We're having Princess make our flight arrangements on our cruise on the Sun from San Juan to San Fran, out of and returning to Phila. We'd love to get to San Juan as early in the day as possible, so we are planning to take advantage of their flight deviation policy. My question is - has anyone flown from Phila to San Juan, or from San Fran to Phila when Princess has made the flight arrangements? Or does anyone know what airline(s) Princess favors? Thanks so much for your help.

Can't answer your specific question but do have experience with Cruise line booked flights. Overall it is better to book your own flights and purchase the transfers (to get to ship and for luggage handling.) If you book your own flights you have controll of when and where. WE know of someone who was cruising out of San Juan going from Boston. There is a wonderful early am nonstop that arrives around noon. The Cruise line booked them on a prop plane to NY and connect from NY to SJU. It wasn't fun. The cruise line will not let you know what flight you are on (they don't know themselves) until time to get you your documents. They will get you there but it may not be convenient. <BR>I would recommend booking your own flights (with the help of a good travel agent) and purchasing the transfers. <BR>

Marti: <BR>Can you explain what the "flight deviation policy" is? <BR> <BR>We let Holland America arrange our flights on the Panama cruise... but never again! <BR> <BR>They don't care how inconvenient the trip is. Had we booked our own flight, we could have flown directly to Acapulco. They routed us through Phoenix and then Mexico City. <BR> <BR>The connection was so tight in Mexico City that we were still on the tarmac waiting in a bus as the gates were closed to the last flight out to Acapulco. Sure, Holland America reimbursed our hotel fee but it was a lousy start to a vacation. We got out the next morning but others were stuck in Mexico City until the afternoon. <BR> <BR>Our travel agent tells us, though, that if the cruise line books your flights, they are responsible for getting you on the ship. Regardless, I would make my own arrangements with a lot of leeway for glitches - unless there is a better way. <BR>

We usually let the cruise line take care of our flight arrangements, and we've flown to San Juan twice for cruises on Princess. First time we flew on Delta, second time on USAir. We flew out of Pittsburgh, not much different than flying out of Philly. I think they use the line they can get the best rate on. Both stops had a connecting stop--Delta was in Atlanta, and I believe USAir was Charlotte. <BR>

P.S.--on the USAir flight to San Juan, we flew home from LAX which was also on USAir. <BR>

My son and his grandmother let Princess book their flight from Dallas to Vancouver because, as stated in a previous post, the travel agent assured them that if Princess booked the flight, they would be responsible for them getting on the ship. They were booked on Delta on a flight that stopped in Tucson, then in LAX before arriving in Vancouver. There were multiple delays due to a variety of causes, and they finally boarded the ship just prior to embarkation. When, upon checking with Delta, I realized that they quite possibly would miss the sailing, I called the port in Vancouver and spoke to a Princess representative, who said in no uncertain terms that the ship would not be held for a mere two people. They could just make their way to the first port of call and board there (three days later!). By a stroke of luck, there happened to be 18 people on the flight from LAX to Vancouver, and the ship was held in this case. <BR>By the way, they could have flown American non-stop and arrived in Vancouver a full eight hours earlier. <BR>We will never again let a cruise line book our airfare.

Isn't it supposed to be A LOT less expensive to book through the cruise line?

That's why we did it, but since then I heard that someone said they did it cheaper on their own. Unfortunately I never compared. For all the aggravation, I'd be willing to pay a bit more. <BR>

The cruise line wants you to think it's cheaper! On our last cruise we booked our own air and saved over $100/person. Pretty good when there were four of us! <BR> <BR>When you're making reservations -- always get a "cruise only" price and one including air, then see if you can beat their price on your own. It's worked for us twice.

Marti, <BR>We fly in/out of Philadelphia. Cannot address Princess but can address Royal Caribb. Think both are very similar. <BR>We always deviate, even if not taking pre or post cruise. It is worth every penny to deviate your flights. I would not risk my cruise experience and book my own air. Lots of folks do this, but I know too many who do not book cruise/air program, only to end up w/airlines who either are late arriving, cancelling, many connections, etc. If you deviate, using air/cruise pkg., the cruise line is responsible for getting you to the ship. I would much prefer spending the extra $$, and at least having some recourse should flight be late and ship has sailed. <BR>Also deviation allows you to choose which airline [I assume US Air if Phila], and times of flights. We have flown Phila/San Juan and also San Fran/Phila. Some travel agts. waive the deviation fee. Hope this helps...Bon Voyage! <BR>Elaine

We had a bad experience last year coming back from San Juan to Chicago. Chicago was hit by a major snowstorm the day we were to return. Princess had us booked on a United charter, which only flies one flight per week out of San Juan to Chicago. At first they told us that we would have to wait until the next flight a week later and they told us that because we were on a Princess charter flight that our tickets had no value on any other airline. <BR> <BR>The next day, United decided to issue us vouchers and we flew home on Delta but there were several people that were stuck for several days and several people opted to pay full fare on another airline just to get home. <BR> <BR>Princess also had booked many people from New York to Chicago to San Juan and those people, who should have been able to get home, couldn't. <BR> <BR>The thing that really annoyed me though was that Princess seemed to wash their hands of us once we got off the boat. There was a representative in the airport that was no help at all and the people answering at the 800 number they gave us at the airport were surly and seemed to only be concerned with telling us that we wouldn't be reimbursed for any of our expenses, which at the time was the least of our worries. <BR> <BR>On the other two cruises we've taken, we've booked our own airfare at much lower prices and just allowed a day on either side for unexpected occurrences, missed connections and snowstorms.

On my 20+ cruises, I've done a combination of my own air arrangements and the cruise lines' air arrangements. I base my decision on the following theories: if the ship departs/returns from different ports (e.g. New York to Auckland), then I KNOW the cruise lines' airfare will be much cheaper than anything I could get on my own; if there's a reasonable chance that flights could get delayed due to winter weather, then I take the cruise lines' air arrangments; how much the air credit is (often it's so low that I couldn't get my own airfare for any less.) I have had problems with delayed flights several times and, luckily, each time I taken the cruise lines' air. Two times were with Princess and I thought they handled it very well - a delayed flight in LA meant I missed the Sydney connection and the ship sailed without me! The first port was 3 days later in New Zealand. Princess took care of all arrangements in LA, flew us (there were 3 other passengers on the same flight) to Sydney, put us up for several nights in Sydney with food vouchers, tours of the city, flew us to Auckland and found a hotel (it was the Commonwealth Games and there were practically NO hotel rooms anywhere) and then drove us to Bay of Islands. Once on board, the Captain held a mini-cocktail party for us and we were local celebrities. After the cruise, Princess sent me a $900 refund for the 3 days of the cruise that I missed and gifts. A similar circumstance occurred another time w/Princess and they responded equally well. Crystal wasn't nearly so accommodating when our flight to LA was delayed and the connecting flight to Acapulco would be arrive about 30 minutes before the ship was supposed to sail. There were about 20 of us on the flight and we got limited information, suggestions of taking a bus ride (!?!) to the first port, and flat out refusals that the ship would wait the extra 10-15 minutes for us. We did make the ship, with about 10 minutes to spare but Crystal made it more nervewracking then it needed to be; and I know that if I had made my own air arrangements, I would have missed the ship and would have been figuring out how to get myself to the first port. So, these days, I tend to take the cruise lines' air arrangments, unless the ship is in and out of Ft. Lauderdale/Miami!

You might be making it too hard a decision. When you request an air deviation from Princess they will tell you what flights are available and then you just decide if you like them or not. If you don't like them, you just decline the air deviation. <BR> <BR>It has been my experience that Princess has about the best air department in the industry. I think you will have a great experience with this!

I have always used the airlines and have never had any problems yet. However, today, with access to the internet, you can save literally $100's. Sometimes....that is. <BR> <BR>I have a travel agent that I have been using for quite some time, and he NEVER accepts the flight time/schedule without speaking to me to see if I agree with it. Just on Thursday, he was making our return flight home from San Juan to Sacramento and he had the airlines on the other line...he wanted to get my approval first before he locked in. It was with United, leaving @ 3:30 in the afternoon, with a 50 minute stop, I believe in SLC...then on to Sacramento. We couldn't of done better and the air add on was not bad, $399 each. San Juan to Sacramento is quite a trip. We will be paying the deviation fee because we will stay 4 days in San Juan after getting off the Dawn from its 16 day Panamal Canal cruise on 10/15/99. <BR> <BR>You really have to do some checking first..find out how far you are away from the pier/airport...you can always hail a taxi. <BR> <BR>Have fun! <BR> <BR>Dawn

Correct me if I'm wrong. It USED to be that the cruise line was responsible for getting you to the ship if they made the air arrangements. I believe the small print has changed. They now, at least in the case of Celebrity, so I suspect it also goes for RCCL and the others, say that their air booking arrangements are for your "convenience" only, and that they cannot be responsible if you miss the sailing. <BR> <BR>Anyone aware of this?

Thanks to all of you for your help! It's always good to have the experience of other travelers.