FAA grounded all flights to Florida missed cruise

[lovesthebeach2]

Exactly!!

 

My parents are going on the Disney Fantasy on 4/30 - last minute, my sister was able to get them a super rate with the CM friends/family deal - and decided to fly to MCO rather than drive like they often do. The moment Daddy said "So we're probably going to fly down that morning..." I said "No. I don't care what the difference in price is, fly down the day before!!" The peace of mind is so worth it.

 

Sooo true! On our second cruise we booked our air thru the cruise line for the day of the cruise. Weather issues caused extensive delays and most of the plane was for the cruise. Flight arrived very late and two bus loads of passengers later, we arrived to the ship at 5:30. They held it and we were checked in and given our sea pass cards on the bus. Stressful wasn't even close to how we felt. We learned a valuable lesson that day. Never again.

[Ocean Boy]

And another thing, if the FAA truly grounded all flights into Florida, I would have heard about it on the local news or read about it in today's paper. Nope, nada, nothing

 

I checked Southwest flights from Providence to Florida for yesterday. There was a window where two flights to Ft. Lauderdale were cancelled and two to Orlando. This is rare for Southwest from Providence. However, all the flights to Tampa and Ft. Meyers are listed as having operated on time. So I am a bit confused on this issue.

[Biker19]

I was under the impression that passports were required.

Not for a closed loop cruise like the Allure.

[rucruisn2]

North Florida had storms and high winds. A departing pax off Oasis commented on the weather. The airlines rely on weather forecasts like the rest of us. I don't know why anyone would say they lie if it's mechanical. We've all had flights delayed or cancelled because of mechanical.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

You live in Jacksonville, I live in Boynton Beach, 20 miles from the port. There were NO high winds yesterday!! Today is cooler with a nice breeze. Certainly not high winds and storms yesterday am

[reallyitsmema]

And another thing, if the FAA truly grounded all flights into Florida, I would have heard about it on the local news or read about it in today's paper. Nope, nada, nothing

 

Ground holds happen all the time. I don't doubt for one second that there was a ground hold and planes were being held at their airport of origin.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

You live in Jacksonville, I live in Boynton Beach, 20 miles from the port. There were NO high winds yesterday!! Today is cooler with a nice breeze. Certainly not high winds and storms yesterday am

 

There is also a difference between ground winds and upper atmosphere winds.

[LMaxwell]

You live in Jacksonville, I live in Boynton Beach, 20 miles from the port. There were NO high winds yesterday!! Today is cooler with a nice breeze. Certainly not high winds and storms yesterday am

 

Hi Neighbor. Weather was UGLY yesterday morning; breezy, but nothing out of ordinary. Took ride up to Bryant Park with Corvette Club and skies were dark but nothing ever materialized.

[Lakesregion]

I think we need a bit of sociological understanding here. Experienced cruisers tend to be a tad older than the newbies found on so many of the 4-6 day cruises. You have to remember these folks come from the "participation" trophy generation and have never had to really deal with adversity such as losing their entire fare. So they honestly believe that they are due a refund and other compensation for something they could well have avoided with better planning. So don't jump to harshly on them, remember many are just fragile snowflakes.

 

Also a fast web search does NOT reveal any blanket FAA grounding of flights in any part of the US yesterday or any time recently.

Edited April 3, 2016 by Lakesregion

[grandmarnnurse]

Expensive lesson. Sorry but without travel insurance there's no recourse. I am surprised they even offered Allure as an option.

 

After leaving a cruise half way through due to an emergency back in 1995, I learned a valuable lesson to always buy trip insurance. I have never had a cause to use it since, but I still buy it as a precautionary measure. Also, I always fly in at least one day prior. Flying from Buffalo, NY, we have a history of bad weather, and cancelled flights. I would never try to fly out the day of a cruise, although I know many who do. Just too risky.

This was a hard learned lesson for you, and I'm so sorry you missed your cruise and lost all that money.

I, too, was surprised they offered the Allure! I would have loved to be on that ship, as I have cruised the Oasis (her sister ship) and loved it!

Edited April 3, 2016 by grandmarnnurse

[pharaoh]

I wonder if they would have let the people who had passports meet the ship in the next port, and then the couple without passports take the trip on the Allure. Splitting up the group wouldn't have been ideal, but at least everyone would have gotten a vacation.

 

This is definitely a horror story. I'm happy to live in Florida where I don't have to travel very far to get to a port. Even so, I still always buy insurance. There are too many variables out there.

[Merion_Mom]

I think we need a bit of sociological understanding here. Experienced cruisers tend to be a tad older than the newbies found on so many of the 4-6 day cruises. You have to remember these folks come from the "participation" trophy generation and have never had to really deal with adversity such as losing their entire fare. So they honestly believe that they are due a refund and other compensation for something they could well have avoided with better planning. So don't jump to harshly on them, remember many are just fragile snowflakes.

 

;) :D :eek: :D

[lahlah57]

I think we need a bit of sociological understanding here. Experienced cruisers tend to be a tad older than the newbies found on so many of the 4-6 day cruises. You have to remember these folks come from the "participation" trophy generation and have never had to really deal with adversity such as losing their entire fare. So they honestly believe that they are due a refund and other compensation for something they could well have avoided with better planning. So don't jump to harshly on them, remember many are just fragile snowflakes.

 

Uh oh......sometimes tough life experience is the only teacher.

MERCY.....no insurance and partial party with no passports:confused:

Why do people limit themselves with no passports:confused:

[maryjaden]

I, too, am not an experienced cruiser and part of the "why do I need insurance" crowd. I always flew in the day before. However on our upcoming cruise in November from San Juan, I bit the bullet and purchased insurance. Just my husband and I this time, but with his work, his schedule can change. Too be honest, against thousands of dollars, the price of the insurance has brought a great piece of mind and I will be adding on our future cruises also.

[Dr. Pam]

I will stand by what I stated on an earlier post. I was on a plane (Air Canada) yesterday scheduled out of FLL at 10:55. The flight departed later than expected due to arrival and lav issues. HOWEVER, we had pushed back and started to gear up when the CAPTAIN came on the PA and stated that inbound and outbound flights were going to be delayed due to FAA and weather conditions. Thankfully, we were allowed to fast track our departure take-off ahead of many planes ahead of us (not sure how this is determined) and thankfully our connecting flight in TO was delayed. To address the OP's thread, YES, weather conditions in the UPPER atmosphere were not great! Once we were finally allowed to leave FLL, the pilot announced that we would have some rough air, and that in flight service would be delayed. I thought that we were heading to Bahamas in the direction that we flew for such a long time. The Captain announced that they were trying to skirt around the system and avoid the turbulence.....even though we still did experience a lot of "bumps". I am all about safety. And, sometimes with safety, delays seem to follow. FLY IN THE DAY BEFORE.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

Not intended to rub anyone's nose in it or anything...but even the most experienced cruisers often take travel insurance for just that kind of (OP) situation. Furthermore, leaving a day ahead of the cruise has also become a common best practice to avoid any such "negative surprises".

 

It seems there's little sense in starting a relaxing cruise by wondering if you'll even make it on time to the ship. But that's just our take on it.

[leisuretraveler223]

Not intended to rub anyone's nose in it or anything...but even the most experienced cruisers often take travel insurance for just that kind of (OP) situation. Furthermore, leaving a day ahead of the cruise has also become a common best practice to avoid any such "negative surprises".

 

I agree with the suggestion of leaving a day ahead of time (if possible). But travel insurance is a highly debatable subject. I self insure, and for most people, if you can afford to, you are better off doing so. Travel insurance is generally a bad investment. If you prefer the peace of mind, and you're willing to pay for it, then go ahead. But to intimate that "experienced" cruisers (or travelers in general) "know" this is a smart move is simply false.

[BecciBoo]

There were several midwesterners on todays Liberty cruise out of Galveston that almost missed their connections through Memphis and all through that central area due to delays. They were mighty worried and some of them didn't get in to their hotels in Houston until about 3 this morning. Couple who were booked at hotels in Galveston had to stay in Houston and barely got rooms there because the shuttles were shut down for the night.

 

So there was weather somewhere that caused all these delays....just sayin...

 

.

Edited April 3, 2016 by BecciBoo

[cruiseguy1016]

I am soooooooo sorry this happened to your group.

I cannot even imagine just KNOWING I would not be on the ship.

 

Much to my husband's dismay, I MAKE him fly down the day prior, because I have read too many horror stories like this one.

 

We never buy the insurance either.

 

But the cost of a hotel, for one night, say $150, is much cheaper than the insurance.

 

I hope RCCL can do SOMETHING for you, but it's not looking good.:(:(

 

I'm not sure where you are pricing your insurance but you ought to shop around. Insurance could be more expensive (depending on your age and the number of people you are insuring) but it is not "much" more than $150. And second, there are a lot of reasons why you could miss your cruise. A missed/delayed/canceled flight is only one of them.

[Merion_Mom]

I will stand by what I stated on an earlier post. I was on a plane (Air Canada) yesterday scheduled out of FLL at 10:55. The flight departed later than expected due to arrival and lav issues. HOWEVER, we had pushed back and started to gear up when the CAPTAIN came on the PA and stated that inbound and outbound flights were going to be delayed due to FAA and weather conditions. Thankfully, we were allowed to fast track our departure take-off ahead of many planes ahead of us (not sure how this is determined) and thankfully our connecting flight in TO was delayed. To address the OP's thread, YES, weather conditions in the UPPER atmosphere were not great! Once we were finally allowed to leave FLL, the pilot announced that we would have some rough air, and that in flight service would be delayed. I thought that we were heading to Bahamas in the direction that we flew for such a long time. The Captain announced that they were trying to skirt around the system and avoid the turbulence.....even though we still did experience a lot of "bumps". I am all about safety. And, sometimes with safety, delays seem to follow. FLY IN THE DAY BEFORE.

 

Thank you for your posts. I believe you. :D

[ken_nyc]

I feel terrible for the OP. Everyone should take a lesson from this. Ever since we started cruising we have gone to the port at least a day before. We have had flights diverted or delayed to various destinations in Florida for cruises and land vacations in different times of the year because of weather. It is not worth the stress and loss of so much money. I have always had insurance for our cruises and if we fly in the winter. We have had to use the insurance twice in the wintertime flying back from Florida because of snow storms, it paid for the extra day or two on the hotel and car rental along with all meals. It's well worth the peace of mind.

[Merion_Mom]

I agree with the suggestion of leaving a day ahead of time (if possible). But travel insurance is a highly debatable subject. I self insure, and for most people, if you can afford to, you are better off doing so. Travel insurance is generally a bad investment. If you prefer the peace of mind, and you're willing to pay for it, then go ahead. But to intimate that "experienced" cruisers (or travelers in general) "know" this is a smart move is simply false.

 

It is fine to make the decision to "self-insure". But then don't come here and complain that you lost all of your money. (not addressed to you; I assume that you know the risk that you are assuming - I mean people like the OP)

[leisuretraveler223]

It is fine to make the decision to "self-insure". But then don't come here and complain that you lost all of your money. (not addressed to you; I assume that you know the risk that you are assuming - I mean people like the OP)

 

Exactly. That's why I find the OP even posting this here laughable. I've never missed out on a cruise. But I've missed out on a couple other trips and it's cost me. I've had to cancel hotels after the deadline and it's cost me hundreds of dollars. Last year, I had to cancel a trip to Vegas because of work and I was holding close to $1,200 worth of concert tickets I couldn't unload. Stuff happens.

[lahlah57]

I agree with the suggestion of leaving a day ahead of time (if possible). But travel insurance is a highly debatable subject. I self insure, and for most people, if you can afford to, you are better off doing so. Travel insurance is generally a bad investment. If you prefer the peace of mind, and you're willing to pay for it, then go ahead. But to intimate that "experienced" cruisers (or travelers in general) "know" this is a smart move is simply false.

 

The opposite of "no peace of mind" would be a gamblers trait:cool:

[sjudis]

Never cruise without it

[leisuretraveler223]

The opposite of "no peace of mind" would be a gamblers trait:cool:

 

Perhaps. But I don't see it as gambling. I have lost money on cancelled trips. But I travel a lot, and I would have spend MORE money insuring all my trips than I spend for trips I didn't end up taking. Furthermore, as I mentioned, it's not really "lost" money. I have auto insurance because if I get into an accident, I will suddenly have to spend money I wasn't planning on spending. That's lost money. This is about recovering spent money. I'm happy to self insure.