What if cruise delays?

[rdh rules]

This will be our 5th cruise but we've never flew in. We've always drove. My question is if our ship delays coming back (which I've experienced before). Who changes the flight time? Me or Princess? Our flight is at 1:00 pm FLL. I did that so we would have enough time after debarkation. But I then thought about other delays and what happens. Not anticipating anything for our Ruby trip leaving Thurs but just wanted to know. ;) thanks!

[Colo Cruiser]

This will be our 5th cruise but we've never flew in. We've always drove. My question is if our ship delays coming back (which I've experienced before). Who changes the flight time? Me or Princess? Our flight is at 1:00 pm FLL. I did that so we would have enough time after debarkation. But I then thought about other delays and what happens. Not anticipating anything for our Ruby trip leaving Thurs but just wanted to know. ;) thanks!

 

You are responsible either way, if you book your flights through Princess you may get some $$ assistance with rebooking depending on the circumstances.

Think positive. :)

Edited April 15, 2014 by Colo Cruiser

[caribill]

If you booked air through Princess, they will usually try to make the change for you if there is enough advance warning.

 

However, a delay such as very slow customs/immigration will not be known enough in advance.

 

If you find you will miss your flight, contact the airline before the scheduled departure time.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I would hope a 1pm flight will be plenty of time. I think the latest we've ever gotten off a ship was a few cruises ago when the process started way late and we got off a little after 11 (we were in a low priority group and that was fine for us). Fortunately we weren't in a hurry as we were being driven home so it was just a matter of calling the car service, and they notified our driver.

 

I would bring along the customer service phone number for your airline. I think the more you're prepared and the more you anticipate problems, the less likely Murphy's Law will pop up.

[birdiebill]

We have had flights out of FLL at 11:30 and at 12:30. Both times we were at the airport at least two hours before flight time. we used Princess transfer. We also ckecked our disembarkation group time to ensure we were in an early enough group. the first time we had to have our disembarkation group changed to an earlier time.

 

If Princess I a aware of your flight time and if you are using their transfer, they should have you scheduled early enough. If you are arranging your own transfer by cab, you can disembark with an early walk-off group with your own luggage.

[rdh rules]

Thanks everyone. I'm sure it's enough time for normal circumstances. I was just thinking if there was bad weather or something to delay us several hours. That was the case on another cruise. They didn't disembark till 2, we couldn't embark till 4. I wondered what those people did with their flights since they were late. I'm one of those "what if" people. But I'll be confident this will be a great cruise:D

[Pam in CA]

If there's a significant delay due to an issue with the ship, a couple of different things can happen, depending on the reason and amount of delay. If it's a lengthy delay, such as a full day, Princess will automatically reschedule passengers who have booked EZ Air. They might credit passengers with independent air $100 for change fees.

 

If it's a minor delay of perhaps just a few hours, Princess will assist in rebooking EZ Air. If you booked independent, they might give passengers free Internet to make flight changes.

 

If the delay is due to Customs & Immigration, nada. Nothing they can do. Cruises ending in the US after a repositioning cruise from South America often (usually?) experience horrendous delays by hours thanks to US Customs and, ICE???

 

I've disembarked in FLL many times and had smooth disembarkations as well as long delays. I've made an 11:20am flight with hours to spare and with minutes to spare.

Edited April 16, 2014 by Pam in CA