Delayed flight equals missed cruise

[mii]

I wonder where the OP is so that he/her can answer some questions.

 

marilyn

[AlexandNessa]

I wonder where the OP is so that he/her can answer some questions.

 

marilyn

 

 

Goodness, it's only been 3.5 hours since she last posted. Not everyone is on these boards 24x7.

[boatfloat]

Thanks everyone for your feedback. It's great to have such help and such a website for feedback. The good news is that we have insurance and the air travel was booked by Princess. I think the idea of exploring the legality of the connection only giving us 20mins is great since this is similar feedback that we received at the airport..

Katie

[DNCButler]

If the original flights had only a 20 minute connecton time, then that is not a legal connection!

 

 

Actually YES it is. Minimum connection time for American to Continental in ICT is exactly 20 minutes. If you doubt me I suggest you check. I just double checked myself and it IS 20 minutes, so Princess did NOT do anything illegal.

[Iamthesea]

Is your travel insurance through Princess or another company and will it cover you?

[cactusrose]

Actually YES it is. Minimum connection time for American to Continental in ICT is exactly 20 minutes. If you doubt me I suggest you check. I just double checked myself and it IS 20 minutes, so Princess did NOT do anything illegal.

 

This is valuable information. Where can I find the source? What is ICT?

[DNCButler]

You can call the airline directly anytime you doubt the connection times needed in this case it is American as they are the originating airline. You can usually find it online but sometimes it's burried on the web site. ICT is the airport code for Wichita, sorry!

[VegasGreen]

I agree with the above... pretty much the ONLY draw of cruise line air these days is that, like a cruise line excursion, the responsibility to get you to the ship is that of the cruise line. If there are unforeseen difficulties on the part of the airlines with flights booked by Princess, then they are responsible for finding alternative flights.. and if they can't, then it is their responsibility to provide an option in reaching the first port of call. Without this feature, there is literally NO point in even offering cruise line air.

 

The passport issue is not relevant here either. A passport is not required to board the Grand Princess for this cruise, and per West Coast's information above, a passport is not required to enter Mexico for US and CAN citizens. Therefore, though you may have personal opinions about the usefulness of a passport, the OP did not need one whatsoever in this case. Sure, it is always a good idea, blah blah, but that doesn't appear relevant here.

 

Still do not understand what we're missing here, and why Princess did not offer alternative arrangements.... and if it is indeed NOT their responsibility to do so, then what is a SINGLE advantage of cruise line air? Why is it offered?

 

 

EDIT: edited to say that I do know of situations when a way-too-close connection time has appeared on cruise line arranged air, only for the TA or guest to catch it, complain, and get the flights changed. Though Princess isn't obligated to do this, yes, in the future the best call for anyone using their air with a dicey connection would be to call them on it beforehand and try to get something done. A proactive TA could help in this case as well.

[DNCButler]

1. Passport are required if your are flying (not cruising) outside of the U.S. as of January. Here is the clip from http://www.state.gov

 

"Beginning January 23, 2007, ALL persons, including U.S. citizens, traveling by air between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda will be required to present a valid passport, Air NEXUS card, or U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Document, or an Alien Registration Card, Form I-551, if applicable."

 

2. Air provided by the cruiseline does not guarantee that they will either hold the ship for you or get you to the first port of call. If this is in print somewhere then I'm not aware of that.

 

3. The OP didn't know she had insurance when she started this thread it appears. However, she still didn't answer if it was a mechanical delay because that is generally not covered under travel insurance.

[VegasGreen]

1. Passport are required if your are flying (not cruising) outside of the U.S. as of January. Here is the clip from www.state.gov

 

"Beginning January 23, 2007, ALL persons, including U.S. citizens, traveling by air between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda will be required to present a valid passport, Air NEXUS card, or U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Document, or an Alien Registration Card, Form I-551, if applicable."

 

2. Air provided by the cruiseline does not guarantee that they will either hold the ship for you or get you to the first port of call. If this is in print somewhere then I'm not aware of that.

 

3. The OP didn't know she had insurance when she started this thread it appears. However, she still didn't answer if it was a mechanical delay because that is generally not covered under travel insurance.

 

Okay - as for #1, sure - I was just going by what WestCoast posted earlier - if that was inaccurate, then I'm right there with you. Up the creek without a paddle on getting to the ship with no passport. My mistake.

 

As for #2, I doubt it's in any fine print, but that's how it's generally presented by the cruise line, and for the most part, it's seen as the SOLE benefit of cruise line air -- peace of mind. For instance, see many of the views on this concurrent thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=527432

 

If Princess had a solid offer to get these guests to Costa Maya but couldn't simply because of a lack of a passport, then this is a totally different story. At that point, it becomes an issue of Princess booking lousy flights, the guest (or their TA) not catching this and not seeing it as an issue to the point of not getting a passport/not trying to change the flights, and everyone getting burned because of it. Surely the flight info was given out well before the sailing. Honestly, this scenario, from how it was booked to how it was planned, makes me wonder why cruise line air was even considered here?

[dutrie]

Travel companies and travel agents sometimes do stupid things.

We took a European river cruise a couple of years ago and booked thru a local travel agent. When I received the travel info and vouchers I carefully checked the flights and times. We were scheduled to arrive in Budapest AFTER the ship left!

 

The travel agent never noticed this. We had to negotiate, but eventually found seats on a plane leaving a day earlier.

 

As for cruises leaving US ports, we have been on 9 cruises and always arrived by air on the day of the cruise without delays or problems. I guess we have just been lucky.

[West Coast]

1. Passport are required if your are flying (not cruising) outside of the U.S. as of January.

 

DNC, I believe you are incorrect. See this link from the department of homeland security:

http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1169569034747.shtm

 

Beginning today, citizens of the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Bermuda are now required to present a passport to enter the United States when arriving by air from any part of the Western Hemisphere.

 

The air requirement is part of the departments of State and Homeland Security's Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. This change in travel document requirements is the result of recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission, which Congress subsequently passed into law in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004.

 

 

The requirement to present a passport upon arrival to a foreign country is a requirement of the govenrment of the country you are visiting - not the one you are departing from. At this time, a US or Canadian citizen does not require a passport to enter Canada or Mexico by land, sea or air.

 

Getting back into the USA is another story and this is where the confusion lies. All nationals now require a passport to FLY into the USA, regardless of their point of origin. And to make it more confusing, US and Canadian citizens can presently enter the USA by land or sea with only Birth Certificate/Gov't issued photo ID.

[DNCButler]

I wasn't trying to repond just to you, the new regulations are confusing. You can get on a cruise and GO to Mexico without a passport but you can't fly to Mexico without a passport. Confusing.

 

As for the cruise line air, I don't want to get into any fight over what they should do vs. what they do do. They (the c/l) do not say anything about they will fly you to the first port of call. Also this was spring break. I couldn't get any seats to anywhere for the last several weeks at a decent price. The OP has not given any information as to why she booked this air, just that she felt the c/l was responsible. Once the c/l comes back with the air that is usually it. No negotiation. They assign what is available based on a first come first assigned basis. They never ever guarantee a direct flight or a specific time and connection, airline or anything like that. If you want that then you will pay for that as a custom air service fee. Like I said before, without more info from the person who started all this none of us will know what her situation is or WHY she was delayed.

 

I hope that the people reading this take away some valuable information here. Always take insurance out when you travel, even if you are going in a day early. And if it's a mechanical delay then it's up to the airline NOT the cruise line to get you to the first non-US port of call.

[West Coast]

Okay - as for #1, sure - I was just going by what WestCoast posted earlier - if that was inaccurate, then I'm right there with you.

 

Sorry, but I was not inaccurate.

[West Coast]

I wasn't trying to repond just to you, the new regulations are confusing. You can get on a cruise and GO to Mexico without a passport but you can't fly to Mexico without a passport. Confusing.

 

 

Yes, you can fly to Mexico without a passport - you just can't fly BACK INTO the USA without one.

[VegasGreen]

Sorry, but I was not inaccurate.

 

Then I stick with the FIRST post I made. :) They should have been flown to Mexico then, period. Not offering that completely renders the concept of cruise line air impotent, IMHO.

[DNCButler]

DNC, I believe you are incorrect. See this link from the department of homeland security:

http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1169569034747.shtm

 

 

 

 

The requirement to present a passport upon arrival to a foreign country is a requirement of the govenrment of the country you are visiting - not the one you are departing from. At this time, a US or Canadian citizen does not require a passport to enter Canada or Mexico by land, sea or air.

 

Getting back into the USA is another story and this is where the confusion lies. All nationals now require a passport to FLY into the USA, regardless of their point of origin. And to make it more confusing, US and Canadian citizens can presently enter the USA by land or sea with only Birth Certificate/Gov't issued photo ID.

 

LMAO! I knew someone would bring this up. Ok, first off, I know that I would not even try this. All it takes is one TSA or airline agent with a bug up her butt who wants to split hairs and no one is going anywhere. I honestly don't think they would have let them out of the country without passports (as she was told) and upon arrival in Mexico WITHOUT a passport there is again a good chance they would have had problems and would have been refused entry into the country. The wording on this is terrible and confusing at best. But yes, you got me, I was trying to not get into another debate on the what if's on air travel. Leave it to the government to make this difficult.

[dforeigner]

LMAO! I knew someone would bring this up. Ok, first off, I know that I would not even try this. All it takes is one TSA or airline agent with a bug up her butt who wants to split hairs and no one is going anywhere. I honestly don't think they would have let them out of the country without passports (as she was told) and upon arrival in Mexico WITHOUT a passport there is again a good chance they would have had problems and would have been refused entry into the country. The wording on this is terrible and confusing at best. But yes, you got me, I was trying to not get into another debate on the what if's on air travel. Leave it to the government to make this difficult.

 

I hate to break it to you, but West Coast is correct. Mexico does not require that US Citizens present a passport to enter their Country.

[DNCButler]

And West Coast, just to remind you again, Princess was no obligated to fly them anywhere, this was the airlines responsibility or Mother Natures. I'd still like to know why they were late taking off when other airlines were operating at normal schedules, sounds like this might have been a mechanical delay which puts this back on American not Mother Nature.

 

You stated this was an illegal connection, it was not. If Princess arranged to fly them into Cancun or even Cozumel and they were refused entry then people would be screaming that Princess never should have asked the airline to fly them to Mexico. And don't think this doesn't happen. Mexico is not the easiest country to deal with since January the new changes. I'm waiting to hear back from the OP. Some things don't add up.

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Absolutely unacceptable.

Princess should be responsible. It is their fault. I do not feel as though insurance should pick up the tab for Princess's short comings. Why should the insurance company pay for it? This is why insurance is so high. Princess booked you on a connection that was next to impossible to make. Regardless of whether you have insurance I think Princess should pay the price of THEIR mistake.:mad:

As far as your future bookings, it would be wise to add insurance.

 

I agree with this, if the airlines don't want to take the responsibility then they shouldn't book air:rolleyes:

[DNCButler]

I hate to break it to you, but West Coast is correct. Mexico does not require that US Citizens present a passport to enter their Country.

 

See my post above please before "breaking" anything to me ok? And if you feel comfortable trying this I'd love to know how it works for you when you get back ok? This is exactly what I was trying to not get into when I posted it but I wanted to make sure that people know about the new regulations. It's no longer like the good old days where you grab your birth certificate and fly to Mexico and clear through without much of a check. Even WITH passports customs lines are longer than ever before. But hey, you want to try it, just let us know how that works when you get back. Thanks!

[VegasGreen]

And West Coast, just to remind you again, Princess was no obligated to fly them anywhere, this was the airlines responsibility or Mother Natures. I'd still like to know why they were late taking off when other airlines were operating at normal schedules, sounds like this might have been a mechanical delay which puts this back on American not Mother Nature.

 

You stated this was an illegal connection, it was not. If Princess arranged to fly them into Cancun or even Cozumel and they were refused entry then people would be screaming that Princess never should have asked the airline to fly them to Mexico. And don't think this doesn't happen. Mexico is not the easiest country to deal with since January the new changes. I'm waiting to hear back from the OP. Some things don't add up.

 

If Princess wasn't obligated to make any alternative arrangements, what is the point of cruise line air?? Should all the people who have stated that they book cruise line air for "peace of mind" due to not having to worry about missed connections and airline delays need to seriously reconsider? It sure sounds like it.

 

Why would they be refused entry into Mexico? It seems US citizens CAN fly in, just not return to the US via air.

[DNCButler]

Ok, this should be simple. She said she was already told the day of travel that they wouldn't be able to fly her there without a passport, doesn't that right there explain the confusion that exists these days? And if she had been flown to Cancun and met up with a customs official who didn't like her passport or refused her entry then she'd have to leave a country and fly back to the US without a passport, which is not allowed. Now I hope that you can see where that is a situation that many people would not want to deal with or chance.

 

Now, if Princess booked air on the wrong day, to the wrong city, to arrive after the ship sails, then it's Princess fault. However, as a booking agent they booked legal flights, on legal carriers, on the correct days, and in time for the passengers to make the sailing. If the passengers did not have insurance then they would be SOL, but she now says they have insurance. If she had called the insurance agency the day of the cruise, or within 48 hours even of the day of travel, the insurance company would have been able to handle this and they would have gotten their cruise or would have started a claim to get their money back in full.

 

And Vegas Green, yes plain and simple, if anyone thinks that booking your flights with any cruise line guarantees you that they will hold the ship or fly you to the first port of call without insurance, yes, they should definately reconsider.

 

The fact that the OP come on here a week later complaining about it totally confuses the heck out of me. How can you not know for a whole week that you didn't have insurance? Yet, she knows enough to come on here and start a thread preaching the ills of the cruise line. Believe me, if I saw where the cruise line did something horrible here I'd be giving her my sympathy and I'm sure before I could post it, 20 other people would be beating me to providing her the phone number to customer service.

[DNCButler]

Hmmm....my edit disappeared. Vegas, what I tried to add to my post was that yes, if anyone thinks that the cruise line is obligated to hold the ship or fly you to the first port of call without insurance then they should book the air on their own. I personally would love it if the cruise lines would stop grabbing up seats in blocks and holding them for their passengers.

[Hondu]

If people book their own flights, it would be cheaper. So why do some people pay premium to cruise lines for booking their air?