Lesson learned I hope

[mredandchis]

First off to the OP that is sad that they were late. no matter what you do it can happen but it needs to be planned for.  Unlike many of the posters i drive to all my cruises,  up to 12 hours.  I set up to drive the day before and get in what i call range of the port.  Then i set out to arrive at port at 11am.  This gives me a 4 hour window at least , sometimes more depending on sailing.  Miami is the hard one with traffic jams.  But i like to get to the parking lot. My last cruise i had to drive thru Hurricane Florence and there werent hotels at the port as it had just came by there.  But i arrived there at 9am with a 12 scheduled arrival time.  There were 900 cancellations on that cruise.

[Wheels87]

My wife and I cruised on the RC Adventure of the Seas back in December, 2007 out of San Juan. We flew in two days before, just to be safe. 

 

At some point during the cruise, the captain and some of the officers had a Q & A session in the Viking Crown Lounge. When they opened the floor up for questions, a older woman stood up and asked why herself and her family were left on the pier back in San Juan. The captain immediately asked "Were you on the ship at 10:00 pm?" Her answer was "no" and he simply said "Well that's why you were left on the pier." It was priceless. She them proceeded to lecture him on how this was her 18th cruise on RC, Yada, Yada, Yada. 

 

The full story was that she was trying to fly from Detroit to San Juan through Minneapolis in the middle of December ON THE DAY OF HER CRUISE! Anyone from the north understands that the weather can be treacherous that time of year. There was a snowstorm that delayed their flight out of Minneapolis and that is why they were late. Apparently they arrived at the Port at 10:30 which was 90 minutes past the cut-off time. Because her attitude was so bad, I actually enjoyed hearing about it. 

 

Moral of the story...never fly in to San Juan the day of your cruise. 

 

Enjoy, 

 

Brad

[PhillyFan33579]

2 hours ago, mredandchis said:

First off to the OP that is sad that they were late. no matter what you do it can happen but it needs to be planned for.  Unlike many of the posters i drive to all my cruises,  up to 12 hours.  I set up to drive the day before and get in what i call range of the port.  Then i set out to arrive at port at 11am.  This gives me a 4 hour window at least , sometimes more depending on sailing.  Miami is the hard one with traffic jams.  But i like to get to the parking lot. My last cruise i had to drive thru Hurricane Florence and there werent hotels at the port as it had just came by there.  But i arrived there at 9am with a 12 scheduled arrival time.  There were 900 cancellations on that cruise.

 

We live in Florida and always drive to the port the morning of the cruise. We are similar to you except we aim to be at the port at 10 AM, which gives us a 5 hour window. Fortunately we have never had any serious issues with traffic  

[beerman2]

2 hours ago, Wheels87 said:

My wife and I cruised on the RC Adventure of the Seas back in December, 2007 out of San Juan. We flew in two days before, just to be safe. 

 

At some point during the cruise, the captain and some of the officers had a Q & A session in the Viking Crown Lounge. When they opened the floor up for questions, a older woman stood up and asked why herself and her family were left on the pier back in San Juan. The captain immediately asked "Were you on the ship at 10:00 pm?" Her answer was "no" and he simply said "Well that's why you were left on the pier." It was priceless. She them proceeded to lecture him on how this was her 18th cruise on RC, Yada, Yada, Yada. 

 

The full story was that she was trying to fly from Detroit to San Juan through Minneapolis in the middle of December ON THE DAY OF HER CRUISE! Anyone from the north understands that the weather can be treacherous that time of year. There was a snowstorm that delayed their flight out of Minneapolis and that is why they were late. Apparently they arrived at the Port at 10:30 which was 90 minutes past the cut-off time. Because her attitude was so bad, I actually enjoyed hearing about it. 

 

Moral of the story...never fly in to San Juan the day of your cruise. 

 

Enjoy, 

 

Brad

Nobody from the North should ever fly in the day of cruise in the winter. We always take the first flight out day before, especially in winter.

Plus when  flying out of DTW , staying the night before is essential, and it's only about 1 hr. 50 minute drive.

Only cost is hotel and that includes parking for 7-8 days.

Edited November 10, 2018 by beerman2

[meester_jamie]

On 11/5/2018 at 8:48 PM, lbfluffy said:

<snip>The port is about 6 hours away. Her mom did not want to book a room <snip> But it is always safer to drive the night before. I doubt they will get any money back, 

Sorry to hear , this would be frustrating! 

I assume the left home about 4 am to drive 6 hrs and arrive mid morning,, I would’ve booked a room!! or they may have left at 6am to arrive noonish,, not that bad,, but a 3 hr window can disappear in a hurry ! So *I* think your right to drive the night before! 

[meester_jamie]

On 11/5/2018 at 10:19 PM, Joebucks said:

Such a shame. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. Imagine the excitement of a vacation, only to find out you can't go, but you paid for it.

 

Being as far away from ports as I am, I always fly in the night before. In fact, that is part of the vacation! Enjoying all that the port has to offer adds to the variety of this vacation. The only problem we have with the hotel, is trying to limit it. 1 day turns into 2, which turns into 3.

Well said! 

[Surrealistic]

Planes, trains, boats................guess what? They have a schedule and if you are late you will miss your ride.  Lesson learned, hopefully.  Sad, but that's why there is a final time to board and that includes port stops as well!

[meester_jamie]

On 11/6/2018 at 9:40 AM, cherylandtk said:

What also seems to have been missed thus far is that insurance would NOT have covered this event. <snip>

.  When you make your own arrangements to get to the port, you really do have to get to the port before the cutoff time.

 

This has been my experience,, loads of fine print on insurance policies as well

even if carnival makes the arrangements, the ship can leave you behind ,, then you have to get a room! Wait for a flight to the next port with airport ,, probably after a sea day away,, sooo another room , a few meals ,, by the time you connect with the ship , you’re 2 days into the 7 day cruise ,, sigh ,, carnival picks up the flight ,, but you probably pay more for the rooms, extra meals, transportation, than you paid for the cruise! 

I’ve talked to a few folks making their way onboard 2 days late and they confirmed it cost them a lot to catch the ship ,, sigh,, sooo frustrating 

[meester_jamie]

On 11/6/2018 at 9:46 AM, naxer said:

Cars break down.  Planes have mechanical problems.  Weather happens.  I live 4 hours from the airport.  Out of 8 cruises where I was scheduled to fly in the day before, I ended up getting the first flight the next morning two of those times due to 1) mechanical problems and 2) weather.  As I age, I'm beginning to think that even a day before isn't enough.  

 

Yup ,, I think 2 days is relaxing! 

[CruiseGal999]

It is frustrating and it's sad, maddening and heartbreaking.  BUT they planned on failing.  Did they have AAA for any vehicle breakdowns?  They did not leave the day before, planning that cushion of time for any mishaps.  And the mother who has paid SO much $$$$ for the cruise for EVERYONE ... penny pinched when it came time to get a hotel room or 2?  And the mom is a very experienced cruiser?  It just doesn't make sense.  

[meester_jamie]

On 11/6/2018 at 12:31 PM, BNBR said:

They allow people to board after final boarding all the time at ports of call.  The slippery slope argument just doesn't hold water.

 

I'm not sure the lesson learned here.  You may want to consider a hotel the night before.  But honestly, bad things happen sometimes.  Flights are missed, cruise ships get stuck or are severely delayed and everyone misses flights home, etc.  Things just, kind of, happen.  You lost nothing other that the cruise.  You aren't out any more money than you would have been if you went.  In fact, you'll save money since many fees, excursions, drink packages, etc, will all be refunded.  Your only loss here is disappointment and you'll save some money, too. That's it. <snip>

 

Personally, I'd make the most of it.  Enjoy the week off, find some fun stuff to do with family, and move on.

 

Pretty well our philosophy! BNBR 

 

We have been late twice for “bad things happen” ,, once was 20 min into muster when we got there ,, folks weren’t happy as they assumed we were just delinquent ,, when a few ppl heard one plane caught fire and had to emergency land,, and second plane had the cargo door knocked off while loading the beers! They we a lot more friendly! 

They did delay departing the ship,, I doubt they held the ship for us ,, but I had been on the phone to carnival to let them know the 3 hr window the booked for us was gone ,, so they knew we were coming,,,,  we did not have carnival booked ground transportation,,  We lucked into a carnival bus at airport as they had 2 other couples on another ship who were delayed getting in to airport

We had to drag our own luggage all the way thru terminal to cabin,,

only 2 ppl left in terminal , place was a ghost town!, to check us in, X-ray bags, no boarding pics ,, run run run,, then they escorted us to our cabin to drop luggage and be “evacuated “ to ensure cabin was empty ,, and escorted to muster ,, to a round of applause for the “last ones” to appear ,, (Although we weren’t the last one as there were some elderly people who showed up later)

Phew! We didn’t miss the ship tho! 

[meester_jamie]

On 11/6/2018 at 6:45 PM, StolidCruiser said:

 

You would lose that bet.  You can’t get “deals at the port”.  Especially after boarding has closed (hence the denial referenced by the OP).

 

They also don’t upsell vacant cabins to onboard guests.

 

The cabin either remained vacant or was used as a substitute if something happened to make another cabin uninhabitable.

 

 

Both points ,, very true!

[KmomChicago]

Of all the comments the most intriguing is the question of whether they might have waited if the OP's friend had called as soon as they realized they would be very close to missing the 3pm final boarding time.  If the real issue is having to turn in the manifest to Homeland Security an hour before departure, this might have worked.  With a sea day ahead, holding off on submitting the form and leaving 20 minutes later than planned would not have been impossible. Once the paperwork has been filed, there is probably no going back.

 

As many others have said, getting a room the night before makes sense if you consider it an extra day to enjoy your vacation and if it reduces your stress, worry, and exhaustion for embarkation day.  If you are comfortable with more risk and see no point in this extra planning and expense, there's no reason you have to do it.  I fall into the former camp.

[summersigh]

On the Christmas cruise we took a few years ago there was a huge blizzard up north 2 nights before we sailed.  All the airports in the northeast were closed for days during and after the storm. 

As a result 400 out of 1,200 people missed our sailing.  Even worse the itinerary was a sea day and then Half Moon Cay so if one wanted to catch up it would have been day 3 of a 7 day trip.

[meester_jamie]

1 hour ago, summersigh said:

On the Christmas cruise we took a few years ago there was a huge blizzard up north 2 nights before we sailed.  All the airports in the northeast were closed for days during and after the storm. 

As a result 400 out of 1,200 people missed our sailing.  Even worse the itinerary was a sea day and then Half Moon Cay so if one wanted to catch up it would have been day 3 of a 7 day trip.

 

Wow,, sounds like 3 days left .. almost no Choice ...catch up to the ship because if you stayed in Florida you have to pay the motel rooms and food for the week,, probably couldn’t catch a early flight home,,   That would be terrible decisions have to be made .

[ZoeyVictoria]

On 11/10/2018 at 8:23 AM, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

We live in Florida and always drive to the port the morning of the cruise. We are similar to you except we aim to be at the port at 10 AM, which gives us a 5 hour window. Fortunately we have never had any serious issues with traffic  

 

I booked a cruise leaving the Monday after Thanksgiving last year and chose to drive to Boca Raton the night before, breaking up the drive from Ocala to Fort Lauderdale.  We left really early and were fine from Ocala to Orlando.  Unfortunately, we spent ninety minutes there in IKEA and by the time we got back in the car, the 2 hour 50 minute drive to Boca Raton took over six hours.  Most valuable lesson?  Never drive the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  If that had been the day of the cruise, we would have missed the ship for sure.

[riclop]

On 11/5/2018 at 5:48 PM, lbfluffy said:

My co worker just told me the horrible event that happened to them. They were heading to their cruise in Long Beach on October 27th, the day of their cruise. The port is about 6 hours away. Her mom did not want to book a room the night before because she felt it was too expensive to book a room plus charge for two cars parking fee. It was a group of 5 of them. Her mom and sister were coming from a different town so they had two cars. Well my coworkers car broke down on the way to the port. They managed to get to the port at 312, 12 minutes after their boarding time. They would not let them on. They begged pleaded, name dropped, but the agents at Long Beach said no. Oh and they didn’t have insurance.  I feel bad for them. But it is always safer to drive the night before. I doubt they will get any money back, but her sister is trying.

 

 

She will not get her $$ back.