200 passengers missed their Freedom cruise yesterday

Just an informational post.

I have some friends who (were) set to sail on the Carnival Freedom yesterday, March 8th. They were flying down from the midwest on the morning of departure (Cleveland) and unfortunately because of the snow storm, their flight was cancelled. First flight in the morning, they were already on the plane, door closed, de-iced and ready for pushback when the captain made the announcement that the airport was closed and that the flight was cancelled. When they checked with their airline, they couldn't confirm them on another flight until Tuesday!!. They called Carnival to tell them about their situation and the agent told them that they already had about 200 passengers that wouldn't be making it to Miami and had plans to join the ship in San Juan.

FINALLY, after driving back home and spending the next 8 hours on and off the phone with the airline, they were finally able to find them a flight to San Juan on Monday just in time to meet the ship there. Although the airline waived the "change fee", they charged them an additional $880 to get them down to San Juan!

The reason why I'm posting this message is because I want to stress to my fellow Cruise Critic visitors two things:

- Try to fly down a day or two before departure

- Get travel insurance

So many times I've heard people "advise" in these boards that flying in on the day of departure should be perfectly OK, and that's not always the case....

I felt so bad for my friends, but at the same time, they played Russian roulette by purchasing a flight on the day of departure with no insurance. They thought that because it's march that the possibility of having a weather delay or cancellation would be minimal, but they were wrong and now they are paying for it....

Just an informational post.

 

So many times I've heard people "advise" in these boards that flying in on the day of departure should be perfectly OK, and that's not always the case....

While I agree with you about flying in a day early, especially from cold weather cities in winter, I don't think you are making an accurate characterization. As a regular reader of these boards I cannot recall a single instant where anyone under these circumstances, has advised flying in the day of a cruise. Frequently someone will ask if a flight arriving in Miami or Ft. Lauderdale mid-day on day of sailing will provide sufficient time to make the transfer to the ship. That is a very different question but it deserves an accurate answer. If you want to add that flying in a day early is advisable, that's fine but for some travelers that isn't an option.

Very good advice. I hope your friends make it, and have a good time.

Actually, even if they get off work at 8 pm, there are red-eye flights that they can take.

We drive to the port from home the morning of, but my DH still takes off the day before so we can get last minute things done.

However, i do feel sorry for them. Missing two whole nights on their wonderful cruise. I would screem if I had to miss a night or two.

I do agree with travel insurance. Even living where we do. Mainly because you never know what the weather will do, if someone will get sick, if there will be a death in the family, etc.

So Travel Insurance - a must..

Coming in a day early - recommend

If you can't then Good Luck.

We decided that if we do go from Tampa, or Miami, we will go the night before. We are about 500 miles from Miami. ;)

Unfortunate lesson to be learned, we always drive in a day early, but I do agree with your advice, anything can happen the day of and I would rather be safe then sorry. If you have to travel same day, the insurance provides peace of mind.

While I agree with you about flying in a day early, especially from cold weather cities in winter, I don't think you are making an accurate characterization. As a regular reader of these boards I cannot recall a single instant where anyone under these circumstances, has advised flying in the day of a cruise. Frequently someone will ask if a flight arriving in Miami or Ft. Lauderdale mid-day on day of sailing will provide sufficient time to make the transfer to the ship. That is a very different question but it deserves an accurate answer. If you want to add that flying in a day early is advisable, that's fine but for some travelers that isn't an option.

I agree with you that most of the posts ask if a flight arriving mid-day on the day of departure will be OK. While many experienced posters do advise that an earlier flight or a flight before the day of departure will be best, many posters do answer "it's OK, I've never had any problems". This gives the person posting the question a false sense of security.

For many of us who have cruise before, we understand the risks involved. But for the first time cruiser who is trying to make a conscious decision, the answer might not be so clear.

I know that not everybody has the ability to take an additional day off work to fly down the day before the cruise. But speaking about my friend's situation specifically, they had no reason to fly on the day of departure and not get insurance other than personal choice (they are retired and money is not a concern). They chose to fly on the day of departure because they didn't want to deal with the "hassle" of going to a hotel and they chose not to get travel insurance because they didn't think that it would be necessary.

While I agree with you about flying in a day early, especially from cold weather cities in winter, I don't think you are making an accurate characterization. As a regular reader of these boards I cannot recall a single instant where anyone under these circumstances, has advised flying in the day of a cruise. Frequently someone will ask if a flight arriving in Miami or Ft. Lauderdale mid-day on day of sailing will provide sufficient time to make the transfer to the ship. That is a very different question but it deserves an accurate answer. If you want to add that flying in a day early is advisable, that's fine but for some travelers that isn't an option.

I dont understand your post. First you say you say you cant recall a single instant where anyone under these circumstances.....how would they know if a snow storm was coming??? then you say for some travelers flying in a day early is not an option. I have seen several posts where people have asked if flying in a day before and paying for a hotel is really necessary. The OP was just trying to get the point across that things happen and the best bet for anyone is to fly in a day before your cruise.

Actually, even if they get off work at 8 pm, there are red-eye flights that they can take.

 

We drive to the port from home the morning of, but my DH still takes off the day before so we can get last minute things done.

 

However, i do feel sorry for them. Missing two whole nights on their wonderful cruise. I would screem if I had to miss a night or two.

 

I do agree with travel insurance. Even living where we do. Mainly because you never know what the weather will do, if someone will get sick, if there will be a death in the family, etc.

 

So Travel Insurance - a must..

Coming in a day early - recommend

If you can't then Good Luck.

We decided that if we do go from Tampa, or Miami, we will go the night before. We are about 500 miles from Miami. ;)

 

 

Are you kidding ? We live in Casselberry and it's only 250 miles to Miami.

It is amazing to me that people think that Carnival has some special power to make airlines fly when the airports/airlines have deemed it necessary to close or cancel flights. The folks at Carnival can help with making air arrangements but have no further control of flight delays or cancelaations than you or I do. And as you said we cannot stress the importance of the insurance enough. Hope those people can come across some sort of way to make it to their vacation I know how disappointed I would be. We can't fight Mother Nature :rolleyes:

Not just bad weather but airlines bump people all the time

Im a firm believer in flying in the day before my cruise. The few times i arranged my flights with Carnival, and flew in the same day, i was stressed for days there would be a problem. (there wasnt). Going a day earlier, completely lowers the stress level. (and it gives me another day of vacation). That's my insurance policy.

I am not a big advocate of travel insurance. I just dont think it's worth it. The odds of needing it are very slim (that's why it's profitable for them to sell it) so if you travel enough, (and not particularly unlucky), you are better off absorbing the costs if you ever have a problem, than paying for insurance every time you go away.

Regardless, it sucks that 200 people missed their ship.

There better not be a snow storm in NY the day i fly out for my 3/30 cruise on March 29.

Are you kidding ? We live in Casselberry and it's only 250 miles to Miami.

sorry. miss typed that and did not realize it.

It's not just weather that can delay your arrival. We always fly into our port city at least a day early. Our cruise last month our flight was delayed 3 hours in Memphis, not due to weather but mechanical problems. We had no worries. Our hotel room was prepaid so it didn't matter what time we arrived. The couple sitting behind us, on the other hand, were sailing at 4:30 as we landed in Fort Lauderdale at 4:00. They were frantically trying to get in touch with the cruise line to let them know they were on their way.

The stress isn't worth it to me, with or without insuance, which we also purchase.

I'm a seasoned cruiser and have always flown in a day early except for my first cruise when I didn't know any better. :D

But, for my last cruise a month ago I was taking my three grown sons on their first cruise and paying all expenses. The $$ were really adding up so I decided to take a chance and fly in the day of the cruise (I did have insurance.) Well, a freak snow/ice storm blew through as we were boarding the plane so we had to wait. There was lightning with it so we had to wait until that passed for the guy to get in the bucket truck to de-ice the plane. It ended up we were an hour late taking off and we had 45 minutes to catch our connecting flight. I had decided the cruise was history. (It was only a 5 day cruise and it would have been day 3 before we could even catch up to the ship,)

There is no worse feeling the world than thinking that you are going to miss a cruise that you have planned for and anticipated for. (By the way, we did make our connecting flight - they held it for us! - and the cruise, although we all had motion sickness by the time we got on the ship from the rough flight through the storm.)

Please, if at all possible arrive a day early for your wonderful cruise! :D

- Try to fly down a day or two before departure

- Get travel insurance

 

So many times I've heard people "advise" in these boards that flying in on the day of departure should be perfectly OK, and that's not always the case....

I have said it many times over to fly in a day or 2 ahead of time, also it has been said tons of times on Cruise Critic, especially during winter months.

Fred

Actually, even if they get off work at 8 pm, there are red-eye flights that they can take.

 

I couldn't find the part where they got off at 8pm but I would of just called in Sick that last day.

Fred

This is why I just live in Florida :D

Seriously - I have cruised out other ports and I would definitely go in a day early even though I would not be cruising out of northern ports in the winter!

This is why I just live in Florida :D

 

Seriously - I have cruised out other ports and I would definitely go in a day early even though I would not be cruising out of northern ports in the winter!

We are only 1.5 hours from Long Beach and we drive up the day before :D I'm not missing my ship for anything.

Fred

They thought that because it's March that the possibility of having a weather delay or cancellation would be minimal, but they were wrong and now they are paying for it....

March. Still in winter for a reason:

March 13, 1993: BLIZZARD! Missed ship!

Just an informational post.

 

I have some friends who (were) set to sail on the Carnival Freedom yesterday, March 8th. They were flying down from the midwest on the morning of departure (Cleveland) and unfortunately because of the snow storm, their flight was cancelled. First flight in the morning, they were already on the plane, door closed, de-iced and ready for pushback when the captain made the announcement that the airport was closed and that the flight was cancelled. When they checked with their airline, they couldn't confirm them on another flight until Tuesday!!. They called Carnival to tell them about their situation and the agent told them that they already had about 200 passengers that wouldn't be making it to Miami and had plans to join the ship in San Juan.

 

FINALLY, after driving back home and spending the next 8 hours on and off the phone with the airline, they were finally able to find them a flight to San Juan on Monday just in time to meet the ship there. Although the airline waived the "change fee", they charged them an additional $880 to get them down to San Juan!

 

The reason why I'm posting this message is because I want to stress to my fellow Cruise Critic visitors two things:

 

- Try to fly down a day or two before departure

- Get travel insurance

 

So many times I've heard people "advise" in these boards that flying in on the day of departure should be perfectly OK, and that's not always the case....

 

I felt so bad for my friends, but at the same time, they played Russian roulette by purchasing a flight on the day of departure with no insurance. They thought that because it's march that the possibility of having a weather delay or cancellation would be minimal, but they were wrong and now they are paying for it....

I totally agree, our first cruise this past February, we flew in the day before, for just that reason. We live in Michigan and ya never know what Mother Nature will thow at us.

Now I have a question...

OK?

what would have changed if they would have had the trip insurance?

would they not have had to pay the money for the difference to fly to San Juan ?

I am not clear on what is covered and how it is covered

would they have had to pay out of pocket to do this

and then it would have been reinbursed later ?

they would have needed air insurance and then cruise insurance as well?

Our tablemates last month missed the ship because of mechanical failure. They finally got on the ship in Grand Cayman....but it was only a 5 day cruise..so they missed half of it.

Years ago, when there were more airlines than ants on a banana....folks flew in the day of the cruise.

However, we live in a different world now. Fewer airlines with fewer seats to take up the slack when a plane has maintanance issues. Pilots and crew being flown to their regulatory limits. The constant threat that an entire airport can be shut down because some idiot thinks it is funny to call in a bomb threat or leave an unattended package. Add to that weather and just dumb bad luck...and I don't think anyone should do it!!

Yes, from time to time someone will post on here how they do it all the time without a problem. Personally, I think that is poor advice.

We also drive in a day ahead (even when sailing out of New Orleans...6 hours ahead).

Now I have a question...

OK?

 

what would have changed if they would have had the trip insurance?

would they not have had to pay the money for the difference to fly to San Juan ?

 

I am not clear on what is covered and how it is covered

would they have had to pay out of pocket to do this

and then it would have been reinbursed later ?

 

they would have needed air insurance and then cruise insurance as well?

Good Question since I've purchased cruise insurance only a few times and never had to use it. But what if?

Fred

Now I have a question...

OK?

 

what would have changed if they would have had the trip insurance?

would they not have had to pay the money for the difference to fly to San Juan ?

 

I am not clear on what is covered and how it is covered

would they have had to pay out of pocket to do this

and then it would have been reinbursed later ?

 

they would have needed air insurance and then cruise insurance as well?

You need to read the policy, each policy is different, many use "insuremytrip" to get lower priced insurance and each policy will have different limits and coverage.

You need to figure out the total cost of your vacation, including flights, car rental and insure for that amount, not just the amount of the cruise itself and then yes you would be covered. No, people dont get two insurance policies, they get one policy to cover the amount of their total vacation.

Some are cancel for any reason, some are medical only, different kinds of policies are available. there isnt one answer to your question, yes or no.

I have to disagree with the poster mfs2k on travel insurance. I certainly used ours for our cruise to Hawaii. I found myself in the medical center for 2 hrs. hooked up to an IV due to motion sickness. I'm very thankful we had insurance. That bill on our sea pass card was $546.21!! When coming back from Hawaii we missed our flights due to a sick passenger. The ship had to turn back and we were 5 hrs. late getting to San Diego. The travel insurance picked up the additional expense for our airline tickets and meals. Also one of our bags got "destroyed". The insurance took care of that too. We would never travel without it:)