NCL Escape 40 pax missed embarkation!

1) Get trip insurance

2) Fly in the day before especially in winter from the north.

40 pax from Canada had their flight delayed 2+ hours yesterday. Didn’t land /get to gate in FLL until 3:24.

First port is Jamaica which is tomorrow. Those meeting the ship are flying out 11:00am this morning.

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I’m in a NCL FB group and one of the members was on that plane. She was posting live. Everyone was rooting for her to make it! It was pretty nerve racking. Happy to hear that they will be joining the ship tomorrow.

We typically fly in the night before, but once we took Amtrak to NYC the morning of. I’m in the DC area so it was only a 3.5 hour ride, but I booked the 6am train and was a nervous wreck the whole time lol. I’ll never do that again!

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I’m in a NCL FB group and one of the members was on that plane. She was posting live. Everyone was routing for her to make it! It was pretty nerve racking. Happy to hear that they will be joining the ship tomorrow.

 

We typically fly in the night before, but once we took Amtrak to NYC the morning of. I’m in the DC area so it was only a 3.5 hour ride, but I booked the 6am train and was a nervous wreck the whole time lol. I’ll never do that again!

 

 

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Had many followers rooting for them! The original flight time 7:45a.m. would have been stressful enough.

Hopefully Sunwing airlines who they booked through takes care of them.

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I always fly in a day early, especially in the winter. In the event a blizzard comes through and cancels all flights, worst case scenario is we can drive to Florida in 15 hours. Might do 2 days early if we were in Canada.

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I just can't get myself to feel bad for them. It's the winter. Snow, and bad weather tends to occur in the winter. You're coming from Canada, which sees lots of snow! Anyone who doesn't fly in the day before is a fool IMHO..

Almost missed the ship too in Jan 2004 when there was a snowstorm here on NY. Never took a flight on cruise day since.

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we always do 2 or 3 days early, coming from eastern Canada we have to fly through Toronto, or Montreal, I don't get why people arrive the day of the cruise so much can go wrong especially in winter months.

I assume these people bought a cruise package from Sunwing so they had no control when the flight left. Sunwing has a terrible customer service record and consistently makes bad strategic decisions including flying in the late morning of a cruise. The company is one of the biggest tour operators in the world and as such can negotiate great rates with suppliers but it is poorly managed from the top to the bottom.

We are flying from very snowy, Eastern Canada in February for our cruise. It leaves on Saturday afternoon, so we are actually flying in on Thursday LOL.

We aren't taking any chances :)

This happened to us too~ flying to Puerto Rico (day of cruise) from Madison WI via Chicago. Our first flight out of Madison was late in departing due to the crew getting in late the night before ( 2 inches of snow). We got to Chicago just in time to see our plane taxi out to the tarmac. Ended up flying into Charlotte, spending the night on the airport floor then catching a flight to Aruba to meet up with the ship. It was quite an adventure as our luggage went to Puerto Rico, then back to Miami and eventually to Aruba. The good thing was that we got to Aruba ahead of the ship and that RCCL was aware of our situation and waiting for us to board.

Never again have we flown without insurance or the day of the cruise.

WE drive to the port and still come in the day prior.

I assume these people bought a cruise package from Sunwing so they had no control when the flight left. Sunwing has a terrible customer service record and consistently makes bad strategic decisions including flying in the late morning of a cruise. The company is one of the biggest tour operators in the world and as such can negotiate great rates with suppliers but it is poorly managed from the top to the bottom.

I agree. Sunwing and Transat sell packages with morning flights day of and early flight back as well. They have some good prices but I'm not sure it's worth the savings.

I flew day of once from Montreal and we were delayed due to technical difficulties. We got there on time but it was really stressful.

My cruise and flights were booked and insured with RCCL. But I found out if we had missed the ship we would have missed half the cruise as we could not meet the ship in Labadee Haiti and would have waited until day 4 Jamaica. Never again!

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Arrive the day of the cruise......No Way.....for me. But yea...a cruise package with air included. Ya pays ya money and takes ya chances and hope it's a good travel company.

I hope the rest of their trip goes smoothly.

I hope the rest of their trip goes smoothly.

Agreed. What a terrible start to their cruise. We almost always get to within an hour of the port a day early because we have the time and don’t like the stress. Obviously these people either didn’t have that option or for some reason chose not to. Either way I feel for them and hope they meet up with the ship easily.

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Always sad to hear about pax missing their ship's embarkation and you simply can't make up for the lost time enjoying the ship, even when not self-insured & covered for the extra expenses to catch up. Not a good way to celebrate New Year's Eve.

Keep in mind that airline/airport & inflight delays aren't just related to winter blizzard ... summertime storms caused more delays & missed cancellations than snow, sometimes an ice storm with a 1/4" coating is all it take to shut down ground ops outside the terminal until deicing can be repeated, as flights lined up on the taxiways waiting for ATC clearance for their routes. Frozen switches & mechanical malfunctions on jet bridges are as much problems as a massive blizzard when temperature take a deep plunge ...

These are true even if booked on a non-stop ... like when the inbound aircraft triggered a delayed connections, even with a freshly rested pilot & crew ready at Flight Ops lounge waiting.

That brings up another element - do carry-ons and keep a change of clothes & all essentials in a personal/cabin bag if flying on a small commuter jet ...we've made connections but our checked bags didn't get delivered by courier services until 8 hours later (paid by the airline to our hotel, late evening.)

This is one of those times when you have to have a spirit of adventure (so you don't make yourself and others miserable!) and you put this under "lessons learned" (give yourself a day ahead!).

We were flying into Orlando the day prior and there were heavy storms. All flights cancelled. Ended up flying into Tampa and taking a limo to Orlando. Got in about 2 am and a couple hundred poorer (for the limo service---which we were lucky to get at all!). We were lucky to get in when we did! I ALWAYS go a day prior.

As a Airline employee a good advise is to never fly the day of sailing as much things can happen before departure.

Unless you don’t mind missing the ship and catching it to next port.

I still can’t believe cruise agency sell flights same day as cruise departure.

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I often discuss flying in a day or more before a cruise and this is another example of that.

Even if it is summer I would still recommend arriving early.

Keith

What a way to learn the realities of Cruising 101. I feel sorry for them but do not understand their logic of taking a chance on the weather in North America in the early part of the year. For us in NZ 1 or 2 days early at least when flying to the Northern Hemisphere to meet a cruise ship, so many things can go wrong.

Hi all!

I usually fly in the day before too since having problems with aircraft in MN on the way to Hawaii, 2 problems then needed a new crew so that taught me a lesson! We had a little sleep in an airport hotel then an early morning flight to the next port & I don't know who covered it as we didn't.

HOWEVER, in Feb we will flying in day of because we're booked in an all inclusive type package with Sunwing & that's when the flight is! I wonder if in these circumstances Sunwing gets you there the next day. I have insurance & go to the airport hotel the night before the flight. Fingers crossed for a good day!!

~ Jo ~ :)

We almost missed an Alaska cruise flying into Vancouver day of departure. Alaska Airlines not only held the plane but sent a van to the plane upon arrival to get us on our way quickly. I sent them a thank you. We also didn’t have trip insurance for that vacation and so we really lucked out. Haven’t cruised without trip insurance since and always fly in at least a day before now.

40 pax from Canada had their flight delayed 2+ hours yesterday. Didn’t land /get to gate in FLL until 3:24.

The headache for everyone else on the ship is that this is no longer a closed loop trip for that group. Adding to the fact that they are not US citizens. So, US immigrations will have to process them into the country when the ship returns. Usually BEFORE anyone else is allowed to disembark. We were on a cruise last year where not all the “special people” showed for early disembarkation and processing. The whole ship stood in long lines for an hour, first on board, then in the baggage hall, waiting for the ship to find and escort the “special people” (eating a leisurely breakfast) to immigration control.

Living in Bermuda with limited flights, we need to book flights at least TWO days before cruise!

Hi all!

 

 

 

I usually fly in the day before too since having problems with aircraft in MN on the way to Hawaii, 2 problems then needed a new crew so that taught me a lesson! We had a little sleep in an airport hotel then an early morning flight to the next port & I don't know who covered it as we didn't.

 

 

 

HOWEVER, in Feb we will flying in day of because we're booked in an all inclusive type package with Sunwing & that's when the flight is! I wonder if in these circumstances Sunwing gets you there the next day. I have insurance & go to the airport hotel the night before the flight. Fingers crossed for a good day!!

 

 

 

~ Jo ~ :)

It was a SunWing trip , flight was delayed from Pearson ( non weather related) that didn’t arrive into FLL and gated until 3:24

Pax were flown to Jamaica this morning and meeting ship tomorrow.

At who’s expense don’t know!!

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