Booking Hotel through Princess

[bearette1017]

Hi

My DH and I are sailing on the CB in April. We booked the Embassy Suites through Princess for the night before sailing. We have never done this before, can someone tell me what to expect? We will be met at the airport by a Princess person-then what? Do we keep our bags with us going to the hotel? If we are there before check in will we have some safe place to keep them, or must we sit with them in the lobby?

The next morning they will take us to the ship. Is this by Princess or Embassy Suites?

Please help, my husband is very nervous about this, as this is new to us .

[custompcsys]

Princess pre-cruise hotel packages include transferring you and your luggage from the airport to the hotel, and from the hotel to the ship the next day. If you get there and your room isn't ready I have no doubt Embassy Suites will safeguard your luggage until they can move it to your room. Princess is the one who coordinates the transfers...there will be a rep at the airport and at the hotel the next morning. I'm sure you won't be the only cruise passenger there :) Don't worry, everything will be fine..relax and enjoy! :)

[FredS]

When we have used a |Princess pre-cruise hotel stay Princess has taken care of everything. We had to pick up our luggage from the conveyor belt at the airport, then take them to the Princess rep. that is usually walking around the baggage claim area. They have a clipboard with arriving passengers names and flights, they are dressed in usually a blue blazer with a Princess nametag. They will tell you to put your luggage on a cart or take it to the bus. You should have a transfer ticket in your papers. The rep will let you know when to board the bus, when it is full you go to the hotel. The luggage on the bus will be unloaded. You have to check yourself in but the desk will have your name and room number already set up. Usually you need to give a credit card for incidentals that you might have, phone calls, drinks, etc. Princess rep will tell you what time to have your luggage outside your room so it can be gathered and put on the bus for transfer to the ship. You will be told what time the bus will leave and where it will be at the hotel, sometimes we have used a side door and sometimes it has been at the front door. You will see Princess reps at the hotel in the morning to help with getting situated. Enjoy the ride and cruise.

[SueM.]

We have stayed at the Embassy Suites in Fort Lauderdale several time, but booking on our own. If your room isn't ready yet, the porter will store your luggage in a locked room, so it will be safe.

 

In case you don't know, Embassy Suites has a very good, free buffet breakfast. They have eggs/omelettes made to order and all the stuff that goes with.

 

There is also a supermarket, shopping center and lots of good restaurants within walking distance. Just ask at the desk and they will give you lots of suggestions.

 

sue

[westwind]

In the past, the price listed by Princess for hotels is a PER PERSON rate!

 

You can almost always do better yourself, even if you book directly with the hotel. You can save even more using services like Priceline or Hotwire.

 

Cabs in Ft Lauderdale and plentiful and cheap, about $10 from airport to hotels on 17th and $5-6 hotel to ship.

 

fair winds

Dave

[Princess Chatterer]

Princess hotel packages include free transfers! Keep in mind that Princess typically has a certain allotment of rooms and they can sell out quickly. We stayed at the Four Seasons in Istanbul in a Princess hotel package and we are still talking about how great that was. More often than not in a distant "foreign" country that I've never been to before I'll generally buy the Princess hotel package because I want to be pampered by friendly Princess reps who speak English. Hey, that's what money is for.

[NeurosurgeryNP]

In the past, the price listed by Princess for hotels is a PER PERSON rate!

 

You can almost always do better yourself, even if you book directly with the hotel. You can save even more using services like Priceline or Hotwire.

 

Cabs in Ft Lauderdale and plentiful and cheap, about $10 from airport to hotels on 17th and $5-6 hotel to ship.

 

fair winds

Dave

 

In January, yes we had a per person rate - but it was much cheaper that anything we could get in Fort Lauderdale - it was $55 per peron per night or $110 per night for the two of us at the Marriott North. Unfortunately, they could only book 2 nights with their package and we had already arranged three nights, so we had to pay one night on our own, which we did at the same hotel as we did not want to move after one night, and it was $269 per night. All of the hotels we looked at (similar quality) we equally expensive or more so expensive. So we got a really good deal through Princess. We did shop around and the hotel package was much more inexpensive through Princess.

[mollyanne]

In January, yes we had a per person rate - but it was much cheaper that anything we could get in Fort Lauderdale - it was $55 per peron per night or $110 per night for the two of us at the Marriott North. Unfortunately, they could only book 2 nights with their package and we had already arranged three nights, so we had to pay one night on our own, which we did at the same hotel as we did not want to move after one night, and it was $269 per night. All of the hotels we looked at (similar quality) we equally expensive or more so expensive. So we got a really good deal through Princess. We did shop around and the hotel package was much more inexpensive through Princess.

 

Same for us - we used the Princess hotel package for FLL last March. Since it was "high season" we realized a much better price than we could have booked on our own. We stayed at the Renaissance in Plantation and were even upgraded to their Executive Floor - which included free breakfast.

We did not enjoy the Princess transfers, as we arrived in FLL at 2 AM (Spring break delays per the FAA). Princess DID NOT wait for us - understandable at that hour - but they did end up refunding our $35 cab fare. The transfer to the Port was very long and drawn out - I would definitely consider a cab.:rolleyes:

[westwind]

Hi NeurosurgeryNP;

 

That is not a bad rate! Marriot North is a little far away for my tastes, but a good rate for Jan. in Ft. Lauderdale. I had two rooms booked at Extended Stay America (ESA) right on 17th st. close to pier and shopping and restruants for $105 a night on Jan. 25 of this year. Everything else close by was generally over $200 a night,

 

Fair winds

Dave

[bearette1017]

Thank you everyone who answered my plea --DH just read these replies and now he feels better.

FredS - you explained everything he was worried about. We'll both sleep better tonight!

 

Thanks again. Sherry

[NeurosurgeryNP]

Hi NeurosurgeryNP;

 

That is not a bad rate! Marriot North is a little far away for my tastes, but a good rate for Jan. in Ft. Lauderdale. I had two rooms booked at Extended Stay America (ESA) right on 17th st. close to pier and shopping and restruants for $105 a night on Jan. 25 of this year. Everything else close by was generally over $200 a night,

 

Fair winds

Dave

Yes, the $110 through Princess was a great rate. Yes, a little far, but we were there for tree nights and thefore, we rented a car so we could do some sightseeing. Therefore, we were able to go to the Ft. Lauderdale Beach area everynight. We also went to a hockey game in Sunrise, and also to the Seminole Reservation in the Everglades.

 

The Princess transfers for us, were very streamlined, and painless. We were at the pier by 12 noon. We did not use the Princess transfer to the hotel as we had the rental car.

 

If you want to get to the pier early, make sure you go down to the hospitality area in the hotel where they will give you your boarding passes for the transfer EARLY. We were there about 15 to 30 minutes before the advertised time for opening the table and we got the 1 bus, so we were out of there very early and at the pier by noon.

[Jetswdo]

I would agree that usually one would do better on their own for a precruise hotel and transportation. But there are exceptions: For my Alaska trip in July, I wanted to have one night in Vancouver at the Pan American right at the dock. For this one night, it worked out actually cheapper to use Princess for booking for 2 (Hubs and myself), since it also included pickup at airport. It also worked out better for my hubs and myself to use Princess's transfer to Anchorage Airport after the cruise. This is why one should check out everything, before booking. Everyone has their own personal nuances to consider. This is the first time, and we do travel alot, that booking through the cruise line for hotel and transfers were the best deal. Anita