Really worried about flight connections...

[PescadoAmarillo]

Call AF and ask them to give you a seat as far forward and close to the disembarkation jetway as possible.

I think this is your best recommendation. The transatlantic flight will be on a big jet, probably a 747, and it can take 25 minutes to disembark all the passengers. Get a seat near a door, exit as soon as you can and head right to your next gate. Unless your first flight is delayed (which can happen regardless of your layover time, so there's no point in stressing over it), I think you'll be all set.

[FunForUs]

If you don't make it in time to board the ship in Stockholm, check out the air schedules from Stockholm to Tallinn ahead of time as a backup plan. I took a quick look and it appears to be a 2 hr flight. You could then board in Tallinn. I'm not an expert on travel insurance, but I think that the travel insurance will cover most of the extra costs. You might need to coordinate this with Princess or the Insurance Co., but you would probably only loose one day on the ship. Just a suggestion.

[nho9504]

If you don't make it in time to board the ship in Stockholm, check out the air schedules from Stockholm to Tallinn ahead of time as a backup plan. I took a quick look and it appears to be a 2 hr flight. You could then board in Tallinn. I'm not an expert on travel insurance, but I think that the travel insurance will cover most of the extra costs. You might need to coordinate this with Princess or the Insurance Co., but you would probably only loose one day on the ship. Just a suggestion.

 

This is a valuable advice. I always check the alternatives available, should we miss our flights. Always have contingency plans ready and if you dont need to use it, great. But if things happen and you need to rebook, then at least you know what alternatives are there, instead of blindly relying on the airline desk to help you out.

[COMBOY]

I help book my brother and sister-in-law on a flight from Ontario, CA to Copenhagen via Seattle. Even though they have a 5 1/2 layover in Seattle I would rather them have a long layover then miss their flight to Copenhagen. I always allow a minimum of 2 hours connection time between flights especially an international connection.

 

A 40 minute connection time maybe a legal connection time, but it doesn't give you any room for error especially for flight delays. Now, the worse case senario is you miss your connection to Stockholm. Looking at flight schedule from CDG to Stockholm it doesn't look like anything would get you to Stockholm in time for a 5PM departure. Since Princess booked your flight they and the airlines will fly you on down to the next port which I believe is Tallin, Estonia. I don't see any nonstop flights from CDG to Tallin so you will have to connect thru another european city. You will be responsible for payment of your hotel stay in Tallin and transfers; however, Princess will refund the one night you missed on board the ship which should cover your hotel. Again the airline should assist you in getting you a hotel in Tallin at your expense. If you have trip insurance most of these cost would probably be covered under trip delay up to the max limits. It this a hassle-yes. If you don't want to pay the extra to go the day before have "Plan B" to Tallin ready to go. Also - your luggage. If it misses the connection in CDG I'm not sure whether or not how easy it is to retrieve in CDG; otherwise the airlines will put it on the next flight to Stockholm. Again...be ready and prepared with "Plan B."

[mizsusan]

Thank you, to each of you that responded, especially Ephraim.

I've taken several folks advice, and contacted both Air France and Delta. The Air France agent told me that the two gateways are a less than 10 minute walk apart (she did it last month), no customs to go through. The Delta agent changed our seats from the back of the plane, to ones much closer to the front. I've also made a list of alternate flights to both Stockholm and Tallin, so hopefully I've got that covered.

 

Changing tickets to the day before, just isn't an option. I wish it was something we could afford, but we just can't. No matter what happens flight wise, this trip is a dream come true for us, and we plan to relax and enjoy every minute of it.

 

Wishing each of you Happy Sailing... Susan

[chasetf]

Princess made our flight arrangements, but I'm really worried about the connections.

 

................................Has this happened to anyone else? What would you do?

Maybe this does not help you now, but in the future. For this type of flight we always book our own and leave plenty of time to make connections. We also fly in at least one day (and some times three or four days early) to make sure we make the ship and also have time to enjoy the port of embarkation.

 

The only time we would go with Princess or someone else's air is going to someplace like Tahiti where the options are minimal and the cruise air is cheaper.

[-Lew-]

...this trip is a dream come true for us, and we plan to relax and enjoy every minute of it.

We hope you have a wonderful trip! Please tell us all about it when you return....

 

Lew

[spongerob]

Changing tickets to the day before, just isn't an option. I wish it was something we could afford, but we just can't. No matter what happens flight wise, this trip is a dream come true for us, and we plan to relax and enjoy every minute of it.

 

Wishing each of you Happy Sailing... Susan

I hope it all works out well for you...and most of the time, it does. This has been a good discussion because it highlights the fact that a cruise vacation requires a lot of planning just getting to the ship, particularly when flying overseas. The cruise line's air package might be cheaper, but it's cheaper for a reason; the risks are somewhat greater. People definitely need to look at all the scenarios and have backup plans in place, and weigh the costs accordingly.

[iancal]

We never use Princess air, hotels, or transfers. The money we save usually pays for a few days of pre cruise stay. Many people have found out the hard way that Princess air tickets are really 'consolidator' tickets, ie cheapest tickets, very little control over itinerary, and loaded with 'restrictions'. I would find it odd to have to pay $75. change fee, plus any increase in ticket prices, to change a ticket with an 'illegal' transfer time.