Winsurf Barbados - American Airlines, Ye Be Warned

[DBAYS]

If you fly American Airlines to Barbados, don't say I didn't warn you.

 

AA apparanty has a HUGE problem of losing luggage for passengers arriving in Barbados. If you arrive on a Sunday, like we did, you can pretty much forget about seeing your bags until the 4th or 5th day of your cruise.

 

There is NO shopping in Barbados on Sunday's so you can't replace what you have lost and the ships gift store has very little.

 

Oh that's okay, we'll just shop on the next island. THINK AGAIN!! Windsurf is 180 degrees from ordinary which means they go to extremely small ports with NO shopping. Even in St. Lucia, we were on the other side of the islnad with very little to chose from.

 

I was one of 7 people on this cruise who had flown American and lost their bags. The lost bags line at the American Airlines luggage desk was the longest I have ever seen. They also have no computers so there is no way for them to track anything. You simply fill out a form and start praying.

 

I feel bad for the Windsurf reception crew because according to them, they go through this EVERY SINGLE WEEK with American Airlines lost luggage. They get most of the grief from frustrated passengers and are at the mercy of the airline to help them.

 

Take my advice....pack most of your things in your main suitcase and take a smaller carry on with 2 to 3 days worth of clothes. Otherwise your cruise will be ruined.

 

Oh, and if you're thinking that you are a FIRST CLASS passenger and therefor there is no chance that the airline will lose your luggage, think again. We were first class round trip and last night when we returned to Phoenix, my bag didn't show again. This is the same bag that I have traveled all over the world with and never had any problems, but American lost it twice in one trip.

 

YE BE WARNED

[AndreaRH]

Ugh! That's horrible. AA is the only nonstop option for us when flying to Barbados. I plan to pack very light and take as much as I can onboard the plane in my carry-on. Of course, my husband is more concerned about the airline losing our checked bag with his stash of wine for the cabin!

 

I think I'll tape a large "Barbados - BGI" tag to our bags and hope for the best. You wouldn't think it would be so difficult to get your bag from point A to point B!

 

I'm really sorry your cruise was hampered in this way.

 

Andrea

[jimlssi]

Thanks for the heads up on this one dbays. In a case like this, does AA deliver the luggage to the port agent and he gets it to the next port? Just wondered how AA would know where to send it. We will definitely load up the rolling carry on bags and hope for the best. Was your inbound flight the one from Miami? We are on the return AA out of Barbados at 0730am. Did you notice folks getting off the ship in time to catch that flight? The ship docks at 0430 am and other posters have reported the early debark seems to be going OK.

Thanks. Jim

[bagheera]

i am not surprised! we just returned from the windsprirt 2/17 st thomas run and were returning home to california when we were turned around over dallas (our connection) due to windy conditions in dallas. we were basically left to our own devices there and given a piece of paper with a phone number on to call to reschedule. we were told not to get in line at the check in desk, that they would not help us there.so, when we called the number given to us the message said that our wait would be 95 minutes. they then told us that the next available flight would be 3 days later and we were on our own for a hotel. we were not about to spend 3 days at the miami airport so 300 dollars a night later we spent in miami beach. the best part of the story was that they REFUSED to give us our luggage until we had a connection home so we nad nothing for three days. when we arrived home our luggage had been there for three days! so why didi it take us so long to get there!!!!?. american airlinines handled this badly!

[lovecruisingtoo]

i am not surprised! we just returned from the windsprirt 2/17 st thomas run and were returning home to california when we were turned around over dallas (our connection) due to windy conditions in dallas. we were basically left to our own devices there and given a piece of paper with a phone number on to call to reschedule. we were told not to get in line at the check in desk, that they would not help us there.so, when we called the number given to us the message said that our wait would be 95 minutes. they then told us that the next available flight would be 3 days later and we were on our own for a hotel. we were not about to spend 3 days at the miami airport so 300 dollars a night later we spent in miami beach. the best part of the story was that they REFUSED to give us our luggage until we had a connection home so we nad nothing for three days. when we arrived home our luggage had been there for three days! so why didi it take us so long to get there!!!!?. american airlinines handled this badly!

 

You can not blame AA for not landing at DFW. If the weather is bad, you do not want to have another accident like happened a few years ago.

 

As for your luggage arriving 3 days ahead of you, this is completely understandable. There are limited seats available - but there is normally space for cargo. Hence the luggage can make it but the people can not.

 

I have had my share of luggage lost on both AA and UAL, and I have been rerounted many times due to mechanical or weather. It happens and you need to deal with it. Just be glad that you arrive home safely and it was on your way home - not on your way to the cruise.

[stewcruiser]

What horrible news! How does this happen with such frequency? We are arriving on AA from New York on a Sunday (non-stop) so sure hope our bags arrive when we do! Thanks for the cautionary note .

[bagheera]

no, don't get me wrong . i am sure glad they didn't try to land in bad conditions but the airport opened the next day and still it took us three days to get home, plus nobody at the AA desks would help us rebook. also, if they know you are stuck for three days they should try to get you you luggage.i certainly don't blame them for the weather but they could at least talked to us!