Houston Hotel/transfer package

[Pootimer]

For last season's Port of Houston cruisers, did any of you purchase a Princess hotel/transfer package? What hotels were offered, and how was your experience (i.e. promptness of van, quality and price of hotel, etc)?

What is particularly interesting on a Sunday afternoon/evening in Houston if you stayed at one of the Princess hotels?

We're spending the night of disembarkation after our Emerald Princess cruise in November in Houston, and wondering if we should spend the night in the city of Houston, or go straight over to an airport hotel on Sunday instead of spending the night downtown.

 

Any comments are very much appreciated.

[Hornet]

We did the hotel transfer package in April and so glad we did. A Princess rep and our driver were waiting for us as we got down to baggage after our flight to Houston. We were the only ones on this transfer. Rep made sure all was fine and driver drove us in van to the Four Seasons Hotel. Loved this hotel and highly recommend it - great staff, clean and beautiful.

 

Princess rep always available at hotel for any questions and hotel staff helpful for any ideas on where to eat and what to do. We didn't arrive until later in the day so just had dinner at a local Mexican restaurant (very good) and walked to the nearby store - can't remember the name, but it is like a giant Whole Foods with a restaurant and bar. We bought a take out breakfast from there next morning and brought it back to hotel.

 

There were about 40+ using the transfer from hotel to ship and we took a big bus to ship. We thought it was worth it in Houston since it is not easy/close like Ft Lauderdale.

[Pootimer]

Thanks, Hornet, for your prompt response. I will certainly check into this hotel package; it's our first time in Houston so we're unfamiliar with how to get around, etc.

Cheers

[JimmyJ]

Thanks for the information on the Houston hotel/transfer package.

We're on the December 07th cruise and flying into Houston on the 5th.

We've booked the package and staying at the FourSeasons as well. There will be 6 of us all flying in on the same day (the 5th) but different flights - so we'll hook up at the hotel.

Do you know if there will be a Princess rep there to meet/greet us? I always thought there were reps at the airport only on cruise days.

 

On the morning of the 7th - does anyone know what the first transfer from the hotel to the ship might be? Just wondering on timing, etc.

 

Thanks for the information.

 

JimmyJ

[Hornet]

The rep was in the baggage area along with the driver - she was holding a sign with our name on it. The morning transfers aren't as early as we like to get to the ship (only negative for us). We like to be one of the first groups to board, but transfers usually board around 1:00 or maybe a little after that.

[Coveguy4]

We also did the special at the 4 Seasons last April, Great Hotel, Princess rep met us at airport, smooth and effortless. Highly recommend.

[RocketMan275]

We used Princess to book our rooms and transfer prior to our cruise in March. Our room was at the airport Marriott which was fine for good nights rest. We had a late flight arriving after 10 PM so things to do were not a high priority. That was good because there isn't a thing to do there. The Marriott is actually on the airport and it's a good distance to anything else of note. But it worked well for our late arrival. The hotel was clean. The staff were courteous and we even meet some folks who were cruising with us. Probably there were over a hundred passengers on the cruise that stayed at the Marriott.

 

The price was fine too considering how much a taxi would have cost to the cruise terminal. I'm thinking you could have saved a few bucks by going off the airport but it would have been a big hassle.

 

Princess did not meet us in the airport or the hotel but I expected that considering the time. A couple of quick questions for directions and we were off to to the hotel. It was a very short tram ride, maybe 2 or 3 minutes. The Marriott personnel showed us the desk where the Princess people would be the next morning at 1030. They gave us instructions on our bags and gave us the bag tags. No problems at all.

 

We put the tags on the bags and left the bags in the room as instructed. We had breakfast picked up our carry-ons and met Princess. Princess had several buses and a baggage truck. (Yes, some people had cases of water to put on the truck.) About a 45 minute ride to the cruise terminal. Our bags made it too but not until around 530. BTW, boarding was delayed for several hours due to a deep cleaning for noro. We didn't board until around 230.

 

We also had a late flight going home so we booked the Princess tour of Houston and transfer which was a good deal. Spent several hours on a guided tour of the highlights of Houston and got to the airport around 1230. Tour was a nice way to kill time but doubt I'd do it again unless I really needed to kill a lot of time. Our flights were not until 930 PM so we had a lot of time to kill.

 

As it turned out we had a lot more time to kill since our flight was cancelled and we didn't get out until 230 the next afternoon. The airline put us up in a Hilton which was better than the Marriott. Even gave us about $25 for meals. BTW, you can't get a cheese sandwich for $20.