Flight delays because of storms??

[ondeckatsea]

I'm being very nervous today because of an approaching storm the end of this week. We do take insurance through the ship, and we are allowing an extra day just in case, but I'm still suffering the jitters. What actually happens if the ship takes off without us? Does the cruiseline try to get us to the first port or are we totally on our own? We are flying out of Manchester NH with a quick connection in Washington, DC. I'm losing sleep over this.

[deladypilot]

Storms can cause havic on travel plans and does look like you might get hit hard. Any way you could change your flight and try to get out earlier and just stay in the departure city a day or so extra?

 

You will pretty much be on your own for making flight arrangements etc to catch up to the ship, but if you call the cruise line and let them know, they should help you with the name of the port person you should see when you get there.

 

Best of luck to you

[cherylandtk]

A lot depends on whether you also booked independent air or through the cruiseline, and which cruiseline. Some will arrange to get you to the next port if you booked their air, some won't.

[6rugrats]

I'm being very nervous today because of an approaching storm the end of this week. We do take insurance through the ship, and we are allowing an extra day just in case, but I'm still suffering the jitters. What actually happens if the ship takes off without us? Does the cruiseline try to get us to the first port or are we totally on our own? We are flying out of Manchester NH with a quick connection in Washington, DC. I'm losing sleep over this.

I see by your other posts, this is your 26th cruise, and you are flying on Southwest, so I assume you booked this yourself.

 

The cruise line will do nothing if you miss the cruise; you are on your own. And since you are on Southwest, they won't pay to put you on an another airline's flight, though this is a moot point when a big storm hits, as there usually aren't any available seats anyway, because of the large number of displaced passengers.

 

I note some airlines, such as UA and Southwest, are already offering travel waivers, but these are for 04 March - 06 March. You don't state what date you are traveling, but reading weather reports, it appears as if the worst is supposed to be over by Thursday/Friday morning? If you are flying after those dates, you may be lucky. Keep checking Southwest's webpage for information:

 

http://www.southwest.com/html/advisories/swa_travel_advisory_2013241362417581683.html

[pms4104]

Related comment ... cruiseline insurance covers only the travel arrangements purchased thru the line. For independently bought air, it would be wise to purchase insurance covering that.

[6rugrats]

Related comment ... cruiseline insurance covers only the travel arrangements purchased thru the line. For independently bought air, it would be wise to purchase insurance covering that.

True, but you can't purchase insurance now to cover this storm.

[bus man]

Not to be snotty, but you're not changing planes in Washington, you're changing in Baltimore (BWI). I mention this so that there won't be any confusion if you choose to contact Southwest about your itinerary.

 

Have you looked into changing your tickets to an earlier departure out of Manchester on your travel day? While it's true that you would have to pay the difference in fare between your original tickets and what they cost now, you don't have to pay a change fee on Southwest. You might want to look just at changing the leg from Manchester to Baltimore, so that you would have more connecting time.

 

Incidentally, the same storm that is supposed to be hitting you tomorrow is hitting us here (I'm just outside of Baltimore) right now -- and so far at least, it's not living up to its hype. So maybe you'll get lucky and it'll be a non-event for you too. In any case, the forecast here from tomorrow through the weekend is clear skies; so once you get out of Manchester, you should be fine.