Disembarking before end of cruise

[New Jersey Pat]

Has anyone had experience being able to disembark at a port other than the disembarkation port on a Princess cruise. We are planning to take a transatlantic that ends in Southhampton. The port stop the day before the end of the cruise is LeHarve. We would like to leave the cruise in LeHarve rather than continuing on to Southhampton.

If someone has done this, what is the procedure to do so?

Thanks for any help offered.

[Pam in CA]

Has anyone had experience being able to disembark at a port other than the disembarkation port on a Princess cruise. We are planning to take a transatlantic that ends in Southhampton. The port stop the day before the end of the cruise is LeHarve. We would like to leave the cruise in LeHarve rather than continuing on to Southhampton.

If someone has done this, what is the procedure to do so?

Thanks for any help offered.

This is actually something that's done fairly often.

 

Have your TA submit a request to disembark at Le Havre. An early disembarkation has to be approved as arrangements have to be made to have Customs and Immigration available. Le Havre is a port that has Customs & Immigration but not all ports do.

 

Make sure you have "Plan B" in place. It's never guaranteed that the ship will be able to get into port.

 

Start by talking to your TA and let them know what you're planning. They will help you and be your advocate with the cruise line.

[beg3yrs]

Only second-hand experience but there have been reports on CC that it is possible and has been done. You're not the first.

 

Call Princess and they should be able to arrange it.

[HJH]

It requires advance permission from Princess.

[vantec]

We did this in May. Instead of disembarking in Vancouver, we decided to stay in Victoria. Our contact at Princess put in the request for us, the only notification we received that it was approved was when I checked our itinerary, it was no longer a 7 day coastal, but a 6 day instead. We were told we had to pay for the entire cruise, which we expected. What I did not anticipate was that they decreased the on board credit which we received for using FCC - since it was no longer a 7 day cruise the on board credit went from $50 per person to $25 per person! I didn't think this was fair, since we had to pay for the entire cruise, but I did not argue the point. Before we were allowed off the ship in Victoria, someone called the desk and asked if we were approved, that took a little bit of time, but not much. I'm not sure I'd do this again, only because I did worry we'd miss Victoria for some reason and we really didn't have a plan "B".

[Times Prince]

Has anyone had experience being able to disembark at a port other than the disembarkation port on a Princess cruise. We are planning to take a transatlantic that ends in Southhampton. The port stop the day before the end of the cruise is LeHarve. We would like to leave the cruise in LeHarve rather than continuing on to Southhampton.

If someone has done this, what is the procedure to do so?

Thanks for any help offered.

We just took a Transatlantic in April that had the same last two ports. As we were going to continue our holiday in The Netherlands I looked into the options. A low airfare from Princess was part of the cruise package, and when we booked the cruise we simply said our return flight from London was two weeks after the cruise ended. There was no cost penalty as we initially booked the return flight date.

 

We opted to stay on the cruise until Southampton and independently booked fairly inexpensive British Airways round trip flights between the UK to Amsterdam.

 

Depending on where you are intending to go whilst on the continent this could be a very viable "Plan B".

[Holomoku]

Has anyone had experience being able to disembark at a port other than the disembarkation port on a Princess cruise. We are planning to take a transatlantic that ends in Southhampton. The port stop the day before the end of the cruise is LeHarve. We would like to leave the cruise in LeHarve rather than continuing on to Southhampton.

If someone has done this, what is the procedure to do so?

Thanks for any help offered.

 

We just did this in May on the Star R/T Hawaii, got off a day early in Ensenada. We called our Princess Rep. requested to do this, got an approval letter from Princess. The night before Ensenada when it was quiet at the Concierge Desk I took the letter down just to verify. The person there read the letter and then told me we get off in L.A. We went back and forth over this till she brought it up in the computer and then she said "Oh, you are getting off in Ensenada!" Anyway, after that it was easy, just call for a room steward to move your luggage after you dock, clear customs, and that is that.;)

We did pay for the full voyage, but were docked on some of the items like OBC's, counted as a 14 day rather than a 15 day. But it was worth it!

So, get the letter and take a copy with you.:rolleyes:

[DrivesLikeMario]

Tons of people did that on my British Isles cruise last year. It is very common and allowed, but you must submit a written request to Princess ahead of time.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Just be aware that with cruises involving US ports, some early disembarkations would be illegal.

[pris993]

We have gotten off in LaHarve some years ago, with advance notice to the cruise line. Do not recall going thru any customs check at that time, but this is prior to 9/11. We took the Paris ship tour, Paris on your own, to get into Paris. Got a taxi after were dropped off in Paris to our hotel.