Princess air left us stranded!!!!!

[krikir]

I just wanted to advise anyone NOT to book with Princess Air. We have missed our cruise and they are not willing to do anything about it!

 

Princess Air booked us to leave Toronto to stop in Detroit for a 2 hr layover. The flight kept getting delayed until they finally made an announcement that the flight was cancelled. This then became a "free for all" for people to get on the next flight to La Guardia. We called Princess right away when we found out our flight was delayed and they said not to do anything until it was cancelled. We called Princess again when it was cancelled so they then tried to find us another flight. The problem with sending us to Detroit was that there were no other airilines that could get us to New York other than the airline we were already booked on, Northwest. They finally got us another flight that was scheduled to leave at 1:30 but it was already pushed back to 2:30. Somebody, either princess or the airline didn't communicate the fact that it was a group of 13 of us that had to get to the ship for a wedding!. They could only get 11 of us on while they were still assigning seats to other people not in the group. We had to miss our flight even though our luggage ended up going to New York. Princess said we had to get to New York, spend 2 days there, book another flight to Bermuda, then they would let us on the ship.....at our own expense. We ended up finally getting a flight back to Toronto late last night, and we don't know what will happen next. Princess is telling us we walked away and we don't get our money back!

 

Trust me, we are fighting this! So after 17 hrs in the Detroit airport with a group of 13 including young children, and an infant, we are home, and felt abandoned! And, the wedding doesn't get to happen.

 

Don't book with Princess Air!

[Toto2Kansas]

Sorry you missed the ship, that is so sad. :(

 

Did you not have any type of insurance to cover flight delay, etc?

 

One thing many don't understand is that when booking princess air, they are only providing a service by booking the flights for you, and do not in any way own the airline. They will attempt to assist you in rebooking flights but they have no control over the airline. If there are no flights available after a cancelled flight, there just isn't much they can do except get you to the first port of call to join your cruise. If you would have booked those same flights yourself, the outcome would have been the same.

 

Without insurance, you are responsible for any hotels or transportation other than the flight to the port or the next port.

 

Again, sorry to read this, but if you didn't have insurance to pick up the added expense, well, things like this do happen. :(

[cruisinnorth]

There is one other incredibly important lesson to learn here... When flying or using any type of public transportation to get to a port... go a day early... give yourself some wiggle room when something terrible happens like this.

 

I can't imagine what it must feel like when your stuck in an airport and you know your ship is sailing without you and I am sorry this happened... but I learned long ago, nobody is going to watch out for us as well as we can watch out for ourselves.

 

So, get to the port city early, spend the night, explore if you have time and the next morning get on the ship early and start exploring again. It is well worth the extra cost.

 

One other thing I have learned personally from experience... you'll get a far better deal, generally, if you book your own air. You have better control over the times you will fly, the stops you will make on the way and every other aspect of the flight... Maybe it's a guy thing, but I would like a bit more control over things then I get when I turn the job of making the arrangements over to someone else.

 

Dave

[-Lew-]

 

Don't book with Princess Air!

I would have to agree!

 

I don't believe I have ever read of anyone having a good experience with Princess Air. Why would I when the only time people write about it is when there's a problem?

 

Perhaps I'm a control freak, but I like to make my own flight reservations so I can select the times and connections that suit me and my family.

 

Also, flying in the day prior to a cruise, is a hard and fast rule with us.

 

So sorry you had these problems. I can't imagine experiencing a missed cruise...

 

Lew

[ggprincess2004]

I am soooo sorry this happened with a wedding planned. We had a similar experience getting to Copenhagen for our Grand Princess wedding cruise, but luckily we did finally get to Copenhagen, and boarded the ship with about 1/2 an hour to spare. Our luggage followed two days later, and our wedding was delayed due to luggage's late arrival.

 

We did learn that Princess will do nothing to help with flights if there is a problem, we managed to get the last flight out of Dulles that would get us to Copenhagen on time, learned to hate Heathrow, and learned to book our own flights and go in at least a day early. Why they booked us from Philadelphia to Dulles then to Copenhagen is beyond me - we sat on the tarmack in Philly for 4 hours with a weather delay, truly beyond the control of Princess or the airline, but the stewardess lied to us repeatedly and there were direct flights to Copenhagen available out of Philly. Go figure. We did have travel insurance....so it would have helped us had there been a different outcome and the purser's staff and Captain couldn't have been nicer when it came to the luggage problems and the wedding. Once we were on board we could relax and unwind from a 28 hour nightmare.

 

We haven't had a reason to allow Princess to book our flights again - I am now a control freak about that and we do fly in at least a day ahead, when I can, especially in winter I allow 2 days in case of snowstorms. But, if we needed a return open jaw or something similar, I am open to Princess handling the booking. We will just adjust the flights to our preference by paying the change fee.

[chasb2]

Yeah, this exactly why I always book the flights by myself AND GO A DAY EARLY. I can usually get much better pricing which pays for hotel, peace of mind, casual first day getting to the ship, etc...

 

Sorry for the terrible misfortune and hope you can get somethin from princess. It seems like they owe you something!

[lvtotrvl1]

I'm sorry for your troubles...if I'm reading correctly, there was room for 11 people but not all 13. If it was 11 people's choice , not to take the flight, I don't see why Princess should pay. Yhe two people that would have been left stranded though, I think Princess should help.

[MIcruiser99]

Princess is telling us we walked away and we don't get our money back!

 

That is the part I do not understand. I know that they have no control over the flights but there should be some help when you miss the cruise when using their "air".

[georoc01]

I would have to agree!

 

I don't believe I have ever read of anyone having a good experience with Princess Air. Why would I when the only time people write about it is when there's a problem?

 

Perhaps I'm a control freak, but I like to make my own flight reservations so I can select the times and connections that suit me and my family.

 

Also, flying in the day prior to a cruise, is a hard and fast rule with us.

 

So sorry you had these problems. I can't imagine experiencing a missed cruise...

 

Lew

 

Ok..I will post a good experience with Princess Air. I was scheduled for a cruise over the holidays and the airport in Denver was snowed in for two days prior. Princess Air put me in first class the day the boat was sailing.

 

By being in First Class, it allowed me to cut both the check in and security lines in the airport, which had 1,000s of people in line wrapping around the airport. Without that perk, I would have never made my flight and thus my cruise. Given that there were people sleeping overnight in line, I don't think even arriving 6-8 hours prior to my flight would have made a difference in coach.

 

If I had booked the flight on my own, even 1-2 days prior to my ship leaving, I would have never made the boat.

 

But getting insurance is always a good idea with cruises as they can't hold the boat for you.

[gertz]

That is really too bad and I feel very sorry for you and do go after Princess maybe they will come through for you.

If you have read these boards for very long you might have gotten the general drift that most "seasoned or experienced", I don't know what better words to use, cruisers generally book their own air except in special circumstances. We would only use Princess Air if there were difficultys or we were going to unknown parts of the globe.

And Aways go at least a day ahead of time.

Tough lesson I hope it turns out ok for the group.

Jack

for the lovely

[sunsetbeachgal]

What a sad story...please tell me that you had trip insurance?

[Chat Noir]

There is no way to type this without sounding harsh, and that's not how I mean it...

 

Flight bookings through the cruiseline clearly state that they are doing this only as a service to you, and they are not liable for airline delays or cancellation. You, as the purchaser, must take the time to read the information and understand what this means, and realize the limitations.

 

On the surface, the cruiselines do make it appear that by booking through them they will be responsible for getting you to your ship. That can sound misleading... even to the point of deceiving, especially if just talking with an agent over the phone who doesn't clue you in during the booking process. However, it is still your responsibility to understand exactly what you are purchasing.

 

Booking through the cruiseline is typically more expensive, and they do not always look for the best route.... often long layovers or plane changes when you can do much better yourself for less money.

 

Also, the cruiselines charge a deviation fee to fly in a day early, something I feel is absolutely necessary if you want to be 99% sure you'll be on the ship when it departs.

 

Post-cruise we had an issue getting home once, the first and only time I've booked cruise air. Cruiseline couldn't care less if we had to overnight in the airport after our flight was cancelled. It was the airline itself that finally put us up overnight in a nice hotel with food vouchers while we waited for another flight.

 

If you purchased travel insurance, submit your claim. We are in the process of submitting a claim for a Princess cruise I became ill on, and so far, they've been fabulous to work with. I will never again cruise without insurance. Needing it one time has made a believer of me.

 

I'm sorry for your experience. I know you must be very disappointed at missing your cruise... nevermind that it's a very expensive learning experience. :(

 

Next time, make certain you are clear on limitations and purchase insurance if you have not in the past. Things can, and do happen... and not always to the 'other people'. Been there, done that.

[Toto2Kansas]

That is the part I do not understand. I know that they have no control over the flights but there should be some help when you miss the cruise when using their "air".

 

When you book Princess air, they are 'providing' you with your air tickets, it is not using 'their air', they are just the third party here booking flights for you. They do not guarantee flight times, or that a flight will not be cancelled. Just like if you booked the airfare yourself. They will assist you in catching up to the ship if a delay indeed occurs. They will not refund your cruise, air or anything you paid for without having some type of insurance. And if you decide you are going to miss the ship and will have to catch up at the next port, Princess will help with the flights. But without insurance, they will not pick up the expenses while you are waiting for your catch up flight.

Princess can not force passengers to purchase insurance, but they recommend that every passenger has some type of insurance whether it be purchased through the cruise line or independently. In fact, we received an email around final payment time directly from Princess stating the importance of insurance for ALL passengers, and explaining fully Princess responsibility in cases such as this.

 

In this case, the OP reports that Princess would fly them to Bermuda but they would have to stay in NYC for two days until the flight. Princess was attempting to assist them in catching up with the ship, but they decided not to go. They will now be considered a 'no show' and will not be reimbursed for any of the costs of this trip. Insurance would have covered it all, but it sounds like they decided they didn't need it.

 

It's a very expensive lesson learned. But the OP doesn't have a leg to stand on in this case I am afraid. Princess had nothing to do with the cancelled flight, or that the OP decided not to continue on to join the ship, as Princess suggested.

 

Yes, I agree, it's very sad. But IMHO, the OP needs to look in the mirror for partial blame on this one, and then look to the airlines for the rest. Princess did what they could to assist, and they won't do anything else. :( I would guess there will be absolutely no type of refund for this type of complaint, sorry to say.

 

Please don't misunderstand, I do have a heart. But Princess can not charge insurance to passengers and then reimburse those that didn't purchase insurance out of the kindness of their heart, it just doesn't work that way.

[goldenrod]

That is the part I do not understand. I know that they have no control over the flights but there should be some help when you miss the cruise when using their "air".

 

Sorry for your terrible experience but it's not "their air" they own no planes or airlines they merely act as a booking agent and have no control over what happens next, if you had booked through a TA our yourself the outcome would have been the same, travel insurance is the way to go if your not able to fly in a least a day early as a matter of fact even if we fly in early we always take travel insurance have only had to use it once but it paid us $8000 when my wife became very ill the night before we were to leave on a three week cruise. Under your theory Princess would be responsible if god forbid the plane crashed and everyone was killed this may sound extreme but thats what you saying.

[pastaandpotatoes]

To the OP, This can happen to anyone, regardless of having Princess Air. I was on a cruise in March and we booked a red eye flight since I had to work the day before. We were meeting 13 people on the ship, who had left a couple days before us. We got to the airport we found out our flight that we knew had been delayed until 2 am (instead of 11:55pm), was now delayed until 11 am the following morning. Since we are in Seattle, and the ship was leaving from Fort Lauderdale, leaving at 11 am with a connection in Dallas would not get us to the ship on time. We waited in line to get to the ticket counter for almost two hours. By time we got there, the earliest they could get us into Miami or Fort Lauderdale was 8 pm, and the ship sailed at 5. We were fortunate that the ticket agent got the four of us booked to Aruba to meet the ship. The airline covered 3 nights in hotels for us (1 night in Seattle, 1 night in Miami, and 1 night in Aruba). They also gave us food vouchers. If they hadn't, we did have trip insurance that would have covered some of our expenses, but like I said, we were lucky this time. I work in the travel industry, and I know things do not always turn out this way, but we were very lucky. The people who were behind us in line were also trying to make it to the ship, and they did not get their flights changed to Aruba, they just cancelled.

 

Lesson learned from this is we will always go in at least a day before, and we will always have travel insurance.

[Shogun]

Hi All,

 

Very sad that this has happened.

 

As to Princess air never had any problems,

 

when they do charter flights, service has always been good.

 

when Princess has moved flights and we have had to fly a day before to

 

get charter, they have paid for the hotel and transfers.

 

When we have had delays on return flights Princess has re booked onward flights, even had a bus at the terminal to drive us to the next, Princess reps were they to guide us ensure we got new tickets.

 

Next Princess flights are three flights in one day so we will see what happens.

 

yours Shogun

[caribill]

In this case, the OP reports that Princess would fly them to Bermuda but they would have to stay in NYC for two days until the flight. Princess was attempting to assist them in catching up with the ship, but they decided not to go.

 

Interesting that Princess did not suggest flying to Bermuda and spending the two days there waiting for the ship.

 

Although Princess books the air as a service, they do not always do it to minimize connection problems. For example, they once had us booked going to Chicago O'Hare with a 30 minute connection to an international flight. That is a setup almost guaranteed to have problems.

[JPRLHR]

Hi All,

 

Very sad that this has happened.

 

As to Princess air never had any problems,

 

when they do charter flights, service has always been good.

 

when Princess has moved flights and we have had to fly a day before to

 

get charter, they have paid for the hotel and transfers.

 

When we have had delays on return flights Princess has re booked onward flights, even had a bus at the terminal to drive us to the next, Princess reps were they to guide us ensure we got new tickets.

 

Next Princess flights are three flights in one day so we will see what happens.

 

yours Shogun

 

 

Shogun... The difference in your case though (or any Princess charter from the UK) is that Princess are actually the operator of those flights. They pay for instance Thomas Cook to operate the flights on their behalf and Princess sells those seats to you as their own service. They are contractually obliged to pay for any delays etc.

[Toto2Kansas]

This is only part of what the email from Princess had to say about trip insurance and what they and will not cover and why.

 

"Please be aware that if you don’t keep your

Princess Platinum Vacation Protection, we can make no exceptions to our cancellation policies, regardless of the reason for your cancellation. This means that if you need to unexpectedly cancel or re-schedule your cruise, we’ll be unable to provide any refunds or credits, nor move you to a future sailing without the standard cancellation charges. If you‘re covered by another vacation protection plan, you’ll have to look to that provider for eligible reimbursements. We hope you’ll understand that because a large number of our passengers do purchase vacation protection, it simply wouldn’t be fair to extend the same benefits to those who elect not to purchase this.

We know how important vacations are to our passengers, and we’re pleased you’ve taken this essential step to protect your upcoming travel plans."

[cruiseryyc]

I'm very sorry this happened but as others have stated cruise air is not necessarily the best way to go. You live in Toronto, Air Canada has six direct flights to New York every day so your first clue that this wasn't the best way to fly was the connection in Detroit. Hopefully you had insurance because Princess is not at fault here.

[Colo Cruiser]

Was this flight the same day as the cruise?

[Times Prince]

I just wanted to advise anyone NOT to book with Princess Air. We have missed our cruise and they are not willing to do anything about it!

 

Princess Air booked us [on Northwest] to leave Toronto to stop in Detroit for a 2 hr layover. The flight kept getting delayed until they [Northwest] finally made an announcement that the flight was cancelled.

 

... We called Princess again when it was cancelled so they then tried to find us another flight. The problem with sending us to Detroit was that there were no other airilines that could get us to New York other than the airline we were already booked on, Northwest. They finally got us another flight that was scheduled to leave at 1:30 but it was already pushed back to 2:30. Somebody, either princess or the airline didn't communicate the fact that it was a group of 13 of us that had to get to the ship for a wedding!. They could only get 11 of us on while they were still assigning seats to other people not in the group. We had to miss our flight even though our luggage ended up going to New York. Princess said we had to get to New York, spend 2 days there, book another flight to Bermuda, then they would let us on the ship.....at our own expense.

 

I'm sorry for your situation but the real culprit is Northwest for the cancelled and the delayed flights. Why aren't you saying "Don't fly Northwest"?

 

Secondly, having a group of 13, and not all rebooked, apparently not all of you came to the Northwest desk as a group - e.g. "we are a group of 13 travelling together, here are all our boarding passes." To blame Princess for having only 11 rebooked is unreasonable.

 

We have flown with Princess Air scheduled travel for both domestic and international cruises for about half of our cruises, and only once did we have any problem at all - and that was totally due to Delta Airlines, which we will avoid booking in the future if at all possible. On that occasion, having Princess Travel Care Gold, the Princess in-transit travel rep went to bat for us outlining our options which included flying us to St Thomas (2nd port) and compensating for flight, hotel, and meals. Moreover, they kept in contact with the ship and even though we were late getting into FLL the Captain held the ship until we arrived.

 

We don't always have the latitude to arrive at the port a day early, but with air and insurance through Princess we have a reasonable plan for getting to the ship, with viable alternatives in the event of an airline failure to execute our travel plans.

 

From our experience, I cannot endorse the "Don't fly Princess Air" recommendation.

[awhcruiser]

One more reason to leave the day before.....

 

I just wanted to advise anyone NOT to book with Princess Air. We have missed our cruise and they are not willing to do anything about it!

 

Princess Air booked us to leave Toronto to stop in Detroit for a 2 hr layover. The flight kept getting delayed until they finally made an announcement that the flight was cancelled. This then became a "free for all" for people to get on the next flight to La Guardia. We called Princess right away when we found out our flight was delayed and they said not to do anything until it was cancelled. We called Princess again when it was cancelled so they then tried to find us another flight. The problem with sending us to Detroit was that there were no other airilines that could get us to New York other than the airline we were already booked on, Northwest. They finally got us another flight that was scheduled to leave at 1:30 but it was already pushed back to 2:30. Somebody, either princess or the airline didn't communicate the fact that it was a group of 13 of us that had to get to the ship for a wedding!. They could only get 11 of us on while they were still assigning seats to other people not in the group. We had to miss our flight even though our luggage ended up going to New York. Princess said we had to get to New York, spend 2 days there, book another flight to Bermuda, then they would let us on the ship.....at our own expense. We ended up finally getting a flight back to Toronto late last night, and we don't know what will happen next. Princess is telling us we walked away and we don't get our money back!

 

Trust me, we are fighting this! So after 17 hrs in the Detroit airport with a group of 13 including young children, and an infant, we are home, and felt abandoned! And, the wedding doesn't get to happen.

 

Don't book with Princess Air!

[Pam in CA]

I don't believe I have ever read of anyone having a good experience with Princess Air. Why would I when the only time people write about it is when there's a problem?

Beg to differ with you but I've used Princess air quite a few times, including international flights, and only once did I have a problem. That was years ago when the entire Eastern seaboard was frozen in with an ice storm. No one was going anywhere from Boston to Atlanta. My flight was for the day before departure and due to flight schedules, etc., I missed the ship and caught up with it at the next port. I made my own arrangements to get to Miami from Boston, figuring I could get anywhere in the Caribbean from there. I was given vouchers for all meals and a hotel room at the Miami airport and the next day, they flew me to Martinique to catch the ship. I kept Princess informed of where I was and what I was doing but I made my own arrangements even though I had Princess air. It didn't cost me an extra penny.

 

In this case, the OP reports that Princess would fly them to Bermuda but they would have to stay in NYC for two days until the flight. Princess was attempting to assist them in catching up with the ship, but they decided not to go. They will now be considered a 'no show' and will not be reimbursed for any of the costs of this trip. Insurance would have covered it all, but it sounds like they decided they didn't need it.

 

It's a very expensive lesson learned. But the OP doesn't have a leg to stand on in this case I am afraid. Princess had nothing to do with the cancelled flight, or that the OP decided not to continue on to join the ship, as Princess suggested.

 

Yes, I agree, it's very sad. But IMHO, the OP needs to look in the mirror for partial blame on this one, and then look to the airlines for the rest. Princess did what they could to assist, and they won't do anything else. :( I would guess there will be absolutely no type of refund for this type of complaint, sorry to say.

I agree 100% with Toto. There's nothing I can add to that.

[aaerobear]

P.S. There are no scheduled flights from Philadelphia to Copenhagen.

 

As far as the Toronto to New York, that route is flown NONSTOP by American, United, and AirCanada. There is also nonstop service to Newark on Continental, so there should have been plenty of alternatives.