Travel lessons learned the hard way

C

Cruizer

Guest
masq Wrote:
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>
> I have been looking at Delta and American. Delta
> has been a lot higher priced. We will probably
> book American or Midwest Airlines.... I love
> Midwest airlines, but I don't like the idea of
> connecting thru Wisconsin in the winter either.
> lol
> I think I priced flying to Melborne and it was
> more than Orlando, but I will check there again.
>

Melborne is more expensive to fly into and out of. However, how do you plan to get from Orlando to the port, and from the port back to Orlando? It costs more to go from Orlando to the port than from Melborne to the port (and less time, which is a bigger factor for me).
 
D

Dukebluebell

Guest
Carnival has a shuttle from Orlando to Port Canaveral that's $50 round trip...less than any taxis or limos that I've found. The difference in price between Melbourne and Orlando was -much- more than $50 for me, so...that made my choice (I'm flying Delta).

We're fortunate...my Floridian friend is picking me and my other friend up at the airport and we're driving over to the port in her car.

Masq- I did start a roll call somewhere around here, if you want to hop on! Best of luck organizing flights, etc.
 
M

masq

Guest
We are planning on spending the night in Orlando at a hotel that has a free airport shuttle, then have it shuttle us back to the airport where we will catch the Carnival shuttle for $50.

We ended up booking with Southwest for less than $300 pp to Orlando. Consdering the rest were $350 or more we got a pretty good deal. Plus the flight home is non-stop.... too bad the flight down wasn't non-stop, that would have been even better. :)

Happy sailing,
Masq
 
C

Cruizer

Guest
masq Wrote:
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> We ended up booking with Southwest for less than
> $300 pp to Orlando. Consdering the rest were $350
> or more we got a pretty good deal. Plus the
> flight home is non-stop.... too bad the flight
> down wasn't non-stop, that would have been even
> better. :)
>

If the flight does not stop, how do you get off the plane???
 
P

publicdefender

Guest
In was just fine tuning my info for my famil's 11/19 Glory cruise when I saw your post.I'm sure many found it funny but it gave me a stomach ache. I declined insurance, booked my airfare with Carnival and probably will not be flying until the day of the cruise from Newark a place mentioned in one or more of the posts in the thread for its problems. I hope my wife doesn't catch your story(that is of course until after we get back). Last but not least the two adults have no passports.
PLEASE, someone tell me this story is not typical!
I thought Carnival was responsible for getting you to the ship if you booked airfare through them? I swear the TA told me that(but I really didn't read the fine print on all that paperwork they sent me. Some lawyer huh?).
So much for sanguinity. This cruising must be great if people ignore all the pre-trip worries and book anyway.
 
M

masq

Guest
publicdefender
Thousands upon thousands of cruisers do fly on the same day of their trip and do fine. We just happed to be very unlucky that day. My post is just to give people the heads up that sometimes things go wrong and maybe you can do something prior to your cruise to prepare.
If you booked your air with Carnival, they are not responsible for getting you there. I will only book air with them if they are cheaper than anyone else.
For our Glory cruise on NYE we were going to book air with Carnival ... but then we did find a cheaper flight on our own. We were also going to fly the same day this time... the first port of call for this itinerary is Key West Florida and if we had missed the sailing, it wouldn't be a big deal. Flights to Key West from Orlando would probably be very cheap, or we could have rented a car and drove down since it's less then 400 miles from Orlando.
If our first port had been Belize... I would have flown down three days prior. :)
This is what I mean by having other plans just in case the unthinkable happens.
If your Glory cruise is Western as well, I would not worry to much about flying the same day.... but have a backup plan in mind if you don't get to Orlando in time for boarding.

As far as passports go... this really depends on the ports you are going to. Our trip was certainly the exception vs. the rule... most cruisers don't have to worry about boarder crossings.
However, if your first port is Belize, and you miss the boat, you would need a passport to fly to Belize to meet the ship.
The government is in the process of requiring Passports for travel on cruise ships to the Caribbean and Mexico….we will never travel without a passport.

Travel insurance is not a bad idea to have… you just never know what can happen. It covers a lot. What if you or a family member were in a bad auto accident and could not go… it covers that. If you get sick on the boat and have to cancel the rest of your trip, it covers that. I personally think it’s worth it.

Happy Sailing,
Masq
 
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