Has anyone missed the ship right at the start?

[pwkreis]

and what did they do to help you out??

 

A close friend of ours just had an unfortunate incident with connecting flights through Toronto to catch the Victory in Miami this past Sunday and didn't make it to the ship. He booked his air through Carnival and when he called their collect emergency help line they told him they couldn't accept the charges. When he finally got through to 888 Carnival they told him that it was out of their hands and the airline would have to fix it!?

 

I always thought the idea of booking all this stuff through the cruise line was to help avoid or at least rectify these types of situations. Now it appears he will not get a vacation or his money back :eek:!

 

Anyone that has been in a situation like this before and can offer any suggestions that may help would be appreciated.

 

thanks all...

 

Peter

[yearnin4cruisin]

Unless he booked travel insurance he'll be on his own to catch up to the ship. I had always thought that too, but started booking air on my own when I figured it out. Many people recommend flying in the day before to avoid a problem like this. Hope he catches up!

[truecruiser]

oh how horrible for your friend. i do hope he can meet up with the cruise. this hasn't happened to us (knock wood), but i know it's happened to others on here. i hope they can help you with their responses.

 

i wld only guess that the sole option wld be to book a flight out of miami to the ship's next destination and meet up with it at the port. less than ideal, i know, but at least he'd get some vacation out of this unfortunate circumstance. perhaps he can recoup the money through his travel insurance. he shld call them right away, maybe they can even make the arrangements for them. (gosh, i hope he has it).

[truecruiser]

double. sorry.

[cruisinbuddy]

Well it's never happened to us, and to see that it doesn't we have started flying in a day before.

[pwkreis]

Well he had travel insurance but unless the airline agrees that it wasn't weather related he is SOL! I guess I need to read the fine print on those things too. Carnival typically flies people in the day before from up here (we were last March) but the superbowl kiboshed that idea. His agent tried booking other flights to help with the connecting flight in Toronto and bought him an extra hour but it wasn't enough.

 

Air Canada then offered him a connecting flight through AA for an additional $1000 because it wasn't with Air Canada. He missed their sole flight to San Juan by 20 minutes as well. They also wouldn't be able to put him up in a hotel while he waited for the ship there!

[Moondawgie]

It happened to me in April (along with four other poor souls). We were stranded at the airport in Reno. After much haggling and insisting, the airline sent us to Puerto Vallarta (through LA) and we caught the ship in PV on Tuesday (Saturday departure). I did not book through Carnival (or take cruiseline air).

 

Princess could not have been nicer when we arrived. We advised them we were left behind while in Reno, and they welcomed us with open arms - letter, credit, etc. and it wasn't even their fault!

 

The airlines on the other hand (American/Alaskan) were difficult to deal with (even though then were the cause of our missing the ship). They booked us a hotel in PV and when we arrived, the reservation was nowhere to be found. Ugh. Standed in PV.

 

Anyway, it worked out but it is difficult to catch up with the rythym of the cruise after 3 days running around trying to catch it!

[CorbinCatFan]

Happen to us on our Destiny cruise. We were to fly out of Lexington, KY to Atlanta then on to San Jaun. The Lexington flight was cancelled. Delta got us a taxi to Cincinnati then we were to fly American to Dallas then to San Jaun.

 

We sat on the runway in Cincinnati long enough to miss the connecting flight in Dallas. Delta flew us back to Altanta to spend the night. The next day we flew from Altanta to St. Thomas and caught the ship with 30 minutes to spare.

 

After that, we will never fly on the same day the ship leaves.

[truecruiser]

Happen to us on our Destiny cruise. We were to fly out of Lexington, KY to Atlanta then on to San Jaun. The Lexington flight was cancelled. Delta got us a taxi to Cincinnati then we were to fly American to Dallas then to San Jaun.

 

We sat on the runway in Cincinnati long enough to miss the connecting flight in Dallas. Delta flew us back to Altanta to spend the night. The next day we flew from Altanta to St. Thomas and caught the ship with 30 minutes to spare.

 

After that, we will never fly on the same day the ship leaves.

 

 

did you have to pay for all of this? did delta? did travel ins? what a mess for you!

[Wennfred]

There is always that one family that we get to look at from lido deck, the last ones to run to the ship :D

[cruisinjerseygirl]

Wow this makes me very nervous...I still have to buy my travel insurance. When I book flights myself I make sure that I book them at say 6am or 7am and I get to my destination at 12pm the latest so that we won't be late for anything, even if we have to sit around...this time we booked through Carnival because it was so expensive otherwise and it's out of my hands which freaks me out...I am somewhat of a control freak and until I get my docs I have no clue as to what is going on with my airfare at all and I hate it. Oh goodness, I hope we don't get stuck in this situation I really have to get our insurance right away just in case though.

[Ev1995]

Peter, Why did he miss the connection in the first place?

 

Was it a delayed flight in Winnipeg, de-icing, or was it just a way too short connection time in Toronto?

 

Ev

[Legend]

This is one instance that you WILL need a passport too. If you're flying into a foreign country via an airline you need a passport to enter.

[LHP]

Friends were sailing with us were to fly out of Memphis on our San Juan cruise. An entire Airbus full of cruisers broke down in Memphis. Northwest put our friends up in a hotel and flew them to the next port the next morning and put them up in a hotel there for a day until the ship got there.

 

But that was years ago, things may be different now. At that time, Northwest handled everything. (as it should have since it was their mechanical error that caused the problem) Yes, they booked their air through Carnival.

[truecruiser]

This is one instance that you WILL need a passport too. If you're flying into a foreign country via an airline you need a passport to enter.

 

 

very good point. everyone is always talking about needing one to fly home in the event of an emergency. but, missing the ship and having to try to fly into a port to meet up w/ it will bite ya too if you don't have the pp. hopefully, many will see your post. it's a good argument for getting it now.

[paleskin]

Do You have to book both airfare and cruise through Carnival to get flown to the next port?? I bought the insurance and booked the cruise through Carnival,but booked the air myself. I hope the insurance covers getting me to the next port to catch up if it happens to me.

By the way,I'm going on th Fascination from Miami to Key West and Calica.I cannot catch up at Key West because of new regulations,I'd have to catch the ship in Calica.What's the nearest nice place(Hotel) nearby Calica???Is it Playa Del Carmen or Puerto aventuras??

I guess I should have a backup plan in place just in case! How would I get from Cancun to Playa???? Yikes!

[Giorgi-one]

Lots of people think that booking air thru the cruise line eliminates all the problems. Some people think that cruise line will hold the ship for them. They may do this for a very short time if lots of travelers are involved but they have no obligation to do so. The cruise line assumes no responsibility for late flights or cancelled flights when they book air reservations.

 

Late or cancelled flights are not the only problem. Your chances of not getting your luggage are way higher than a cancelled flight. This happened to my wife once (when we were cruise novices) and she had no luggage for almost three days. I have met passengers on several cruises who had no luggage for the entire cruise. I have been told that this happens on every cruise. I believe that Travel Insurance will cover this and give you some money to buy some clothes. However, note that there is very little clothing available on most ships and at most ports.

 

Another consideration is the number of flights to the cruise port per day. If there in only one flight from your departure airport, leaving one day early may not give you enought time to get another flight or get your lost luggage when it doesn't show up at the embarkation port.

 

For above reasons, we always fly to the embarkation port two days early. It's like having a mini vacations before the real vacation starts.

[pwkreis]

Morning;

 

Thanks for the info...and my apologies for making others nervous. From what I understand it happens all the time...maybe it's not a bad thing to mention that it happened. Go reason to have insurance and to get there a day early.

 

I just found it rather upsetting that Carnival provides this emergency number to call and then just dismissed him the way they did. Never once did they mention that they would pick up $500 worth of the catch up flight as it says in their guarantee. This may have made the difference in deciding to spend a $1000 to catch up to the ship in San Juan and try to make the most of the vacation. I can't imagine you would be thinking too clearly when something like this happens which is why you count on the "professionals" at the cruise line to, at the very least, offer assistance and some clear options.

 

I can't fault Carnival all together because everyone has had a problem with some different cruise line at some time or another. Unfortunately he got the most unhelpful person on the end of the line that day. Would be nice though if they offered some type of compensation since they got his money and gave nothing in return!!

 

Peter

[Darcy03231]

This is why we always fly in the day before. We sat in an airport for over 6 hours once due to mechancial problems with the plane. If we were flying in that day we would have missed my cruise! You never know when there might be a weather or mechanical delay. We'd rather take an extra day of vacation and spend the money for a hotel room than try to scramble around finding and paying for flights to our first port of call. Even with travel insurance my understanding is you have to pay up front and then get reimbursed.

[cruisingwiththegang]

Wow this makes me very nervous...I still have to buy my travel insurance. When I book flights myself I make sure that I book them at say 6am or 7am and I get to my destination at 12pm the latest so that we won't be late for anything, even if we have to sit around...this time we booked through Carnival because it was so expensive otherwise and it's out of my hands which freaks me out...I am somewhat of a control freak and until I get my docs I have no clue as to what is going on with my airfare at all and I hate it. Oh goodness, I hope we don't get stuck in this situation I really have to get our insurance right away just in case though.

 

 

I am feeling the same stress as you jerseygirl. I might even be on the same flight as you. I am leaving from Wilkes-Barre on March 31 to cruise on the Triumph. I called Carnival and checked with them as to what flight we will be on. I was assured that I will be on the early flight. As I look I see that there are three flights leaving AVP and Arriving in Miama early. One arrives at 10:40, one at 11:56 and one at 12:10. All of the other flights arrive Miama after 2:00. He said it will not be the later ones and not to worry.

 

But, you never know. Delays at other airports and all.

 

My brother and mt mom booked their flight just a week before me on their own and paid only $219.00 round trip. THat same flight when I tried to book was nearly $700. So I booked through Carnival and watched the prices but they all stayed higher than Carnival.

 

So hopefully we will have no problems.

[Mary Louise]

This happened to a friend of mine this past Christmas. They had a direct flight to Tampa. First their plane was late arriving to the airport that they were leaving from because of bad weather where the plane was coming in from. Then the pilot told them that because it was a full flight and there was extra cargo, they had to have some fuel removed from the plane.

 

The pilot also informed them that they would be stopping in NC to refuel. This delayed them and they missed the ship. They did not have passports (they were not needed at that time) so they could not board in a foreign port.

 

CCL is being very generous by offering another cruise free of charge. It must be the same ship and the same ports. Also the ship can not be sold out. It was not CCL fault, and they are making good on this terrible situation.

 

ML

[VentureMan_2000]

Even when I drive to the Port... I arrive a day early. I mean, gosh, even your car could break down and you may need the extra day.

[santu]

I am a Travel Agent, and it does happen all the time. The Cruise Lines have contracts with the airlines. The airlines SHOULD have gotten your friend to the next port *if* and only *if* your firend was traveling with a passport. The regulations changed on January 23, 2007. You now need a passport to FLY outside the US and return by AIR to the US. Meaning, if you are on a cruise, with no passport and you get injured *near death* you cannot be air vac'd back to the US.

The cruise line should have helped your friend.

[Iamthesea]

santu - You are wrong in your statement about being Med vac'd!

 

From the U.S. Passport office:

Q. What happens to U.S. citizens who attempt to re-enter the country without a passport or an alternative travel card?

 

Under the law, the new documentation requirements may be waived under certain circumstances. These exceptions include individual cases of unforeseen emergency and individual cases based on “humanitarian or national interest reasons.” In addition, the State Department has processes to assist U.S. citizens overseas to obtain emergency travel documentation for those with lost or stolen passports.

 

 

My daughter is cruising without a passport because she booked a last minute cruise. I checked to make sure that if there were an emergency, that she could be flown off the ship to the nearest hospital (whether U.S. or foreign) without a passport.

 

If there is a true life or death emergency, a passenger will not be denied emergency evacuation because they are traveling without a passport.

[Mary Louise]

Hello my friends were flying on South West Airlines. They do not fly to Mexico. Would they still be responsible to fly them to their next stop which was Mexico IF they had their passports?

 

Thanks