Port Shuttles

[Train lover]

Anyone know which ports Princess Cruises provides a shuttle bus at and how much it will cost. We are doing a World Cruise.

[pcur]

You might also post on the World Cruise board:  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/674-world-cruising/

 

And, try a search on that board, too.

[satxdiver]

On all the cruises we have been aboard, the port shuttles were free.  It has not been often a shuttle was needed but we have been to many ports where it was not only needed but required to use.

[XBGuy]

It's been a while since I've done it, but it seems to me that if you go to your cruise personalizer, you can arrange a shuttle for yourself, and it will give you the price and identify the airport.  If you do not like the price, or if it does not offer the correct airport, you can just not press the whatever the final button is.

 

Some years ago we were taking a cruise out of San Francisco;  I hadn't yet made air reservations, but based on the fact that the Princess shuttle only offered San Francisco airport as an option, I decided not to consider flying in to Oakland.

 

Again, this was some years ago.  I don't know if it works similarly, now.

[pcur]

I think the OP is asking about shuttles while on the cruise, which ports require them, and the cost.

[Train lover]

44 minutes ago, pcur said:

I think the OP is asking about shuttles while on the cruise, which ports require them, and the cost.

Thank you for your replies. I was enquiring about on the cruise. We have cruised several times with Cunard & shuttles have always been free. A surprise on Princess to be charged. Have just booked a 2022 cruise. If we go on an excursion if the shuttle is free then we can go into town later for a short time eg Aqaba & Colombo. Can't find a list anywhere to refer to to help with planning. 

[Thrak]

In Alta, Norway Princess wanted something like $20 (can't remember but we were pretty blown away) per person for round trip bus from the tender drop off to town and back. It was crazy.

[leck57]

I might be missing the point but they are not free at ports like Civitavecchia (for Rome) which is an hour from the city.

[Train lover]

In Civitavecchia there was a shuttle from beside the ship into the town itself. If you wanted to g into Rome you could take a ships tour or pay for a "Rome on your Own" tour which was bus into the Rome railway station. A lot of people actually took the train from Civitavecchia station at a fraction of the cost. There was the same arrangement in Bangkok, Kuala Lumper and Safaga as I recall. There would always be a free transfer to a local town or beach (usually with an arrangement to use the facilities of a resort hotel).

[Steelers36]

22 hours ago, Train lover said:

Anyone know which ports Princess Cruises provides a shuttle bus at and how much it will cost. We are doing a World Cruise.

 

Some ports are industrial in nature or structured such that passengers cannot walk to the street exit.  In this case a steady stream of shuttle buses takes you to/from the port passenger entrance.  Otherwise, shuttles to cities generally cost something if provided, but I have seen a couple of places where something like a tourist board provided a shuttle system for cruise passengers in order to encourage folks to get into the city and shop and go to restaurants. 

 

I recommend you find your Roll Call and join up and you may find lots of info there as well as meet fellow cruisers to share a ride - which may be more economical and flexible to your desires.

 

[caribill]

12 hours ago, satxdiver said:

On all the cruises we have been aboard, the port shuttles were free.  It has not been often a shuttle was needed but we have been to many ports where it was not only needed but required to use.

 

I think you are referring to shuttles from ship to port entrance.

 

Op is asking about shuttles to town from the port.

 

My experience is that it is rare for Princess to offer a shuttle (not talking about an excursion) to/from town.

 

If one is offered (whether free or for a change), it is by the port or an independent bus company that has arrangements with the port. The Patter will usually have information about these shuttles.

[Roger88]

These shuttles work the same way the airport shuttles work. You can order them before hand on the internet or by giving them a call. Sometimes they take you from-to the airport. They can also pick you up from your hotel for an additional charge. It all will depend on the company 

[caribill]

6 minutes ago, Roger88 said:

These shuttles work the same way the airport shuttles work. You can order them before hand on the internet or by giving them a call. Sometimes they take you from-to the airport. They can also pick you up from your hotel for an additional charge. It all will depend on the company 

 

Op is not asking about travel between airport/hotel and the ship.

 

Is asking about between ship and town at each port on the cruise.

[skynight]

My Princess experience is that Princess or the port itself provide free shuttles to get passengers off the pier or out of the restricted areas. Beyond that our experience is that there is a round trip charge to the city center or other popular location.  In some cases Princess may run shuttles through their shore excursion desk, in others local shuttle companies are at the pier entrance. When there was a free shuttle it was provided by the local town. I would plan on paying for shuttles or a taxi. If a port is free you come out ahead. 

[pcur]

The other option I always look at for any port is if there is a hop on/off bus stop near the port.  HOHO buses cost between $15 - $30 per person, and you get driven all over the local sites.  To me it's transportation and a tour. 

 

We stayed in London before a cruise for 3 days and used the HOHO as our regular transportation to get around for meals and shopping.

 

Here's the web site where you can see CitySightseeing, which we frequently use:  https://city-sightseeing.com/en/home

 

If they don't service a stop, then I search for "(city name) hop on/off bus".  If that fails, I then go to Viator.com:  they frequently have HOHO tickets, but for a few dollars more.

[Waynetor]

On the Oceania section of CC there is a sticky post listing info on port shuttles but here on the Princess section no one has started a thread listing all the ports  that Princess goes to around the world.   

 

Since the world cruise has around 45 ports its hard to get all the info in a single post when most readers don't know  which post are of interest to the OP.  

 

There will be ports such as Puntarenas, Pago Pago, Auckland  and Picton where the ship docks downtown so no shuttle needed and other ports such Kuala Lumpur  that have strong taxi unions and don't allow shuttles.   In places where people generally scatter in many directions such as Honolulu (cheap public buses) or Singapore there are no shuttles.

[hobbyfarmer2]

A shuttle was provided in Barcelona by the port.  It was free.

[wowzz]

As a rule of thumb, if a shuttle is required to take you from the ship to the port entrance, for safety reasons (ie, the ship is docked in an industrial area with a lot if commercial activity) the shuttle will be free. If, however, the shuttle is to take you from the port to the nearby city/town, expect to pay a fee, the amount depending on the distance involved.

[Cruise Wonderland]

On 9/26/2020 at 11:00 AM, hobbyfarmer2 said:

A shuttle was provided in Barcelona by the port.  It was free.

 

If you are referring to the port shuttle bus (in blue colour), definitely they are not free. In 2018 they are EUR 3 for one-way and EUR 4 for roundtrip.

 

The only time that I saw free shuttle in Barcelona was from Crystal Cruises, so that their guests do not have to take those blue buses.

[pcur]

Last year in April 2019 the shuttle was free from the Columbus monument area to the dock.  The roundabout is where the statue is, and the pick-up is where the red marker is near the bottom.  The HOHO picks up at the top end of the roundabout.

 

Edited September 27, 2020 by pcur

[kiwimum]

Shuttle in Barcelona was 4euros round trip on October 2019.

[dockman]

On 9/23/2020 at 10:04 PM, Train lover said:

In Civitavecchia there was a shuttle from beside the ship into the town itself. If you wanted to g into Rome you could take a ships tour or pay for a "Rome on your Own" tour which was bus into the Rome railway station. A lot of people actually took the train from Civitavecchia station at a fraction of the cost. There was the same arrangement in Bangkok, Kuala Lumper and Safaga as I recall. There would always be a free transfer to a local town or beach (usually with an arrangement to use the facilities of a resort hotel).

I sure never saw a free shuttle at Laem chabang port for bangkok....It is almost a two hour drive and the taxi mafia wants ten times the normal fare.  From where the ships dock to the highway is also over a mile walk to escape the industrial port and be able to catch a baht bus or taxi at normal Thai rates to bangkok or pattaya.  Shame on thailand for allowing the taxi mafia to RULE this port.

 

[pcur]

They must have started charging after our trip last Spring 2019.  I'll have to update my Barcelona notes.

[Cruise Wonderland]

2 minutes ago, pcur said:

They must have started charging after our trip last Spring 2019.  I'll have to update my Barcelona notes.

However it was also charged when I visited Barcelona in 2013 / 2015 / 2018...

 

Did you sail on a luxury cruise line? If so, then perhaps the cruise line will pay for that cost and arrange 1-2 buses specially for their own passengers.

[Train lover]

On 9/28/2020 at 9:56 AM, dockman said:

I sure never saw a free shuttle at Laem chabang port for bangkok....It is almost a two hour drive and the taxi mafia wants ten times the normal fare.  From where the ships dock to the highway is also over a mile walk to escape the industrial port and be able to catch a baht bus or taxi at normal Thai rates to bangkok or pattaya.  Shame on thailand for allowing the taxi mafia to RULE this port.

 

Cunard put on a free shuttle to Pattya, you could pay for a "Bangkok on your own" bus which was transport only to/from Bangkok or also of course do a Cunard tour.