Book air via cruise?

[smaradiaga]

Hello,

We are going in November for a 7nt Carribean on Grand (depart from FLL). I know this topic must have been discussed before but I'd like to know a few more things... I'm debating whether we should book our air via Princess. After looking online, I found that surprisingly the flight cost is about the same if I were to book it myself.

The only difference is that I don't know any details about the flight if I were to book it via Princess. Do any of you know about the flight times if booked via Princess (e.g. whether they will be on the day of departure vs. the day before, whether they are convenient, etc.). Also, when do we know the flight details? Can you please share your experience on this so I can make my decision? I heard that transfer to the port is also included if we book via Princess? How about luggage--do they transfer it directly to our cabin?

Thanks so much for your help!!!

[Pam in CA]

If you book air through Princess, you wont' know your flight details until after final payment (unless you've booked Biz Class.) For a FLL departure from CA, they'll fly you in the day before since there's no way to fly from CA to FL and arrive in time to board. Check your TA to see if this includes the hotel. They call this an "operational overnight."

 

There are some positives and some negatives to booking Princess air, particularly if you're flying in from CA. Double-check to see if the air is an overnight and includes the hotel and then price that out based on your flying in on your own and paying for a hotel.

 

Most people book their own air because they can control when they fly and where they stay. You need to decide whether that's more important than price.

[kattom]

we are scheduled to fly to Tahit this Sunday for our 10/1/07 cruise. This is only our 2nd cruise and our first with Princess. We bought Princess Air because it was slightly less than what I could have bought on my own. Because I wanted to be sure and fly in early and stay later I learned that I needed to do the air deviation. For $75/each we could go early, stay later and go ahead and get seat assignments. I still figured the cost was worth it. Imagine my surprise when a couple of months ago I learned that our seats assignments had been cancelled. Although we were still flying on the same days as requested--they took our seat assignments and stuck us in less than desireable ones. Of course this can always happen with airlines--I know that. But because it was handled through my TA and with Princess I really feel my hands were/are tied as far as remedies. Would I do it again? Never! Well at least I will never do it unless the savings is truely spectacular. By the way, our transfers were not included so that didn't make the slightest difference. I have booked many air trips for my DH and I and I will continue to book my own in the future.

[Northshorecruisers]

I don't have much experience, but we always book our own air. We plan to arrive the day before allowing for weather delays.

We fly from MN, so at least we're in a Hub for some airlines where we can get good rates.

On our first cruise, we went with my step-dad who was flying in from Toronto, Canada. He booked cruiseline airfare. He left from the airport at 5am,(so he had to get a room the night before), flew to Georgia, had a 2 hour layover, and then flew 7 hours to San Diego. He just made the ship.

Mind you, if he had just made his own flight reservation, he would have saved $200, saved himself 6 hours, and been in San Diego at noon. You have to figure what works for you.

I guess that if you book with the cruise line, you don't know you're flight till closer to your cruise. For me, I'm a planer - couldn't handle that. It's been my experience that you get a better deal and more flexibility on your own.

[mlmorrison]

From personal and extend experience: Princess will NOT route you in a day ahead of the cruise for west-to-east coast trips, since there are so many red-eye (overnight) options, especially from LAX (Cypress area - example: delta 1805; AA 262). Princess will book your flights to assure you arrive in FLL at a “safe” time on the day of sailing, yet avoid footing the bill for a hotel by flying you in the day before!

 

Options:

a. Book flights yourself, and decide your own flights/routing: Book to assure you arrive in “plenty” of lead time to get on the ship…As you read the boards, most people suggest (and I agree) that you should arrive a day ahead of time, and book a hotel so you don’t worry about “missing the boat” in case of flight delays, airline strikes, aircraft groundings, etc. (Hey that NEVER happens, right?)

b. Book flights w/Princess: although you will likely be on a red-eye to FLL: if the flight is delayed and you’re not able to get to the ship before it sails away: it’s up to Princess to get you to the ship (even if it means flying you to the next port/island!). You can also pay an extra “special” fee (it was ~$50) to have them book you on an alternate route such as the day before, but then you’d still need to figure out where to stay OR book pre-cruise hotel option through Princess (VERY expensive compared to what you can find online)

I have done both of the above; when the price is very expensive to fly (such as west coast to San Juan) I go with Princess. For shorter/cheaper trips, I’d rather book my own destiny and day-ahead hotel….

[MauiLvrs]

If you book air through Princess, you wont' know your flight details until after final payment (unless you've booked Biz Class.

If you pay for the air deviation ($75/pp) you can pick your flights.

[smaradiaga]

Thanks so much for your input!! I decided to book on our own and arrive a day before :)

[MauiLvrs]

... and arrive a day before :)

A day before is almost always a good idea...

[Cruise Junky]

We just booked Crown Princess out of San Juan for next April. Princess wanted $920 for their Mystery Flights...I booked United with one stop in Chicago for $760. Other than Tahiti, I don't usually recommend anyone use Cruise Air.

[ht_dave]

I guess it really depends on what you can arrange yourself, and how comfortable you feel about getting there on-time.

 

We did Princess Air on a trip from the Northeast to LA and they routed us on a 1 stop flight both ways. What was bad was the return trip had next to no time for the connection and we got stranded in the airport overnight.

 

Our last cruise was out of Fort Lauderdale and I was able to book a non stop flight on Southwest the day before, along with a REALLY NICE hotel across from the beach, romantic dinner, and town car transportation for the same price that Princess was offering.

[Globaliser]

I know this topic must have been discussed before but I'd like to know a few more things ...

One thread that might help you is this one posted by greatam in the Cruise Air forum - it's so good that it's a sticky.

[Pam in CA]

Other than Tahiti, I don't usually recommend anyone use Cruise Air.

It really "all depends" and one should do their research to know whether it's a good deal or not. For my Sapphire cruise next April, I heard of great deals on Hawaiian Airlines for the one-way from LAX to Sydney. I booked Biz Class and felt very self-satisfied. Then, I saw how much my sister and brother-in-law are paying for the same itinerary using Princess air and for Biz Class, it was $1K less than what I paid for Hawaiian Air. There aren't too many ways they can route you going from LAX to Sydney so I'm now kicking myself. But that's OK, there are going to be a bunch of other CC members I know on the same Hawaiian Air flight.

[Jill SC]

When considering a cruise, we usually do some research on-line to see what airfare we can get and then ask the cruiseline about their packages to compare. Normally, we find it better to get our own airfare, but on our transatlantic last year, the Princess airfare package was so much better than we found on our own, so we took it.

[MauiLvrs]

What was bad was the return trip had next to no time for the connection and we got stranded in the airport overnight.

 

That is one reason that if w book the cruise air we always get the air deviation so that we can book our flights in advance.

Another is that we like to get our seats reserved in advance.

[Stevesan]

If you pay for the air deviation ($75/pp) you can pick your flights.

 

 

Not always. The cruise line purchases blocks of seats. If they don't have the block discount for the flight you want, then you'd have to pay the fare difference. That can be significant.

 

Sometimes, they even refuse the deviation. I had that happen once w/HAL. And no, HAL is not unique in how it books flights.

 

Routes can impact cruise air fares. I inquired about Princess air for my upcoming cruise from San Juan. The Princess air rep quoted an economy fare without any deviation fee that was MORE than the first class fare that I booked as a nonstop w/Continental. Go Figure!:confused:

 

On the other hand, I twice booked cruise air to Europe and received good routings (no deviations) with significant cost savings.