PRWeezer

Some of what you've previously posted will indeed change, as Delta is rolling out Comfort+ as a separate fare class for flights next May and after. I'm told more details will be released today.

Press release announcing the changes now online:

http://news.delta.com/delta-comfort-now-available-fare-domestic-flights

For what it's worth, press release says the new rules are in effect for the U.S. and Canada. Trying a dummy booking after 5/16/16, the YYZ-JFK/ATL flights give C+ as a booking option, JFK/ATL-SJU do not show C+ as a separate fare class, but do have a buy-up offer to C+ seats later in the booking process.

As to whether or not it's worth it, IMHO that's an individual decision based on the fare/buy-up difference and the OP's value of the amenities offered in C+ as compared to the cost.

I really don't think the staff would be abusive!

On our last Silver Spirit cruise we lost track of time and lingered over cocktails & conversation with new friends after trivia in the Panorama Lounge. Around 5:45-ish, as other guests were coming in all spiffed up, our server subtly reminded our group that formal night was about to begin. I don't recall the exact wording, but it was a quiet, gentle nudge and far from abusive. :)

OP's flight from YUL-ATL is delayed from 645a until midnight...17+ hours! Delta is performing some sleight-of-hand by not cancelling the flight. The next flight would have been a non-starter (ATL arrival at 338pm). Seats probably weren't available since it was a CRJ, not to mention Delta's customers and higher fare tiers had rebooking priority.

 

The only viable options were a YUL-FLL nonstop on AC or WS....hopefully that worked, and the cruiseline's hit-and-miss customer service came through for OP. The return tickets may be invalid at this point (depending on fare rules)...also Trip Insurance policies require a proactive effort to salvage your trip. You can't just give up and go home.

 

It will be interesting to hear OP's outcome, hope it's a happy ending.

I agree, I will be curious about re-booking/re-routing from the cruise air option. Not that I would ever use it, but it will be a great data point for the future based on earlier comments.

I asked a DL friend if he had any insight into the OP's original flight earlier today. He was too busy to dig deep but was able to say that only a handful of pax remained on the original flight...which he said likely means pax were re-booked later in the day, or moved to other airlines. Based on times it doesn't look like ATL connections would have made it (though seats were available).

P.S. Bolded That's an old NWA thing...delay a flight 24 hours and you retain completion vs. cancellation. :)

Hope OP made it as NA is taking lines up now.

I sure hope he made it and either way has time to report back, especially if waiting for him (and possibly others) was, in fact, the reason departure was delayed.

For the record, it was warm & sunny all day today in Atlanta...just goes to show you, weather may be the least of your worries where last-minute air travel is concerned.

We have a connecting flight in Atlanta to take us to FLL the day of the cruise. Booked through HAL's Flight Ease. The weather forecast is calling for thunderstorms in Atlanta on April 8. Can anyone familiar with weather patterns in Atlanta give me an indication of what time of day these thunderstorms usually show up? Our connecting flight leaves at noon. Thanks.

OP: As a resident of Atlanta I will advise you, don't rely on a forecast (for any city) 4 days out, just continue to monitor and look at what the locals are predicting, or what reputable, national weather prognosticators say. (With all due respect to expertise of the CruiseCriticCrowd from afar.) In the last week we have had thunderstorms pop up late in the afternoon, overnight & early in the morning (the latter did a doozy on ATL connections that day).

Many of my local ATL friends rely on this guy's site. Keeping in mind that 4 days out is a long time in weather forecasting:

http://www.wsbradio.com/s/weather/

Curious: What airline did HAL use for your flights? We have a hometown airline whose meteorologists are typically better on predictions than the local 'news' teams.

Is Delta the airline the only contracted one out of Savannah or have you use US Air as well. Currently it seems Delta's flight to Barcelona are two stop before arriving there.

When is your cruise? Can't you fly SAV-JFK-BCN? (I just glanced at some random travel dates that match with Barcelona-Rome cruises into next year.) Might be a long connection, but would two connections be preferable? As said, you'd have to change terminals which eats up a little time. The DL SkyClub at JFK's T4 is good for killing a few hours. If the weather is nice there's an outdoor Sky Deck for plane spotting.

We managed to kill 5-6 hours there about a year ago connecting ATL-JFK-MXP for a cruise out of Venice. Also spent some time walking T4 to stretch our legs prior to the overnight flight. Sure, I'd rather not have that long of a layover, but we wanted to leave plenty of time for our ATL-JFK flight to be delayed/cancelled with several back-up flights in between. Some prefer the T4 restaurant options over the SkyClub, but we have free Club access which was a factor in hanging out there. Note: we always make our own flight arrangements so I can't speak for how Oceania's deviations work, if you can request the most direct routing, for example.

You can manage your account online, or if you prefer to handle it over the phone you can first look at your options online to see what will fit your needs best. Log in and go to wireless - add or change services - scroll down to International Services to see your options. You'll have the option to add features immediately or as of a future billing period. Just remember to go back and remove the features after the trip so you aren't charged once the services are no longer needed.

On my iPhone I also go into settings and re-set usage to keep track of data/voice usage during a trip.

Note - be mindful of uploading pictures if you're not on a wifi connection. Some photo files are large and can eat up a lot of data and/or rack up charges quickly. My husband still talks about the "$20 photo" I once posted on FB from Ireland via my BlackBerry. :)

Thanks but I guess I didn't ask that right - I was more concerned liquids would not be in an original container and would just be random liquids in a clear bottle.

 

Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

If by random liquids you mean shampoo and the like, un-labeled 3.4 oz/100 ml or less containers are not a problem. I have a few that I re-fill for travel & mark w a Sharpie what's inside (i.e. so I don't mistake my lotion for hair conditioner :eek:).

If you mean liquid medications, they are exempt from the 3-1-1 rules (i.e. they don't have to go in the baggie) and I have never had a problem bringing them in their original container, though for mine they are not very large containers.

http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/3-1-1-carry-ons

I am envious of you. I so love Atlanta. Use to visit once a month. Fantasised about moving there. Love the Southern accent of those lovely girls! Do you remember Joe Dales Cajun Station?

 

Dreamt of panning for gold in Dahlonega as we once found a spec there!

Joe Dale's was great. Atlanta has changed a lot in the 23 years I've lived here, but since I've always lived 'in town' I don't have to deal with the sprawl on a daily basis. And the airport is only 15 minutes away when the next cruise calls. :)

Lovely review, thanks.

 

I wonder whether the online booking system isn't a booking system at all, but simply collects requests which are forwarded to the restaurant or spa or excursions people who then deal with them manually. In other words people think they have a booking when all they have done is sent a request?

 

By the way ... couldn't send em a "Meet me on Peachtree" teeshirt could you .. my one doesn't fit any more! :D

There was some chatter about that in the line, if reservations were simply requests. But there were also some who had 'booked' only to receive confirmations upon check-in that didn't match what they booked.

I used to live on Peachtree Street, of course! Had a funny conversation with a seatmate on a plane who said he once found himself on the corner of Peachtree & Peachtree and did I know where he was....I said there were maybe a dozen places he could have been. Also once overheard a radio argument between 2 police officers during the annual July 4th Peachtree Road race:

-You're supposed to be stationed on the corner of Peachtree & West Peachtree, where are you?

-Sir, I'm at the corner of Peachtree & West Peachtree, where are YOU?

I said - you're about 100 yards apart, the roads intersect twice...wave that way! :cool:

Disclaimer - we really enjoyed our cruise, but also faced some frustrations as the OP on dinners/excursions, so I will weigh in here vs. starting a new tread. This was our second Silver Spirit cruise and there were notable differences, perhaps due to the larger crowd, but surprising to us.

As for reservations, to our detriment, we didn't realize you couldn't make reservations (for dinner or excursions) within 7 days of sailing, so the lack of pre-planning was our mistake. At roughly 10 days out there were plenty of openings, so we didn't feel any urgency, but then checking at 5 days prior we were locked out.

We stood in line for an hour in STARS/Supper Club on embarkation day while 2 agents took/confirmed reservations and/or addressed glitches in pre-cruise online reservations (a third agent was added at some point). We boarded around 1:00 and the line was much longer when we finished. This same process on our first cruise (pre online reservations) took only a few minutes to finish, and with minimal wait time prior to seeing one of the 4 agents. We were able to reserve La Terrazza for the first night & the Pool Grill for the second, after that only waitlists were possible. When we asked about LT/PG for later in the week the agent explained that, at that time, they were only allowing one confirmation per restaurant, to allow others the chance to secure reservations. That's totally fair but I don't think other agents were communicating it as well, based on others walking out saying that they had a lot of waitlists and/or what they thought were confirmed reservations made online were not actually confirmed. We didn't ask anyone if multiple online reservations were honored or if the one-confirmation rule applied there as well. Instead of taking up too much of the agent's time we opted to have our butler request waitlists for later in the week (we told him we'd be open to any restaurant/any night, ideally in the 8:00/8:30 timeframe).

To their credit, we were offered last-minute options at two restaurants, but due to conflicts/short notice we declined. One afternoon we got a call that we could be confirmed at the Supper Club, but we wanted to attend the show that night so an 8:30 start wouldn't allow us to be finished in time. We did that on our last sailing, informed our servers that we wanted to be finished by 10. They achieved it in great form, but looking back it felt too rushed to really enjoy the experience, music, etc. Another night we got a call at 6:30 for an opening at Seishan at 7:00 but I still needed to shower, fluff & puff, so we declined. Looking back we should have inquired about shows/activities on given days to plan requests around what we wanted to do, but kudos to our butler for putting in a multitude of requests for each night.

We were successful walking into LT & the Pool Grill on other nights, taking advantage of either no-shows or a lighter-than-expected crowd. Our one attempt at The Restaurant was so slow we asked for our entrees to be served in our suite after an hour and a half without the second course being served. The restaurant wasn't even half full, possibly just an off night? Yes, we had a conversation w the server & manager about it and they were apologetic.

I asked the cruise director about this and mentioned that on our first sailing there were 450 guests vs 550+ on this one - could 100 people really make that much of a difference in lack of dinner availability? We secured all the reservations we wanted the first time around. He said that 100 more people, plus 3 fewer nights (first sailing was 10 days) really does make a difference...good to know.

We had tried to book one excursion online and were waitlisted. On arrival we learned they had added a second group but we had since made prior arrangements for the same excursion independently, so we cancelled with no problem. The other excursions we wanted were fully booked, but they did add a beach excursion in the Dominican Republic that we confirmed and it seemed popular, 2 boats of roughly 40 people/each taken to a beach for a few hours.

The shore concierge desk wasn't overly helpful when asking about independent options on shore. I had researched renting motor scooters in St. Bart's but did not hear back from an email inquiry, so I asked a concierge if there was a provider they recommended. She simply said, 'I do not recommend that you do that, the roads are hilly'. We have scooters at home and are comfortable on them in midtown Atlanta traffic...how bad could it be? In the end an on-shore information desk pointed us in the right direction and we had a great day (but yes, the roads are hilly, and twisty, so not for the fainthearted!). Another day I asked if there were any recommended beaches on Nassau for snorkeling and the concierge looked a bit on his computer and said, 'I don't see anything that mentions snorkeling' then pointed out some beaches marked on a map. We had done some research on Tortola, and asked friends who have been there, and as recommended took a taxi to Brewer's Bay for a few hours. It's a small beach with good snorkeling. Taxis were plentiful at the pier and as recommended we arranged for the driver to come collect us at an appointed time as they don't actively pass by that area. We shared with 3 other people and it was $8/pp each way. Brewer's Bay had one small bar/restaurant open that day, and the beach wasn't very crowded so we enjoyed it.

As mentioned on another thread, there were 40+ children (toddlers to teens) on board. From hearing many of them talking/interacting w others, most were not from the U.S. We don't have children but weren't bothered by it, we don't tend to spend time sitting around the pool which is where they seemed to 'take over' as it were. And one tot was particularly helpful when my husband wanted some ice cream at the Pool at lunchtime and he didn't see the serving scoop at first. :) When getting information from the shore concierge one day I did overhear a Mother complaining that an excursion they signed up for was cancelled due to lack of response and what were they going to do with their teenage daughter who was bored? On the other hand, another family we met and shared an excursion with were pleasantly surprised their teen daughter was finding plenty of fun things to do even without a planned children's program.

I don't mean to harp too much on our challenges, overall we had a very nice trip and are fans of Silversea. Our butler and room attendant kept everything ship shape and kept our provisions stocked as requested. Service at the bars was efficient, of course tending slower when crowds were bigger. One bartender remembered my husband from our earlier sailing and came over to say hi with his preferred drink in hand. And my husband came out a little ahead at the casino, which is always good. Typical of Silversea, the other guests we met were well traveled and made for interesting and entertaining conversation.

Perhaps by calling to light some of our planning failings others can learn and be better prepared in the future. I hope that as the online system becomes more familiar they can work out the glitches. At least now we know to make our plans well enough in advance that we aren't locked out, and hope for the best that the reservations hold. Based on the crowds we'll also likely aim for longer itineraries in the future and avoid school holiday periods simply to better the odds that our preferred dining and excursion options are available. We're also interested in sailing on one of SS's smaller ships. Thus far it's happened that Spirit itineraries fit within planned vacation times and desired ports, but we look forward to comparing these experiences with those of the smaller ships that seem so beloved.

Happy sailing, all.

Giving this a bump with a note that I had not seen mentioned previously (or didn't pay attention to if so) - Activities can only be booked between 120 and 7 days prior to your cruise. If your cruise departs in less than 7 days, please reserve onboard the ship. We're embarking on Silver Spirit this weekend and I just tried to book some dinner reservations but was unable to do so (less than 7 days to go!). Shouldn't be a big deal, we're typically flexible on vacation and didn't have problems making changes on-board throughout our previous cruise. On that sailing there were several reps set up in the Supper Club with iPads taking reservations on embarkation day which was very efficient, we'll look for them on Saturday.

Another note if anybody else has a similar issue - I locked myself out of my account over the weekend (my computer crashed, I was using my husband's laptop & couldn't remember my saved password). After 3 or so unsuccessful attempts I was locked out. Quick call to the 800# this morning and I'm back in business - they provided a temporary password that allows you to go in and change yours. The rep stayed on the line to be sure it was successful.

Happy sailing, all!

Well, first of all, according to the note in my passport it is illegal for me to surrender my passport to anyone that does not have a legal obligation to take my passport.

Secondly, we never had to give it up on HAL and never had a problem in ports.

As a passport is your only real form of identification, giving it up to strangers seems like a bad idea (idendity theft e.g.).

I actually surprises me how easily people give it up.

We gave up our passports on a HAL cruise, and on a closed-loop FLL-FLL sailing where a passport is not required (with other valid ID/proof of citizenship accepted). Perhaps they made an exception if you objected, but per their website:

Proof of Citizenship/Passports

Passports are normally surrendered to and held by the pursers on board to facilitate clearances in ports of call. It is prudent to photocopy the identification page of your passport and pack it separately, in case of loss or damage to the original.

On our first Silversea cruise last fall we kept them for Venice & Koper, Slovenia where we were required to show them to get back on board the ship, then they collected them. Got my first-and-only passport stamp w a ship on it (vs airplane from airport entries) in Koper. :)

In the standard balcony suites on the Spirit, am I right there are 2 tvs (the new "mirror" kind) or is it just 1 and are DVD players still in the suite?

The TV system includes on-demand movies (controlled by the remote) vs. a DVD player.

I have Plat status with Delta and have been known to pay to sit up front more often than not but I have never noticed any kind of preferential treatment with respect to meal choices or service. Am I just not paying attention?

------------------

Helen

I've seen DL do this a couple of times in international Business Elite, perhaps it was just the method of a particular FA or two. I recall one time it was pretty evident, the FA was all over the place taking meal requests, but they did serve in order from the front row back. Other times it just seemed like the FAs were trying to get ahead of the game and taking orders as people boarded and settled in, so they weren't necessarily going by any priority system. More often than not they go in order, haven't paid attention if they follow FEBO or not.

I should have realized this explanation myself, as it is so obvious. But thanks for clearing it out for me. :) <snip>

 

At least now i know to look for a Red Coat!

My husband was a Red Coat 'back in the day,' as they say (10+ years ago). Waiting for a flight out of ATL this morning he ran into a couple of colleagues & they were joking that some days it's a lot of pacing up & down the concourse, other days it's a constant fire drill. But they tend to be the best of the best on problem solving. :)

(These days they're technically known as Passenger Service Agents/PSAs, but commonly called Red Coats by both passengers & other staff.)

...Usually upon arrival, the flight attendant will announce what gate you're coming into...

Just wanted to highlight this one point - sometimes during pre-flight announcements a pilot will say 'we'll be arriving at gate X# in Atlanta.' Don't necessarily take that as the final word. Pay attention on arrival as gate changes at ATL are common. The only recent time I can recall connecting gate announcements being made on board was for a flight that arrived late into ATL. Among them I recall: 12 of you are connecting to Cincinnati at gate X#, we're holding, but run. :)

As said, confirm your connecting gate on the screen. If your in-bound is delayed, even if you think you've missed your connection, go ahead to the gate as quickly as possible. You never know if your connection might also be delayed and you can make it. If you do miss it you will automatically be re-booked on the next available flight, which as pointed out frequently here is not necessarily the next flight. Good luck!

In addition to what others have suggested, the only thing I'd add is to think about what 'creature comforts' you might want on a longer flight & for the overnight on the outbound. Some people like to change into more comfortable clothes to sleep on the plane, some prefer a neck pillow over what you might get from the airline. If you're in First/Business class you may get a nicer blanket & pillow and an amenity kit with some items you might otherwise include in your carry on (toothbrush/paste, eye shades, ear plugs, lotion, pajamas, etc.). Some may even offer similar items in coach. Check your airline's website and/or search on Google (i.e. Delta Business Elite amenity kit) to see what applies.

As said, study the carry-on rules for your carrier. For some that are strict about it, you may not have the option for paying a penalty for an overweight bag as you can often do on a heavy checked bag...you simply won't be allowed to carry it on.

Thank you for the info. Unfortunately, it probably won't work for me as I'm confined to a scooter due to post polio, and those hotel shuttles aren't accessible.

 

I did see a Marriott that claims to be on what they call the ATL Sky Train. Does anyone have experience with that? Their info page says to take the Sky Train from the airport and get off at the first stop, where they claim the hotel is located, by some convention center.

This link will show you the map of the Sky Train (as said, different from the underground 'plane train' that runs through the airport). The Sky Train also goes to the rental car center. It's accessible outside baggage claim and there's an elevator up to the train platform.

http://www.atlanta-airport.com/Airport/Construction/RentalCarCenter/SkyTrain.aspx

The Marriott Gateway's website says it's accessible via the Sky Train, you may want to call the property to see exactly what is involved in far of transit from the train to check in:

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-information/travel/atlma-atlanta-airport-marriott-gateway/

I can't get a Google Map link to work for the specific address, but plug in the hotel's address, 2020 Convention Center Concourse & you can zoom into an image of the hotel's location, if I'm viewing it correctly it looks to be on the opposite side of the train track from the Convention Center:

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

There's also a Spring Hill Suites by Marriott in the same area that you'll be able to see on the Google image as well:

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/atlgi-springhill-suites-atlanta-airport-gateway/

NOTE: I have not used the Sky Train but often pass its access point on the way back to the off-site parking shuttle we use frequently. As said, you can confirm access with the hotel. Hope the links are helpful in addition to what you have already researched.

Like another poster I am surprised at the weather in Dallas. In my ignorance not what I thought living waaay up north. They are almost as cold as we are here though their forecast looks warmer.

 

It is only around freezing though so I assume (there I go again) that being as these cold spells are infrequent they have little de-icing capabilities at that airport.

 

Lesson learned for me from this thread. If I was flying from here through Dallas I would not have thought to check for cold weather alerts and assumed if I could get off the ground here things would be okay en-route. I now know better.

Perhaps I'm more of a news junkie than the average person, but this winter storm was prominent in the U.S. media for several days in advance (as were airline waivers, as said). Of course there are airline glitches that call for changes on the spot, but folks can do a lot proactively to track their reservations and avoid being surprised by a potential cancellation predicted several days in advance.

Bottom line on his, no matter whether you booked your own flights, a TA did it, or the cruise line did it, you best bet to get things resolved quickly is to be proactive and communicate directly with the airlines. We have encountered the ice and snow cancellations frequently, and while it is a good idea to let Oceania know what is going on, they are not at fault for the cancellation. Actually neither is the airline. It is the weather which is not in our control.

Agree. Glad the OP worked things out, but when traveling sometimes you need to be proactive in advance of a weather 'event.' Not sure how American handled it for this storm, but Delta, as one example, had weather waivers posted as of 12/5 for travel through 12/7, including DFW among other airports. There's one up now for the mid-Atlantic states for travel through tomorrow. These advisories allow for changes to an itinerary if you're flying through the posted areas. Getting ahead of the game may produce quicker and more desirable re-routing results. Waiting for the airline to cancel your flight only puts you in a longer phone queue of other passengers dealing with the same problem.

ETA: This notice is prominent on the aa.com home page: Due to the winter weather at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, flights are operating a very reduced schedule to and from DFW airport. Customers on flights affected by this weather system can change their plans at no charge. Click here for details. Note: due to heavy call volume, callers to our reservations line may experience long wait times. Customers can log into aa.com to view the status of their flight or cancel their reservation.

The lounges have been getting busier and busier ... Not surprised of efforts to thin them a bit. The JFK Delta lounge charges for food more than basic snack items.

 

We plan to eat at The Palm which has a location there before our next flight.

We had a lengthy layover at JFK on the way to a recent Med cruise and spent most of that time at the DL Sky Club (T4). Compared to other Sky Clubs, it was huge with lots of different areas to spread out the crowd. The outdoor Sky Deck was a nice place to pass the time with great plane spotting (there's also a Sky Deck at ATL, F/International terminal). I believe JFK is the only place in their network that offers food for purchase. We had a sandwich and it was good...we would have ventured out to the terminal for food, but had a great spot on a sofa on the Sky Deck on a sunny day and didn't want to leave. :) Lots of people were buying food, perhaps this will be rolled out to other clubs? (Since almost all of our travel is on DL I can't make a comparison to amenities, food offerings, etc. in other airline clubs.)

I agree, in general, the clubs are over crowded. DL has downgraded their complimentary beverage options, but they do still have complimentary beer, wine & spirit offerings, as well as 'premium' options for purchase. Another factor that may thin the crowds eventually.

We use a Plat AMEX for Sky Club access...I don't see DL discontinuing that partnership any time soon.

I'm curious about the mention of seniority....it was/is a factor in boarding priority at Delta?

Just asking, because at AA, it is not...

Yes, for typical nonrev travel on DL standys are prioritized by seniority. To be sure we're talking about the same thing, seniority in my comment = date of hire, not one's position in the company where one job might be considered more 'senior' in title...if that makes sense.

How does AA handle it?

Great news for Gustavo, one of our favorites on our recent Spirit cruise! :D

...Hubby could see actual names of people on the list. Both standby and ticket holders. That was restricted after 9-11.

That's also back, on the intranet you can see the nonrev standby list and the (revenue) upgrade list once people have checked in. But it's not full names, it would look like ABC/D (first 3 of last name, first initial) which is exactly what you would see on the screens at the gate or on the website/app lists, which are available for anyone to see. You can't see the entire revenue pax list, just those listed for a gate upgrade. Before check-in you can see the nonrev standby list (ABC/D), so you can get an idea of who else is listed, their seniority, active/retiree/buddy pass etc. code, so you can weigh your chances of getting on a particular flight...which I'm sure you recall, isn't necessarily an indicator of the true load until you're at the gate.

My husband endured some pain through the bankruptcy (before I knew him), and in a 24/7/365 operation you have some sacrifices (i.e. working holidays and competing w old timers for vacation time), but he loves his job playing with planes all day and can't imagine doing anything else. :)