AIR TRAVEL THROUGH DISNEY

[vadersprincess12]

Hello everyone ~ interested in hearing from anyone who has arranged their flights through the Disney air program for their cruise. Wondering what the cost is as opposed to booking yourself; do they use all the major airlines; if your flight is delayed do they wait for you? Anything you can tell me is appreciated.

Thanks

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hello everyone ~ interested in hearing from anyone who has arranged their flights through the Disney air program for their cruise. Wondering what the cost is as opposed to booking yourself; do they use all the major airlines; if your flight is delayed do they wait for you? Anything you can tell me is appreciated.

Thanks

We've generally booked our own flights when traveling from CA to FL for cruises. But, we did use DCL for air flights when we did the Med/WBTA B2B a number of years ago.

It was a tiny bit costlier ($100 each) to use DCL for those flights, but it came with the comfort of knowing if the plane is late arriving, they will either wait for you or see that you meet up with the ship in a subsequent port. It was on a major airlines.

I believe DCL uses Delta mostly for domestic flights to Florida.

 

[vadersprincess12]

We've generally booked our own flights when traveling from CA to FL for cruises. But, we did use DCL for air flights when we did the Med/WBTA B2B a number of years ago.

It was a tiny bit costlier ($100 each) to use DCL for those flights, but it came with the comfort of knowing if the plane is late arriving, they will either wait for you or see that you meet up with the ship in a subsequent port. It was on a major airlines.

I believe DCL uses Delta mostly for domestic flights to Florida.

Thank you PrincessShmoo ~ not sure we'd be happy "meeting up with the ship is a subsequent port". We like to fly in the day before just to be safe.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Thank you PrincessShmoo ~ not sure we'd be happy "meeting up with the ship is a subsequent port". We like to fly in the day before just to be safe.

Well, our experience with DCL, they will fly you in the day of the cruise. I've not been able to book a day or two earlier. Except for when we had a WDW package just prior to one cruise.

And the "meet up in subsequent port" was only applicable on the Med cruise, at that time. I'm pretty sure they don't do it for a Caribbean cruise.

 

[Marc D]

It‘s always wise to compare prices. You might be surprised. DCL sells the flights at a flat rate that does not follow the surge pricing that airlines might apply to popular flights. On the other hand, they do not match the discounts the airlines offer to fill flights. Most of the times, you’ll pay less booking directly, but if you are flying around a major holiday, DCL-bought flights might be cheaper.

The cost of the flight will be covered by DCL insurance if you choose to add it. They might also offer a better cancellation policy than the airlines.

 

[Cheburashka]

Hello everyone ~ interested in hearing from anyone who has arranged their flights through the Disney air program for their cruise. Wondering what the cost is as opposed to booking yourself; do they use all the major airlines; if your flight is delayed do they wait for you? Anything you can tell me is appreciated.

Thanks

The way DCL Air operates now is different from how it operated several years ago, so those speaking from long past experience will give wrong information. Here is some basic current info:

• DCL Air works with the three legacy airlines: American, Delta and United.
• You can choose the days of your departure and return flights (flying in day before or day of, for example)
• You can choose the time of these flights based on the flights that are currently available (remember that airlines sometimes change flight times)
• You can request certain seats (no first class), but seating requests are not guaranteed.
• The ship will only wait for you within reason (by their definition based on their needs). I've been on a ship that sailed away hours late due to a winter storm delaying multiple flights (according to the captain who made a ship-wide announcement about it). But I wouldn't expect them to wait hours for one delayed flight. Fly in the day before, if you are worried about the timeline. As mentioned above, DCL Air lets you select what day you fly in.

 

[lanejudy]

not sure we'd be happy "meeting up with the ship is a subsequent port".

It really depends on circumstances -- how many are running late, when is the late arrival expected, what is the itinerary and how long it takes to get to the next port, etc. The "meet up with the ship" is common language, and they say the same about taking a DCL-sponsored port excursion. They'll delay as long as they can, but they may need to arrange a meet-up if running late. I recall a poster a few years ago and I think it was an EBTA cruise; the flight to MCO was delayed significantly; I think the cruise stopped in NYC before heading across the Atlantic but for some reason this poster was not able to meet up with the ship. I forget the specifics, but point being that even having booked air through DCL didn't help and they missed the cruise.

 

[vadersprincess12]

It really depends on circumstances -- how many are running late, when is the late arrival expected, what is the itinerary and how long it takes to get to the next port, etc. The "meet up with the ship" is common language, and they say the same about taking a DCL-sponsored port excursion. They'll delay as long as they can, but they may need to arrange a meet-up if running late. I recall a poster a few years ago and I think it was an EBTA cruise; the flight to MCO was delayed significantly; I think the cruise stopped in NYC before heading across the Atlantic but for some reason this poster was not able to meet up with the ship. I forget the specifics, but point being that even having booked air through DCL didn't help and they missed the cruise.

That sounds like a horror story. Looks like we have some decisions to make. Thanks.

 

[oufpat]

I had requested and was given a price for Disney Air for our British Isles Cruise for 9/22. This week I called to confirm, the prices went up, airlines changed and time was a bit different. I asked our TA to hold it for me, but now think I'll cancel and book my own. I think I'll get better prices and I'll have more flexibility.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Thank you PrincessShmoo ~ not sure we'd be happy "meeting up with the ship is a subsequent port".

It really depends on circumstances -- how many are running late, when is the late arrival expected, what is the itinerary and how long it takes to get to the next port, etc. The "meet up with the ship" is common language, and they say the same about taking a DCL-sponsored port excursion. They'll delay as long as they can, but they may need to arrange a meet-up if running late. I recall a poster a few years ago and I think it was an EBTA cruise; the flight to MCO was delayed significantly; I think the cruise stopped in NYC before heading across the Atlantic but for some reason this poster was not able to meet up with the ship. I forget the specifics, but point being that even having booked air through DCL didn't help and they missed the cruise.

Something similar happened on the British Isles cruise on the Magic, the first year Dublin, Ireland was a port. There was at least one, maybe two DCL excursion buses which got caught in traffic and didn't make it back to port in time. The Irish Sea is a shallow body of water and the cruise ships need to go with the tides. The all aboard time was very strict because of this. The next port was Liverpool in England, the other side of The Irish Sea. The Magic had to leave at the scheduled time because of the tides and the bus load of people missed the ship. There are regular scheduled ferry serves between Dublin and Liverpool, so Disney put the bus load of people on the next ferry and they met up with The Magic in Liverpool.