EZAir and New York Ports Questions

[SpockSail]

After having cruised on several other lines, we have just booked our first Princess cruise; the 11 day "Classic Canada & New England" on the Royal Princess, from Quebec City to New York City leaving on Oct 5, 2018 and I have a question about the EZAir program.

 

It is too far out to see the air options (not displayed now and says check back 330 days out, which will be Nov 10, 2017) but the website says the cruise will end in EITHER Brooklyn or Manhattan.

 

1) We plan to arrive 10 days early landing in Neward, rent a car and drive to CT on business and then back to NYC where we will spend a few days sightseeing and then fly to Quebec City. Can we fly into Newark (which is nowhere near Quebec City) and then fly home out of NYC and on dates that do not match the cruise departure and arrival dates? Regent Seven Seas calls that a "deviated air flight" (either using different airports or not matching the arrival and departure dates of the cruise) and charges $150pp for the privilege.. .

 

2) Rather than booking the NYC to Quebec City hop separate from EZAir, can we set that up as part of the EZAir flights to the ship (I doubt that there are any direct flights from San Francisco to Quebec City anyway) AND break up the inbound legs by several days?

 

3) When will they confirm the debarking port as being Brooklyn or Manhatten? It is difficult to play the "which flight" game when you don't know which airport to use for departure.

 

(BTW, I was astonished to see that the cruise is already about 80% sold over a year in advance of the sailing - it must be a very popular cruise.

 

TIA

 

SS//

[easyboy]

In all our Canada/NE cruises, our port has always been Red Hook, Brooklyn NY

 

 

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[skynight]

The easy answer first. Princess has used Red Hook, Brooklyn in the past and I expect they will in the future.

 

Seems to me you have some difficult flight planning which will probably be easier if you book directly with the airlines.

[pjrockman]

As others have said, 90% Red Hook, Brooklyn. However, from an airport perspective in NYC, it doesn’t really matter. All three airports are equally (in)convenient to both ports. Most will choose which one based on price and flight.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Safe Journeys, Paul

 

 

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[Hlitner]

To answer your question, when you go to use EZ Air you simply change the screens (which are auto filled when you first open the screen) to indicate your preferred airports (in this case it would be EWR) and dates. You will then see the options. With domestic flights you might want to compare this with the deals you can get on your own. We suggest starting out by using Kayak.com and then also check both the Southwest and Jetblue...web sites (if they serve an airport within easy range of your home). Southwest and Jetblue do not normally show-up on other booking engines and both of these airlines serve EWR. We still love Southwest since they do not charge extra for luggage (2 pieces per person) and are very reliable. The downside is that they do not open their reservations until much closer to the departure date (usually about 4-5 months prior). One little game some folks play is to book a Flex Air deal on EZ Air (you do not actually pay for this ticket until your final cruise payment) so you have a definite flight. Once Southwest and Jetblue open up their reservations (for your date) you can then check their options...and if there is a better deal you book with them and cancel the EZ Air flight.

 

As others have said, your ship will most likely use the pier at Red Hook (it is in Brooklyn) which is really not convenient to any airport. There will be transfers offered by the cruise line (for a hefty price) or you can arrange your own transfer to any of the 3 local airport (LGA, JFK or EWR). A popular way to get transferred is to book a Black Car service (this is not always cheap...but can sometimes be less expensive then cruise line transfers) or simply use Uber (we love Uber in NYC). Uber X (a regular size car) will probably cost about $75 (total cost for the car/driver) which you might want to compare to other options. A taxi will usually cost more then Uber...with the fare depending on waiting time (for traffic) which can be considerable in the NYC area.

 

Hank

Edited October 14, 2017 by Hlitner

[SpockSail]

Thanks to all who replied.

 

If no particular airport is favored at the end of the cruise (assuming the cruise ends in Brooklyn) I guess we will pick based on cost, airline and departure time - just like doing it on my own. I'll look at the major sites and see which has the best situation for us and see if EZAir can make it work.

 

The reason we do air, and at least the transfer to the departing airport, through the cruise line when we can is we got burned a few years ago when the ship was 6 hrs late into port because of bad weather and we missed our flight to LAX and the connecting flight home to Sacramento. I had to try and remake the schedule by many $$ phone calls from the ship and it took two extra days to get home.

 

Those who booked the travel through the cruise line just sat back and the company rebooked everything, including meals and hotel stays if necessary. The company eventually reimbursed our extra expenses (after much work on my part) but it was a terrible end to what otherwise was a great trip.

 

I am willing to not get the absolute lowest airfare in exchange for them doing the work if it becomes necessary. And they have more clout than I do to reschedule things because of the volume of business they do with the air carriers so we are likely to get better rebooking options.

 

SS//

[caribill]

Your biggest problem in what you want to do is getting to the ship via NYC.

 

You will need to work with the EZAir department to see how much of that part of the journey is possible using EZAir.

 

It is tricky to say you want to fly to the ship from NYC since that is not your home city, but still fly to your home from NYC at the end of the cruise. But I expect it is possible if they can set up some parameters in your account.

 

I doubt they can also include the flight from your home city to NYC because they usually do not book flights with a multi-day stopover on the way to the ship. But, it does not hurt to ask Princess.

[RRFan]

Quebec City is a wonderful place to visit! We will be doing the final, repositioning cruise on the Crown from QBC to Ft Lauderdale starting 10/24 (14 days). We've done that cruise the last 2 years and love it. Unfortunately Red Hook had always been the NYC port (not sure why PCL always puts either/or on the itinerary). There has been a huge discussion on our CC thread for this cruise about that too. Manhattan would certainly be more convenient. QBC isn't the easiest place to fly to. You have to do a hop from either a Toronto or Montreal. Enjoy!

 

 

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[SALAMANCA2014]

Check out itasoftware owned by Google, Hipmunk or Kayak. Use the Multi-City option. Select the departure city and arrival city. The next line select the departure city and the arrival city. The itasoftware options gives various departure dates zero to plus or minus two days this will display the lowest fares. We were in Hartford, Connecticut for a wedding last summer. The rental car prices are lower in Connecticut at a city off away from the airport. There was no drop charge for returning the rental car to airport in New York City. You can take an Amtrak from Newark Airport to any major city in Connecticut or one of the shuttle buses.

 

 

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[skynight]

Thanks to all who replied.

 

If no particular airport is favored at the end of the cruise (assuming the cruise ends in Brooklyn) I guess we will pick based on cost, airline and departure time - just like doing it on my own. I'll look at the major sites and see which has the best situation for us and see if EZAir can make it work.

 

The reason we do air, and at least the transfer to the departing airport, through the cruise line when we can is we got burned a few years ago when the ship was 6 hrs late into port because of bad weather and we missed our flight to LAX and the connecting flight home to Sacramento. I had to try and remake the schedule by many $$ phone calls from the ship and it took two extra days to get home.

 

Those who booked the travel through the cruise line just sat back and the company rebooked everything, including meals and hotel stays if necessary. The company eventually reimbursed our extra expenses (after much work on my part) but it was a terrible end to what otherwise was a great trip.

 

I am willing to not get the absolute lowest airfare in exchange for them doing the work if it becomes necessary. And they have more clout than I do to reschedule things because of the volume of business they do with the air carriers so we are likely to get better rebooking options.

 

SS//

For what it is worth, for many years now we have stayed overnight at a hotel near the airport on disembarkation day. We just get too tired to fly home the same day. We never experienced what you describe.

[SALAMANCA2014]

Most air carriers will place a passenger on the next available flight if the passenger is late arriving at the airport. Some travel credit cards will reimburse the cardholder for miss or delayed connections.if all the travel is purchased on their credit card. The fares are usually lower if the passenger wants to deviate and uses his own air carrier. Credit Card holders and Frequent Flyers usually have a baggage allowance for themselves and other passengers traveling on the same ticket.

[Hlitner]

Most air carriers will place a passenger on the next available flight if the passenger is late arriving at the airport. Some travel credit cards will reimburse the cardholder for miss or delayed connections.if all the travel is purchased on their credit card. The fares are usually lower if the passenger wants to deviate and uses his own air carrier. Credit Card holders and Frequent Flyers usually have a baggage allowance for themselves and other passengers traveling on the same ticket.

 

Where on earth did you get your info. Most airlines are not quite that nice. You miss your flight (not due to the airline's fault) and yes, they will work to get you on the next or another flight....but it will generally be quite expensive. The one good exception is Southwest (our favorite domestic airline) which will not charge you any penalty....but you will have to pay the fare difference if the fares on another flight is higher (or you get a credit if the fare is lower). Most other domestic airlines will charge you their '"change fee" which varies depending on your original ticket For example Delta normally will charge a $200 per ticket change fee ($500 if International). Perhaps if you cry....they might waive the fee :).

 

Hank

[SALAMANCA2014]

I am a Frequent Flyer with United Airlines. Two years ago I was in Seattle with my family we were late returning our rental car. We missed the fast flight to Los Angeles for the night. We didn't want to spend the night at the airport. United put us on a flight to Houston where we arrived early in the morning. We caught the first flight to Los Angeles no charge.

 

We were in Kona, Hawaii and United booked us on Hawaiian Airlines flight to Honolulu to connect to the United flight to Los Angeles. Hawaiian wanted to charged us for out luggage. We walked over to United and we were placed on the non-stop flight to Los Angeles no cost.

 

We arrived early on a cruise in Miami we didn't want to wait three hours at the airport for our scheduled flight. There were six in our party. We had to split up three were placed on a flight via Houston to Los Angeles and three were placed on a flight via Chicago to Los Angeles no charge. I have more examples if you need them.

[Mike A]

Unfortunately Red Hook had always been the NYC port (not sure why PCL always puts either/or on the itinerary).

 

 

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Princess home ports and shares Red Hook, Brooklyn with Cunard. The other Carnival Corp. and NCL ships use Manhattan. Red Hook can only handle one ship at a time. On the rare occasion Princess and Cunard has a ship in NY on the same day or Princess has 2 ships in NY, one has to go to the PST in Manhattan. It will most likely happen on Princess if the cruise is repositioning or a non embark/disembark port stop since many New Yorkers will drive and park at Red Hook on the round trips.

 

 

 

 

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