Notoriously bad ship departure-airport transfer connections

[OlsSalt]

On the Maasdam InDepth thread I shared my own recent awful ship departure-airport transfer connection experience in Papeete, other mentioned their own similar experiences at Buenos Aires and Santiago, Chile. Good to get warned upfront these ship departure ports may have very weak transfer connections so others can benefit from some additional DIY pre-planning.

Worst problems, which Papeete had all of them, are limited number of flights, odd hours for departure, out, poor airport waiting facilities and cumbersome check-in procedures. Not every airport can offer what we want, when we want it and we know it, but it helps to know what to expect upfront from other's own experiences.  

PS: the HAL  Tahiti round the island with lunch 7 hour airport transfer was a very good option for at least part of the day - but the timing of the flight and the airport  itself left a lot to be desired regardless of how or when one got to the PPE airport. Others who rented cars and did the same thing on their own still had to face this same difficult airport experience when they showed up around 7pm.

Edited October 16, 2018 by OlsSalt

[OlsSalt]

I'll also add getting to FLL from LAX - either it is a red-eye overnight and a grueling early 5 am wait at the FLL airport for the HAL transfer and embarkation time. Or a forced overnight -which is always a good idea anyway.

Going west to east in the US is not as easy as it looks on the map - for just a five hour flight.....and a three hour time change. 

Edited October 17, 2018 by OlsSalt

[*Miss G*]

The limitations of Papeete’s airport is what prevents me, at this time, from booking any sailing which starts or ends there.  I dread flying out of FLL due to its lack of space and facilities; not to mention that I have never had a flight leave on time from there.  Ever.

Edited October 17, 2018 by *Miss G*

[OlsSalt]

If HAL is going to sell cruises starting or ending in Papeete, it would help to offer better ship transfer options. A day room in a near by hotel along with that very nice round the island tour, if there are only the current midnight flights to the US.

Plus letting everyone who used HAL flights know they had the option to stay on the ship until 7pm.  One can of course do all of this on their own - arranging a hotel room, rental car and/or taxi - but there is still the PPE stand and wait problem. Letting HAL make all these arrangements we think is worth the extra cost.

There were also 7am flights but that would require getting off the ship and transferring about 3am, if our own four hour required check-in experience is the PPE norm. 

Some sort of pre-check in option with whatever airline has exclusive operations would be the best of all  worlds.  Something like Port Valet in Seattle - dream on. 

Edited October 17, 2018 by OlsSalt

[*Miss G*]

Come to think of it, FLL is the only airport where I have ever experienced an aborted landing due to “something” on the runway.  No idea what that “something” was.  Our Captain wasn’t sharing that information.  All I know was that we were THIS close to being on the ground and then we shot straight up again.  I’m guessing plane or airport vehicle.

[Copper10-8]

1 hour ago, *Miss G* said:

Come to think of it, FLL is the only airport where I have ever experienced an aborted landing due to “something” on the runway.  No idea what that “something” was.  Our Captain wasn’t sharing that information.  All I know was that we were THIS close to being on the ground and then we shot straight up again.  I’m guessing plane or airport vehicle.

 

Besides weather, the most frequent reason for a "go around" is a preceding aircraft not being fast enough vacating the active runway after landing. The ATC tower controllers have, and enforce, strict aircraft separation limits, and if there is any doubt at all of a potential conflict with an preceding aircraft still on the runway, they will instruct the next inbound aircraft already on finals to initiate a "go around".

The only airport vehicles allowed to enter an active runway is a so called "ops" (operations) vehicle which is conducting a runway check for FOD (Foreign Objects that can cause Damage to other aircraft using that same runway) and/or fire/crash vehicles however, the runway is already closed when they (the fire vehicles) enter

Edited October 17, 2018 by Copper10-8

[Hlitner]

We will admit that flying to Palette is a challenge.  But we are talking about HAL who has a pretty decent cruise/air option.  Unfortunately you cannot access the online options until after you have booked the cruise (unlike Princess where you can look at options before you book).  So book the cruise (using a refundable deposit) and then look at the HAL air options.  You can also do your own air although keep in mind that most flight to Tahiti leave from LAX.

As to the timing, it is not a big problem if you fly-in a day or two early.

As to the last post from Miss G.....having been a private pilot in my prior life...the issue of something on the runway does happen.  At large airports such as FLL it is likely that another aircraft (who landed just before your flight) missed a turn-off and did not clear the runway in time to allow your flight to land.  In that case your pilot is ordered (or makes their own decision) to execute a "go around" which is a pain...but not really a big deal for the pilots.  As a private pilot I have had this happen a few times at larger airports and have even been forced to abort a landing because a flock of birds was on the runway.  

 

Hank 

[Copper10-8]

2 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

I'll also add getting to FLL from LAX - either it is a red-eye overnight and a grueling early 5 am wait at the FLL airport for the HAL transfer and embarkation time. Or a forced overnight -which is always a good idea anyway.

Going west to east in the US is not as easy as it looks on the map - for just a five hour flight.....and a three hour time change. 

 

That one - LAX - I don't quite understand. There are several airlines with daytime flights to FLL from LAX on a daily basis. Unless you're talking about your specific arrival time from Papeete-Faa

[*Miss G*]

Thank you Copper and Hank.  Your posts were very enlightening.  My money was on the plane scenario as I have also experienced racing off a runway (more than once) right after landing so it seemed the most logical.

[RDC1]

35 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

That one - LAX - I don't quite understand. There are several airlines with daytime flights to FLL from LAX on a daily basis. Unless you're talking about your specific arrival time from Papeete-Faa

I think that they were talking about getting there the same day as the cruise departure, without having to have as they put it "a forced overnight".  Thus either red eye or everything else gets in too late to catch the ship.

For those of us that get in a day early and stay over night, Jet Blue has great low cost day time flights from both SFO and LAX

Edited October 17, 2018 by RDC1

[Copper10-8]

11 minutes ago, RDC1 said:

I think that they were talking about getting there the same day as the cruise departure, without having to have as they put it "a forced overnight".  Thus either red eye or everything else gets in too late to catch the ship.

For those of us that get in a day early and stay over night, Jet Blue has great low cost day time flights from both SFO and LAX

 

Okidoki; makes sense! And yes, I'm a big JetBlue fan and Long Beach/Daugherty Field beats LAX traffic any day

[bennybear]

Hal had charters for some of the Papeete cruises,  the problem was they didn’t seem to know when they were and a lot of the HAL staff had no idea.   They came out quite late so it was difficult to make an informed choice.  Hopefully, if they do these cruises again things will be smoother.   As well United and French Bee are flying out of SFO, I think by the end of the month.

[Copper10-8]

13 minutes ago, bennybear said:

..................................  As well United and French Bee are flying out of SFO, I think by the end of the month.

"French Bee", a low-cost, long-haul French carrier I had never heard off. Had to look it up! Thanks for enlightening me! 

[Jammu2]

Yes, its brutal. We decided it might not be as bad to start a cruise in Ppt than to end one. 

[OlsSalt]

24 minutes ago, Jammu2 said:

Yes, its brutal. We decided it might not be as bad to start a cruise in Ppt than to end one. 

 

Very good point - arriving in PPE would probably of little consequence, so starting a cruise from PPE would be the way to go. Just try to avoid departing from PPE. 

The Maasdam is currently doing an InDepth two week cruise around Polynesia - that both starts and ends in PPE. Hope they have things worked out better for those poor PPE disembarking passengers, or convincing them they should just stay on the ship until the next segment ends in New Zealand.

[cruisebie]

13 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

The limitations of Papeete’s airport is what prevents me, at this time, from booking any sailing which starts or ends there.  I dread flying out of FLL due to its lack of space and facilities; not to mention that I have never had a flight leave on time from there.  Ever.

 

Yikes! That is not welcome news as I'm sitting in FLL right now waiting for a noon flight. 😂 Hope I have enough of a cushion for my connecting flight.

[*Miss G*]

2 minutes ago, cruisebie said:

 

Yikes! That is not welcome news as I'm sitting in FLL right now waiting for a noon flight. 😂 Hope I have enough of a cushion for my connecting flight.

Hahahaha!  Sorry about that!

[cruisebie]

21 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

Hahahaha!  Sorry about that!

 

Always better to be forewarned.  At least now I know under no circumstances to leave my seat. (Note to self: restrict liquid intake) and to start researching options in case I don't make the connection! 😁

[bennybear]

19 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

"French Bee", a low-cost, long-haul French carrier I had never heard off. Had to look it up! Thanks for enlightening me! 

You’re most welcome.   I think they were originally French Bleu,  but had to change the name due to possible confusion with Jet Blue. I did a lot of research on flying to Tahiti, lol!

 

Edited October 17, 2018 by bennybear

[liamur14]

On 10/16/2018 at 8:18 PM, OlsSalt said:

If HAL is going to sell cruises starting or ending in Papeete, it would help to offer better ship transfer options. A day room in a near by hotel along with that very nice round the island tour, if there are only the current midnight flights to the US.

Plus letting everyone who used HAL flights know they had the option to stay on the ship until 7pm.  One can of course do all of this on their own - arranging a hotel room, rental car and/or taxi - but there is still the PPE stand and wait problem. Letting HAL make all these arrangements we think is worth the extra cost.

There were also 7am flights but that would require getting off the ship and transferring about 3am, if our own four hour required check-in experience is the PPE norm. 

Some sort of pre-check in option with whatever airline has exclusive operations would be the best of all  worlds.  Something like Port Valet in Seattle - dream on. 

 

Are you saying that we do not have to disembark early moring on flight day? We can stay on board till 6 or 7 oclock?  Is this really an option for us ...Polynesia Idyll  disembarks on  Nov 11.

 

 

[OlsSalt]

14 minutes ago, liamur14 said:

 

Are you saying that we do not have to disembark early moring on flight day? We can stay on board till 6 or 7 oclock?  Is this really an option for us ...Polynesia Idyll  disembarks on  Nov 11.

 

 

 

Word was on our just recent Maasdam cruise ending in PPE, if you booked your flight with HAL - FlightEase - you were allowed to stay on the ship until 7pm - not in your cabin, but could hang around the public areas and I assume enjoy the Lido buffet too.

Not all those who booked through HAL-Air knew about this option so be sure to confirm this.  Are you going on the Maasdam ending in PPE? Of course, this still does not prevent the 4 hour long PPE check in nightmare if you are on a heavily impacted flight. 

Helps to know what to expect upfront because sometimes there is just no way around these things, other than not cruising to these difficult departure destinations. 

Edited October 18, 2018 by OlsSalt

[liamur14]

Yes we are Oct 28 -Nov 11. What do you suggest to make dismenak day easier . We are booked at the Tahiti for Transit day  pass till 5pm.  the airport drop off. We are first timers and it sounds like the airport is  confusing. Can you access the lounge there with   the Priority Pass ? thanks

 

[OlsSalt]

18 minutes ago, liamur14 said:

Yes we are Oct 28 -Nov 11. What do you suggest to make dismenak day easier . We are booked at the Tahiti for Transit day  pass till 5pm.  the airport drop off. We are first timers and it sounds like the airport is  confusing. Can you access the lounge there with   the Priority Pass ? thanks

 

Confusing is not so much the description, as under-staffed with minimal physical accommodations. I suspect there are no special lounges - even for first class passengers.  Everyone had to line up to run the embarkation gauntlet. This is pretty basic facility - open air - plastic seats. So the less time you spend there waiting to check in, the better. Since check in took so long, it would be hard to know how late  to show up in order to avoid  the long lines and still get  through customs, check-in and security. 

We had the same 7hour transit tour -and arrived at 4 or 5pm too. That was the torture time. Waiting until 8pm to check in and check-in taking around 2 hours to get into the departure gate lounge (more plastic seats but at least some shops and a small restaurant)

Best I can offer is it helps to know upfront, be prepared, bring stuff for your own entertainment and know that airport wifi offers two options - a free half hour or six hours for about US$10 - they know you will need/want 6 hours! Which ran out before we finally left.

This will be the one low point of your entire time most likely, and it is just a shame to have it end this  way.  But it will also be your last experience with "island time" which is part of the local Polynesian  culture.

[OlsSalt]

PS - no priority lounges that we could see, but you will have chickens running through the check-in area. 

[RDC1]

Air TahitiNui does have a business class lounge there.

The biggest issue is that the airline counters only open 3 hours before and they are not in a hurry to check people in.  In the times I have flown out of there what has worked best for me is to get in line about 30 minutes before the counter opens when the line is relatively short and get through fairly quickly and into the waiting area. Would rather spend most of three hours in the waiting area then spend two hours standing in the slow moving line. Another impact is the last time I was there you also had to clear outbound immigration and that opened about two hours before.  So you move from the check in line to an immigration line that gets everyone from all of the airlines funneling into it.  If yours is the first plane to leave you might spend a fair amount of time there just waiting for it to open.  Again better to be near the front. However a lot depends upon your airlines exact departure time but most leave within a fairly short window.

While it is not the best airport I have seen far far worse.

Keep in mind that the air port only processes about 1.3 million passengers a year, a number that is pretty static (it was 1.5 million in 2000), so you are not going to see any major changes and the airlines are not going to increase their costs to add staff since everyone eventually gets on the planes.

The airport is a lot larger than when I first flew through there in 1984 (air traffic controllers strike blocked fijian airspace forcing a number of flights to divert and land there). The entire terminal then consisted of the small traditional building that you line up in to clear customs these days.  There was one customs person on duty and 7 747 aircraft parked on the tarmac due to the strike. It was so laid back then that all he said was don't go far from the terminal and many of use just milled around the aircraft outside, using the wings for shade due to not enough room in what was then a terminal without air conditioning.

Edited October 18, 2018 by RDC1