"What Happens If You Miss Your Cruise?" Article

[Kartgv]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/article/what-happens-if-you-miss-your-cruise/ar-AAFi3xw?ocid=spartanntp

 

Just read this very thorough and accurate (as far as I can tell!) article that explains all the different considerations when you miss a cruise.    It covers cruise line obligations (or lack there-of), cruise-line vs. privately arranged transportation getting to the port, 'catching up' with the cruise at later ports, and insurance coverage possibilities.    Worth reading or forwarding to friends new to cruising.   

[lenquixote66]

In December 2010 we were on a cruise leaving from Ft. Lauderdale on a Sunday morning. We planned to arrive mid morning the day before. However,due to a huge snowstorm our flight was delayed 12 hours.We arrived 11 PM .We missed the last shuttle from the airport to the hotel.Several other people were on the plane who were going to the hotel as well.We were unable to get a taxi or taxis.

We called the hotel and the owner said he would try and find an employee to come pick us up.Three hours later we arrived at the hotel.

Since then I have been suggesting to people to try and arrive 2 days before.

[TNcruising02]

Flying in a day early for a cruise is probably the best advice I have ever read for cruising.  I know some people think same day direct flights are a safe bet, but that's still a gamble.  I put too much time, effort, and planning into my cruises to gamble on a same day flight.

[navybankerteacher]

The odds are pretty strong that you can take an early flight on embarkation day and make your cruise.  We do not hear of that many cases of people missing their ship.

 

Still, I will always fly in a day or two early; even with very good odds, the stakes are too big to bet on making my sailing with anything less than excellent odds.

[SantaFeFan]

Besides the risks - even though small, they are still real - we prefer to go several days early and extend our vacation with a few days visiting the departure city. Since all passengers typically have to be on-board by mid afternoon, there isn't much time to visit a city we may not have been to before if we arrive the same day. Some of these cities are worth visiting for their own sake, so we always give ourselves time to do so while also providing a buffer for delayed or cancelled flights. 

[Warm Breezes]

8 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

The odds are pretty strong that you can take an early flight on embarkation day and make your cruise.  We do not hear of that many cases of people missing their ship.

 

Still, I will always fly in a day or two early; even with very good odds, the stakes are too big to bet on making my sailing with anything less than excellent odds.

I would never believe anyone who told me the odds were pretty strong that you can take an early flight on embarkation day and make your cruise.  We have always gone in a day or two early, but there were a few times out of all our sailings that if we had been flying in the day of we would have missed our cruise on the flights we were on....even taking an early flight and not due to weather.  Our second cruise flying to direct from Detroit to Orlando we had to make an emergency landing in Tennessee due to mechanical issues and were stuck on the ground for 5 hours.  Our 10th cruise flying direct from Detroit to Ft. Lauderdale we had to wait 5 hours for a replacement plane from Pennsylvania due to our plane having mechanical issues.  There were many people on both flights having to make other arrangements quickly in order to make their cruise that day.  I couldn't tell you if they all made it or not.  They definitely did not make it if they stayed with us and waited since we didn't get into Florida until after 5 pm both times.  Friends of ours had a flight from Detroit to San Juan cancelled due to a pilots strike the morning of their flight.  Luckily they were flying in a day early and were able to get there the next day before the ship left on another airline.  On our last cruise on his way home DS had his layover flight in Minneapolis St. Paul to Minot delayed until the next day and ended up sleeping at  the airport.  He never did find out why.  They weather was fine there. 

 

We have had many other non-cruise flight delays too that I would never take the chance to come in the same day and I would never say the odds were pretty strong.  Especially for us.  We were stuck sitting on the tarmac in Las Vegas for 3 hours waiting for approval to take off on one vacation.  We came extremely close to missing our connecting flight to Michigan in Milwaukee.  They had already given our seats away to people on stand by and had to get the people off the plane they gave our seats to.  We had a direct flight from Chicago to Orlando that was delayed in Chicago for 4 hours due to mechanical issues.  I count my blessings every time we have a flight with no issues.

[DirtyDawg]

6 minutes ago, Warm Breezes said:

I would never believe anyone who told me the odds were pretty strong that you can take an early flight on embarkation day and make your cruise. 

 

I would. Just take a look at your U.S. Transportation Department's Airline on-time statistics. 

Though the odds are pretty strong (most of the time) that you can take an early flight on embarkation day and make the cruise, the downside is pretty severe if you do. It's like getting hit by lighting. There are pretty strong odds you won't, but if you do .....  😱🤯🙏

 

We once flew across the continent from Toronto to Vancouver the morning of a cruise. Work commitments kept us from flying the day before. It was a direct flight and the first of the day so there were other options, and we had a plan B and C if we missed the boat.  We have also flown direct from Toronto to Miami the day of a cruise. It's not ideal, but again we couldn't fly the day before and we had a plan B. My two anecdotal incidents do not prove anything just like a story about Aunt Millie missing a cruise when she flew in the morning of embarkation doesn't prove anything. Take a look at the statistics. 

[mss22859]

Out of our 6 cruises, we have only traveled the day of twice. On our last cruise, out of San Juan, we flew in the morning of, due to the late departure. Even though everything went fine, I will admit I was a bundle of nerves until I was on the ship! For our upcoming Pride cruise, even though we are driving in, we are still going a day early, mainly for peace of mind.

[SRF]

It may work out.  Or it may not.

 

I had one work trip, where I missed EVERY connection.  Including one rebooked after missing the first connection. 🙂

[Pierlesscruisers]

21 hours ago, TNcruising02 said:

Flying in a day early for a cruise is probably the best advice I have ever read for cruising.  I know some people think same day direct flights are a safe bet, but that's still a gamble.  I put too much time, effort, and planning into my cruises to gamble on a same day flight.

 

As someone else mentioned, yes, the odds are that a same-day arrival will be okay, but do you really want to "play the odds" wth your vacation time, especially if you are still in the work-force and have limited vacation time during the year?  I wouldn't want to, that much I know. So, yes, travel a day early (maybe more, if possible, and the time of the year/prevailing weather conditions) so dictate. The ancillary thing to the early travel is also buying travel insurance!  It only has to pay off once to "pay for itself" many times over.

 

One person's opinion.

 

Tom

[SRF]

17 hours ago, Pierlesscruisers said:

The ancillary thing to the early travel is also buying travel insurance!  It only has to pay off once to "pay for itself" many times over.

 

It depends.

 

I purchase insurance, but do not cover the cruise cost.  My last cruise, that saved over $500 in insurance costs.  It I miss 10% of my cruises, I am still even.

[Zach1213]

3 minutes ago, SRF said:

 

It depends.

 

I purchase insurance, but do not cover the cruise cost.  My last cruise, that saved over $500 in insurance costs.  It I miss 10% of my cruises, I am still even.

 

I usually do something like this too...purchase insurance to cover most of the cost, but not all of it. Insurance is a constant risk vs reward, for both the provider and the buyer.

[Pierlesscruisers]

34 minutes ago, SRF said:

 

It depends.

 

I purchase insurance, but do not cover the cruise cost.  My last cruise, that saved over $500 in insurance costs.  It I miss 10% of my cruises, I am still even.

 

29 minutes ago, Zach1213 said:

 

I usually do something like this too...purchase insurance to cover most of the cost, but not all of it. Insurance is a constant risk vs reward, for both the provider and the buyer.

 

One thing also on the subject of insurance is to check the credit card that you use to pay for your cruise. Often, the issuer has some insurance coverage that might let you reduce some of the insurance cost also.

 

Tom

[DCGuy64]

On ‎8‎/‎4‎/‎2019 at 10:48 PM, TNcruising02 said:

Flying in a day early for a cruise is probably the best advice I have ever read for cruising.  I know some people think same day direct flights are a safe bet, but that's still a gamble.  I put too much time, effort, and planning into my cruises to gamble on a same day flight.

Agreed, but the devil's advocate in me can't resist saying the following: adding a day to your vacation may not always be feasible for everybody. In addition to actual vacation, my wife and I have to keep some days of vacation in reserve for unplanned time off work for things like being home for contractors, attending community meetings, working local elections, visiting rental properties we own, taking one another to doctor's appointments, etc. In an ideal world, I could use all of my paid time off just for fun things like cruises. But that's not the world we live in. So it may be necessary, on occasion, to fly in on embarkation day, if the alternative is no cruise at all. But all things being equal, we do prefer to have a buffer day. 

[Zach1213]

3 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Agreed, but the devil's advocate in me can't resist saying the following: adding a day to your vacation may not always be feasible for everybody. In addition to actual vacation, my wife and I have to keep some days of vacation in reserve for unplanned time off work for things like being home for contractors, attending community meetings, working local elections, visiting rental properties we own, taking one another to doctor's appointments, etc. In an ideal world, I could use all of my paid time off just for fun things like cruises. But that's not the world we live in. So it may be necessary, on occasion, to fly in on embarkation day, if the alternative is no cruise at all. But all things being equal, we do prefer to have a buffer day. 

 

It's all about what works for you and is a priority for you. For my wife and I, we refuse to fly down the day of. If we can't fly down the day before, we can't go on that cruise. It's not negotiable for us.

[DCGuy64]

1 minute ago, Zach1213 said:

 

It's all about what works for you and is a priority for you. For my wife and I, we refuse to fly down the day of. If we can't fly down the day before, we can't go on that cruise. It's not negotiable for us.

I also have a side job as a singer and that takes away from my vacation time, too (I have gigs coming up that will eat up 4 days right there). So as you say, it's about what works for us. I'm looking forward to retiring one day so I'll have infinite days off. ☺️

[squick64]

I always go the day before, except for a B2B that left from Hamburg, where I flew in a few days before to spend time in Hamburg.

 

I was super anxious about my Star Trek cruise, especially with bad weather hitting various parts of the US at the time I was due to fly and having just gotten back from the worst flight EVER about 2 weeks before that. So with the next Star Trek cruise, I decided to go 2 days before. It's not even in as risky a time of year this time, and the hotel is far too expensive to spend 2 nights in, but there it is. I'd rather sit around wasting time and money in Miami and make the cruise than have any concerns about being delayed. I mean, poor me--I guess I'll have to go hang out in the hotel pool and drink margaritas. 😛

 

I've had to turn down NCL's "free flight" promo, of course, because it's only ever for the same day. I'm happy to pay my hotel if they pay for the flight, you know, but no...

[DCGuy64]

Another time it wasn't possible was our honeymoon. The wedding day (Saturday) had been planned way before the honeymoon, and we'd flown overnight Sunday-Monday from the US to Italy to board our cruise in Savona. Needless to say, there was no "moving the wedding day back" in order to have that extra day of travel!