Missing ship departure.....

[Chakuna]

When we booked our MSC cruise for april 24th we had a 2.5 hour window in Frankfurt to deplane go thru customs and reboard for our flight to naples to start our cruise.    We recently got info that that same window of time is now 1 hour.....how screwed are we?!?!?!? 

[hallasm]

Not screwed at all!.

I have passed through FRA many times using Lufthansa - most times connecting time has been 1 to 1.5 hours. Actually Minimum connecting time is 45 minutes, according to Amadeus., but 1.5 hour might be more realistic. I assume that you have all legs of the flight on the same reservation - then your airline will ensure you have enough time based on available connections.

Also your luggage will be checked through to your final destination and no customs in FRA. Customs at your final destination.

However Schengen immigration/passport check in FRA.

Edited April 19, 2019 by hallasm

[iancal]

I think that you will be fine.  We have had that on our way to Rome in the past.

 

I suspect that the larger risk is not you missing the connection but rather your bags not making the connection and being delayed until the next flight.   This was our experience.  Fortunately we were not on a cruise.

Edited April 19, 2019 by iancal

[CruiserBruce]

You will do Immigration (called Passport check in Europe) in at FRA, not Customs. There is a significant difference, which is important. Immigration is about whether you are legally allowed to enter. Customs is about whether your personal property is allowed to enter. One is taken much more seriously than the other.

 

We had a 45 minute connection time at FRA, and made it, but I wouldn't recommend it.

[Hlitner]

We do not agree with the "no problem" comments.  So lets talk about this in some detail.  If your flight into FRA is from the USA it will be a relatively large aircraft.  Depending where you are sitting it can take 15 min to actually exit the aircraft.   Most airlines have a 15 min rule which means that if you are not at the gate at least 15 min prior to the flight (we have seen plenty of exceptions) you could be denied boarding!    But the real big concern with a 1 hour connection is that flights are routinely late these days.  That 1 hour connecting time gives you no margin for error.   So what to do?   It depends on you and your circumstances.

 

If you are flying into Naples on the day of your cruise I would be very concerned and want to get the flights changed.  If you are flying in a day (or longer) early, then the worst case is that you would have less time in Naples.  If you do decide that its a good idea to change the flights...you should be able to make a change at no additional cost.  Assuming you booked your own flight you simply call the airline and tell them that the revised flight schedule is no longer acceptable and ask them about changing to other flights.  However, if you booked through a cruise line (in this case MSC) it can become more complicated because you would likely need to work through the cruise line.

 

We do a lot of traveling and often must ask the airlines to change our flights because of these kind of schedule changes.  Most of the time it works out fine and it is just part of the travel game.  Sometimes the airline will have no better option (due to limited flights or no space).  If there is no better option you can generally demand a full refund (even for non-refundable tickets).  So before we even call an airline with these schedule issues we will look online for other possible options (even if it is with a different airline) which better prepares us to deal with airline on the phone.  

 

There is one more concern we have with tight connections when heading to a cruise.  Even if you make a tight connection there is an increased chance that your luggage might miss the connection.  This becomes even more concerning if flying in the day of a cruise since there is little time for your luggage to catch-up to you prior to the cruise.  That is another reason why we prefer to call the airline and change to better flights.

 

Hank

[hallasm]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

We do not agree with the "no problem" comments.  So lets talk about this in some detail.

I do agree on flying a day before or earlier - bad weather, technical problems with flight, delayed luggage and more - OP question is "how screwed are we" with a change in connection time from 2.5 to 1 hour!

As mentioned I have passed FRA many times on my way from 'overseas destination'  to CPH - Prefer a connection time at 1.5 hours but often had only 45 minutes or 1 hour. Few times shorter due to delays - but always made it - and also the luggage (my preferred airline is Lufthansa)

I do not see the change in connection time as a big problem - might be other problems, bur the 2.5 hour might not be sufficient either.

 

[Hlitner]

3 minutes ago, hallasm said:

I do agree on flying a day before or earlier - bad weather, technical problems with flight, delayed luggage and more - OP question is "how screwed are we" with a change in connection time from 2.5 to 1 hour!

As mentioned I have passed FRA many times on my way from 'overseas destination'  to CPH - Prefer a connection time at 1.5 hours but often had only 45 minutes or 1 hour. Few times shorter due to delays - but always made it - and also the luggage (my preferred airline is Lufthansa)

I do not see the change in connection time as a big problem - might be other problems, bur the 2.5 hour might not be sufficient either.

 

I did a little digging on some flyer forums  and there are some posts talking about 90 minutes being the minimum connection time (MCT) in FRA.  Not sure we would agree that you need that much time.  But if it is their initial entry into a Schengen country you do have to factor in the time it takes to get off the flight and then go through Passport Control.  That is why I talked about circumstances.  If we are only going to mildly inconvenienced (like when we do extended land trips) then we will often take our chances.  But if going to a cruise you have to consider the "what if" factor which is "what if you miss the connection?"  If there is no problem waiting for a later flight then all is fine.  But if missing a connection jeopardizes the chances of getting to your ship on time it is a different ball game.  We do agree with your comment about 2.5 hours perhaps not being enough....which is another reason why its always wise to fly-in at least 1 day early for a cruise.

 

Hank 

[hallasm]

You are right - recommended ‘window’ is 90 minutes for a comfortable transfer. At the end it is the airline issuing the tickets determine the connection time. The luggage is automatically transferred and the airline will ensure that you make the connection or they have to remove the luggage from the plane.

in FRA international arrival and ‘domestic European’ departures are from same terminal. 

Always a risk arriving the same day as you cruise departure and any irregularity will for sure add to the stress level. And yes - wise to fly in a day or more early for the cruise. Personally I would have missed one cruise due to air controller strike and not got the luggage once if not ‘being early’.

[GeezerCouple]

On 4/19/2019 at 12:19 AM, Chakuna said:

When we booked our MSC cruise for april 24th we had a 2.5 hour window in Frankfurt to deplane go thru customs and reboard for our flight to naples to start our cruise.    We recently got info that that same window of time is now 1 hour.....how screwed are we?!?!?!? 

 

Can you use this change to get a change to the entire itinerary, either earlier the same day, or better yet, the day before?

When we've had connection times shortened such that they jeopardized making the next flight (and without even a cruise), we were allowed to change the entire reservation, even though it wasn't supposedly allowed.

 

Give the airline a call.

 

GC