What's your experience with Princess air??

[racepoint]

Planning a cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale over Spring Break '07 (April 15th) and the price for Princess air is several hundred dollars less than anything I'm finding on the internet. I inquired about flying out the day before the cruise and Princess offered a flight deviation and hotel (Renaissance Plantation) for an extra $69/pp. which is a pretty good deal. Here's my dilemma: I want to be able to fly into FLL early in the day on Saturday so as to be able to enjoy the day rather than arriving in the evening and just sleeping at the hotel before the ship leaves on Sunday. Do I have any say about the general TIME of my flight? I'm also scared about the stories I've read recently about Princess guaranteeing to get you to your cruise and to them, that means by the first port. The other option is to book my own flight into Miami (cheaper internet rates than FLL, but still higher than Princess air) and, somehow, get to the Ft. Lauderdale area. Is a taxi reasonable for travel from Miami to Ft. Lauderdale? Does anyone have experience with Renaissance Plantation???

[Miami Native]

No experience with the Renaissance, but just wanted to tell you that Plantation is quite a bit WEST from Ft. Lauderdale. Also a cab from Miami airport to FLL will cost $$$$$$$$$. Princess handled my reservations when we cruised Alaska this year and I had great flights. Have a great time!!!:)

[serene56]

the air diviation includes the hotel in the price of 69pp???

 

The renasissance I looked at was close to the pier but it was 499 per night.

[Sandy6284]

I used Princess Air for cruise out of Galveston in Dec 04. The only way I would use them again is if I didn't want to get in day before and/or out day after cruise. Maybe if flight costs less through them, but that has not been my case. I paid more for the flights than if I had gotten them through Delta.com and we had NO say on times, connections, unless we paid MORE $$. There was actually a direct flight from RIC to Houston on Delta, but Princess did flights with layovers. Keep checking on prices for booking your own flights. I play Travelocity off of booking direct through the airlines. When we cruised out of Fort Lauderdale a few years ago, we stayed at the AmeriSuites, and plan to stay there again in August for our cruise on the Caribbean Princess.

[racepoint]

The Princes air deviation/Renaisaance PLANTATION hotel is $69.00/pp more for both. This sounded like a really good deal and I asked the customer service rep a couple of times if the price was for both the deviation AND the hotel and she confirmed it was. I do believe that the Renaissance hotel you're thinking of by the pier is a different hotel than the Renaissance Plantation, which is farther away. The pier hotel is the Renaissance Fort Lauderdale and that is $109/pp more (I think). Sounds very nice and I may consider that, too. My problem, I believe, is that this is Spring Break week for New England and we are talking about Ft. Lauderdale. Normally, I can find airfare and hotels at a better price than the cruise line is offering, but not for this trip.

[Pam in CA]

OK... people are discussing apples and oranges. This is Spring Break time, folks!

 

Yes, if you book a pre-cruise hotel and Princess air, it includes the air deviation. Since you're already getting the air deviation, check with your TA to see if you can choose the time of your flight to FLL.

 

And yes, I believe that Princess air could very well be less expensive than booking on your own during Spring Break. Like February break, flights to/from FLL and MIA are full months in advance and you'll pay 2x - 3x (or more) the amount than you would the week before or after.

[UTAH]

One of the benefits of booking airfare through Princess is that if anything goes wrong - they do the rebooking for you.

 

For example: We docked two hours late on a SF to Mexico RT cruise a month ago. And, to add insult to injury, were not cleared to disembark for another half hour. Those travelers who'd booked flights themselves were responsible to make a fix. And, since the computer labs are shut down during disembarkation and since people were already out of their rooms, they were dependent upon cell phones (if they had them) to try and make those changes while they waited to disembark.

 

Bill

[racepoint]

I appreciate the input from everyone. I am not going through a TA, rather directly through Princess, thus, my question is posed to those who have used this service before.

[lake5298]

We have always used Princess Cruises air inclusive deals from the Uk and found them to be excellent with good post-cruise hospitality when catching a late return flight.

[serene56]

I appreciate the input from everyone. I am not going through a TA, rather directly through Princess, thus, my question is posed to those who have used this service before.

 

your agent is working for princess for you- the flights will cost you the same if you booked with an agent or with the cruiseline directly.

[merrilyanne]

I have always booked my own flights and saved hundreds of dollars on each one. Princess won't tell you until the last minute when your flight leaves, so you can't plan ahead. Even Princess tells people you can probably book your own flight cheaper.

Going from Ontario, Canada to Beijing, china, I was the only one who got a non-stop flight - everyone else on the ship from the U.S. said they got shuffled by Princess on three different flights over a period of two days, and they were exhausted and it ruined their trip. AND .... I paid $900. less than they did!

Keep watching the internet on different sites, as the prices change daily, and there will be sell-offs sometimes 45 days before.

[edithann]

I think you might be a bit confused. You are not booking an air deviation. You are simply booking a 1 night pre-cruise hotel. That automatically flies you in a day early. You cannot choose your flights without paying the air deviation fee of $50.00 per person + possibly any bump-up fare, which can range from a few $ to $100's. Now that everything has gone to being posted on your cruise personalizer on Princess' website, you can see your air schedule in advance (75-60 days) and you can still do a deviation up to 45 days for the fee(s). If you do your own airfare, and purchase their hotel package - your airport/hotel/pier transfers are included for the $69.00 per person. Hope this helps.

[KKB]

We just booked our flight thru Princess as fairs were comparable to booking ourselves (which REALLY surprised me!) Our last cruise we booked flight ourselves dirt cheap, but it was necessary for us to come in a day early flying from Nebraska to FLL (w/ connections & time change flights arrive at 3-5PM, all things being good in the world!). Since this cruise departs on Saturday instead of Sunday, we didn't want to take Friday off, and since air was comparable, we booked thru Princess. I will be VERY interested to see what time our flight will arrive...but THEY will have to figure that one out, I guess!

Happy cruising!

Kris

PS Just pray we don't connect thru O'Hare!!!!!!!!!!!!:eek:

[UTAH]

We just booked our flight thru Princess as fairs were comparable to booking ourselves (which REALLY surprised me!) Our last cruise we booked flight ourselves dirt cheap, but it was necessary for us to come in a day early...

 

I've noticed Princess has become much more competitive with its airfares. Only a few years ago you could beat Princess rates every time. On our last trip, Princess was slightly higher. On the trip before that, Princess was actually significantly lower than I could have booked myself.

 

When we did the Amazon cruise (Regal) it was a 2-day flight (with layovers) to get to Manaus if we arranged our own flights. Princess did a direct charter that cut the flight/layover time in half AND cost several hundred dollars less. It was an easy call to go with Princess on that one.

 

Now... I'm not trying to convince people that going with Princess is the best option. I'm just pointing out that the old "rule of thumb" that you save big money by booking flights yourself is less and less accurate nowadays. It's worth checking into...

 

Bill