No pilot for you!

[Cali Viajera]

Hi all, anyone want to add their adventures getting to their Princess cruise and/or land tour with these flight delays and cancellations?
We finally arrived in Fairbanks after 26 hours in transit from LAX. We boarded our plane and waited nearly an hour before the flight attendants told us no pilot would be arriving, though they were in talks with “Atlanta.” We were told to be glad it wasn’t cancelled. Our flight was delayed 2 hours which meant our connection in Seattle to Fairbanks was missed. Our dear TA hunted for a way to get there through a change of airlines and arrival times.However, we had a 9 hour layover in Seattle. Would our already ticketed luggage sitting in the belly of the plane make it to Fairbanks with us with the change of airlines? The new itinerary had us arriving in Anchorage at midnight and leaving at 6:15 am. Would the seats in the waiting lounge have arm rests or not so we could lay and sleep there? The answer is yes to all! We arrived bleary eyed to the welcoming Princess rep at at the airport with keys in hand and the friendly shuttle driver waiting to whisk us to the Princess Lodge. May the real adventure begin😃

[JeffT237]

I think the flying component is just another hoop to jump through to cruise right now.  Our flight from Ontario CA to Seattle was delayed 5 hours due to a mechanical issue, mechanic had to come from Palm Springs because ONT did not have one on duty, crazy to me.  Luckily he arrived and could fix it as we were real close to being cancelled.  The flight next to us was delayed about 5 hours also due to not having a pilot,  he had to come from LAX.  Keep in mind this all occurred in SoCal on a Friday afternoon with our traffic so it took much longer for them to arrive!  Have a great trip!  The standard arriving the day before may have to be changed to 2 days before.

[Cali Viajera]

Yes, I agree, two days now, just in case . . . .

While we in line at LAX, a gal overheard me mentioning Fairbanks and turns out she is on same cruise tour as we are. She would miss the Seattle connection too. Hope I see her on the excursion today!

[voljeep]

was EZ-Air involved? wth, just blame John Padgett anyway, right @Thrak?

[Cali Viajera]

Our great TA booked us through EZ air, but she is the one who searched for alternative flights. One was to rebook for Sunday, today. We would have missed the excursion today and who knows if there would have been another delay?

[azbirdmom]

Congratulations on making it.  Hope that's the last hiccup you'll experience.  Enjoy Alaska!

[wedocruise]

Two days has now become our standard.  We allowed two in Vancouver for our northbound.  Just changed our flight for a fall cruise to a 2 day cushion.   Enjoy Alaska.  We are under 3 weeks to go!

 

[Steelers36]

Love the thread title @Cali Viajera.

[Coral]

7 hours ago, Cali Viajera said:

Yes, I agree, two days now, just in case . . . .

While we in line at LAX, a gal overheard me mentioning Fairbanks and turns out she is on same cruise tour as we are. She would miss the Seattle connection too. Hope I see her on the excursion today!

I agree about the 2 day rule!

 

@Cali Viajera - Hope it is smooth sailing from here on out!

Edited June 20, 2022 by Coral

[nini]

This is why we decided to just drive up to Vancouver, BC. We could have used our Alaska Air miles, but driving up will be less stressful.

[Martha1974]

We're UK-based and were thinking about a Med cruise for next year out of Barcelona or Rome, but I think it will be another Southampton route for us now - at least that way I know we can drive there (and just allow plenty of time to allow for roadworks / gridlock!) 

[tetleytea]

What I like the most about being able to drive to port is the no limit on luggage.  That means I can finally buy that oversized stuff for cheap in Central America or just ride my bike in Ketchikan. 

[Cali Viajera]

I hear you, Tetleytea. We live in Southern California, so a long road trip would have been in order for us to get to Fairbanks 😆😆

[Yehootu]

The airlines offered "early" retirement to senior pilots. At my airline i was one of the youngest to get the package as a 62yr old. Traffic rebounded and airlines were left behind the training bubble. I've been offered flying jobs that wouldn't have touched me 2 yrs ago. Combine this with the Baby Boomer retirement wave ( birth years 1956-59 have the highest retirement in next years) and the airlines are struggling to get back to full schedule. You can only throw so much money at a pilot till they get burnt out and need time off.