Thread: princess cruise

...just realized that I booked the return flight a little bit too close for comfort and the airline wants to charge me an arm and leg to change it. We're booked on the Emerald Princess (jul 05-15 -09 Baltic cruise---Copenhagen roundtrip). The ship is to arrive back at 5 am. How long before disembarkation commences? I read somewhere that it can begin s early as 615 am...is that right? And is there an option for expedited or express disembarkation in Copenhagen with Princess ships.? The return flight I have is at 0825 am.

Any suggestions or recommendations on how best to go about this situation will be highly appreciated.

Thanks

Originally Posted by tx_cruiser

...just realized that I booked the return flight a little bit too close for comfort and the airline wants to charge me an arm and leg to change it. We're booked on the Emerald Princess (jul 05-15 -09 Baltic cruise---Copenhagen roundtrip). The ship is to arrive back at 5 am. How long before disembarkation commences? I read somewhere that it can begin s early as 615 am...is that right? And is there an option for expedited or express disembarkation in Copenhagen with Princess ships.? The return flight I have is at 0825 am.

Any suggestions or recommendations on how best to go about this situation will be highly appreciated.

Thanks

I'm afraid that your flight is much too early, even with expedited disembarkation. You need to be at the airport 2 hours before your flight and it's just not doable.

Bite the bullet and change your flight to at least 11:00 if not later.

I've haven't been on an European cruise...haven't even been to Europe. But I think the rule of thumb the cruiselines have in general is not to book a flight before noon. For some port cities, the airport may be closer to the port and more accessible in terms of traffic, etc. But you're still at the mercy of customs and immigrations (and other port officials) starting the process. Even before that, the ship could be delayed in getting into the port...that time listed is an approximation and subject to change. Plus sometimes, you have to deal with other passengers in a hurry to grab the same land transportation as you.

Then when you get to the airport, there's security lines and any deadlines for checking in prior to the flight.

What some people do is book a flight around noon or after, but also be aware of earlier flights. When you check in, see if you can be switched to an earlier flight. Be aware that your luggage might be on the later flight (that happened to me once years ago, but since I was going home, I just arranged for the airlines to deliver my suitcase).

I never recommend any flight before 1 PM, anything from Customs to weather to mechanical can happen, Better to wait for the flight than miss it.

Don't take the chance. Change flights. Coming back from Europe you want to be be at the airport at least 2 hours before. Last year coming back from Barcelona I was at the airport 2 hours before. I got to the gate 10 minutes before boarding but If I had only gotten there 1.5 hours before I don't think I would have made it. The line people people behind me grew by leaps and bounds after I got in line.

With Princess even with Express Disembarkation you will be off the ship by 6:15- 6:30. Then the trip to the airport from the pier is how long? Let's just figure 30 minutes. SO that puts you at the airport by 7. If the airline only has 1 check in line open and there several people in front of you. Then security, then customs to stamp you out of the country then find the gate. Planes start boarding 20-30 minutes before their "pull away" time (In you case the plane will start boarding at 8.

Like the others have adviced you, your return flight is to early. The trip from the pier in Copehangen to the airport is at least 20- 30 minutes and you have to take into account that there might be other ships in port with disembarking passengers who also would need a taxi to the airport. You have to take into account the traffic to the airport.
Some cruise companies do have a shuttle from the pier to the airport. You might want to check if Princess do offer such service and how early it starts operating.
With you flight leaving at 825am you should be at check in at least 2 hours before, if not more, making it at the airport no later then 625am.
I would change the flight to later departure the same day or the next day.