Princess Shuttle Question

[jbmom2120]

We are sailing out of Bayport near Houston in early April. We are flying into IAH the night before and staying at a hotel near the airport that has a free shuttle to & from the airport. I am wondering what time the Princess shuttle gets to the airport. Is there more than one shuttle in a day? What time do they leave the airport and head to the cruise port?

 

(I would like to thank Colo Cruiser for the great suggestion of staying at a hotel at the airport airport and taking the Princess shuttle to the ship. I found the suggestion in an earlier post.)

[caribill]

There are multiple shuttles. First one probably leaves the airport between 9 and 10 AM.

[jbmom2120]

There are multiple shuttles. First one probably leaves the airport between 9 and 10 AM.

 

 

Thank you!

[Colo Cruiser]

We are sailing out of Bayport near Houston in early April. We are flying into IAH the night before and staying at a hotel near the airport that has a free shuttle to & from the airport. I am wondering what time the Princess shuttle gets to the airport. Is there more than one shuttle in a day? What time do they leave the airport and head to the cruise port?

 

(I would like to thank Colo Cruiser for the great suggestion of staying at a hotel at the airport airport and taking the Princess shuttle to the ship. I found the suggestion in an earlier post.)

 

 

Your welcome!

The shuttles run all day. As they fill up they depart. In baggage claim the luggage was handed over to workers right outside the door next to a truck. They put the luggage on the truck and you don't see it again until it arrives in your stateroom. In baggage claim they hand out numbered cards. They call groups to board by number. We had arrived on a 9:30 flight and took the first shuttle at around 11:15. We arrived around 12:15 and boarding was already underway.

Boarded with plenty of time to have a relaxing lunch in the DR. :D

[mek]

We did this last month. We spent 2 nights prior to our cruise by Bush and had a rental car. When we returned the car, we took the rental shuttle to the terminal to pick up the Princess transfer. Just be sure to verify the location you need to go to in order to pick up the Princess transfer. Bush has several terminals, so you want to make sure you go to the right place.

[jbmom2120]

We did this last month. We spent 2 nights prior to our cruise by Bush and had a rental car. When we returned the car, we took the rental shuttle to the terminal to pick up the Princess transfer. Just be sure to verify the location you need to go to in order to pick up the Princess transfer. Bush has several terminals, so you want to make sure you go to the right place.

 

 

Thank you for your reply. How do I verify which terminal the shuttle will depart from?

[jbmom2120]

Your welcome!

The shuttles run all day. As they fill up they depart. In baggage claim the luggage was handed over to workers right outside the door next to a truck. They put the luggage on the truck and you don't see it again until it arrives in your stateroom. In baggage claim they hand out numbered cards. They call groups to board by number. We had arrived on a 9:30 flight and took the first shuttle at around 11:15. We arrived around 12:15 and boarding was already underway.

Boarded with plenty of time to have a relaxing lunch in the DR. :D

 

 

Great to know that the luggage will be taken care of! Yay! Lunch in the DR has always been one of our favorite items for the first day.

[caribill]

Thank you for your reply. How do I verify which terminal the shuttle will depart from?

 

Since passengers arrive at all the terminals, probably anyone would do.

 

But Terminal C is the busiest (has baggage claim for C & E), so that is a good one to go to.

[JF - retired RRT]

Love the MDR for that first lunch.

If you stood up in the MDR and shouted..."who is a member of Cruise Critic"...I bet half the room would raise their hands. The other half would probably be the BVEs.:D:D

[Colo Cruiser]

Love the MDR for that first lunch.

If you stood up in the MDR and shouted..."who is a member of Cruise Critic"...I bet half the room would raise their hands. The other half would probably be the BVEs.:D:D

 

 

Soon it will be open only for CC members. :D

Edited March 21, 2015 by Colo Cruiser

[mek]

Thank you for your reply. How do I verify which terminal the shuttle will depart from?

 

I called Princess and asked them. They gave me the terminal location and time to be there. It was only $24 pp each way for the Princess transfer - so much less expensive that any other way for only 2 people.

Edited March 21, 2015 by mek

[mek]

Since passengers arrive at all the terminals, probably anyone would do.

 

But Terminal C is the busiest (has baggage claim for C & E), so that is a good one to go to.

 

Princess told us to go to C and they had our name on the list. Not sure they have everyone on the same list if arriving at a different terminal, better to confirm to avoid running around to different terminals with a bunch of luggage.

[jbmom2120]

I just love cruise critic. It is so awesome how great you all are to help each other out!

 

Happy Cruising!!!

[NavySis]

I was told by princess to go to terminal C. My hotel shuttle driver tried to teller to get off at terminal A. I made him take me to terminal C. I did the same thing before my emerald cruise in February and it worked out great.

[caribill]

I was told by princess to go to terminal C. My hotel shuttle driver tried to teller to get off at terminal A. I made him take me to terminal C. I did the same thing before my emerald cruise in February and it worked out great.

 

Driver probably though if you did not want Continental/United, the dominant carrier at IAH, you must have wanted terminal A where all the other domestic airlines are. Couldn't tell the difference between a cruise line and an airline.

[NavySis]

I didn't think of that. He could have thought I was going to the airport for a flight not a cruise. The story gets better in that when I was flying home another hotel shuttle driver dropped me off at terminal E. I gave up my seat the day before so all I had was my carry on. At least it was easy to get to the right terminal with the inter terminal train.

[EndersFoul]

This is also our plan for a December cruise out of Houston, I'm interested to know what hotel you used and how it all worked out!

[jbmom2120]

This is also our plan for a December cruise out of Houston, I'm interested to know what hotel you used and how it all worked out!

 

We are booked at the DoubleTree, approx a mile away. They have a selection that provides breakfast. Our flight gets in the night before sailing in the nine o'clock hour.

 

I will post on this thread again, when we return.

[mek]

Just an FYI - we stayed at the Towne Place Suites because we used Marriott points. The hotel had recently been remodeled and was VERY nice. We had a car, but they provided shuttle service from and to Bush. Breakfast was included and there was a Holiday Inn next door with a great restaurant,(I know you're thinking - Holiday Inn???), but it had very good food, nice atmosphere, and was packed. Easy to walk to if you don't have transportation.

Edited March 22, 2015 by mek

[jbmom2120]

This is also our plan for a December cruise out of Houston, I'm interested to know what hotel you used and how it all worked out!

 

We used the DoubleTree IAH Airport Hotel. We called them, for the shuttle, after we got our luggage. If I did it again, I would call before getting the luggage as their shuttle leaves the hotel every 30 minutes. We waited for 45 minutes for the shuttle to come & pick us up. We saw several other hotel shuttles coming around much more frequently. The hotel was ok. There are a couple of fast food places next door. We didn't try their restaurant, but they have a breakfast option on their room reservation selection. We went down to the lobby & caught the shuttle at 9:30am. Princess had told me terminal C and we were able to make it on the next bus down to the ship, approx 15 minute wait.

[EndersFoul]

We used the DoubleTree IAH Airport Hotel. We called them, for the shuttle, after we got our luggage. If I did it again, I would call before getting the luggage as their shuttle leaves the hotel every 30 minutes. We waited for 45 minutes for the shuttle to come & pick us up. We saw several other hotel shuttles coming around much more frequently. The hotel was ok. There are a couple of fast food places next door. We didn't try their restaurant, but they have a breakfast option on their room reservation selection. We went down to the lobby & caught the shuttle at 9:30am. Princess had told me terminal C and we were able to make it on the next bus down to the ship, approx 15 minute wait.

 

 

Great tips, thank you for reporting back!! Hope you had a wonderful cruise.