did whatever was necessary to get these people
on their way asap.

"Karen Henelde" wrote in message
. ..
The way you are proposing to do all of this seems unnecessary and
expensive. JMO, of course. When I was new to cruising, back in the
mid-90's, and internet access wasn't an option yet, I had the cruise line
book our air, for a total of two cruises. In the past many years with
online access at everyone's fingertips, it's so easy--and yes, usually
much cheaper, to just book your own airline tickets, and save money, and
have the freedom to choose your flight schedules, and even which airport
you want to fly in to. For lots of airlines, there is no penalty for
booking one-way tickets (Airtran, Southwest, AA). I think this is
especially true for flights to Florida, which are so plentiful and
affordable. Here's what I would do if I were you: Fly into Miami, pick
up a rental car, spend the day in Miami/South Beach (great place by the
way, you will enjoy it!), and then drive up to Ft. Lauderdale (about 35
minutes straight up I-95.) You can have the convenience of the rental car
during your two night stay and then return it to the rental agency
(they're all located at FLL airport, which is only minutes from the cruise
port), and most car rental agencies (at least Budget does) will shuttle
you to Port Everglades. It's all very easy and you won't be paying
inflated airline fees imposed by the cruise line, OR a deviation fee.

Whatever you decide to do, I hope you have a great cruise!

Karen
Owings Mills, MD



"mgb" wrote in message
...
We've taken 3 cruises out of Miami so we're not newbies to cruising or
the area. Next year we have the Radiance of the Seas booked for an 8 day
out of Fort Lauderdale. As usual we plan on going down 2 days early and
have already tentatively booked air and cruise together with RCI. In fact
we did it last May when gas prices were high anticipating that the fee
they were offering for air would only go up- early bird catches the worm.

Anyway, my question is, we'll need to book air deviation and pay the $50
pp to fly down 2 days early and I understand that (don't agree but
understand). We've been thinking that it would be nice to fly into Miami
instead of Fort Lauderdale and spend a day out at South Beach. Is it
possible to request that RCI fly us into Miami instead? If so, how would
they get us to the ship in Fort Lauderdale? I'm guessing that if they
accommodate the Miami request that we would need to cab ride it out to
Miami Airport and pick up the RCI bus to Fort Lauderdale but I don't know
that for sure.

Thanks for any response.

-mgb

Splenda wrote:
Yes, booking transportation to the port city and to the cruise ship on your
own could save money.
BUT..... we were on the Zenith last month when the channel into Tampa was
fogged in and the Coast Guard wouldn't allow ships to go to Tampa to dock
for over 4 hours. This hampered people getting off the ship for about 6
hours, causing many to miss their flights. A few had to spend the night in
Tampa before they could get a flight out. I heard of extra charges of $200
to almost $1,000 to rebook and in some cases to make hotel reservations.
Those that had booked flights with the cruise line could 'sit back and
relax' while the cruise line did whatever was necessary to get these people
on their way asap.

OK, this kind of thing does happen and the cruise lines will "try" to
rebook their air passengers.

On the other hand if you have cruise insurance that would cover any
additional expenses in this situation. While on the ship using your cell
phone or the ships internet, you can rebook your own flights.

IMO this happens so infreqently that it doesn't pay for most people to
pay for cruiseline air.

sue

While I always reccomend for my clients that fly in a day or two early
and stay a day later (if they choose to) to avoid something like this
happening, there is also the option of purchasing travel insurance
(sometimes outside of the cruise) that will cover this for
you...depending on the company, all you have to do is call a toll free
number or your travel agent.

Ron

On Feb 8, 11:52 am, "Splenda" wrote:
I heard of extra charges of $200
to almost $1,000 to rebook

That's the range that is saved by booking air independently. For some
the risk of a possible delayed disembarkation is worth the savings. At
worst, you end up spending the money you saved. At best, you have some
sort of travel insurance that covers it.

I've often saved enough money on the flights to pay for 2-3 days hotel
pre/post cruise and then some. The only time I book air with the
cruise line is for European sailings when they bundle pre-cruise
hotels in for no additional charge. Even then, I usually do much
better booking my own air.

Warren

mgb wrote:
We've taken 3 cruises out of Miami so we're not newbies to cruising or
the area. Next year we have the Radiance of the Seas booked for an 8 day
out of Fort Lauderdale. As usual we plan on going down 2 days early and
have already tentatively booked air and cruise together with RCI. In
fact we did it last May when gas prices were high anticipating that the
fee they were offering for air would only go up- early bird catches the
worm.

Anyway, my question is, we'll need to book air deviation and pay the $50
pp to fly down 2 days early and I understand that (don't agree but
understand). We've been thinking that it would be nice to fly into Miami
instead of Fort Lauderdale and spend a day out at South Beach. Is it
possible to request that RCI fly us into Miami instead? If so, how would
they get us to the ship in Fort Lauderdale? I'm guessing that if they
accommodate the Miami request that we would need to cab ride it out to
Miami Airport and pick up the RCI bus to Fort Lauderdale but I don't
know that for sure.

Thanks for any response.

-mgb
I would do my own air if I were you. However, if you still want to book
air with the cruise line, I would take a cab to Fort Lauderdale instead
of to Miami airport and then bus to Ft. Lauderdale. I believe RCI
charges $30 or $35 per person to bus you from MIA to Fort Lauderdale.
There should be no problem requesting MIA instead FLL for your cruise air.