need to book flights

[BrytEydBelle]

I would never book the same day as departure just because you never know. Last week we had a freak fog system that resulted in my flight being canceled and not being able to rebook until the next day. Fog had not been predicted at all and took people by surprise. Luckily it wasn't for a cruise but it reinforced to me the importance of a safety buffer.

 

 

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[Corby114]

If you miss the sailing on the Jewel Of The Seas how do you know if there is an available cabin left on either the Adventure Of The Seas or the Enchantment Of The Seas? Most ships sail full these days. I would just fly out a day early so that you make the ship and are ready to enjoy your cruise vacation.

[FlyerTalker]

Hearing about "in my experience" and "law of averages" leads to my experiences with flying in the day of the cruise. Once was before a TPAC when I naively bought cruiseair for a one-way to NRT (yes, we all have our naive stage). Once was when a business commitment forced me to fly to GIG arriving the day of the cruise, but I had a 3 hour connect at ATL No sweat. That's it.

 

The Tokyo flight worked out OK, however heading to GIG, my flight into ATL was significantly delayed. We ended up running madly through the airport to reach the gate. (End of B concourse to gate T3) Door had been shut, but no pushback. Much begging and pleading (including a bit of DYKWIA) got us on the flight, but not our luggage. The bags ended showing up several days later at the last port before crossing the Atlantic. Thankfully.

 

So....my averages are 50%. YMMV.

[Budget Queen]

If you miss the sailing on the Jewel Of The Seas how do you know if there is an available cabin left on either the Adventure Of The Seas or the Enchantment Of The Seas? Most ships sail full these days. I would just fly out a day early so that you make the ship and are ready to enjoy your cruise vacation.

 

Does the OP have verification that the cruise line is going to "switch" ships?? I will speculate they will NOT without you buying another cruise. Not sure what they mean? May be they would purchase another cruise and make a claim on the one they missed?

 

All these self reported single experiences really mean little. One flight is a drop in the bucket of the overall stats.

 

The airline industry employees who have posted make several valid points.

[Wilson]

Happy to report that we are on Jewel! We had zero issues with flights, but in the future we will fly in the day before. Cheers!

[phoenix1181]

Happy to report that we are on Jewel! We had zero issues with flights, but in the future we will fly in the day before. Cheers!

 

So glad it worked out. Have a great cruise!

[Wilson]

So glad it worked out. Have a great cruise!

 

Thanks. Cruise was great, American Airlines flight home was not.

 

Got to the airport at 9:30 am and did not get home until after midnight. Mechanical delays...

They flew a part in from Miami that did not fix the problem. Eventually the plane was repaired, so they say, but they would never tell us what the problem was. Once loaded we sat for another 20+ minutes and assumed it was not leaving. They never told us what that delay was about, but we eventually pushed off. The pilot never apologized, never explained the delays, and other than "secure cabin for take-off" and "secure cabin for landing", nothing was said.

I will say the flight attendants were very nice and provided free snacks and beverages including alcohol.

 

We were very fortunate to have made cruise. The BS flight home 100% confirms that I will NEVER book air for the day of the cruise. LoL

[FlyerTalker]

Eventually the plane was repaired, so they say

Trust me....if it wasn't fixed, AA would not have flown the aircraft. Do you ACTUALLY think that they tried to fix it, couldn't, and then said..."well, let's go anyway"??

but they would never tell us what the problem was. Once loaded we sat for another 20+ minutes and assumed it was not leaving. They never told us what that delay was about, but we eventually pushed off. The pilot never apologized, never explained the delays, and other than "secure cabin for take-off" and "secure cabin for landing", nothing was said.

You could have had a version of this (from the movie "Airport"):

Mrs. Schultz: Captain, our son has a question. Schuyler, here's our captain.

Schuyler Schultz: [pointing out the window] Before, Virgo and Leo were right there, sir. Now I'm beginning to see Ursa Minor and Cassiopeia. We MUST be turning around.

Capt. Vernon Demerest: You have a young navigator here! Well, I'll tell you son... Due to a Cetcil wind, Dystor's vectored us into a 360-tarson of slow air traffic. Now we'll maintain this Borden hold until we get the Forta Magnus clearance from Melnics.

Schuyler Schultz: Oh... yes... of course!

Mr. Schultz: What did he mean by that, son?

Schuyler Schultz: Never mind, father, I'll tell you later.

Unfortunately, can't find it on YouTube right now.

 

Would you have felt better had they said "the Framus actuator is not interfacing with the Jeppesen calculator, but we've diverted it to the Keuffel and Esser backup" And they still would have needed the clearance form Melnics.

 

The BS flight home 100% confirms that I will NEVER book air for the day of the cruise. LoL

BS flight?? Sounds a bit judgmental.

[phoenix1181]

Glad to hear the cruise was good. Sorry the flight home wasn't.

 

We used to fly American whenever possible but have been avoiding them for a few years because they've gone way down hill. Flights canceled or changed with no notification, lousy customer service, & lousy in-flight service. They don't have the exclusive on that but they ticked me off one too many times so they don't get my business unless they're my only option.

[travelgoddess1]

Thanks. Cruise was great, American Airlines flight home was not.

 

Got to the airport at 9:30 am and did not get home until after midnight. Mechanical delays...

They flew a part in from Miami that did not fix the problem. Eventually the plane was repaired, so they say, but they would never tell us what the problem was. Once loaded we sat for another 20+ minutes and assumed it was not leaving. They never told us what that delay was about, but we eventually pushed off. The pilot never apologized, never explained the delays, and other than "secure cabin for take-off" and "secure cabin for landing", nothing was said.

I will say the flight attendants were very nice and provided free snacks and beverages including alcohol.

 

We were very fortunate to have made cruise. The BS flight home 100% confirms that I will NEVER book air for the day of the cruise. LoL

 

Lesson learned, and hopefully, others will take note. :) I'm glad to hear your cruise went well, however.

 

I'm sorry to hear of your experience coming home. Airlines have never been good about consistently communicating with passengers. It's not just AA (I speak from vast experience) but it's inexcusable, nonetheless, IMO. If they had told you exactly what was happening, a lot of your unhappiness would have dissipated.

 

Glad to hear the cruise was good. Sorry the flight home wasn't.

 

We used to fly American whenever possible but have been avoiding them for a few years because they've gone way down hill. Flights canceled or changed with no notification, lousy customer service, & lousy in-flight service. They don't have the exclusive on that but they ticked me off one too many times so they don't get my business unless they're my only option.

 

AA has had merger issues, which has impacted their product. All you have to do is look at the United/Continental debacle to realize that airline mergers are not good for anyone. We still fly AA, because frankly, they're not the worst out there (ringing praise, I know). :eek:

Edited January 26, 2015 by travelgoddess1

[Zach1213]

Eventually the plane was repaired, so they say, but they would never tell us what the problem was.

 

Don't worry, I guarantee it was fixed. American would not risk a huge fine (or worse) by not properly repairing a fault once it is found. I've been delayed for such things as "the plastic cover over the emergency exit row lamp is broken and we don't have one so we have to fly one in from Minneapolis" to "cargo net won't hook correctly in the front cargo bay and we don't have a spare so we need to get permission from the FAA to fly out and back without it, even though we don't plan to put any cargo/bags in there". Even the latter took over an hour to clear up.