Switching from Transfer to Excursion

[JohnS43]

I hadn't really thought about this before, but I now realize that I have a lot of free time in London on disembarkation day, and I was thinking about maybe doing one of Princess's excursions that takes you from the ship to some tourist locales, and eventually to the airport. But I have already bought and paid for a transfer from the ship to Heathrow, and I know those transfers are generally non-refundable.

 

Is it possible to switch to an excursion, assuming it's all within the Princess universe?

[hpeabody]

My experience this past March on the Sapphire (Singapore, not London) was that I had to purchase both the excursion and the transfer. I would call Princess HQ and ask their shore excursion desk your question. It really worked out well for me, btw.

 

PS, you could purchase the excursion onboard and use OBC if you have some. :)

Edited July 14, 2016 by hpeabody

[peety3]

For our 2012 Northbound Alaska Vancouver->Whittier (Anchorage), we'd prebooked a transfer to Anchorage, and had zero difficulty switching to an excursion that got us to Anchorage.

[emmak8]

I have the same situation on my upcoming cruise on the Emerald. I called Princess and was told I needed both the transfer and the excursion. London is over an hour away from the port.

[screamingreen]

They have excursions that end at Heathrow, but you flight has to be later than I think 4. We would have done one, but our flight was at 2:40.

[DrivesLikeMario]

I booked a Southampton day-of-disembarkation tour with this company, as did quite a few other Princess passengers. We were picked up in buses (that weren't too full - loved spreading out!), went off to Salisbury, Stonehenge, Windsor and then everyone was dropped off at their hotel, at the airport or back in The City.

 

This company is so well-run and the tour was so informative! I would book again with them in a heartbeat. It was the best way to get to the airport and see a good part of the countryside I had missed before. https://www.internationalfriends.co.uk/cruise-transfer-and-tour-to-london-via-stonehenge-bath-and-windsor.html

[JohnS43]

Thanks for all of the info. I guess the best thing to do would be to just ask the shore excursion desk once I'm on board. My flight is at 4:15 out of Heathrow, so maybe that's cutting it a bit close. Although since it's on a Saturday, there probably won't be as much chance of traffic problems.

[caribill]

The onboard purchase form for the excursion should have two prices.

 

One is for those who had not previously purchased a xfer to the airport.

 

The other is for those who have already purchased a xfer to the airport.

 

The difference between the two prices is the cost of the airport xfer which the OP has already purchased and does not need to purchase again.

 

Jusat check at the shore excursion desk. You should not be charged a second time for the already purchased xfer.

 

By the way, the Southampton disembarkation tours are all for flights departing after 4 PM, so 4:15 should be OK. They will get you to the airport in plenty of time to make your flight.

[msmoger]

They have excursions that end at Heathrow, but you flight has to be later than I think 4. We would have done one, but our flight was at 2:40.

 

By the way, the Southampton disembarkation tours are all for flights departing after 4 PM, so 4:15 should be OK. They will get you to the airport in plenty of time to make your flight.

 

We have an excursion/transfer booked to Heathrow from Dover in September. Our flight, which is entered into the Travel Arrangements section on our Personaliser, is at 4:00 exactly.

 

Does anyone know if the website will prevent you from booking the excursion if, in Princess's estimation, your flight is too early? I knew about the "after 4:00" stipulation when I booked, but I thought 4:00 was close enough and I was allowed to book. According to the excursion description, we will arrive at Heathrow between 12:45 and 1:00, which seemed like enough time.

 

One other point, we'll be disembarking on a Sunday, so hopefully traffic will be on the lighter side. Does anyone else have any experience with this type of excursion and time frame?

 

Thanks,

[tailspintom]

We have an excursion/transfer booked to Heathrow from Dover in September. Our flight, which is entered into the Travel Arrangements section on our Personaliser, is at 4:00 exactly.

 

Does anyone know if the website will prevent you from booking the excursion if, in Princess's estimation, your flight is too early? I knew about the "after 4:00" stipulation when I booked, but I thought 4:00 was close enough and I was allowed to book. According to the excursion description, we will arrive at Heathrow between 12:45 and 1:00, which seemed like enough time.

 

One other point, we'll be disembarking on a Sunday, so hopefully traffic will be on the lighter side. Does anyone else have any experience with this type of excursion and time frame?

 

Thanks,

 

We have done an excursion leaving us off at Heathrow several times. As we stay a few days over either in the hotel at the terminal or just outside the airport, we are not too concerned about the timing. Having said that, we have always been dropped off in plenty of time for those passengers who are making flights. The excursion company will ask you for the airline and flight time to ensure that you are there on time. They are wonderfully organized. On one occasion they delivered a bag I left in the cruise terminal in Southampton to the hotel in the airport. I recommend that you do go the excursion route if possible. It maximizes your cruise experience.

[Times Prince]

We have switched from transfers to excursions with airport dropoff on several cruises. In every case, but one, the excursions desk just credited us with the cost of the transfer, then debited the cost of the excursion.

 

That one exception was on a relocation cruise from LA to Valparaiso, Chile. And that Excursion desk staff was the worst we have ever experienced (receiving specific mention on my post cruise survey). They refused to credit us with the transfer cost.