Transfers question

[ClevelandKid]

We will be doing the Panama Canal cruise starting out of Fort Lauderdale.  Our preference would be to fly in a day early rather than wake up at 3 am for a 6 am flight.  There are a number of hotels that have free shuttle service to and from the airport and - for a fee - will take you to the cruise terminal.  If that is the way it goes, I am fine with that, but the thought occurred to me that we could take the free hotel shuttle back to the airport and catch the Viking transfer that would be included in our trip.  We will be using Viking Air (probably Viking Air Plus) to book our flights, so the transfers should be included.  Does Viking allow you to use the shuttle if you are flying in on a different day?  If anyone has done this very thing, would love to hear from you.  Also, if we go that route, how early does Viking start running the shuttle from the airport? 

 

I know checking with Viking is one sure way of answering that, but I hate clogging up my TA's time with a question that I think many people have already navigated.

 

Thanks much!

[Australia08]

2 minutes ago, ClevelandKid said:

We will be doing the Panama Canal cruise starting out of Fort Lauderdale.  Our preference would be to fly in a day early rather than wake up at 3 am for a 6 am flight.  There are a number of hotels that have free shuttle service to and from the airport and - for a fee - will take you to the cruise terminal.  If that is the way it goes, I am fine with that, but the thought occurred to me that we could take the free hotel shuttle back to the airport and catch the Viking transfer that would be included in our trip.  We will be using Viking Air (probably Viking Air Plus) to book our flights, so the transfers should be included.  Does Viking allow you to use the shuttle if you are flying in on a different day?  If anyone has done this very thing, would love to hear from you.  Also, if we go that route, how early does Viking start running the shuttle from the airport? 

 

I know checking with Viking is one sure way of answering that, but I hate clogging up my TA's time with a question that I think many people have already navigated.

 

Thanks much!

We have always been told you only get the free transfers if you fly in the day of the cruise. We paid for AirPlus because we like arriving in advance but have always made our own way to the cruise terminal. Usually use Uber unless the hotel offers free transfer. You can buy a transfer from Viking but the airport in FLL is so close to the cruise port, Uber would be cheaper. 

[KBs mum]

Viking don't run shuttles to join/leave the ship, they book transport according to flight times, how many they have staying in which hotel etc. You would probably need to book onto one of the busses. 

 

We generally use taxis, unless the cost is high, as we can avoid waiting around. 

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, ClevelandKid said:

We will be doing the Panama Canal cruise starting out of Fort Lauderdale.  Our preference would be to fly in a day early rather than wake up at 3 am for a 6 am flight.  There are a number of hotels that have free shuttle service to and from the airport and - for a fee - will take you to the cruise terminal.  If that is the way it goes, I am fine with that, but the thought occurred to me that we could take the free hotel shuttle back to the airport and catch the Viking transfer that would be included in our trip.  We will be using Viking Air (probably Viking Air Plus) to book our flights, so the transfers should be included.  Does Viking allow you to use the shuttle if you are flying in on a different day?  If anyone has done this very thing, would love to hear from you.  Also, if we go that route, how early does Viking start running the shuttle from the airport? 

 

I know checking with Viking is one sure way of answering that, but I hate clogging up my TA's time with a question that I think many people have already navigated.

 

Thanks much!

 

When you arrive a day early, it is considered a "Deviation", for which you pay an extra fee, of about $100 pp. You also lose the Viking Transfers. This information will be included on your invoice/pax statement, once the flights are booked..

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

 

When you arrive a day early, it is considered a "Deviation", for which you pay an extra fee, of about $100 pp. You also lose the Viking Transfers. This information will be included on your invoice/pax statement, once the flights are booked..

 

Moreover, Viking will not sell you transfers; they only sell transfers to those who have purchased their own air.

 

 

[duquephart]

Catch 22

[Jazmyn49]

And the Viking pick up people have a list of names.....and check it.

[miami mama]

As previously pointed out, the airport and the port are very close to one another. Even if you could purchase a viking transfer, it does not make sense to take a taxi to the airport in order to use the transfer. It will be far cheaper just to take an uber or a taxi straight from the hotel to the port. Have a great trip. Totally understand not wanting to take a 6:00 am flight to anywhere. They knock me out for an entire 24 hour period. Would hate to lose that time on my cruise. 

[Kellybc]

We booked our own airfare to Iceland this past July; but because of the COVID restrictions and distance from the Reykjavik airport to the port, purchased transfers to the ship from Viking.  But, in Ft Lauderdale, I wouldn’t bother transferring from the hotel to the airport to the ship. Would just use the hotel shuttle, Uber, whatever is simpler, cheaper. And I agree with your idea to fly in a day earlier. 

[FlyerTalker]

1 hour ago, Kellybc said:

We booked our own airfare to Iceland this past July; but because of the COVID restrictions and distance from the Reykjavik airport to the port, purchased transfers to the ship from Viking.  

 

A little research would have shown that the FlyBus service from Keflavik to Reykjavik would be both easy and cost-effective.  It's the way that almost everyone gets from KEF to town.  Only really rich tourists use the taxis.

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

A little research would have shown that the FlyBus service from Keflavik to Reykjavik would be both easy and cost-effective.  It's the way that almost everyone gets from KEF to town.  Only really rich tourists use the taxis.

 

I agree FlyBus is cheaper but not always the most convenient, especially if you have multiple suitcases to manage.

 

This past July, four of us shared a GrayLine van from our hotel in Reykjavik to the airport. The flat rate van  picked us up at our hotel (not blocks away at a bus stop) and took us directly to the airport rather than stopping for other passengers (which makes the trip to the airport even longer) -- which to us was worth any additional that we might have paid over using FlyBus.  On arrival (day of the cruise) we used Viking transfers to get to the ship.