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Our Guide to Fly-Cruises: How to See More in Less Time

Short on time but big on exploring? Our fly-cruises cut out the sail from Southampton, giving you every day of your holiday in the destination you’ve been dreaming of.

3 min 04 Mar 2025

Editorial Team

Author

What are fly-cruises?

Have you ever wished that you could skip the sea days on a cruise holiday and go straight to your first port of call? Well, that’s a fly-cruise! Fly-cruises don’t sail from Southampton. Instead, you fly out to meet your ship overseas. Everything else about cruising is exactly the same. The only difference is you’re starting your holiday in the region you’ve chosen to explore. Even better, you get to spend every day there – right up until you fly home.

Are fly-cruises good?

A fly-cruise is a great value holiday that makes holidaying abroad easy and affordable. It allows you to holiday further afield, even if you can only be away from home for a short time. One of the best things about fly-cruising is that flights and transfers to and from your ship are included, so all of your travel is taken care of. On top of this you get to enjoy everything you usually love about cruising. Entertainment. Accommodation. Dining in your ship’s Freedom and Club restaurants. It’s all included.

What happens on a fly-cruise?

A fly-cruise is just like taking a cruise from Southampton – only with a flight at the start and end of your holiday. All this means is that you’ll depart from an airport rather than a cruise terminal. Your flight details will be uploaded to your My P&O Cruises account along with your cruise summary, so you’ll have all the information you need for your holiday together in one place. When you land, our crew will be on hand to guide you to your coach. There’s no need to worry about carrying your luggage on board, as this will be delivered directly to your cabin that same day.

Are fly-cruises more expensive?

For many holidaymakers, a fly-cruise represents extremely good value and can be as inexpensive as sailing roundtrip from Southampton. When you consider everything that’s included – return flights, the cruise itself, airport transfers to and from your ship, entertainment, accommodation, selected dining – a fly-cruise may actually work out cheaper overall than a land-based holiday. Another bonus of fly-cruising is that you don’t stay in one place. You’ll step ashore in multiple ports in a range of countries, just by taking only one (included) flight from the UK.

What happens to your luggage on a fly-cruise?

Just as when you sail with us from Southampton, our crew will deliver your luggage to your cabin on the day of embarkation. All you need to do is collect it at the airport on arrival. Then, it’s over to us. The only exception is on our Caribbean fly-cruises. These benefit from bonded luggage, making for an even more seamless experience because we collect your luggage at the airport in Barbados for you. It also means you get to skip immigration and arrive at your ship even sooner. After all, it would be rude to keep the sunshine waiting!

Top tip – on fly-cruises it’s normal for your luggage to arrive at your cabin late in the evening or even (on some occasions) the day after embarkation. To prepare for this, we recommend packing the essentials you’ll need for your first day and night on board – such as toiletries, medications, mobile phone chargers, a fresh change of clothes – in your hand luggage. That way, you’ll be able to go about your holiday as normal – even using your ship’s pools and sun decks – until the rest of your cases are delivered.

Where do fly-cruises depart from in the UK?

Many of our fly-cruises depart from London and Manchester, so you might even find them more convenient than sailing from Southampton. Where possible – and depending on flight schedules – we offer a wider choice of regional airports for our fly-cruise holidays. Other airports you may be able to fly from (subject to a supplement) include Belfast, Bournemouth, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle. On some airlines, it may also be possible to upgrade for more luggage and leg room.

How much luggage can you bring on a fly-cruise?

If it were up to us, we’d let you bring as much luggage as you like. After all, this is how it works on our roundtrip cruises from Southampton. As you’re flying to meet your ship however, your luggage allowance is determined by your airline. The very good news is that all our partner airlines allow at least one hold bag and one carry-on bag per person, so you’re guaranteed that much luggage at a minimum. Your exact allowances – including weight limits – will be confirmed in your flight details, which you’ll receive by email soon after booking.

Don’t forget – we also offer free laundry facilities on board each of our ships so you can refresh your clothing whenever you like during your holiday (should you want to).

Wide shot of teenage brother and sister paddling paddleboard in ocean during family vacation in Caribbean Sea

Fly-cruise destinations: where do fly-cruises go?

We offer regular fly-cruises to the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands, as well as exotic-fly cruises to destinations like Asia, Africa, and Australia. Many of our fly-cruises start from just 7-nights, making it possible to experience normally out-of-reach cruise destinations, even if time is in short supply. You can book any fly-cruise on our website or by calling our customer contact centre and speaking to an advisor. Remember, the holiday price includes all flights and transfers, as well as everything that’s always included with a P&O Cruises cruise.