Booking pre cruise hotel thru princess question

[newcruzer2]

I would normally not consider booking a pre cruise hotel thru a cruise line BUT since I learned the hard way about NOT buying travel insurance last year, I will be purchasing princess' insurance, which IF I have read correctly.... also covers pre cruise hotels.

My question is > how far in advance would you recommend booking the hotel?????....since princess has the Regal and Caribbean Princess BOTH leaving port everglades the 11th and FLL only has ONE 'princess' hotel. Seems as though it would fill up quickly.

Ty for any advice :)

[FawnRiver]

Most hotels will let you cancel without penalty up to the day of check in, (unless you picked a prepaid option, which is usually cheaper, but not refundable) you don't have to book through the cruise line. Princess usually uses two to three hotels in FLL, I've never heard of them only using one.

For my next cruise, I've booked through Princess because our preferred hotel is already booked up because there is a big event in town that weekend. Princess maintains a block of rooms at their hotels and DH loves that hotel, so it was worth the extra bit to go through them. And, there is something nice about stepping off the plane and having the rep waiting for you. :)

[Kamloops50]

I would normally not consider booking a pre cruise hotel thru a cruise line BUT since I learned the hard way about NOT buying travel insurance last year, I will be purchasing princess' insurance, which IF I have read correctly.... also covers pre cruise hotels.

My question is > how far in advance would you recommend booking the hotel?????....since princess has the Regal and Caribbean Princess BOTH leaving port everglades the 11th and FLL only has ONE 'princess' hotel. Seems as though it would fill up quickly.

Ty for any advice :)

 

you have to buy pre cruise hotel before the final payment . Otherwise the insurance won't cover the hotel. Keep in mind that pre cruise hotel also includes transfers from airport to hotel . The hotel to the pier the next day. Basically with pre cruise hotel you'll get hotels and transfers for the one price.

[Colo Cruiser]

I would normally not consider booking a pre cruise hotel thru a cruise line BUT since I learned the hard way about NOT buying travel insurance last year, I will be purchasing princess' insurance, which IF I have read correctly.... also covers pre cruise hotels.

My question is > how far in advance would you recommend booking the hotel?????....since princess has the Regal and Caribbean Princess BOTH leaving port everglades the 11th and FLL only has ONE 'princess' hotel. Seems as though it would fill up quickly.

Ty for any advice :)

 

 

 

Ft Lauderdale hotels fill up fast so don't wait too long. Its a popular place.

[newcruzer2]

Ty for the feedback. Yea I prefer the hyatt next to the publix, which is actually behind the embassy but we had to cancel a cruise the day before in Nov and now I'm sold on insurance and ALL add-ons. LOL

[cruisequeen4ever]

Book ASAP. If before final payment, you don't have to pay yet, and if after, you'd have to check with Princess to see if their insurance would cover it. Pre-cruise hotels book up early, and you don't want to snooze and lose.

[lmkucala]

Are there pre-cruise hotels available on Alaska cruises from Vancouver? I don't see any options on the Princess website for this. If there was a package that includes transfers it may interest us.

[suzyed]

I would normally not consider booking a pre cruise hotel thru a cruise line BUT since I learned the hard way about NOT buying travel insurance last year, I will be purchasing princess' insurance, which IF I have read correctly.... also covers pre cruise hotels.

My question is > how far in advance would you recommend booking the hotel?????....since princess has the Regal and Caribbean Princess BOTH leaving port everglades the 11th and FLL only has ONE 'princess' hotel. Seems as though it would fill up quickly.

Ty for any advice :)

 

From our experience, they DO fill up! We were lucky enough to book ours for Houston in the spring....but others got shut out of the one we are staying at and the other one is very expensive (and may be sold out as well). If you think you may want to book it, I would do it soon.

[cruisequeen4ever]

Are there pre-cruise hotels available on Alaska cruises from Vancouver? I don't see any options on the Princess website for this. If there was a package that includes transfers it may interest us.

 

 

Yes, once you book, you will have the option of adding on a hotel night before or after the cruise. Princess usually uses the Fairmont Waterfront, a wonderful 4-5 star hotel directly across the street from the port. In addition, they sometimes offer the Westin Bayshore or Pan Pacific.

[Colo Cruiser]

Are there pre-cruise hotels available on Alaska cruises from Vancouver? I don't see any options on the Princess website for this. If there was a package that includes transfers it may interest us.

 

 

Have to call Princess.

[biker1972]

Always remember that the price from Princess is per person and that travel insurance from someone other than Princess can cover your entire travel package including pre cruise hotel stays.

[Grego]

you have to buy pre cruise hotel before the final payment . Otherwise the insurance won't cover the hotel. Keep in mind that pre cruise hotel also includes transfers from airport to hotel . The hotel to the pier the next day. Basically with pre cruise hotel you'll get hotels and transfers for the one price.

 

All that is true, but we have found that if you use the Princess transfer to the port, you might not be picked up until later in the morning and we often would bite the bullet and grab a cab to get there earlier. Either way, booking through Princess takes the anxiety out of the equation and makes the start of the vacation easy.

[skynight]

I would normally not consider booking a pre cruise hotel thru a cruise line BUT since I learned the hard way about NOT buying travel insurance last year, I will be purchasing princess' insurance, which IF I have read correctly.... also covers pre cruise hotels.

My question is > how far in advance would you recommend booking the hotel?????....since princess has the Regal and Caribbean Princess BOTH leaving port everglades the 11th and FLL only has ONE 'princess' hotel. Seems as though it would fill up quickly.

Ty for any advice :)

Insurance: Insurance covers the cruise and also EZ Air if you purchase the flexible fare. Non refundable air fares are not covered. Now to your question regarding hotels. Princess hotels prices are per person, so be sure to compare correctly. Prices include transfers from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to the pier, about a $35 value for two. Princess transfers to the pier leave the hotel for arrival at the pier a little after 1pm, not sooner. I see more than one hotel option, not one. If you book a hotel yourself you can cancel almost all hotel reservations up to the day of arrival, unless you take one of the non refundable options. So insurance isn't really an issue regarding hotels prices.

[Kamloops50]

Are there pre-cruise hotels available on Alaska cruises from Vancouver? I don't see any options on the Princess website for this. If there was a package that includes transfers it may interest us.

 

Yes Princess usually has pre cruise hotels in Vancouver . You might have to call direct to find the hotel and rate.

In Vancouver why not book your own hotel and transfers.

Airport to downtown via taxi is a fixed rate of $40 CDN.

Then book your own hotel .

[FawnRiver]

Yes Princess usually has pre cruise hotels in Vancouver . You might have to call direct to find the hotel and rate.

In Vancouver why not book your own hotel and transfers.

Airport to downtown via taxi is a fixed rate of $40 CDN.

Then book your own hotel .

 

 

For some reason, Princess has buried that info on their website. Go into Destinations, pick your destination and page down to extending your vacation, if memory serves. If you pick Caribbean then you have to pick which east, west or southern, but it's the same thing.

Then you pick which city and it will show you who they're using.

 

I like to see what their hotels are and research before calling into book.

Edited January 24, 2016 by FawnRiver

[martincath]

Yup, there are definitely Princess (and HAL etc etc etc) precruise hotel packages available, but do carefully compare the cost. Cabs from YVR are fixed-rate: to the area immediately around the pier is $35, to basically everywhere else with hotels downtown it's only $31.

 

I've seen a few reports of Pan Pacific rooms being a bargain through HAL - some sort of 'free night before cruise' if you are in a suite onboard deal - but generally because the cruiseline transfers are simply outrageously overpriced here (depending on exchange rate, even a solo can take a cab for basically the same price, and 3 people can always take a limo for less than a cruiseline transfer!) they bump up the overall hotel package pricing. All cruiseline hotels I know of are located so close to the pier it's a waste of time & money getting a transfer - you can walk (and for the Pan Pacific you can take the hotel elevators down into the terminal!)

[lmkucala]

Yup, there are definitely Princess (and HAL etc etc etc) precruise hotel packages available, but do carefully compare the cost. Cabs from YVR are fixed-rate: to the area immediately around the pier is $35, to basically everywhere else with hotels downtown it's only $31.

 

I've seen a few reports of Pan Pacific rooms being a bargain through HAL - some sort of 'free night before cruise' if you are in a suite onboard deal - but generally because the cruiseline transfers are simply outrageously overpriced here (depending on exchange rate, even a solo can take a cab for basically the same price, and 3 people can always take a limo for less than a cruiseline transfer!) they bump up the overall hotel package pricing. All cruiseline hotels I know of are located so close to the pier it's a waste of time & money getting a transfer - you can walk (and for the Pan Pacific you can take the hotel elevators down into the terminal!)

 

Yes I figured they would be more but thought I would at least check to see what they had available. Thanks!