Freaking about Fog

[CRUISINGCPA]

With yesterday's delay of the Carnival ship coming into Galveston I am beginning to worry about our upcoming New Year's cruise on the Mariner. Last year on Radiance from Tampa we were fogged out also & barely made our 3:00 flight. People with earlier flights were stuck in Tampa at least a day or two as there were no available seats on later flights. It was hard to get a computer terminal on the ship to change flights.

 

So I'm thinking of some advance planning this year. Having never booked a flight using a "refundable" fare I have a question for my knowlegable CC friends. Is a refundable fare truly refundable? If we purchase tickets for a much later flight & are able to make our original flight do we need to cancel before the later flight leaves? Will we really get all of our money back (no surcharge)? If we don't cancel before the flight will we still get a full refund?

 

It seems worth it to me to put out the money for a month to have the peace of mind of knowing we will be able to get out of Houston (no offense, but we have work & school the next day).

 

Thanks!

[SandyAtSea]

If it's a truly refundable reservation, you will get your money back (credited to your card if that's how you made the reservation.) However, I don't think you will be able to book two flights on the same day on the same airline for the same passengers. Not sure if all the airlines reservation systems talk to each other or not, i.e., will American Airlines notice that you have another reservation on Southwest the same day, but I'm quite sure they will notice if you have duplicate reservations that day on the same airline.

[KennyOB]

That is exactly what I did for my family of four for the upcoming Mariner of the Seas, sailing from Galeston on 1/2/2011. We, all four of us, booked a earlier flight leaving from HOU. Since we are so concerned about the fog delay situation at Galveston, we all also booked a later flight (about 5PM). It is non-refundable, but I know Southwest allows us to canel either one and save the credit (no penalty or fee) for future bookings. I am not sure about other airlines (UA and AA will charge you $150 for the change fee), but very sure that Southwest let you do that. Hope this helps.

[Doug S]

CruisingCPA,

I'll be on the same New Years sailing with my family, but fortunately its just a car trip back to San Antonio for us. I was fogged out of Galveston on Voyager last year. Docked at about 2:00 instead of early morning. Those like us that had no flights to catch got off a bit later to clear the way for you guys. I know many were juggling their flights. We got back home about 8-9:00 that evening, about 7 hours later than usual.

 

On the bright side, it was a neat sight. We had a balcony, and the fog was so thick that looking out you could not even see the lifeboats hanging below, or the water. Heard fog horns and bells coming in from the mist. As the fog cleared, we were shocked to see that we were positioned out in the gulf around a navigational bouy along with over 50 other ships, including large freighters, tankers, and the Carnival ship (which had actually been fogged out since the previous day).

 

I do recall that we texted pics to friends, so I think we were close enough to shore for our cells to work, so that may help. Also, the ship's staff seemed to be working hard to help make new travel arrangements for those impacted by the delay.

 

Maybe I'll see you on the Mariner..

Doug

[CRUISINGCPA]

Doug,

Yes the fog last year in Tampa was pretty amazing & gave us another chance to see the ship barely make it under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, but the stress was painful!

See you in 10 days!!! Have to really start packing this weekend as we are having Christmas Eve for the family:)

Virginia