pre-cruise european flight questions

[wwinfl91]

My wife and I are on the Golden Princess in July and will be flying from Orlando to Dulles and then from there to Munich and then on to Barcelona. We arranged our flight through Princess cruise lines and evidently have Lufthasana and United as airlines. We have a number of questions as this will be our first trans-atlantic flight in many years. If anyone who has taken a recent european cruise and especially with Princess will post their experiences we would appreciate it.

Now to the questions:

We will be originally boarding a flight from Orlando to Dulles. Will we need to retrieve all our luggage and get it to the next flight or will the airline handle moving the checked luggage from flight to flight? I know we will have to handle the carry-on luggage.

When we get to Munich will we need to go through German customs with our luggage and then go through Spanish customs again in Barcelona?

Since we paid for Princess to arrange our flights does this mean they will provide transportation from the airport in Barcelona to the ship and then again from the ship to the airport in Venice or is that up to us to arrange? We used Holland American for a flight to San Francisco for a Panama Canal cruise and they had someone at the airport with a bus to transport us to the ship. I am hoping to find the same kind of thing in Barcelona.

Thanks in advance for any assistance anyone can give us on our trip. We are relatively experienced cruisers (6 Holland American, 1 Costa and 1 RCL) but most of these were able to drive to the cruise dock since we live in Florida.

22 dasy to go to this cruise.

 

[CruiseAholic]

You should only have to go thru customs (as long as you stay behind the security area) in the final destination.

Your luggage will be (at least mine always has) be checked thru to your final destination.

Since you purchased the air thru Princess, the transfers (to/from ship/airport) should be included, in your cruise tickets, there should be a voucher for transfer from airport to ship and reverse. Princess doesn't bundle it in the air cost.

 

[wwinfl91]

Thanks for the response. I have found the place where we paid for transfers to and from the ship so I hope that is what that covers. We have been lucky on most of the other cruises we have been on because we drove to the dock since we live in Florida and haven't had these problems before except on a Panama Canal transit cruise from San Francisco to Fort Lauderdale with HAL. There they had someone at the airport waiting for us and they arranged a bus for the people and a truck for the luggage. Hopefully that will the way Princess handles it in Barcelona.

 

[CruiseAholic]

I've been on several Princess European cruises (as well as Australia/New Zealand) and that is the way it was handled.

The Princess Rep will usually be at baggage claim, direct you thru Customs, then someone else outside customs will direct you to the busses.

Enjoy!

 

[Shelly & Susi Cruise]

Just a small bit of information that you might like to have although it is a post cruise issue (boo hoo -- don't you hate thinking about coming home).

My other half and I travel transatlantic twice a year from California. While because of our Platinum Status in American Airline's Advantage Program, we only fly American Airlines when possible. This information may only apply to American, but I do not think so, I believe I saw other airlines doing the same thing. The airlines (or at least American) do have a new procedure that is a pain in the area that one sits on.

While one always had to clear Customs and Immigration at the first port of entry, it used to be you left Customs and then just dropped your baggage with an airline representative outside the Customs area who put it on a belt and that was that. Now, American makes you stop and have all your baggage rescreened by a TSA security screener and then it is handed over to the airline for your next flight. In our case the problem was that a Waterford Crystal vase that security in Heathrow allowed us to "carry-on" the plane, was deemed to be too sharp to carry-on by Chicago TSA and it was a nightmare getting back a checked piece of baggage to pack it in and to do so at our own risk that it would break.

Take this into account when you put anything in carry on for the flight home.

 

[Lynn]

HI

Just to clarify that the transfers to and from the airport are not automatically included if you purchase Princess air. This is a seperate transaction and charge. Your TA usually will ask if you want them though.

I just returned from Med Friday and when I flew home I flew from Venice to Paris to Cincinnati to Las Vegas. In Cincinnati I had to reclaim my bags and put back on another belt then go through immigration. Luckily I had a 2 hour layover. It was a long process.

Just be sure you hang on tight to your passport and be sure you have it ever time you leave an airplane. I learned a lesson the hard way going over as somehow my passport fell onto my seat, which caused me to miss my first connection...long long story.

 

[wwinfl91]

Thanks to everyone for their help. We are anxious and ready to go. Talked with our TA on Thursday and are expecting our tickets tomorrow. Still no luck in getting our seating on the plane over changed to seats next to one another but everyone says keep trying right up to the Stweward or Stewardess on the plane which is what we plan on doing.

Has anyone who has flown lately had their luggage weighted? Evidently there are new (this year) weight limits on check in luggage on most lines at 50 pounds. We are going to weigh our bags before we leave but we are still worried about it.

Thanks again for all the help and happy cruising.

 

[Princess Pat]

Whoa! The baggage weight for international flights is different than for domestic flights. It's usually 70 lbs for international flights. Look online at each of the airlines you will be traveling with for the specifics.

We did Australia/New Zealand at 55 pounds but the dimensions come into play also. So I always had to be sure the expansion gusset on my luggage was closed when we anticipated flying that day.

Pat