Looking to book a 2025 cruise in Europe? You could easily save hundreds or thousands of dollars extra if you book your flights through Royal Caribbean.
While you may know that Royal Caribbean offers bundled airfare you can purchase through its Air2Sea program, you might not know how lucrative it can be.
Air2Sea is a convenient way to purchase a flight after you book a cruise. It's available in all markets, but I was shocked how much cheaper it was by booking through the cruise line instead of directly with the airline.
For my 2025 European group cruise (you're invited to join us), I had originally booked my flights directly with Virgin Atlantic. But when my travel agent ran the numbers through Air2Sea, I was able to save over $2,000 for my family of four and I got a more convenient flight option.
I was curious if I was lucky, or there's really something to the offer, so I asked MEI Travel to run a few example flights to compare prices booking through the cruise line or through the airline.
Up to $500 off flights
Royal Caribbean advertises savings of up to $500 off airfare for Alaska and European select sailings.
It's available for Alaska and European sailings departing between April 11 - October 27, 2025 and must be booked between September 1, 2024 - March 31, 2025.
The fine print says the exact savings depend on destination and airfare type:
- Europe
- $200 USD per person for Economy and Premium Economy Class seats
- $500 USD per person for First and Business Class seats
- Alaska
- $100 USD per person for Economy and Premium Economy Class seats
- $200 USD per person for First and Business Class seats
How much can you really save?
I've seen plenty of advertised offers where the "deal" doesn't match up to reality very well, so I wanted to see put it to the test.
I asked MEI Travel to run airfares for flights from New York and Los Angeles to London for the dates of our group cruise next year.
I then ran the same flights through Expedia to see how much they were charging.
I was curious to see if the savings were substantial, or was it a case where only some flights really got you a deep discount.
Flight 1: New York to London non-stop
Depart June 19, 2025 from JFK to LHR
- Standard Economy Class/ Main Cabin
- Air2Sea: $843.31 per person
- Expedia: $1,037.31 per person
- Delta Premium Select Class
- Air2Sea: $1546.31 per person
- Expedia: $1,726.31 per person
- Flagship Business Class
- Air2Sea: $2,811.31 per person
- Expedia: $3,291.31 per person
Flight 2: Los Angeles to London non-stop
- Economy Class/ Main Cabin
- Air2Sea: $1,393.31 per person
- Expedia: $2,775.01 per person
- Delta Premium Select Class
- Air2Sea: $2,872.31 per person
- Expedia: $3,052.31 per person
- Delta One or BIZ Class
- Air2Sea: $5797.31 per person
- Expedia: $6,277.31 per person
In every situation, Air2Sea saved hundreds of dollars, even in economy.
Given that every price is for one ticket, if you multiply the discount by how many people are in your travel party, and you can net even bigger savings.
In my case, I cancelled my booking with the airline and re-booked with Air2Sea.
There are other benefits to booking a cruise with Air2Sea, such as the fact you can add an Air2Sea flight that remains refundable until final payment due date and it doesn't cost anything to make the booking.
If you find a better deal cancel the Air2Sea reservation before final payment due date at no cost. If fuel costs surge or flight cost jump unexpectedly the Air2Sea booking can suddenly be a great deal.
If there's a downside to Air2Sea, there is a fee for their services and Air2Sea is essentially your travel agent for the flight. If you need to do swift modifications to your flight(s) because of some unforeseen problem, you need to go through them vs. just fixing it with the airline directly. It's like booking a fare via Expedia or other third party.
One other benefit of Air2Sea is in some cases they offer "Assured Arrival" that can help get you on the ship if an airline mess causes you to miss the cruise.
How do you book a flight with Royal Caribbean?
You can easily browse flights by going to the Air2Sea website after you have a cruise booked.
Alternatively you can call Royal Caribbean 24/7 at 1-844-278-9745 to make your reservation. Or better yet, have your travel agent do it for you.
The Air2Sea program is currently available to guests in the U.S., Canada, and United Kingdom.
