Princess Air Same Day Flight

[MsSoCalCruiser]

We really don't want to fly in a day early. I know it sounds risky but Princess Air offers same day flights from our area to Anchorage. The flight would arrive in Anchorage at 2:20 PM and sail away is 8:30 PM. Has anyone here tried this going into Anchorage? Supposedly it's guaranteed that you will arrive on time or they will get you there. Any thoughts (besides we're crazy, lol)?

[Colo Cruiser]

We really don't want to fly in a day early. I know it sounds risky but Princess Air offers same day flights from our area to Anchorage. The flight would arrive in Anchorage at 2:20 PM and sail away is 8:30 PM. Has anyone here tried this going into Anchorage? Supposedly it's guaranteed that you will arrive on time or they will get you there. Any thoughts (besides we're crazy, lol)?

 

Hate flying into ANC.......

To me that would be really pushing it.

It's about 75 miles to Whittier.

I guess since it's Princess air than they will be in contact with the ship in case something happens.

[Hlitner]

Yes, I believe they do guarantee to get you to the ship......eventually. In Alaska it could take several days to catch up to a ship (depending on the ports). You would still miss part of your cruise and have plenty of travel hassles.

 

Hank

[Lucky TGO]

All I have to say is GOOD LUCK!!!

Tony

[easyboy]

We always book a day early not only for flight delays, but also the possibility of misplaced luggage that can catch up the following day.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

Hate flying into ANC.......

To me that would be really pushing it.

It's about 75 miles to Whittier.

I guess since it's Princess air than they will be in contact with the ship in case something happens.

 

Thank you for always being so helpful.

 

Seventy five miles on a bus, ugh. Is it a curvy mountain road or flat highway?

 

I have a few more questions that I should have asked in my original post. Did you use the Princess shuttle? If so, do you remember about what time the shuttle left the airport? There is a flight out of LAX that would get us there around 4:30 AM but I wonder how many hours we would be stuck at ANC waiting for the shuttle.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

Yes, I believe they do guarantee to get you to the ship......eventually. In Alaska it could take several days to catch up to a ship (depending on the ports). You would still miss part of your cruise and have plenty of travel hassles.

 

Hank

Thank you. Are you saying that we could possibly end up with an unwanted land tour? I really would hate to miss Hubbard glacier.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

All I have to say is GOOD LUCK!!!

Tony

 

Thank you, Tony!

[MsSoCalCruiser]

We always book a day early not only for flight delays, but also the possibility of misplaced luggage that can catch up the following day.

 

True story.... Everyone that knows me knows that cruising is my absolute favorite. One of my friends decided that since I loved it so much they would go on their very first cruise, an Alaskan cruise. Their luggage was lost and it showed up on day 4 of the cruise. I never want that to happen to me so now I always check a bag and I pack a carry-on with at least two or three days worth of stuff.

[caribill]

We really don't want to fly in a day early. I know it sounds risky but Princess Air offers same day flights from our area to Anchorage. The flight would arrive in Anchorage at 2:20 PM and sail away is 8:30 PM. Has anyone here tried this going into Anchorage? Supposedly it's guaranteed that you will arrive on time or they will get you there. Any thoughts (besides we're crazy, lol)?

 

Check with Princess to see what is the latest time they have a shuttle from the airport to the ship.

 

If Princess Air offers the flight that is scheduled to arrive at 2:20 PM, then Princess thinks you will make the ship if the flight is on time.

 

Check with the airline about how often the flight is late.

[Shelly97060]

Per the Princess website the latest flight arrival into Anchorage for an 830 pm departure from Whittier is 4 pm.

 

While not ideal we sometimes do fly in the same day as the cruise. When we do fly in the same day we typically book EZ air and use Princess transfers... We also make sure we have insurance... These extra steps give me a little peace of mind.

 

 

So far ( knock on wood) we haven't had a problem but we always know that we are taking a gamble.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

Check with Princess to see what is the latest time they have a shuttle from the airport to the ship.

 

If Princess Air offers the flight that is scheduled to arrive at 2:20 PM, then Princess thinks you will make the ship if the flight is on time.

 

Check with the airline about how often the flight is late.

 

Thank you. Great idea to check how often the flight is late. We never even thought of that. I will call Princess in the morning. We were trying to make a decision tonight but since Princess Air was closed, I told my friend that I would post here and ask the experts ;)

[MsSoCalCruiser]

Per the Princess website the latest flight arrival into Anchorage for an 830 pm departure from Whittier is 4 pm.

 

While not ideal we sometimes do fly in the same day as the cruise. When we do fly in the same day we typically book EZ air and use Princess transfers... We also make sure we have insurance... These extra steps give me a little peace of mind.

 

 

So far ( knock on wood) we haven't had a problem but we always know that we are taking a gamble.

 

Thank you. Where did you find the time for the latest flight arrival? I'm starting to feel a little better about attempting this since we did book insurance and we will be using EZ Air and Princess transfers.

[Shelly97060]

Thank you. Where did you find the time for the latest flight arrival? I'm starting to feel a little better about attempting this since we did book insurance and we will be using EZ Air and Princess transfers.

 

Here is a step by step. Hope this is helpful :D

 

1- go to Princess website

2- click on booked guests

3- click on pre-cruise and onboard FAQ

4- click on pre-cruise travel and transportation

5- click on book air

6- click on flight guidelines for non-Princess flight guests

7- select departure port

[cdngrl]

it also shows up when you first try to book air on the website. put in your air city if it isn't there already and the time guidelines auto-populate.

 

because of work, i'm often flying in the day we sail. shelly97060 has said it exactly: princess transfers, ezair and insurance is the way to go to reduce my stress level!

[brian1]

We really don't want to fly in a day early. I know it sounds risky but Princess Air offers same day flights from our area to Anchorage. The flight would arrive in Anchorage at 2:20 PM and sail away is 8:30 PM. Has anyone here tried this going into Anchorage? Supposedly it's guaranteed that you will arrive on time or they will get you there. Any thoughts (besides we're crazy, lol)?

Hi,I would ask this question on the cruise air section of these boards.They are like a pack of wolves over there and they will tear you to pieces lol,but you would get knowledgable answers based on a wealth of experience.FWIW we flew from London to Auckland via Hong Kong with Princess air and landed ON TIME with 6 hrs to sailaway after 29 hrs.It was a educated gamble from Princess as the next port was only 100 miles along the coast.Your 1st port I think will be scenic sailing so joining ship would be harder,cheers,Brian.

[COMBOY]

We really don't want to fly in a day early. I know it sounds risky but Princess Air offers same day flights from our area to Anchorage. The flight would arrive in Anchorage at 2:20 PM and sail away is 8:30 PM. Has anyone here tried this going into Anchorage? Supposedly it's guaranteed that you will arrive on time or they will get you there. Any thoughts (besides we're crazy, lol)?

 

Well, if all your flights are on time then I don't see any problem with those times. However, what if your flight is cancelled or delayed and you can't make the ship in Whittier? The only thing Princess will guarantee you is you will get to the ship at some point down line. They will not hold up the ship. Anyway, the next port is on Day 4 in Skagway. You would miss Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay. You would have to overnight in Anchorage, fly to Skagway and do two nights there. If that's cool with you then stick with your original plans. You know your level of risk.

[DrivesLikeMario]

We really don't want to fly in a day early. I know it sounds risky but Princess Air offers same day flights from our area to Anchorage. The flight would arrive in Anchorage at 2:20 PM and sail away is 8:30 PM. Has anyone here tried this going into Anchorage? Supposedly it's guaranteed that you will arrive on time or they will get you there. Any thoughts (besides we're crazy, lol)?

 

Yes, we tried it and did it. No problems at all. We booked our own air though, not through EZ Air. If you book it with them, you're even more assured of getting to the ship. It may not be on embarkation day if there are problems, but they will get you to it eventually. Of course, I was prepared with other flight options in case we ran into any problems but it was an extremely easy day from beginning to end.

[lundnak]

Is it a direct flight? I don't think I would do it with a connection because too much can go wrong with you and your luggage. I would probably take the early morning flight and tour around Anchorage.

 

It isn't a mountain road but its not flat or straight. Its a pretty drive. If flying late in that day, I would take a princess transfer. Book in advance as there is no way to get there without pre-arrangements. If flying in the day before or early that morning, I would see what other tours you can book on the way. There is a nature center on the way, which we did. It was good. There also small boat glacier tours.

[geoherb]

I thought the highway was very good, without many curves, and the terrain fairly flat. There is the long one-way tunnel right before Whittier. We were on a 5-day land portion before our cruise, and the tour bus stopped at the wildlife center. We still had a 20-minute or so wait at the tunnel before it was our direction's turn to enter.

 

The biggest reason to fly in early is that if you miss the ship, you would miss the two glacier viewing days, and those are the highlight of the cruise.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

Yes, we tried it and did it. No problems at all. We booked our own air though, not through EZ Air. If you book it with them, you're even more assured of getting to the ship. It may not be on embarkation day if there are problems, but they will get you to it eventually. Of course, I was prepared with other flight options in case we ran into any problems but it was an extremely easy day from beginning to end.

 

Thank you. Your post makes me feel better. We did book EZ Air. We decided to fly out of LAX around midnight and we will arrive around 4:30 AM the morning of the cruise. This gives us a little bit of wiggle room but I'm afraid it's going to be a very long night/day. Did you take the princess shuttle to the ship? If so do you remember about what time they start running?

[MsSoCalCruiser]

Here is a step by step. Hope this is helpful :D

 

1- go to Princess website

2- click on booked guests

3- click on pre-cruise and onboard FAQ

4- click on pre-cruise travel and transportation

5- click on book air

6- click on flight guidelines for non-Princess flight guests

7- select departure port

Thank you so much. This is extremely helpful.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

it also shows up when you first try to book air on the website. put in your air city if it isn't there already and the time guidelines auto-populate.

 

because of work, i'm often flying in the day we sail. shelly97060 has said it exactly: princess transfers, ezair and insurance is the way to go to reduce my stress level!

It's a work thing for me too. When you have several cruises booked you need to save those precious vacation days. :)

[MsSoCalCruiser]

Hi,I would ask this question on the cruise air section of these boards.They are like a pack of wolves over there and they will tear you to pieces lol,but you would get knowledgable answers based on a wealth of experience.FWIW we flew from London to Auckland via Hong Kong with Princess air and landed ON TIME with 6 hrs to sailaway after 29 hrs.It was a educated gamble from Princess as the next port was only 100 miles along the coast.Your 1st port I think will be scenic sailing so joining ship would be harder,cheers,Brian.

 

Wow, 29 hours! That sounds exhausting.

 

Thank you for the information regarding the cruise air section of the boards. I will make sure I have my wolf repellent handy, ha ha.

 

Some of us will not be happy about it but we will be arriving at 4:30 AM so now we have wiggle room.