Delayed Fight & Missing Cruise

[Over from NZ]

11 hours ago, NukeTim said:

I know, I know,to never fly in the day of the cruise departure; and I don’t think we ever have.  However, with our mobility issues, the amount of luggage, and the hassle of getting to and fro from London Heathrow hotels (no dedicated hotel shuttles), we’re arriving morning of Island Princess Southampton departure.  Booked a non-stop with 8am arrival, but have read all sorts of posts about delayed flights due to weather and cancelled flights due to mechanical issues.  We have the Princess Platinum insurance and even bought the airline flight insurance.  So, trying to be proactive and requesting advice and suggestions from others who missed their departure.  We do not have EZ Air (booked with mileage).  Was Princess Flight delay line available and did it help?  Would the airline change our flight to get us to next port of call instead of Heathrow?  Start praying for Friendly Skies?  And advice appreciated.  thanks

Your post contradicts itself. You state you know not to arrive the day of departure.. then you state you've booked flights arriving the day of departure. Wake up and go and change your flights.. lol. 

[Kerry's Girls]

There are hotels at Heathrow (I just stayed at the Sofitel at Terminal 5) just a short walk and many more nearby that have shuttles, so not sure that the small effort to get to one of them is worth the chance of flight delay.  When we landed there were many staff assists for people with mobility issues so that can be arranged, there are luggage carts, etc.  Flying is CRAZY these days - cancellations, delays, staff timing out, strikes, etc.  If it's not possible to change flights, if it were me I'd just get in the mindset that if anything happens, it could still be a wonderful vacation collecting the insurance and having a nice holiday in England instead and just let things play out. Have a wonderful trip!

[Wblotner]

19 hours ago, NukeTim said:

This summer and we do have Princess transfers.

Which airports are you flying through and at what times? Afternoons I’m the south are know for terrible storms so if you need to get to Atlanta that flight might be delayed. If your flight is direct to Heathrow you should be in much better shape?

[Ladyshopper23]

As a Brit, I would say do yourself a favour, fly in the day before, and stay at an airport hotel. There are plenty round Heathrow, some are attached/very close, others are a couple of miles away and reachable by the Hoppa bus that does the rounds of all the hotels, or via taxi.

I won't even risk flying to Europe on the day of. We're cruising from Copenhagen in August and are flying in the day before. Heck, even when we depart from Southampton we mainly drive down the day before, and we're only 2.5 hours away! It's just not worth the worry and risk.

[azbirdmom]

We flew into Heathrow 3 weeks ago on United. We connected via EWR which for United has been a problem hub for a while now. Our flight arrived in LHR almost 4 hours late primarily due to our inbound flight sitting on the tarmac for almost 3 hours. The weather wasn’t a factor. Thank heavens that we arrived two days before the cruise.

 

Delays can happen on any airline but United has some unique issues right now given the issues the Pilots union are working through with the company. I’m a 1MM flyer with them and belong to a couple of groups where folks with many more miles than me have been sharing all sorts of stories about last minute delays, cancellations and misrouted baggage. If you are able to change your flight to come in earlier I would strongly suggest that you do so. Otherwise I will wish you good luck!

[jsglow]

16 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

@NukeTim...we missed a transatlantic cruise leaving from FLL in early 2022.  We had always flown in "day of" and had never had an issue.  We live in the southeast, and as such always have to go through ATL to go *anywhere* (Delta).  Well, this was in March and we had a severe cold snap in the southeast.  Someone with Delta at our local airport apparently felt there was no need to check the de-icing equipment even though it was widespread knowledge that "this was going to be a bad one!"  We were to leave at 7:00am which would get us to ATL gate to gate in 45 minutes max.  I'll spare you the sordid details, but we finally got to ATL about 1:00pm.  The next flight to FLL would not get us to the ship in time.  So...we missed a great transatlantic sailing by not going in early.  By all rights...we should have been fine given the very short flight times involved.

 

This single experience set the bar for us for all future travel.  Five cruises since that ill-fated fiasco and we have gone early on every one.  We are retired...so we just mark it up as part of the entire trip and don't even give it a second thought now.

 

Just sayin'....

So sorry about your missed cruise. I completely understand and accept a true 1 in 1,000 risk.  What sometimes folks aren't good at is understanding when the risk gets to 1 in 20 or even 1 in 10.

 

Here's our plan for London Heathrow in a little over a month. N/S American ORD-LHR. 3 days of sightseeing locally. 10a train down to the port on Embarkation day. I've never been to London.  Looking forward to it.

[New2cruise2022]

5 hours ago, Kerry's Girls said:

There are hotels at Heathrow (I just stayed at the Sofitel at Terminal 5) just a short walk and many more nearby that have shuttles, so not sure that the small effort to get to one of them is worth the chance of flight delay.  When we landed there were many staff assists for people with mobility issues so that can be arranged, there are luggage carts, etc.  Flying is CRAZY these days - cancellations, delays, staff timing out, strikes, etc.  If it's not possible to change flights, if it were me I'd just get in the mindset that if anything happens, it could still be a wonderful vacation collecting the insurance and having a nice holiday in England instead and just let things play out. Have a wonderful trip!

London as a city and the airport are one of the most mobility-challenged friendly places. They are equipped and happy to accommodate. 

[New2cruise2022]

17 hours ago, ldtr said:

One good thing is that in the unlikely event that you miss the initial departure it is pretty inexpensive to fly to the next port of call in Europe to catch the ship there.

This is a very glass-half-full view. The money spent to change the flight to the day before and pay for lodging would be much better spent than scrambling (and spending at least as much money) to make the next port of call.