When flights booked by Silversea get cancelled........ ?

Flights can be cancelled at any time for a number of reasons..... but what would you expect would happen in the event of planned in advance strikes?

BA have had several days strikes so far this year and Unite have announced more dates this month and next as they escalate things.

Funnily after I noticed on my destination, I could have booked direct flights with Norwegian on our departure date which I was actually tempted at one point to do... and separate myself from the super SS deal on transatlantics.

I didnt do that, but now a bit concerned what the outcome would be if they did strike on my date and flight not available. Obviously the two night hotel pre cruise wasnt made as a buffer and I'd be pretty miffed if they just suggested to fly the next day instead of using alternative airlines.

Its not something I've ever faced or thought of before - but with tight schedules - I guess this is potentially common. Has anyone ever been affected by this type of thing and if solutions are to use alternative airlines?

I'm wondering what would happen (apart from leaving 10 minutes later than currently schedule but arriving 6 hours earlier than planned!) If my flight was shown cancelled and I booked this alternative that was available to make the cruise and hotel bookings. Something SS or BA would cover? Or Insurance company?

I'm guessing helping myself and not making a claim would be at my expense?

Thoughts? Anyone had experience of this type of thing?

Hopefully they wont be on strike .... and I miss like I did last April by a day the pesky French Air traffic controllers looked intent on spoiling the party. I booked the flights myself before and to be honest, it was something that I thought would be an idea to book using SS for transport.

Flights can be cancelled at any time for a number of reasons..... but what would you expect would happen in the event of planned in advance strikes?

 

BA have had several days strikes so far this year and Unite have announced more dates this month and next as they escalate things.

 

Funnily after I noticed on my destination, I could have booked direct flights with Norwegian on our departure date which I was actually tempted at one point to do... and separate myself from the super SS deal on transatlantics.

 

I didnt do that, but now a bit concerned what the outcome would be if they did strike on my date and flight not available. Obviously the two night hotel pre cruise wasnt made as a buffer and I'd be pretty miffed if they just suggested to fly the next day instead of using alternative airlines.

 

Its not something I've ever faced or thought of before - but with tight schedules - I guess this is potentially common. Has anyone ever been affected by this type of thing and if solutions are to use alternative airlines?

 

I'm wondering what would happen (apart from leaving 10 minutes later than currently schedule but arriving 6 hours earlier than planned!) If my flight was shown cancelled and I booked this alternative that was available to make the cruise and hotel bookings. Something SS or BA would cover? Or Insurance company?

 

I'm guessing helping myself and not making a claim would be at my expense?

 

Thoughts? Anyone had experience of this type of thing?

 

Hopefully they wont be on strike .... and I miss like I did last April by a day the pesky French Air traffic controllers looked intent on spoiling the party. I booked the flights myself before and to be honest, it was something that I thought would be an idea to book using SS for transport.

Hello Les

There is a very lengthy thread on the Flyertalk site on the BA strike - see this link :-

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/1801836-ba-mixed-fleet-cabin-crew-dispute.html

One of the regulars has been tracking all of the delays/cancellations and identified that there has not been any Long Haul cancellations during the past strikes. There are also only a few Short Haul cancellations forecast for the next couple of strikes.

If you are going LH I don't think you will have a problem. I too have an interest as we are due to fly to Miami at the beginning of March to pick up a Regent cruise.

PS - of more concern to me is that a dark cloud has appeared over WHL since last weekend :(

We had a connection cancelled in Amsterdam ((SS ) Business. SS put us on the train to Copenhagen (I think it was). Very comfy and a beautiful ride. I got to see a countryside that I could have missed!

Hello Les

 

There is a very lengthy thread on the Flyertalk site on the BA strike - see this link :-

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/1801836-ba-mixed-fleet-cabin-crew-dispute.html

 

One of the regulars has been tracking all of the delays/cancellations and identified that there has not been any Long Haul cancellations during the past strikes. There are also only a few Short Haul cancellations forecast for the next couple of strikes.

If you are going LH I don't think you will have a problem. I too have an interest as we are due to fly to Miami at the beginning of March to pick up a Regent cruise.

 

PS - of more concern to me is that a dark cloud has appeared over WHL since last weekend

Which Regent cruise are you on? I'm hoping to pop on board the new ship in St Lucia if I can manage to let me have a mooch!

Yes, I've seen that most long haul seem to be OK and I'm mostly just trying to gauge an insight on what might happen in the event something could happen. Hopefully the strike doesn't even fall on my outbound flight date. (Coming back, I'm not that bothered.... they can put me up in a hotel and pay compensation for the delay on my return! lol) Thanks for the link BTW.... I started reading then soon realised it was 110 pages long! haha

I think more than anything, I was trying to find out if SS engage with alternative airlines in the event of this type of thing causing problems or just get you to ride it out. As I said, there is a direct flight (instead of the BA JFK stopover) which would actually be preferable - so much so, that I seriously did contemplate booking a single outward a couple of weeks ago when Norwegian had a special deal on.

Yes, that was a blow last weekend, but it was one I was expecting. I think when at full strength we are a match for anyone now - but when under strength, the cracks are there to be seen. Plus the return of Mane was never going to end well for us.

We had a connection cancelled in Amsterdam ((SS ) Business. SS put us on the train to Copenhagen (I think it was). Very comfy and a beautiful ride. I got to see a countryside that I could have missed!

Hmm... I know that Freddie Laker had sky train (And very good it was too and gave me my first visit to the US in 1980)..... but I'm not so sure about the trains to San Juan from Heathrow! lol

Yes the Trains in Europe are good for sure!, though I'm surprised the countryside from Amsterdam to Copenhagen would be interesting. (Havent done it..... just thinking it would be a bit flat!)

Good to know that SS did arrange something for you though, so thats reassuring. Was that done in advance or after you got to the airport and stranded? (Weird they trained you and not used air transport. I would have thought there would be several flights on that route per day.)

Re: the Flyertalk thread – always go to the end and work backwards  There has just been a post to say :-

I hear that, besides these and DOH, also at least one rotation on RUH, SJO, IAH, LOS and PHL have been cancelled between 17/2 and 20/2

I suspect that you, like us, may be going into MIA which to the best of my knowledge has been unaffected thus far.

We are in Castries, St Lucia onboard Regent Explorer on 20th March. And you ?

The ship looks quite spectacular, albeit maybe a bit ‘blingy’. After an ever decreasing level of satisfaction with Silversea (sorry fans) we are going on this Regent cruise to try something else out.

Regarding the issue of flights with the cruise line. (A long post so are you sitting comfortably ? …)

Firstly I know that Mr UKCruiseJeff posted some interesting articles on this very subject a few weeks ago at :-

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2443383

My experience on this concerns a cruise (and flight !) I had booked with Seabourn.

Remember the Iceland ash cloud a few years ago ? Well the volcano blew it’s top a few days before we were due to sail from Venice. Flights were cancelled all over Europe and we took a call from the agent a day or two before departure telling us that ours was affected.

We were offered to fly a few days later and pick the cruise up in Dubrovnik or some such place, but missing 3 days of an 8 days cruise was nonsense so we declined and didn’t go at all.

In the fall out from this we learned that because we had booked a flight and cruise together our purchase was deemed to be a ‘package’ and was covered by different laws than those applying to independent travellers.

After a few emails going back and forth between me, the TA, and Seabourn they refunded all monies paid, including the flights.

Those that hadn’t taken the flights through Seabourn were not so lucky.

In short, I understand that if the cruise company has sold the customer a ‘package’ then it is their responsibility to deliver all elements of this, irrespective of who their supplier is.

A lesson was learnt. I look at every itinerary and evaluate the risk before deciding to go with the ‘package’ or independent route. For the cruise in March I am in the latter, however my agent has sold me the cruise and flights as a package, so I believe it is their responsibility to ‘get me to the ship on time’.

I am sure there is more detail to it than this, but this is my understanding of the UK law as far as I understand it. Clearly this may not apply to readers from the e.g USA or Australia.

Re: the Flyertalk thread – always go to the end and work backwards  There has just been a post to say :-

I hear that, besides these and DOH, also at least one rotation on RUH, SJO, IAH, LOS and PHL have been cancelled between 17/2 and 20/2

 

I suspect that you, like us, may be going into MIA which to the best of my knowledge has been unaffected thus far.

We had a choice of JFK, MIA, PHL or Newark - we chose JFK because we were able to get an extended time on the ground. Long story - but we missed a connecting flight in Atlanta which had a 4 hour window because of the delays getting through US customs, security and passport controls. Nothing short of a nightmare! All the flights offered had a 2 hour connection which had alarm bells ringing. (We queued for 2 hours to get to the passport guy before being asked "have you got a blood sausage"!!!!) So elected to have 6 hours in an airport instead! lol

We are in Castries, St Lucia onboard Regent Explorer on 20th March. And you ?

The ship looks quite spectacular, albeit maybe a bit ‘blingy’. After an ever decreasing level of satisfaction with Silversea (sorry fans) we are going on this Regent cruise to try something else out.

oops.... I meant Antigua!

http://www.cruisetimetables.com/visitingstjohnsantigua-22mar2017.html

Feel like inviting us onboard? I'm off to the cruise show on Saturday and will be asking Regent if (as a potential customer) there is any chance we could have a tour of the ship! I know SS are very accommodating for passengers to invite guests when in port! We've got an "Antigua by Land & Sea" tour booked on this day too... Which is a 6 hour trip starting at 9 and ending at 3, so may not work.

Regarding the issue of flights with the cruise line. (A long post so are you sitting comfortably ? …)

 

Firstly I know that Mr UKCruiseJeff posted some interesting articles on this very subject a few weeks ago at :-

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2443383

 

My experience on this concerns a cruise (and flight !) I had booked with Seabourn.

Remember the Iceland ash cloud a few years ago ? Well the volcano blew it’s top a few days before we were due to sail from Venice. Flights were cancelled all over Europe and we took a call from the agent a day or two before departure telling us that ours was affected.

We were offered to fly a few days later and pick the cruise up in Dubrovnik or some such place, but missing 3 days of an 8 days cruise was nonsense so we declined and didn’t go at all.

Yes I remember it very well. I was sitting on an A380 watching the film "2012" and at the bit where Yosemite blew as we were approaching Pakistan and 5 and a half hours into our flight from Singapore after 3 weeks in Bali. "Bing bong... this is your captain speaking.... Due to Volcanic activity in London, we are turning back to Singapore". I was looking for the "you've been framed" camera! lol The previous night in "Tanalot", I asked our taxi driver what the big hill was a few miles away. "Thats a volcano!" I then went to say after he'd told me Bali has 6 volcanoes, "we only have two active volcanoes in Europe - so we would never get those problems like the BA flight had flying over Java in 1983". (Odd thing to say..... but I was in Bali and 1983 and that incident where a BA flight fell from 30000 feet to near hitting the ground before managing to get the engines started again...... it was something that stuck in my mind..... and boy what a strange series of coincidences. I got a whole week free in Singapore (hotel and 3 meals per day for wife and kids in 2 rooms - at a cost to Singapore Air of £4000

Got some great photos of an empty Changi Airport.... and out TV screen showing the plane flight path flying across India and the U turn! 11 hours to nowhere! lol

In the fall out from this we learned that because we had booked a flight and cruise together our purchase was deemed to be a ‘package’ and was covered by different laws than those applying to independent travellers.

After a few emails going back and forth between me, the TA, and Seabourn they refunded all monies paid, including the flights.

Those that hadn’t taken the flights through Seabourn were not so lucky.

Indeed..... If you book your own transport, thats down to do. It works at the end of a cruise too..... if they changed the final port for whatever reason..... not their problem your return flights are from a different airport and country!

In short, I understand that if the cruise company has sold the customer a ‘package’ then it is their responsibility to deliver all elements of this, irrespective of who their supplier is.

Indeed.... last April we were worried the flights we had booked from Gatwick to Barcelona might get hit by a French Air traffic controllers strike. I looked into booking Eurostar and TGV just in case!

A lesson was learnt. I look at every itinerary and evaluate the risk before deciding to go with the ‘package’ or independent route. For the cruise in March I am in the latter, however my agent has sold me the cruise and flights as a package, so I believe it is their responsibility to ‘get me to the ship on time’.

 

I am sure there is more detail to it than this, but this is my understanding of the UK law as far as I understand it. Clearly this may not apply to readers from the e.g USA or Australia.

Of course it goes beyond that too. Travel insurance might not see missing a cruise as the start of your trip.... and only cover you for the outward flight only!

Feel like inviting us onboard? I'm off to the cruise show on Saturday and will be asking Regent if (as a potential customer) there is any chance we could have a tour of the ship! I know SS are very accommodating for passengers to invite guests when in port! We've got an "Antigua by Land & Sea" tour booked on this day too... Which is a 6 hour trip starting at 9 and ending at 3, so may not work.

Les - we would be delighted to meet you on board Regent Explorer and show you around but as you say I don't think the timings will work.

You don't get back from your tour until 15:00 and your ship departs at 18:00. Depending what the distance is between the two ships I suspect you wouldn't wish to leave the Regent Explorer any later than 17:00. Our tour that day is not due back until 17:00 ! You may well be able to get your TA to get you onboard without an invite from us because the Explorer doesn't depart until 19:00.

Something that may help in the meantime. An editor from Cruise Critic has posted 999 photos of the Regent Explorer ship (yes 999 !!). The photos are brilliant and can be found here :

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2386115&highlight=999

This is way off topic so apologies to fellow CC readers - back on to Silversea air bookings immediately :o

Les - we would be delighted to meet you on board Regent Explorer and show you around but as you say I don't think the timings will work.You don't get back from your tour until 15:00 and your ship departs at 18:00. Depending what the distance is between the two ships I suspect you wouldn't wish to leave the Regent Explorer any later than 17:00. Our tour that day is not due back until 17:00 ! You may well be able to get your TA to get you onboard without an invite from us because the Explorer doesn't depart until 19:00.

So near but so far!

I would have cancelled my tour to get a visit, but I'm certainly not going to ask or accept you to make any changes to your plans.

Annoyingly, I cant even fly the drone over for a closer peak...... we're too near the airport.