Is 12pm flight home really too early?

[fellswoop]

We will be on the Grand out of San Francisco next week. Our return flight is at noon but when I attempted to enter that info on my booking it was rejected as "too early" by Princess. I just had to delete it all and not give them the info. Problem is we will be signing up for the Princess bus transfer to the airport as it will be the day before Thanksgiving and I am sure the airport traffic in San Francisco will be challenging. Will this be a problem with Princess allowing us to sign up for the bus transfer? In the past we have never had a problem getting to an airport by 10a. We have attempted in the past to get a taxi out of the port there and it was not pleasant.

Thanks for sharing of any of your experiences about this.

[rob2102]

We sailed into and out of san fran. We also were short on time. We hired a limo. Not much more than a taxi and we knew he would be their. You could also try Uber.

 

Cheers

[likeadisguise]

If your flight is earlier than the guidelines they set they probably won't let you use a Princess transfer.

[CruiserBruce]

If your flight is earlier than the guidelines they set they probably won't let you use a Princess transfer.

 

Correct. If you tell them your flight is too early, they won't let you sign up. So your choice is to lie, or arrange other transit.

[tml1230]

We sailed into and out of san fran. We also were short on time. We hired a limo. Not much more than a taxi and we knew he would be their. You could also try Uber.

 

Cheers

 

In the past we also have hired a limo…$68….well worth it to us to have them waiting for us during the craziness of disembarkation….

FYI we too have a 1200 flight out of SFO in December and will be doing an early walk off ...AND using Pleasant Limo (they continue to get great reviews on trip advisor) already booked them on-line.

have a safe cruise!

[Can'tStayHome]

I don't know what day of the week you'll be getting off the ship, but you also need to think about the weekday commute traffic in the bay area. It is beyond ridiculous. As an example, I just mapped out the 15.7 mile trip using a bay area traffic app, and the current travel time is 48 minutes, no accidents or incidents along the way... just too many cars!

 

Give the BART a thought. The nearest station is about a mile from the cruise port. A taxi ride to the BART is waaay more affordable than ground transport to the airport. The BART fare from the Embarcadero station to the airport is $3.20 each. You are dropped off literally within the airport.

 

Just an alternative to consider............

[elliair]

We will be on the Grand out of San Francisco next week. Our return flight is at noon but when I attempted to enter that info on my booking it was rejected as "too early" by Princess. I just had to delete it all and not give them the info. Problem is we will be signing up for the Princess bus transfer to the airport as it will be the day before Thanksgiving and I am sure the airport traffic in San Francisco will be challenging. Will this be a problem with Princess allowing us to sign up for the bus transfer? In the past we have never had a problem getting to an airport by 10a. We have attempted in the past to get a taxi out of the port there and it was not pleasant.

Thanks for sharing of any of your experiences about this.

 

Big mistake to take the Princess shuttle. Been there done that. Take the Super Shuttle one way with no stops and you will get there in time for your flight. With the Princess shuttle you will be herded to a lounge to wait and wait. Then you'll be herded to a bus along with all the other people going to the airport. You'll have to go through customs which will add more time. If you do Super Shuttle, you can get off the ship around 9:00 and on your way to the airport, and be there in plenty of time to catch your flight. We've done this over and over when cruising out of San Francisco. Super Shuttle is cheaper than Princess transfer.

[elliair]

I don't know what day of the week you'll be getting off the ship' date=' but you also need to think about the weekday commute traffic in the bay area. It is beyond ridiculous. As an example, I just mapped out the 15.7 mile trip using a bay area traffic app, and the current travel time is 48 minutes, no accidents or incidents along the way... just too many cars!

 

Give the BART a thought. The nearest station is about a mile from the cruise port. A taxi ride to the BART is waaay more affordable than ground transport to the airport. The BART fare from the Embarcadero station to the airport is $3.20 each. You are dropped off literally within the airport.

 

Just an alternative to consider............[/quote']

 

The traffic will be going in the opposite direction. I don't what app you're using, but from the ship to the airport is about 30 minutes. To take BART, one has to cart their luggage and walk to the BART station If you're a good walker then do it, otherwise take the Super Shuttle.

[#1Nanna]

I wouldn't chance a 12pm flight. We had a 1pm flight out of SFO last Jan Booked by Princess EZair and missed our flight. The issue was we were late docking due to fog. We had a private limo booked and so there was no waiting involved on our part. But we definitely paid extra for the limos wait time, and still missed our flight.

[twinkle toes]

Uh oh...we are getting onto the Grand the same day you are getting off. We have a 12:15pm flight out of SFO on the 10th of December. We booked and paid for Princess transfers on their website. They allowed us to book the transfers, but the place where you list your flight information did indicate that we were risking it. Am I able to cancel the transfers and get my money back since we haven't left yet, or will I be penalized because of the shortness of time before our departure?

[fishywood]

We will be on the Grand out of San Francisco next week. Our return flight is at noon but when I attempted to enter that info on my booking it was rejected as "too early" by Princess. I just had to delete it all and not give them the info. Problem is we will be signing up for the Princess bus transfer to the airport as it will be the day before Thanksgiving and I am sure the airport traffic in San Francisco will be challenging. Will this be a problem with Princess allowing us to sign up for the bus transfer? In the past we have never had a problem getting to an airport by 10a. We have attempted in the past to get a taxi out of the port there and it was not pleasant.

Thanks for sharing of any of your experiences about this.

 

Yes it will. Princess generally does not allow you to purchase their transfer if the flight is earlier than they recommend.

 

Princess Flight Guidelines for San Francisco are

 

Disembarking Passengers

For voyages that arrive in San Francisco at 7:00 am, the earliest flight departure is 1:15 pm for international flights and 12:15 pm for domestic flights.

For voyages that arrive in San Francisco at 10:00 am, the earliest flight departure is 4:15 pm for international flights and 3:15 pm for domestic flights.

 

Maybe once onboard they will disregard the 15 minutes difference, maybe not. You definitely will not be able to purchase it through your cruise personalizer; I had the same issue with an arriving flight being five minutes too late and it took a herculean effort by my PVP to allow me to purchase the airport to port transfer. (And it turned out there were around 20 others on that flight also taking the ship's transfer)

Edited November 9, 2015 by fishywood

[jeanandjim]

We will be on the Grand out of San Francisco next week. Our return flight is at noon but when I attempted to enter that info on my booking it was rejected as "too early" by Princess. I just had to delete it all and not give them the info. Problem is we will be signing up for the Princess bus transfer to the airport as it will be the day before Thanksgiving and I am sure the airport traffic in San Francisco will be challenging. Will this be a problem with Princess allowing us to sign up for the bus transfer? In the past we have never had a problem getting to an airport by 10a. We have attempted in the past to get a taxi out of the port there and it was not pleasant.

Thanks for sharing of any of your experiences about this.

. Mm

 

We will also be on the same cruise flying out of SFO at 12:10 Willing to share a limo with you. Our plan is to talk with service once on board and see if we can get a transfer. Don't think this will be much of an issue but whatever happens, lol my E-mail turfguyjim at Yahoo dot com. Hope to see you on board.

[sonomaphil]

The day before Thanksgiving "should" be much better traffic wise BUT San Francisco is always crazy. Fog, rain, protests and everything else you think of can happen here! If all goes perfect you'll have no issues. If one thing fails, well, who knows. Depending on your luggage situation I second the notion of BART.

[Keith1010]

When it comes to San Francisco 12:00 Noon can be pushing it. And worse yet the day you are asking about.

 

I would not do it if you can still move the flight.

 

Challenges are ship being cleared and getting through customs and the lines at SFO can be very long and time of the week but will be far worse the day before Thanksgiving. I would want to be to the airport 2 1/2 hours before flight time given the day you are flying.

 

Keith

[fellswoop]

Thank you all for your info. Hopefully turfguyjim will share a limo. If not we will walk off with luggage asap and get in the cab line. Not able to change flight due to it being the day before Thanksgiving....the biggest single travel day of the year!!!! Most ships get back in port at 5am instead of 7am. I would have booked the flight later had I been more diligent about checking that. Lesson learned....but I think we'll make it.

[sonomaphil]

Thank you all for your info. Hopefully turfguyjim will share a limo. If not we will walk off with luggage asap and get in the cab line. Not able to change flight due to it being the day before Thanksgiving....the biggest single travel day of the year!!!! Most ships get back in port at 5am instead of 7am. I would have booked the flight later had I been more diligent about checking that. Lesson learned....but I think we'll make it.

 

 

It's SFO in the rainy season, about a 50/50 chance your flight will be delayed 2 hours anyway.

[sthygesen]

A limo or car service is the way to go. Arrange it ahead of time. They will be there to pick you up and you won't have to wait in line for a taxi. I wouldn't use Super Shuttle under any circumstances if you can avoid it!! BART is great but a bit of a walk from the pier and will take longer than a car service!