How does Princess get UK folk down under

[Shogun]

Hi Folks,

 

TA has said it will take two days to get to NZ, from UK,

 

Any one know which airline or route Princess will use

 

is there a Europe charter ?

 

yours Shogun

[kenexx]

Shogun, in reality if you travel London to Auckland via the Kangaroo route e.g. London Bangkok Sydney Auckland the travel time is over 24 hours but because of the time difference you arrive in Auckland + 2 days.

 

So if you leave London Monday evening you arrive Auckland Wednesday.

 

You can also go via Los Angeles which is only one stop but you then have to deal with the problematic transit in LAX and then run the gauntlet of the TSA security inspection to get to the gate for the LA Auckland sector :)

 

Maurice

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Its a long way all right.

When we finish our cruise next year in Athens we fly "direct" back home to Auckland with 4 changes of planes thanks to the hub system.

Athens to Heathrow

Heathrow to Singapore

Singapore to Sydney

Sydney to Auckland.

Lets hope our baggage changes with us.:eek:

[Aquarians]

Hi Folks,

 

TA has said it will take two days to get to NZ, from UK,

 

Any one know which airline or route Princess will use

 

is there a Europe charter ?

 

yours Shogun

 

Kia ora,

Whichever you go it will involve at 24+ hours flying time so suggest you look for an airline which does it with the least stopovers, and a short stopover if you don't want to break the journey. From NZ we have recently travelled via Bangkok with Thai airways & via Hongkong with Cathay Pacific,both of which we found very good. Air New Zealand have a number of alternatives and there is also the likes of Singapor Airlines & Maylasian Airways if you want to stopover in KL. whichever route, with 'airport time' you will be unlikely to get away with less than 30 hours.

Aquarians of Rotorua

[Leslieswiger]

I believe you will find Air New Zealand doing the LHR-LAX-AUK with know change of aircraft.:D They also use the new Boeing 777-200 and have the flat beds in business. We have ALWAYS enjoyed Air New Zealand.:)

Happy Sailings...Leslie Swiger:)

[Shogun]

Hi Folks,

 

As Princess price of cruise includes everything flights from Scotland to England stay in hotel etc and flights down under are all included.

 

Princess UK sells package does not even list cruise only prices, so we are totaly at the control of Princess.

 

That said they have always looked after us, good hotels flights always to date been charter flights.

 

As to flights when we have got a cruise only price there price has always been better, I assume this is because a charter flight will always be cheaper than normal flying

 

They even used a Qantus jumbo to fly us London to Spain, captain had to say sorry that the in flight movie was longer than the flight.

 

Thanks for info folks.

 

Can not wait to visit Aus And NZ

 

yours Shogun

[Globaliser]

I believe you will find Air New Zealand doing the LHR-LAX-AUK with know change of aircraft.

To be pedantic, AKL not AUK. (AUK is Alakanuk in Alaska, where Air New Zealand does not fly.)

 

However you fly LHR-LAX-AKL, you are always going to have to put up with the hassle of the stop at LAX. Either you have to go through the whole US immigration, US customs, TSA rigmarole, or else you go into a depressing sin bin.

 

It is so bad that Air New Zealand were losing London-Auckland passengers to other airlines which did not fly via the US. As a result, Air New Zealand instituted a LHR-HKG-AKL route to try to win them back.

 

Whatever you do, it is worth avoiding a routing through LA.

They even used a Qantus jumbo to fly us London to Spain, captain had to say sorry that the in flight movie was longer than the flight.

That's a win-win situation for everyone. Many of the Qantas aircraft otherwise sit on the ground at Heathrow between early morning and late evening. So the cruise line charters provide some work for the aircraft during the day, and some easy high-capacity lift for the cruise line.

 

The air traffic density in Europe scares the living daylights out of the Qantas crew, though - they never normally see it this bad.

[Good-Time]

Hi Folks,

 

TA has said it will take two days to get to NZ, from UK,

 

Any one know which airline or route Princess will use

 

is there a Europe charter ?

 

yours Shogun

 

Hi Shogun

 

These are our flights booked through Princess next year hope the information helps

 

London Heathrow to Auckland

Operated by Air New Zealand

 

Departs

London Heathrow (LHR), Terminal 3

9:15pm Saturday 29 March 2008

Arrives

Auckland (AKL), Terminal I

10:45am Monday 31 March 2008

Stopover

Hong Kong (HKG) 2h 00m

Meal

Yes

 

Sydney to London Heathrow

 

Operated by: British Airways

Departing from: Sydney

Fri 25 April 2008, 16:40 Arriving at: Heathrow (London)

Sat 26 April 2008, 06:20

Number of stops: 1

Flying duration: 22hrs 40mins

Aircraft type: Boeing 747 jet

 

Good-Time

[Shogun]

Hi There,

 

Thanks for info,

 

Have never done a flight of this length before,

 

Can doctor not give us a pill to make us sleep for 24 hours.

 

How do you pass the time on a plane for 22 hours.

 

After 3 or 4 hours I start getting very bored, start walking about etc, I do not have a desk job, so am not used to doing nothing for so long.

 

Now a cruise to NZ from UK would be fine.

 

yours Shogun

[Globaliser]

Sleep is definitely the best thing. Although I've had to practise this for years to get it right, a London-Sydney flight is two sleeps punctuated by a good shower and a drink.

 

I wouldn't recommend getting a "knockout" sleeping medication. People who do this sometimes look very silly if the flight has to return to origin after a couple of hours, and they literally have to be carried off the aircraft because they cannot be woken. But a milder sleep aid will help, and many are available over the counter. My choice is sold as a sleep aid in the UK as Sominex. The active ingredient is promethazine, which can be obtained in various forms (eg also as the drowsy-making agent in Night Nurse).

 

There are a few threads about long flights. I know I posted this on one of them, which might help you.

[Shogun]

Hi There,

 

The lack of sleep thing does not concern me, as I am one of those people either blessed or not that do not sleep much, to the point that I might just miss a night a week to get peace to do so important work. Not so good when you want to sleep and your body says no.

 

Pills to make you sleep need to be of the very strong type as simple meds from Doc do not work, as at one time they were worried about me not sleeping, now they agree its just the way I am.

 

 

I assume they show more than just one film, might take lap top so I can watch my own movies or even play games.

 

Find that I drink water like a fish on planes,

 

any way thats for information and advise.

 

 

yours Shogun

[ArizonaRalphie]

Please go back to the title of this thread then try to understand why I have been trying, really, really, really hard to control my perverted sense of humor.

[Globaliser]

The lack of sleep thing does not concern me, as I am one of those people either blessed or not that do not sleep much, to the point that I might just miss a night a week to get peace to do so important work. Not so good when you want to sleep and your body says no.

...

I assume they show more than just one film, might take lap top so I can watch my own movies or even play games.

It's not so much a "needing sleep" thing. It's just that if you do sleep, the flight goes by so much faster! I admit that I use long flights to catch up on sleep I miss when I'm at home. But it is great when you get on board a 12 hour flight, fall asleep within half an hour or so, and then wake up when they start making announcements about 40 minutes before the end of the flight - the whole of the long, tedious and boring middle period has just vanished in the night.

 

Most of the major airlines that fly between London and Aus/NZ will offer you personal seat-back TVs and a dozen or more channels, including half a dozen or more different movies. The latest versions of in-flight entertainment systems are "on demand" systems, which mean that you can start, stop, pause, rewind or fast forward any movie at any time - you're not tied to the tape cycle of olders systems and don't have to wait until the next time the movie starts on that channel. Typically, these systems also offer far more choice - dozens, sometimes many dozens, of different channels. Most of these airlines also post the current movies lists on their websites.

[ukcrusing]

For our upcoming sapphire cruise, flights were LHR-HKG-BKK on Cathay, and coming back SYD-HKG-LHR also on Cathay, wasn't too impressed with those, and asked if they woudl give a flight credit, which they would and so booked direct flights with BA, didn;t actually save any money over the credit, but at least now direct, as I am BA Exec club card holder, could choose my seats :)

[Globaliser]

For our upcoming sapphire cruise, flights were LHR-HKG-BKK on Cathay, and coming back SYD-HKG-LHR also on Cathay, wasn't too impressed with those

What was wrong with the CX flights (other than having to connect in HKG to get to BKK)? Many people rate CX more highly than BA, especially in the back. CX is oneworld as well, so you'd get all your oneworld benefits and perks.

[terrierjohn]

Hi Folks,

 

As Princess price of cruise includes everything flights from Scotland to England stay in hotel etc and flights down under are all included.

 

Princess UK sells package does not even list cruise only prices, so we are totaly at the control of Princess.

 

That said they have always looked after us, good hotels flights always to date been charter flights.

 

As to flights when we have got a cruise only price there price has always been better, I assume this is because a charter flight will always be cheaper than normal flying

 

They even used a Qantus jumbo to fly us London to Spain, captain had to say sorry that the in flight movie was longer than the flight.

 

Thanks for info folks.

 

Can not wait to visit Aus And NZ

 

yours Shogun

Shogun, we got a good cruise only price from our UK TA and organised our own flights, or I should say Trailfinders organised them for us, and we saved several hundred pounds.

We leave from Manchester at 08:10 and arrive Sydney 1 day later at 19:35 with Qantas, the return flights from Auckland are via Hong Kong. We thought the outbound would be better than the alternative BA/Qantas flights which leave late evening from Heathrow and arrive Sydney first thing, leaving you a full day to fall asleep before bedtime.

I doubt that Princess will have enough UK passengers to fill a charter aircraft, so you will be on scheduled flights but as usual you won't know the timings until a few weeks before your cruise, and if you want to take in any pre or post cruise touring you will probably have to pay Princess over the top pricing.

[sailingkiwi]

Having done this trip a number of times, and being someone who gets bored very quickly I find that I need to organise my time, with various activities. I plan time to read, sleep or nap, eat, move around the airplane, watch movies, do crosswords/sudoku, play cards with my DH.

 

A lap top and an ipod are necessities. You can download narrated stories for your ipod to listen to, or radio shows about the locations you are going to.

[Shogun]

Hi There,

 

Thanks for views folks. Will have to wait and see what happens just so happy that I am going to get a chance to see NZ and Aus.

 

yours Shogun

[ukcrusing]

No issues with CX, but direct over in direct wins everytime for me, plus flight timings meant we can leave after work on the way out rather than have to take a full day off. Holiday days are tight all these cruises LOL

[terrierjohn]

For our upcoming sapphire cruise, flights were LHR-HKG-BKK on Cathay, and coming back SYD-HKG-LHR also on Cathay, wasn't too impressed with those, and asked if they woudl give a flight credit, which they would and so booked direct flights with BA, didn;t actually save any money over the credit, but at least now direct, as I am BA Exec club card holder, could choose my seats :)

I also have exec card but cannot book seats until on-line check in 24 hrs prior to flight, like everyone else. Is your card higher than basic?

[Globaliser]

No issues with CX, but direct over in direct wins everytime for me, plus flight timings meant we can leave after work on the way out rather than have to take a full day off.

Fair enough. Bad flight times would be a deal-breaker for me, too.