Getting off Royal Princess in Le Havre instead of Southampton

[Hlitner]

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Only other option is go to England and take the train back to Paris.

 

Good luck.

 

Another option is to simply fly from Southampton to CDG. Both Flybe and Air France have non-stop flights (about 1 hour flying time) and can actually cost less then using the train. That was actually our "Plan B" if something had happened and we could not get off in Le Havre. Flybe often has fares in the $100 range..although luggage can certainly add to the cost.

 

Hank

[eileen108]

I think that missing Le Havre is actually quite rare, and I'd be interested to know the months where the weather is likely to be worse (perhaps in May/June rather than July/August?).

 

We will definitely prepared in case the ship misses Le Havre, I have already mapped possible plane, train and ferry routes from Southampton to Paris.

 

One other poster mentioned that yes, the cruise line booked flights to get people to their ultimate destination that was missed, but it was a crazy, long and inconvenient route taking all day! That is why I don't buy the cruise line offered insurance; they will do everything they can not to reimburse and even if they do, it will often be awfully inconvenient.

[caribill]

I am taking this cruise in August, and tried to do the same thing. I was told that Princess is only allowed to disembark a certain number of passengers at LeHavre due to French immigration. The bulk of that number will be passengers that embarked on the cruise in Le Havre.

 

 

Above is why what you could do easily in the past can be a problem now if the cruise has passengers who booked the cruise to start & end in LeHavre.

 

I would assume it would still be easy to get the deviation approved if the ship does not have LeHavre as an official disembarkation port.

[RDC1]

I can see how you are thinking but the cruise line seems to be running a continuous series of round trip cruises starting in Le Havre, Southampton or Dublin. Under these circumstances it seems appropriate that you are disembarked at the correct port according to your documentation.

 

If a port is missed completely due to bad weather for example and it is the final one surely the cruise line is responsible for transporting you to the final port. If it is not safe to dock on the day surely when they arrive at the next port they are legally responsible for returning you by some other means at the cruise line's expense.

 

It should be noted that another group of people on the quayside will need to embark at Le Havre where the ship fails to dock and presumably the cruise line also has a legal responsibility to transport those people to the next port for embarkation.

 

Regards John

According to the cruise contract the cruise line is not responsible if it misses the disembarkation port due to weather.

[eileen108]

Just wanted to post an update. Several days ago I booked our cruise with Princess and paid the deposit (the cruise is July 2019, 10 months in the future). I requested disembarkation in Le Havre instead of Southampton and the rep said it is no problem. She made it clear that there would be no partial refund for the one last night we'll miss on the ship and I am fine with that. She requested extra info from me and said I'd get the approval email within a week.

 

This morning I was so thrilled to receive the email and pdf file, "Route Deviation Request Approved"! I'll print it up as documentation for when we disembark.

 

Of course, I will reconfirm just before the cruise and probably on board too. We are also prepared with alternative independant and self-financed plans (probably train to Paris) in case of the rare occurrence that Le Havre is missed.

 

This thread was very helpful to me - thanks so much!

[Omega1]

 

Of course, I will reconfirm just before the cruise and probably on board too. We are also prepared with alternative independant and self-financed plans (probably train to Paris) in case of the rare occurrence that Le Havre is missed.

Very wise to have a contingency plan (or two) in case Le Havre is missed. Hopefully it won’t be needed - have a great trip.

[cherylakers]

O.k. thank you.What I dont understand, is that this cruise also starts the day before ours in Le Havre,so passengers will be getting off then.We would have taken that one but went to London last year and loved it, so thought we would do London pre-cruise and Paris post-cruise.

 

We are also going in August and flying on ezair to London early and returning from Paris. We decided to go all the way back to South Hampton, take a prearranged car back to the train station where the euro star departs from and take it back to Paris. The eurostar is on my bucket list to that checks it off. Then we will taxi from Paris train station to our hotel.

 

Since the ship has missed Le Havre a few times, I am a little concerned about trying to get off there. Plus, we want to see Honfleur and will take a taxi over to visit it for the day. That way we won't be rushed in Le Havre.

 

This is an option for you.

 

Cheryl

[Kj9395]

I thought I would update our experience disembarking in Edinburgh. It was the easiest I have ever had leaving a ship! We were told we could leave anytime and to let our steward know when we wanted our bags brought down to the tenders. We left at 9:30 am, and there wasn’t any line at this time. Our luggage was loaded after we got on the tender. When we got to the pier, we left the tender last, and our luggage was taken off and given to porters, who were there to take our luggage down the pier to the taxis.

 

We didn’t pre-book a car, but plenty of taxis were available. The fare was 25£ to our hotel which was across the street from St. Giles Cathedral, in Edinburgh and took about 35 minutes. I really recommend Fraser suites, if you ever stay in Edinburgh. It was an excellent location and very comfortable for the price.