Ship missed b/c snowstorm/flight cancelled

[njs]

Was on the 12/23 glory sailing. We left Nassau Bahamas a little late (12/24) because we were waiting for people who missed the sailing from Port Canaveral due to the nasty snow storms that hit some areas that week. Thought that was nice to wait for these people since the next day was a sea day.

Did anyone on these boards have a late start to their cruise because of bad weather?

[LHP]

Our cruise was not delayed, but I talked with a very nice couple whose parents (and brother) were sitting in Denver. Seems this cruise on Dec 21st ~~Fantasy out of New Orleans~~ was suppose to be a family reunion ...Christmas and all that for their parent's anniversary. All the family members were there...except Mom, Dad and brother.

 

Their parents had even made arrangements to fly in a day ahead (like we all recommend)...but that still did not do them any good. Even one day ahead still left them stuck in Denver.

[5668200]

We were on a ship in San Juan that was suppose to leave at 5:00. There was an announcement that due to a huge snow storm in New York a flight with many cruisers were detained. We waited at port until after midnight for the flight to get into San Juan. It didn't bother us at all that the ship waited, actually I thought it was great that they didn't take off without them. By the way, we always fly in the day of the cruise - we're going on our 11th cruise in Feb. and will be flying in on Super Bowl Sunday from MN. :)

[njs]

Yes I agree that it's nice when the ship waits for people on delayed flights. :) It's not their fault, blame the weather. Would be so disappointing to make all those plans and then lose out because of flight delays. We also fly in early - but weather that week was bad for a number of days. I didnt hear anyone complain about waiting in Nassau - guess the grinch was elsewhere

[GottaLuvCruising]

I had 13 clients with cancelled flights Saturday December 30th. I started changing flights at noon Friday, arranging for earlier flights and an overnight for some. Then those flights were also cancelled. At 1:52am Saturday morning, I finally had everyone on three different airlines with confirmed seats to arrive in time for the cruise. Then one of the flights was delayed so it would arrive TWO MINUTES before the ship sailed. So I called the cruise line and confirmed (as I suspected) that they were holding the ship for an hour due to late flights. My last client boarded 15 minutes before the ship sailed. I spent 19 hours rearranging everything (mostly on hold), but everybody is on a cruise this week.

 

Winter storms raise the devil with cruise plans. The moral to this lesson is BUY TRAVEL INSURANCE! With it, worse case scenario is that you miss your cruise but get your money back.

[kyrisong1]

We were on a ship in San Juan that was suppose to leave at 5:00. There was an announcement that due to a huge snow storm in New York a flight with many cruisers were detained. We waited at port until after midnight for the flight to get into San Juan. It didn't bother us at all that the ship waited, actually I thought it was great that they didn't take off without them. By the way, we always fly in the day of the cruise - we're going on our 11th cruise in Feb. and will be flying in on Super Bowl Sunday from MN. :)

You are a brave soul, flying from MN in Feb.!!! We live in Ne and we would never fly in the same day, always too many storms and stuff, and you guys get wayyyyyyyyyyy more snow than we do. Good luck and have a nice cruise!!!

[foreva]

speaking of travel insurance, if your flight gets delayed due to weather, what will they do for you? Do they just refund your money or do they help you get to your cruise?

[cuyahoga11]

I had 13 clients with cancelled flights Saturday December 30th. I started changing flights at noon Friday, arranging for earlier flights and an overnight for some. Then those flights were also cancelled. At 1:52am Saturday morning, I finally had everyone on three different airlines with confirmed seats to arrive in time for the cruise. Then one of the flights was delayed so it would arrive TWO MINUTES before the ship sailed. So I called the cruise line and confirmed (as I suspected) that they were holding the ship for an hour due to late flights. My last client boarded 15 minutes before the ship sailed. I spent 19 hours rearranging everything (mostly on hold), but everybody is on a cruise this week.

 

Winter storms raise the devil with cruise plans. The moral to this lesson is BUY TRAVEL INSURANCE! With it, worse case scenario is that you miss your cruise but get your money back.

 

I bet your clients love you. Everyone should be as lucky to have such a TA

[redskin80]

Glad to hear that they waited.

 

Being from DENVER and had to drive and live through that storm, I can feel for those poor people stuck at the airport.

 

From the 2 storms we had back to back I am still wondering when I will see my front yard. LOL

[Fatfish]

I bet your clients love you. Everyone should be as lucky to have such a TA

 

 

I agree :):):)

[bluefintuna]

We live in New England and really sympathize for the Colorado residents and people stuck at the airport. We are experiencing temps. of 50-55. Please don't snow Jan. 13; we depart Boston for Florida and Carnival Liberty (there are 37 of us).

[PaulMedik]

I bet your clients love you. Everyone should be as lucky to have such a TA

 

 

cuyahoga11,

 

I've never had a TA, but I'd sure like mine to do that if I did! :) I'd definately be picking them up a keepsake or two while on my cruise. :)

[LHP]

Years ago flying in the day of a cruise was normal.

 

But since flying has gotten to be such a zoo and fewer airline with more restrictive routes and less seats....it only takes one full plane to develop mechnical problems and the whole system backs up. There simply are not as many empty seats to handle the overflow when an aircraft goes out of service. (and that doesn't allow for weather, or bomb scares...heck~~now a days if someone just runs through security...the entire airport could be shut down.)

 

Now, if someone wants to take the chance, that is their right!

Not me. We go a day early even when we make the 6 hour drive to New Orleans!

[Quilting_Cruiser]

Years ago flying in the day of a cruise was normal.

 

But since flying has gotten to be such a zoo and fewer airline with more restrictive routes and less seats....it only takes one full plane to develop mechnical problems and the whole system backs up. There simply are not as many empty seats to handle the overflow when an aircraft goes out of service. (and that doesn't allow for weather, or bomb scares...heck~~now a days if someone just runs through security...the entire airport could be shut down.)

 

Now, if someone wants to take the chance, that is their right!

Not me. We go a day early even when we make the 6 hour drive to New Orleans!

 

Couldn't agree more! We had one bad experience with flying in the same day--supposed to arrived mid-morning but mechanical problems got us in barely in time! Now we always fly in a day early, and last time got there two days early. We loved it--lounged around the pool at the hotel and had a great time.

 

In August we'll go several days early to do a land tour before we cruise, but we'll be in Whittier the day before we sail for sure. Even with the sailing time at 9:00 p.m. I'll never risk a same-day arrival again!

 

Cheers!

Jayne

[gfkcruiser]

I was on the Liberty sailing 12/23/06 out of Ft Lauderdale that left about 4 hours late due to late arrivals.

[soccermomx4]

I was on the Liberty sailing 12/23/06 out of Ft Lauderdale that left about 4 hours late due to late arrivals.

 

 

I was suppose to be on the Dec. 23 sailing, but got stuck in Atlanta with a missed connection. No one at Carnival told us that they would hold the ship, so we had to get to Costa Maya, not an easy thing to do.

[soccermomx4]

I was on the Liberty sailing 12/23/06 out of Ft Lauderdale that left about 4 hours late due to late arrivals.

 

 

I was suppose to be on the Dec. 23 sailing, but got stuck in Atlanta with a missed connection. No one at Carnival told us that they would hold the ship, so we had to get to Costa Maya, not an easy thing to do.

[travellady]

In winter, when we cruise out of Florida, I book flights that leave Seattle 2 days in advance of cruise departure day. And, I look for non-stop flights of which there are few from Seattle to Florida. If no non-stop, we look for flights that go south and then east. No Denver, no Chicago, no Philly, etc as a transfer point in the winter. Los Angeles yes, Las Vegas yes, Phoenix yes, etc.

 

This year, though our cruise left Miami, it was much cheaper for the 5 of us to fly non-stop to Orlando, stay overnight in Orlando, and rent a car to Miami.

 

And this year, luck was on our side. The windstorm of the century hit Seattle the night we were scheduled to fly out. We high tailed it to the airport hoping we could at least get ourselves out of Seattle before the storm grew more intense, if only to LA for example, but no way. Flights were being cancelled left and right and many people were trying to get on any flight leaving. But thankfully, our flight to Orlando departed on time, just before the height of the storm. An hour later, a glass window blew out of the concourse we left from and the power went out in the airport. The next 2 days were difficult for people trying to reschedule. Luck was with us!

 

But, we did come home to rotten food in the fridge as our power was out for 6 days while we were gone (coudn't have timed this cruise any better :D ) and 2 large trees down that we had to deal with.

[Nicknak100]

speaking of travel insurance, if your flight gets delayed due to weather, what will they do for you? Do they just refund your money or do they help you get to your cruise?

As a former airline agent we gave a lot of priority to people on cruises, espeically if they were understanding of the situation, however, we also stressed the obvious importance of going atleast a day early! Seeing these people who brag about going the day of makes my blood pressure rise! We did a lot, if it meant getting pax to the next port of call, or even better, we got our airline (one of the majors) to upgrade an aircraft to MIA so we could accomodate the 18 pax we had on a little bit later flight that was originally sold out, getting them there ontime.

[katyj]

We are currently experiencing temperatures of 40 to 50 degrees which is un-seasonally warm, for us in the UK for this time of year. But we fly from Scotland where the weather is usually quite a bit colder, although not that far away.

 

We have generally travelled a day or two prior to our cruise, before as it gives us time to recover from jetlag:( . This time our TA has booked us on flights which go the same day as our cruise. After reading this thread I'm getting kind of nervous. I just hope we don't have any bad snow storms over the next 2 weeks. We fly and sail on the 20th...........hopefully!

[LUCY55]

foreva, There is a discussion about what happens with travel insurance on the roll call for our up-coming cruise. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=397759

 

You will have to read down aways. Basically under trip interruption and trip delay coverage your expenses for getting to the next port if the boat leaves without you will be reimbursed when you file a claim. I would make sure weather related interruptions/delays are covered. Also look at the percentage of coverage. Some insurance companies pay up to 150% of the cost of the cruise. Last minute airline tickets out of the US could be very expensive.

[JJPNYC]

We have generally travelled a day or two prior to our cruise, before as it gives us time to recover from jetlag:( . This time our TA has booked us on flights which go the same day as our cruise. After reading this thread I'm getting kind of nervous. I just hope we don't have any bad snow storms over the next 2 weeks. We fly and sail on the 20th...........hopefully!

 

Not to sound like a know-it-all, but if you are concerned about your flight arrangement just instruct your TA to change them to your liking. After all, the TA is working for you and you are their client.

 

I've had similar situations at the office where our admin would book flights that made no sense for my convenience or sanity. In all of these cases I've instructed the admin to reschedule based on my parameters since I'm the one who's traveling, not based on what is the cheapest flight or what is the easiest one for them to book.

[1milehi]

By the way, we always fly in the day of the cruise - we're going on our 11th cruise in Feb.

 

WHY ?? Are you addicted to the adrenaline rush you get from flying in on the day of the cruise , especially from MSP. I'm surprised after 11 cruises you haven't been "bitten".

Its not a matter of if ............. just a matter of when !

[1milehi]

By the way, we always fly in the day of the cruise - we're going on our 11th cruise in Feb.

 

WHY ?? Are you addicted to the adrenaline rush you get from flying in on the day of the cruise , especially from MSP. I'm surprised after 11 cruises you haven't been "bitten".

Its not a matter of if ............. just a matter of when !

[wmp2304]

Those of your with experience in the cruise industry & air/sea pachages - please read my post in the NCL board abour our Christmas week cruise air on NCL's POH. I need feedback so I can evaluate my expectations vs my options. Thanks!