Booking cruise/air separately?

[want2retire]

Can I book my Princess cruise with, say Expedia, and then go to Princess and get my air and transfers to the ship? Found an awesome cruise deal, but no luck with air. Thanks! :p

[paul929207]

I don't think Princess will handle your air if you don't book thru them. You can get transfers from them if you get your own air.

[Ken076]

Princess is the last place I'd book airfare (if you feel compelled to do so, pay the extra $$ and use their custom service) - otherwise you may not get your flight info until way less than 30 days previous, you may get very close connections, and you may get to Destination Airport uncomfotably close to ship's departure. Most people get better, less-expensive flights independently (non Princess airfare is not covered by Princess's Trip Protection insurance). ken

[cruisingready]

Book everything seperate cruise- hotel- airline and get a taxi to the port or your hotel may have a shuttle to take you to the port and airport.

[jhannah]

Only once did I take cruise line air. Their open-jaw flight fare was lower than what I could find at the time ... significantly. Otherwise, I always make my own arrangements, where I'm in control.

[caribill]

Can I book my Princess cruise with, say Expedia, and then go to Princess and get my air and transfers to the ship? Found an awesome cruise deal, but no luck with air. Thanks! :p

 

 

If you booked the cruise with a travel agent. you need to call the travel agent if you also want Princess air and xfers.

[southnevada]

I have been on 24 cruises. We always fly in a day early and book everything separatly. Cabs are much faster than any other method to and from the pier.

[D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL]

You can do both seperately. We booked our last cruise through our TA and they gave us the choice to book air through Princess or do it on our own and we chose to do it on our own because we had control of being able to book a direct flight and did that right away. With Princess air you will not find out your flight details until the end and then there are usually connections.

 

I don't think Princess will handle your air if you don't book thru them. You can get transfers from them if you get your own air.

[Toto2Kansas]

You can not go to Princess and book your air with them seperately if you booked your cruise through a travel agent/agency. If you booked your cruise through an agency, your cruise air must also be booked with the same agent.

 

Booking Princess airfare can usually be done when booking your cruise, even through the agency you mentioned.

 

One thing about Princess air is that it is normally not cost effective unless you are needing to book an open jaw flight (arriving in one area, but returning home from another). And even then, booking cruise line air without paying the deviation fee to have some control over your flights can be a nitemare. Check out the cruise air board for some of the horror stories of flight times, layovers, and just what can be a really bad beginning or end to your wonderful cruise.

 

Also remember, booking cruise air is only a convenience to the passenger, it does not guarantee that the ship will wait for you if your flight is delayed or cancelled. They are just booking the flights for you, with no guarantees.

[captainron]

Hi,

Unless you have been doing airline bookings for business reasons and/or are cognizant of the minimum connection times, terminal changes, etc, sometimes for a beginner it is much easier to have a TA do it for you.

 

If you are booking your own flights online yourself, and are having different journey segments on separate ticketing, don't forget that your baggage will not be checked through as an interline connection. ie. you will have to pick up your bags and recheck in for your next ticketed journey segment.

 

I will use my bookings from Calgary to Sydney Australia as an example:

 

a. Booked online with Westjet (WS) from Calgary to Los Angeles

b. Booked online with Air Pacific (FJ) from Los Angeles/Nadi/Sydney

 

I will pre-clear US Customs and Immigration in Calgary prior to boarding my Westjet flight. On arrival at Terminal 2 in Los Angeles I will then have to retrieve my baggage from the carousel and make my way to the Tom Bradley terminal in order to check in and go through security.

 

My WS flt arrives from Calgary at 1235 and I don't fly out of Los Angeles til 11pm. Although it may seem excessive, I'll check my bags with the concierge at a hotel for the day and come back later to checkin for the FJ flight. When you invest $10K for a 30 day cruise you don't want a missed flight to jeopardize getting to your departure port and having to outlay full fare tkt costs to get there.

 

When you are going through the larger US airports or hubs, it is vital that you leave yourself adequate connection time. At some places like Los Angeles (LAX), O'Hare (ORD), NYC (JFK), Denver (DEN), there are numerous terminals. I would recommend a minimum of 2 hours at most to connect so that if your first flight is delayed you have adequate time to do the above.

 

Hope this helps, and...

 

Ciao for now!!!