Cruise in 2 weeks - canceled flights, covid test, Stressed about it all.

[taymiss2]

47 minutes ago, jacads said:

You should book your flights through your TA.  They will tie them to the cruise ship (just a real small increase in airfare price) and then the cruise line is responsible for getting you to the ship if your flights are cancelled.

I have never done that before because we usually use points.  But have been thinking I wished we would have for at least my daughters leg.    In any case they have a back up now so just have to hope for the best.   Almost hope they have to use the back up so I can tell my husband told you so 🤣😂

[Lane Hog]

Playing devil's advocate, it you're booking backup flights that you plan to cancel when the original flights go well, you're keeping someone else from being able to get where they want to go. 

Some might say booking flights you have no intention of taking is even a bit selfish on your part... 

The airlines who are canceling due to staffing usually doing so 2-5 days in advance, which usually gives everyone plenty of time to adjust and arrive close enough to the original planned time if not early.

Weather cancels?  Nobody can predict that, and chances are your backup airline would be equally affected.

 

Edited June 16, 2022 by Lane Hog

[Merion_Mom]

9 hours ago, davekathy said:

JetBlue (👎👎), March 2022. Going to and returning from our cruise. Worst we've ever experienced. And to add to that the JetBlue luggage apes destroyed one of our checked suitcases. 🤬

 

[rudeney]

2 hours ago, Lane Hog said:

Playing devil's advocate, it you're booking backup flights that you plan to cancel when the original flights go well, you're keeping someone else from being able to get where they want to go. 

Some might say booking flights you have no intention of taking is even a bit selfish on your part... 
 

 

I am sure that with all the flight cancelations, those unused seats will be filled with grateful standby passengers. 

 

[smokeybandit]

2 hours ago, Lane Hog said:

Playing devil's advocate, it you're booking backup flights that you plan to cancel when the original flights go well, you're keeping someone else from being able to get where they want to go. 

There are almost always people flying standby. I doubt those seats went unfilled.

[Lane Hog]

Standby travel isn't profitable to the airline -- all it does is open up a seat on the standby traveler's originally confirmed flight an hour or two later that the airline now won't have time to offer for sale to someone else.  At some point, you run out of people looking to fly a couple hours early, and you have empty seats that are worthless the moment the airplane door closes.

The employees who fly for free in unwanted seats are indeed grateful.  But.... after losing billions over the past 27 months, I'm fairly certain the airline would much rather sell those seats to someone actually planning to travel. 

Edited June 17, 2022 by Lane Hog

[rudeney]

1 hour ago, Lane Hog said:

Standby travel isn't profitable to the airline -- all it does is open up a seat on the standby traveler's originally confirmed flight an hour or two later that the airline now won't have time to offer for sale to someone else.  At some point, you run out of people looking to fly a couple hours early, and you have empty seats that are worthless the moment the airplane door closes.

The employees who fly for free in unwanted seats are indeed grateful.  But.... after losing billions over the past 27 months, I'm fairly certain the airline would much rather sell those seats to someone actually planning to travel. 

 

If it were just a "normal" pre-pandemic travel day with some standby travelers trying to get on an earlier flight, I would agree.  But right now, flights are overbooked due to equipment and crew shortages and there are more passengers wanting to fly than the airlines can accommodate.  One canceled flight can cost the airlines heavily by having to pay for meals and hotels when passengers have to wait until the next day (or two) to get on another flight.  These are the standby passengers I was talking about.  There will be souls in those seats, so the airline will make as much revenue (and hopefully profit) as they can given their current supply capabilities.

[mpk]

8 hours ago, jacads said:

You should book your flights through your TA.  They will tie them to the cruise ship (just a real small increase in airfare price) and then the cruise line is responsible for getting you to the ship if your flights are cancelled.

 

Is this true?   Part of me can't imagine the cruise line agreeing to this risk and obligation when they aren't really a party to the flights.  (They didn't set it up, they aren't profiting from it, etc etc etc)

[wallyj]

1 hour ago, mpk said:

 

Is this true?   Part of me can't imagine the cruise line agreeing to this risk and obligation when they aren't really a party to the flights.  (They didn't set it up, they aren't profiting from it, etc etc etc)

Hi @jacadsis not being clear. I believe when they suggest booking flights using TA, the TA can look up flights for you, but to have next port protection, you need to book your air thru the cruise line/cruise air which for RCL cruises is Air2sea. If your flight is canceled, the airline will try to rebook you and Air2sea will try also, depends on timing of cancellation. Also depending on the itinerary and length of sailing it may not be feasible to fly you to next port as embarkation may not be allowed because of infrastructure, immigration or other issues. Depending on how long the delay, the Captain and or Corporate can decide to wait for late arriving passengers. Port schedules may plan into decision if ship can wait. You are not guaranteed the ship will wait or even getting flown to the next port.
 

I had booked cruise line air for a Transatlantic, which was FLL to Southampton, traveling from LA to FLL and had a connection in ATL. Unfortunately, weather caused flights to be canceled and I was not going to be able to get to FLL before cruise left. Next port was Bermuda in 3 days. At first was told try to get to FLL and cruise air would try to book FLL to Bermuda. I already knew there were very few flights available from FLL, so I told them this was not a feasible option.

 

Then, I was given choice fly day ship arrives Bermuda in 3 days and if I miss ship again, I would be on my own, or fly 2 days early and wait for ship. Since I did not have travel insurance, I was on the hook to pay for 2 expensive hotel nights in Bermuda. I did not want to risk any flights delays to travel the day the ship was to  arrive Bermuda. Cruise line  air did pick up bill for new flights. YMMV.

[Ocean Boy]

21 hours ago, dada2199cc said:

I fly about 150 times a year and honestly can't remember the last time I had a cancelled flight or a major delay.

 

I keep seeing news articles about "hundreds of flights cancelled at ABC airport" but when there are normally thousands of flights per airport, it doesn't seem like a concern.

This past January when my flight home was cancelled after a cruise it became a "concern" to me.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

I am "concerned" about things for our upcoming trip that is out of our control:

 

* Possible Flight Cancellation/Delay

* Pre-cruise testing (not finding a test, but if someone is positive)

* Testing positive on board

 

Am I anxious about any?  No.  But they are concerning to me.  We've had the cruise booked since last July, flights booked since February.  I was really thinking Covid, while not gone, would be a minor blip with pre cruise testing possibly a thing in the past.  And I had thought airlines would have their act together. 

 

But, we're stuck with it, so we'll "go with the flow", but I'm not going to lie, I'll breathe a big sigh of relief as we cross the gangway.

[LGW59]

2 minutes ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

I am "concerned" about things for our upcoming trip that is out of our control:

 

* Possible Flight Cancellation/Delay

* Pre-cruise testing (not finding a test, but if someone is positive)

* Testing positive on board

 

Am I anxious about any?  No.  But they are concerning to me.  We've had the cruise booked since last July, flights booked since February.  I was really thinking Covid, while not gone, would be a minor blip with pre cruise testing possibly a thing in the past.  And I had thought airlines would have their act together. 

 

But, we're stuck with it, so we'll "go with the flow", but I'm not going to lie, I'll breathe a big sigh of relief as we cross the gangway.

Airlines are about in as much control as the cruise lines, both a mess.  But at least with the airlines much of it has to do with weather.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

4 minutes ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

I am "concerned" about things for our upcoming trip that is out of our control:

 

* Possible Flight Cancellation/Delay

* Pre-cruise testing (not finding a test, but if someone is positive)

* Testing positive on board

 

Am I anxious about any?  No.  But they are concerning to me.  We've had the cruise booked since last July, flights booked since February.  I was really thinking Covid, while not gone, would be a minor blip with pre cruise testing possibly a thing in the past.  And I had thought airlines would have their act together. 

 

But, we're stuck with it, so we'll "go with the flow", but I'm not going to lie, I'll breathe a big sigh of relief as we cross the gangway.

This really sums up how we feel about flying to our cruise the end of July in Stockholm.

 

We have had three minor time adjustments to our flights. [no problem] The about two months ago our outbound flight was cancelled.  Yikes.  Air2Sea took about a month to rebook us.  I was concerned during that time.  We actually got an upgrade on our seats out of that.  But, we will not feel we are safe until we hear that ping when our set sail card lets us board the ship.  

 

PS--our flights to Europe are 4 days before we sail.  So, we feel hopeful we could make it if things go sideways.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

9 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

Airlines are about in as much control as the cruise lines, both a mess.  But at least with the airlines much of it has to do with weather.

Yes, weather plays an important factor.  But I'm still "concerned" (basically on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being "wringing hands saying 'what to do, what to do'", I'm probably about a 3.  I'd normally be a 1-2.  Again, it's things that are out of my control.   We have a plan to drive to Florida if our flight is cancelled, BUT if it's cancelled after we check in at the airport, we lose access to our luggage.  We can hope to pick it up the next day.  

 

What if a member of our travelling party tests positive?  We have four family members and two non.  If one of the non family members is +, OK, the rest of us go.  But what if it's a family member?   We've been planning the cruise for a year and is a graduation celebration.  

 

Just little things like that. 

[davekathy]

49 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

Airlines are about in as much control as the cruise lines, both a mess.  But at least with the airlines much of it has to do with weather.

But not always. 

[rudeney]

Watching the news last night with a story about canceled flights and delayed rebookings, my wife asked me if we have problems with that for our October cruise, would we just drive to the port?  The problem is, we sail out of Boston and live in Alabama.  It's an 18 hour drive, so that's unlikely. 

 

Flight schedules out of Birmingham have always been crappy, but since the pandemic, they are horrible.   TO get a decent direct flight, we will drive 3 hours and fly out of Nashville.  It's not a big deal, as it takes an hour to get to Birmingham airport.  We are flying in the day before the cruise (of course!) but we're on the last flight of the day, so if something goes wrong, we will have to take a flight the next day, and we do have a choice of two direct flights that would get us there, assuming they run close to on time.  I am a very seasoned traveler, so I am used to handling delays and such.  My wife is not and she will likely have a meltdown if things go sideways.

 

Like @S.A.M.J.R., I am somewhat concerned, and at about the same 3 out of 10 level.  We do have insurance, so it's not the money, but just the disappointment of missing the cruise.  We only cruise every few years, so it might be more of a concern for us than those who sail more often.   But ultimately, it is out of my control, so all I can do is take the hand we're dealt.  I am hoping that first week of October will have so many travel issues as this summer seems to have.

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

This really sums up how we feel about flying to our cruise the end of July in Stockholm.

 

We have had three minor time adjustments to our flights. [no problem] The about two months ago our outbound flight was cancelled.  Yikes.  Air2Sea took about a month to rebook us.  I was concerned during that time.  We actually got an upgrade on our seats out of that.  But, we will not feel we are safe until we hear that ping when our set sail card lets us board the ship.  

 

PS--our flights to Europe are 4 days before we sail.  So, we feel hopeful we could make it if things go sideways.

Did your return flight automatically cancel when your outbound flight got cancelled? I rarely book round trip any longer so that out bound and return flights are managed independently. There seems to rarely be a price advantage to booking round trip these days anyway.

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

 We have a plan to drive to Florida if our flight is cancelled, BUT if it's cancelled after we check in at the airport, we lose access to our luggage.  We can hope to pick it up the next day.  

 

When my flight home in January was cancelled (one hour prior to departure time 🤨) luggage was available for pickup in baggage claim about a half hour later. This was at Ft. Lauderdale.

[mek]

23 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

. Yup, gotta jump through a few more hoops, but it is all worth while. 

No, it really isn't.  Final payment is due in a few weeks for our October cruise that has been changed 3X and honestly, I wish I could just get out of it.  I have a NRD, and just might let it go.

After messing with the pre-cruise tests, booking (very expensive), flights and hoping there aren't any problems, we still have to worry about getting Covid on the ship and sent to the naughty rooms,(which ultimately may be the deal breaker.)

 

 

 

 

[mek]

1 minute ago, Ocean Boy said:

When my flight home in January was cancelled (one hour prior to departure time 🤨) luggage was available for pickup in baggage claim about a half hour later. This was at Ft. Lauderdale.

I never have cared about problems getting home - I just worry about getting to the ship and making it onboard.

[Ocean Boy]

2 minutes ago, mek said:

I never have cared about problems getting home - I just worry about getting to the ship and making it onboard.

JetBlue could not get me home for three days. I paid through the nose for Southwest to get me home the next day out of MIA. I wasn't happy but certainly didn't get anxiety over it. I agree, I'd much rather the trouble occur after the cruise than before.

[molly361]

56 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Did your return flight automatically cancel when your outbound flight got cancelled? I rarely book round trip any longer so that out bound and return flights are managed independently. There seems to rarely be a price advantage to booking round trip these days anyway.

I do the same although I don't fly much.  It's also easier if the price drops and you just have to change a one way ticket

[S.A.M.J.R.]

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

When my flight home in January was cancelled (one hour prior to departure time 🤨) luggage was available for pickup in baggage claim about a half hour later. This was at Ft. Lauderdale.

That makes me feel better.  Thank you!

 

[Jimbo]

1 hour ago, mek said:

No, it really isn't.  Final payment is due in a few weeks for our October cruise that has been changed 3X and honestly, I wish I could just get out of it.  I have a NRD, and just might let it go.

After messing with the pre-cruise tests, booking (very expensive), flights and hoping there aren't any problems, we still have to worry about getting Covid on the ship and sent to the naughty rooms,(which ultimately may be the deal breaker.)

 

 

 

 

Oh they sucks, we got out of a NRD and got all our money back because our cruise was before September 30th........sounds like you missed it by 2 or 3 weeks.

 

Maybe if you call they would at least give you back your deposit in a FCC

[mek]

1 minute ago, Jimbo said:

Oh they sucks, we got out of a NRD and got all our money back because our cruise was before September 30th........sounds like you missed it by 2 or 3 weeks.

 

Maybe if you call they would at least give you back your deposit in a FCC

For multiple reasons I really would like to take this cruise, but as I get closer to final payment I'm getting cold feet.

I'm vaxxed and double boosted and I don't have any concerns about Covid or being exposed to it, but getting to the ship and actually being able to relax seems unlikely.