Doing it on your own?

[megan_in_pink]

My father and me are looking to take a cruise in april on Island princess. This would be my second cruise and my father third cruise with princess. I was just wondering if it better (and cheeper) to book the airfaire on our own or let princess do it. We plan to fly in a day or two befour. I know that princes was charging exrta for you to fly in the day befour are they still doing this? and would get a better deal on book the air on my own esp since we wwant a non stop flight?

 

I can't use the princess trasfers since we plan to stay at he pier 66 hotel so we can watch the ships come in to the docks.

[spongerob]

In most cases it is highly recommended to book your own air. It's easy to do, there a good search engines to compare flights and prices, and it gives you control over your itinerary. Quite often, you will find that air fare purchased through the cruise line leaves you with very little recourse if there are flight delays. Another recent change in the policy is that you will not know the cost of your air travel until you make final payment, so you're really just rolling the dice anyway.

 

For flights within the US and Canada, I would never go with the cruise line's air program. I honestly do not believe that the potential savings are enough to outweigh the negatives of the cruise line's air arrangements.

[ulcards99]

Do NOT book with Princess. You can find much cheaper prices on your own. I'm not even doing a transfer with Princess for my Western Caribbean cruise.

[LARGIN]

We always book our Air. Much better flight choices and cheaper than Princess

[Colo Cruiser]

My father and me are looking to take a cruise in april on Island princess. This would be my second cruise and my father third cruise with princess. I was just wondering if it better (and cheeper) to book the airfaire on our own or let princess do it. We plan to fly in a day or two befour. I know that princes was charging exrta for you to fly in the day befour are they still doing this? and would get a better deal on book the air on my own esp since we wwant a non stop flight?

 

I can't use the princess trasfers since we plan to stay at he pier 66 hotel so we can watch the ships come in to the docks.

 

 

Read this before you book with Princess.....

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1048106&highlight=princess+air

 

And don't waste you $$ with a transfer in Ft Lauderdale its only a $12 or so cab ride to the Pier 66.

[caribill]

You do not say where you live, but if Southwest Airlines is an option for you, that is a lower cost airline that flies to FLL and which Princess does not use.

[megan_in_pink]

I live in montreal so we have few choise of where to fly out from.

[paul929207]

Check both ways. See what Princess is charging and what you can get on your own. Keep in mind that Princess does not guarentee the price until final payment and will not tell you the itinerary until final payment is made.

[MarinaDCA]

When we booked our cruise it also offered us airfare and the quoted price was $400 each roundtrip, I did a quick search at orbitz and saw many direct flights from my area for almost half the cost per person so skipped the air fare with princess.

 

I'd just look up how much it will cost for you to book it and see what princess wants and go from there.

[Tak8]

I like to book my own air. It is normally cheaper. I know we will be seated together. Total control or as much control as the airlines wil allow.

[Toto2Kansas]

My father and me are looking to take a cruise in april on Island princess. This would be my second cruise and my father third cruise with princess. I was just wondering if it better (and cheeper) to book the airfaire on our own or let princess do it. We plan to fly in a day or two befour. I know that princes was charging exrta for you to fly in the day befour are they still doing this? and would get a better deal on book the air on my own esp since we wwant a non stop flight?

 

I can't use the princess trasfers since we plan to stay at he pier 66 hotel so we can watch the ships come in to the docks.

 

If you check both ways and decide to go with Princess air, yes, they still charge a deviation fee if you plan to fly in the day prior to your cruise and are not booking their hotel package. ;)

[cdngrl]

i will be the lone dissenter here--i have found that princess air is often cheaper to/ from canada if you need to fly into one city (or country) and home from another.(open jaw flights)

[Colo Cruiser]

i will be the lone dissenter here--i have found that princess air is often cheaper to/ from canada if you need to fly into one city (or country) and home from another.(open jaw flights)

 

I agree with you on this, I would also consider using them for SA ports that are difficult to get to. I would still have to do alot of comparing though. :)

[Coral]

i will be the lone dissenter here--i have found that princess air is often cheaper to/ from canada if you need to fly into one city (or country) and home from another.(open jaw flights)

 

Nothing wrong with that.

 

Also - we all live in different areas. I would love to have the airfare prices people get when they live in a large city and have several airports competing for prices (LA, NYC, DC). I have 2 small airports (when I say small - one has 4 gates and only 2 airlines) nearby and we have some of the highest prices around for air - so Princess prices are not out of range here. We also do not have direct flights anywhere desireable. After saying that, I book my own air most of the time as I often use frequent flier miles, etc...