HAL air - next port experience

[suec12]

Am considering using HAL air and flying for arrival the day the ship leaves from Venice. So then a sea day and then Katalon? small port. So what if......would Hal pay for my stay in Venice? transport me to the small port...next stop is Athens. Has anyone had personal experience with this kind of scenario? - would appreciate thoughts and actual detail as how it played out for you. 

 

You don't need to advise me to go into Venice early - been there, done that, seen the major sights.......way too many tourists now to be very enjoyable IMPO (in my persoanl opinion).

[RuthC]

From what I have been told by others who had to catch up with the ship, you pay the expenses. HAL will make the arrangements. 

You may want to reconsider coming in a day early. You don't have to do much of anything, but you can catch up on some sleep, and have a head start on that jet lag that is sure to land with you. 

[SilvertoGold]

Seems to me that you buy insurance for all trip interruption things like hotel, food and HAL gets you to a port, not necessarily the next one.

[kazu]

31 minutes ago, RuthC said:

You may want to reconsider coming in a day early. You don't have to do much of anything, but you can catch up on some sleep, and have a head start on that jet lag that is sure to land with you. 

 

I very much agree with this. The overnight flights are no fun and the time change does have an effect.

 

On our last cruise, a roll call member flew in the day of.  Let me rephrase that - they were supposed to arrive the day of the cruise.

 

They joined the ship 3 days later after a lot of hotels and different flights to catch up.

 

It was an expensive lesson for them and they said they would NEVER fly in the day of the cruise again.

[Gigi1977]

Following this. . . Hopefully there is someone with this dreaded experience.  

 

Also - HAL Platinum insurance ?  Would that ‘catch you up’? 

[freestyling]

Do yourself and anyone else your traveling with a huge service / favor and fly in a day early. Just not worth the hassle IF you miss the departure of ship. 

[CruiserBruce]

Just because you have been there before doesn't mean flying in  a day early is not smart. Fly in early. You could fly into Rome a few days early and train over to Venice.

[oceanmom]

Bottom line, you use HAL/FlightEase air and your flight is delayed resulting in you missing the ship, they commit to getting you to the next port they can get you to, their choice of which port. You might be put in a hotel in Venice or not. You might be flown out the same day to some next port or not. It will be at HAL's discretion.

Edited September 30, 2019 by oceanmom

[YXU AC*SE]

Answering the OP's question, you're on your own. 

 

 

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Trip Delay
If your Covered Cruise Vacation is delayed, we will reimburse you, up to the amount shown in the Schedule, for unused
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for hotel accommodations, meals, telephone calls, and economy transportation to catch up to your Cruise Vacation or to
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Katakolo is a bit difficult to get to -- the closest airport is Patras which has weekly charters to Europe, but no (daily or otherwise) scheduled service to Athens.  Your alternative is to fly to Athens and (a) lay-up until the ship hits Piræus or (b) a four-hour bus ride to Katakolo via Corinth.  Either way 500$pp isn't going to go too far (if you're purchasing CPP) 

 

Scott. 

 

 

[suec12]

Well re-thinking the arriving day of....but now another question - I purchase a Delta seat thru HAL - let's say I miss a connection at CDG - who will I deal with HAL? or Delta?

[Krazy Kruizers]

Glad you are rethinking this problem.  I know that I would not want to be stressed not knowing whether I missed the ship or not and then have to worry when I would catch up to the ship and in what port.  Very expensive.  We have been to many cities many times pre cruise and didn't mind staying in them again.

 

You will probably have to deal with HAL and maybe even Delta.

[oceanmom]

52 minutes ago, suec12 said:

Well re-thinking the arriving day of....but now another question - I purchase a Delta seat thru HAL - let's say I miss a connection at CDG - who will I deal with HAL? or Delta?

 

Most airlines will proactively rebook your missed connection flight before you even know it. Since you are flying from Paris to Venice there should be plenty of alternatives. Your ship boarding passes will include phone numbers for HAL travel for you to call for more support but the first thing they say is to tell your airline you are flying to meet a cruise. Be sure to sign up for Delta's app before you leave as that will usually have the most current information. Traveling during the winter holiday season can often be a challenge due to weather issues so allow even more time for problems.

 

If you are not abusing the system nor a chronic abuser, HAL and FlightEase will try their best to make everything right. Cruise contracts are written by lawyers to limit liability.

[dfish]

1 hour ago, suec12 said:

Well re-thinking the arriving day of....but now another question - I purchase a Delta seat thru HAL - let's say I miss a connection at CDG - who will I deal with HAL? or Delta?

When my flight through HAL was cancelled I dealt with the airline.  The gate agent made sure I was rebooked and it turned out to be a better connection than the original.

[CruiserBruce]

You will be dealing with Delta to get you to Venice...that is their commitment. If you are asking if you KNOW while at CDG that you will miss your cruise, then HAL comes into play.

 

Be aware that booking through the cruise line usually gets you consolidator tickets, which will be the lowest priority to fixing issues with Delta.

[freestyling]

CruiserBruce is correct on lowest priority for fixing any issues with airline.

We were delayed on AA due to weather from PHL to LHR. We then had a 4 hr layover before flight to Barcelona. We were delayed 3.5 hrs out of PHL and requested to be rebooked to a later flight out of LHR. We were politely told that we would be put on a standby list for the last flight to Barcelona out of LHR which was 9 hrs after our projected arrival time. 

Informed by agent that since our Business Class ticket was code fare xxsomething, we had the lowest priority of any purchased ticket. We had 7 hrs to explore LHR airport since we did not make our initial connection flight. We saved over $1,200 using HAL FlightEase so for us it was worth it. We also were flying in 3 days before departure, so had no stress. 

[TAD2005]

Anybody that is spending $5000 and up for a European cruise and has to fly 5000 miles with multiple connections in today's nutty airline environment, and wants to arrive the day of sailing to save a $200 hotel charge is begging for a disaster.   Anything can and does usually happen.   No matter how many on CC will tell you they did it with no issues is not a guarantee that disaster will not happen to you.   There are so many variables to a successful multiple flight connection.   Weather, ATC issues, traffic delays, bumping, denied boarding due to overbooking, etc.   And even with insurance covering your expenses, you still have to front the money and wait for a reimbursement.   Plus, in some European ports, there is very little access to regular scheduled flights.   And you will be missing 2, 3 or more days of your cruise in a living hell, until you catch up with the ship.   Just don't take the chance.  It's not worth it.

[Sir PMP]

10 hours ago, suec12 said:

Am considering using HAL air and flying for arrival the day the ship leaves from Venice. So then a sea day and then Katalon? small port. So what if......would Hal pay for my stay in Venice? transport me to the small port...next stop is Athens. Has anyone had personal experience with this kind of scenario? - would appreciate thoughts and actual detail as how it played out for you. 

 

You don't need to advise me to go into Venice early - been there, done that, seen the major sights.......way too many tourists now to be very enjoyable IMPO (in my persoanl opinion).

Katakolon is in nowhere land...