First Princess Cruise - Questions

[Crabby_Cruiser]

We're going to be going out from Seattle and have signed up for a Princess Transfer from the airport to the Pier (and reverse at the end of the cruise). I've been reading threads here and found conflicting information.

 

Can anyone who's done this recently tell me if they make you sit on the bus and wait for it to fill up before leaving for the ship? (Our plane gets in around 10:30am day of embarkation) Or do they have a continuous shuttle service to the pier? Same question for the back end. Is it a simple process getting off the ship, boarding the bus and getting to the airport? Can we carry our luggage with us off the ship if we signed up for a transfer?

 

2nd question: Does anyone know if they offer dairy alternatives in the IC aboard the Crown? I love mochas but am lactose intolerant so would be thrilled if they offered almond/soy/coconut milk in their drinks.

 

Again, this is our very first time cruising with Princess and I just want to be fully prepared on what to expect. Thanks for taking the time to read this!

[RickEk]

We're going to be going out from Seattle and have signed up for a Princess Transfer from the airport to the Pier (and reverse at the end of the cruise). I've been reading threads here and found conflicting information.

 

Can anyone who's done this recently tell me if they make you sit on the bus and wait for it to fill up before leaving for the ship? (Our plane gets in around 10:30am day of embarkation) Or do they have a continuous shuttle service to the pier? Same question for the back end. Is it a simple process getting off the ship, boarding the bus and getting to the airport? Can we carry our luggage with us off the ship if we signed up for a transfer?

 

2nd question: Does anyone know if they offer dairy alternatives in the IC aboard the Crown? I love mochas but am lactose intolerant so would be thrilled if they offered almond/soy/coconut milk in their drinks.

 

Again, this is our very first time cruising with Princess and I just want to be fully prepared on what to expect. Thanks for taking the time to read this!

 

Yes, they use motorcoaches, so you do have to wait until the bus you're on fills up. The one time we sailed out of Seattle, we only had to wait about 15 minutes each way. YMMV. It's a very simple process and yes, you can carry your luggage off if you wish.

[f-mattox]

Yes, you do have to wait for the buses to fill up but it doesn't take long. Some places, like Ft. Lauderdale, the airport is not far from the pier and you can do just as well with a taxi. But SeaTac is a bit of a ride; but the short wait is not bad. Getting off the ship and to the airport is pretty easy. There are Princess people the whole way to help you along. And yes, you can carry your own luggage so long as you can carry ALL your luggage--there will be no one to help you off the ship. You might want to look into E-Z Check. For a small fee your bags will go from your cabin to your final destination without you having to do a thing. They will even print out your airline boarding passes for you which eliminates check-in at the airport.

 

As for the dairy alternatives, I'm sorry, I can't help.

 

Have a wonderful first Princess cruise.

[Colo Cruiser]

We left on the transfer about 11:00. I think we were the first and yes they wait for the bus to fill.

[caribill]

Can we carry our luggage with us off the ship if we signed up for a transfer? Yes, but why would you want to?

 

2nd question: Does anyone know if they offer dairy alternatives in the IC aboard the Crown? I love mochas but am lactose intolerant so would be thrilled if they offered almond/soy/coconut milk in their drinks. Soy milk is available on the ship. I do not know if they have it at the IC.

 

see above in red

[caribill]

You might want to look into E-Z Check. For a small fee your bags will go from your cabin to your final destination without you having to do a thing. They will even print out your airline boarding passes for you which eliminates check-in at the airport.

 

 

The availability of E-Z check will depend on what time your flight is. It will likely not be available for morning flights before 11:30 or possibly later.

[cb at sea]

All shuttles, whether thru the ship or private will wait until full. If you need to get going...take a cab or private transportation.

[Crabby_Cruiser]

Thank you all for your replies.

 

As for the luggage question, call me weird but I don't really like the idea of packing ahead of time and putting my luggage outside my door at night. I have a lot of "liquids" (such as makeup, face cleansers, etc) that would need to be packed in checked luggage so I keep everything and just roll it out with me the morning of disembarkation.

 

Plus, I don't really have a lot of faith that leaving everything up to them will get me my luggage at the end of the trip seamlessly. The last thing I want is to get home and find out my luggage is sitting at SeaTac. :(

[Crabby_Cruiser]

All shuttles, whether thru the ship or private will wait until full. If you need to get going...take a cab or private transportation.

 

I don't mind waiting (unless it's going to be an hour or longer) but I'm traveling with other people, two of whom this will be their first cruise. I just wanted to be prepared ahead of time so I can inform them of what's going on. Considering what time we get into Seattle, I think about the only thing we'll be in danger of missing is lunch in the MDR. :)

[caribill]

 

As for the luggage question, call me weird but I don't really like the idea of packing ahead of time and putting my luggage outside my door at night. I have a lot of "liquids" (such as makeup, face cleansers, etc) that would need to be packed in checked luggage so I keep everything and just roll it out with me the morning of disembarkation.

 

 

Those who take off their own luggage will usually walkoff first. You may have a significant wait until your bus to the airport is scheduled unless you want the first bus going there.

[Crabby_Cruiser]

Hmmm...well, our return flight isn't until the afternoon. And I've already made final payment with transfers included. Do you know if I can cancel the return transfer and still get a refund?

 

I don't really like the idea of getting off the ship and then sitting around on a motorcoach for a long time. At least if we get to the airport, we can sit in a restaurant or something.

[peety3]

As for the luggage question, call me weird but I don't really like the idea of packing ahead of time and putting my luggage outside my door at night. I have a lot of "liquids" (such as makeup, face cleansers, etc) that would need to be packed in checked luggage so I keep everything and just roll it out with me the morning of disembarkation.

Think of it this way: there are typically 16 elevators on the ship. All 3300+ passengers are trying to get off the ship that final morning. If you have luggage with you, not only will you be taking up extra space in the elevator, you'll have to wait for enough space for you&suitcase to be free before you can get in.

 

On our recent 4-day "repositioning", they didn't offer central luggage services, so everything was hauled off by the passengers. Finding an elevator was a 15-minute wait on deck 10.

[pablo222]

Those who take off their own luggage will usually walkoff first. You may have a significant wait until your bus to the airport is scheduled unless you want the first bus going there.

 

One advantage of walk off is that if the customs/immigration

line begins to build, you are near the beginning, hopefully

before it has become too long.

 

Although, for me in Seattle, the customs/immigration was super fast.

 

Also, I'm not sure of the exact cab fare to the airport, but it

might be comparable to the price of transfers for two people.

[NavyVeteran]

Thank you all for your replies.

 

As for the luggage question, call me weird but I don't really like the idea of packing ahead of time and putting my luggage outside my door at night. I have a lot of "liquids" (such as makeup, face cleansers, etc) that would need to be packed in checked luggage so I keep everything and just roll it out with me the morning of disembarkation.

 

Plus, I don't really have a lot of faith that leaving everything up to them will get me my luggage at the end of the trip seamlessly. The last thing I want is to get home and find out my luggage is sitting at SeaTac. :(

 

If you do the normal luggage handling (put out a suitcase the night before - not EZCheck), you will prick up your luggage at the pier after you get off the ship and take it with you to the shuttle bus. It will go on your bus. You will then take the luggage from the bus and check it with the airline yourself.

 

I usually carry off a small bag with the toiletries that I am using the last morning and then open up my large bag and place the small bag inside once I pick up the large bag at the pier. You can do this either at the pier before boarding the shuttle bus or at the airport before checking your luggage. As long as you don't use EZCheck, there is no problem adding items to your baggage before checking it.

[Crabby_Cruiser]

Think of it this way: there are typically 16 elevators on the ship. All 3300+ passengers are trying to get off the ship that final morning. If you have luggage with you, not only will you be taking up extra space in the elevator, you'll have to wait for enough space for you&suitcase to be free before you can get in.

 

On our recent 4-day "repositioning", they didn't offer central luggage services, so everything was hauled off by the passengers. Finding an elevator was a 15-minute wait on deck 10.

 

I honestly don't mind carrying my luggage down flights of stairs (haha, always better going down than going up!) however my MIL/FIL may not be too comfortable doing that so I'll definitely fill them in on the other options.

[Crabby_Cruiser]

One advantage of walk off is that if the customs/immigration

line begins to build, you are near the beginning, hopefully

before it has become too long.

 

Although, for me in Seattle, the customs/immigration was super fast.

 

Also, I'm not sure of the exact cab fare to the airport, but it

might be comparable to the price of transfers for two people.

 

We're all flying domestic so would we still have to wait in a customs/immigration line? The cruise is for Alaska (with one stop in Victoria) so it's not like anyone has even left the country, I would think.:confused:

 

And do you know if cabs are lined up and waiting at the pier for passengers or would this be something that needed to be arranged ahead of time?

[Crabby_Cruiser]

If you do the normal luggage handling (put out a suitcase the night before - not EZCheck), you will prick up your luggage at the pier after you get off the ship and take it with you to the shuttle bus. It will go on your bus. You will then take the luggage from the bus and check it with the airline yourself.

 

I usually carry off a small bag with the toiletries that I am using the last morning and then open up my large bag and place the small bag inside once I pick up the large bag at the pier. You can do this either at the pier before boarding the shuttle bus or at the airport before checking your luggage. As long as you don't use EZCheck, there is no problem adding items to your baggage before checking it.

 

Oh, thank you for the info! I wasn't really sure where the bags ended up if left outside (we always just carried off ourselves on previous cruises) so this is good information to have. :)

[NavyVeteran]

Hmmm...well, our return flight isn't until the afternoon. And I've already made final payment with transfers included. Do you know if I can cancel the return transfer and still get a refund?

 

I don't really like the idea of getting off the ship and then sitting around on a motorcoach for a long time. At least if we get to the airport, we can sit in a restaurant or something.

 

You should have no problem cancelling your transfer after final payment. There is a deadline before the cruise but I don't know how far ahead that is. Contact Princess (if you booked direct) or your travel agent (if you booked through one). They will give you a refund to your credit card (if that's how you paid), but I don't know how long that would take.

 

I have also cancelled a transfer from the ship to the airport after boarding. The return transfers were handled like shore excursions. They could be purchased on the ship at the shore excursion desk, and they could be cancelled at the shore excursion desk. The ship provided a list of the cancellation dates and times for all shore excursions, and this included the return transfers. When I canceled the transfer on the ship, the credit is added to my onboard account to spend on the ship - it would have been refundable if I had not spent it all.

[NavyVeteran]

We're all flying domestic so would we still have to wait in a customs/immigration line? The cruise is for Alaska (with one stop in Victoria) so it's not like anyone has even left the country, I would think.:confused:

 

And do you know if cabs are lined up and waiting at the pier for passengers or would this be something that needed to be arranged ahead of time?

 

There is one stop in Victoria, so you will have left the country - even if you don't get off the ship in Victoria.

[cougaraz]

As for cancelling a transfer, no problem, we did so on our recent sailing, just returned from a ten day in Alaska on Thursday. Once onboard, we changed our minds on disembarkation plans, which had included an airport transfer. We simply wrote "Please Cancel" on our tickets and dropped them off at the Excursions desk.

 

As for luggage, it is up to you, but you can put out your big bag, keep your small toiletries, this is what we do and when you are reunited with your bag in the terminal, insert the toiletries to go under the bus and then into checked baggage on the plane.

 

Since you are stopping in Canada, you will have left the country, you will need your passport and upon returning will clear US Customs and Immigration procedures.

[Crabby_Cruiser]

Thank you very much, NavyVeteran and cougaraz! Knowing I can wait and decide later to cancel the transfer and get OBC makes me feel a lot better. You guys are awesome.

 

Also, thanks to everyone else that read and replied to my questions. I really appreciate your insights and love how everyone here is sooo nice!:)

[pablo222]

We're all flying domestic so would we still have to wait in a customs/immigration line? The cruise is for Alaska (with one stop in Victoria) so it's not like anyone has even left the country, I would think.:confused:

 

It turns out Victoria is in Canada.

 

Canada, although attached, is like another country.

I learned that from Goldie Hawn in 'Protocol' in the 70s.

 

We had to turn in Canadian Customs forms mid-cruise, as well.

Edited June 13, 2015 by pablo222

[Crabby_Cruiser]

It turns out Victoria is in Canada.

 

Canada, although attached, is like another country.

I learned that from Goldie Hawn in 'Protocol' in the 70s.

 

We had to turn in Canadian Customs forms mid-cruise, as well.

 

You know, the funny thing is that this isn't my first cruise stopping off in Victoria. You'd think I'd remember this information from the last time I cruised. And in my head, I knew that Victoria was in Canada (hence a different country) but I didn't recall having to do customs and such. How quickly our memories fade.....:o

[West Coast Gal]

Thank you very much, NavyVeteran and cougaraz! Knowing I can wait and decide later to cancel the transfer and get OBC makes me feel a lot better. You guys are awesome.

 

Also, thanks to everyone else that read and replied to my questions. I really appreciate your insights and love how everyone here is sooo nice!:)

Living in Seattle, it is so easy to get onto a ship that we have done so 4 times. . . the custom lines are super fast every time. Just so you might consider it . . as you can see, I have been on quite a few Princess cruises, have never had any problems with my luggage getting home on any of our cruises. Since your flight is in the afternoon and you are considering taking a car or cab to the airport, there are a heck of a lot of places to see in Seattle. That might be something also to think about on whether you want to be carrying around luggage.

Edited June 14, 2015 by West Coast Gal

[cheeseclan]

Just got off the Ruby for an AK cruise and i am also lactose intolerant. They did have soy milk and almond milk on board. Just make sure and tell the MaitreD what you need.

ALSO, do not forget to tell the head waiter of you section at the MDR that you are lactose intolerant. I learned the hard way that i needed to tell him. I thought just telling my main waiter that i was covered and i was WRONG! The first time in 35 cruises that i got sick and it was not fun.

Generoso was so concerned about me but then said i do need to tell the head waiter so that i can look at the menu the night before and check things out. If you are at anytime dining, which we were, they will bring the menu over right then and there and you can pick what you want and they will make sure of no dairy on your dish. It might just take a little longer but it will be safe.

 

Have a great cruise:)