"forced hotel stay"

[brendielee]

I am cruising out of Vancouver in May (on the Sapphire) to Alaska...The four of us going have decided to let Princess handle all the arrangements. The ship sets sail at 4 pm and since we are flying from Maine, and the earliest we could get there on the day of sailing is 1:30(which I think will be cutting it too close) the Princess agent said that they will consider it a forced hotel stay and put us in a hotel the day before sailing....does this sound right? I don't want to miss my ship! Thanks for all your wisdom.:)

[chrysalis]

sounds like a fantastic way to get to spend a day in beautiful Vancouver at the expense of Princess....and I agree, flying a day early is an important point to avoid missing the ship

[Quilting_Cruiser]

Definitely fly in the day before! We almost missed our first Alaska cruise because of flights (and we live on the West Coast!). We had a forced overnight on our first Caribbean cruise since we were flying from Portland, Oregon to Miami--Carnival couldn't get us there in time to sail with a same-day flight, so they put us up in a nice hotel. It was a great way to start vacation. Enjoy!:)

 

Jayne

 

:)

[serene56]

There is a charge for that-- air diviation and you will pay for the hotel per person not per night. Ask what the charges are for something like that.

COming from the east coast to the west coast-- it will be so much better to go the day before. there is a time zone change and i bet its hard the first day or two.

[chrysalis]

There is a charge for that-- air diviation and you will pay for the hotel per person not per night.

 

...are you sure about that?...coming from someone who has never sailed with Princess before, you better be sure before you give someone some advice.

[serene56]

...are you sure about that?...coming from someone who has never sailed with Princess before, you better be sure before you give someone some advice.

 

that is what we were told when I was looking for a trip to alaska come June. adding an air diviation plus the hotel stay jsut was too much money for me.

[secretcastle]

We are flying from Vancouver to Florida for our cruise, and we have a forced overnight that Princess arranges and there doesn't appear to be any extra charges and no deviation fees because they are the ones booking the flights.

Have a wonderful cruise!

Julia

[40yearcruiser]

I am cruising out of Vancouver in May (on the Sapphire) to Alaska...The four of us going have decided to let Princess handle all the arrangements. The ship sets sail at 4 pm and since we are flying from Maine, and the earliest we could get there on the day of sailing is 1:30(which I think will be cutting it too close) the Princess agent said that they will consider it a forced hotel stay and put us in a hotel the day before sailing....does this sound right? I don't want to miss my ship! Thanks for all your wisdom.:)

We are sailing on the Sapphire on 6/2 and are using the air arrangements from Princess. We are coming from Florida so are as far away from Vancouver as you are, probably farther. Our TA said that on previous booking her clients were on early morning flights on the day of the cruise. Will make for a very long day for us, too. We'd welcome a "forced" hotel stay but will take whatever Princess schedules for us. Has anyone else had experience with a forced hotel stay?

[mr green]

If you have been given a firm price, go for the overnight stay. Good luck.:)

 

john

[brendielee]

from what I understood from Princess, there wouldn't be any extra cost to me, and I already have the total price so i don't see how they can add more $$.

[FredS]

I will share this; we flew Princess flights from LAX to Manaus, Brazil. We had a forced overnight in Florida and had to pay the $59 for the hotel. The next day we were on the Princess charter flight to Brazil. However, we knew beforehand that we would have to pay for the hotel stay. When you say, "Princess agent" I wonder if you mean a TA or someone at Princess offices.

[Lightsluvr]

from what I understood from Princess, there wouldn't be any extra cost to me, and I already have the total price so i don't see how they can add more $$.

 

I am certain that you are correct. We had a "forced hotel stay" on a RCI cruise several years ago. We purchased cruise air, but RCI couldn't get us to the port in time on departure day, so they put us up in a very nice hotel the day before. It cost us nothing.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

LL

[Julia’s Journey’s]

We always fly in the day before, love vancouver and with the time change I would definately fly in the day before.

[Opinions]

This is what one Princess brochure says:

Overnights. For some cruise itineraries it may be necessary due to flight schedules and/or availability of seats, for passengers to overnight either before or after their cruise..If it is necessary to overnight, hotel accomodations, baggage handling and transfers are at passengers expense.

[Smasher]

This is what one Princess brochure says:

Overnights. For some cruise itineraries it may be necessary due to flight schedules and/or availability of seats, for passengers to overnight either before or after their cruise..If it is necessary to overnight, hotel accomodations, baggage handling and transfers are at passengers expense.

 

 

True. If you're arranging your own flights. But if you're buying air and transfers through the cruise line, they will put you up in a hotel for no additional charge if they can't get you to the ship on time with a same-day flight. But it's not really free -- buying air through the cruise line is usually more expensive than going on your own -- which is why they can afford to put you up in a "free" hotel room if they have to.

[CrusinAgain]

Forced stays are ones when Princess Air could not get you onto the ship in time from where you are coming from. Carnival does the same thing - its a complimentary hotel stay. Normally transfers are included. Its only when you ask for a prestay that you pay for the hotel stay.

[Tools R Us]

It's been a few years, but a few times we have had Princess put us in a hotel overnight at no charge.

[Tools R Us]

It's been a few years, but a few times we have had Princess put us in a hotel overnight at no charge.

[senior lady]

We were on the coral last may. We live on the west coast ( Vancouver). We took Princess air, and our hotel was included in the cruise price. With the time difference, they can't get us west coasters to the east coast in time for sailing.

 

I guess it might be easier for the east coast people to get here. With the time difference, you guys get here in a couple of hrs;)

 

Have a great cruise!!!

[serene56]

Maybe I asked for the wrong thing.

 

If Princess can get us to the ship in time for a 4pm boarding then I cant get the forced hotel?

 

WOuldnt a 1pm flight arrival be getting to the ship ontime? could they turn me down for that?

[brendielee]

I don't know how far the airport is from the dock.....the earliest flight in for us would land at the airport at 1:30ish. Check in time is 12-3 with sailing at 4:30. I don't know if this is enough time! If Princess puts us on a same day flight, which I hope they don't, I will have them change it to a day earlier and pay for the hotel.

[Crosboro]

From what I've seen that cruise lines charge for air fares, a night in a hotel is not going to set them back very much. They have to get pricing deals from the airlines and hotels, so while it sounds generous, it doesn't sound like a great deal to me.

[Crosboro]

Double post.