Our Most Excellent Adventure - We Missed the Ship

[4x4bob]

Today we contacted Princess Hq and requested the forms required to file an Insurance Claim. We were told the forms will be mailed out in two days and then after we send them back, it will take at least 3 weeks to process the claim.

 

I told Mrs 4x4 that if we get a refund back in 3 weeks that probably will be a new record.

 

Bob

[BEAV]

The OP had booked with EZAir which means Princess would deal with a missed ship.

 

Dealing only with Delta might get you a flight to PV with no other costs covered. And the OP explained how the couple dealing directly with Delta had horrible service from them.

 

The part I don't understand is dealing with Delta upon arrival in LAX re: hotel vouchers. How is Delta responsible for providing lodging in LAX after Mr/Mrs 4X4bob arrived? Sure, the Delta delay caused them to miss their ship, however didn't they fulfill their obligation to get them to LAX, despite the delay? Was Delta giving hotel vouchers simply out of good will? I simply don't understand Delta's responsibility aside from getting them to their ticketed destination, which they did, eventually! I would think Princess would be responsible for the LAX hotel, just as they paid for the Alaska flight on to PV the following day.

Edited March 3, 2015 by BEAV

[wrongwaywatson]

We have driven to the port a few times, but we usually fly. In the past, we always flew the day before. This year, however, we are flying in the day of. I'm hoping that by 3/28 the weather has stablized (St Louis to LAX) and won't be an issue. Also, we have direct flights so that is a plus and we arrive around 10 am, so we do have plenty of leeway. We are travelling with my BIL and SIL and my SIL is a school teacher, so we had to plan it on her spring break. Flying in the day before wasn't an option. So, here's to fingers crossed that we don't have issues!

[Working 2 Cruise]

We have driven to the port a few times, but we usually fly. In the past, we always flew the day before. This year, however, we are flying in the day of. I'm hoping that by 3/28 the weather has stablized (St Louis to LAX) and won't be an issue. Also, we have direct flights so that is a plus and we arrive around 10 am, so we do have plenty of leeway. We are travelling with my BIL and SIL and my SIL is a school teacher, so we had to plan it on her spring break. Flying in the day before wasn't an option. So, here's to fingers crossed that we don't have issues!

 

You should be fine IF there aren't any cancellations or delays... When does the next flight from St. Louis arrive? Best of luck!

[Working 2 Cruise]

We have driven to the port a few times, but we usually fly. In the past, we always flew the day before. This year, however, we are flying in the day of. I'm hoping that by 3/28 the weather has stablized (St Louis to LAX) and won't be an issue. Also, we have direct flights so that is a plus and we arrive around 10 am, so we do have plenty of leeway. We are travelling with my BIL and SIL and my SIL is a school teacher, so we had to plan it on her spring break. Flying in the day before wasn't an option. So, here's to fingers crossed that we don't have issues!

 

You should be fine IF there aren't any cancellations or delays... When does the next flight from St. Louis arrive? Best of luck! Better yet, get Princess transfers...

[piper28]

The part I don't understand is dealing with Delta upon arrival in LAX re: hotel vouchers. How is Delta responsible for providing lodging in LAX after Mr/Mrs 4X4bob arrived? Sure, the Delta delay caused them to miss their ship, however didn't they fulfill their obligation to get them to LAX, despite the delay? Was Delta giving hotel vouchers simply out of good will? I simply don't understand Delta's responsibility aside from getting them to their ticketed destination, which they did, eventually! I would think Princess would be responsible for the LAX hotel, just as they paid for the Alaska flight on to PV the following day.

 

Yeah, I have to admit, I'm real surprised that Delta provided anything at that point. They fulfilled their obligation to get you to the destination you were ticketed to, that you missed the ship really isn't any problem of theirs. (Quite frankly, getting any sort of hotel coverage out of an airline these days, any airline, is easier said than done.) Seems like something Princess should have been covering as part of their next port guarantee.

 

I have to admit, I don't know if I'd personally fly from SFO to LAX to take a cruise myself but would rather drive and have a little more control over circumstances. But admittedly, if you have to go on the day of the cruise it's pretty borderline to do that.

 

I know I've almost missed a cruise even when flying out the day before, so one never knows what's going to happen on the trip there. You can leave yourself all sorts of time and still have problems, and plenty of people fly in the day of and have no problems. SFO's fog propensity would have me worried of course, just like I tend to worry since I'm flying from places where snow is a real possibility.

[iceleven]

Being on the west coast we generally will fly east on the available red eyes.

Once, when there was a forecast for heavy rains and flight cancellations we decided to go to the airport (SFO) early, get an afternoon flight and willing to go stand-by. We lucked out and got on the plane but had to stay overnight in NOLA in a hotel. No big deal but we found out later that the original redeye we had booked got in on time with no flight delays due to the weather. You never know.

 

For those people who have jobs that restrict their flying options, try looking for cruises that leave on Sundays. It will give you the extra day for travel for your departure and usually easy enough to get home before midnight on Sunday regardless of where you live (at least in the U.S.)

[jdslkmj]

We had nearly the exact same thing happen to us a couple years ago..."mechanical" issue with an American Airlines jet and they were waiting on a mechanic to drive to our airport from 2 hours away! We missed connections and didn't get onto our Alaska cruisetour ship - had to fly into Ketchikan and stay overnight (which ended up being lots of fun!) The part of your story that I wanted to respond to though is the issue with a Princess customer rep person in India trying to assist you: I bet my DH spent four hours at least on his cellphone with one person after another that spoke minimal English and they would eventually give up and just hang up on him. They were very nice, but just didn't know how to handle missed flights and lost luggage... I bet his blood pressure was about a thousand by the time he had everything somewhat straightened out! We discovered a couple weeks after getting back home, that anytime you call "customer service" you can ask to speak with someone in the US and they are required to transfer you. I'll be honest, we haven't had any need to test this out yet!! We have both traveled to nearly every continent and are usually pretty good with strong foreign accents... But - in our specific situation, the person in India - for example - had no idea that we couldn't fly into Ketchican from Vancouver - we had to go Vancouver back to Seattle and then to Alaska. So, it wasn't simply that language barrier! (And I will be honest, to have multiple customer service reps just give up and say in essence that they don't know anything about that and can't help us {and then just hang up} - was extremely frustrating!!! Thankfully the rest of our vacation was wonderful... But that was the very last time we ever try to travel to the ship on the same day as it sets sail!!!

[BJS]

Thank you for posting your experience with Delta and flying out of SMF.

 

Glad you could enjoy your cruise and also glad we are driving to San Pedro and not flying Delta from SMF this Sat.

 

If we had booked a flight it would have been a same day flight..like the OP why not it is such a short flight.

 

Sometimes you have to take matters in your own hands when flights are delayed and hope you can make a bad situation better and not have to pay for another flight.

 

We had a Skywest flight from Fresno to LAX to connect with a flight to Europe for a Princess cruise and experienced one delayed flight notification after another similar to what the OP had. Their reason was the communication between their Vegas hub was down and they could not board the plane. We were continually reassured we would make our connection.

 

As time passed I finally went up to Skywest desk and demanded we be put on a United Express flight leaving in 30 minutes and gave the reason. At this point we didn't care if they charged us for the flight or not. Lucky for us they didn't charge us and were able to get us on the only 2 available seats in the back row. We had to go back in the terminal for boarding passes and through security again with a bags inspection because we'd entered and left the secured area and wanted to enter again ..DH ran to the gate as I stayed with the bags..they held the plane for me...we made the flight....and our connection to Europe.

 

If we had waited for our Skywest flight to leave we would not have made the connection because the delay was so long they ended up canceling that flight.

[JVilleGal]

I don't think anyone would counter that, all things being equal, it's better not to fly the same day. But to read Cruise Critic, it's as risky as just showing up at the airport without a ticket and hoping that there's a flight available that gets in when you need it to. The vast majority of cruisers fly the same day, especially when booking through the cruise line or with a package deal (unless, of course, there's a trans-ocean flight involved), and it works out fine in the vast majority of cases.

 

And of course, even if you book flights for the day before, things can happen - such as the huge snowstorms the US has been getting this winter - that can still leave you stranded. I saw another story here a couple of years ago about someone who got out the same day, but those who were scheduled for the day before were stranded because their flights had been cancelled. Less likely, but nothing is certain.

 

But what is frustrating is those who assume that just because *they* can fly in the night before, everyone can as well.

 

I travel in a group including my wife, our kids and both sets of grandparents. We've gone down the night before, but that involved getting transportation for 8 to the hotel (two taxis of course), the hotel itself, meals in Miami, transportation from the hotel to the ship (at a time when the hotel lobby was swamped with cruisers). Add in another day of dogsitting for each of us. And the fire alarm in the hotel had gone off 3 times during the night, freaking out the kids and leaving us all exhausted.

 

That's a lot of guaranteed stress to add to the mix, plus hundreds of extra dollars, versus the smaller chance (but greater stress) of missing the flight.

 

If my wife an I were traveling solo, I'd almost certainly fly in the night before. But please, don't judge those whose circumstances make the right choice for them different than what's the right choice for you.

 

 

And the purpose of this tirade????

[JVilleGal]

Wow what a tale of a wild adventure. A tale of caution to be sure! I know as I read this I think back on early days of cruising when as a clueless newby we had close calls.

Thanks for sharing your adventure and I admire your ability to make lemonade out of a real lemon!

[EatPrayCruise]

For what it's worth and to the benefit of anybody reading this' date=' I fly nearly weekly for work and have for 25 years. This exact kind of thing happens everyday with every airline. Mechanical issues are far less predictable than weather and more challenging to manage. There are some things as a savvy traveler that you can do. First, make sure that you have a few tools on your phone or tablet - I recommend your airline's app and either Flight Stats or Flight Aware. The combination of these sites will give you updates about your flight status before your gate agents even know. A modest delay for a mechanical is tolerable - but when you first learn of it is when you need to start making a back-up plan. Things to check: when's the next flight on your airline to your destination and does it meet your timing needs. If not start looking at other airlines and identify flights that would work. Are those flights on time? If things go south with your mechanical - like they're flying in a mechanic and part (or they'er driving it across the airport from the hangar) - that's when you bail. Don't wait until the end. Ask to be booked over on one of your identified back-ups. Insist they book you over to another airline if necessary. Through those apps you can also check where your inbound plane is coming from and whether it's on time. Airlines often do not post delays even though they know an inbound aircraft will arrive too late to turnaround in the alotted time. It's best to take these matters into your own hands and actively monitor your flights and be prepared to change plans quickly. Typically under this kind of scenario bailing and changing flights could cause you to be separated from your checked luggage. However, in this case, given the type of delay and size of the airport, I think they would have been able to pull the bags and move them to the new flight.

 

The same kinds of things hold true for hotels. When I get stranded (sometimes it still happens, especially at the end of the day) I try to take matters into my own hands and identify available, acceptable, and convenient hotels. If waiting for an airline voucher looks like it's going to take a TON of time, I just eat it because my time is valuable too.

 

Happy travels all![/quote']

 

 

Thanks so much for this info. I have the Flight Aware app, but just downloaded Flight Stats. One can never be too prepared! :)

[Garn]

And the purpose of this tirade????

 

I was merely responding to some of the posts (here, and on other threads), that imply (or state outright) that those who fly the same day are fools who deserve what they get. But it's often not as simple as that, which I was trying to explain.

 

Sorry if it came off as a tirade to you - the purpose was quite the opposite.

[jagsfan]

Oddly enough, I thought the responses to the OP were sympathetic, and saw none that came close to implying he was a fool. I think it's understood that circumstances dictate peoples' choices.

[JVilleGal]

I was merely responding to some of the posts (here, and on other threads), that imply (or state outright) that those who fly the same day are fools who deserve what they get. But it's often not as simple as that, which I was trying to explain.

 

Sorry if it came off as a tirade to you - the purpose was quite the opposite.

 

 

Sorry to be snippy! And out of many many cruises, the two times I flew the day of where near disasters.... Good reminder!

[Kartgv]

Great story and it sounds like you coped as well as possible. We had a very close call boarding in San Juan once - only made the ship because there were about 30 of us on the same flight and they held the ship for us to arrive. But it was still not a good way to start the trip - had hours of worrying and lots of literal running through airports and on piers, arrived exhausted and dripping wet with perspiration.

 

We had a flight similar to your just flying from San Diego to Denver on United. It should have been a 2 1/2 hour flight, getting us into Denver around lunch time, plenty of time to see a grandson's big lacrosse game. We too had the initial delays, postponing takeoff several times, then finally cancellation. Since our luggage was onboard, we had to go back out through security to pick up the luggage and re-check it once we finally got booked on a new flight (via Seattle!). Our 2 1/2 hour flight ultimately took 22 hours of our time!

 

When we got home, we sent a polite, but very detailed letter addressed to "Customer Service Supervisor" at the Corporate address. We fully expected to never hear anything back, but about a month later, received a letter back with a apology and $200 vouchers for each of us for future flights. It's worth a try - assuming you're willing to ever fly Delta again!

[TenerifeSharon]

I just finished reading this entire thread (and it's 1:30 AM where I am, but I had to find out what ultimately happened) and have to applaud you for remaining so positive in spite of everything you and your wife endured!

 

If you scroll back up on the main CC page, you will find the section about a weekly contest -- the theme this week is about having "missed your ship"! I would suggest entering it .... no one can top your story!!!:eek:

 

Wishing you a wonderful NEXT cruise.:)

[4x4bob]

Great story and it sounds like you coped as well as possible.

 

When we got home, we sent a polite, but very detailed letter addressed to "Customer Service Supervisor" at the Corporate address. We fully expected to never hear anything back, but about a month later, received a letter back with a apology and $200 vouchers for each of us for future flights. It's worth a try - assuming you're willing to ever fly Delta again!

 

 

Thanks for your idea. I have been thinking about a letter that I would send to Delta for several days. Will try your idea.

 

Bob

[BosoxI]

I have to say, my flights with Delta have not been quite as bad as yours, but I refuse to fly Delta....They screw up on a regular basis. I realize that all airlines screw up occasionally, but they seem to do so even more than usual...one of their last screw ups was the disappearance of a couple of thousand miles, which somehow disappeared in the magical air....and never were found again...Good advice to quickly find another airline and deal with the problems of getting reimbursed later.

 

Funny how different people have such different experiences o airlines. Delta is our airline of choice; we've rarely encountered a problem and we fly regularly down to either FLL or MIA from RIC in Virginia or to RSW for our vacation home near Naples, FL. Sprinkled in with quite numerous trips to various cities in Europe. Yes, we've been stuck several times overnight in Atlanta, usually for mechanicals, but overall, Delta has done right by us. No airline is perfect, and I am surprised and saddened to learn of the need to speak to people in India, as I had no idea this is the case. My neighbor has just sworn off American, and I am sure others have sworn off every other airline for good and sufficient reasons. But I can't drive to Rome, and I don't want to drive to FL, so I can't eliminate boarding some plane, no matter the horror stories associated with it. Or I could just stay home, which is becoming a much more desireable place to be,:D

 

My DW flies frequently to NYC for business on small planes associated with Delta. Now there can be problems on those puddle jumpers. Any kind of weather will ground them and flights can be few and far between. That's the price we have to pay for living some distance from major airports. Over the years we've spent a small fortune on hotel rooms because of flying out a day early. Painful but not as painful as what the OP endured.

Edited March 4, 2015 by BosoxI

[jdslkmj]

After we returned home, we contacted American Airlines and detailed what happened and they sent both my DH and I each a $300 voucher good for up to one year!!

[DebJ14]

This is when you need a good Travel agent who can contact the cruise line, rebook you on another flight or another airline if that will get you there on time, make your hotel reservations etc. Instead of running around the airport and back and forth to the hotel you just make one phone call and get it done.

 

Or, another option is to take 3rd party travel insurance and use the concierge service that comes with it. We have done it both ways and had relatively hassle free solutions provided when planes were late or flights were canceled.

 

Our TA provides her cell number for times when the agency is closed. She has helped us out at 7pm on a Saturday night when stranded in Pittsburgh on the way to a wedding and all flights in the entire region were canceled due to severe thunderstorms. She got us a hotel for the night and got us on the first flight out the next morning and changed our car rental reservation. We were flying a day early and ended up arriving 20 minutes before the wedding. We missed the rehearsal dinner, but that was no big deal.

 

Another time on a weekend we called the Travel Insurance Concierge service at Allianz when it was apparent we were going to miss our Celebrity Panama Canal cruise due to a flight delay. They contacted the cruise line multiple times to keep them informed, got us a hotel room in Houston and rebooked us to the first port to catch the ship in Huatulco and got us a hotel room there while we waited for the ship to arrive. That time we did not book through a TA, but had the good sense to buy the travel insurance. The claim forms were waiting for us when we arrived back from the trip and they paid for the difference in fares, change fees, hotels, taxis, meals etc. within about 10 days of us returning the receipts with the claim form. Plus, we got back 2 days of the cruise fare. Each time we made 1 phone call, let them do their thing and they called us back within 30 minutes with all the details arranged and they e-mailed us the confirmations, which we printed out when we got to the first hotel.

[4x4bob]

To DEBJ14:

 

Thanks for posting.

 

After being burnt 3 times in a row with TA's that did not have the Seal Good in their logo, we have gone on our own. I even looked in the yellow pages for Good TA's. None were listed.:D

 

The information how you used other insurance to help you was useful.

 

Bob

[Loonbeam]

It may not be directly relevant, but I also have added Berkshire's Air Care insurance to many flights. For a flat fee, it monitors your trip and if any covered issues arise it IMMEDIATELY credits cash to your designated account. Can be handy for emergency funds.

 

One of the things it covers is Route Repair, which monitors your connections and if one is missed tries to fix it while in the air.

 

At $25 for most domestic flights, its not bad deal.

 

Other things covered include baggage delays, lost luggage, delays and tarmac strandings.

[4x4bob]

It may not be directly relevant, but I also have added Berkshire's Air Care insurance to many flights. For a flat fee, it monitors your trip and if any covered issues arise it IMMEDIATELY credits cash to your designated account. Can be handy for emergency funds.

 

One of the things it covers is Route Repair, which monitors your connections and if one is missed tries to fix it while in the air.

 

At $25 for most domestic flights, its not bad deal.

 

Other things covered include baggage delays, lost luggage, delays and tarmac strandings.

 

Thanks. I have just added this info to to my trip file for future trips.

 

Bob

Edited March 5, 2015 by 4x4bob

[SoCal Cruiser78]

Post deleted.

Edited March 5, 2015 by Ryndam2002