Princess flight question

[t60]

We have a cruise booked for next Feb/March with Princess which includes flights, Heathrow to Rio with return San Francisco to London (any airport). Originally we were told Princess couldn´t book outbound flights because flight was over 9 months away from our booking date, then eventually we did get a booking but now Princess are telling our TA that they can´t supply booking for return flight at the moment as the contracts haven´t been released.

 

Anyone else ever encountered this problem? Princess have contracts with BA as far as I´m aware (these are the flight we´ve been booked on previously)

 

Next time should we book cruise only and arrange our own flights? if so has anyone done this and how did it work out? It seems that other passengers on our cruise (mainly Americans and canadians) do this

 

Sandy in Spain

[soccerref]

Generally airlines do not make flights available more than 9 months in advance so this is quite normal information from Princess.

 

I have had cruises with flights included and also done ones where we book our own flights. The main advantage of booking your flight with the cruise line is that the cruise line should do its utmost to get you to the ship if there is a problem with the flight e.g. delays through strikes or bad weather. It is often cheaper to book flights independently but you then become responsible if there is a problem.

 

Have a fabulous cruise.

[Omega1]

Hi Sandy, we are joining you on the Star Princess in Feb (Rio - Sfo). We never book flights with the cruise lines, we like to know precisely which flights we are on, which seats, etc and we book 11 months before, when the flights go the market and are usually cheaper. We are flying with American from Manchester via JFK and back via Chicago for around £700. To avoid the danger of 'missing the boat' we always fly out a few days earlier - in Feb we are staying at the Sheraton in Rio, arriving on the 15th. We've never had a problem in booking flights independently. See you in Rio!