traveller236

Your airfare will be the same price with EZAir whether you book it or your TA books it.

 

Remember EZAir is also part of your invoice, so make sure your TA knows about the booking if you do it yourself.

 

I did have a Princess rep ask me to have my TA call for the booking, but I said it was the TA's day off and I didn't want to lose the fare price.

 

My TA booked for me initially and got me the first reduced fare, but I called direct for the last three reductions. Have fun and good luck!!

Good to know. Thanks!

Don't forget to monitor for price drops after!:)

Will do, thanks :)

Thanks Kamloops50 and Valiamo. I'm going to book the flight myself.

Enjoy the rest of your day.

Thanks everyone for your replies and great suggestions. I will definitely fly in a day earlier and have decided to us Princess EZAir. With that being said, I will ask, which is perhaps, a dumb question.

Is there any benefit for me to call my TA and have her book the flight rather than doing it myself through the Princess Cruise Personalizer? Another words, will she see the same prices I'm seeing for WestJet?

Thanks again:):)

Ah.. Just to bring you up to date.... WestJet also charges a $25 fee for baggage, and they also charge for seat selection (started charging Sept of 2014). You are not getting a deal from either Air Canada or Westjet these days. No major airlines flying out of Canada will offer you free baggage any more..... (well that is not 100% true, you can buy Executive or Business Class, and get 1 free luggage)

 

I would be very wary of travelling into FLL from Canada on the day of the cruise, one never knows what the weather will be like. If you are making a connection ANYWHERE, in Canada, fly in 1 day earlier. Plus 1 night in FLL would be around $150-$200, and you have peace of mind you are in the right city.

 

If your flight arrives into FLL prior to 1 PM you "should"will be OK, anytime after that you would be trying to catch up to the cruise ship if there was a delay of any kind (and YYZ has loads of weather delays).

 

If you can get flexible with Princess EXAir, then you do not have to pay until final payment date, AND you get the comfort of them being responsible to get you to the next port. Bonus, is if the flight prices go down, you can get them to re-book at a lower price. Last time we booked flexible, it was cheaper than going with either AC or WJ directly.

 

One word of caution, Princess books in US$, even if you pay in Cdn$, and advance seat selection and luggage may be charged in US$.

Thanks for bringing me up to date about WestJet's baggage fees. Whoops! I guess I was looking under Flex fare instead of Econo fare. And yes, I'm planning to fly to FLL a day early.

Thanks for all your great advice. Princess EZAir it is!

Thanks for the information Kamloops50! Although I don't find they're fares "super cheapy", I'm surprised to learn AC charges fees on the first checked baggage.

I think we'll fly with WestJet...they seem to have good reviews and don't charge fees on first checked baggage under 50 lbs.

Enjoy the rest of your day:)

Thanks CruiserBruce!

I'll check out the link.:)

Hello fellow cruisers,

We're first time Princess cruisers and would like some guidance about booking round trip flights.

Would you recommend booking flights through Princess EZAir flexible fares? I did a mock booking online and found a cheaper returned flight to FLL ($300 less than Princess for 2 of us). However, we 're sailing in December, so weather could be a factor , so having that late arrival protection might be worth paying the extra $150 pp. If so, would you recommend booking early or waiting closer to final fare payment date in case prices drop?

Also, does anyone know if both WestJet and Air Canada actually started to charge 1st checked baggage fees. I checked online and it appears WestJet doesn't, but it looks like Air Canada charges $26.25 CAD/USD for 1st checked bag Toronto to FLL? Is this right?

Thanks!:)

Thank you all for responding.

xxoocruiser Thank you for your advice. Actually, I always look at the big picture! I was on the cruise line websites several weeks before showing up at the TA's. I knew what I wanted before I walked in the door. I wanted to use a TA, because they're supposed to help you out. How was I supposed to know there would be a promotion the next day. I'm sure TA's are aware of upcoming promotions...especially if the promotion is starting the next day. I should have been informed. I'm not upset, just disappointed. If I were that upset, I would have cancelled the booking.

Bound4Bermuda - Next cruise, will be Royal Caribbean.

To clarify, I emailed my TA as soon as I saw the OBC advertised on the website on March 16th. It took over a week to get an answer from my TA after sending a couple more email reminders. By then, the stateroom prices advertised on the cruise line's website, went up by $200.00, so cancelling and rebooking would end up costing more. Oh well, lessons learned. If I ever take another cruise, I'll never book with a TA and definitely book directly through the cruise line as suggested by a few of you.

Thanks again for all your great advice and comments. :):)

Hello,

Has anyone experienced missing out on a promotion?

As a first-time cruiser, I met with a TA on Friday, March 11, 2016. After much discussion, looking at different cruises, I decided on a B2B 14-day Caribbean cruise in December 2016. The TA called the Cruise Line and reserved the stateroom I wanted, but told me to think it over on the weekend and I have until Monday, March 14th noon to make a deposit to secure the booking.

BTW - I have carefully saved $ over the years, because this cruise is to celebrate my 50th birthday.

After discussing my plans with my family, I called the TA Monday morning, gave my credit card no. to secure the deposit on the stateroom. On March 16th, I was excitedly browsing the cruise I booked and noticed a $300 USD on-board promotion effective March 15th. I emailed my TA and she said she called the head office, emailed me back days later to advise that I'm not eligible for this promotion due to timing, yada yada yada...

I even called the cruise line directly and they said, because I booked the cruise through a TA, they cannot discuss the fare.

I've been saving for years to celebrate my 50th birthday, and I feel the TA probably knew about the upcoming promotion and didn't tell me to wait until the next day to make the deposit. Perhaps I don't understand how it works in the cruise business, but I think it's so unfair to not be eligible for this on-board credit.

Comments/advice welcomed.

Thanks for the warning satxdiver.

:)

Thanks Mom33. Based on everyone's replies, we'll definitely fly in the day before. The FLL water taxi actually sounds a lot better than Miami. I'll also check out the Hampton Inn. Thanks again for your post.

:):)

Thank you so much everyone for your valuable feedback which has helped me make some decisions.

I will definitely fly, using Princess EZ Air, to FLL the day before the cruise.

Thanks PghCruiseGrrrl for the information about possible Miami excursions offered through Princess. I'll check into that.

Thanks sknight and MJSailors for all the great advice and information about the FLL water taxi. That's sounds like fun and a great way to see FLL.

Thanks easyboy for the links to previous threads for insurance information.

:):):)

Hello,

We're excited about going on our very first cruise to the Caribbean on December 4th and would very much appreciate some feedback to the following questions:

(1) Is midship, deck 12 (Aloha) a good location and quiet?

(2) Would you recommend flying to FLL the day before or the day of the cruise? We're flying out of Toronto and there's a flight arriving to FLL around 11:00 a.m.

(3) Would you recommend booking your flight through Princess EZ Air?

(4) If flying in a day early, what are the best and least expensive hotels near the Port that offer free breakfast and shuttle service? Has anyone stayed at the Ramada FFL Airport/Cruise Hotel?

(5) Trip Interruption/Cancellation Insurance: I've already shopped around, but still unclear as to when coverage is valid. I'm not getting a clear answer to the clause that says "...must be purchased within 7 days of booking your trip and/or prior to any cancellation penalties being chargeable for that trip. Otherwise any claims may be denied." We booked/reserved our stateroom with a deposit last month, but final payment is not due until September. My understanding is the insurance has to be taken out 7 days prior to final payment in September in order to be valid. Is this correct?

(6) Miami or not? Our cruise is 14 days. Is this considered a B2B cruise? We will be back to FLL after 7 days to start the next cruise (West Caribbean). During our stay in FLL, I read we are expected to leave the ship for a few hours. During this time, we would like to visit Miami, but not sure if we'll have enough time and don't want to rent a car. Any suggestions? Is there a fast bus/train from FLL to Miami, because our ship sails at 4:00 p.m. Or the back-up plan is to hang, around FLL. Is there a reasonably-priced shuttle to the Sawgrass Mills Outlet Mall or is there better shopping at the Galleria?

Sorry for the long post, I just like to be prepared.

Thank you so much for any information you can provide!