Jump to content

question about return flight home


zjennk

Recommended Posts

We are cruising to Alaska in August. We have always driven to the cruise ports and this is our first time flying.  The ship gets back to Seattle at 6:00am on 8/5/22.  Most of the return flights back to PA leave Seattle in the morning.  There are a few that leave around 10:00pm but that is too late.  Royal(air2sea) is telling me that I have to schedule a flight that leaves after 11:30am to ensure that I get to the airport in time because it takes 3 hours to dock and get everyone off the ship.  I would like to take a return flight that leaves the airport at 10:30am and that would get us home to PA by midnight. My husband doesn't want to take the chance and miss our flight.  Also, the other family we are going with and taking the same flights with is staying in Star Class, can their Genie get us off the ship sooner?   thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can you stay overnight in Seattle and take out the early flight the next day? That way you can relax regarding this whole situation. Leisurely enjoy disembarkation day with your friends and then converge on the airport the following morning after a good nights rest. 

If not I would keep my luggage and do the express walk off first off the morning you are to debark. I have never stayed Star class but I do lot's of research for the day I am able to and I believe the Genie services are for the Star class family only, but if you do the express walk off you can be off and waiting for them. 

But I agree with your husband, so many moving parts and possibly missing your flight would just take the joy out of your relaxing vacation. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are you prepared to pay the fare difference if you miss your return flight because of any issues with the ship docking? It’s rare but it does happen. 
I looked at rebooking a flight a few days before our scheduled flight  from NY to FL due to a pending ice storm -my $60 ticket was now $190. Quite an expense for a family of 4.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You can always get off early if you walk off your own luggage.  10:30 is tight, but not necessarily impossible.  Seattle airport is a little over a 30-minute drive with no traffic.  

Even if it says 6am, you won't be getting off until 7-715 at the earliest (walk off).  You need to get a cab or Uber/Lyft.  You need to get to the airport, check your luggage with the airline (lines can be long for this), get through security (unpredictable), and be to the gate by 10:20 (airplane door closes 10 min before scheduled departure).

If everything goes right, you could easily be at the airport by 8am and through Security by 8:30 - If you hit traffic and lines are long at the airport, you could just as easily miss your flight.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, zjennk said:

We are cruising to Alaska in August. We have always driven to the cruise ports and this is our first time flying.  The ship gets back to Seattle at 6:00am on 8/5/22.  Most of the return flights back to PA leave Seattle in the morning.  There are a few that leave around 10:00pm but that is too late.  Royal(air2sea) is telling me that I have to schedule a flight that leaves after 11:30am to ensure that I get to the airport in time because it takes 3 hours to dock and get everyone off the ship.  I would like to take a return flight that leaves the airport at 10:30am and that would get us home to PA by midnight. My husband doesn't want to take the chance and miss our flight.  Also, the other family we are going with and taking the same flights with is staying in Star Class, can their Genie get us off the ship sooner?   thanks

As a fellow “east coaster”, I feel your pain of flying back and losing the 3 hours.  If I were you, I would do whatever I can to just stay the night in Seattle and take the early flight home the next day.   We did our first Alaska back in 2018 and flew in the day before and flew home on disembarkation day.  It was pretty stressful and we really wished we had stayed an extra day.

 

good luck!

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...