Missed Cruise Due to Delta Issue?

[oldguysandgalls]

We used the fly in the day of the cruise.....that was... until the day we made it to the cruise terminal within 15 minutes to spare before cut-off time.

 

Never again, we now fly in the day before or even 2 days before. We still talk about the time we almost missed our cruise.

 

Never, never again.

[ronandannette]

Actually, no, it doesn't fall solidly in that category. This is one instance in which you think more of your opinion than it's really worth. It's not a bad idea to fly in a day early, but if that doesn't fit your schedule, it's certainly not a must. Thousands of people fly in same day every week. It mostly works out fine.

 

Saying that it's something "all smart cruisers do" is just a way of trying to insult other cruisers who don't feel the same way you do. I would say what I really think of that, but it would only get deleted. :cool:

 

http://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=OIP.Me1b035b87755c5383890771debdfc592H0&w=300&h=221&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0&r=0

We really, really need one of these on CC! :D

Edited August 9, 2016 by ronandannette

[sj25]

You make a valid point. However, I'm still of the opinion that it is still safer to get to the port city a day ahead, just in case. However, ^&*% does happen from time to time, so the best approach is to have travel insurance, just in case.

 

Rick

 

I normally always fly in the day before and due to RCI cancel my cruise to being chartered and the replacement day we had to fly in due to my husband's work could not get off. But I would never do it with out travel insurance!!!

[silentbob007]

 

I came back to Royal after a 5 year hiatus, things have certainly changed, but I did see you were still on the boards with a new tux photo and lots more RCI cruises listed. Enjoy...L:)ri

 

Thanks. You as well. :cool:

[jc foster]

In July 2009 my wife, daughter ,and I were sailing on the Eurodam out of Copenhagen. We had booked three night pre hotel in Copenhagen. Our flight from DFW had a five hour layover in Newark. Thirty minutes prior to landing in Newark a freak hailstorm struck that airport. We could not land and were transfered to Washington Dules where we spent several hours on the ground on the plane. We then returned to what can only be described as utter turmoil at Newark. We missed our connection. We slept on the airport floor as all hotels were full. Tons of flights were affected. Neither our airline nor our insurance rep. could get us a flight until after the ship would have sailed. We were sent back to DFW having missed everything, but in the end we only lost a few hundred dollars since we had travel insurance. Good news a couple years later we did a similar cruise on Celebrity. Things happen which cannot be prevented even when you fly in a day or more early.

[JFontaine]

Flying the last flight of the day before the cruise has it's own issues, chief among them that if you have a connection, there's a chance that you, your luggage or both don't make the connection. This is especially true in big hubs like Atlanta and Charlotte where they are moving thousands of bags an hour. In this case I recommend that you carry on the basics to get you through, and cross pack when traveling with others.

 

Story about Regis Philbin. He was scheduled to fly to Florida for a Celebrity cruise the day before the cruise. Snowstorm cancelled those plans, and of course all flights the next day were booked. At the last minute the airline found something for him, but he was so crazed by all the stress, he left his wallet at home.

 

The best thing that people can do is watch the weather, and have a plan B. Once there's a weather advisory issued, you can change your flight without a fee or increased cost. Be prepared to go immediately, fly in the wrong direction and make a connection, etc. and don't wait to call the airline, or do it on line. I find more flexibility with the legacy carriers (American, Delta and United) than low cost carriers (like Jet Blue and Southwest). And know also that airlines wait until the last minute before issuing an advisory - they want the fees. It might be worth it to pay the change fee and not wait.

[grandgeezer]

A whole slew of cruise-related things are opinions, or have multiple good answers ... but other things are indeed absolutes. That is, they're things that all smart cruisers do; for example:

 

- Pack plenty of sunscreen and any over-the-counter meds that you're likely to use.

- Double check your identification and cruise documents immediately before leaving home.

- Attend your muster drill, even if you've done it before.

 

Arriving the night before -- unless you're a local -- even if it's late -- falls solidly into this category. For most of us, missing our long-awaited cruise would be a disaster (both emotionally and financially), and traveling late the night before is a simple, inexpensive way to secure ourselves against this possibility.

 

Ask the people who booked Delta. According to the news, some people have been stranded at the airport for two days. Maybe you should be safe and go a week early.

[cruisegal415]

To answer the OP's original question, we are on the Enchantment now and when we returned to the ship today from the beach in Nassau, we noticed a couple in the elevator across from ours with suitcases as if they just got on board. At first I thought, wow, they must've done a lot of shopping! But then I remembered the Delta problem and wondered if maybe they were just joining the cruise in Nassau.

[shippmates]

Just heard on the Good Morning America that Delta has cancelled more flights again this morning. This is still from the power outage yesterday in Atlanta. They are saying all flights should be back on schedule this afternoon. Hope cruisers were able to make other arrangements and are able to get to the ship today.

[jimbri]

To answer the OP's original question, we are on the Enchantment now and when we returned to the ship today from the beach in Nassau, we noticed a couple in the elevator across from ours with suitcases as if they just got on board. At first I thought, wow, they must've done a lot of shopping! But then I remembered the Delta problem and wondered if maybe they were just joining the cruise in Nassau.

 

Thanks for answering the original question. I thought people would try to catch up with the ship. Hope many could and enjoy the rest of their trip.

[Daytonasailor]

Yup exactly. Driving from Ormond to Port Everglades last June. Its about a 4 hour drive normally. We made it to West Palm and stopped dead on 95. Bad accident ahead. We waited in traffic about an hour. Now we began to be concerned. We are about 25 miles from the port and it is 2:15. I got off an exit and went through town at 25 MPH. Finally made it to the port at 3:00. Now its the day before for us. Exception to the rule is we are driving to Port Canaveral in Dec for a cruise. Its only a little over an hour from Ormond Beach.

[waterbug123]

They interviewed a couple on our local ATL news that did in fact miss their cruise for their honeymoon. They blamed it on the cruiseline saying "the cruiseline wouldnt do anything for us" :o :rolleyes: I kid you not. Guessing they didnt purchase insurance

 

 

Let me guess- they are among the millennials who feel the world owes them, just because. :rolleyes:

 

So what does Royal do if your airfare is booked through them?

 

International flight

 

They ATTEMPT to rebook you. With a situation like the one DL just had, that may or may not have been possible in time to make the ship. In some cases, there were airports at which all other flights on other airlines were booked solid very quickly, and there's nothing the cruise line can do if there are no available flight alternatives.

[waterbug123]

 

FWIW - unless I specifically have something I want to do beforehand, I never arrive a day early for west-coast departures. We can very easily fly to Los Angeles, Seattle or Vancouver the day-of. We always book direct, the travel time varies from 1 - 3 hours and there are quite a few flights (on quite a few different airlines) per day that arrive in good time. I'm no more likely to miss a departure due to a "freak occurrence" than somebody traveling the day before.

 

 

Yes, most of the time it works out fine, but I'm not sure I'd go as far as saying you're no more likely to miss a departure than someone who flies in the day before.

You may have plenty of flight options to a particular west coast city as you mentioned, but let's say your entire airline shut down the day of travel as DL did. An entire plane worth of pax suddenly need to be rebooked, and the same for subsequent flights on that airline that day. That's a LOT of people looking to grab the few seats still available last minute on other airlines. I'm glad it's always worked out for you thus far, but there IS increased risk flying the day of, even if you have never personally had an issue. Yet. ;)

 

 

 

This is an opinion not an absolute fact. A cruise does fit in other people schedule if they chose not to or cannot come in ahead.

 

You can just as easily purchase insurance to cover you instead of coming in a day early. Of course, you may miss some of your cruise this way.

 

And that's a very important distinction. Insurance protects you against financial loss. ie. the money you spent on the cruise you ended up missing, or the money you spent to make additional last minute travel plans to reach the cruise late or whatever. It doesn't necessarily help you reach the ship any sooner.

[waterbug123]

Flying the last flight of the day before the cruise has it's own issues, chief among them that if you have a connection, there's a chance that you, your luggage or both don't make the connection. This is especially true in big hubs like Atlanta and Charlotte where they are moving thousands of bags an hour.

 

Of course there's a chance your bags won't make it, but large hubs especially are pretty darn efficient at moving bags, and the vast majority of the time bags make it, even when the connection is extremely tight. I can't count the number of times that a delayed inbound has given me no more than 15-30 min to make a connection at ATL and my bags made it just fine.

[John&LaLa]

Of course there's a chance your bags won't make it, but large hubs especially are pretty darn efficient at moving bags, and the vast majority of the time bags make it, even when the connection is extremely tight. I can't count the number of times that a delayed inbound has given me no more than 15-30 min to make a connection at ATL and my bags made it just fine.

 

Sometimes the bags get there before you do. ;)

[Brighton Line]

Just heard on the Good Morning America that Delta has cancelled more flights again this morning. .

 

Over 700 yesterday.

As of 6am 200 were cancelled today.

 

Getting metal, crews within time limits and pax all at the same place and time is a real big problem.

[jennmaybe]

Had this happen to us, we would have walked right out of the airport, into our car and driven to FL. Our problem solved. :)

[John&LaLa]

Had this happen to us, we would have walked right out of the airport, into our car and driven to FL. Our problem solved. :)

 

I take it you don't live in Seattle ;)

[MommaBear55]

Of course there's a chance your bags won't make it, but large hubs especially are pretty darn efficient at moving bags, and the vast majority of the time bags make it, even when the connection is extremely tight. I can't count the number of times that a delayed inbound has given me no more than 15-30 min to make a connection at ATL and my bags made it just fine.

 

And then there was the time my bags didn't get transferred in ATL, and even worse, Delta wasn't quite sure where they might be... Or the time it took 39 hours to get from Reno to Maine and we got a message saying that they were going to blow up our bags if we did not claim them immediately (somehow our bags managed to make it back) but they didn't leave a number to call back nor obviously did they look in the computers to know we were enroute.

[ducklite]

We do the exact same thing, we are in Pinellas across the bay from Tampa. If its Tampa or Port Canaveral we will do same day as we can find back road/ alternative routes if need be. But down to Fort Lauderdale etc its 4 hrs+ for us also and I would be a nervous wreck. We typically leave after rush hour the night before. We may get there late but we can sleep til 9, get up have breakfast and be at the port without any worries.

 

We would drive that day to any Florida port. We live near Orlando. We would plan on leaving early enough that there was plenty of padding and using Google maps along the way. Even I4 to Tampa can be diverted to various back roads if you know them (I used to work for a company based out of Tampa and had to drive there once a week, I think I know every possible back road along that nightmare of a highway.)

 

Any other domestic port we'd go the day before, foreign port (except PR or St Marten we'd go two days prior)

[Got2Cruise]

Actually, no, it doesn't fall solidly in that category. This is one instance in which you think more of your opinion than it's really worth. It's not a bad idea to fly in a day early, but if that doesn't fit your schedule, it's certainly not a must. Thousands of people fly in same day every week. It mostly works out fine.

 

Saying that it's something "all smart cruisers do" is just a way of trying to insult other cruisers who don't feel the same way you do. I would say what I really think of that, but it would only get deleted. :cool:

 

Agreed. For it to be a FACT and not an OPINION that flying in a day early will prevent you missing your flight, one would need to supply data. The total number of cruisers per year; the total number of cruisers who miss the cruise because of the flight; and of those who missed the cruise, who were scheduled to fly in a day early and who were scheduled to fly in the day of.

 

Im always open to CC poster's opinion. . .but those who preach their opinion as fact, I take with a grain of salt.

[Got2Cruise]

Ask the people who booked Delta. According to the news, some people have been stranded at the airport for two days. Maybe you should be safe and go a week early.

 

Or forget flying altogether, just drive straight down to Florida. . .24 hours straight driving from NY area. I guess it wouldn't work for a European cruise.:D:p

[waterbug123]

And then there was the time my bags didn't get transferred in ATL, and even worse, Delta wasn't quite sure where they might be... Or the time it took 39 hours to get from Reno to Maine and we got a message saying that they were going to blow up our bags if we did not claim them immediately (somehow our bags managed to make it back) but they didn't leave a number to call back nor obviously did they look in the computers to know we were enroute.

 

I never said bags always make it. I said usually they do, even with a tight connection and that's true. I'm well aware that there are exceptions. As I type this we are still waiting for bags to show up from a flight home 8 days ago. It appears they made it from JRO to NBO to CDG. At that point they appear to have been tagged for ATL and FLL but they are missing in action. Sat at CDG for about 3.5 hours so it's not a matter of a tight connection. :rolleyes:

[land lover]

I take it you don't live in Seattle ;)

 

or CA.....lol:D

[land lover]

I have an experience Regarding bags...and Delta.....however, doesn't apply to recent situation.

 

Since all bags are scanned now, we've have had no problems even on tight flights.

 

On a recent Delta fight SNA(Orange Co., CA) to ALT to Paris to Venice.

In Paris, the gate attended would not let my husband board until they knew his luggage was on board, we had never encountered this before. They had him stand aside and after about 5 minutes they re-scanned his boarding pass and let him on.

 

L:)ri

Edited August 11, 2016 by land lover