New Cruiser: flights

levtweeney · 26 Mar 21, 05:38 PM

Hi all

Just been looking at a cruise for 2022. This would be our first cruise woop woop

Sailing 14th August from Barcelona. Most flights aren’t out for then so what do you guys do? Do you book the cruise you want for when you want and then hope flights will match up or do you go a day early just in case?

Anyone done a cruise like this one? Does the price sound about right?

Ship: Odyssey of the Seas
7 nights - 14th - 21 august 2022
Greek isles
Cabin with balcony
Price: Ł2380 for 2 people

Apart from the Dibb of course is there a good online community dedicated to cruises anyone can recommend?

sully301 · 26 Mar 21, 05:43 PM

If it's just Barcelona I'd hang back and book when they come out. There are no issues with availability. We did a tour of the city when getting off with Disney and at the end they dropped us at the airport which was really convenient. Some people choose to arrive earlier and stay in a hotel or the night of disembarkation. Just be aware though that if flights are delayed going out you could be in trouble if you leave it to the day. If you book with the cruise company though they should get you to the next port

Cruise critic is quite popular and has lots of info re different cruise lines.

stecee · 26 Mar 21, 05:55 PM

Our first ever cruise sailed from Rome and we flew out the same day. I must admit it was quite stressful as any delay would have meant we missed the ship.
I would book the cruise and fly out at least the day before and stay in a hotel the night before. The port is only a short taxi ride away from the centre.
Coming home, you will usually be off the ship by 9am at the very latest so as long as your flight home isn’t early morning you should be ok.
I can’t see you having any problems with getting a flight to suit as Barcelona is a popular destination.
ETA, that price sounds ok.

levtweeney · 26 Mar 21, 06:04 PM

Originally Posted by stecee

Our first ever cruise sailed from Rome and we flew out the same day. I must admit it was quite stressful as any delay would have meant we missed the ship.
I would book the cruise and fly out at least the day before and stay in a hotel the night before. The port is only a short taxi ride away from the centre.
Coming home, you will usually be off the ship by 9am at the very latest so as long as your flight home isn’t early morning you should be ok.
I can’t see you having any problems with getting a flight to suit as Barcelona is a popular destination.
ETA, that price sounds ok.

I’ve seen a lovely cruise from Civitavecchia on the same date. Was it a pain to get to the ship from the airport? Did you fly in to leonardo da Vinci?

mickeyspal · 26 Mar 21, 06:06 PM

I would always go the day before incase of any delay, coming home is usually ok , cruise critic is a good site, you can meet up online with people on the same trip and arrange tours with them which are much cheaper than the ships own

stecee · 26 Mar 21, 06:32 PM

Originally Posted by levtweeney

I’ve seen a lovely cruise from Civitavecchia on the same date. Was it a pain to get to the ship from the airport? Did you fly in to leonardo da Vinci?

It could have been, I can’t remember to be honest. There are 2 main airports for Rome, it was one of those.
Was it a pain? Yes it was, we had to catch a train into Rome then a train into Civitavecchia. Then it’s about a 10 minute walk from the train station to the port gates where we picked up a shuttle bus to the ship, all with 3 suitcases and hand baggage, phew I’m tired just reading that back!
The next time we sailed from Civitavecchia we had an overnight stay in Rome the night before which was a much nicer experience.

Hudson · 26 Mar 21, 06:58 PM

We did a Royal Caribbean cruise to the Greek Islands out of Civitavechia a couple of years ago.
We flew into Ciampino with Ryan Air few days before the cruise and stayed in Tarquinia, the Medieval town by the port (nice little hotel with big pool all to ourselves).
We always fly in at least a day if not more before our cruises departure date(New York, Texas, Florida).
We had booked a rental car to drive to Civitavechia but we were delayed flying in and the rental place had closed. We were the last flight in at about 1am and the airport was shutting down for the night. We ended up getting a cab to Tarquinia €240.00...ouch!
The cruise was great, not a huge ship but big enough with plenty going on. Our stops were Athens, Santorini, Mykonos, Olypia.

Omega1 · 27 Mar 21, 08:40 AM

Lots of sensible advice above and I agree that flying out a day (or two) before is advisable - any delays and the ship will sail without you. I think Civitavecchia is one of the most difficult European ports to access being so far from Rome and no easy direct access by public transport from LdV. Transfers are widely available but they are relatively expensive. We had about five nights in Rome pre-cruise and then got the train to the port. As described above it was a ten minute walk to the shuttle bus to the ship but a few years ago they moved the shuttle bus pick up location which is now further away from the station and not really walkable (25 mins) with luggage.
Cruisecritic is probably the largest and best known online cruise community (it’s international but mostly US and Canadian) with great advice especially on the Ports of Call section where you will find recommendations for companies offering transfers from Rome or LdV to the port. The Roll Call section is chat between people on the same cruise, exchanging ideas and sometimes organising private tours together (much cheaper than ship tours). It can get a bit ‘cruise nerdy’ at times but is a fantastic resource. My big piece of advice is ‘don’t cruise’, it is highly addictive and will cost you Ł000’s!😂

26 Mar 21, 06:58 PM	#7
	26 Mar 21, 06:58 PM Hudson Imagineer
Hudson Imagineer Join Date: Aug 08 Location: Haydock	We did a Royal Caribbean cruise to the Greek Islands out of Civitavechia a couple of years ago. We flew into Ciampino with Ryan Air few days before the cruise and stayed in Tarquinia, the Medieval town by the port (nice little hotel with big pool all to ourselves). We always fly in at least a day if not more before our cruises departure date(New York, Texas, Florida). We had booked a rental car to drive to Civitavechia but we were delayed flying in and the rental place had closed. We were the last flight in at about 1am and the airport was shutting down for the night. We ended up getting a cab to Tarquinia €240.00...ouch! The cruise was great, not a huge ship but big enough with plenty going on. Our stops were Athens, Santorini, Mykonos, Olypia.

27 Mar 21, 08:40 AM	#8
	27 Mar 21, 08:40 AM Omega1 Imagineer
Omega1 Imagineer Join Date: Jan 08	Lots of sensible advice above and I agree that flying out a day (or two) before is advisable - any delays and the ship will sail without you. I think Civitavecchia is one of the most difficult European ports to access being so far from Rome and no easy direct access by public transport from LdV. Transfers are widely available but they are relatively expensive. We had about five nights in Rome pre-cruise and then got the train to the port. As described above it was a ten minute walk to the shuttle bus to the ship but a few years ago they moved the shuttle bus pick up location which is now further away from the station and not really walkable (25 mins) with luggage. Cruisecritic is probably the largest and best known online cruise community (it’s international but mostly US and Canadian) with great advice especially on the Ports of Call section where you will find recommendations for companies offering transfers from Rome or LdV to the port. The Roll Call section is chat between people on the same cruise, exchanging ideas and sometimes organising private tours together (much cheaper than ship tours). It can get a bit ‘cruise nerdy’ at times but is a fantastic resource. My big piece of advice is ‘don’t cruise’, it is highly addictive and will cost you Ł000’s!😂