Early flight out of Copenhagen

[knot knormal]

We have a 10:10 AM flight out of Copenhagen the morning of disembarkation from the Emerald Princess on September 3. I'd appreciate ideas on taxi vs ship transfer. Are there taxis waiting, how early can I disembark, etc. Any advise is welcome.

[kelfad]

We have a 10:10 AM flight out of Copenhagen the morning of disembarkation from the Emerald Princess on September 3. I'd appreciate ideas on taxi vs ship transfer. Are there taxis waiting, how early can I disembark, etc. Any advise is welcome.

 

 

All I can say is good luck.....

 

I really don't think you can make the flight.

Let me list the issues, Taxi to airport- 15 to 20 minutes depending on traffic. Unload and deal with the airport crowd. Print your "new boarding pass" at one of the kiosks. Why??? I don't know, but you are required to go through the kiosks. get back in line ( a very long line)and check the luggage. go up stairs and get through security ( the slowest of any air port I have ever been in) . Navigate through the little shops to your gate and finally get on the plane. To this point we were at 2 1/2 hours. And you should board 20-30 minutes before take off. So that is three hours .

 

You would have to be off the ship, with luggage in hand by 7:00am. Our boat was suppose to get in at 6:00am but it was more like 7:10am and the first people off the ship did so at about 7:30am.

 

So a 10:10am flight would really scare me , if I were you. I hope I am very wrong for your sake. But this I how our morning unfolded.

[Fafos]

We have a 10:10 AM flight out of Copenhagen the morning of disembarkation from the Emerald Princess on September 3. I'd appreciate ideas on taxi vs ship transfer. Are there taxis waiting, how early can I disembark, etc. Any advise is welcome.

 

You can ask a Princess transfer to airport when go in ship.. with this case you must keep the luggage in your cabin the night before arrive in Copenhagen..

[LHT28]

Are you staying over night in CPH?

You could book a private taxi or do the ship's transfer...they will get you there on time.

 

Lyn

[msmoger]

All I can say is good luck.....

 

I really don't think you can make the flight.

Let me list the issues, Taxi to airport- 15 to 20 minutes depending on traffic. Unload and deal with the airport crowd. Print your "new boarding pass" at one of the kiosks. Why??? I don't know, but you are required to go through the kiosks. get back in line ( a very long line)and check the luggage. go up stairs and get through security ( the slowest of any air port I have ever been in) . Navigate through the little shops to your gate and finally get on the plane. To this point we were at 2 1/2 hours. And you should board 20-30 minutes before take off. So that is three hours .

 

You would have to be off the ship, with luggage in hand by 7:00am. Our boat was suppose to get in at 6:00am but it was more like 7:10am and the first people off the ship did so at about 7:30am.

 

So a 10:10am flight would really scare me , if I were you. I hope I am very wrong for your sake. But this I how our morning unfolded.

 

Kelfad,

 

Are you saying that you would recommend being at the CPH airport 3 hours in advance? We were thinking that arriving at the airport 2 to 2.5 hours before our flight would be adequate. We are also catching a 10:10 AM flight on a Thursday and will be coming from a downtown hotel, not the pier.

 

 

Thanks,

[gigabit10]

The key to time saving is taking the luggage with you. You can get off the ship and jump into a taxi within 5 minutes if you can take your luggage with you and wait to be the first ones off the ship. You should have plenty of time for your flight.

[RachelG]

The key to time saving is taking the luggage with you. You can get off the ship and jump into a taxi within 5 minutes if you can take your luggage with you and wait to be the first ones off the ship. You should have plenty of time for your flight.

 

I agree--this should not be a problem. Also do NOT get to the CPH airport 3 hrs early unless you just love standing around in chaos. The British airways checkin desk did not open up until 1 1/2 hrs before our flight from there last week. We got there 2 hrs early and just had to stand in the mass of people milling around for 30 minutes.

 

There were plenty of taxis at the pier, but we did take our own luggage off (as we always do).

[msmoger]

Kelfad,

 

Are you saying that you would recommend being at the CPH airport 3 hours in advance? We were thinking that arriving at the airport 2 to 2.5 hours before our flight would be adequate. We are also catching a 10:10 AM flight on a Thursday and will be coming from a downtown hotel, not the pier.

 

 

Thanks,

 

Never Mind!! :D I just changed our reservation to the airport Hilton. This will be much more convenient in terms of getting to the airport Thursday morning and it is very easy to catch the train to the city center for some additional sightseeing. I had booked our downtown hotel (Ascot Hotel) through Orbitz and there was a $25 cancellation fee. However.....Orbitz obviously didn't want to lose the booking and immediately emailed me a 15% off coupon, so I saved $35 on the new booking. Since the Orbitz rate for the Hilton before applying the coupon was exactly the same price as every other option I checked (including Hilton's website), it seems like I did OK. :)

 

I agree--this should not be a problem. Also do NOT get to the CPH airport 3 hrs early unless you just love standing around in chaos. The British airways checkin desk did not open up until 1 1/2 hrs before our flight from there last week. We got there 2 hrs early and just had to stand in the mass of people milling around for 30 minutes.

 

There were plenty of taxis at the pier, but we did take our own luggage off (as we always do).

 

I checked the airport link that provides suggested arrival times based on the airline and Air France says only 1 hour. I certainly wouldn't cut it that close but I'm sure 1.75 to 2 hours should be fine.

 

http://www.cph.dk/CPH/UK/MAIN/Before+Departure/

[capriccio]

We have a 10:10 AM flight out of Copenhagen the morning of disembarkation from the Emerald Princess on September 3. I'd appreciate ideas on taxi vs ship transfer. Are there taxis waiting, how early can I disembark, etc. Any advise is welcome.

 

Is your flight direct to the States or within Europe? Check in times vary greatly. Check out the Copenhagen Airport web site http://www.cph.dk/CPH/UK/MAIN/Before+Departure/. It gives check in time requirements by airline, class of service, and destination. We were on the Emerald in June and had a 9:05 am flight to Geneva (connecting to DC) and had no trouble making it. We were on the first Princess transfer bus at 6:20 am and were at the airport before 7 am. It looked like the transfer buses were scheduled every 20 minutes or so. If you can get on the first one I don't think you'd have a problem even making a flight to the States.

 

You can get off even earlier if you're taking a taxi but that requires self disembarking -- transporting your own luggage. The lines looked long but they were moving. I've read that they have two lines - one for 'normal' size taxis (2 people, a couple of pieces of luggage) and the other for large (station wagons mostly) taxis (more than 2 people, lots of luggage). So that's a possiblity too.

 

I don't know how Copenhagen traffic is on a weekday morning at rush hour but before 7 am the trip to the airport was a breeze.

 

Have a great trip!

[kelfad]

Kelfad,

 

Are you saying that you would recommend being at the CPH airport 3 hours in advance? We were thinking that arriving at the airport 2 to 2.5 hours before our flight would be adequate. We are also catching a 10:10 AM flight on a Thursday and will be coming from a downtown hotel, not the pier.

 

 

Thanks,

 

We left on Thursday too. And had all the above problems mentioned. Had we not had the three hours we would have missed the plane. We had about 12 minutes at the gate before boarding. The place was an absolute mad house. Oh, and BTW I was flying First class and had my own line for check in, if I would have been in coach...... who knows if I would have made it.

 

It was a real hectic morning for us. A real nail biter...

[knot knormal]

Well, since I can't change my flight arrangements, I will take my own luggage off per all your suggestions, thanks. But are there taxis waiting at the pier? I've tried to arrange for a limo/taxi but they are either very expensive or only cater large/corporate groups. A taxi would be cheaper than the Princess transfer and I would not have to wait for the bus to fill up - if, in fact, taxis are available. Thanks for your help!

[capriccio]

Well, since I can't change my flight arrangements, I will take my own luggage off per all your suggestions, thanks. But are there taxis waiting at the pier? I've tried to arrange for a limo/taxi but they are either very expensive or only cater large/corporate groups. A taxi would be cheaper than the Princess transfer and I would not have to wait for the bus to fill up - if, in fact, taxis are available. Thanks for your help!

 

There is no waiting for the bus to fill -- passsengers are assigned to a specific departure time (same number of passengers as there are seats) and you disembark the Emerald as a group. But if time is of the essence, self disembark (because that starts 1/2 hour or so ahead of the airport shuttle) but be at the front of the line!

 

There were taxis, in fact looking out at the pretty sizable parking area before anyone disembarked we saw lots of them just waiting for disembarking passengers - just make sure you get off as soon as they allow (I think it was around 5:30 - 5:45; we were docked by 5 am) because there will be lines (but on the day we disembarked they were moving). If you don't need a large taxi it moves faster. When we left on the shuttle at 6:20, taxis were still arriving (but we couldn't see how long the line was) and departing.

 

Enjoy your cruise and don't fret over this!

[Mr & Mrs Canada]

We have a 10:10 AM flight out of Copenhagen the morning of disembarkation from the Emerald Princess on September 3. I'd appreciate ideas on taxi vs ship transfer. Are there taxis waiting, how early can I disembark, etc. Any advise is welcome.

 

There were taxis waiting at our ship upon arrival. Check at your ship's service desk and have them put you in the first disembarkation group. If they refuse, then just disembark with the first group anyway --they won't check your disembarkation card. At the taxi line, pretend you're in New York and getting a cab at rush hour (you've seen this in the movies). Our (Saturday moring) taxi ride to the airport saw no heavy traffic. But we went to the airport Hilton, since we had an 0800 flight and therefore had NO chance of making it the same day.

 

Your time at the airport is largely dependent upon what airline you're using. We departed CPH at ~0800 in June, and the check-in queue for SAS was huge; scarily huge, perhaps as long a 2 hours' huge. If you're on SAS, use the electronic check-in and 'quick baggage drop'. We were told that the queue was for manual check-in, but that's hearsay, we cannot confirm this. We flew BA, and checked in at 0600, but even this took about 45 minutes, with only about 8 people in line ahead of us. Security took a while too.

 

Based on what we saw, on a Sunday morning at CPH, I am surprised that anyone could make a 1000 flight on the moring of disembarkation.

 

You may wish to lower your risk and book one more night at a Copenhagen hotel, and have one more very enjoyable vacation day.

[MTJtraveller]

Our experience on Emerald Princess last Wednesday:

 

We had a 7:20 off the ship, walked off at 7:15, our luggage was there, no crowds. Picked up the luggage, walked right onto a taxi, we were in the airport at 10 to 8. We needed a larger taxi as we were a family of 5. We were also prepared to take the train in if we could not find a taxi large enough for our family. It was absolutely no problem.

 

We came in the doors for SAS, immediately to your left are self help kiosks, printed off our boarding passes, and took our luggage to the counters right by the kiosk. It took us 15 minutes at the most. Went up the escalator toward departures and saw HUGE lines at the other SAS counters. I don't know what the differences were, but we lucked out at the right set of counters!

[Nghthawke]

Getting to the airport is not the problem it is the slow long lineups when you get there.

[greyhound101]

We are booked to arrive back in Copenhagen on June 18th 2010 at 6 in the morning. We are flying Continental and the only flight out leaves at 9. So we decided to spend Friday night at a hotel and catch the 9 in the morning flight on Saturday morning instead of killing ourselves trying to get off the boat and on flight in a 3 hour window.