Busing to Vancouver from Seattle,question

[ZPOOD@AOL.COM]

Need advice,

We are cruising 6/6 on Infinity out of Vancouver arriving the day before so we can enjoy the day and evening in the City. I had read that on occasion the cruise line will fly you Seattle then bus you to Vancouver. When I was making my final payment I inquired about this. My TA said it did happen on occasion but she had no way of knowing. I told her after a 6 or more hour flight the last thing we wanted to do was be hearded on a bus for 4 hours.If we were going to fly into Seattle then we would cruise out of Seattle. Not to mention we are paying $85.00 per person for the hotel package the night before through the cruise line so we could enjoy Vancouver. (It happens to be our 25th Anniversary)Not sitting on a bus.

 

A few weeks ago the TA called and said she didnt have our cruise docs yet but she had our flight info. We have direct flights to Vancouver from Wash/Dulles both directions.Great,We are elated.Then today the TA calls and said change of plans we are going into Seattle. GRRRRRRRRRRRR. My hasband said this was unacceptable. She said she would talk to her boss and call back. And she didnt.

 

Looking for some suggestions from my fellow cruisers on how to handle this one. Thanks guys

 

Susan

[ZPOOD@AOL.COM]

just checking to see if this posted, cant find it

 

Susan

[BrendiniOne]

We are sailing on the mercury on 6/4. Celebrity changed our por of departure from seattle to vancouver just last month. We decided to take the train to vancouver. It's about 20 bucks a person, and I hear the scenery is incredible.

[ajdegumbia]

I feel sorry for your situation. When are the cruise lines going to wake up and realize this is exactly why people book their own fare. I can tell you a horror story that happened to my folks with Princess. They were sailing on the Pacific Princess from Tahiti to Sydney Australia. They had hard copy airline tickets on United from PHX to LA and then Sydney to PHX. They show up at the airport 3 hours early in PHX for their UAL flight to LA. Low and behold Princess cancels their tickets. Didn't cancel the LA-Tahiti leg just the UAL legs. If it wasn't for a wonderful UAL rep (because it was Saturday and Princess offices are closed) who ended up feeling bad for them rebooked them (even though he really could have forced them into buying tickets at the gate...you could imagine the price of those tickets!!) they would have ended up paying for a cruise and had no way of getting there. To say the least my father and mother were livid. After correspondence back/forth with PLine reps, they were given a $200 voucher for a future cruise...(whoopie) and these are people that are "elite" status with the cruiseline. It makes you wonder what these financial people are thinking...nickel & dime them just for the sake of the bottomline. Unfortunately, these same people don't recognize the value of tools like Cruisecritic and the internet where information both good and bad is instantaneous transmitted around the world.

 

In regards to your issue, fight and fight hard. It may not do any good, but keep up your posts on sights like this and maybe..just maybe someone from the lines will realize bad press is not the kind of press they want.

 

Best of luck to you.

 

OBTW, they had a great cruise. The loved the Pacific Princess except it's casino was TOO small!!! They did meet several nice couples from Southern Cal on the cruise and have done several other vacations with them...so all's well that ends well!!

[Budget Queen]

This is a MAJOR reason you should have purchased a flight deviation. Your TA should have mentioned this since you only wanted a Vancouver flight. Some people don't want to pay it. When you just let Princess pick your flights you took this chance. Far more flights are available out of Seattle than Vancouver and it looks like you were aware of this possibility? It is very simple to book flights on your own and far better to get the connections and flights of your choosing. Princess is only a booking agent and will always go with the cheapest at the time. Be certain to verify your hotel package in Vancouver will still be available- the cruiselines do not bus on days they are not sailing, that I know of? You may end up with your hotel in Seattle??? If so - cancel the cruise hotel- it is significantly overpriced and book something on your own. Priceline is the way to go in both Seattle and Vancouver. Cabs are cheap and then take the cruise bus the next morning to Vancouver.

[BobJanice]

Susan, Congraulations on your anniversary! Janice and I are celebrating our 25th on the 7/4 infinity. We are renting a car from SEattle both ways as I agree with you after being on a plane for 6-7 hours sitting 4 more on a bus is not alot of fun. National has a rate of $79 one way and its desk is right at Canada Place..Hope this helps you out and please let us hear about your trip when you return...Bob

 

Infinity 7/04/2004

Galaxy 10/04

 

 

[montlee]

You got a lot more sympathy on this subject than I did on the Celebrity boards. One person told me to lighten up, it's a beautiful drive.

 

We got the deviation free because we are "Capt. Club" members, but the only thing they could do for us was give us our choice of airlines one on one leg. We did book the cruise less than a month before sailing, so I accept what happened. I checked the flights myself and find there were none that got me there at a reasonable time for the sailing.

 

They did make up for it tho, by booking me business class on the flight.

[ZPOOD@AOL.COM]

Thanks you guys for responding. I have waited all day to hear back from TA, I just broke down and called myself. She told me this must be a mistake and her manager is trying to resolve this with Celebrity. It is correct transportation is not provided the day prior to your cruise. I also mentioned was there a possibity of them changing our hotel package to Seattle? She asured me they would not do that. I will keep you posted.

 

I do love these boards, that is the only way I learned of this(airport subsitution) It was not mentioned to me when we were booking our cruise.I am the one who inquried about it 6 mo later while making my final payment.I thought booking the air/insurance and hotel package through the cruise line might eliminate this. Well see.

I am still excited though.

 

Carnival Ecstasy 11/94

RCCL Nordic Empress 12/98

Carnival Fantasy 11/99

Princess Sea Princess 12/00

RCCL Radiance of the Seas 12/01

RCCL Adventure of the Seas 12/02

Carnival Facination 5/03

Carnival Legend 10/03

 

Celebrity Infinity 06/06/04

 

Susan

[Happy ks]

This is exactly the reason we always book our own air, and control our own plans. I think it may be because airfare can be so much more expensive to YVR than to SEA, even with the cost of shuttles.

 

We booked our own air a couple months ago when I started to notice the fares increasing. I'm glad I did, our fare has increased over $80 pp since we booked. Is it too late to cancel the cruise air and book your own? I would have to say I would rather spend a bit more $$ than to have to travel an extra 4 hours each way. I don't care how scenic it is (I have driven that route before) it is still travel time and I would rather be relaxing on my vacation.

 

If you can't make any changes, I would have to say to try to enjoy your time as best you can. Don't let the situation ruin your cruise.

 

Kathy

[tessie40]

I was reading about the problems and I can relate to both sides. I am a former TA. Believe me it is not the glamourous job everyone thinks it is. The crusie line has contract air with the airlines. You may pay more your may pay less with them it all depends on the contract the cruise line has. Unless you pay for that deveation you get what they are given by the airline. The airline and cruise line is only going to guarutee to get you there even if it means the 4 hour bus ride. If the flights are full with people booking directly with the airline, travel agent or online then you get what is left over. The drawback of booking your own air is if your flight is late the ship does not have to wait for you and you are on your own to get to the ship. If you have booked the curise ship contract air they will get you to the ship. You also have to remember how many cruise ships are sailing in and out of Vancouver and other tour packages etc. this time of year and their are a limited number of seats into the city. If those planes are full you have to go to the next closets city. It's a gamble either way. I feel so sorry for that TA. I have been there. The curise line is not going to pay for a higher price ticket or more than what you have already paid for. They have agreed to get you to the ship, period for x amount of dollars, they didn't say it was going to be pretty. When everything goes well people love the airline, TA or Cruiseline, but let something not be just they way you want they are all the bad guys. Also remember the same about booking shore excursions on your own. If that excursion gets you back late and you miss the ship it is your problem not the cruise ship's problem. If you booked your excursion with them they will hold the ship. I reccomend that you watch "Airline." It's on A&E on Monday nights. They follow employees of Southwest Airlines and you can see just what these poor people at SW have to put up with on a daily basis. Airlines agree to get you from pt A to Pt B. Things can go wrong sometimes it is beyond the control of the airline.

 

Stephen's MoM

[Happy ks]

If you book cruise air, the ship will not necessarily wait for you, they will only assist in getting you to the next port. That will probably be 2 days later. The worst part about letting the cruise line book your air is not only the inconvenient flights, but the fact that you may not be seated together. I've never been so disappointed in cruise line flights, we were scattered all over the plane. Fortunately, a kind person changed with me so I could sit with my then 6 year old daughter.

 

In the future, book your own air, use the savings to stay a night before at your departure port. You will be relaxed and stress free, something else the cruise air will not allow for. I hate to be so negative about this, but I really feel more people should be made aware of it. Your TA will not tell you about the lousy air because they get a good commission off of it through the cruise line.

 

As far as excursions, it is true they will not wait for an independent excursion. Just be careful you are not gone so long as to incur this problem.

 

Kathy