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Major snowstorm


Giorgi-one
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I always start tracking the storms a few days before we are due to fly. We are lucky, in that the boss will let me leave early if I need to.

 

We fly down the day before, early, figuring that if needed we can slip to a later in the day flight. Last year, when it looked like a storm might be headed in, I also looked at other airports that were a little bit north or south. I figured I could always leave my car at my usual drop spot and rent a car at the STL airport to drive to Chicago or Louisville or Memphis - someplace that was till open. I don't might a six hour drive if it means I get to my cruise!

 

Amtrak is another option of getting a little further south in some areas. Maybe to just get away from the snow band if nothing else.

 

It is easier for the airline to get you out ahead of time in some cases than to get you caught up after the airport re-opens.

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The problem with what was a tight connection to get on the ship anyway is that if there is weather there will be delays and you are then virtually guaranteed to miss your flight. If the storm is bad enough to start flight being cancelled it requires at least 48 hours to get things back on track. Unless you have status those waiting the longest get out first. Thus someone booked on a Friday afternoon or evening flight will get out before someone stranded on Saturday. You also might find on Friday evening you could get to Atlanta or anyplace south out of the storm.

 

Choice Air is nothing more than a travel agent that books lots of seats. connecting with them on the phone then will be difficult and they are not likely to be able to assist anyone especially on Saturday.

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Yes, That is my argument. Flying out on Friday may be worse than Saturday???
True, we do not know for certain in advance which day the weather will be worse, or which day we may encounter mechanical problems or other types of delays with any flight.

 

That is why the earlier we try to get out, the better, because it gives us extra time and flexibility with a much wider range of potential alternate routing possibilities in case of a problem.

 

 

Also, if checking luggage it provides more time for our luggage to catch up with us before the cruise begins if it is not on our flight. When the weather is bad, there is even a greater chance that we and our checked luggage will arrive separately.

 

Edited by fleckle
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I would consider leaving a couple of days earlier. Why wait. Make the reservation asap Hppened to us once and we were lucky enough to get a flight out a day before the cruise and enjoy the cruise. While the forecast might be wrong it also might be right. We do not like gambling

Edited by Cruise a holic
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back in march 2003 booked a cruise on brillance OTS out of miami.

left providence ri at 600am day before the cruise left.

had connecting flight in newark NJ. made it out of prov. RI not so lucky in NJ

after sitting on plane for 3 hours in NJ, we were 1 plane away from de-iceing

when the pilot said he had a mechanical issue & needed to return to the gate.

sat there for 1 hour when the flight was canceled.

"let the games begin" well i had booked the flight though RCCL. so off to the rebooking counter we went.

agent said no way i would get a flight out today.

she typed in my reservation gave me a strange look and said wow how did that happen told me to take my ticket, leave very quietly and not tell the other 200 passengers i had a flight to miami.

well to make a already long story short after a couple of gate changes and delays the plane finally left newark at around 8pm we arrived in miami around 11pm.

the next day at the hotel when we were waiting to board the bus to the ship people were complaining about the wait & the heat.

i just looked at my wife and smiled.

and by the way out of the 18 cruises i have been on this was one of the best

 

1) did booking though RCCL help me get a flight out of NJ.

I belive it did.

2) always, i mean always leave the day before!!!

3) always buy cruise insurance!!!

 

i forgot to mention about our luggage when we got to miami i said no way will we see our luggage but there it was coming down the conveyor belt. somebody was definetly watching over use.

Edited by acude
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We used to do a winter cruise out of San Juan flying out of Newark. We always went a day or two early just in case. Much nicer having the extra day in the sunshine than it is sitting and worrying about it. Yes it meant planning extra vacation days but planning ahead made it work. One year we were meeting 5 British cousins in SJU and it did snow in the Northeast. We used our flex time and the airline waiver and got there in plenty of time. It is just plain crazy to try and fly in the day of during the winter.

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It's not only during the winter.

It can be crazy at other times of year as well, depending on when and where you will have your next chance to catch up with the ship should you miss it, and at what cost.

 

Flying in the day of the cruise may not be too much of a risk if the next port where you can legally board the ship is only a day or two later and a short distance away (as on some of the Caribbean itineraries).

 

That is nothing like flying in on the day of the cruise when your next port is a week later on the other side of the ocean.

 

 

But even trying to board the ship a day or two later at a nearby port may be illegal on some itineraries,

as a number of cruise passengers learn the hard way every year.

 

 

If I absolutely had to try fly in on the day of the cruise, additional information I would want to obtain in advance to bring along with me would include

 

(1) The date and location of the next port where I would be able to board the ship

 

(2) My options for getting there, as well as for spending the time until then

 

(3) A good estimate of how much more it would cost me

 

(4) Contact information for the port agents at the ports involved.

 

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Looks like a major snowstorm for the east coast Friday thru Sunday. I know that many people fly on the same day or just one day before to the embarkation port. Looks like big problems for Saturday and Sunday departures.

 

Sometimes it is a roll of the dice as on some weekends, all flights are sold out heading to Florida. This can be from Thursday through Sunday. So you just hope and pray. Last winter, our flight left at 7:30 am on Saturday and the airport shut down at 11:00 am. and did not re-open until sometime on Sunday. Friends who had a flight later that day could not get out until Tuesday. Not a good way to start a vacation!

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We did book thru Choice Air. I just got off of the phone with them. I called to ask questions. The woman was very helpful. She said to go to the airport. If your flight is delayed and you think you will miss the embarkment, then go to the counter to try to get booked on a different earlier flight. She said to call the Emergency Travel Team of Choice Air and gave me their#. ....

 

What flight are you scheduled on?

 

I would question the "just go to the airport" advice.

 

You need to research/plan before you get there.

 

Some airline sites have the "incoming flight" information, but I use the app "FlightAware" (it is also a website) to gather flight information. You can check and see the status of your flight as well as the incoming flight that brings the plane you are taking.

 

With that information you can make informed decisions. For example, if your plane is delayed on its way to your airport, you will already know that and can call the airline directly and try to get different flight.

 

If your flight did get cancelled, the rush will be on for all those passengers to try to get rebooked, and the first to do that will have best chance to get out...and standing in line to do that will just about guarantee you won't be that person!!

 

Others have had great advice...the one many people wouldn't even think about is getting to somewhere in florida and renting a car to drive the rest of the way...That opens up many more flight options...Obviously not the best way to do it, but it might get you to the ship in Florida instead of 2 days later in San Juan.

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7 years ago, having just recently moved to Florida from the DC area, a massive snowstorm hit the entire mid-Atlantic, NE, and Midwest beginning on a Friday and continuing through the weekend. We had a DC friend scheduled for a Holland America cruise on that Saturday. Early that morning, over our coffee, my DH and I were discussing whether our friend would miss his cruise. I said no, I am sure he knew forecast and left town early, but I bet a lot of people would be missing the boat! My husband picked up the phone and called HAL. It's west coast offices were not yet open, call back in 2 hours. Well, I used this time to pack our bags and when we spoke to HAL we were told that cancellations were pouring in and, if we could be to the port by 3pm, we could sail for. About half-price. We said yes, gave credit info and within an hour were on our way to FTL, a 4 hour drive. On boarding, we asked if our friend had boarded--yes--- and so we surprised him by knocking on his cabin door. Best cruise ever because of its spontaneity and traveling with friend. Wish we could try this again this weekend, but our passports our currently out of our possession as sent in for renewal.

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7 years ago, having just recently moved to Florida from the DC area, a massive snowstorm hit the entire mid-Atlantic, NE, and Midwest beginning on a Friday and continuing through the weekend. We had a DC friend scheduled for a Holland America cruise on that Saturday. Early that morning, over our coffee, my DH and I were discussing whether our friend would miss his cruise. I said no, I am sure he knew forecast and left town early, but I bet a lot of people would be missing the boat! My husband picked up the phone and called HAL. It's west coast offices were not yet open, call back in 2 hours. Well, I used this time to pack our bags and when we spoke to HAL we were told that cancellations were pouring in and, if we could be to the port by 3pm, we could sail for. About half-price. We said yes, gave credit info and within an hour were on our way to FTL, a 4 hour drive. On boarding, we asked if our friend had boarded--yes--- and so we surprised him by knocking on his cabin door. Best cruise ever because of its spontaneity and traveling with friend. Wish we could try this again this weekend, but our passports our currently out of our possession as sent in for renewal.

 

 

As a current DC area resident! I'm jealous. That's the way to cruise!!

 

We are on the Allure in two weeks. Fly down to FLL a day before out of Reagan on the first JetBlue flight of the morning.

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We sailed over the holidays.

 

We left Port Everglades, Ft. Lauderdale on Sunday, Dec 27.

 

We watched people board in Cozumel, our first stop after a day at sea.

 

In Falmouth, there was a Royal ship pulled up next to us. There were people joining that ship as well.

 

Keep in mind, those travelers could only fly to catch up to the ship if they had passport books. If they were traveling on DL and BC or passport cards, they would not have been allowed to fly to catch up to the ship.

 

Just one more reason we have passport books.

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This happened to us on our last cruise. In short, this is why we planned to fly in a few days early.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=46033990&postcount=34

 

It happened to us on our last cruise as well. The airline cancelled our flight the day before the cruise and we had to scramble to get from Roch, NY to Miami. Luckily we got a non-stop flight out of buffalo, NY the morning of the cruise. Way too close for comfort and in March we too are flying 2 days prior.

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This was just posted by poster NASHNA: Thank you OP!

 

United Issues Travel Waiver for 01/22-24

I know several folks are planning to fly into Florida for their cruises this weekend on Friday & Saturday. United just announced that they are waiving change fees for flights from January 22 to January 24. I'm sure the other airlines will follow United's waiver shortly. Please keep in mind that there is an outstanding chance that flights will be cancelled before the first snow flake falls, so get out of town as soon as you can. Call immediately as their phones will be swamped. You might also try to change your own flights on the airline website.

__________________

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Several years back a storm hit the east coast. We're from Chicago and came in a day early.

The Captain held the sail off until almost 11 P.M. There was a Royal ship there also, and they waited. It probably was a corporate decision, a lot of people were trying to get to Lauderdale that had been delayed or changed flights. All the other ships left on their scheduled times, Princess, NCL and a Carnival ship I believe. The Captain made an announcement, once we sailed off he really put the hammer down and we arrived at our next destination on time.

Edited by Patrick IL.
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delta also announced these cities:

Allentown, PA (ABE)

Baltimore, MD (BWI)

Boston, MA (BOS)

Charleston, WV (CRW)

Charlottesville, VA (CHO)

Harrisburg, PA (MDT)

Hartford, CT (BDL)

New York, NY - Kennedy (JFK)

New York, NY - LaGuardia (LGA)

Newark, NY (EWR)

Newburgh, NY (SWF)

Philadelphia, PA (PHL)

Providence, RI (PVD)

Richmond, VA (RIC)

Roanoke, VA (ROA)

Scranton, PA (AVP)

Washington D.C. - Reagan (DCA)

Washington D.C. - Dulles (IAD)

White Plains, NY (HPN)

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Just a few comments. Once you turn your bags in you have lost control of them. It could be days before they get to Florida. Also, if your flight is cancelled, that does not mean you can go home and collect travel insurance. You basically have to jump thru hoops to find a way to get to the ship. Insurance company may help you find flights.

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........Others have had great advice...the one many people wouldn't even think about is getting to somewhere in florida and renting a car to drive the rest of the way...That opens up many more flight options...Obviously not the best way to do it, but it might get you to the ship in Florida instead of 2 days later in San Juan.

 

Besides, you may be pleasantly surprised and not even need to drive.

One time when our flight to Miami got canceled, we flew into Tampa instead, thinking we would end up renting a car to drive to Miami.

But it turned out that we were able to catch a flight from Tampa to Miami instead.

 

Another time, when we couldn't get a flight to Vancouver, we flew to Seattle instead, intending to take either a bus, train or rental car from there to Vancouver.

Upon checking the monitors at SEA airport however, we noticed that an earlier commuter flight had been delayed and was scheduled to leave for Vancouver shortly. We figured it was at least worth a try. Sure enough, there were empty seats and we got a cheap fare, about the same price as the bus ride would have cost us.

 

There are so many places where you can re-route to reach your destination another way if necessary, instead of just waiting around trying to get on the next flight that goes from point A to point B.

 

That works very well in providing backup for transatlantic flights to Europe from major east coast US airports as many of the European cities are so close together.

 

Even when they tell you that all the early morning transatlantic flights are completely sold out, if you stand by for them, you have a good chance of getting out on one (as long as the airport does not completely shut down).

 

But the main thing passengers need in such situations is time, which they don't have if they wait until the last minute to try to fly to their cruise embarkation port.

(Well, patience helps too.)

 

 

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We had this problem going from NYC to Miami a few years ago. Two days ahead of the storm we hopped on Amtrak and took the 26 hour ride from NYC to Miami. Problem was I could not get through to the Airline to let them know, I was just a no show. Coming home we were told our return flight was canceled because we did not take the first half. And after all this the storm went out to sea and out original flight left NYC on time!! This is why I stopped traveling in Jan to March.

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Yes, just saw many waivers. We are in KY expecting another 12-14" tonight on top of our 4".

Flights will go nowhere. Our cruise is a week away and weather is predicted to be in the 50's so we should be fine.

The PP who said this is all hype, just look outside my windows.

Good luck to all of you and if you have to drive, be careful!!

Our KY State Parks are offering a great rate if any stranded folks need lodging.

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We did book thru Choice Air. I just got off of the phone with them. I called to ask questions. The woman was very helpful. She said to go to the airport. If your flight is delayed and you think you will miss the embarkment, then go to the counter to try to get booked on a different earlier flight. She said to call the Emergency Travel Team of Choice Air and gave me their#. They will assist and monitor flights. But if all flights are cancelled and you cannot get to Miami, then Choice air will help arrange booking on the first available flight once the airport is up and running again. So they would probably book us on a flight to San Juan on the 25th if we could not get to Miami on the 23rd. We would miss two days of cruising but at least not miss the entire cruise.

 

Do not go to the airport on Saturday! That advice might work for an individual flight cancellation. However, this is a major snowstorm that is starting on Friday night. If the storm is as projected then the airport will close and you will be stranded. Watch your local news or check Philadelphia Airports web site for airport status. Checking American's website, it looks like getting out on Friday, isn't possible anymore as everything is sold out.

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Well, each of us will be subject to our 'personal' schedules and the weather during these times.

 

As such, if we make it, we do, if not, hopefully insurance will cover missed connections or connection at next port possible or missed cruise altogether.

 

These are the options, for sure.

 

bon voyage

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Besides, you may be pleasantly surprised and not even need to drive.

One time when our flight to Miami got canceled, we flew into Tampa instead, thinking we would end up renting a car to drive to Miami.

But it turned out that we were able to catch a flight from Tampa to Miami instead.

 

Another time, when we couldn't get a flight to Vancouver, we flew to Seattle instead, intending to take either a bus, train or rental car from there to Vancouver.

Upon checking the monitors at SEA airport however, we noticed that an earlier commuter flight had been delayed and was scheduled to leave for Vancouver shortly. We figured it was at least worth a try. Sure enough, there were empty seats and we got a cheap fare, about the same price as the bus ride would have cost us.

 

There are so many places where you can re-route to reach your destination another way if necessary, instead of just waiting around trying to get on the next flight that goes from point A to point B.

 

That works very well in providing backup for transatlantic flights to Europe from major east coast US airports as many of the European cities are so close together.

 

Even when they tell you that all the early morning transatlantic flights are completely sold out, if you stand by for them, you have a good chance of getting out on one (as long as the airport does not completely shut down).

 

But the main thing passengers need in such situations is time, which they don't have if they wait until the last minute to try to fly to their cruise embarkation port.

(Well, patience helps too.)

 

 

 

All good info but for this snowstorm (and most others) all flights to Florida are cancelled. All flights everywhere are cancelled.

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