Flight cancellation - what to do about transfer?!

[dchip]

So sad for you. :(

 

Denise

[paul929207]

Glad you are not letting this mess ruin your day. Good luck on your next cruise

[cruisingberger]

Oh No!!! I just got home from work and logged in to check on you. I'm so sorry! You have an amazing attitude about it! Hope to get to sail with you sometime:)

[CI66774]

OP - so sorry about the circumstances. At least you'll get your FCC and port charges/fees back. As others have said, insurance is a must, as is flying in the day before. Hope your next cruise goes smoothly.

[Sailingpeace]

So sorry you missed your cruise. As others have said, I admire your positive attitude. That also is an important lesson to learn and remember for many of us. I will sure remember what you said and use it : " bad day, not a bad life" , thanks.

 

You will sooo deserve to spoil yourselves on your next cruise, you will be allowed twice the fun.

Take care

Edited October 24, 2014 by Sailingpeace

[SoCal Cruiser78]

Thanks for all the well-wishes. A sad sad Iowa day...no cruise for us!! Cancelled flight, delay to cancel, and another delay. No way we can make the connection, even if the ship left 3 hours late we would miss it. Ugh how I needed this mini-break! Live and learn, you know?! We did get our FCCs back, just not the cruise cost (another hard lesson...so many today!), and Princess customer service was very kind. Hope someone gets a great balcony upgrade today in our absence!! Have a great trip, Golden! :')

 

So sorry to hear this. I was hoping you would make it somehow since the Golden has been sailing late recently. Hope you can take a "do-over" cruise very soon!

Edited October 25, 2014 by Ryndam2002

[emmieepoo]

Thanks for all the well-wishes. A sad sad Iowa day...no cruise for us!! Cancelled flight, delay to cancel, and another delay. No way we can make the connection, even if the ship left 3 hours late we would miss it. Ugh how I needed this mini-break! Live and learn, you know?! We did get our FCCs back, just not the cruise cost (another hard lesson...so many today!), and Princess customer service was very kind. Hope someone gets a great balcony upgrade today in our absence!! Have a great trip, Golden! :')

 

We missed our cruise ship several years ago because our connecting flight was late. When we got to Ft. Lauderdale, we got a hotel and flew home the next day. We learned a valuable lesson. We always go a day or two before our cruise. Sad to hear about your day!

[Northender]

Awwww. So sad to read this. I hope you get to cruise soon.

 

Our Plan A is to fly 2 days ahead. It used to be 1 day, but that became very stressful when we moved to Maine and the Portland airport does not have any non-stop flights to most cities.:( So sometimes it can be the connection that has a problem. This past April it took us until 6:AM the next day to get back home due to our connection in JFK.:eek:

[pris993]

Today, travel is more challening then ever!! Am sorry your lost your cruise.

 

Can really relate, we just returned from a 14 day Mediterranean cruise on Celebrity. For two weeks + prior to our cruise we were following news on Air France, our air carrier, which was on strike do to politics and wage concerns by the pilots working for Air France. We had booked a flight over 9 months in advance, we did plan to arrive a day in advance in Rome, even had a private car service reserved to pick us up at the Hilton and take us to the port.

 

So for two weeks I followed the news. I could not rebook the flight til Air France cancelled the flight and they were not announcing cancellations until two days prior. Fortunately for us, the pilots decided to return to work 4 days before we were do to depart. Regardless, we left stressed and ultimately both of us came down with a cold/flu two days after boarding the ship. The good news for us, was we had been on similar cruises so we could afford to miss a few ports which we did to get well but that is no way to spend a vacations after spending $8000 for a cruise and air alone.

 

Lessons learned, flying one day in advance today is not enough... if you run into a problem, you really need 2-3 days in advance to resolve at a minimum. Flights today are very full, to purchase a new tickets is very expensive and you can't find seats, so you would end up with a flight from hell, no matter what you paid.

 

We have been traveling and cruising for 30 years... realize the challenges involving flying have gotten so intense since 911. I am seriously considering what I can do differently to try to make the experience a more positive activity.

 

What I have come up with is focus on cruises from home ports with no air, or drive to ports.

 

If I do air, will pay for a flight and use miles to upgrade out of coach... coach is a grayhouse bus these days. We were on the new double decker air craft an Air Bus 380, in coach think grayhouse bus. Would not fly this aircraft again.

 

If flying, definitely fly in a couple of days in advance.... one day does not cut it any more.

[chsalas]

Boo,

 

This almost happened to us once, we made the ship about 10 minutes before they pulled away from the dock. ugh. Never gonna fly in the day of the cruise.

[Coral]

 

If flying, definitely fly in a couple of days in advance.... one day does not cut it any more.

 

My last several cruises, I have flown in 2 days in advance as I agree, one day just doesn't cut it anymore, even domestically. I have had flights cancelled on me (thankfully flying home) and they quote me 3 days before they can get me on another flight home. Unbelievable. Thankfully the phone rep gave me something better than the agent at the airport.

 

A friend of mine flew the day Chicago closed both their airports just a few weeks ago. Thankfully she was rerouted right away as she was at the airport when it happened but she struggled going home several days later as it was going through Chicago again and that airport was a mess.

 

-----

 

It is so sad the OP missed her cruise. Hopefully her story will help others in the future to think 2x before taking their flight the same day.

Edited October 25, 2014 by Coral

[san diego sue]

We were flying to Berlin in August. Decided to fly to NYC (from San Diego) day before our Europe flight. Was well rested, stress free when we boarded our Berlin flight the next day.

Well friends were to do the same thing but do it via Chicago (and arrive same time as us) He decided he didn't want to fly in day before and would just do it all the next day. Well he was stuck in Nashville (his home) because there was storms in Chicago. I convinced him to get on a flight to NYC and connect to our flight. Same airline as his other arrangement. He connected to a later flight than ours but made it. Lesson learned, on these long flights with short connections, have a plan B.

We also fly in two days before cruises now and that is to Florida.

 

[tulips*n*truffles]

Thank you for all the stories and commiserating!! Makes me feel at least not quite as silly knowing I'm not alone, but twice as silly that I didn't learn from others before me!! Honestly, you just always think nothing bad can happen to you, you know?! Until it does! It's funny all the comments about having a positive attitude. I've found I've gotten a lot further with that attitude than the alternative! Who has time to be a crab?! Life happens! Roll with the punches and come out better on the other side. That's all we can ask of each other, really. Yesterday threw me off...today I would be sitting on a balcony staring out at a sea of gorgeous blue doing a little of nothing. Instead I'm checking off a list of errands. Blah! At least I'll feel I've accomplished something, huh?! :)

 

I will give massive kudos to both Delta and Princess for their work with me yesterday. The Delta reps on the elite line were both compassionate and helpful. I must have called 10 times in 3 hours, many times in tears just overwhelmed at the lack of sleep we had gotten and what was unfolding before me! They tried everything they could to get me on other flights, other airports, different airlines, refunds, upgrades...they couldn't have done better. Ultimately refunding me completely, and honestly, you just don't see that much anymore. They can't control the weather and I'm glad they didn't put us in an unsafe situation!!

 

The Princess En Route line (thank you to those who helped me find it yesterday morning in my panic!!) was also fantastic! I spoke to the same gal every time I called (multiple flight changes, then the ultimate tear-filled cancellation), and she was great. Even tried to find flights and transfers and cars. It may not have been above and beyond her job to do so, but at the time it sure felt like it!!

 

Never dumber!! Thanks for the learnings, friends! I so enjoy reading about your experiences...they make me a better traveler!!

 

Natalie

[Cruisin' Chick]

Sorry that Murphy's Law kicked in like this for you. Now when you read someone talking about planning to fly in the day of a cruise, you'll have a cautionary tale.

 

A couple of years ago, about 200 passengers didn't make it above the Golden for a Hawaiian cruise -- they were coming from the UK which had record amounts of snow. And here in LA, we had several days straight of rain (and a few more days of rain on our way to Hawaii). Whenever we ran into someone with a British accent we asked if they were in this group (and managed to make it on board), but each of them had made other arrangements separate from Princess and came to the states early (at least one couple decided to fly out of Paris and another couple spent their pre-cruise in Vegas).

[bigandlil]

Were you able to get off the plane in Iowa after you had boarded?

[caribill]

No way we can make the connection, even if the ship left 3 hours late we would miss it.

 

The Golden sailed about 5:30

[RMM34667]

I am so sorry you missed your cruise! But love the pick up and move on. I think I'd be in bed for a week!

 

I was making flight arrangements for my brother for our cruise. I tried to convince him to fly in the night before but he didn't want to. I was looking at all the flights (in my price range) and they all had connections. I just refused to book. Our compromise was he would pay for the flight and get an early (EARLY) morning direct Boston to FLL.

 

Fingers crossed... But since I will be already on the ship - what happens - happens. I sail anyway!

[geoherb]

Sorry you missed your cruise. I've had to book flights that arrived the day of a cruise--but I hate doing so. When I do it, I make sure it's one of the first flights leaving the airport that morning and it's a direct flight. We learned our lesson several years ago when our plane was stuck in New Hampshire. Fortunately, that time we were flying down the day before the cruise. We made our connection but our luggage did not. The airline delivered it to our hotel during the night. There were many people who missed that cruise due to the nor'easter that had made our flight late. Some of them caught up with the ship in St. Thomas. One family made it to Fort Lauderdale but their luggage did not. It also caught up with the ship in St. Thomas.

[tulips*n*truffles]

The Golden sailed about 5:30

 

After our final flight change, our scheduled flight left 6.5 hours late and the next connection would have landed us in LAX after 9pm. Helicopter rental? ;) Sounds like late sailings are becoming the norm for our Golden girl?!

[tulips*n*truffles]

Were you able to get off the plane in Iowa after you had boarded?

 

Ha well sortof! We boarded...half an hour later they realized we weren't going anywhere and we all deplaned. Flight took off 6.5 hours later without us on it!! :)

[M4dC0w]

Even if you would have made you flights, princess still required you to be at the aitport 2 hours before sailing. Therefore requiring private transportation as the princsss transfers would not help.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

...Sounds like late sailings are becoming the norm for our Golden girl?!

 

We sailed approximately 14 (!) hours late on her 9/28 departure.

[TracieABD]

I am sorry that you had to miss your cruise. Hang in there and get to planning your next adventure!

[DaisyRose]

I'm probably the exception here. I have an Alaska cruise booked for May 2015, and for only the second time in 25 cruises, I am going to take a chance at flying in the day of the cruise. I almost always fly in 2-3 days early. But, as someone who is now stretching my budget to cruise 2 or 3 times a year, the costs of flying in early are really getting high. Instead of just a transfer from airport to cruiseport, you need a transfer to hotel, a couple nights in hotel, another transfer hotel to cruise port, and a few days of meals out. We are finding hotel rates have really gone up, lots of extra taxes and fees added on, and amenities getting reduced. I have a friend who was flying in a day early. Snow caused her flight to be cancelled, and they could not rebook her for three days - thus cruise missed. Had she been booked on the early flight day of cruise, that flight took off on time and she would have made the ship. So you never know.

 

I'm not saying it's a good idea to fly day of cruise, and it's not something I'd do very often. But, I've already been to Alaska a few times, and I got a great price on the cruise. (It's an "extra" that I'm trying to keep the cost down on). I have a very early nonstop flight from NY to Seattle that gets me into Seattle around 10 a.m., I have Princess air, I have Princess transfers and I have Princess platinum insurance. So, just this once, I'm going to take a chance. Worst case scenario, if next port protection isn't available since it would then be transporting us from one US port to a different US port, I think I should be able to get a 100% credit under the "cancel for any reason." I know I'll be a little nervous, and I truly do not recommend flying in the day of the cruise, but under all these circumstances, I think I am willing to take this chance this one time.

 

To the OP, I would say, sometimes you give something a chance, and unfortunately this time it did not work out for you. Not everyone has the time or the money to fly in a couple of days early. So, just keep in mind all of the possibilities, and make the decision that works best for you. But, I do think it's a good idea to have Princess platinum insurance (which has cancel for any reason) if you are going to fly in the day of the cruise. Keeping my fingers crossed that this one time I fly in day of, it will work for me. If not, another lesson learned.

 

Would love to do most of my cruising from ports I can drive to, but it's just not realistic. Princess only does about a month of cruises to Canada/New England from NY. Anything else on Princess, I would have to fly. Wish me luck with this: hope I will not regret this decision.

[griffy116]

We were about to book our flights to Rome, arriving one day in advance of our cruise. As we were about to pull the trigger, we decided we should go in two days early. There aren't enough flights that would get us there, should something happen. Even though we were going during the summer, we had just experienced some severe storms in our area that had flights delayed. We were so glad we went in two days early. It made all the difference in the world. No stress, for one thing and it didn't hurt at all to have an additional day to stroll around Rome and re-visit a few favorite places.