Gatwick Problems

[Katomerikaf]

I can only imagine that there should have been a flight out today to join the Celebration. Does anyone know what the ship is going to do without Gatwick passengers? Will it wait until the issue is resolved or will it go on to the next port of call?

I can't even begin to imagine the upset the disruption must be causing. Better to be safe than sorry though …..

[Vitalsign]

If the first day after leaving Bridgetown is a sea day then she could stay overnight in Barbados and travel faster to get to destination day 3 Generally travel between the Caribbean islands is very slow even to the extent that fooatingcabout happens so they don't get to port too early

With regard to Dream there are embarkations in Tenerife and the following day in Gran Canaria (Friday/Saturday) so this will help if no flights out tomorrow passengers could all be flown to Gran Canaria Cruising on a TUI package has great advantages over other cruise lines - Think of those flying to USA to cruise Will the ship wait for them? I doubt it

[Katomerikaf]

21 minutes ago, Vitalsign said:

 Cruising on a TUI package has great advantages over other cruise lines - Think of those flying to USA to cruise Will the ship wait for them? I doubt it

Quite an advantage !

Have looked at website and it didn't mention flights to Bridgetown.

[davecttr]

Another problem is the planes and crews may well be in the wrong places and pilots have compulsory rest periods. for example Dream flights to Tenerife/Gran Canary are over 2 days but it may well be that the same aircraft are used on both days. If so you can't fit 2 passenger loads in one aircraft.. I guess passengers may be missing part of their holiday.

 

 

[davecttr]

It seems the Dream flights poassengers to the canaries are being bussed to Luton/Stansted

[nancyneptune]

23 hours ago, Vitalsign said:

If the first day after leaving Bridgetown is a sea day then she could stay overnight in Barbados and travel faster to get to destination day 3 Generally travel between the Caribbean islands is very slow even to the extent that fooatingcabout happens so they don't get to port too early

With regard to Dream there are embarkations in Tenerife and the following day in Gran Canaria (Friday/Saturday) so this will help if no flights out tomorrow passengers could all be flown to Gran Canaria Cruising on a TUI package has great advantages over other cruise lines - Think of those flying to USA to cruise Will the ship wait for them?  I doubt it

 

 

 

" Thinking of those flying to the USA to Cruise.  Will the ship wait for them ? I doubt it "

 

Exactly the same situation if we were flying  to Gatwick, Manchester or Birmingham from Glasgow or Edinburgh to join a Tui flight for a cruise to the Far East or a re-positioning cruise to the Middle East or the Caribbean where there are no flights from Scotland for these cruises. 

 

If we couldn't get to the departure airport  in time for the Tui flight to join the cruise, for any reason, and we missed the Tui flight, the ship would not wait for us !

 

This is exactly the reason we will not book for these cruises that do not have regional flights. It's even more of a risk at this time of year due to unexpected adverse weather.

 

I saw that Tui were informing passengers  at Gatwick that they could not provide hotel accommodation or flights the following day for some holiday destinations and were telling passengers not to wait at the airport but  to go home.

 

Too bad if you live in the north of England or Scotland.

 

 

 

 

[Pensioncruiser]

Tui do lots of things wrong but don't think they can be held accountable this time. 

[Vitalsign]

You have my sincerest sympathies I really don't understand TUIs reasoning in reducing flights out of Scotland

My sister has just cancelled her cruise with Marella next June which she'd booked from Leeds/Bradford as she was switched her to Doncaster (Robin Hood) Her deposit was refunded. Had she been offered Manchester she wouldn't have cancelled.

i believe this is because there will be large building disruption at Leeds/Bradford as expansion plans begin.

[Vitalsign]

Celebration did sail last night to Castries and Dream has yet to set sail today to Gran Canaria 

so hopefully all those going to Bridgetown arrived in time and those going to Tenerife managed to fly from Stansted and arrive on time

Edited December 21, 2018 by Vitalsign
Mistakemm

[newbiewaves]

<crawling to the keyboard>   Yup the 'Gatwick' passengers joined the Celebration in Barbados guess 3 am ish. We had to leave the ship at 11 pm having last seen our luggage at 2am that morning. A 'short' stay in Barbados until 12.15 pm became an all day affair which would be great if you kept swimming stuff in hand luggage! Still the drink flowed and food filled up all day and evening! We were told we might get away at 2 am 'ish' but luckily some facilities stayed open at the airport. The place was full with the Gatwick and Manchester passengers. We finally got away at 4 am ish landing at 3 pm only we were sent to Birmingham which was handy for those near there unless they were parked at Gatwick like us! Then on to coaches for a 3 hour drive then a 3 hour drive home to Devon terra firma.  Give Tui their due they coped well with a logistical nightmare on top of our out bound to fog bound Malaga! Manchester passengers had the double whammy of their plane being stuck at Gatwick and some busing to Luton........ It was strange however to get our hot meal on the plane at just before 5 am our body clock time...when we just needed to sleep.....

[Katomerikaf]

Thanks for sharing what knock on effects happened to you. Think I'd have crawled straight to bed !!!

[nancyneptune]

19 hours ago, Vitalsign said:

You have my sincerest sympathies I really don't understand TUIs reasoning in reducing flights out of Scotland

My sister has just cancelled her cruise with Marella next June which she'd booked from Leeds/Bradford as she was switched her to Doncaster (Robin Hood) Her deposit was refunded. Had she been offered Manchester she wouldn't have cancelled.

i believe this is because there will be large building disruption at Leeds/Bradford as expansion plans begin.

 

 

Thank you Vitalsign for your kind thoughts.

So sorry to hear that your sister had to cancel her cruise due to a change of airports. 

 Tui seem to be changing flight times and itineraries quite often now.

 

I have noticed a few cruises that were available from  both Edinburgh and Glasgow in previous years are now only available from either one or the other. 

The big attraction for us was that Thomson / Tui Marella included flights from regional airports for all their cruises. This seems to be gradually changing with each new season with less and less choice, especially in winter. 

 

Seven new destinations have been added to Scottish airports in the past week by other airlines. Emirates have also announced that their A380 will depart daily from Glasgow next spring.  Emirates already have two flights a day from Glasgow to Dubai.  I think Tui are making a big mistake with their decision to cut back on their flights. Loyal customers will just look elsewhere.

 

I hope everyone affected by the situation at Gatwick and the knock on effect at other airports will get away to their destinations soon and have a lovely time. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Vitalsign]

So sorry for the couple arrested for supposedly causing drastic problems at Gatwick - what a start to their Christmas.

what were those idiots doing reporting non existent drones and causing chaos for innocent travellers - what is happening to this country where thoughtless, selfish people think it's funny to cause chaos and fear?

[newbiewaves]

Checked our travel insurance for delays and are covered for 12 hrs +............ the delay time Barbados to 'Gatwick' in the TUI letter 11 hrs 34 mins......................... Insurers say to claim off airline up to 12 hrs, not holding my breath.  There is also no procedure to cover the real overall delay of flying to a different airport then coach to the correct one before having to drive home. We were supposed to arrive at Gatwick 5 am 21st got there 6 pm got home after a meal break at 11.30 pm.

 

However lucky to have the cruise and to get home before Xmas!

Edited December 28, 2018 by newbiewaves

[Pensioncruiser]

Just a small point arrival time is when the cabin door is open so you can exit the flight not touch down or the time indicated by the airport worth a check😉 it worked for us.