NCL DECIDED TO STRAND PEOPLE IN FLORIDA

[Homosassa]

16 hours ago, bbstx said:

If this were Saturday, 3/19, I don’t think it was a weather issue.  My daughter was flying out of Florida that day (along with her husband and 3 pre-school aged children).  They were on the plane but told they could not take off because “air space was saturated.”  They sat on the tarmac for several hours before they finally took off.  

 

 

Seriously? Not weather related?

 

Let me give the long explanation for the short statement that "air space was saturated."

 

We had a front coming through Florida (perhaps the rest of you remember the storm system that was moving across the country from the west?)

 

It moved from the northwest part of the state  down to the southeast part of the state through out the day. Strong winds, thunderstorms and possible tornados were possible).

 

It was about 9-10  AM when Tampa Airport and Ft Myers Airport would have been affected with flight cancellations, diversions and delays for both incoming and outgoing flights.  For those diverted flights, some may have gone to Orlando, Jacksonville, or the state southeast airports (Palm Beach, Ft Lauderdale, and Miami). This of course would start to cause problems on the ground as diverted flights waited to be cleared to fly to their destinations and the tarmac became crowded.

 

As the front moved through, Tampa and Ft Myers would have opened and the chess game of moving out delayed flights into and out of the airports begin.

 

But now Orlando  (and probably Jacksonville) are impacted. Flights are delayed and maybe those flights diverted  to those airports didn't make it out before the airport was closed to air traffic.

 

But, hey, the front moves on and those two airports can reopen, but now those southeast airports are affected.

 

And the beat goes on as air traffic controllers try to separate the onion layers of incoming, outgoing, and diverted flights to get traffic moving throughout and out of and into the state.

 

Yeah, "air space was saturated" and it was weather related.

[broberts]

Tough crowd, piling on a poster for doing something the cruise lines do routinely. It's sad really, especially since we don't have any idea of the factors that lead to the decision to book same day flights.

 

OP, sorry your cruise didn't work out. Frustration with the cruise line is understandable, but unwarranted. Although call center wait times are their fault.

 

[LGW59]

18 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

My daughter has been sitting in Newark airport since 11, for her 1 pm flight to Atlanta. Weather is fine, now it’s saying 5 pm, we will see, it’s the last flight of the day (since the actual last flight has been canceled). Weather is fine. Flying is not that reliable.

Other factors come into play, such as where is the connecting flight coming from, is there bad weather there, is there mechanical difficulties.  Yes, the last few months the airlines have had a lot of difficulties, omicron, bad weather, but IMO, as a former very very frequent traveler for work, all over the country, all in all, they do a damn good job, except when it negatively effects someone...

[LGW59]

6 minutes ago, broberts said:

Tough crowd, piling on a poster for doing something the cruise lines do routinely. It's sad really, especially since we don't have any idea of the factors that lead to the decision to book same day flights.

 

OP, sorry your cruise didn't work out. Frustration with the cruise line is understandable, but unwarranted. Although call center wait times are their fault.

 

Sure let's hold up a ship filled with 2500 passengers because one of our cruisers decided to fly in the same day with multiple children in tow, now that's an easy task.  Tough way to learn, but hope the OP has.

[broberts]

1 minute ago, LGW59 said:

Sure let's hold up a ship filled with 2500 passengers because one of our cruisers decided to fly in the same day with multiple children in tow, now that's an easy task.  Tough way to learn, but hope the OP has.

 

Cruise lines routinely book same day flights and do hold departures when possible. You are blaming the OP for a decision that is made every day by cruise line air booking. ☹️

[CalTexCruiser]

What I've learned recently about NCL:

 

1) NCL is heartless,

 

2) NCL strands people in Florida, and

 

3) NCL window washers walk in on naked passengers on their balcony.

 

Anything else about NCL I should know about since I'm considering trying them for the first time?

[MoCruiseFan]

28 minutes ago, broberts said:

 

Cruise lines routinely book same day flights and do hold departures when possible. You are blaming the OP for a decision that is made every day by cruise line air booking. ☹️

Never Mind

Edited March 26, 2022 by MoCruiseFan

[njhorseman]

40 minutes ago, CalTexCruiser said:

What I've learned recently about NCL:

 

1) NCL is heartless,

 

2) NCL strands people in Florida, and

 

3) NCL window washers walk in on naked passengers on their balcony.

 

Anything else about NCL I should know about since I'm considering trying them for the first time?

What you should know about is to ignore the one post wonder complainers who have never posted on this board before and won't ever post again.

[fstuff1]

20 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

My daughter has been sitting in Newark airport since 11, for her 1 pm flight to Atlanta. Weather is fine, now it’s saying 5 pm, we will see, it’s the last flight of the day (since the actual last flight has been canceled). Weather is fine. Flying is not that reliable.

 

my flight to LA for same day bliss cruise:

elderly male in middle seat was making both females on either side of him uncomfortable.

 

flight was delayed 20min.

thought they were going to kick him off the plane.

2 males volunteered to switch seats with the females.

 

it gets better.

3hrs into the 5hr flight, he goes walking up and down the isles.

Exercise, maybe? no problems there.

but 15min later, there was turbulence and the seat belt sign turned on. stewardess asked him to return to his seat.

 

he refused to sit down. 😮

he then went to the bathroom.

after coming out and standing in front of his row, he again refused to sit down.

for 5 min he just stood there while the stewardess tried to get him to sit  then the fasten seat belt sign turned off.

 

for those 5 min, i feared plane will be diverted to nearest airport. 😮

so it's not just weather affecting you reaching port on time.

it's also crazy airplane passengers

 

 

Edited March 26, 2022 by fstuff1

[fstuff1]

1 hour ago, CalTexCruiser said:

What I've learned recently about NCL:

1) NCL is heartless,

2) NCL strands people in Florida, and

3) NCL window washers walk in on naked passengers on their balcony.

 

Anything else about NCL I should know about since I'm considering trying them for the first time?

crew is not allowed to have sex with you.

but on another major cruise line, they can. 😮

(mostly male crew propositioning lonely women  walking back to their cabin at night... ie: Want company?)

Edited March 26, 2022 by fstuff1

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, broberts said:

Tough crowd, piling on a poster for doing something the cruise lines do routinely. It's sad really, especially since we don't have any idea of the factors that lead to the decision to book same day flights.

 

OP, sorry your cruise didn't work out. Frustration with the cruise line is understandable, but unwarranted. Although call center wait times are their fault.

 

The cruise line does not hold a ship for hours and hours because someone’s flight was late,,, hoping that the passenger gets to the departure city. Everyone on the ship does not need to be impacted because of one person’s poor planning. 

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, CalTexCruiser said:

What I've learned recently about NCL:

 

1) NCL is heartless,

 

2) NCL strands people in Florida, and

 

3) NCL window washers walk in on naked passengers on their balcony.

 

Anything else about NCL I should know about since I'm considering trying them for the first time?

Replace “NCL” with any other cruise line and check out their forums. It will be the same. 

[chengkp75]

3 hours ago, broberts said:

Cruise lines routinely book same day flights and do hold departures when possible.

I would change "when possible" for "when economical".  If the cost of flying all the late guests is more than the fuel needed to make up the delay, and to pay OBC for reduced port time, etc, and the delay is on the cruise line (airfare booked with cruise line, so they are responsible for forwarding passengers), then they will delay departure.  (Few other things like pilot availability, port traffic, etc, also weigh into the decision.  Cruise lines booking same day flights is their risk, booking one on your own is your risk.

[julig22]

1 minute ago, BirdTravels said:

The cruise line does not hold a ship for hours and hours because someone’s flight was late,,, hoping that the passenger gets to the departure city. Everyone on the ship does not need to be impacted because of one person’s poor planning. 

If you made your own travel arrangements, no they won't wait.

If NCL made your travel arrangements and your flight/airport transfer is delayed they will wait if they can, since the "poor planning" is on NCL, not the passenger - and chances are it's a group of passengers, not just 1 or 2.  Yes, problem might be avoided if a person chooses to fly in a day early but  NCL arranges same-day flights under their program and therefore will do what they can to get those passengers on the ship.

OP who is seems to be a one-time-wonder neglected to provide the full story.

[david_sobe]

Seriously.  NCL stranded people in Florida?  To my knowledge NCL does not control the weather or air traffic.  NCL is a maritime business.  They can only strand people at sea.

[LGW59]

32 minutes ago, julig22 said:

If you made your own travel arrangements, no they won't wait.

If NCL made your travel arrangements and your flight/airport transfer is delayed they will wait if they can, since the "poor planning" is on NCL, not the passenger - and chances are it's a group of passengers, not just 1 or 2.  Yes, problem might be avoided if a person chooses to fly in a day early but  NCL arranges same-day flights under their program and therefore will do what they can to get those passengers on the ship.

OP who is seems to be a one-time-wonder neglected to provide the full story.

It is unfortunate that the same day fly-in decision ruined an entire family's vacation (IF the OP made her own res) of course they own it, not NCL.  People that do things like this tend to have an axe to grind and will blame anyone they can rather than take personal responsibility.  I do feel sorry for the grandchildren though.  

[Heather1972]

Not NCL's fault you decided to roll the dice and fly in the day of a cruise. 

[RD64]

It is NCL’s fault because you decided to fly in the day of and the weather did cooperate?

[BirdTravels]

17 hours ago, julig22 said:

If NCL made your travel arrangements and your flight/airport transfer is delayed they will wait if they can, since the "poor planning" is on NCL, not the passenger - and chances are it's a group of passengers, not just 1 or 2. 

The passenger, not NCL selects when to fly. The passenger makes the decision to fly day-of-cruise.

[bigrednole]

22 hours ago, broberts said:

Tough crowd, piling on a poster for doing something the cruise lines do routinely. It's sad really, especially since we don't have any idea of the factors that lead to the decision to book same day flights.

 

OP, sorry your cruise didn't work out. Frustration with the cruise line is understandable, but unwarranted. Although call center wait times are their fault.

 

No, it is being very realistic with what the OP purchased. Anyone hinging an entire family vacation with a margin of error of maybe 3 hours, is ridiculous. The OP cheaped out, gambled, and lost. It is as simple as that. If you cannot fly in a day early, then you need to rethink your vacations. You need to look at domestic land vacations where you don't lose your entire vacation for being cheap. If they could not fly in until Saturday, look for Sunday cruises. 

 

I literally have no sympathy for people that take such a massive risk, blame others for it, then complain about it. Absolutely none of this is the fault of anyone other than the OP. 

[Crown Vic]

Interesting thread! Gotta say we were on an NCL cruise outta MIA. There were bad storms in the North East which delayed many, many flights. The ship delayed sailing by about 5 hours to allow a coupla hundred folks flying in to make the cruise. As chengkp75 said ya hafta mix ‘cruise line economics’ into the sail or delay equation although we have seen a ship go back to the dock, shortly after pulling away, to pick up late returning passengers. Perhaps there is some ❤️ mixed into the decision making process...

[happy cruzer]

Still dealing with Celebrity air for a cancelled flight, so it happens.  Took 30+ cruises but it does happen 🙂

 

Did you charge on a credit card?  Look at that for trip cancellation/interruption/delay coverage.

 

And those advising coming in a day early, one day may not be enough would not have been with several weather events this year.  And if it wasn't then you could not blame the cruise line either 🙂

 

So really the lesson learned is that travel is very unpredictable and IMHO air travel is the worst.

[hallux]

On 3/25/2022 at 5:20 PM, Oceansaway17 said:

you MUST come the day before and add price to the package.

Even just flying down the East coast I didn't gamble and flew to Miami from Albany on Friday to board my March 19 cruise.  Could I have gotten a flight to Miami on embarkation day that would have arrived in time?  Maybe, but as it turns out with all the Spring Break traveling going on my flight from BWI to MIA was delayed due to the amount of air traffic in Florida.  Going in the day before also allowed me to select a later flight and not have to be up for a 6 AM departure (meaning being at the airport at 4 AM), and making myself dead tired by the time I'm on the ship 12 hours later.

 

Since I'm only 3 hours from port, I wouldn't take the same tactic if I sailed from NYC.  I could leave home at 7 AM and have more than enough time to get there.

[adonisr]

On 3/25/2022 at 1:35 PM, badgerjeanne said:

First of all, I don’t usually post reviews. We love cruising and are thrilled to be back. HOWEVER, we experienced extremely poor customer service at Norwegian. We were scheduled to fly out from MSP early Saturday am. Due to storms in Florida, the FAA stopped ALL FLIGHTS into Florida. The airport was full of people scheduled all over Florida for spring break. I called Norwegian several times to inquire about our options. (All calls required a hold time of at least 30 minutes.) They were NOT sympathetic. Be here 2 hours before departure or you won’t board. Meet us at first port on day 2. There were 6 of us, including 2 grandkids, taking the cruise cancelled 2 years ago. First port was Honduras. One way flights were $1,600 x 6 but there were none available. On last call, I was informed ship had decided not to wait and would leave on time. I found that incomprehensible! Flights were cancelled into Florida for at least 10 hours I am aware of. We were far from the only ones. We were told there were people pounding on the windows at the cruise port while the ship was sitting there! The next day was a sea day. They could easily make up time. Our only option was to book new reservations on the Encore leaving the next day. They would not transfer reservations. Because of all the flight delays and backlog, our option to return to MSP was not possible until Monday or Tuesday. We had an EXTREMELY difficult time finding a hotel Saturday night. Spring break on a Saturday night was booked solid. We paid $1,500 for 2 rooms in South Beach. Several years ago, our flight to San Juan was delayed. Celebrity HELD THE SHIP FOR PEOPLE FLYING IN. It is an option. The cruise industry is anxious for people to return. Act accordingly. 

This is why you should NEVER fly on the same day you sail.  It's your job to get to the port on time.  

[Oceansaway17]

On 3/26/2022 at 5:36 AM, bigrednole said:

Yes and they don't get cruise insurance to whine later. Some people are ridiculous and you could never please them. If they got on the cruise they would be the Karens and Karls complaining about every little thing: "you gave me a frozen drink that melts in the sun", "this beer is only 11.8oz not 12oz", etc. 

oh I never heard of the Karl's.  ha ha.  

 

I am amazed at folks who do not do their research or even just read the darn suggestions on the cruise line web site.  Like good idea to have a passport in case you are stuck in a foreign port.  Folks who take short cuts, in the end have a long road back.