Princess air left us stranded!!!!!

[ggprincess2004]

P.S. There are no scheduled flights from Philadelphia to Copenhagen.

 

As far as the Toronto to New York, that route is flown NONSTOP by American, United, and AirCanada. There is also nonstop service to Newark on Continental, so there should have been plenty of alternatives.

 

Actuallly, at that time there were direct flights between Phila and Copenhagen, airlines have cut back schedules over the last 5 years.....so there aren't direct flights anymore, but you can still go to Copenhagen from Philly via London or Paris or........

[karatemom2]

I really don't have any words of advice, but I just wanted to say how sorry I am that this happened to you. It sounds like a real nightmare, especially traveling with young children. I don't blame you for feeling angry and let down. It must be so disappointing for everyone involved. I hope you are able to resolve your dispute with Princess and that the eventual wedding turns out to be wonderful.

[fathercop]

I am very sorry to here about your horrible disaster. I can only guess at your anger and deep disappointment.

 

All I can say is good luck to you from here.

 

From my own travel experience, I know that the odds are minimal of me recieving a major disruption like that, but that is why I learned to add an extra day in my plans to make sure I have some wiggle room to get to the port. Also, for big vacations, I always get travel insurance. I know it seems like a waste if you don't have to use it, but I look at it as me paying someone else to take the risk that my trip might be cancelled. My payment of premium is for me passing the risk to someone else. Though, I would never be with out homeowner's insurance, and I certainly don't want something to happen to my house, my risk is taken by someone else just in case something does happen to my home. I take this approach to my vacations, too.

 

Good luck.

[Megsdad]

I really don't have any words of advice, but I just wanted to say how sorry I am that this happened to you. It sounds like a real nightmare, especially traveling with young children. I don't blame you for feeling angry and let down. It must be so disappointing for everyone involved. I hope you are able to resolve your dispute with Princess and that the eventual wedding turns out to be wonderful.

 

A most understanding reply

[steponboard]

Since Princess booked your flights I believe they should help you. Did princess advise you to come a day early? They acted as your Travel agent and should have forewarned you of this scenario. Because 11 of you were able to get rebooked and elected not to then you relieved Princess of that obligation. As I see it Princess owes you for two people that could not be accommodated and nothing more.

This is a very frustrating and sad situation. It will be a "funny" story to tell in ten or more years about a wedding got canceled due to lack of participation.

[cherylandtk]

I am so sorry this happened to you and your group. Everyone above has already addressed the facts of what Princess Air will and will not do or take care of in this day and age. I am sorry this was a surprise to you, as I know you have been on the boards anticipating this trip for a while.

 

I really, really hate to say this next part, but I have to tell you some further difficult news; by going home to Toronto and not attempting to catch up to your ship, it does count as abandoning your trip. You all must make an attempt to get to the ship; only after the cruise is at least half over and you have been unable to find available transportation is it then considered reasonable (by trip insurance) to give up and go home. But not on the first day. Is there any way you can regroup and get to the ship? It may seem awful now, but see what you can do.

 

Get your TA involved (make him feel guilty by letting you think that cruise air would get you to the ship one way or the other, too). I know he talked you out of booking your own air with this as part of his reason, and now he needs to help you get to the ship. Good Luck!

[UxbridgeCruiser]

If you read the OP previous posts on another thread, they were having second thoughts on the Princess Air and were even warned by their TA about booking with Princess Air. It's unfortunate they didn't have the information they needed before final payment.

Coming from someone who lives in the T.O. area, I always fly a day ahead. Buffalo is also another option and is usually cheaper than flying from T.O.

[cherylandtk]

I read the earlier post and understood it to mean that the TA said they should keep the Princess Air, because of otherwise missing the ship. Perhaps I misunderstood, but the TA did not change their air ( only two weeks earlier, though, so there would have been added cost, just not as much as this appears to be adding up to now)

[David&Heather]

I think the moral of this sad story is to take out travel insurance and if things start to go wrong contact them and follow their advice.

[steponboard]

I think the moral of this sad story is to take out travel insurance and if things start to go wrong contact them and follow their advice.

 

I have over 50 cruises and have never taken out travel insurance. The premiums I've saved would easily cover a missed cruise as in this scenario.

[Colo Cruiser]

I have over 50 cruises and have never taken out travel insurance. The premiums I've saved would easily cover a missed cruise as in this scenario.

 

 

 

It only takes one disaster to change your mind. :eek:

[PescadoAmarillo]

I am very sorry that this happened to you, particularly on a cruise as special as the one you were trying to get to. By now it's obvious that booking air through the cruise line is no substitute for insurance. Maybe that should be a sticky heading at the top of this board.

 

As for Princess advising you to fly in a day early...I guess that's a lesson in the value of a good TA when booking cruises. If you look at the on-time stats for NWA in DTW, they're abysmal, some as low as 20%.

 

I'm sorry, too, that I don't seem to ever learn. I'm flying NWA through DTW this Thursday. I don't know why I let myself be lured by $50 savings..I know how bad NWA in DTW is.

[David&Heather]

It only takes one disaster to change your mind. :eek:

 

Not even a dissaster, a minor problem could result in a claim.

 

My UK annual worldwide travel insurance works out at approx £35 per cruise so I would have to have in the region of 45 cruises with no insurance and no injuries or other problems in order to save enough for a 'free' cruise.

 

For me it's a no brainer, the thoughts of potential costs of not being insured are frightening and could easily be in the 10's of thousands.

 

Maybe travel insurance is much more expensive in the US?

 

The following link is worth looking at:

 

http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travelling-and-living-overseas/staying-safe/travel-insurance/

[Pam in CA]

I hope you are able to resolve your dispute with Princess and that the eventual wedding turns out to be wonderful.

Your sentiments are worthy but their issue is with Northwest Airlines, not Princess. They elected not to fly in the day before; they elected not to get insurance; and they elected not to fly to Bermuda. Sounds to me that their TA didn't give them accurate or sufficient information and possibly misled them but from the OPs post, Princess tried to do what they could to accommodate them and "fix" the problem.

 

I think the moral of this sad story is to take out travel insurance and if things start to go wrong contact them and follow their advice.

In this case, they would have needed Princess insurance.

 

I have over 50 cruises and have never taken out travel insurance. The premiums I've saved would easily cover a missed cruise as in this scenario.

Goodie for you. All you need is one mis-step in a foreign port, an appendicitis attack, etc. to incur substantial costs in the thousands. Hope you bring a credit card with a LARGE credit limit in case the unthinkable happens.

[houch]

I have always used Princess air and insurance and except for a couple of cruises, have always gone a day ahead of time, 2 days for Europe.

With air with Celebrity we went from Mpls to Chicago to Dallas to Hawaii. We had several chuckles about that "direct" route. LOL

We have had some "direct" routes like that with Princess too!

[Momma Mojito]

[quote name='steponboard']I have over 50 cruises and have never taken out travel insurance. The premiums I've saved would easily cover a missed cruise as in this scenario.[/QUOTE]

I take the insurance out for more reasons than missing our cruise. One of my main concerns is medical evacuation!!

I am sorry for that you missed your cruise and will only agree with everyone else that flying with the way airlines are now, you should always book your flight a day before you cruise.

[steponboard]

[quote name='lady45']I take the insurance out for more reasons than missing our cruise. One of my main concerns is medical evacuation!!

.[/quote][B]Valid point if you're traveling in foreign countries and MediVac has cheap insurance for just that purpose and nothing else. You can purchase an annual policy and covers just medical evacuation.[/B]

[goldenrod]

[quote name='steponboard']I have over 50 cruises and have never taken out travel insurance. The premiums I've saved would easily cover a missed cruise as in this scenario.[/quote]

A missed cruise is one thing a medical emergency is another my uncle suffered a stroke on an Asia cruise they were in Viet Nam at the time, they did not have trip insurance it cost $47,000.00 for him and his wife to be air evacuated by air ambulance to a neurological hospital in LA:( that $47,000.00 would have paid for 15 cruises with insurance and then some.

[LoveThisCruisingThing]

Is it me or what? I don't get how people can have one "bad" experience and come on the boards and tell us "don't ever do.........." and advise the daylights out of us. One bad experience does not warrant a warning. Several (of the same kind) is but not one.

[TexEm]

I've posted this before, but a couple of years ago, my inlaws had purchased Princess Air but no insurance for their CB cruise out of FLL to the Caribbean. They were leaving out of Las Vegas on the day of the cruise, but their flight was really delayed. They ended up getting to Miami just as the ship was scheduled to depart from FLL. The ship didn't wait for them (they were the only ones on their flight going to the CB). American paid to put my inlaws up in a hotel in Miami, flew them to Jamaica to meet the ship, and paid for their hotel in Montego Bay. Princess staff were great, they actually refunded the lost days of the cruise to my inlaws in cash before they left the ship the last day.

Of course, our group of 23 other people had planned the cruise around my inlaws, and we all made the ship and spent the first few days without them, so we were really disappointed. Many phone calls/emails/faxes went back and forth from the ship--again, the staff was most helpful--as we at times didn't know where our inlaws were.

Did my inlaws purchase insurance for their next cruise on the Coral through the Panama Canal? No!! For them, I'm guessing they thought things turned out okay without the insurance. But on the Coral, my MIL got extremely ill (heart failure) and they ended up with a very large bill for medical services (the wonderful doctor saved her life, actually). I think that finally convinced them to get insurance in the future.

I always get insurance, but don't always fly in a day early (due to work schedules) and don't always use Princess Air (just depends on the fares for the routes). This board has really educated me about it all.

I'm sorry the OP's trip ended so badly, for whatever reason. Hope they're able to get something back. I wish them luck.

[hula girl 808]

[quote name='cruisinnorth'][FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=darkgreen]There is one other incredibly important lesson to learn here... When flying or using any type of public transportation to get to a port... go a day early... give yourself some wiggle room when something terrible happens like this.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[SIZE=3][FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=darkgreen]I can't imagine what it must feel like when your stuck in an airport and you know your ship is sailing without you and I am sorry this happened... but I learned long ago, nobody is going to watch out for us as well as we can watch out for ourselves.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]

[SIZE=3][FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=darkgreen]So, get to the port city early, spend the night, explore if you have time and the next morning get on the ship early and start exploring again. It is well worth the extra cost.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]

[SIZE=3][FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=darkgreen]One other thing I have learned personally from experience... you'll get a far better deal, generally, if you book your own air. You have better control over the times you will fly, the stops you will make on the way and every other aspect of the flight... Maybe it's a guy thing, but I would like a bit more control over things then I get when I turn the job of making the arrangements over to someone else.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]

[SIZE=3][FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=darkgreen]Dave[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE][/quote]
No, it's not a guy thing, Dave...I always book our own flts for the same reasons...less expensive, you control the times, whereas when the cruiseline books the flts they will go with the cheapest w/o concern of how long a layover you have between flts. It's just business for them. If you start looking early enough, you will find MUCH cheaper flts than what the cruise line charges...same goes for booking your own tours, always a lot less and you get a private tour & you can personalize it to suit your taste! It is more work but to me, definitely worthwhile!:)
Aloha,
Wanda

[hula girl 808]

[quote name='goldenrod']A missed cruise is one thing a medical emergency is another my uncle suffered a stroke on an Asia cruise they were in Viet Nam at the time, they did not have trip insurance it cost $47,000.00 for him and his wife to be air evacuated by air ambulance to a neurological hospital in LA:( that $47,000.00 would have paid for 15 cruises with insurance and then some.[/quote]
I heard a similar situation, except they did have insurance...it would have cost them $150k! I only get the insurance for foreign cruises. I chance going w/o for the US cruises since we do have medical & prefer to spend that money on a hotel room to stay the night before the cruise to ensure we have our luggage when we board.:)

[Cruisin' Chick]

After getting a red-eye flight from my first experience booking the air through a cruiseline (Carnival), which we did insist of switching to the "fly in the day before flight" that we were expecting...we decided that only arrangements we have to make to get to any embarkation port that we can't drive to, we would do on our own. Any exception to our rule would be if we're having trouble getting a decent flight, and then we would still be customizing it. Even if we're paying a bit more, we would rather control our arrangements and get there at least a day or two early and at a reasonable hour.

Since joining CC, I have read [B][I][U]many[/U][/I][/B] threads from people who have missed the ship, literally due to cruiseair arrangements. Just not worth missing part of my cruise.

[krikir]

Thanks for all of your opinions everyone. The biggest problem we all have is that we believed since we booked through Princess Air, then it was Princess' responsibility to get us to the ship. They did not offer to send us to Bermuda, they told us to fly to New York, spend 2 nights there and then fly to Bermuda to meet the ship, at our own expense. We feel that there was a major lack of communication between Princess and the airline.

Why would they fly us from Toronto to Detroit and then connect and go on to New York? There were no other airlines that could get us from Detroit to New York. Basically there were no contigincy plans. We finally got our luggage back late last night.

We do have insurance but it is not through Princess. We are hoping that Princess will come through for us and offer us a cruise credit to use towards a future cruise, if not, we will see what insurance will do for us.

The biggest problem with Princess Air is that we didn't know what our flights were going to be until after final payment. Once we see the flights, we can't change them because we had already given final payment. It is a catch 22 so to speak. Especially since we were coming from Toronto, we thought we would get a direct flight to New York.

Another life lesson, my husband broke out in hives due to stress, and my sister-in-law loses a wedding.

[Toto2Kansas]

[quote name='krikir']Thanks for all of your opinions everyone. The biggest problem we all have is that we believed since we booked through Princess Air, then it was Princess' responsibility to get us to the ship. They did not offer to send us to Bermuda, they told us to fly to New York, spend 2 nights there and then fly to Bermuda to meet the ship, at our own expense. We feel that there was a major lack of communication between Princess and the airline.

Why would they fly us from Toronto to Detroit and then connect and go on to New York? There were no other airlines that could get us from Detroit to New York. Basically there were no contigincy plans. We finally got our luggage back late last night.

We do have insurance but it is not through Princess. We are hoping that Princess will come through for us and offer us a cruise credit to use towards a future cruise, if not, we will see what insurance will do for us.

The biggest problem with Princess Air is that we didn't know what our flights were going to be until after final payment. Once we see the flights, we can't change them because we had already given final payment. It is a catch 22 so to speak. Especially since we were coming from Toronto, we thought we would get a direct flight to New York.

Another life lesson, my husband broke out in hives due to stress, and my sister-in-law loses a wedding.[/quote]

Again, sorry this happened to you.
Thank goodness you had some form of insurance. I hope it covers your out of pocket expenses, including your cruise fare and flights.

[B]Purchasing cruise air without paying the deviation fee[/B] [B]will not give you your flight assignments until after final payment[/B], this is standard with cruise air, your travel agent should have explained this to you when you booked. They book you on the least expensive flights, which often have more connections then you would have considered if booking yourself.

Hopefully your insurance will reimburse you for your expenses, but I can guarantee you that Princess will not refund you any cruise credits or compensation for your trouble.
You need to file an insurance claim immediately with this, and hopefully it will come through for you. What type of insurance and coverage did you happen to buy, if I may ask?

Good Luck, hopefully things will work out for you on this one.