How does HAL get you to the next port?

[BillderBo]

We have some health limitations, including on duration and altitude of flights. With a booking out of Fort Lauderdale Jan. 4, and with all of the new complications at airports that everyone is experiencing beyond just the routine holiday and winter weather factors <pause for breath>, the chances of missing ship departure is higher than ever--even if we arrive a day early. Those who have flown the past year understand the uncertainties.

 

Assume I purchase flights through Holland America (HAL) and also pay for the Cruise Protection Plan (CPP). How does HAL actually get you from a missed embarkation to the next port? Any experiences or inside knowledge? I can't imagine they will fly us onto Half Moon Cay. The next stop, Grand Turk is a big question mark, also, as is Amber Cove after that. I don't know how far past our physical limits we might be forced in order to catch the ship. So, with all of this explanation, I asked my Personal Cruise Consultant at HAL. The response is simply, "They would get you to the next port."

 

Does anyone out there have experience or knowledge on this? How, HAL? How?!

[Sir PMP]

If you're not sure that arriving a day early would do it, I would arrive 2 days early ,otherwise half of your trip will be gone, because a lot of these stops have no airports or one flight a week.

[CruiserBruce]

How they get you there would obviously depend on the destination.  You are correct,  unlikely they get you to HMC, but they might. Obviously it would involve a flight and a boat ride. Grand Turk would involve a flight. Amber Cove would be a flight and a bus ride.

 

YOU need to take the ball here, and fly in two, maybe 3 days, to give you confidence. I definitely wouldn't be taking this out of my control and leaving it to someone else.

 

We HAVE flown this summer, internationally, and planned accordingly. 

[FOPMan]

One would fly to Eluthra (RSD) and ferry over to HMC (potentially with island staff). Turks and Caicos has air service. The Dominican Republic has air service.

 

 

[Babr]

I don’t know that people have been allowed to join the cruise beyond the original point of embarkation since COVID, but things are changing. I’d ask HAL directly to see what they will do.

[BillderBo]

HAL says they “would get you to the next port."

[Mary229]

Years ago I quit arriving day of the cruise even when I drive. You must at least be there one day in advance, 2 if you have many connecting flights.  Yes, the guarantee says they will get you there but the reality is it may be difficult.  The question I would ask them is if they don’t get you there what costs will they refund. 

[Ryten]

Here is my experience missing the ship on a repositioning cruise from Sydney to Honolulu. We originally booked flight ease arriving in Sydney 3 days early. For some reason Flight Ease canceled our reservation at the last minute and then rebooked us on a flight that would get us to the ship the same day. A storm on the East Coast delayed our initial flight so we couldn't make the connecting flight to get to the ship on time for departure. We were on a flight the following day (not business class we had originally booked) but got us to Sydney a half day late. We were put up in a very nice hotel by HAL while they tried to figure out how to get us to the next port. The problem however was that a typhoon had developed in the Pacific and the Noordam was sailing around it and the scheduled NEXT port was cancelled. For two days HAL paid for our Sydney Holiday and contacted us to be ready to fly next day to Vanuatu on AIR VANUATU. We are not the rookies cruising but I had no idea what or where Vanuatu was and we had visions of helping the airplane by flapping our wings to get to some remote island. We arrived and flew the next day on a two month old Airbus 320 that was gorgeous and arrived an hour early in Vanuatu. We were taken to the local Holiday Inn the was incredibly beautiful on a lagoon with all amenities paid by HAL. It is still one of the most spectacular evenings of our lives with the full moon rising between two palm trees framing a raised veranda while the Southern Cross rose in the sky. A courtesy van picked us up in the morning and drove us to the ship where a Hal representative  escorted us to our room and chilled bottle of Champagne, while apologizing for our troubles. I digress. MY POINT IS HAL WILL GET YOU THERE, and if you are really lucky you will also get an adventure that you will remember for the rest of your life.

[BillderBo]

Thanks, Ryten, for the great story. It sounds like HAL did a great job. 

[MISTER 67]

16 hours ago, BillderBo said:

We have some health limitations, including on duration and altitude of flights. With a booking out of Fort Lauderdale Jan. 4, and with all of the new complications at airports that everyone is experiencing beyond just the routine holiday and winter weather factors <pause for breath>, the chances of missing ship departure is higher than ever--even if we arrive a day early. Those who have flown the past year understand the uncertainties.

 

Assume I purchase flights through Holland America (HAL) and also pay for the Cruise Protection Plan (CPP). How does HAL actually get you from a missed embarkation to the next port? Any experiences or inside knowledge? I can't imagine they will fly us onto Half Moon Cay. The next stop, Grand Turk is a big question mark, also, as is Amber Cove after that. I don't know how far past our physical limits we might be forced in order to catch the ship. So, with all of this explanation, I asked my Personal Cruise Consultant at HAL. The response is simply, "They would get you to the next port."

 

Does anyone out there have experience or knowledge on this? How, HAL? How?!

You said you have health issues but could you make the drive to Ft. Lauderdale from Nashville, you could make it in 2 days easy as we live in Florida and make it to Nashville in one day when we go back to visit relatives in Chicago.

[rodndonna]

12 hours ago, Ryten said:

Here is my experience missing the ship on a repositioning cruise from Sydney to Honolulu. We originally booked flight ease arriving in Sydney 3 days early. For some reason Flight Ease canceled our reservation at the last minute and then rebooked us on a flight that would get us to the ship the same day. A storm on the East Coast delayed our initial flight so we couldn't make the connecting flight to get to the ship on time for departure. We were on a flight the following day (not business class we had originally booked) but got us to Sydney a half day late. We were put up in a very nice hotel by HAL while they tried to figure out how to get us to the next port. The problem however was that a typhoon had developed in the Pacific and the Noordam was sailing around it and the scheduled NEXT port was cancelled. For two days HAL paid for our Sydney Holiday and contacted us to be ready to fly next day to Vanuatu on AIR VANUATU. We are not the rookies cruising but I had no idea what or where Vanuatu was and we had visions of helping the airplane by flapping our wings to get to some remote island. We arrived and flew the next day on a two month old Airbus 320 that was gorgeous and arrived an hour early in Vanuatu. We were taken to the local Holiday Inn the was incredibly beautiful on a lagoon with all amenities paid by HAL. It is still one of the most spectacular evenings of our lives with the full moon rising between two palm trees framing a raised veranda while the Southern Cross rose in the sky. A courtesy van picked us up in the morning and drove us to the ship where a Hal representative  escorted us to our room and chilled bottle of Champagne, while apologizing for our troubles. I digress. MY POINT IS HAL WILL GET YOU THERE, and if you are really lucky you will also get an adventure that you will remember for the rest of your life.

 

Thank you for posting your experience. We are the 'risk takers' types who fly in day of, but do so at this point in our lives, accepting the cruise ports themselves are not likely "a trip of a lifetime, never going to have a chance to go there again" . As long as I know that if we miss the embarkation, HAL is handling the logistics and associated costs of whatever we end doing, we are OK with the risk.

 

Someday though , if I splurge for a Galapagos Islands cruise (which I expect will be a "one of" trip for us),  I will arrive a couple of days before embarkation to be safe.

[Hlitner]

How do they get you to your next port?  Maybe they don't!  I suggest the OP carefully reads the language of the fine print of the guarantee.  They do not "guarantee" to get you to the next port (or any subsequent port) but simply say they will "work with the airline" to find a reasonable alternative.  But what this actually means if they do not find a "reasonable" alternative (and HAL determines what is "reasonable") you are out of luck.  Also keep in mind that any additional hotel, meals, etc. are your responsibility.  

 

Over the past year there has also been numerous stories of folks with cancelled flights who could not even get through (on the phone) to the Flightease folks without a long delay on hold.  We use Flightease because it allows us to delay paying for air tickets (using the Flex option) and does guarantee that we will get our money back if HAL cancels the cruise!  But as far as getting to the port on time, we think the only reasonable option is to plan on flying-in 1 or more days in advance.

 

Hank

[Hlitner]

5 hours ago, rodndonna said:

 

Thank you for posting your experience. We are the 'risk takers' types who fly in day of, but do so at this point in our lives, accepting the cruise ports themselves are not likely "a trip of a lifetime, never going to have a chance to go there again" . As long as I know that if we miss the embarkation, HAL is handling the logistics and associated costs of whatever we end doing, we are OK with the risk.

 

Someday though , if I splurge for a Galapagos Islands cruise (which I expect will be a "one of" trip for us),  I will arrive a couple of days before embarkation to be safe.

I am wondering where you get your information.  As I posted (in another post) HAL will work with your airline to find alternatives.  But they will not handle "logistics" other than working with the airline and any extra costs (i.e. hotel, meals, etc) are on you!  I recall a post many months ago about folks that missed their flight (not their fault) called Flightease, and it was suggested they deal directly with the airline.   Recently (this past May) we were in Prague and using Seabourn's air (the same folks as HAL's Flightease) when two of our flights were cancelled at the last minute.  The cruise line folks were useless (to this day we never heard a word) but fortunately, United was able to rebook us onto a different airline (Lufthansa).  All this happened because we are enrolled with United and have a working SmartPhone (so United was able to text us).  As to logistics, we ultimately had to spend several hundred dollars on a one way rental car to get home becasue of another cancelled flight.

 

All the changes happened quickly (thanks to me having a working phone and being known to United) and I was able to book one of the last available rental cars at Newark since we had some rental car apps on our phone!  But again, no help from the cruise line air folks.   These days, folks are often on their own and must use their own experience to work it out!   Trying to get through the the Flightease emergency number can be anything but easy and the time wasted on long holds means that alternative opportunities are slipping away!  Keep in mind that when flights are cancelled (a norm these days) there are lots of folks looking for alternatives.  The early bird gets the worm (in this case flight) while those who wait (on hold or otherwise) get the shaft.   Even at the airport, folks that wait in customer service lines can be in the queue for hours.  Those with working phones, the right apps, and some experience, can often snag the last available seats on an alternative flight while others keep waiting only to be told, "nothing available for 3 days."

 

Hank

 

 

[rodndonna]

20 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

I am wondering where you get your information. 

 

 

 

My post was a response to another post where FE and HAL handled logistics and covered the costs. I  don't doubt they had one of the better experiences and there are some really bad experiences out there as well.

 

For us, personally, the risk of missing a port or even an entire cruise would be disappointing, but pretty low on the scale of tragic events in our lives (past or I expect future) so we really don't worry too much about it happening and am willing to just take that risk. 

[Ken the cruiser]

19 hours ago, Ryten said:

Here is my experience missing the ship on a repositioning cruise from Sydney to Honolulu. We originally booked flight ease arriving in Sydney 3 days early. For some reason Flight Ease canceled our reservation at the last minute and then rebooked us on a flight that would get us to the ship the same day. A storm on the East Coast delayed our initial flight so we couldn't make the connecting flight to get to the ship on time for departure. We were on a flight the following day (not business class we had originally booked) but got us to Sydney a half day late. We were put up in a very nice hotel by HAL while they tried to figure out how to get us to the next port. The problem however was that a typhoon had developed in the Pacific and the Noordam was sailing around it and the scheduled NEXT port was cancelled. For two days HAL paid for our Sydney Holiday and contacted us to be ready to fly next day to Vanuatu on AIR VANUATU. We are not the rookies cruising but I had no idea what or where Vanuatu was and we had visions of helping the airplane by flapping our wings to get to some remote island. We arrived and flew the next day on a two month old Airbus 320 that was gorgeous and arrived an hour early in Vanuatu. We were taken to the local Holiday Inn the was incredibly beautiful on a lagoon with all amenities paid by HAL. It is still one of the most spectacular evenings of our lives with the full moon rising between two palm trees framing a raised veranda while the Southern Cross rose in the sky. A courtesy van picked us up in the morning and drove us to the ship where a Hal representative  escorted us to our room and chilled bottle of Champagne, while apologizing for our troubles. I digress. MY POINT IS HAL WILL GET YOU THERE, and if you are really lucky you will also get an adventure that you will remember for the rest of your life.

If I might ask, how long ago did this happen? 

[Horizon chaser 1957]

All this reminds me why we’re flying in to Montreal 3 days before our cruise down the east coast to start the Grand Africa.

[Ryten]

Of course. I believe it was five years ago. I guess my point is that HAL actually does try to help and I was a lucky beneficiary of that assistance. Has HAL's service changed. maybe, but i am likely to give them the benefit of the doubt given my experience.

[durangoscots]

I think a lot of the variation we see on the help getting to the next port is due to 1) the circumstances that caused the missed ship (Hal's fault vs your fault or an independent variable)  and 2) the where and when of the cruise itself not to mention the duration.  And of course, the times they are a'changing.  

[BillderBo]

Seems this post has taken on a life of its own. My original posting concerned HAL's unwillingness to reveal to people with disabilities what they might need to go through to catch up with the cruise. But that is okay, because we've heard some interesting comments and information here. Thanks, all, for that.

 

Despite HAL's seeming indifference to our needs, we went ahead with the booking. I guess just getting up in the morning is a risk. So we plan to arrive at the port a day early. And, if winter weather or other craziness still makes us miss our ship, and HAL's secret catch-up-with-ship plans won't work for our health limitations...then we will deal with it when it happens.

 

Related...I get the impression HAL cruise consultants are so slammed right now that they don't have time for anything but the easy questions and taking our money. And I have always found them to be very by-the-book on communication (could be that way with all cruise lines). It is like talking to your insurance company. All you get is a recitation of the official insurance documents.

Edited September 16, 2022 by BillderBo
after-thought addition.

[FOPMan]

Missing a departure due to a missed connection from a flight-ease purchased flight and a scheduled sailing has little directly to do with disabilities services (though, potentially, could complicate connections, based on individual considerations- for example, I don’t fit very well in small planes or tourist-class seats.).

 

If you are unable to make your scheduled flight due to a medical issue, that’s a much different story and may have a much different response. I would expect in that situation IF HAL permitted a late join to the ship, the passenger would be responsible for any transportation to get to the ship. 
 

The passenger could always cancel and get whatever trip cancellation and/or interruption insurance was applicable, assuming they purchased it or it was included through the use of a credit card or other payment method.

 

[CruiserBruce]

They are not going to have a plan for you specifically right now. It's going to depend solely on what flights are available at the moment. What other arrangements are needed at the moment.  

 

Plus, the job of the PCC you talked to is to sell cruises. People seem to expect them to know everything about the cruise business. That is just not possible. 

[Babr]

23 minutes ago, FOPMan said:

Missing a departure due to a missed connection from a flight-ease purchased flight and a scheduled sailing has little directly to do with disabilities services (though, potentially, could complicate connections, based on individual considerations- for example, I don’t fit very well in small planes or tourist-class seats.).

 

If you are unable to make your scheduled flight due to a medical issue, that’s a much different story and may have a much different response. I would expect in that situation IF HAL permitted a late join to the ship, the passenger would be responsible for any transportation to get to the ship. 
 

The passenger could always cancel and get whatever trip cancellation and/or interruption insurance was applicable, assuming they purchased it or it was included through the use of a credit card or other payment method.

 

 

A disability is not the same thing as an acute illness which is routinely reimbursed by travel insurance. I can’t say that any insurance policy, especially credit card insurance which does not cover pre-existing conditions, would cover cancellation because physical limitations. That is a chronic, known condition and likely not a covered reason.

 

However, HAL insurance does not require a covered reason. All cancellations get 90% reimbursement so that part of the OP’s plan would work.

[Nachosdelux]

1 hour ago, BillderBo said:

Seems this post has taken on a life of its own. My original posting concerned HAL's unwillingness to reveal to people with disabilities what they might need to go through to catch up with the cruise. But that is okay, because we've heard some interesting comments and information here. Thanks, all, for that.

 

Despite HAL's seeming indifference to our needs, we went ahead with the booking. I guess just getting up in the morning is a risk. So we plan to arrive at the port a day early. And, if winter weather or other craziness still makes us miss our ship, and HAL's secret catch-up-with-ship plans won't work for our health limitations...then we will deal with it when it happens.

 

Related...I get the impression HAL cruise consultants are so slammed right now that they don't have time for anything but the easy questions and taking our money. And I have always found them to be very by-the-book on communication (could be that way with all cruise lines). It is like talking to your insurance company. All you get is a recitation of the official insurance documents.

 

In fairness, HAL can't predict all the circumstances that could arise if you miss your ship.

 

If you cannot handle a 2-3 hour plane ride (in coach), a bus or taxi ride, or a brief walk, then I would either make sure you don't miss the ship (i.e get there plenty early), or cancel your cruise.

 

 

[BillderBo]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

They are not going to have a plan for you specifically right now. It's going to depend solely on what flights are available at the moment. What other arrangements are needed at the moment.  

 

Plus, the job of the PCC you talked to is to sell cruises. People seem to expect them to know everything about the cruise business. That is just not possible. 

I asked HAL what arrangements have been typical in the past on this route. That should not be too hard a question.

[BillderBo]

34 minutes ago, Nachosdelux said:

 

In fairness, HAL can't predict all the circumstances that could arise if you miss your ship.

 

If you cannot handle a 2-3 hour plane ride (in coach), a bus or taxi ride, or a brief walk, then I would either make sure you don't miss the ship (i.e get there plenty early), or cancel your cruise.

 

 

True, I could just never cruise again. But with a little information from HAL, I could make an informed decision. We all have limitations of some sort. If HAL could tell me how they normally handle catching up with the ship on this route, then I can decide for myself. Some of you cruise often, and missing one is not a big deal. This cruise is a big deal for my wife and me. It should not be so hard for HAL to tell me whether the normal mode of transportation is, as you say, "a 2-3 hour plane ride (in coach), a bus or taxi ride, or a brief walk."