Cancellation due to flights – Cruise and flights booked with Cruise Company

What is your experience regarding flight cancellation with the cruise booked with flights:

What happened.

We had to get two planes to the ;local port to the ship, the second flight was cancelled by the airline.

We were aware of flight cancellation by text and email day before sailing at 1730. We had taxi booked for 0700 following day.

The cruise company did nothing. We immediately phoned them and they said phone airline.

We phoned airline 75 minutes waiting and 14minute call, airline stated that Cruise Company would need to confirm details but reserved seats on later flights. Cruise Company sated in last phone call that they would not provide the airport to ship transfer and that they ship would not delay sailing.

We made seven phone calls to cruise company.

We started at about 1730 and all that above took about 3 ½ hours.

Would you expect the cruise company to sort it out?

If cancelled and you get your money back what compensation would you expect?

Why book flights with a cruise company?

What is your experience regarding flight cancellation with the cruise booked with flights:

 

What happened.

We had to get two planes to the ;local port to the ship, the second flight was cancelled by the airline.

We were aware of flight cancellation by text and email day before sailing at 1730. We had taxi booked for 0700 following day.

 

The cruise company did nothing. We immediately phoned them and they said phone airline.

 

We phoned airline 75 minutes waiting and 14minute call, airline stated that Cruise Company would need to confirm details but reserved seats on later flights. Cruise Company sated in last phone call that they would not provide the airport to ship transfer and that they ship would not delay sailing.

 

We made seven phone calls to cruise company.

 

We started at about 1730 and all that above took about 3 ½ hours.

 

Would you expect the cruise company to sort it out?No, they're a cruise company, not an airline company. In the contract that you agreed to, the cruiseline will make every assistance available to them to assist you. They did that. They told you to contact the airline.

If cancelled and you get your money back what compensation would you expect?What compensation would I expect? Depending on the terms and conditions of the contract I agreed to. Not looking to make a profit on my money.

Why book flights with a cruise company?Good question? Why would you/ I don't rent hotels thrugh a car rental agency.

Did you have travel insurance?

Said this time and ime again on here after my one and only ever time using cruise air

"Time, money and patience to spare - fly cruise air"

When it works people sing the praises of cheap tickets and brag about how much extra cash they had to spend on board. When it doesen't they bemoan the cruise line and the word lawsuit pops up. You are going to find way more tales of woe on hear than drum beating for cruise air.

While the two major cruise ship parent companies, Carnival and RCI each run their own air reservation systems they are basically the same. They mass buy tickets at low cost on popular routes and pass the savings on to the consumer. The tickets are highly restriced, most likely not endorcable and almost worthless unless everythig goes exactly as advertized. Even though the cruise lines say they will be there for you and offer next port protection and the like read the fine print in the contract. They actually have very little obligation to you other than to work with the airline where possible. If the airline doesn't accomodate them you get hooped.

Never again is too soon for me to ever risk a trip on cruise line booked air. They had one chance with me and blew it big time. No three strik rule in this shell game for me.

Sorry to hear about your troubles.

If the flights were booked by the cruiseline they own the booking & should be trying to re route you to get there ontime

The airline got you a flight but maybe too late to make the ship

Sounds like you were flying in the same day as the cruise which is not usually a good thing especially where you have to do a connection as you found out ..flights get cancelled for one reason or another

Not sure if you have any recourse with the cruise line but you can call & ask to speak to a supervisor or if you booked via a TA get them to do the work for you

Hope you had trip cancellation insurance that will cover this event

Thanks for comments.

Normally we would fly out before to say far east/USA but this was a local Med cruise with a "reputable" Cruise Company.

We have been promised money for flight and cruise back.

I await Cruise Company response so far they say they arranged alternatives which thy never did and offered to pay for phones calls.

We await a positive response.

Thanks for comments.

 

Normally we would fly out before to say far east/USA but this was a local Med cruise with a "reputable" Cruise Company.

We have been promised money for flight and cruise back.

 

I await Cruise Company response so far they say they arranged alternatives which thy never did and offered to pay for phones calls.

 

We await a positive response.

It appears you are from Europe and therefore would have the EU Consumer protections. So check into that first.

If it was my cruise and I REALLY wanted to go, I would book the cheapest one way flight to board the ship at the second port. Or take the train or somehow get to the second port. Then turn in the ticket you booked for insurance reimbursement. That may or may not work with EU consumer laws but it is definitely worth a try.

The ship won't wait, the cruise line has NO responsibility to get you to the cruise (read the fine print in almost all cruise contracts-anything that is NOT owned by the cruise line is NOT their responsibility nor are they legally liable for ANYTHING including inconvenience or disappointment).

And definitely DO NOT expect anything out of the cruise line for compensation. They MAY give you a voucher or OBC for a FUTURE cruise. But the chances of you getting anything in cash or something you could use NOW should NOT be expected. You are getting your money back. That is all they are obligated to give you under US laws. Check you EU consumer protections-they are definitely different and you may have some more rights than people in North America do. Good luck. Sorry about the cruise.

Rule of thumb,whether cruise air or booked on my own, I fly in at least a day early.

Did you book to arrive a day early? If not, sometimes stuff happens.

When we book cruise air, we tell them when we want to get to the port. We do not let them tell us.

DON

By "cruise company" are you saying "cruise line" or a company, such as an on-line travel agency, that you booked both your airline and your cruise with?

If it is the cruise line I think if you write a letter to corporate headquarters that they will probably refund the full price you are out for your air flight.

If it is an on-line company than you might be out-of-luck.

Sorry to hear you are having these problems.

UPDATE

All resolved but lessons learned.

WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM

We booked a fly cruise with the cruise company and the day before BA had to cancel the London to Rome flight and advised us at 1721

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT

We immediately phoned Cruise Company and they stated phone BA.

We did OURSELVES arrange alternative flights put on hold but cruise company would not confirm

RESULT

Flights and cruise cancelled at very short notice and all moneys returned.

LESSON TO LEARN.

We have done three fly cruises two have got us to the ship and back on the day, one had niggles, this last one did not work.

Go early maybe a day or two relax.

If you do book via cruise company insist on what happens if flights amended,

What is the cruise company 24/7 phone number and are they authorised to act.

EXTRACT FROM CRUISE COMPANY LETTER

Further to your emails regarding your aborted xxxx cruise, I have made various enquiries into the issues you have raised.

I have noted your enquiries which led to your decision to cancel your cruise, and I am truly sorry for the obvious disappointment this caused. As my colleague, xxxx, previously stated, British Airways contacted our Flights Department on the morning of the xxxx 2013 to advise that they had cancelled one of their scheduled services to Rome. I do appreciate that British Airways sent you an email on the evening of xxxx October 2013 to warn you of this, however, at the time you contacted our Reservations Department and spoke to our colleagues in the United States, we, in the UK, were unaware of this change, and as such were not privy to this information until the following morning. Of course, had we been informed more timely by British Airways, we would have made contact with every passenger booked on that flight and made arrangements to source alternative options.

As soon as our Flights Department had been informed of the disruption by British Airways, they began to look at all possible options for our passengers. However, during this time you had contacted our Reservations Department and spoke to my colleague xxxx, to whom you expressed your displeasure with the situation, and that you were unhappy to continue with the cruise. As such, we offered you a free of charge cancellation, which you duly accepted. When alternative flights had been found, you would have been contacted by either my team, or our Flights Department to advise of your new travel arrangements. We were able to do this for all other passengers booked on the cancelled flight, and they joined cruise ship , albeit 24 hours later than scheduled, having been flown to Italy or Southern France and accommodated overnight at xxxx Cruises' expense.

Turning to your comments concerning your telephone call, our Reservations Department in the UK office closes at 1 & 00 after which calls are transferred to our offices in USA. I am sorry that you were unaware of this and for any inconvenience this caused you, however, I would assure you that no offence was intended in this respect, and this operation has been in practice for over two years.

UPDATE

All resolved but lessons learned.

Thank you for letting us know the outcome. It's nice to hear the end of the story and not just the beginning and left hanging. Hope you enjoy another cruise soon. :)

UPDATE

All resolved but lessons learned.

 

 

WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM

We booked a fly cruise with the cruise company and the day before BA had to cancel the London to Rome flight and advised us at 1721

 

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT

We immediately phoned Cruise Company and they stated phone BA.

We did OURSELVES arrange alternative flights put on hold but cruise company would not confirm

 

RESULT

Flights and cruise cancelled at very short notice and all moneys returned.

 

LESSON TO LEARN.

We have done three fly cruises two have got us to the ship and back on the day, one had niggles, this last one did not work.

 

Go early maybe a day or two relax.

If you do book via cruise company insist on what happens if flights amended,

What is the cruise company 24/7 phone number and are they authorised to act.

 

EXTRACT FROM CRUISE COMPANY LETTER

Further to your emails regarding your aborted xxxx cruise, I have made various enquiries into the issues you have raised.

 

I have noted your enquiries which led to your decision to cancel your cruise, and I am truly sorry for the obvious disappointment this caused. As my colleague, xxxx, previously stated, British Airways contacted our Flights Department on the morning of the xxxx 2013 to advise that they had cancelled one of their scheduled services to Rome. I do appreciate that British Airways sent you an email on the evening of xxxx October 2013 to warn you of this, however, at the time you contacted our Reservations Department and spoke to our colleagues in the United States, we, in the UK, were unaware of this change, and as such were not privy to this information until the following morning. Of course, had we been informed more timely by British Airways, we would have made contact with every passenger booked on that flight and made arrangements to source alternative options.

 

As soon as our Flights Department had been informed of the disruption by British Airways, they began to look at all possible options for our passengers. However, during this time you had contacted our Reservations Department and spoke to my colleague xxxx, to whom you expressed your displeasure with the situation, and that you were unhappy to continue with the cruise. As such, we offered you a free of charge cancellation, which you duly accepted. When alternative flights had been found, you would have been contacted by either my team, or our Flights Department to advise of your new travel arrangements. We were able to do this for all other passengers booked on the cancelled flight, and they joined cruise ship , albeit 24 hours later than scheduled, having been flown to Italy or Southern France and accommodated overnight at xxxx Cruises' expense.

Turning to your comments concerning your telephone call, our Reservations Department in the UK office closes at 1 & 00 after which calls are transferred to our offices in USA. I am sorry that you were unaware of this and for any inconvenience this caused you, however, I would assure you that no offence was intended in this respect, and this operation has been in practice for over two years.

My underline...

This is hogwash. IMO

They were unable to go on their computer and see for themselves that flight had been cancelled? That is hard to fathom. Just because BA may or may not have informed them, the information was easily available to anyone who sought it.

Thank you for sharing this experience with us.

Very sorry for your disappointment in missing your cruise.

I am sorry you had to cancel your plans. Things happen. At least you did get a refund.

One thing the letter from the cruise air department signaled another problem with booking with the cruise line air division: As an individual, you were contacted by BA as soon as the flight was cancelled, as most likely were all the other passengers affected. The cruise line was supposedly NOT contacted at the same time. What this could mean: Those who booked independently were able to quickly find alternative flights and get to their destinations while THOSE WHO BOOKED WITH CRUISE AIR companies would be acommodated later. This would mean that less alternatives would be available for cruise passengers.

Another reason to book your own air...

When we have booked cruise/air we've been given a 24/7 "emergency air" phone number in case of flight problems. Had to use it once and problem was resolved. Were you not given that kind of number? Otherwise, calling the cruise line would just get you a reservations agent who wouldn't have anything to do with the air arrangements. That is why you were told to call BA but the cruise line rep should have transferred you to air/sea dept instead.

I'm sorry you had to cancel cruise but I'm glad you got your money refunded.

Said this time and ime again on here after my one and only ever time using cruise air

 

"Time, money and patience to spare - fly cruise air"

 

When it works people sing the praises of cheap tickets and brag about how much extra cash they had to spend on board. When it doesen't they bemoan the cruise line and the word lawsuit pops up. You are going to find way more tales of woe on hear than drum beating for cruise air.

 

While the two major cruise ship parent companies, Carnival and RCI each run their own air reservation systems they are basically the same. They mass buy tickets at low cost on popular routes and pass the savings on to the consumer. The tickets are highly restriced, most likely not endorcable and almost worthless unless everythig goes exactly as advertized. Even though the cruise lines say they will be there for you and offer next port protection and the like read the fine print in the contract. They actually have very little obligation to you other than to work with the airline where possible. If the airline doesn't accomodate them you get hooped.

 

Never again is too soon for me to ever risk a trip on cruise line booked air. They had one chance with me and blew it big time. No three strik rule in this shell game for me.

 

Sorry to hear about your troubles.

I don't think it works the way you seem to think. Just looked at RCI Choice Air for a flight from BCN to LAX. They had 9 carriers with 70 flight options for May 15, we will probably stay in Barcelona for a couple extra days and then fly out. During our four day stay there will be 320 flight options, I am sure the cruise line doesn't buy and hold three or four thousand seats. Also the price today is as low as 466.00 total pp. We have used choice air in the past and have never had a problem. We were booked on AA for a flight that was canceled at last minute because of hurricane Sandy, after three hours on the phone with AA our only option was to fly in three days late and arrive on cruise day or get our money returned. We then called Choice Air, told them of our problem and within 30 minutes we were rebooked on Air France and flew out the next morning, If not for choice Air we would of lost prepaid hotel cost and possibly missed our cruise. Our lesson learned is to always get cancel for any reason insurance. Maybe a TA or airline reservation agent could chime in and tell us how cruise air really works. happy cruising

It appears OP is in the UK and booked a cruise/flight package from the cruise line. I believe the rules for this type of booking are totally different then if a US citizen did the same thing in regard to refunds.