Hesitant to cruise again

[TEXASMUNK]

SJS..best reply, possibly ever, on CC. "Because I am a weakling" Wonder!!!!!! Thank you for the smile.

[cooncat_mom]

Good for you remembering tgat you HAD travel insurance! Don’t be afraid of delays. If it happens again (and it may very well) grab it and enjoy the extra day!

 

A couple of years ago we were coming back to NYC which was having a major snow storm. Jet Blue postponed our flight home for two days. I found out while we were at sea so was able to get a Times Square hotel. It was an awesome couple of days - we totally enjoyed it. I would have enjoyed it even more if I’d remembered my travel insurance would have reimbursed me. [emoji849] [emoji38]

 

 

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[Baron Barracuda]

op - What's your beef with Spirit? Ship returning late caused you to miss last Spirit flight of the day. Not their fault. How could they have helped? If your replacement flight on American was delayed they're the one you might have a gripe with.

 

Just be thankful you were smart enough to purchase travel insurance.

[Arzeena]

I just got back from a cruise on Carnival Magic and let's just say it doesn't compare to my many cruises on Royal. The ship was delayed due to a medical emergency and didn't get back to port Canaveral until 12:30pm. First time ever I missed my flight on Spirit (lesson learned, never fly them after a cruise!). They had no more flights that day so I had to purchase a new ticket on American. Delay after delay followed. I'm scheduled on a 12 day Mediterranean cruise next year and seriously thinking of cancelling. I can't imagine dealing with those issues in another country! Thoughts?

 

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Sorry you had to go through missed flights and delays.

I totally understand that no one wants to be confronted with delays and consequent problems in a foreign country. But, emergencies and delays can happen, due to many circumstances, anywhere in the world, on any cruise line, on any airline. I would not be afraid or hesitant to book a Mediterranean cruise because of this fear. I say, go for it, plan well, have a plan B and enjoy your cruise. You can do it! Good Luck!:)

[SJS]

Why I'll never book Spirit again after a cruise is because of the limited number of flights each day. Had I booked on American or Delta would only had to pay a change fee instead of purchasing another ticket at $285. And trip insurance may only reimburse $150 which is better than nothing.

 

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[gliles]

Spirit is a dumpster airline and you very much get what you pay for with them. Same goes for the other bottom tier "airlines" like Frontier and Allegiant. Everything's fine when everything's working, but the second something doesn't ... well, you found out.

 

Amen

[MikeBTN]

This would have been an issue regardless of the airline you chose. That’s because you chose a flight that was too early, expecting everything would go like normal. Sometimes it doesn’t. Plan accordingly next time.

 

This is exactly why you bought trip insurance.

[time4u2go]

This would have been an issue regardless of the airline you chose. That’s because you chose a flight that was too early, expecting everything would go like normal. Sometimes it doesn’t. Plan accordingly next time.

 

This is exactly why you bought trip insurance.

A 3PM flight is too early when arriving at Port Canaveral? Seriously?

[Langley Cruisers]

I had a 3pm flight, never thought that would be a problem.

 

Agreed; I think most people here, when asked about timing of a flight, would say that 3:00 is ample time to have made it. Obviously, and sadly, you had to deal with a situation beyond your control.

 

I hope you enjoy your Med cruise! Gosh, some great ports there... have a blast! :)

[CruiseGal999]

Although I am a more frequent land traveler vs cruiser, my cruises are almost always European cruises and, yes, delays can occur. For this reason, I always arrive at least a day prior to the cruise and depart a day after the cruise ends. That way, I have never had problems with delays and have the added benefit of exploring my embarkation and disembarkation cities in a little more depth. The Med is wonderful - don't know which ports you will be visiting but there is much to see & do. Our last Med cruise began in Venice and ended in Barcelona. We arrived Venice 5 days before the cruise & departed BCN 3 days after the cruise ended (my niece had never been to this part of the world before so gave her a little extra time to soak in the local food, culture & sights).

We have a Danube river cruise booked in October - we are arriving Munich 5 days before the cruise and staying in Budapest for 5 days after the cruise.

My advice would be - go & enjoy!

 

My NCL 12 day Med cruise began in Barcelona and ended in Venice. We did 3 days in Barcelona and 3 days in Venice. All was wonderful. I have never seen such beautiful water in my life. The smoothest cruise (water wise meaning calm ocean, great service, food, etc.) we've ever had.

[neverbeenhere]

Camping is quite nice.

[MikeBTN]

A 3PM flight is too early when arriving at Port Canaveral? Seriously?

 

If there’s an issue it could be (and obviously was this time). Just ask the folks coming out of Galveston or Tampa when they catch heavy fog. Stuff happens. It didn’t matter which airline she was flying.

 

We generally don’t fly out until the day after, so have never had an issue.

[SheehanDJ]

I've posted this before on other threads, but one more time won't hurt I suppose.

 

There are countless post here about ALWAYS fly in the day before, you are crazy to risk flying in the day off, so much less stress, etc, etc. These posts number about the same as the number of posts about how to make a 7:00am flight on disembarkation day with carrying off luggage, sleeping by the exit door, sprinting thru the terminal, etc, etc.

 

If it is logical and stress free to ALWAYS fly in the day before, isn't it logical and stress free to ALWAYS fly out the day after too?

 

When we were younger we wouldn't do either, but now being older and wiser, who needs the stress at all.

[denamo]

I had a 3pm flight, never thought that would be a problem.

 

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Wow! Your flight time under normal circumstances would have given you ample time to make it. We've cruised out of Galveston and been the victim of a couple of fogged out of port cruises. One was only a slight delay, but the other was an entire day! We didn't disembark until 5 P.M.

 

Last year we were on an Alaskan cruise. We had planned to fly out the next day. Delay was not there, but Hurricane Harvey was hitting Houston and we were slated to have a layover there. We could make it to Dallas, but had to spend the night there to catch a flight out the next day. All was pretty crazy getting back. So I truly understand your concern. :(

 

 

Your experience helps to maybe look to see if other flights on the airline we're flying might be available if needed at a later time. Really a good heads up.

 

Thanks for allowing me to share our experiences of delays. Know delays are sometimes inevitable, but hopefully, don't let that deter you from cruising.

Edited June 20, 2018 by denamo

[MikeBTN]

I've posted this before on other threads, but one more time won't hurt I suppose.

 

There are countless post here about ALWAYS fly in the day before, you are crazy to risk flying in the day off, so much less stress, etc, etc. These posts number about the same as the number of posts about how to make a 7:00am flight on disembarkation day with carrying off luggage, sleeping by the exit door, sprinting thru the terminal, etc, etc.

 

If it is logical and stress free to ALWAYS fly in the day before, isn't it logical and stress free to ALWAYS fly out the day after too?

 

When we were younger we wouldn't do either, but now being older and wiser, who needs the stress at all.

 

Bingo.

[DaNana]

Although I am a more frequent land traveler vs cruiser, my cruises are almost always European cruises and, yes, delays can occur. For this reason, I always arrive at least a day prior to the cruise and depart a day after the cruise ends. That way, I have never had problems with delays and have the added benefit of exploring my embarkation and disembarkation cities in a little more depth. The Med is wonderful - don't know which ports you will be visiting but there is much to see & do. Our last Med cruise began in Venice and ended in Barcelona. We arrived Venice 5 days before the cruise & departed BCN 3 days after the cruise ended (my niece had never been to this part of the world before so gave her a little extra time to soak in the local food, culture & sights).

We have a Danube river cruise booked in October - we are arriving Munich 5 days before the cruise and staying in Budapest for 5 days after the cruise.

My advice would be - go & enjoy!

 

 

 

Totally agree. We arrived 2 days early and stayed a night then flew out the next day. Was much easier.

 

 

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[CruisingNole]

Totally agree. We arrived 2 days early and stayed a night then flew out the next day. Was much easier.

 

 

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I agree with you completely.

 

I only cruise out of ports near my house and am usually home by 9am on disembarkation date. However, if I were to have to fly, there's no way I'd attempt to fly back same day. For me, walking off the ship straight to my car and driving 45 minutes home with no traffic is an incredibly relaxing way to end a trip. Hoping on a bus to go straight to the airport and then deal with that mess for the rest of the day...not so much.

[celebrity]

Good advice! The ports are Barcelona, Cannes, Florence, Rome, Athens, Mykonos, Santorini and Valletta, Malta.

 

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Oh my! Please don’t cancel that cruise.

That’s a fabulous itinerary! Have been to all those ports. Enjoy!

[yuvraj]

The Med ports are great and it is worth the risk of something going wrong. Just plan for contingencies instead of cancelling.

 

This is what I do ...

 

Fly to port the night before and stay overnight in a hotel. It means that you start your cruise fresh and avoid any stress with flights being delayed or cancelled.

 

I avoid budget airlines because they are more likely to have delays or cancellations.

 

On disembarkation day, I usually book an evening flight or stay overnight and fly back the next day. Not only does it allow for any unexpected delays but gives me a full day to spend at disembarkation port. If I am flying the same day, I book a day room at a hotel near the airport.

 

It is about managing risk and stress. No matter what I do, there is always a chance that I will still get stuck. That is where I mentally prepare myself for this possibility and also have travel insurance as back up. What I avoid doing is adding risk by booking flights or making travel plans which might be affected by delays.

 

BTW - Barcelona is a great port for before and after stay. So much to do and explore. You will not get bored at this port.

[johnjen]

I just got back from a cruise on Carnival Magic and let's just say it doesn't compare to my many cruises on Royal. The ship was delayed due to a medical emergency and didn't get back to port Canaveral until 12:30pm. First time ever I missed my flight on Spirit (lesson learned, never fly them after a cruise!). They had no more flights that day so I had to purchase a new ticket on American. Delay after delay followed. I'm scheduled on a 12 day Mediterranean cruise next year and seriously thinking of cancelling. I can't imagine dealing with those issues in another country! Thoughts?

 

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To avert issues like this we learned to fly overseas at least two-three days out on our first cruise in the med last year before cruise departure and allow plenty of time from leaving the ship to the airport. We're on Vision in July next year doing a 12 day also; this time it's three days before the cruise leaves out of Barcelona.

[momofmab]

Like others have said, as tempting as those "bargain" airline fares are, just say "NO!". You get what you pay for there. I also learned my lesson with buying airline tickets through a third party internet travel site. Now I only buy directly through the airline.

 

We always arrive the day before when going on a cruise. I don't necessarily stay an extra day (we've only cruised from US ports), but I wouldn't book a return flight before noon, just to give some wiggle room. If I were leaving from a European port, I would consider booking a flight for later in the evening or staying an extra day because well, it's Europe and I've never been there before :)

[nealstuber]

I just got back from a cruise on Carnival Magic and let's just say it doesn't compare to my many cruises on Royal. The ship was delayed due to a medical emergency and didn't get back to port Canaveral until 12:30pm. First time ever I missed my flight on Spirit (lesson learned, never fly them after a cruise!). They had no more flights that day so I had to purchase a new ticket on American. Delay after delay followed. I'm scheduled on a 12 day Mediterranean cruise next year and seriously thinking of cancelling. I can't imagine dealing with those issues in another country! Thoughts?

 

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RCCL ships get delayed too and in recent history where both lines were subject to weather delays due to hurricanes, the general consensus was that Carnival treated their customers better in the same situation.

 

There are a lot of reasons why flights get missed, canceled or delayed on land vacations too.

 

Your post really does not explain why your Carnival cruise did not compare to your RCCL cruise except to say that you got to sleep in later on debark day and things went downhill from there.

 

If you want any cruise line to be responsible for your vacation from the time you leave your home airport until you return there, consider booking your air through the cruise line. You still will be subject to the unexpected, but at least you will not be out of pocket if for the changes.

 

 

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[Tapi]

op - What's your beef with Spirit? Ship returning late caused you to miss last Spirit flight of the day. Not their fault. How could they have helped?.

 

 

The beef that many have with Spirit is that they have limited means to recover from an irregular operation, which leaves the passenger high and dry.

 

Spirit has limited flights in many markets, sometimes serving them once a day, and sometimes less than that. In addition to that, they don’t have interline agreements with other airlines. What happens when you’re unable to take your original flight (for whatever reason) is that you’re left with very limited to non-existent options to get home.

 

If you are booked on a major airline, chances are that they’ll be able to re-accommodate you that same day on a different flight, through another city, or worse case scenario, they’ll book you on another airline to get you home. That’s why these interline agreements are in place.

 

I know that there are horror stories concerning major airlines, but the point is that they have vastly more resources to get you home and less restrictive policies than the ultra-low cost carriers that run bare bones operations with little room for error, and with more restrictive policies.

 

Airlines like Spirit don’t have the resources to get you home as efficiently, and thus they leave you with the option to buy a new ticket on another airline, or wait (sometimes days) to re-accommodate you.

 

The OP is not unhappy at Spirit for missing the flight. That’s not their responsibility. She’s unhappy at Spirit for their limitations and inability to help.

 

 

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[robin13]

The beef that many have with Spirit is that they have limited means to recover from an irregular operation, which leaves the passenger high and dry.

 

Spirit has limited flights in many markets, sometimes serving them once a day, and sometimes less than that. In addition to that, they don’t have interline agreements with other airlines. What happens when you’re unable to take your original flight (for whatever reason) is that you’re left with very limited to non-existent options to get home.

 

If you are booked on a major airline, chances are that they’ll be able to re-accommodate you that same day on a different flight, through another city, or worse case scenario, they’ll book you on another airline to get you home. That’s why these interline agreements are in place.

 

I know that there are horror stories concerning major airlines, but the point is that they have vastly more resources to get you home and less restrictive policies than the ultra-low cost carriers that run bare bones operations with little room for error, and with more restrictive policies.

 

Airlines like Spirit don’t have the resources to get you home as efficiently, and thus they leave you with the option to buy a new ticket on another airline, or wait (sometimes days) to re-accommodate you.

 

The OP is not unhappy at Spirit for missing the flight. That’s not their responsibility. She’s unhappy at Spirit for their limitations and inability to help.

 

 

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And this is why I would NEVER fly Spirit as if something happens you are out of luck. At least with AA I could catch another flight or they could put me on another airline. And as everyone else has said please don't cancel your Med cruise. You just need to be smart about your planning. Always fly in at least a day early and then stay on several days to explore. After all how often are you going to be visiting Europe?? Most people never even make it there so I would stay as long as possible to see as much as possible.

 

BTW, my first Med cruise was on The Magic years ago and I had the best time!! Don't get me wrong I do love RCCL but price wise Carnival always seemed to be cheaper.

[mugtech]

We spent two nights in Barcelona precruise and it was not enough time, beautiful city. We find no reason to leave ASAP either, spend at least one night in the disembarkation port. Use the money we Don't spend on insurance for hotels.

Edited June 20, 2018 by mugtech
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