has anyone ever missed returning flight (after their cruise)?

[coasterjan]

I've had several instances where the ship I want to board has arrived late, making my embarkation late, but I haven't been on a delayed ship yet.

 

What happens if your flight was *after* Carnival's recommended return flight times, but you still didn't make the flight due to a much-delayed arrival at port? Does Carnival get you on another flight, or are you just out of luck?

[KruznKel]

I've had several instances where the ship I want to board has arrived late, making my embarkation late, but I haven't been on a delayed ship yet.

 

What happens if your flight was *after* Carnival's recommended return flight times, but you still didn't make the flight due to a much-delayed arrival at port? Does Carnival get you on another flight, or are you just out of luck?

 

You are SOL unless you booked and used Carnival insurance... if you have reg insurance it is up to you to find your own flights..

[Jennfor5]

Ill bump, I am interested also to see if this has ever happened

[kjdcruising]

That would be terrible. I always book our return flights in the afternoon. I do not ever want to chance it. I would rather walk around the airport aimlessly for a few hours than be stranded.

[gadan1]

My first cruise, we came back two days late when an approaching hurricane closed the port. In that instance, everyone missed their flights. Most flights were cancelled as it was, but it was up to the individuals, not Carnival, to rebook their flights. When the airlines cancel, it's not as bad; they'll rebook you on a later flight for free. But some folks had flights that still took off and if they hadn't already rebooked before the flight took off, they were treated as no shows and had to buy new tickets (which would have been reimbursed by their travel insurance if they had it).

[Cuizer2]

This is why you should buy insurance. It is also why my last three departing flights left after 3:00pm, as will my next one.

[mondello]

The casinos are always full of gamblers and those that like to roll the dice. Those 11-12:30 flights are cheaper and more enticing for a reason. Where is the fun in playin' it safe?

[coasterjan]

Oh man, not the answer I was hoping for. My PVP said "Don't worry" but now I'm worried. We usually stay in Florida for a couple days after a cruise and ride some roller coasters, but everything seemed to indicate that we'd be ok with a flight after 1:00 PM on the day we dock, BUT....

 

I always buy travel insurance, but not through Carnival as they are double the price that I can get for similar coverage elsewhere. I can't find anything in print that says they will pay for a missed flight home, though. Too late to book a later flight, it's already paid for (and non-refundable). Just what I needed, something else to keep me up at nights... :eek:

 

Thank you for the replies.

 

Coasterjan

[QLUVS2CRUZ]

Oh man, not the answer I was hoping for. My PVP said "Don't worry" but now I'm worried. We usually stay in Florida for a couple days after a cruise and ride some roller coasters, but everything seemed to indicate that we'd be ok with a flight after 1:00 PM on the day we dock, BUT....

 

I always buy travel insurance, but not through Carnival as they are double the price that I can get for similar coverage elsewhere. I can't find anything in print that says they will pay for a missed flight home, though. Too late to book a later flight, it's already paid for (and non-refundable). Just what I needed, something else to keep me up at nights... :eek:

 

Thank you for the replies.

 

Coasterjan

 

I don't think there is a big chance the cruise will come in late and you will miss your flight. Try not to worry:D

[nybumpkin]

It happened to us two years ago on Conquest out of Galveston, thanks to one of those well-known fog delays. We had booked the latest possible flight out of Hobby (3:20 p.m.) and still didn't make it. Aside from losing an additional vacation day and a day for the kids out of school (and no insurance makes up for those), it was an inconvenience but not really a big deal for us. Since we were booked on Southwest, they re-booked us for the next day with no change fees, and we were able to get a room at the hotel near Hobby where we had stayed before the cruise. They had a shuttle to a few local restaurants, so we were good for dinner. We've just learned to go with the flow.

[dbrucern]

I've had several instances where the ship I want to board has arrived late, making my embarkation late, but I haven't been on a delayed ship yet.

 

What happens if your flight was *after* Carnival's recommended return flight times, but you still didn't make the flight due to a much-delayed arrival at port? Does Carnival get you on another flight, or are you just out of luck?

 

When the Pride was in the Long Beach the engines quit and of course we were very late coming into Port. We were allowed to call the airlines from the ship and rebook our flights. Carnival gave us $600.00 to cover hotel and the cost of changing the flight.

[MickCruiser]

If you book your cruise and flights through CCL and you miss your flight, they will cover/absorb any change fees. If you book on your own and not thru CCL (such as a TA) you will need to arrange new flights and pay all transfer/change costs.

 

Can't imagine one getting stuck for a night but a late arriving ship (see Galveston) could cause that tho Houston is a major hub...either way, not sure if CCL would pay for hotel. Would have to presume logic is the same...you book thru CCL they have our back, if not, you are on your own.

 

Wonder if the ships linger outside the Galveston port when there is fog close enough for cell service so folks can start dialing away. Bummer way to end a vacation....

[nybumpkin]

Wonder if the ships linger outside the Galveston port when there is fog close enough for cell service so folks can start dialing away. Bummer way to end a vacation....

We were close enough for cell phone service - although DH had to go up to deck 14 for it. We had figured that if we were able to disembark by 12:30 we would have time to make our flight. Once we realized that we wouldn't disembark before 1:30, DH started making the calls.

[BenjiRodney]

Ive never missed because of a late ship. Ive been bumped because the flight was oversold, I love those vouchers and a free hotel stay. Pays for my next flight for the next cruise.

[firefly333]

Id say clearly a lot of people who were on Triumph today with me missed their flights, even if they dont post on CC.

 

They were trying to help some people rebook flights I saw at the pursers desk, but dont know how much.

[firefly333]

Wonder if the ships linger outside the Galveston port when there is fog close enough for cell service so folks can start dialing away. Bummer way to end a vacation....

 

Tex was great. I like him a lot. He opened the phones in the cabins for our use and people could use their cell phones. We were anchored out 8 miles from the port.

[billie5]

if they hadn't already rebooked before the flight took off, they were treated as no shows and had to buy new tickets

 

If you book on your own and not thru CCL (such as a TA) you will need to arrange new flights and pay all transfer/change costs.

 

I have to wonder if these posters are writing theoretically, or based on their own experience. I don't doubt that these things happen (having to pay full rebooking fees). However, from what I've seen, in ports which are major disembarkment ports, such as Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, etc., airlines are sensitive to how much income they derive from the cruise ship industry, and try to be accommodating vis-a-vis late arrivals. At least I assume that is the reason. When we have been late, we obviously did have to wait for an available seat on a later flight, but were not subject to additional fees.

 

Or were we just lucky? (And no, we generally do not get insurance -- so in that regard at least, we have been lucky)

 

Bill

[firefly333]

I have to wonder if these posters are writing theoretically, or based on their own experience. I don't doubt that these things happen (having to pay full rebooking fees). However, from what I've seen, in ports which are major disembarkment ports, such as Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, etc., airlines are sensitive to how much income they derive from the cruise ship industry, and try to be accommodating vis-a-vis late arrivals. At least I assume that is the reason. When we have been late, we obviously did have to wait for an available seat on a later flight, but were not subject to additional fees.

 

Or were we just lucky? (And no, we generally do not get insurance -- so in that regard at least, we have been lucky)

 

Bill

 

I think the difference would be if you called BEFORE the flight, or were a no show on the flight. This isnt the first cruise Ive been on where people missed flights.

 

The one where Ike hit, one airline allowed rebooking with no fees, and the others did not .. as a for instance, so it can be airline specific as well.

[Tapi]

The only reason why we didnt miss our flight home when we returned from the Destiny is because we booked a 530pm flight. We couldn't dock until 200pm due to a medical emergency followed by strong currents which prevented us from docking safely.

[floatingaway2525]

Oh man, not the answer I was hoping for. My PVP said "Don't worry" but now I'm worried. We usually stay in Florida for a couple days after a cruise and ride some roller coasters, but everything seemed to indicate that we'd be ok with a flight after 1:00 PM on the day we dock, BUT....

 

I always buy travel insurance, but not through Carnival as they are double the price that I can get for similar coverage elsewhere. I can't find anything in print that says they will pay for a missed flight home, though. Too late to book a later flight, it's already paid for (and non-refundable). Just what I needed, something else to keep me up at nights... :eek:

 

Thank you for the replies.

 

Coasterjan

 

I think, in May especially, the <much> higher probabilities are that you are more than fine with a flight after 1PM, don't worry, enjoy the pre-cruise planning!

[Fireball027]

A couple of weeks ago our shipped was delayed coming into Galveston due to the port being closed. Luckily we had travel insurance which covered our change of flight and any unexpected costs such as hotel, food and cabs. Carnival also opened up the phone lines for us so we could make other arrangements and even call back home to Canada to let our family know we would be a day and a half late.

[BrettH]

I'm never really concerned about missing the flight home. That's something easily worked through in most scenarios (you get stuck flying standby). My concern is always making it to the port for the cruise. That's why I always fly in the day before. That way if mother nature decides to interfere I've got time to respond accordingly.

[aggieastrosfan]

For those wondering about Galveston, we've been on a few of the delayed-arrival-due-to-fog cruises, and each time our cell phones worked fine, though sometimes we did have to go out on deck to get reception. We have Verizon.

[docs wife]

We were on the Inspiration Dec 2010. The port of Tampa was closed due to high winds and we couldn't make it back under the bridge. We were told we would be getting back into port around 3, so we rebooked our flights for around 7 pm...change fee for me with JetBlue...$40, change fee for my roomie...$150. Around 3:00, we still had not moved and they were bringing our luggage back to our cabins, so we called the airlines again (close enough for cell phones to work)...this time we just cancelled and said we would call back again after we were back in port.

 

$100 change fee with JetBlue, but they waived in due to the circumstances. USAir...another $150 change fee...and booking flights once we got back in port that night for the next morning was not cheap!

Carnival wrote a letter stating it was due to weather for the airlines or for insurance. This was a last minute girl's trip, really cheap and we never even thought about insurance...BIG mistake!!

 

 

In the end, there was a big snowstorm a few weeks later and USAir sent out emails to their to everyone with their frequent flyer accounts about how the weather's bad, but we won't charge you a change fee if you miss your flight due to weather...so my roomie emailed them right back and re-stated about the return flights after the cruise and they reconsidered and sent her $150 voucher towards another flight...

 

So to answer your question...we booked our own flights and the only thing Carnival did was give us a note...but coming into Miami, there's no bridge, not a lot of problems with fog...You should be fine!

[coasterjan]

I'm never really concerned about missing the flight home. That's something easily worked through in most scenarios (you get stuck flying standby). My concern is always making it to the port for the cruise. That's why I always fly in the day before. That way if mother nature decides to interfere I've got time to respond accordingly.

 

Twice, I've flown in the day of my cruise. Even with travel insurance, I just won't do it again. Waaaay too much stress at the beginning of my vacation. I usually refuse to fly home the same day, too, but hubby is anxious to get home after this trip (although nobody will be harmed if it takes us a couple days to get home...)

I've been fretting about losing the $300 I paid for my current flight and having to cough up a lot more than that for a last-minute flight, but it sounds like that I'm probably going to be fine. Possibly JetBlue could put me on another flight. Worst case scenario, we could even rent a car and drive back to Virginia - would probably be cheaper than buying new plane tickets.

Thank you again for all the replies, everybody!

Coasterjan