pre and/or post cruise hotel question

[Harleygirl77]

Good Morning Princess cruisers!  

 

We have booked the Coral Princess in February 2025 for the Panama Canal (West to East).  My question is regarding the pre/post cruise hotels that are offered in LA and in Fort Lauderdale.

 

The information that shows says that transportation from airport to hotel and then to the cruise terminal is included.  Or cruise terminal to hotel to airport.

 

Has anyone gone through Princess for their pre/post cruise?  If so, how was your experience?  

 

Reason, is that we did a pre cruise (through another line) and no one showed up at the hotel to pick up to take us to the cruise terminal.  

 

Thanks for all input.  

 

Harleygirl 

 

 

[Arizona Wildcat]

2 minutes ago, Harleygirl77 said:

Good Morning Princess cruisers!  

 

We have booked the Coral Princess in February 2025 for the Panama Canal (West to East).  My question is regarding the pre/post cruise hotels that are offered in LA and in Fort Lauderdale.

 

The information that shows says that transportation from airport to hotel and then to the cruise terminal is included.  Or cruise terminal to hotel to airport.

 

Has anyone gone through Princess for their pre/post cruise?  If so, how was your experience?  

 

Reason, is that we did a pre cruise (through another line) and no one showed up at the hotel to pick up to take us to the cruise terminal.  

 

Thanks for all input.  

 

Harleygirl 

 

 

That always can happen.  The hotel and accommodation is contracted.  Not Princess fault the hotel failed.

We simply using the ports forum and Google locate a hotel that offers airport and cruise port shuttles.

[walkingsoon]

"Has anyone gone through Princess for their pre/post cruise?  If so, how was your experience?"

 

I have, though not for LAX or FLL. I doubt I will again. 

 

Shortly after the Covid restart and concerned about the the state of travel, I used the Princess offered pre-cruise hotel and transfer package to sail out of Civitavecchia. The hotel provided was adequate, not great, and the transfer from the airport to the hotel was very smooth - we were met by a Princess representative in baggage claim and directed to a private driver, all very relaxing after a long series of flights. (that was the one big plus) The morning transfer was a bit less impressive with long waits, a crowded bus and multiple stops that got us to the ship a few hours later than I would have preferred.

 

You pay a premium price for the Princess service (I think we paid >$700 for Rome, probably twice the necessary) and lose control over transfers. You're essentially paying a lot for a guaranteed experience, which doesn't always work out as planned, as you discovered previously. I hope you hopped in a cab and applied for compensation with that other cruise line.

 

For going LAX to FLL I would, and in fact am in three weeks, use Hotwire or Priceline for hotels and Uber for transfers. LAX is a bit of a pita and I prefer hopping in a car immediately and getting down to San Pedro, Long Beach or Torrance the night before for a short transfer in the morning. I'd still do the same if I wanted to hang downtown a few nights and play tourist. Fort Lauderdale is easy, everything close and cheap.

 

Walkingsoon

[Harleygirl77]

Thanks for all the suggestions!   Looking into my options.  

[Arizona Wildcat]

Careful about where you book in San Pedro.  The old Best Western just up the hill from the entrance to the CruisePort and two other motels were turned into housing for homeless.

[skynight]

You can book through Princess. It will cost you. Princess costs are per person and really offer no benefits.

It is very easy to get to San Pedro from LAX using a taxi, Uber or some other transportation. The drive is around 45 minutes. There are a few nice hotels in San Pedro, Double Tree & Crown Plaza to name two and there are also a number of hotels in Long Beach which is just 20 minutes from San Pedro. The San Pedro hotels offer shuttles to the pier. In Ft. Lauderdale there are loads of hotels minutes from the pier and 20 minutes from the airport. Suggest you book your own hotels in both locations. On arrival in Ft. Lauderdale suggest you book a hotel that allows for early arrival as you will be there around 9:30/10am. 

[avonlady6390]

I agree choose your own hotel for both of those ports I've been out of both and would not book princess transportation to the port just take an uber or taxi or some hotels have packages you can book which include transfer to the port.  When we went out of San Pedro we flew into lax and stayed at a Marriott brand hotel in Torrance with a mall across the street which was convenient for last minute shopping.  We took uber to the hotel and port.

[capriccio]

As other have recommended, compare Princess prices with booking yourself.  Two North American Homeports boards can help you:

 

West Coast Departures: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/315-west-coast-departures/

 

Florida Departures: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/533-florida-departures/

 

There is a much wider variety of hotels to chose from in Fort Lauderdale compared to San Pedro. Given that the Fort Lauderdale airport and Port Everglades are almost contiguous (only separated by a highway) hotels in the 17th Street area are within minutes of both the airport and port.  The Florida Departures board is full of questions, answers and recommendations on Fort Lauderdale hotels and transportation.

[SKCruiser007]

I agree with all the above regarding hotels, but if flying into LAX, getting an Uber is a little tricky. You need to go to the Uber waiting lot. Don't reserve an Uber in advance as you don't really know when your plane is going to arrive and how long it will take you to get to the Uber lot. 

 

This week, I booked flights for a cruise out of San Pedro. I ended up with arrival in Long Beach; the flights were less costly than LAX and the transportation to the Crown Plaza will be much less.

[kitty2264]

9 hours ago, capriccio said:

As other have recommended, compare Princess prices with booking yourself.  Two North American Homeports boards can help you:

 

West Coast Departures: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/315-west-coast-departures/

 

Florida Departures: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/533-florida-departures/

 

There is a much wider variety of hotels to chose from in Fort Lauderdale compared to San Pedro. Given that the Fort Lauderdale airport and Port Everglades are almost contiguous (only separated by a highway) hotels in the 17th Street area are within minutes of both the airport and port.  The Florida Departures board is full of questions, answers and recommendations on Fort Lauderdale hotels and transportation.

We can only speak for Ft. Lauderdale but we agree that there are many hotel choices near the port.  We always have been using Uber from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to the port.  Uber is less expensive than the hotel shuttles in our experience and they ready when you are.

[Spudd]

I'm on a similar cruise right now and we did the Princess pre-cruise hotel in LA. The pickup from the airport was just the hotel shuttle but we were met by Princess reps and escorted. The hotel was nice (airport Marriott). The next morning was a bit of a hassle as we had to put our suitcases out to be picked up by 8, and then we had to lurk around in the lobby for around an hour waiting for the transfer. But all in all I was happy with it.

 

In FLL, the airport is so near the cruise port I wouldn't bother doing the Princess package. Also, you probably don't need a post-cruise hotel unless you want to enjoy Fort Lauderdale on your own after the cruise.

[Potstech]

As stated if you go thru Princess you each will be charged for the hotel room and any transportation. Thus doubling those costs.

[susancruzs]

As others have suggested, do some homework here at CC and for both ports, I wouldn't go with Princess arrangements.  Might consider it for LA but definitely never for Ft. Lauderdale. Ft. L. is so convenient, everything is close by, prices will be on the high end in February.

[PMGS247]

50 minutes ago, kitty2264 said:

We can only speak for Ft. Lauderdale but we agree that there are many hotel choices near the port.  We always have been using Uber from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to the port.  Uber is less expensive than the hotel shuttles in our experience and they ready when you are.

 

This.  I've never messed with Princess transfers pre-cruise, or even hotel-based transfers for that matter. Uber is comparable in price, often cheaper, and you have much more control over when you go.

 

Post-cruise is just the opposite for me....assuming I'm going straight to the airport I always get transfer through Princess. Uber would probably save a few bucks but the bus is just waiting outside the terminal, it's very easy to just hop right on.

[DCThunder]

41 minutes ago, PMGS247 said:

Post-cruise is just the opposite for me....assuming I'm going straight to the airport I always get transfer through Princess. Uber would probably save a few bucks but the bus is just waiting outside the terminal, it's very easy to just hop right on.

TL;DR, I prefer Uber or taxi to the airport over the ship transfers...

 

Problem with the Princess post-cruise airport transfer is that it takes a long time to get all the passengers loaded and those who get on the bus early often wait 30 minutes or more before the bus departs.  Then the unloading at the various FLL terminals can be quite chaotic as the drivers make sure that all the bags get unloaded properly for each passenger and airline. 

 

Using the "luggage direct" option of having your bags sent directly to your destination airport helps, and of course "I only travel with a carry-on" people will give smug looks at those wrestling suitcases to be checked.😄

 

[waltd]

  If money is no object and if you are of a certain age the Princess hotel and transfers worked well for us.    We don't use the service often.  We used it in Buenos Aires and we were happy with the service.   

As others have stated their is a rep. when you get off the plane to meet you .Hotels have been nice.   Any yes getting to the ship is slow.  If you are one of those that has to be the first on board then the Princess shuttle may not be for you.  We have been there, done that so we just go with the flow.  We are slow and in no rush. 

At the end of the day it is expensive but their is the peace of mind that you will be looked after.

 

 

 

Edited April 19 by waltd

[PMGS247]

1 hour ago, DCThunder said:

TL;DR, I prefer Uber or taxi to the airport over the ship transfers...

 

Problem with the Princess post-cruise airport transfer is that it takes a long time to get all the passengers loaded and those who get on the bus early often wait 30 minutes or more before the bus departs.  Then the unloading at the various FLL terminals can be quite chaotic as the drivers make sure that all the bags get unloaded properly for each passenger and airline. 

 

Using the "luggage direct" option of having your bags sent directly to your destination airport helps, and of course "I only travel with a carry-on" people will give smug looks at those wrestling suitcases to be checked.😄

 

fair. I’m just typically not in much of a rush when I’m leaving so if it takes them a while to get moving I just don’t care. If I had a flight time where I was pushing the envelope on getting there in time I would probably go another route. As-is I just appreciate that I don’t have to put in any effort to order and locate an Uber driver in the sometimes hectic terminal. Always had perfectly fine luck with the airport drop off part.

[LeeW]

We've only booked pre/post cruise hotels through Princess a couple of times, and all transportation was included.  HOWEVER, hotel price is roughly rack rate per person, so they have a lot of your money to pay for that.  Several times we were supposed to put bags in hall and be downstairs by 9 AM, only to find out the bus wouldn't come until 2 PM. 

 

Have seen a couple of times in Ft Lauderdale where people from ship would arrive at Embassy post-cruise at 9 and not be able to get into their rooms until 4 (pretty typical at that hotel even when not going through cruise line).

 

In London got into airport 7 hours late and transfers to hotel worked very well, so there can be some advantages to booking through the cruise line.  Traffic was nasty, but small vans did a great job and unloaded us in the hotel courtyard.  Bus to ship was big bus that loaded on street for trip down to Southampton.  Didn't get to that ship until after 3, though.