Missed Cruise due to AA Flight Delay from PHX 9/22/22

[BigWaveDaveAZ]

We booked a 10 day NE/Canada cruise for 9/23/22 through NCL which leaves NY on 9/23.

 We were scheduled to leave PHX on AA at 10:10pm on Thur. 9/22/22 to arrive in NY (JFK) at approx. 6:00am NY time. At approx. 7:35pm I received a text from AA telling us our flight has been delayed until Friday 1:00am, in the same text the flight has been delayed until 5:00am, still the same text it has now been delayed until 9:00am. Knowing we could not make our ship departure time in NY leaving at 9:00am AZ time, we found a different flight on SW Airlines that leaves PHX at 5:30am and would put us in NY at 2:30pm NY time, we booked that flight which cost us approx. $1900.00 for 2 tickets. We arrived in NY (LaGuardia) at 2:30pm, we got off the plane went straight to baggage claim, on the way to baggage we saw the NCL transfer person waiting to take people to the ship, please note, we were at LaGuardia and the original AA Flight was landing at JFK. Through this whole ordeal we were in contact with NCL keeping them posted on what was going on so there would be no misunderstanding on what we were doing and where we would be landing. We talked to the transfer person, told them what ship we were with and proceeded to get our luggage. When we returned to the transfer person, the driver is now there, we informed him what we were doing, he called his supervisor and was told that we had to take a taxi because we were late. We then went to the taxi line, which was a mile long, we pleaded our case to one of the taxi line organizers and she very kindly took us outside, hailed us a taxi, explained to the driver what was going on, and off we were off to the port, please keep in mind, its 2:30pm NY time and the NATO Summit was in town, which didn't help at all. Our driver was a God send, the best we could have asked for, he did the best he possibly could to get us there on time. NCL called us while we were on our way to the port, asked us our ETA and we told them approx 45 minutes, they said OK and would call us back in about 10 minutes for a ETA update, 10 minutes came and went and never heard back from them. Needless to say, we were coming down the last street about 5 minutes from the port to watch our ship sailing away without us. Our driver actually took us to the port to see if there was anything they could do to help us, the gate to the port was already locked and no one was around. After everything we went through to make that ship, hanging around PHX airport, no sleep and no food to watch the ship leave, it was truly heart breaking.

Our taxi driver knowing what we have been through asked us what we wanted to do, we were so upset, we didn't know what to do. Our driver pulled to a side street turned off his delay meter and between the 3 of us made the decision to get a hotel for the night. While we were deciding what to do, we contacted NCL, explained the situation and they offered to fly us to our first port which would have been Charlottetown Prince Edward Island, another problem with that was, the ship had 2 days at sea before it would arrive at Charlottetown PEI. We booked a hotel in Time Square which was closest to our location, another $290.00, paid our taxi fare another $90.00 with tip and checked into the hotel. We finally decided it was time to eat, something other than the bag of snacks and cup of soda we got on the flight. We went to Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co. another $75.00 for dinner, sat at the table and finally threw our arms in the air and decided to give up, we have had more than enough of this kind of fun, if that's what you want to call it. We went back to our room, called SW Airlines and booked a flight back to PHX, another $735.00. So again, needless to say, we few to NY had dinner and came home. Not what we planned, but this is how it ended up.

We also met four other couples at the PHX airport that were going on the same cruise, we talked to them, they decided they were not going to chase the ship all over the country and decided to go back home and not do what we decided to do. Smart move on their part. I would love to know how to get in contact with these other couples to find out what they are going through to get a refund on the cruise they also didn't go on.

We did purchase the Platinum insurance from NCL which is a policy issued by AON. This complete cruise from airfare with AA to NY to the return with United Airlines from EWR (Newark) back to PHX was all handled by NCL. To this date, AON Trip Insurance has reimbursed us $500.00 each for the claim that we have filed with them. We have sent every receipt for everything we spent to make this cruise happen and this is all we have received from them. We have sent them everything they have asked for more than once and they are still making us jump through every hoop they can possibly think of not to pay anything other than the $500.00 each they have already paid us.

SO WE ARE OUT

 

Cruise $4310.00 which included their airfare to and from.

 

Money we spent above and beyond to make the cruise

Airport parking $85.00

Airfare to NY $1900.00

Taxi fare to port and hotel $90.00

Hotel $290.00

Dinner in NY $75.00

Taxi to airport $70.00

Airfare back to PHX $735.00

 

And on top of all this, they won't even give us our money back that we paid for the cruise itself, or even offer us a FCC, Future Cruise Credit. The Bottom Line is, the $500.00 each that we received is the total we are getting back for this approx. 36 hour dinner date that they believe we went on.

 

We are asking for help and or suggestions from anyone that can add input, good or bad to help us recover anymore than the $1000.00 they have so generously given us. ANY HELP will be Greatly Appreciated. Thank you, BigWaveDaveAZ

[NorthStarStateCruiser]

16 hours ago, BigWaveDaveAZ said:

We booked a 10 day NE/Canada cruise for 9/23/22 through NCL which leaves NY on 9/23.

 We were scheduled to leave PHX on AA at 10:10pm on Thur. 9/22/22 to arrive in NY (JFK) at approx. 6:00am NY time. At approx. 7:35pm I received a text from AA telling us our flight has been delayed until Friday 1:00am, in the same text the flight has been delayed until 5:00am, still the same text it has now been delayed until 9:00am. Knowing we could not make our ship departure time in NY leaving at 9:00am AZ time, we found a different flight on SW Airlines that leaves PHX at 5:30am and would put us in NY at 2:30pm NY time, we booked that flight which cost us approx. $1900.00 for 2 tickets. We arrived in NY (LaGuardia) at 2:30pm, we got off the plane went straight to baggage claim, on the way to baggage we saw the NCL transfer person waiting to take people to the ship, please note, we were at LaGuardia and the original AA Flight was landing at JFK. Through this whole ordeal we were in contact with NCL keeping them posted on what was going on so there would be no misunderstanding on what we were doing and where we would be landing. We talked to the transfer person, told them what ship we were with and proceeded to get our luggage. When we returned to the transfer person, the driver is now there, we informed him what we were doing, he called his supervisor and was told that we had to take a taxi because we were late. We then went to the taxi line, which was a mile long, we pleaded our case to one of the taxi line organizers and she very kindly took us outside, hailed us a taxi, explained to the driver what was going on, and off we were off to the port, please keep in mind, its 2:30pm NY time and the NATO Summit was in town, which didn't help at all. Our driver was a God send, the best we could have asked for, he did the best he possibly could to get us there on time. NCL called us while we were on our way to the port, asked us our ETA and we told them approx 45 minutes, they said OK and would call us back in about 10 minutes for a ETA update, 10 minutes came and went and never heard back from them. Needless to say, we were coming down the last street about 5 minutes from the port to watch our ship sailing away without us. Our driver actually took us to the port to see if there was anything they could do to help us, the gate to the port was already locked and no one was around. After everything we went through to make that ship, hanging around PHX airport, no sleep and no food to watch the ship leave, it was truly heart breaking.

Our taxi driver knowing what we have been through asked us what we wanted to do, we were so upset, we didn't know what to do. Our driver pulled to a side street turned off his delay meter and between the 3 of us made the decision to get a hotel for the night. While we were deciding what to do, we contacted NCL, explained the situation and they offered to fly us to our first port which would have been Charlottetown Prince Edward Island, another problem with that was, the ship had 2 days at sea before it would arrive at Charlottetown PEI. We booked a hotel in Time Square which was closest to our location, another $290.00, paid our taxi fare another $90.00 with tip and checked into the hotel. We finally decided it was time to eat, something other than the bag of snacks and cup of soda we got on the flight. We went to Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co. another $75.00 for dinner, sat at the table and finally threw our arms in the air and decided to give up, we have had more than enough of this kind of fun, if that's what you want to call it. We went back to our room, called SW Airlines and booked a flight back to PHX, another $735.00. So again, needless to say, we few to NY had dinner and came home. Not what we planned, but this is how it ended up.

We also met four other couples at the PHX airport that were going on the same cruise, we talked to them, they decided they were not going to chase the ship all over the country and decided to go back home and not do what we decided to do. Smart move on their part. I would love to know how to get in contact with these other couples to find out what they are going through to get a refund on the cruise they also didn't go on.

We did purchase the Platinum insurance from NCL which is a policy issued by AON. This complete cruise from airfare with AA to NY to the return with United Airlines from EWR (Newark) back to PHX was all handled by NCL. To this date, AON Trip Insurance has reimbursed us $500.00 each for the claim that we have filed with them. We have sent every receipt for everything we spent to make this cruise happen and this is all we have received from them. We have sent them everything they have asked for more than once and they are still making us jump through every hoop they can possibly think of not to pay anything other than the $500.00 each they have already paid us.

SO WE ARE OUT

 

Cruise $4310.00 which included their airfare to and from.

 

Money we spent above and beyond to make the cruise

Airport parking $85.00

Airfare to NY $1900.00

Taxi fare to port and hotel $90.00

Hotel $290.00

Dinner in NY $75.00

Taxi to airport $70.00

Airfare back to PHX $735.00

 

And on top of all this, they won't even give us our money back that we paid for the cruise itself, or even offer us a FCC, Future Cruise Credit. The Bottom Line is, the $500.00 each that we received is the total we are getting back for this approx. 36 hour dinner date that they believe we went on.

 

We are asking for help and or suggestions from anyone that can add input, good or bad to help us recover anymore than the $1000.00 they have so generously given us. ANY HELP will be Greatly Appreciated. Thank you, BigWaveDaveAZ

This experience sounds awful and I'm sad that this happened to you.  Hopefully Steve can give you some insight on what is covered with your NCL sponsored AON policy.  Although I don't think you'll be able to get anything more than the $1000 you've received as there's nowhere in the trip interruption portion of the policy that covers any Common Carrier delay. This is mind boggling that cruise lines would sponsor such a plan that doesn't include coverage for these types of situations. 

 

This might be a saving grace.  Did you purchase the cruise and/or flights with a credit card?  Some credit card companies like Chase and Amex provide trip cancellation/interruption coverage for situations like these when you purchase the vacation with your card.  It's likely you've passed the time sensitive period for notification of the claim, but it's worth a shot.

[klfrodo]

Have you contacted your State Insurance Commissioner. They regulate every insurance policy sold in their state. They can reach out in your behalf to ensure they are fulfilling their obligation.

This has benefited myself.

 

of course this will only work if in fact your issue is a covered reason.

[iamtrustworthy]

On 12/1/2022 at 3:42 PM, BigWaveDaveAZ said:

We booked a 10 day NE/Canada cruise for 9/23/22 through NCL which leaves NY on 9/23.

 We were scheduled to leave PHX on AA at 10:10pm on Thur. 9/22/22 to arrive in NY (JFK) at approx. 6:00am NY time. At approx. 7:35pm I received a text from AA telling us our flight has been delayed until Friday 1:00am, in the same text the flight has been delayed until 5:00am, still the same text it has now been delayed until 9:00am. Knowing we could not make our ship departure time in NY leaving at 9:00am AZ time, we found a different flight on SW Airlines that leaves PHX at 5:30am and would put us in NY at 2:30pm NY time, we booked that flight which cost us approx. $1900.00 for 2 tickets. We arrived in NY (LaGuardia) at 2:30pm, we got off the plane went straight to baggage claim, on the way to baggage we saw the NCL transfer person waiting to take people to the ship, please note, we were at LaGuardia and the original AA Flight was landing at JFK. Through this whole ordeal we were in contact with NCL keeping them posted on what was going on so there would be no misunderstanding on what we were doing and where we would be landing. We talked to the transfer person, told them what ship we were with and proceeded to get our luggage. When we returned to the transfer person, the driver is now there, we informed him what we were doing, he called his supervisor and was told that we had to take a taxi because we were late. We then went to the taxi line, which was a mile long, we pleaded our case to one of the taxi line organizers and she very kindly took us outside, hailed us a taxi, explained to the driver what was going on, and off we were off to the port, please keep in mind, its 2:30pm NY time and the NATO Summit was in town, which didn't help at all. Our driver was a God send, the best we could have asked for, he did the best he possibly could to get us there on time. NCL called us while we were on our way to the port, asked us our ETA and we told them approx 45 minutes, they said OK and would call us back in about 10 minutes for a ETA update, 10 minutes came and went and never heard back from them. Needless to say, we were coming down the last street about 5 minutes from the port to watch our ship sailing away without us. Our driver actually took us to the port to see if there was anything they could do to help us, the gate to the port was already locked and no one was around. After everything we went through to make that ship, hanging around PHX airport, no sleep and no food to watch the ship leave, it was truly heart breaking.

Our taxi driver knowing what we have been through asked us what we wanted to do, we were so upset, we didn't know what to do. Our driver pulled to a side street turned off his delay meter and between the 3 of us made the decision to get a hotel for the night. While we were deciding what to do, we contacted NCL, explained the situation and they offered to fly us to our first port which would have been Charlottetown Prince Edward Island, another problem with that was, the ship had 2 days at sea before it would arrive at Charlottetown PEI. We booked a hotel in Time Square which was closest to our location, another $290.00, paid our taxi fare another $90.00 with tip and checked into the hotel. We finally decided it was time to eat, something other than the bag of snacks and cup of soda we got on the flight. We went to Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co. another $75.00 for dinner, sat at the table and finally threw our arms in the air and decided to give up, we have had more than enough of this kind of fun, if that's what you want to call it. We went back to our room, called SW Airlines and booked a flight back to PHX, another $735.00. So again, needless to say, we few to NY had dinner and came home. Not what we planned, but this is how it ended up.

We also met four other couples at the PHX airport that were going on the same cruise, we talked to them, they decided they were not going to chase the ship all over the country and decided to go back home and not do what we decided to do. Smart move on their part. I would love to know how to get in contact with these other couples to find out what they are going through to get a refund on the cruise they also didn't go on.

We did purchase the Platinum insurance from NCL which is a policy issued by AON. This complete cruise from airfare with AA to NY to the return with United Airlines from EWR (Newark) back to PHX was all handled by NCL. To this date, AON Trip Insurance has reimbursed us $500.00 each for the claim that we have filed with them. We have sent every receipt for everything we spent to make this cruise happen and this is all we have received from them. We have sent them everything they have asked for more than once and they are still making us jump through every hoop they can possibly think of not to pay anything other than the $500.00 each they have already paid us.

SO WE ARE OUT

 

Cruise $4310.00 which included their airfare to and from.

 

Money we spent above and beyond to make the cruise

Airport parking $85.00

Airfare to NY $1900.00

Taxi fare to port and hotel $90.00

Hotel $290.00

Dinner in NY $75.00

Taxi to airport $70.00

Airfare back to PHX $735.00

 

And on top of all this, they won't even give us our money back that we paid for the cruise itself, or even offer us a FCC, Future Cruise Credit. The Bottom Line is, the $500.00 each that we received is the total we are getting back for this approx. 36 hour dinner date that they believe we went on.

 

We are asking for help and or suggestions from anyone that can add input, good or bad to help us recover anymore than the $1000.00 they have so generously given us. ANY HELP will be Greatly Appreciated. Thank you, BigWaveDaveAZ

Hi BigWaveDaveAZ,

 

I'm sorry you went through all of that!

 

First, if you used a travel agent, are they helping you with your claim and explaining the coverages?

 

> While we were deciding what to do, we contacted NCL, explained the situation and they offered to fly us to our first port which would have been Charlottetown Prince Edward Island, another problem with that was, the ship had 2 days at sea before it would arrive at Charlottetown PEI.

 

I don't know which exact policy you have, but on this page https://www.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/booksafe there is this:

 

"What Happens If My Flight Is Delayed And The Ship Sails Without Me?

Get up to $500 toward additional accommodations, meals and catch up transportation expenses if you are delayed due to inclement weather, strike, mechanical failure and other reasons as cited in the BookSafe Travel Protection Plan."

 

I suspect AON won't pay a Trip Interruption claim because NCL offered to fly you to Charlottetown and your decision to return home after the airline's delay isn't a covered reason.

 

Next, if you want to email me a copy of your policy's Certificate of Coverage, I'm happy to look it over and tell you what is and isn't covered. steve@tripinsurancestore.com

Steve Dasseos