Perfect example of not flying day of cruise

[md2661]

Thank goodness we started our journey 3 days early! Trying to get to Barcelona from Atlanta for the Allure. We were on Air France last night and as we were ready to head out over the Atlantic the issue that they delayed us 2 hrs for became an issue again. Some fire suppression sensor. So we turned the 747-400 around over Halifax and headed 2.5 hours back to Atlanta arriving at 3:30am. So we wait to fly to JFK then to Barcelona arriving on Saturday morning. Fingers crossed that we make it by Sunday.

[Paul65]

Definitely risky for international travel, as there are only a limited number of flights to choose from. My wife was recently traveling a relatively short distance to Phoenix, but had to go through Dallas (DFW) to get there. They were having a lot of thunderstorms, some severe, in the Dallas area, so she was delayed by something like 8 hours, and she was one of the lucky ones. Lots of flights into and out of Dallas ended up cancelled, rather than just late.

 

Anyway, she said there was a couple on her flight to Dallas trying to make it to Vancouver for a cruise departure the same day, and they were not going to make it in time.

[trev71]

Hope you guys make it. It is good that you posted your story on here, a lot of people on here (not all but some) think it wont ever happen to them.

[garycarla]

Hope you guys make it. It is good that you posted your story on here, a lot of people on here (not all but some) think it wont ever happen to them.

 

Yes to that.

 

And, with an exception on totally unworkable schedules, it is beyond me why folks would not go early just to spend time in Barcelona for a day or two anyways.

[mo&fran]

Sometimes, even if you make it, you realize what a bid idea it is. In our case, our second cruise, and the first to fly to. WE were booked on a southbound Alaska cruise out of Seward. THe morning of the cruise, we boarded a plane in FLL, and had a flight to Houston, then boarded another flight to Seattle, and finally a third flight to Anchorage. Each leg was a different airline, but i guess since we were cruise ship passengers, or luggage was transferred by the airlines at each stop, and when we got to Anchorage, all of luggage got there with us. We then boarded a bus for the trip to Seward,and boarded the ship.

Needless to say, we probably hadn't recovered by the end of the 7 day cruise, either from the long flight that began the cruise, or the from the time change across all of those time zones. BTW, this was in 1999. When i questioned the travel agent about the flight arrangements, she said the airlines valued the business from the cruise lines, so would do whatever it took to make the flight work.

Once we got on the ship, DW said never again will we fly the day of the cruise, either at the beginning or at the end.

At the and of that cruise, they brought us by bus from Vancouver to Seattle where we flew to Dallas , where we boarded a flight to FLL. 7 days and about 12 hours after we had left.

ANd although they never lost our luggage, it was damaged beyond repair, with broken wheels, holes in the sides, etc.

[nbsjcruiser]

Hope you guys make it. It is good that you posted your story on here, a lot of people on here (not all but some) think it wont ever happen to them.

 

Yep. Same as travel medical insurance. Why do I need it? I'm perfectly healthy! So was our son this past year when we travelled to Florida for a cruise. Three days later we had 3 trips to the hospital treating him for what ended up being Norovirus but with all the tests they did to rule out things like appendicitis, the cost was over $5000. Thank God for travel medical insurance for our completely young and healthy 23 year old.

[tlatrice]

Yes to that.

 

And, with an exception on totally unworkable schedules, it is beyond me why folks would not go early just to spend time in Barcelona for a day or two anyways.

 

What other reason would there be except totally unworkable schedules???

[Movieguy214]

Definitely risky for international travel, as there are only a limited number of flights to choose from. My wife was recently traveling a relatively short distance to Phoenix, but had to go through Dallas (DFW) to get there. They were having a lot of thunderstorms, some severe, in the Dallas area, so she was delayed by something like 8 hours, and she was one of the lucky ones. Lots of flights into and out of Dallas ended up cancelled, rather than just late.

 

Anyway, she said there was a couple on her flight to Dallas trying to make it to Vancouver for a cruise departure the same day, and they were not going to make it in time.

 

I live in Dallas, and we've basically had precipitation since early February. Problem is that the weather changes so dramatically so quickly that airlines are having trouble trying to work around it. A thunderstorm will come through and be gone within minutes. Problem is that one storm causes a domino effect of delays for airlines. Wife and I are going to Maui tomorrow, and it will just be the luck of the draw if our flight leaves on time.

 

I'm quite ready for the sun to come out again.

[Paul65]

What other reason would there be except totally unworkable schedules???

 

Lots of other reasons. It could be:

 

Inconvenient, but not "totally unworkable" schedules

Higher airfare cost to go day before

Cost of additional hotel/meals

Saving precious vacation leave days from work

Attending an important event before leaving

 

I have actually traveled by air to meet a cruise ship on the same day, as do thousands of other people every week. and it usually works out. I think it's preferable to fly at least one day prior, but there are lots of reasons why many people do not.

[buchhalm]

Well, as others said a good travel insurance (that includes full medical, travel disruption, luggage etc) is never a bad idea. I believe some companies do also offer a specific CRUISE travel insurance..

At least on these Mediterranean cruises it is usually not too much of a drama if you miss boarding in the first port (or miss the ship during a port stop).

Especially on these runs up and down Italy / France it is really easy to catch the ship in the next port.

[CVU]

Last Feb./14 thankfully we were on the way home, we spent 12? hr in FLL airport waiting for our flight to Toronto.

We were on the plane and waiting on the tarmac mid afternoon in extreme heat when the pilot took us back to the gate.

The AC had an issue.:rolleyes:

finally left about 3:30 AM back onto the same plane after it was fixed and we had a new crew. We were the last to fly out that day!! That was our all time worst booked flight.

 

We never fly in the same day for a cruise. Been on planes with too many delay issues. There is no guarantee all will go well.:eek:

[cruisevv]

Yes to that.

 

And, with an exception on totally unworkable schedules, it is beyond me why folks would not go early just to spend time in Barcelona for a day or two anyways.

 

I'm going to be heading to Barcelona for a cruise as well. I don't particularly want to spend another $600 on hotels pre-cruise. But I also really don't want to miss my flight.

 

So what is everyone recommending? Arrive at least two nights before the cruise?

[Anubi]

Our personal rule of flying from Toronto: Fort Lauderdale, minimum one night stay, more if we can. Anywhere in Europe...three days minimum, more if we can. So much can and does go wrong, you really need to build in that leeway. So far we've been lucky.

[cincicruisers]

We always fly in one day ahead for our cruise. Flights get delayed and cancelled every day. Too much stress for me to fly in the day of the cruise.

[Ocean Boy]

This debate will go on forever. And for everyone who posts an issue there are many people who fly in the day of a cruise every week and all works out. People just have to do what they are comfortable wilth. I remember one year when we were sailing out of San Juan we had to fly the same day. It turned out the flight down the day before had been cancelled. We were better off flying the same day.

 

What I do find interesting with the OP post is Air France chose to fly 2.5 hours back to Atlanta when Bangor, Boston, and New York are all more than capable of landing a 747.:confused:

[Desert Cruizers]

We are 2 1/2 hrs from San Diego, yet drove into SD the day before to allow for any traffic delays. Granted some may not have the opportunity for various reasons to fly a day or two before but if possible, one should. Better to be at destination relaxing then worrying if you will make it on time.

[Nado44]

Some, for whatever reason, do not have the luxury of being able to arrive at their destination a day or two prior.

 

We gambled and booked nonstop air travel getting us from the US to Heathrow on the day of our May 2014 Brilliance cruise from Southampton.

 

While seated, the pilot announced the flight's cancellation due to a mechanical issue. We quickly deplaned, got on the phone and arranged for the airline to move us to another nonstop flight. After delays both stateside and on the LHR tarmac waiting for an open gate, we and our checked luggage, fortunately and by the grace of god, made a beeline to the ship and boarded mere minutes prior to our muster drill.

 

Would we do it again?

 

Probably not. However, we would understand how others might feel compelled to make the calculated gamble due to limited vacation days, etc.

 

What we would do next time, if we had no choice, is book via RCL's Choice Air program. That way, RCL would be on the hook in the event we somehow missed the boat.

[ptcgal]

I'm going to be heading to Barcelona for a cruise as well. I don't particularly want to spend another $600 on hotels pre-cruise. But I also really don't want to miss my flight.

 

So what is everyone recommending? Arrive at least two nights before the cruise?

 

I went on New England cruise starting in Quebec last year. Thank goodness the ship overnighted in Quebec before leaving. Scheduled to fly out on 11/2 (One day ahead)but flight was canceled and rescheduled for next day. OK I thought. I still could get there since the ship did not leave that day. Next day the second leg flight was delayed 3 hours & missed the connections. I was rerouted - McAllen to Dallas to Newark to Philadelphia to Quebec. After 18 hours I arrive at ship at midnight. Thank God the luggage made it. Only a few hours in Quebec the next day before 3 pm sail time.

Going to Barcelona this Oct.31. Booked air to depart Monday Oct 26. Arrive in Barcelona in the a.m. on Oct 27. I want to see the city and take some tours with extra days in case I get delayed again. Less stress and time to get luggage if it doesn't arrive with you.

[grandgeezer]

Yes to that.

 

And, with an exception on totally unworkable schedules, it is beyond me why folks would not go early just to spend time in Barcelona for a day or two anyways.

 

We are doing our third transatlantic leaving from Barcelona. We are going three days early, for the third time because we love Barcelona. It is one of our favorite cities in Europe.

[WyKnott]

Only slightly cruise-related because there were some people flying to get on a river cruise, but a few years ago our flight to Paris took two days.

 

It started when United changed our flight out of San Diego leaving us less time to change planes in Chicago. No problem, they tell us, you still have time to make your flight. Well, thunderstorms in Chicago causes O'Hare to shut down for a few hours delaying our flight from taking off in CA. Don't worry, they tell us, your connecting flight can't take off when scheduled because that airport is closed. We finally take off and when we land at O'Hare, we find out that our connection did indeed take off half an hour earlier. Because it's weather-related, United is not obligated to put us up for the night, so we use points to get a hotel room. With no access to our checked luggage, we stop at a store to buy underwear and souvenir t-shirts to wear the next day. At least United gave us travel-sized toothpaste and other sundries.

 

The next day we show up for our re-booked flight. Not an hour in the air, it's announced that we have to land in Toronto because of smoke in the galley. Firemen come on board, nothing found, but the plane is not flying on. We get off and have to stay in one area in the terminal. If we wander around, everyone will have to go through security. We even have to be escorted to the bathroom. After about an hour, we get the word that we're staying overnight in Toronto. At least this time the airline was paying for the hotel room. The meal voucher we got didn't cover a full meal, we could only order what was on a list and most of it was for more than the voucher. :mad:

 

FINALLY, the next day, we got on our plane to Paris, we had to cancel the car scheduled to pick us up twice and ate the cost because of the 24-hour cancellation policy. Luckily we still had a week left to our trip, I feel for the passengers who missed the beginning of their riverboat cruise.