Your plan B in case of a winter storm?

[PrincessCatarina]

Quite a few states in the U.S. have been blanketed with snow during the past couple of days and I can't but help to think that all the cancelled flights must have unfortunately affected some Princess cruise passengers.

 

 

So - what kind of plan B do those of you who live a flight away from the cruise port recommend in the winter season?

• Do you find that booking your flight the day before the cruise is usually enough?
  
• Do you have a refundable Amtrak ticket on hold just in case?
  
• Do you just take it as it comes and embrace the challenge of catching the ship at the next port if you don't make it on time?
  

Happy holidays to everyone!

[Pam in CA]

Plan "A" would be:

 

* Arrive the day before embarkation

* Have insurance

* Have a passport

 

Since the entire country's flight schedules have been disrupted, including FL and LAX due to planes not arriving, just about everyone flying for the next week will be affected.

 

Plan "B" would be:

 

* For a Caribbean cruise, fly to MIA as soon as possible. You can always catch a flight from MIA to wherever you need to go to get to the next port.

* Make sure I have my passport in hand 'cause you're not going anywhere without it.

* Re-read my insurance policy

* Relax as there's nothing you can do about it. This is Nature's way of reminding us of who's boss.

 

Bottom line: No, it's not the cruiseline's fault, even if they booked your flight; and no, you won't get your money back if you fail to make the cruise without insurance.

 

Do you find that booking your flight the day before the cruise is usually enough? Usually, although I once had an experience when that extra day wasn't enough. I suspect with today's weather, that might be the case.

Do you have a refundable Amtrak ticket on hold just in case? Amtrak's not going to do much good in this kind of a storm.

Do you just take it as it comes and embrace the challenge of catching the ship at the next port if you don't make it on time? See above

[chrysalis]

Plan "A" would be:

 

* Arrive the day before embarkation

* Have insurance

* Have a passport

 

Since the entire country's flight schedules have been disrupted, including FL and LAX due to planes not arriving, just about everyone flying for the next week will be affected.

 

Plan "B" would be:

 

* For a Caribbean cruise, fly to MIA as soon as possible. You can always catch a flight from MIA to wherever you need to go to get to the next port.

* Make sure I have my passport in hand 'cause you're not going anywhere without it.

* Re-read my insurance policy

* Relax as there's nothing you can do about it. This is Nature's way of reminding us of who's boss.

 

Excellent advice....

 

A few years ago, because of a winter storm, we had to take an overnight bus just to catch our connection to FLL.....we were the only ones on that bus with real luggage:D.....we hope never to have to do that again.

[abbydancer2003]

We almost always fly in the day before - even here on the west coast for spring and fall trips.

 

We're flying through Washington for our upcoming cruise. We're flying from Washington to Buenos Aires 4 days early (mostly to enjoy the city but also to get the flexibility). On my sister's advice, because it's winter, we're flying to Washington the day before the flight to BA. We have a 22 hour connection.

 

We have a 2.5 hour connection on the way back though. If it was today, we'd miss our connection.

[paul929207]

If you have to connect, do so as far south as possible.

[Times Prince]

If you have to connect, do so as far south as possible.

connecting as far south as possible doesn't always work. We had one December cruise with flights coming from Texas to Atlanta to FLL. Every single flight was delayed due to delays in plane or crews coming from up North.

 

My advice is to (if possible)

1 have good trip insurance

2 come in the day before

3 If delayed keep the "in transit delays" phone number informed.

 

In our case, which happened to be the same day, the Princess transit delays number kept us aware of our options, and also kept the port and ship advised of our progress - they were able to expedite us getting onboard even though we were late arriving in FLL.

[Crewzer33]

Always travel the day before in winter -- who can be upset by another day in Florida in the winter?

[JustinPlusLauren]

We flew in a day early on our last trip just in case. It was a great idea just in case there was a snowstorm, plus we got an extra day's vacation out of it! Also, it was a lot nicer spending our first day on the ship totally refreshed rather than feeling tired after a flight!

[imsulin]

My Plan B is to call Travelguard. And then unpack.

[gertz]

My Plan B is to call Travelguard. And then unpack.

This is what I wood do. Not going to chase the cruise. Not sure what I would do with a train ticket.

[Cruisin' Chick]

We have decided we would always get to our embarkation port (aside from San pedro which is an hour's drive) at least a day early. Even when it's not winter. Too many things could go wrong.

 

When we were taking Amtrak up to Seattle for our Alaskan cruise, I noted down which nearby cities on the way had a regional airport just in case there was a problem. We did pad in an extra day, but we wanted to spend that day relaxing, touring Seattle, doing a little shopping. We got into Seattle four hours late, which was fine. But a couple of days later, there was a tunnel fire on that route. For a week passengers had to get off someplace in Oregon, board a bus for a distance, then get back on another train. At least nine hours added to their travels. Fortunately, we were on the first train that was allowed to travel the whole way.

[grandmato4]

When flying to our port city in the winter months when we wish to cruise to the warm caribbean we try to fly to our port city two days early. Also attempt to book a nonstop flight that leaves home early in the morning. We also purchase purchase travel insurance that will cover extra expenses should we find ourselves stranding and unable to make it to port before our ship sails. As long as we've been able to do those few simple things we than take it as it comes as we know we have done our part and we have no control over whatever mother nature has in store for us;):)

[VikingRob]

We always travel one day before the cruise. This year, since our cruise is is Jan and we are leaving out of Milwaukee, we decided to go ahead and give ourselves an extra day and we are flying in 2 days early. Also enough time that we could always rent a car and drive if we had too!! Kim

[Elkhorn20fan]

fly down 2 days early, great beach days

would drive down if weather looked bad

[rdsqrl]

Well, I can tell you my Plan B for this trip, as I'm living it right now! I was scheduled to fly to FLL from D.C. on Monday morning for a Tuesday sailing. Once I heard the weather reports all day Friday getting worse and worse, I jumped on the computer and found a seat on a plane to anyplace I could in Florida, which happened to be Jacksonville. I booked a hotel, a rental car, and am relaxing and enjoying this lovely city, doing my last-minute cruise shopping here, and intend to drive down to FLL tomorrow. Except for a lethally-delayed departure on Friday night (we landed in Jacksonville at 2am, but were scheduled to arrive at 10pm!), it's all gone smoothly. Oh, I did forget a pair of shoes for formal nights as I was packing my stuff in a hurry on Friday but don't worry: I managed to buy two new pairs at Dillards here!

 

Edited to add: I should mention that my parents' house, which is where I was in D.C., is at the bottom of three exceedingly long, steep hills and usually is the last plowed -- the chances of my getting to the airport on Monday morning were slim to none without a team of Siberian Huskies and a dog sled! Which would be pretty cool, come to think of it . . . . in all senses of the word!

[georoc01]

Definitely travel insurance. And day before while it can help, isn't foolproof.

 

Three years ago my family booked a christmas cruise. I was flying out of Denver and a major storm hit two days before departure shutting down the airport for two days. The airport reopened the day of departure.

 

In this case because of the holiday airfare costs we used Princess Air and it saved me. They had put me in first class and while my flight was delayed 45 minutes, I still made it to Miami and to the port in time prior to the ship leaving.

 

If I had planned on flying out the day before, I would have been stuck with the tens of thousands of people trying to rebook their flights as all flights were cancelled the two days prior. I would have had no chance.

 

And Princess Air also gave me a big plus by putting me in 1st class. It allowed me to cut the lines of all of the people trying to rebook which were many hours long as well as the security line, which wrapped all of the way around the airport.

 

Thanks Princess Air!

[Katie333]

We typically give ourselves one or two days lead time. For example, this January we sail on a Sunday. Friday we are driving to the Detroit area, and staying overnight near the airport (so we have all day to get there in the event of bad snow + if we had to, we could skip the drive during the day and go up in the night before our early morning departure). On Saturday, assuming we make it to Detroit, we fly to San Juan. We cruise on Sunday. If things fail at some of the points, we have an extra 2 days to make up the difference, especially since the cruise doesn't depart until 11pm.

 

I don't know why anyone living in a snowy area would not leave at least 1 day beforehand.

[JAMS1]

When flying to the east coast, out of the country or a port city in the winter

Arrive at least 2 to 4 days ahead

Enjoy the port city.

 

West Coast fly in at least 1 day ahead

 

Snot can happen any time of year & we would hate to miss our vacation cruise, so we get there early and relax.

[jdavid]

Very difficult to cover all bases when you originate in a norhern location and have to travel south. Our classic case of "if it could go wrong it would" happened in 2008 when we did a b2b 14 day out of San Juan on the Crown. We had left a day early and needed every single minute.

 

What was supposed to be an 8 hour flight via Newark to San Juan turned into a 42 hour race where we did 8 airports in 42 hours, arriving one hour after the ship was to depart. It waited for us and we are forever grateful.

 

Our lagguage didn't arrive until day three but we were taken care of by Princess with fresh clothing and toiletries for two days.

 

The 14 days were perfect.

 

Returning home, we were caught in another storm and had to stay in New York for three and half days. Our insurance claim was close to $5,000 for extra flights, hotels etc. It could have been upwards of $7k but we did not even go near what we could have claimed.

 

Don't assume you have all bases covered with credt card insurance. Buy a "specific policy" to cover weather interupted travel.

[Pam in CA]

Well, I can tell you my Plan B for this trip, as I'm living it right now! I was scheduled to fly to FLL from D.C. on Monday morning for a Tuesday sailing. Once I heard the weather reports all day Friday getting worse and worse, I jumped on the computer and found a seat on a plane to anyplace I could in Florida, which happened to be Jacksonville. I booked a hotel, a rental car, and am relaxing and enjoying this lovely city, doing my last-minute cruise shopping here, and intend to drive down to FLL tomorrow. Except for a lethally-delayed departure on Friday night (we landed in Jacksonville at 2am, but were scheduled to arrive at 10pm!), it's all gone smoothly. Oh, I did forget a pair of shoes for formal nights as I was packing my stuff in a hurry on Friday but don't worry: I managed to buy two new pairs at Dillards here!

 

Edited to add: I should mention that my parents' house, which is where I was in D.C., is at the bottom of three exceedingly long, steep hills and usually is the last plowed -- the chances of my getting to the airport on Monday morning were slim to none without a team of Siberian Huskies and a dog sled! Which would be pretty cool, come to think of it . . . . in all senses of the word!

Good for you! You did absolutely the right thing.

 

Several years ago, I was flying from Manchester, NH (MHT) to FLL the day before a cruise. I lived an hour south of MHT, my daughter an hour and a half north, which is why we flew from there, not to mention it's a really nice, civilized airport. Anyway, she arrived first and went to check in on a Saturday for a Christmas cruise... and called me in the car with a note of panic in her voice to tell me that: a) our plane was snowed in in Pittsburgh, and b) Delta's partner airlines were on strike. The earliest Delta could get us out of MHT would be Tuesday. I told her we'd sort it out when I got there. By then, she'd gone to three other airlines and researched our options. We were able to fly standby on Southwest to Tampa, which was great with me 'cause we could always rent a car and drive there the next day. Once we landed in Tampa, we were able to get on a flight to FLL. Total hours lost: TWO! We arrived in FLL only two hours after our original schedule. Went to our pre-booked hotel, checked in and had a great cruise.

[imsulin]

Good for you! You did absolutely the right thing.

 

Several years ago, I was flying from Manchester, NH (MHT) to FLL the day before a cruise. I lived an hour south of MHT, my daughter an hour and a half north, which is why we flew from there, not to mention it's a really nice, civilized airport. Anyway, she arrived first and went to check in on a Saturday for a Christmas cruise... and called me in the car with a note of panic in her voice to tell me that: a) our plane was snowed in in Pittsburgh, and b) Delta's partner airlines were on strike. The earliest Delta could get us out of MHT would be Tuesday. I told her we'd sort it out when I got there. By then, she'd gone to three other airlines and researched our options. We were able to fly standby on Southwest to Tampa, which was great with me 'cause we could always rent a car and drive there the next day. Once we landed in Tampa, we were able to get on a flight to FLL. Total hours lost: TWO! We arrived in FLL only two hours after our original schedule. Went to our pre-booked hotel, checked in and had a great cruise.

 

Another reason I love Southwest! They've been very good to me!

[AndyTheK]

We booked flights to the US a day before the cruise coming up tomorrow (same cruise as rdsqrl). We originally booked our flight to FLL through Atlanta, but Delta dropped the Monday flight a month or so after booking. What was left was routing through JFK in New York. So far, so good.

 

Then we started watching the weather. Soon became clear that Saturday was going to be disaster day for air travel. Even though we weren't due to pass through NY until Monday it seemed to me that at that the plane from New York Sunday was not going to be sent! I called my TA before Delta cancelled the Sunday flight. He worked with Delta and got us seats (the last two) on the Tuesday (tonight after midnight) flight going through Atlanta.

 

Current status is: the plane from the US which will be our flight tonight is on its way on time! ATL airport is in good shape. We're now scheduled to land in FLL at 10:45 AM tomorrow, right in time for an easy embarkation.

 

Moral - plan to arrive a day early. Keep on top of conditions and anticipate problems before they materialize. Have a TA who has a good relationship with airline reps in your area. All we lost was a day in FLL to un-jetlag. It will make the cruise itself twice as enjoyable.

[regnig]

For our very 1st Princess cruise in February of ’93 we were not very wise and were scheduled to fly from BWI to FLL (booked thru Princess) the Saturday morning of departure. NO Plan B! By Thursday afternoon the forecast for the entire East coast advised of the “Storm of the Decade” due to hit starting late Friday. I advised our TA (who without we never would have made it) spend all of Friday morning attempting to get us somewhere near Florida as we were willing, like rdsqrl, to drive part way if necessary. Her job was made even more difficult as the entire east coast was shuffling flights around to avoid the storm. She finally managed to book us (eke 1st class) on a flight from Dulles to Miami Friday night, a rental car in MIA to drive up to FLL, and a hotel in FLL that of course due to last minute booking wasn’t at a bargain price. Since Florida was taking its hit from the storm with tornados we spent Friday night watching palm trees bend and break. The ship itself actually sailed about ½ full and there were many who made it with stories far worse than ours. Additionally there were record numbers of people who arrive with no luggage and even some luggage that arrived with no passengers. The cruise itself was great but the remnants of the storm kept the weather rather on the chilly side but we were on a cruise not home shoveling snow and couldn’t have cared less. On our return a week later our scheduled Princess booked flight was from FLL to BWI so once we arrived in Baltimore we had to rent another car to drive to Dulles to pick up our own. Princess really was great as our original booked flight south never left the airport and we actually were refunded that portion of our ticket. Despite that, our last minute altered travel arrangements to get to the cruise ship cost almost ½ of the price of the cruise but WELL worth it.

 

Lesson learned - NOW we always arrange to arrive at least 1 day if not more in advance.

[mmcipdn]

Well, I can tell you my Plan B for this trip, as I'm living it right now! I was scheduled to fly to FLL from D.C. on Monday morning for a Tuesday sailing. Once I heard the weather reports all day Friday getting worse and worse, I jumped on the computer and found a seat on a plane to anyplace I could in Florida, which happened to be Jacksonville. I booked a hotel, a rental car, and am relaxing and enjoying this lovely city, doing my last-minute cruise shopping here, and intend to drive down to FLL tomorrow. Except for a lethally-delayed departure on Friday night (we landed in Jacksonville at 2am, but were scheduled to arrive at 10pm!), it's all gone smoothly. Oh, I did forget a pair of shoes for formal nights as I was packing my stuff in a hurry on Friday but don't worry: I managed to buy two new pairs at Dillards here!

 

Edited to add: I should mention that my parents' house, which is where I was in D.C., is at the bottom of three exceedingly long, steep hills and usually is the last plowed -- the chances of my getting to the airport on Monday morning were slim to none without a team of Siberian Huskies and a dog sled! Which would be pretty cool, come to think of it . . . . in all senses of the word!

Absolutely amazing to hear of an American taking responsibility for their own well being.. way to go..:cool:

[razzinger]

Can insurance be purchased 30 days before sailing? We leave Jan 23 from San Pedro, we have never even considered insurance on our other 3 previous cruises; but with this past weekends snowfall here in Va closing down most airports for a few days, we are having seconds thoughts. Is it too late?