Flights to Italy for cruise

[Earningmywings]

We are looking at a cruise out of either Venice or Athena next June on RCCL. I know it is super early, but we are looking at our flight options as the June calendars begin to be released. We usually fly Delta out of Atl, but it looks like it is cheaper to fly out of Miami (even with the extra charge to catch a flight from Atlanta to Miami). Has anyone used any of the smaller or international bases airlines that they do or do not recommend?

Turkish Airways looks much cheaper, but that scares me. Norse Airlines I have never heard of and again is cheaper by far than Delta.

We have never flown to Europe, only the Caribbean and Central America. Any advice on choosing an airline is greatly appreciated.

 

[starry_solo]

I was going to suggest Alitalia, but apparently they've been sold to another company.

I think they (Alitalia) used to codeshare with Delta

 

[starvenger]

RyanAir is garbage. Don't be tempted.

 

[CynBeth]

Just to give a heads up Italy tends to have different types of strikes such as airport, train, etc that they announce a month or so ahead of time. Sometimes they resolve but you would not know until last minute if your flight was cancelled so I would pick one of the bigger airlines like United to be on the safe side to have an easier time getting a new flight a day or 2 later as there would be many options unlike with a smaller one.

 

[SirDuff]

We are looking at a cruise out of either Venice or Athena next June on RCCL. I know it is super early, but we are looking at our flight options as the June calendars begin to be released. We usually fly Delta out of Atl, but it looks like it is cheaper to fly out of Miami (even with the extra charge to catch a flight from Atlanta to Miami). Has anyone used any of the smaller or international bases airlines that they do or do not recommend?

Turkish Airways looks much cheaper, but that scares me. Norse Airlines I have never heard of and again is cheaper by far than Delta.

We have never flown to Europe, only the Caribbean and Central America. Any advice on choosing an airline is greatly appreciated.

Turkish is fine though I've never flown them from North America (I live in Europe so my flights on Turkish are usually to somewhere in Middle East/North Africa). Istanbul is a massive airport which can keep you entertained on your layover (though, full disclosure, I mainly spend the time in their lounge which is amazing). But tight connections are risky because your gates can involve long walks (both from your plane to security (you re-do security in Istanbul) and then from there to your new gate) and the security lines can be really long.

Norse is relatively new and took over the planes (and some staff) from Norwegian. They are essentially an LCC. I've never flown them but I've heard that they are good for an LCC (I believe that they even have a "business class" option).

Your issue is that you are booking a one-way flight which is often a lot more expensive (when transatlantic). If you do Delta out of Miami and you book ATL-MIA separately, make sure that you give yourself a lot of time for the connection (maybe even overnight if you can swing it) because you are not protected on the second flight if anything goes wrong on the first flight (as you would be had you bought a single ticket). Though I'm admittedly risk-adverse with these things.

 

[Dreams&wishes]

I would fly to Milan (a great city), then you can stay and visit a day or so and then direct fast train to Venice.
Also Alitalia is now called ITA same staff just a political change, it's a very good airline.

 

[Earningmywings]

Thank you so much for all the advice everyone. I will take all the advice on this I can get.

 

[Debbie Jean]

Just to give a heads up Italy tends to have different types of strikes such as airport, train, etc that they announce a month or so ahead of time. Sometimes they resolve but you would not know until last minute if your flight was cancelled so I would pick one of the bigger airlines like United to be on the safe side to have an easier time getting a new flight a day or 2 later as there would be many options unlike with a smaller one.

Absolutely second this. Have flown to Europe many times. You need an airline with a robust schedule of flights and alternate airports to cover you if there is any type of disruption.

We did RCCL western Caribbean cruise out of Barcelona in April. Flew United out of Newark 4 days before cruise departure date… built in time if there were any problems, as well as helping adjust to loss of 6 hours for time difference. We boarded the ship ready and refreshed… had a great time! Bonus: loved Barcelona.

 

[CynBeth]

Absolutely second this. Have flown to Europe many times. You need an airline with a robust schedule of flights and alternate airports to cover you if there is any type of disruption.

We did RCCL western Caribbean cruise out of Barcelona in April. Flew United out of Newark 4 days before cruise departure date… built in time if there were any problems, as well as helping adjust to loss of 6 hours for time difference. We boarded the ship ready and refreshed… had a great time! Bonus: loved Barcelona.

You sound like us. We recently went on a Med cruise with Royal on Enchantment out of Barcelona and flew out of Newark as our local airport does not have direct flights so instead of worrying about a connection is easier to take the train which is 2 hours and has the stop right at the airport. We also were on United and flew in a few days early our flight was delayed an hour and a half due to an issue with the plane so landed the next day an hour and a half later so passport control was really crowded. Luckily we had made reservations for Casa Battlo and Casa Mila for late afternoon and they were in walking distance from our hotel. We also got to see the next day Sagrada Familia with tower, Parc Guell, and went on the cable car up to the castle on Montjuïc. I agree we loved Barcelona wish we had gotten more time there. What ports did you have on your cruise? We saw Marseille, Villefranche (Nice/Monaco), Genoa, Portofino, and Livorno (Florence/Pisa). We ended at Civitacecchia so after the cruise visited Venice for 2 nights and then was supposed to be 3 nights in but Rome our flight was cancelled due to the airport strike and could not get another direct one until a few days later so got bonus days to spend which is what we called the extra days. We had heard about it before we left but I go on different travel message boards and was told a lot of times they get postponed or cancelled and decided we did not want to change things for nothing if it happened we would deal with it. Luckily I had added days at the kennel for our dog and had told my manager about the possibility I could be gone a few days extra. We were also fortunate our hotel could keep us we just had to change rooms.

 

[Debbie Jean]

You sound like us. We recently went on a Med cruise with Royal on Enchantment out of Barcelona and flew out of Newark as our local airport does not have direct flights so instead of worrying about a connection is easier to take the train which is 2 hours and has the stop right at the airport. We also were on United and flew in a few days early our flight was delayed an hour and a half due to an issue with the plane so landed the next day an hour and a half later so passport control was really crowded. Luckily we had made reservations for Casa Battlo and Casa Mila for late afternoon and they were in walking distance from our hotel. We also got to see the next day Sagrada Familia with tower, Parc Guell, and went on the cable car up to the castle on Montjuïc. I agree we loved Barcelona wish we had gotten more time there. What ports did you have on your cruise? We saw Marseille, Villefranche (Nice/Monaco), Genoa, Portofino, and Livorno (Florence/Pisa). We ended at Civitacecchia so after the cruise visited Venice for 2 nights and then was supposed to be 3 nights in but Rome our flight was cancelled due to the airport strike and could not get another direct one until a few days later so got bonus days to spend which is what we called the extra days. We had heard about it before we left but I go on different travel message boards and was told a lot of times they get postponed or cancelled and decided we did not want to change things for nothing if it happened we would deal with it. Luckily I had added days at the kennel for our dog and had told my manager about the possibility I could be gone a few days extra. We were also fortunate our hotel could keep us we just had to change rooms.

Isn’t Barcelona just lovely? And the food

We cruised Barcelona, Las Palmas, Marseille, Livorno (Pisa/Florence), Civitavecchia (Rome), Naples then back to Barcelona.

I’ve been to Europe many times but this was my first cruise. It was absolutely the very best way to travel! Unpack once and be delivered to places early every morning. Super fun and relaxing

 

[Frwinkley]

Isn’t Barcelona just lovely? And the food

We cruised Barcelona, Las Palmas, Marseille, Livorno (Pisa/Florence), Civitavecchia (Rome), Naples then back to Barcelona.

I’ve been to Europe many times but this was my first cruise. It was absolutely the very best way to travel! Unpack once and be delivered to places early every morning. Super fun and relaxing

We are considering doing this cruise fall 2024.

Can you tell me about your experience/excursions at each port?

 

[Debbie Jean]

We are considering doing this cruise fall 2024.

Can you tell me about your experience/excursions at each port?

It was a 7 day cruise so a different port each day and one day at sea at the end back to Barcelona.

We did a tour at each port… general bus tours for an overview, stopping to let folks explore on their own… works well for Rome where one day is no where enough… Coliseum, Vatican, Trevi, etc.

We split up a couple of days… DD and her DH caught an Uber into Marseille and did their own tour while I went on the bus to Aix-en-Provence for a stroll through town and a lovely meal. I spent a day in Florence, where I lived for a few months, while they went to Pisa… we all went to Pompeii. By the time we got to our day at sea at the end, we were glad to rest a bit!

That last day DD and I did the sushi making class which I highly recommend… her DH did the deep ship tour and really seemed to enjoy it.

I’ve actually spent a fair amount of time overseas and Italy, in particular, so I didn’t feel pressed to see everything which I think can happen. It’s a great way to get a nice generally relaxing overview. I loved touring that way! Unpack once, get a good nights sleep, get up and tour, come back for a lovely dinner and show… no hotels or transportation to organize… just lovely things to see and enjoy!

 

[Frwinkley]

Sounds perfect! Thank you so much.

 

[Lesverts]

If you are a Delta regular. Air France and KLM are good alternatives. They have codeshares and rewards program overlap with Delta.

Turkish is fine, if things don't go wrong. Customer service on the middle eastern state carriers is lacking.

I'd avoid Icelandair, TAP, LOT etc because they are mostly budget and budget-adjacent airlines that's long haul service is akin to short haul American service. So not great.

Air Canada is fine. Their fleet of long hauls is relatively new. Better to be on the A330 or 787 though and not the 777.

 

[MrMagoo]

We also prefer Delta.
Like you have found, it is cheaper on Delta to use Atlanta as a connecting spot rather than flying direct from there. For our international flights I have looked at flying into Atlanta or Detroit and staying the night before our international flight so the international flight day wouldn't be so LONG!! However, using Atlanta for a connection has always been MUCH cheaper.
You might try to find a regional airport close to you you could fly out of first.
Otherwise I would just do the Atlanta to Miami connection.

Do keep watch on flight fares. I started watching flight fares for our June cruise from Rome as soon as they were
posted. I think they were posted in August or maybe September and they were high.
Finally one week in November they dropped a lot and I snagged our flight tickets. The next week they tripled in price!!!!!

For what it is worth, we have used Air France from London to Paris and then Paris to Copenhagen and found it to be
a decent airline.

 

[ldo]

For most RCCL, "Venice" is now Ravenna (2.5 hours away). We just flew into VCE to see the sites, but then had to take the RCCL shuttle ($58 one way) for 2.5 hours to the port. It was fine, but a bit of a hassle with luggage (you have to get it over a bridge and on a people mover). Same for Celebrity and many NCL are now out of Trieste. Bologna is closer to Ravenna.