200 passengers missed their Freedom cruise yesterday

[biggrs]

A few tips after 35 years of travel...

1. If you can travel a day before the cruise. It is much less stressful and you will be relaxed when going aboard.

2. If you travel the day of the cruise:

A. make certain to take the earliest flight available. Check to see if the aircraft came in the night before your trip.

B. If you have to change planes in-route... make sure it is at a southern hub. C. If the weatherman is predicting a blizzard the day you are leaving... call the airline and ask them to get you south before it hits. They want the money so they will help. Don't be bashful - people love to help nice people - ASK.

3. Mark ALL your luggage on all sides w/fluorescent tape with an address sticker including your cell # , the port, ship, sail date and cabin #. The airlines do not want to have to forward your luggage and will make every effort to get it to you before the ship sails.

Buy Insurance - Always.

Relax - you are on vacation.

[Bunkie103]

Last year on the Legend VIP cruise the comedian miss the ship due to an ice storm. I had to talk my friend into going down the day before we sailed and it's a good thing I did because the day of the cruise NOTHING was moving our of PHL. Only one time did we fly in the day of the cruise and I was a nervous wreck. It was May and while snow or ice wasn't an issue, I was concerned about fog. Although it will mean spending money for a night at a hotel, I will never risk it again!:o

[SuburbanMom]

I am not a big advocate of travel insurance. I just dont think it's worth it. The odds of needing it are very slim (that's why it's profitable for them to sell it) so if you travel enough, (and not particularly unlucky), you are better off absorbing the costs if you ever have a problem, than paying for insurance every time you go away.

 

 

 

Travel insurance is not JUST for adverse weather conditions. It is also for lost luggage, health reasons or even a death in the family.

 

We ALWAYS purchase the insurance, u never know what may happen. We don't purchase through the cruiseline but a private company.

 

Two years ago, while on a cruise, my hubby was taken off the ship with a 105 fever and immediately was checked in to a hospital. Lucky for us that I purchaed the insurance cause when he was better, the insurance paid for us to fly back to the U.S.

 

I think it is just ignorant not to purchase insurance. It can be costly but it is worth it in an emergency!

[SaltyBunni]

It is amazing to me that people think that Carnival has some special power to make airlines fly when the airports/airlines have deemed it necessary to close or cancel flights. The folks at Carnival can help with making air arrangements but have no further control of flight delays or cancelaations than you or I do. And as you said we cannot stress the importance of the insurance enough. Hope those people can come across some sort of way to make it to their vacation I know how disappointed I would be. We can't fight Mother Nature :rolleyes:

 

While Carnival cannot control weather - neither can insurance companies.

 

Carnival insurance does not cover weather related cancellations.

 

When seeking insurance, be mindful that some policies do not cover for snow or storms.

[DGP1111]

sorry. miss typed that and did not realize it.

 

LOL, Penny. I thought maybe you, Art and Kat had moved to Panama City, and didn't tell me. :) :)

[ms simba]

I am so glad I found this site! Being a 1st time cruiser (will be going Dec 2008), I orginally thought that I would fly in the same day, that I wouldn't need insurance, and No Way was I going to need a passport. I figured I would save money this way.

 

After reading numerous messages about what can happen, I definitely am now going to play it safe and forget about saving those dollars. It drove the point home when I read about those 200 passengers missing their cruise. I have been watching the Weather Channel so I know how bad it was there. Since I live in Minneapolis, MN, you never know what Mother Nature can have in store for December.

 

Thanks all of you for the advice you have given on these boards!

[jkfreeman33]

Rule #1 when living in the midwest and going on a cruise in the WINTER.......... go in at least 1 day ahead of the cruise.

We live in the Chicago area, and especially this winter, we are getting snow by the several inches at a time.

If they live in Cleveland, they are getting our winter wonderland within hours of us, they have had the same kind of winter we have.

I'm sorry they didn't plan better and missed their cruise. How disappointing!

[Tapi]

Now I have a question...

OK?

 

what would have changed if they would have had the trip insurance?

would they not have had to pay the money for the difference to fly to San Juan ?

 

I am not clear on what is covered and how it is covered

would they have had to pay out of pocket to do this

and then it would have been reinbursed later ?

 

they would have needed air insurance and then cruise insurance as well?

 

 

Each insurance company will be different (and will charge you different amounts). I've only purchased the insurance provided by Carnival, and according to the quick reference guide that they sent me, it covers both the cruise and the flight, whether you purchased the flights through Carnival or not.

 

It covers cancellations due to:

 

- illness

- death in the family

- flights that are cancelled or delayed

 

It also covers:

 

- 100% of flight and cruise expenses

- Lost or stolen luggage.

- Medical expenses during the cruise.

 

Trip delay:

 

"Reimburses the prepaid unusued portion of a participant's trip, additional accommodations and additional travel expenses to catch up if a person is delayed enroute to their trip due to inclement weather, strike, or equipment failure, a traffic accident en route to the port of departure, lost or stolen passport, travel documents or money, hijacking, natural disaster or riot"

[rchauv]

While the title is a bit cynical, the fine print on policies and tickets these days makes it more and more difficult to collect. When my Alaskan package got fouled up because the Cruise line that put together the package that had me travelling internationally on the embarkation date and never got off the ground (to use a phrase) because of a mechanical cancellation of the flight out, I had to get the BBB involved to collect full payment.

 

Prior to the intervention, the insurance company argued that I had voluntarily cancelled, should have caught up with cruise, and since I did not, I was not covered.

 

The "greater than 24 hour delay" clause looked crystal clear to me, but they needed some more incentive to pay off. It took a second payment from them to get the full credit.

[Susan-M]

I agree with the advice re flying in a day early, but what about those who had flights booked yesterday from Cleveland, for a cruise starting today. If they couldn't fly out yesterday, I wonder what their chances were of getting rebooked on a flight today?

[stsomewhere]

We left the night before at 9pm. It was tough but, I felt better knowing there was an 11pm and 6am, 9am the next day.

[jimbug]

For the poster who said she feels like it's more economical to absorb the costs associated with cancellations or medical bills, etc., rather than buy insurance each time...I agree with you!!!

 

If you are young, in good health, and a frequent enough traveler (i.e., several times a year), it just doesn't make financial sense to purchase insurance each time you go. Let's say for instance that I travel somewhere 6 times a year. A good travel insurance policy that covers all the things we've discussed needing to be insured for will run about $75-$100. That means I'm out almost $600 per year. I may or may not use that insurance...chances are, I won't.

 

Now let's say that on one of those trips I become sick on a cruise and need some medical treatment in the infirmary. My bill is $450. I pay the bill myself and still come out ahead. Even if the bill was more than the total insurance premiums for a year, I would stil recoup the cost by not buying insurance on future travels. The same goes for having to change airline tickets due to a delay...usually it is $100 change fee plus the difference in airfare. The cities I fly from (Fargo or Grand Forks) already charge astronomical airfare to get anywhere, and it's highly unusual that even a ticket from say, Miami to Cozumel to meet the ship would cost more than my original ticket. So there I'm out $100 for a change fee and possibly a hotel room.

 

However...even with that...if it is the airline's fault I'm delayed (mechanical failure or schedule change), believe it or not, it *is* the airline's responsibility to get you to your next destination and meet the ship if they caused you to miss your cruise. (Obviously this doesn't cover weather delays.)

 

Now, if something terrible happened and I had to be med-evac'd off the ship that's a whole other story. I guess that's just the gamble I take by not buying insurance. I'm young, healthy, and in order for me to have to need that serious of medical attention, it would have had to be a major injury.

[nicnat]

Just an informational post.

 

 

They thought that because it's march that the possibility of having a weather delay or cancellation would be minimal, but they were wrong and now they are paying for it....

 

 

How long have they lived in Ohio? Cleveland? :confused: I live about 60 miles from Cleveland and have lived in Ohio all my life. I can tell you that March and sometimes April we can have 12 foot plus snow storms. They should have known that. There have been many Easters in April with snow on the ground! Many a spring break ruined by cold, snow and ice. We are leaving in a week, driving not flying, we have included an extra full day into our travels because it is March!!!

[jwlnroe]

we are purchasing insurance but won't your regular health insurance cover anything if you were to get sick or anything on the boat? I know that won't cover flights, luggage but we have the insurance to cover that stuff.. just a question i'm curious about as to if reg insurance you have through your employer or whatever would cover medical stuff on board or if you had to get evacuted or put in the hospital. stupid question i'm sure but just curious

[Carnival Game]

I know what our winters are like and I generally avoid traveling anywhere between November and March. We're cruising in May and flying in the same morning. I purchased travel insurance rather than incur the extra cost and "dilly dally" of flying in the day before, including a hotel room in Miami on a Saturday night, purchasing meals in restaurants, packing more clothes, an extra day of pet care, etc.

[yst347]

we are purchasing insurance but won't your regular health insurance cover anything if you were to get sick or anything on the boat?

 

You need to check with your carrier. Some plans provide zero coverage outside the United States. Very few plans will cover the cost of medical evacuation from either the ship or a foreign port and this can be very very expensive. Extended medical coverage and evacuation reimbursement is the only insurance we buy. As jimbug points out travel coverage is a losing proposition for frequent travelers.

[MrPete]

While Carnival cannot control weather - neither can insurance companies.

 

Carnival insurance does not cover weather related cancellations.

 

When seeking insurance, be mindful that some policies do not cover for snow or storms.

 

While this is true, they will pay every expense for you to catch up with your ship.

 

In good faith, working with Carnival the whole time, I made every effort to catch up with the ship over a 24 hour period. The best I could have done was to catch up with it on Friday, with the cruise ending on Saturday.

 

We were fortunate to have our trip rescheduled, not by the insurance, but by Carnival itself.

 

The insurance paid for all out of pocket expenses for that fun 24 hour period.

[hubofhockey]

There are different ways of dealing with getting there on time. I have flown day of cruise the last two times. But I have been flexible enough to handle any problems. First, my cruises are scheduled for late April to early May when weather is much less of a problem. Second, I schedule on airlines that allow changes for slight fees. That way, if bad weather is in the forecast, I could make changes. I'm going down a day early for my upcoming cruise. But that's to visit relatives and just get some rest. When I can do that, I will.

[JWJs]

I am wondering if flying in 'one' day prior to a cruise is enough. Recently our airport was closed for almost 2 straight days. Fortunately I was coming home and not trying to fly out for a cruise.

Do all travel insurance policies cover flight delays due to inclement weather?

[Wennfred]

I am wondering if flying in 'one' day prior to a cruise is enough. Recently our airport was closed for almost 2 straight days. Fortunately I was coming home and not trying to fly out for a cruise.

 

Do all travel insurance policies cover flight delays due to inclement weather?

 

We now fly into Miami 2 days ahead of time, and spend the first night across the street from the Holiday Inn at Bayside Market, relaxing and having dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. The next day we spend it at South Beach.

 

 

 

Fred

[Karshrimp]

We live only a 5 hour drive away from Galveston, and still go a day early. It's peace of mind to know if we have car trouble or anything else, we won't be stressing because the ship is getting ready to leave! :eek:

[fllady61]

LOL, Penny. I thought maybe you, Art and Kat had moved to Panama City, and didn't tell me. :) :)

 

 

No Don, still here in Kissimmee. looking forward to our October Glory cruise. We were discussing goint triumph or one of the others out of Miami or Tampa next year.

[fllady61]

I couldn't find the part where they got off at 8pm but I would of just called in Sick that last day.

 

 

Fred

 

 

that is fine unless you work a job where you have to work the last day and the first day after to get paid for your vacation. YES, there are companies out there that won't give you your vacation pay if you call in the day before.

 

Although even if we did decide to go over the night before, we could still go after he came home from work.

 

But that is off the subject.

 

And yes there are jobs where you get off at 8 pm. I did not say that the op got off at 8, i was just making a point.

[Tapi]

because it is March!!!

 

I believ they thought March=Spring Break=flowers blooming, birds chirping, temperatures warming up.

 

But yes, you're right.....I went to college in the midwest and I remember being snowed in as late as May!

[EJ'S MOM-MOM]

My 1st cruise 2 years ago the TA told me if I had an early morning flight the morning of the cruise I would probably be O.K. Well I booked an 8am flight on US Air for the day of the cruise for 4 of us. I am the kind of person that checks things all the time so a couple of weeks before our cruise I checked our flight times only to find out that U.S.Air had cancelled our flight & put us on another one with a lay over (original flight was a straight thru) that would make us JUST make the cruise as long as there were no delays. Also they had never notified us of the change either by phone, mail or email. Needless to say I was very upset & fought with the airline for 2 days & numerous phone calls to change our flight again to the day before on a non-stop flight & I did not want to pay any extra as they originally said I would have to do for the a change. I won because they made the mistake of never notifying me & they knew it... Since then I will always fly in a day or 2 ahead of time & now use a PVP. I also always get insurance. This was a lesson learned & thankfully did not cost anything...:)