Same day arrival

[brendielee]

My Princess agent told me that if our plane were delayed, that Princess would see to it that we got to the ship, because we let them make all the travel arrangements. She said if we did our own travel arrangements, then we would be on our own. by the way we did purchase the insurance also. I don't understand why the flight times are not showing on my personalizer yet! As soon as I see the actual time i will feel a little better (I hope!)

[KKB]

We flew in day early first cruise. Flew in same day second cruise w/o incident.

 

This time I would SOOOO have preferred to go in a day early, but that was not an option for our travel companions. And strangely, Princess air was beating anything I could book myself by about $100pp.

 

We have a 6AM flight out of Omaha to Atlanta (I would have changed it if it had gone through O'Hare!!), arriving FFL 1:12. About the same as our flight last time. I am watching weather in these 3 cities closely...looks good so far.

 

My folks were scheduled out of Omaha thru Midway last Monday...storm worried them, so changed to Sat...so they were in FLL 3 days early, and paid $200/nt for Ramada Inn, but they sure loved the peace of mind.

 

You can call and change for $50pp. thru Princess. BUT if you book thru Princess, the advantage IS that they will cover your expenses (hotel/travel) if you are delayed and miss the ship. Also, SOME travel insurance DOES cover "acts of God"..check your policy.

[LUCY55]

First cruise we took was out of San Juan. Flew out day of cruise. Milwaukee to Detroit to San Juan. San Juan cruises don't leave until 11:00 p.m. If cruise doesn't leave until 8:00 maybe same day is O.K. in spring, summer, and fall. Risk is higher in winter. We are flying day of cruise in March, ship leaves at 4:00. However from O'hare to California pick up two extra hours, have no connections either. We get in about 10:30 a.m.. We should be O.K. with no unusual weather. Sometimes you just can't leave the day before--kids at school, work commitments, etc.

[fti]

Also, note that insurance does not cover weather-related delays. Act of God!

 

Maybe your travel insurance doesn't cover weather, but mine does. Check your policy. It really depends.

[City_Woman]

Our first cruise was almost missed because we didn't know any better and booked a flight the same day our cruise sailed.

 

The flight was cancelled 10 minutes after it was supposed to leave and it was quite a scramble to get another flight that would get us there in time.

 

From that time on we go at least 1 day prior - just in case. I never want that kind of stress to start vacation again!

 

Judy

[luvrotties]

We have cruised 10 times and have always flew in the day of the cruise so far we always got to the ship in plenty of time !!!! Ideally it would be better to fly in early but sometimes you just can't do that !!

[LUVTOKRUZ]

I never know what to do about this issue...we live in Regina (halfway between Winnipeg and Calgary) the last cruise we took, Princess had us booked - out of Calgary, not Regina so we had to Calgary on our own - book from Calgary to San Francisco, red eye from San Francisco to Washington, then Washington to San Juan..a journey of 30 hours to go 2000 miles when in fact we could have flown Air Canda the night before into Toronto and then Toronto-San Juan non-stop...

 

from now on I will make my own arrangements...

 

however inexplicably on the Crown out of New York in September Princess flew us the day beofre Riegina-Minneapolis-Newark and comp'd us at the Brooklyn Marriott, however we could have made it the same day with time to spare -

 

PS the wonderful United agent at Calgary (not the one we dealt with but the one who overheard our conversation with the initial agent we talked to ) caught up with us after we left the counter and advised us that SFO was having fog problems anyway and we'd likel;y miss our connnection, so he rebooked us Calgary to Chicago to Wahsington (we overnighted in Washington at the Dulles Hilton (which was beautiful by the way) and continued on our way the next morning actually feeling human....

 

where is the rhyme or reason????

[TCF]

On our first cruise we debated for days about when to fly in...then finally we got the schedule from Carnival that had us on a 'red eye' from the west coast. :eek: Not in this lifetime!

We booked our own air and headed in a day early. We got to Miami the day before the cruise...our luggage didn't!:eek: While it had been thoroughly searched in Vancouver....it was thoroughly searched a second time in Chicago...so thoroughly that it missed the plane!:mad:

We got our luggage the next day...just before we headed out of the hotel to buy a new wardrobe for the cruise!:D

We always go at least the day before!

Tom&Deb:)

[kate8]

We have cruised 4 times with princess, and we have always been able to get a better price for our flights with them. I wonder if it has to do with flying from Canada? For example our upcoming Easter cruise we are saving $150. per person on a direct flight from Calgary to Houston. Our travel agent can't believe how cheap the flight was. Apparently neither can princess, because friends of ours tried to book the same flight thru princess last month and were quoted $200. per person more than us.

For two of the four flights we were flown in the day before and princess covered the cost of the room. That was ideal!

This time we are flying in the day of the cruise and I am a bit nervous. When we phoned to find out the cost of changing the flight we were told $300. per person???? I think they must of undercharged us for the original flight!

[CZEE]

 

It appears that they book you on whatever the cheapest flight available that lands with about three hours between plane and ship. Lay overs and “red eyes” seem to be the norm from the posts I have read.

 

Actually, their flights can be more expensive than the ones an individual is able to book. Friends of ours elected to do their own arrangements to Tahiti instead of taking Princess Air. They saved enough for a two day stay in a hotel in Papaete.

 

I did my own air for my upcoming cruise, since Princess Air would get me to the ship about 1 1/2 hours before it sailed. I saved enough to pay for my hotel the night before.

 

Just my experience.

[brendielee]

well, I finally received our flight info! Princess has us arriving in Vancouver at 1:40 and ship sails at 4:30....Princess assures me that that is plenty of time to get to the ship. We are going from Boston to Seattle, Seattle to Vancouver. Then coming back, they have us departing Anchorage at 10 pm ! so, I guess we will sleep all the way home to Maine! Now just waiting for the cabin assignment! Also, I was happy to see that there are people that fly in the same day!

[cruisenut2001]

Sounds like you won't have any problems getting to the ship on time. We used Princess air when we went to Alaska and they transfered us from Seattle to Vancouver, a very long bus ride. We've only had 4 cruises and haven't flown in early, but always buy the insurance. Vancouver is a beautiful city and worth a pre-cruise stay for sightseeing. Happy Cruising!!

[llachance]

I flew in the same day for a cruise it was a nightmare. I always purchase our flights so that wasn't the problem but since it was a 3-day repositioning cruise (Vancouver to San Francisco - 3 hour flight) I thought that leaving at 6:00am on the morning of the cruise would get us there about the same time the ship was clearing...was I wrong. Got to the airport to find out that our flight was cancelled (completely full flight) and everyone in line was getting rebooked. It didn't matter why you were going you were just a number in line (mind you I had pre printed boarding passes and since we weren't checking luggage I didn't think about standing in line to get a new flight). Long story short we were booked through Portland, a 3 hour flight became a 6 hour excursion with the layover....and then we hit Vancouver when 2 747s from overseas landed as well. Another hour in passport control but thankfully the band that was taking over on this particular cruise were in line with us so even though we are now 2 hours before ships sailing I am thinking things are ok because they aren't going to leave without the musicians! Hit the taxi stand and got to the ship 45 minutes before sail away but we weren't the only ones so it turned out ok! Our next cruise is out of San Francisco which is a 45 minute drive and I am tempted to stay overnight near the port :)

 

Lisa