Jump to content

Air-to-Sea and Airport Transfers


Recommended Posts

We are using Air-to-Sea for our FOS cruise in May/June, because the embarkation is in Puerto Rico.  However, part of the A-to-S are transfer fees that provide transportation to/from the airport and ship.  Is it smart to use RC transportation, or just remove that and Uber?  It is much more expensive than an Uber would be, and I can imagine it may cause us to have to wait on other passengers etc.  Thoughts?  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First off, make sure you are using Air-to-Sea for the right reasons. It's not always the best choice, and may just put another layer of middle-man in between you and the airline. Are you taking it because you think they'll hold a ship for you? Not a guarantee. Lower cost? Unlikely for domestic US trips. Just one thing to consider. 

As far as ground transport goes, I would personally take an Uber. You control when you leave, don't have to wait on anyone. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Zacharius said:

First off, make sure you are using Air-to-Sea for the right reasons. It's not always the best choice, and may just put another layer of middle-man in between you and the airline. Are you taking it because you think they'll hold a ship for you? Not a guarantee. Lower cost? Unlikely for domestic US trips. Just one thing to consider. 

As far as ground transport goes, I would personally take an Uber. You control when you leave, don't have to wait on anyone. 

Thanks for the feedback.  Our TA is strongly recommending it, because of not flying in the day before.  I know they won't hold the ship, but supposedly would get us to our next port (Aruba) if we missed sail-away from PR.  It isn't much cheaper using A-2-S, in fact we are paying a little more than I find with Southwest.  BUT, our TA is pretty adamant that we should do it.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Lovestotravel said:

Thanks for the feedback.  Our TA is strongly recommending it, because of not flying in the day before.  I know they won't hold the ship, but supposedly would get us to our next port (Aruba) if we missed sail-away from PR.  It isn't much cheaper using A-2-S, in fact we are paying a little more than I find with Southwest.  BUT, our TA is pretty adamant that we should do it.  

I will sometimes do the same thing, for the same reasons when I am flying in the same day.  There is nothing wrong with using the Royal shuttle service and I have done it too, for the same reason that you gave for using A2S.  To be honest, up until very recently, the ride share services on PR were banned at the airport and very unreliable elsewhere.  I think they have recently been permitted to service the airport and port but frankly, I would choose either the Royal shuttle or a taxi.  Once you are on the island, you’re golden and the ship has a very late departure so there’s no hurry to get on board except just to get on board !  I recommend you do whatever makes it easiest for you.  You would probably get to the ship a bit quicker using a taxi b/c you wouldn’t have to wait for other passengers to board the shuttle....but there’s nothing wrong with using the shuttle.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I will sometimes do the same thing, for the same reasons when I am flying in the same day.  There is nothing wrong with using the Royal shuttle service and I have done it too, for the same reason that you gave for using A2S.  To be honest, up until very recently, the ride share services on PR were banned at the airport and very unreliable elsewhere.  I think they have recently been permitted to service the airport and port but frankly, I would choose either the Royal shuttle or a taxi.  Once you are on the island, you’re golden and the ship has a very late departure so there’s no hurry to get on board except just to get on board !  I recommend you do whatever makes it easiest for you.  You would probably get to the ship a bit quicker using a taxi b/c you wouldn’t have to wait for other passengers to board the shuttle....but there’s nothing wrong with using the shuttle.

Thank-you!  This is helpful!! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are also using air2sea and RC transfers for our upcoming cruise on Liberty in 17 days! We chose this for the same reason as well, if there are delays they will help us get to the ship. We are flying in from NY so weather can be unpredictable. We were able to pick flights that get us there a day before the cruise as well. Unlike what other people have said, going this route was actually about $1000 cheaper than booking directly with the airlines, got to pick seats ahead of time, and also got a free upgrade. I’ll be doing a live blog of the trip and will chronicle the air2sea experience as well, so feel free to look for that. I have not started it yet, I don’t want to get grouped into the “they tart their blogs sooooo early group” but it’s coming. Have a great cruise!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used Royal's A2S program and to be honest it was a hassle and far too expensive. I could have flown Southwest for cheaper. I flew United in first class because it was actually cheaper than adding bags. My companion couldn't leave the day before so we flew in the same day. With a 4:30pm sail time I had plan to get there early because my flight landed at 10am. Had I took a Lyft I would have been checking in at around 11am. Instead we had to wait for more passengers to come, so that he bus was full. We left the airport at 1pm, full on traffic meant we got there at close to 2pm. We were in our room at 5 min to 3 and starving because everything was closed to prepare for drills and departure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, emsff02 said:

We are also using air2sea and RC transfers for our upcoming cruise on Liberty in 17 days! We chose this for the same reason as well, if there are delays they will help us get to the ship. We are flying in from NY so weather can be unpredictable. We were able to pick flights that get us there a day before the cruise as well. Unlike what other people have said, going this route was actually about $1000 cheaper than booking directly with the airlines, got to pick seats ahead of time, and also got a free upgrade. I’ll be doing a live blog of the trip and will chronicle the air2sea experience as well, so feel free to look for that. I have not started it yet, I don’t want to get grouped into the “they tart their blogs sooooo early group” but it’s coming. Have a great cruise!

Can't wait to read your blog!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

47 minutes ago, Lovestotravel said:

Thanks!  What location? 

I did this on my first Royal cruise Jan 14th 2019 on Mariner. It was out of Miami. Our flight landed about 20min early so I was pumped to get to the port  and check in. The plane to ship transfer rep met us at baggage claim at 10:30. A supposed 15min wait, they say the shuttle is every 30min, turned into noon. I remember the time because my companion keep asking me "why aren't we leaving its....?" We boarded the coach bus at 12:40 and then went to another terminal to get more people, this took another 20 mins. As you can imagine boarding this late was very busy so I will never do another transfer, I probably would do A2S for a good enough deal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just booked with Air2Sea last night and the price was cheaper that what i was finding through other sites. Also, they allowed me to book it and pay later.  Is that usual?  Pricing stays the same, it just needs to be paid by the cruise final payment date.  I called and asked what was going on since I was confirmed on the flights, but I did not enter any payment information.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, DublinFC said:

I just booked with Air2Sea last night and the price was cheaper that what i was finding through other sites. Also, they allowed me to book it and pay later.  Is that usual?  Pricing stays the same, it just needs to be paid by the cruise final payment date.  I called and asked what was going on since I was confirmed on the flights, but I did not enter any payment information.  

This is correct, the cost of the flights get added to the total for the cruise and needs to be paid at the time of final payment date. Your flights are “held” with the airline and you have a reservation number. They then officially get “ticketed” once you make your final payment, and RC forwards the funds to the airline.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, emsff02 said:

This is correct, the cost of the flights get added to the total for the cruise and needs to be paid at the time of final payment date. Your flights are “held” with the airline and you have a reservation number. They then officially get “ticketed” once you make your final payment, and RC forwards the funds to the airline.

With many airlines can not upgrade or pick your seats until you are ticketed,

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎1‎/‎30‎/‎2020 at 5:16 PM, WAAAYTOOO said:

To be honest, up until very recently, the ride share services on PR were banned at the airport and very unreliable elsewhere.  I think they have recently been permitted to service the airport and port but frankly, I would choose either the Royal shuttle or a taxi

I'd like to add that another advantage of taxi service in San Juan is the flat rate price from zone to zone. (+bags).  I found this helpful for our last two cruises.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks all!  You have been very helpful.  And yes, @DublinFC, that is our experience.  Our TA added our flights, and we have until our final payment to pay them off.  I am going to ask her to run the rates one more time before we finally pay and lock in those flights.  She said that was an option.  Our flights are not cheap going in to San Juan, so would love to get them down a little.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...