What if the airlines fail to get you to your cruise on time?

[Hlitner]

This is going to be a "what if" post on a subject I find somewhat alarming.  Here is the scenario which can apply to just about any cruise.  You book an expensive cruise and also book your air through the cruise line.  The cruise line's air program does have the usual guarantee that if something goes wrong with the air they will make every effort to get you to the next port of home.

 

So lets assume one books an Antartica cruise (or any similar cruise) where it is impossible to catch-up to the ship if you miss embarkation.  Assume that your airline (booked through the cruise line) decides to cancel your flight and the cruise air folks cannot find a way to get you to the port on time.  You miss your cruise embarkation, cannot catch-up, so you are out of luck and go home.   You will get back the money you paid for the airfare  from the airline (they are no required to give you your money back if they cancelled your flight).  But how about the cruise fare?  When the cruise lines guarantee your air, most do not specifically say what will happen if you cannot catch up to the cruise.  We looked at the Trip Delay coverage on our credit card and it specifically EXCLUDES delay because of cancelled air unless that cancellation is due to weather or a labor strike.  The policy does not cover cancelations due to other reasons such as crew shortages or airport staff shortages.    So I decided to look at the insurance sold by the cruise line (this is what many cruisers buy for their cruise).  This particular policy does cover trip delay for most reasons but only up to the "maximum amount in the policy" which is capped at $1000!  And we are talking about a cruise that costs in excess of $20,000.

 

So, I called this particular cruise line (which is a luxury line) and asked about this issue.  Their rep admitted they could not find any guarantee that the cruise line would refund the cruise fare or give a future cruise credit.  All they could say was that this particular line is normally very generous in working out these kind of issues....but that is not in writing so is not binding.

 

I assume there are some third party trip insurance policies that would cover this situation, but have not taken the time to start reviewing numerous policies.  We are aware that a decent travel cruise insurance broker would have the answers and know of any policy that might cover such a situation.  But I would assume that such a policy would cost $1500 - $2000 for just this trip and many folks do not like to pay those kind of premiums.

 

But the reason I am posting this is because many cruisers do not pay a lot of attention to this kind of issue and just assume they are covered (by something) if this kind of scenario were to happen.  Given the airline and airport situation these days, this kind of situation is now much more likely than in years past.

 

What do you think?

 

Hank

[jsn55]

3 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

This is going to be a "what if" post on a subject I find somewhat alarming.  Here is the scenario which can apply to just about any cruise.  You book an expensive cruise and also book your air through the cruise line.  The cruise line's air program does have the usual guarantee that if something goes wrong with the air they will make every effort to get you to the next port of home.

 

So lets assume one books an Antartica cruise (or any similar cruise) where it is impossible to catch-up to the ship if you miss embarkation.  Assume that your airline (booked through the cruise line) decides to cancel your flight and the cruise air folks cannot find a way to get you to the port on time.  You miss your cruise embarkation, cannot catch-up, so you are out of luck and go home.   You will get back the money you paid for the airfare  from the airline (they are no required to give you your money back if they cancelled your flight).  But how about the cruise fare?  When the cruise lines guarantee your air, most do not specifically say what will happen if you cannot catch up to the cruise.  We looked at the Trip Delay coverage on our credit card and it specifically EXCLUDES delay because of cancelled air unless that cancellation is due to weather or a labor strike.  The policy does not cover cancelations due to other reasons such as crew shortages or airport staff shortages.    So I decided to look at the insurance sold by the cruise line (this is what many cruisers buy for their cruise).  This particular policy does cover trip delay for most reasons but only up to the "maximum amount in the policy" which is capped at $1000!  And we are talking about a cruise that costs in excess of $20,000.

 

So, I called this particular cruise line (which is a luxury line) and asked about this issue.  Their rep admitted they could not find any guarantee that the cruise line would refund the cruise fare or give a future cruise credit.  All they could say was that this particular line is normally very generous in working out these kind of issues....but that is not in writing so is not binding.

 

I assume there are some third party trip insurance policies that would cover this situation, but have not taken the time to start reviewing numerous policies.  We are aware that a decent travel cruise insurance broker would have the answers and know of any policy that might cover such a situation.  But I would assume that such a policy would cost $1500 - $2000 for just this trip and many folks do not like to pay those kind of premiums.

 

But the reason I am posting this is because many cruisers do not pay a lot of attention to this kind of issue and just assume they are covered (by something) if this kind of scenario were to happen.  Given the airline and airport situation these days, this kind of situation is now much more likely than in years past.

 

What do you think?

 

Hank

You bring up extremely valid points, Hank.  I cannot imagine a top-shelf cruise line not issuing a credit for a future cruise.  Why wouldn't they want to 'take care of their pax'?  Personally, in the scenario you describe, I'd plan on arriving 3 days early, knowing the extra costs, just to avoid a disaster.  Alternatively, I'd spend about the same amount to insure the trip with an independent policy, never the cruise line's coverage.  Successful travel is often about good luck, even for the most well-prepared cruiser. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

Gee folks- asked and answered many times here on CC - including quotes from the T&Cs of various cruise lines  (even as recently as last week) that clearly state their air department will “assist/work with/etc” airlines to find you other flights. Who PAYS for any extra airfare or related catch-up travel costs (if it’s an airline issue) is conveniently left out because, elsewhere in those cruise T&Cs and Ticket Contracts, there’s often the explanatory language denying cruise line responsibility for the COST of any transportation issues not specifically related to the ship’s operation.

And we all know that credit card provided insurance claim limits for “trip interrupt” are woefully inadequate when it comes to long and/or expensive cruises and/or biz class air tix -particularly intercontinental ones.

 

FWIW, picking airlines (and their consortia partners) and buying tix (even for their partner carriers) direct from those carriers that do refunds for cancels (or significant changes) they cause or, at least, FFCs/ETCs (if you need to cancel) is way more important than most folks realize. It’s one of the reasons we prefer United Airlines - even though their tix may not be the cheapest.

 

Back to cruises - the long/expensive/complicated ones:

 

Even at a premium equal to 10% of the cost of the cruise (or, in some cases, the entire trip door-to-door), the right trip insurance brokers can get you covered correctly. Of course, you can always self insure. But a $12-5k +\- pp cruise plus “5 figures” for biz class tix is a real bite for most folks. 

 

[wcook]

I always assume I’m just SOL in that scenario. But I’m not booking $20k cruises. 

[Wendy-Europe]

It depends on which travel law applies. If you book in Europe, the law there applies and if the shipping company has sold you both the cruise and the flight, this is considered a package tour (interconnected travel services). In the case of a cruise including a travel package, the tour operator is responsible for the entire trip. If the arrival is delayed so that passengers with arrival packages booked through the shipping company miss the ship, the shipping company as a package tour operator is responsible for flying the passengers to the next port stop afterwards if necessary and bringing them on board there. If the shipping company does not manage to bring the passengers to the port on time (or, if necessary, to a later port), it has not provided its service and must refund the entire price (or any portions not paid). For what reason the organizer can not manage the arrival or only with delay, it does not matter.

[John Bull]

1 hour ago, Wendy-Europe said:

It depends on which travel law applies. If you book in Europe, the law there applies and if the shipping company has sold you both the cruise and the flight, this is considered a package tour (interconnected travel services). In the case of a cruise including a travel package, the tour operator is responsible for the entire trip. If the arrival is delayed so that passengers with arrival packages booked through the shipping company miss the ship, the shipping company as a package tour operator is responsible for flying the passengers to the next port stop afterwards if necessary and bringing them on board there. If the shipping company does not manage to bring the passengers to the port on time (or, if necessary, to a later port), it has not provided its service and must refund the entire price (or any portions not paid). For what reason the organizer can not manage the arrival or only with delay, it does not matter.

 

 

Yes, that's my understanding too of the law in Europe (including the UK).🙂

You buy the package and if one part of the package (in this case the flight)  screws up the entirety, then you're entitled to a full refund of the whole package - and also probably consequential expenses like travel to airport.

That applies to problems within the control of the carrier, such as mechanical issues or the current situation of insufficient aircrew, but I'm unsure of whether that includes delays beyond the operator's control such as weather - those problems are normally covered by travel insurance.

It has to be a "package"  - simply buying the air and cruise tickets from the same agency at the same time isn't a "package" so doesn't provide the same security.

 

For cancellation / delay within the carrier's control for just a flight (regardless of whether there's a cruise at the end of it)  they are obliged to do everything within their power and at their own expense to get you your destination same-day - even if your tickets are for cattle-class with a budget airline and the only seats available are for first-class with British Airways (proving the availability of such an alternative is a different matter)

And they're also obliged to cover consequential costs such as added catering and accommodation and buying tix for another airline, though I'm unsure whether that would include aa $20,000 cruise.

I think that's an IATA  regulation rather than local laws, in which case it applies to all flights by IATA members worldwide - though I could be wrong.

 

On the matter of "future flight (or cruise) credits" instead of cash refunds...........

I'm again unsure whether this applies worldwide or just to Europe / UK, but you don't have to accept a credit note - you are entitled to a cash refund within 7 (or is it 14?) days.

Airlines & cruiselines tried very hard (in many cases overly-hard, including bald lies) to persuade travellers to accept future credits.

Ryanair was one of the airlines hauled over the coals for trying to mislead passengers about their rights. And they were far from alone in making travellers wait for many months before giving cash refunds.

Their predicament is understandable - refunding  due to lockdowns & travel restrictions give their cashflow a massive hit, and to help out some travellers accepted future credits even though they knew their rights.

One incident was recently highlighted. An international flight in 2020 was cancelled last-minute, so a married couple accepted a future flight credit and booked the same flight, same time of year, for 2021. The same thing happened to that flight - cancelled last-minute. The airline refused to refund in cash, saying that since they had paid with a flight credit note rather than cash they were not entitled to a cash refund. Threatened with legal action they relented & refunded.

 

Whilst some rights are international, there's no doubting that European consumer laws are waaaaay stronger than those in the US of A. That's one reason why identical bookings are so much more expensive when booked in Europe.

 

BTW Hank, few cruisers take Antarctic cruises - perhaps a better example would be trans-Atlantic cruises, which are also impossible to catch-up.

Except, I guess, for extremely strong swimmers 🙃

 

JB 🙂

 

 

[whogo]

The cheapest solution for Antarctica is to arrive days early for your cruise. But what the heck do you do for three days in Ushuaia?

[Joebucks]

41 minutes ago, whogo said:

The cheapest solution for Antarctica is to arrive days early for your cruise. But what the heck do you do for three days in Ushuaia?

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g312855-Activities-Ushuaia_Province_of_Tierra_del_Fuego_Patagonia.html

 

While you do make a good point, it seems like examples on the internet love to give the most extreme and unlikely example.

 

Flying in a day or so before a cruise is your best way to prevent missing your cruise. "Guarantees" don't create extra flights or whatnot that don't exist. Getting there earlier reduces stress, leaves more options in case of flight delays, and adds extra enjoyment to a vacation.

[Hlitner]

No doubt, that the EU (I do not know about the laws in the UK) do afford better consumer protection rules (for travel/air) than we have here in the USA.   But since my old friend, JB, has arrived in this thread we would point out that when Flybe Airlines went bankrupt the UK/EU rules were worthless here in the USA.  When I contacted Flybe, they told me that they would not even discuss the matter until past the time of the booked flight.  The flight was many months in the future by which time there would not be any Flybe office in the US (and perhaps not anywhere) since the company was going out of business.  Our credit card company (Chase) actually telephoned their contact at Flybe, while I was on telephone hold with Chase (filing a charge back disupute).  After about 15 minutes on hold, the Chase rep came back on the line and told me that he could not get any good answers from Flybe and Chase would immediately refund the money to my account.   I do not know if Chase was ever made whole by the folks handling the Chase bankruptcy.

 

I absolutely agree that flying-in at least a day early is smart (we have said this for many years),  In our case, even though flying-in a day early adds about $1000 to our cost we have made those arrangements.  But these days, in the USA and Europe, flying-in one or two days early is no longer much of a guarantee.  Airline cancellations can often leave folks stranded for many days because of the lack of flights and seats.

 

Hank

[John Bull]

16 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

No doubt, that the EU (I do not know about the laws in the UK) do afford better consumer protection rules (for travel/air) than we have here in the USA.   But since my old friend, JB, has arrived in this thread we would point out that when Flybe Airlines went bankrupt the UK/EU rules were worthless here in the USA. 

 

Hank

 

Different kettle of fish, Hank.

With a bankruptcy in the UK, all unsecured creditors are treated the same regardless of where they booked from. I can't find any references to the percentage of refund allocated to unsecured creditors by the liquidator - it might not yet be calculated (these things take time & the latest I've seen  is that they're seeking funds from FlyBe's re-incarnation) but probably somewhere between zilch and tuppence in the pound. So don't hold your breath.

 

Both ATOL and ABTA protect clients' money, but not for flights booked direct with Flybe.

 

Very few travel insurance policies (at least those in the UK) cover the provider going bust.

 

But as I'm sure you know, Hank if - as I'm sure you did - you paid by credit card then your card issuer is liable for the full cost of the tickets (even if you only paid £100 or equiv by card) and you should have claimed from them.

We're now way past the time limit for claiming from your card issuer, but its a pound to a penny that you claimed (and received?) from them in good time. 

 

Cheers,

 

JB 🙂

 

[Hlitner]

13 minutes ago, John Bull said:

 

Different kettle of fish, Hank.

With a bankruptcy in the UK, all unsecured creditors are treated the same regardless of where they booked from. I can't find any references to the percentage of refund allocated to unsecured creditors by the liquidator - it might not yet be calculated (these things take time & the latest I've seen  is that they're seeking funds from FlyBe's re-incarnation) but probably somewhere between zilch and tuppence in the pound. So don't hold your breath.

 

Both ATOL and ABTA protect clients' money, but not for flights booked direct with Flybe.

 

Very few travel insurance policies (at least those in the UK) cover the provider going bust.

 

But as I'm sure you know, Hank if - as I'm sure you did - you paid by credit card then your card issuer is liable for the full cost of the tickets (even if you only paid £100 or equiv by card) and you should have claimed from them.

We're now way past the time limit for claiming from your card issuer, but its a pound to a penny that you claimed (and received?) from them in good time. 

 

Cheers,

 

JB 🙂

 

It sounds like your bankruptcy laws are similar to what we have on this side of the pond.  The best protection we have, in the case of bankruptcy, is our Federal laws pertaining to credit cards (where credit card issuers are liable to their customers) coupled with the goodwill sought by credit cards.  That is one reason we think it makes sense for frequent travelers to hold one of the major, so-called, affinty cards.  Over hear the two biggest players with those top cards are AMEX with their Platinum product and Chase with their Sapphire Reserve (and to a lesser degree Sapphire Preferred).  Some respected travel writers (such as the Points Guy) have often written about these cards and listed their pros/cons.   In our own experience we have found that these two cards fall over themselves trying to please their card holders.  Given their cost $550 - $650 per year that should be expected.  

 

It is going to be interesting (at least to me) to see how things work out for the many folks who had money tied-up with Crystal Cruise Lines.  The bankruptcy court judge did quickly move to settle the issue which I think reflected his understanding that time was a very important element with a cruise line.   Those ships needed to be staffed and maintained or their value will quickly decline.  The great news for Crystal fans is that the buyer of their company has an excellent history with running cruise lines (i.e. Silverseas) and knows what is expected of luxury lines.  We are also excited about MSC's new luxury line (Explora Journeys) which recently committed to the construction of two additional ships bringing their future luxury fleet up to 6 vessels.  With all the bad news impacting the cruise industry, the positive news (such as with MSC) has not gotten much publicity.  

 

Hank

 

 

[iancal]

It is an important point.

 

IMHO, it falls in line with another important issue.  Understand what you are buying before you buy it, understand those T's & C's attached to travel contracts.   

 

DO NOT depend on your TA's explanation of coverage on any buy. 

 

 Assume that the contract attached to a travel buy greatly limits any recourse that you have unless stated otherwise in writing. 

 

 After all....whose lawyers prepared that contract??  Certainly not yours.

[Mum2Mercury]

12 hours ago, jsn55 said:

Personally, in the scenario you describe, I'd plan on arriving 3 days early, knowing the extra costs, just to avoid a disaster ... Successful travel is often about good luck, even for the most well-prepared cruiser. 

If we were talking about an average Caribbean cruise out of Florida, I'd say arrive 1 day early ... for another country and a more complicated travel itinerary, I would've said 2 days.  But we're on the same page, only differing on number of days /comfort level.  

 

But I disagree about luck.  I've always believed that luck favors the prepared.  Arriving early is an example -- that's not at all luck; it's good planning.  

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I absolutely agree that flying-in at least a day early is smart (we have said this for many years),  In our case, even though flying-in a day early adds about $1000 to our cost we have made those arrangements. 

Respectfully, what I'm hearing is that you can't afford to arrive early /can't afford not to arrive early.  Perhaps you could number-crunch and find cheaper hotels for days-before the cruise, bring granola bars for breakfast in the room, or find other ways to penny-pinch your before-cruise needs.  Or cut out an expensive excursion to guarantee that you'll make the cruise.  

 

Alternately, get insurance that would reimburse you if you failed to make it to your port city.  That wouldn't help with the disappointment, but it would keep your wallet intact.  

15 minutes ago, iancal said:

IMHO, it falls in line with another important issue.  Understand what you are buying before you buy it, understand those T's & C's attached to travel contracts.   

So important.  I always read contracts /often learn interesting things -- and cruise contracts are like 40 pages long. 

[wcook]

I think the portion of people who fully read and understand their cruise contract rounds to zero. For their insurance it’s even lower. (Yes, I know some of you are among the few that got rounded down. Give yourselves gold stars.)

 

Buy from reputable companies. Have low legal expectations. Hope you will be treated right anyway. Have a great cruise. 

Edited July 13, 2022 by wcook

[ldubs]

30 minutes ago, wcook said:

I think the portion of people who fully read and understand their cruise contract rounds to zero. For their insurance it’s even lower. (Yes, I know some of you are among the few that got rounded down. Give yourselves gold stars.)

 

Buy from reputable companies. Have low legal expectations. Hope you will be treated right anyway. Have a great cruise. 

 

I have not read the contract in its entirety.  I think I've looked at the prohibited items and lost luggage policy sections and that is about it.   It is an adhesive contract. I can't negotiate it.  I'm not going to stop cruises because of it.  Don't want to read it, especially if it is 40 pages long.   😃

Edited July 13, 2022 by ldubs

[iancal]

We have never read a cruise contract or an airline contract.

 

We absolutely ensure that we understand the fare code on our airline ticket when we book.  Especially in the winter months.  IF your flight is delayed there are significant differences in how you will be treated.  Many cruise air tickets are consolidator fare code tickets.    We also pay attention to whether or not we can change flights for a fee. 

 

On one trip to Thailand we almost made the mistake of buying a no change no refund fare.  A competitive airline had a $200 change fee.   As luck would have it we had  to return early for a family emergency.  Had we not bothered to understand our ticket conditions we would have shelled out  $1600 in extra fare.

 

We do read our travel medical contracts.   Saw some big variances when we were buying a seven month out of country policy.  Huge differences in dollar amounts, evac amounts for patient and party, etc, etc. 

 

 We do not read our credit card contracts but we do ensure we understand the T's and C's relating to insurance. We have made claims in the past on our CC insurance. 

 

I had a first rate business and personal travel TA for many years.  Her one piece of advice was never, ever buy travel medical  insurance from a travel vendor or thru a TA.   If you do you will in all probability pay too much and get less coverage.  Deal with someone who understands what they are selling not simply reading off a vendor sheet.

Edited July 13, 2022 by iancal

[Toofarfromthesea]

17 hours ago, Hlitner said:

This is going to be a "what if" post on a subject I find somewhat alarming.  Here is the scenario which can apply to just about any cruise.  You book an expensive cruise and also book your air through the cruise line.  The cruise line's air program does have the usual guarantee that if something goes wrong with the air they will make every effort to get you to the next port of home.

 

So lets assume one books an Antartica cruise (or any similar cruise) where it is impossible to catch-up to the ship if you miss embarkation.  Assume that your airline (booked through the cruise line) decides to cancel your flight and the cruise air folks cannot find a way to get you to the port on time.  You miss your cruise embarkation, cannot catch-up, so you are out of luck and go home.   You will get back the money you paid for the airfare  from the airline (they are no required to give you your money back if they cancelled your flight).  But how about the cruise fare?  When the cruise lines guarantee your air, most do not specifically say what will happen if you cannot catch up to the cruise.  We looked at the Trip Delay coverage on our credit card and it specifically EXCLUDES delay because of cancelled air unless that cancellation is due to weather or a labor strike.  The policy does not cover cancelations due to other reasons such as crew shortages or airport staff shortages.    So I decided to look at the insurance sold by the cruise line (this is what many cruisers buy for their cruise).  This particular policy does cover trip delay for most reasons but only up to the "maximum amount in the policy" which is capped at $1000!  And we are talking about a cruise that costs in excess of $20,000.

 

So, I called this particular cruise line (which is a luxury line) and asked about this issue.  Their rep admitted they could not find any guarantee that the cruise line would refund the cruise fare or give a future cruise credit.  All they could say was that this particular line is normally very generous in working out these kind of issues....but that is not in writing so is not binding.

 

I assume there are some third party trip insurance policies that would cover this situation, but have not taken the time to start reviewing numerous policies.  We are aware that a decent travel cruise insurance broker would have the answers and know of any policy that might cover such a situation.  But I would assume that such a policy would cost $1500 - $2000 for just this trip and many folks do not like to pay those kind of premiums.

 

But the reason I am posting this is because many cruisers do not pay a lot of attention to this kind of issue and just assume they are covered (by something) if this kind of scenario were to happen.  Given the airline and airport situation these days, this kind of situation is now much more likely than in years past.

 

What do you think?

 

Hank

 

I think it is bad planning to use the cruise line air option in a situation where you can't catch up to the ship, if it isn't going to be bringing you in a day or two early.  Although even that is precarious in these days of increased flight delays and cancellations.  But they do make it imperative to plan to get in a day (or more) prior to scheduled embarkation.  The best solution to the problem you describe is avoiding the problem so you don't have to try to solve it, IMO.

[Toofarfromthesea]

8 hours ago, whogo said:

The cheapest solution for Antarctica is to arrive days early for your cruise. But what the heck do you do for three days in Ushuaia?

https://vivaexpeditions.com/blog/why-visit-ushuaia-the-end-of-the-world-is-the-beginning-of-an-unforgettable-adventure

[rkacruiser]

I have bought cruise, air, and travel insurance for many years.  In recent weeks, the more that I have read on CC makes me realize that my purchases have been more of a gamble than I realized.  

 

I have had medical claims on both travel insurance purchased on my own as well as, once, through my travel agent.  I have always been satisfied with the insurance I purchased on my own.  Not so much with the policy I purchased through my travel agent even though the insurance company is a well known and respected company.  

[iancal]

14 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

I have bought cruise, air, and travel insurance for many years.  In recent weeks, the more that I have read on CC makes me realize that my purchases have been more of a gamble than I realized.  

 

I have had medical claims on both travel insurance purchased on my own as well as, once, through my travel agent.  I have always been satisfied with the insurance I purchased on my own.  Not so much with the policy I purchased through my travel agent even though the insurance company is a well known and respected company.  

Never assume that the coverage and coverage of your out of country medical insurance purchased thru you TA or travel vendor is the same as that purchased direct from the save carrier.   There is always a commission to be paid to a third party seller.

 

It could be, it might not be.   

Edited July 13, 2022 by iancal

[Mum2Mercury]

Consider that if you buy your insurance from the cruise line, your choices are "take it" or "leave it".  They offer one insurance package.  

 

In contrast, if you buy insurance from your homeowner's/car insurance provider, you can specify exactly what you want.  For example, we drive to the port -- so we don't have to worry about anyone losing our luggage. But we absolutely do want evacuation insurance.  

 

Buying from your own insurance provider is probably cheaper too.  They insure ANYTHING.  My husband insisted that we get insurance for our daughter's wedding -- his fear was that we'd serve alcohol to someone, and they'd have a wreck on the way home.  Yep, they insured it.

[Mary229]

33 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

My husband insisted that we get insurance for our daughter's wedding -- his fear was that we'd serve alcohol to someone, and they'd have a wreck on the way home.  Yep, they insured it.

In the US we can have an umbrella policy.  Chosen correctly it will cover just about any liability.  It is not purchase protection but simply a very large liability policy. 
 

@Hlitnerthanks Hank for taking the time to delve into the policies.  I agree with the others the best protection is time.  Personally I only buy insurance in case of death or serious medical injury, that is my only expectation.  I assume I should be financially able to manage my other risks  

[Hlitner]

3 hours ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

I think it is bad planning to use the cruise line air option in a situation where you can't catch up to the ship, if it isn't going to be bringing you in a day or two early.  Although even that is precarious in these days of increased flight delays and cancellations.  But they do make it imperative to plan to get in a day (or more) prior to scheduled embarkation.  The best solution to the problem you describe is avoiding the problem so you don't have to try to solve it, IMO.

When you use cruise/air with most cruise lines, you can choose lots of different options such as the flights, when you want to travel, and even if you want some deviations.  There are some cruise lines where you can simply pay a price and depend on the cruise line to handle everything (Oceania comes to mind) which I think is completely nutz!  When we travel we choose our airline, flights, airports, etc.  With the lines we cruise this is all possible.  It is even possible with Oceania although that cruise line is going to charge you an extra fee just because you want to make choices.

 

So why use a cruise line for air?  Consider the various CCL products (i.e. Seabourn, Princess, Cunard, HAL, etc) where one can book International Business Class for about 1/2 (sometimes less) than what that would cost you if you booked directly with the airline.  We recently flew home from Prague and paid about $1000 per person for lay flat business class on United.  We have a future Business Class air booking to Japan (not sure this will ever happen) for about $2000 which is less than 1/2 the normal price.   In addition, most of the cruise lines guarantee to get you to the next port in the case something goes wrong.  Whether this happens is another question, but the guarantee is part of the deal and there would not be any extra fees/charges to deal with the changes.

 

Where we do not often use cruise air is domestic flights (within the USA).  We can usually do better on our own and there are advantages to booking directly with domestic airlines if things go wrong such as cancelations and delays.  

 

I have tried to warn that "getting in a day or two early" (which is our normal practice) is no longer good enough.  When you get caught up in the current airline cancelation game you might be lucky if you get to your final destination in 3, 4 or even 5 days.  I know it is hard to believe but it is true.  We posted that when we flew home from Puerto Vallarta (our winter home) in March we had our usual AA flights (through DFW) that would easily get us home in a few hours.  But AA delayed our initial flight by about 3 hours (we never got an explanation) which meant we missed our DFW connection on a Saturday evening.  AA then told us the next flight that they could use to get us to our US destination was not until Tuesday evening (remember, this was Saturday afternoon).  They also could not find us seats on any other flight to other airports (BWI, EWR, PHL, IAD, PIT) before Tuesday.  Their excuse was "its spring break."  We were ultimately able to find a Monday morning flight to Cleveland which left us with a 5 hour drive home (we rented a car at our own expense).  And we felt lucky that we could get home on Monday evening when we were supposed to be home on the prior Sat night!

 

Many folks see this stuff on TV and simply think, it will not happen to me.   Believe what you see.  It can and does happen.  And the situation in Europe is even worse than here in the USA.   Lost/delayed luggage is piled up to the ceiling in London (LHR) and Athens (ATH).  Just read that Delta had to fly a special A330 from Europe to Detroit just to haul tons of luggage that has been left behind in Europe.   According to NBC News (this evening) lost/delayed luggage claims are up over 600% for European flights!!

 

As a long time (over 50 years) active independent traveler I have learned to read the "tea leaves" and make adjustments.  While this is not even a guarantee it does help.  The current "rules" are to drive long distances to get non-stop flights, book early morning flights, allow extra days, make sure you have set up your airline's app so you get notifications and can use the app to make changes, etc.

 

Hank

 

Hank

[Flatbush Flyer]

2 hours ago, Mary229 said:

Personally I only buy insurance in case of death or serious medical injury, that is my only expectation.  I assume I should be financially able to manage my other risks  

Not a good idea. Check your regular medical insurance EOB next time you have an ER visit or a radiology appt for  a CT. 

[Mary229]

9 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Not a good idea. Check your regular medical insurance EOB next time you have an ER visit or a radiology appt for  a CT. 

What are you talking about? Maybe I need to clarify, I use trip insurance for the cancellation in case of death or major medical injury.  we were talking about cancellation.  I have separate medical policies at home and for travel.  But no worries, I can handle financially anything that comes my way or I wouldn’t travel

Edited July 14, 2022 by Mary229