If I miss my embarkation

[zekekelso]

Looking at my first MSC cruise and just want to check something, as MSC seems to do things a bit different from what I’m used to. 
 

Considering a WMed cruise leaving Barcelona the day after American Thanksgiving. The only way to make this work (without being disowned) is a flight with a tight connection that gets in at 12:35 pm on my embarkation day. Not ideal. 
 

If something goes wrong, can I just get my butt to Marseilles and get on the ship there the next day? Obviously I’d rather not do this, but the trip won’t be ruined if I miss one night. 

[hamrag]

Yes, but clear communication with the ship is key! 😉

[Stockjock]

I'd call them to be sure.  Obviously, it would be a lot better to get in earlier.  If you have no major delays, you should barely make it.  

The Barcelona airport is about 12 miles from the cruise terminal, so let's say you arrive on time.  I'd think you could be on the ship 2 pm to 3 pm.  It leaves at 6 pm, so even if you get a 1 or 2 hour delay, as long as you don't miss a connecting flight, you can probably make it.  

On the outbound flight, I'd try to book as few connections as possible even if it costs a bit more.  You might also have a Plan B in mind in case there's a problem with your Plan A flight.  As an example, I have a non-stop to Miami, which is one of the last flights out of San Diego before the airport closes for the night.  And it's a red-eye, with the cruise departing the next day at 4 pm.  My Plan B is a Jet Blue non-stop that leaves 30 minutes later.  So I already know that if the first flight is fouled up, I quickly try hard to get on that last Jet Blue non-stop.

If anything goes wrong, you could have a problem.  But I do think they'd let you board in Marseilles.

I'd also suggest taking a taxi from the airport to the cruise terminal.  It was not an expensive cab ride and because your schedule is tight, you won't want to mess around trying to find shuttles and such.  Grab your bags, grab a cab and get to the cruise terminal asap.

Good luck!

Edited June 23, 2021 by Stockjock

[CruisingFox27]

We had fights cancelled due to weather and an airport closure, we were due to embark in dubai but embarked a day late in Abu Dhabi. We'd communicated with MSC and had no issue embarking a day late. 

 

If at all possible I'd try to plan embarking on the correct day, the journey was a very stressful one! 

[Tapi]

Are you doing the roundtrip in the Med? If so, MSC does allow newly arriving passengers at all ports of call on those itineraries. At least that was my experience when we did that itinerary (Civitavecchia, Palermo, Valletta, Barcelona, Marseille and Genoa). You should check with MSC though to confirm that they’ll allow you to “catch up” in Marseilles if you are unable to meet the ship at your port of embarkation.
 

We chose to board in Civitavecchia specifically (even though we could’ve started at any other port) because it allowed a full day there before getting on the ship. Not only was it nice to have a bit of time to explore, but it also allowed us to decompress a bit and adjust to the time difference before getting on the ship. 
 

As a side note, I commented on another board about a passenger on my flight last weekend who missed her tight connection to board the Celebrity Millennium in St. Maarten. Turned out that her story was one of many that people shared.

 

Right now, airlines, airports, security, and third party vendors are suffering from staffing issues causing all sorts of delays and cancellations that were not as prevalent pre-pandemic. I do recommend that you take that into account with your travel plans. 

 

[Stockjock]

1 hour ago, Tapi said:

Are you doing the roundtrip in the Med? If so, MSC does allow newly arriving passengers at all ports of call on those itineraries. At least that was my experience when we did that itinerary (Civitavecchia, Palermo, Valletta, Barcelona, Marseille and Genoa). You should check with MSC though to confirm that they’ll allow you to “catch up” in Marseilles if you are unable to meet the ship at your port of embarkation.
 

We chose to board in Civitavecchia specifically (even though we could’ve started at any other port) because it allowed a full day there before getting on the ship. Not only was it nice to have a bit of time to explore, but it also allowed us to decompress a bit and adjust to the time difference before getting on the ship. 
 

As a side note, I commented on another board about a passenger on my flight last weekend who missed her tight connection to board the Celebrity Millennium in St. Maarten. Turned out that her story was one of many that people shared.

 

Right now, airlines, airports, security, and third party vendors are suffering from staffing issues causing all sorts of delays and cancellations that were not as prevalent pre-pandemic. I do recommend that you take that into account with your travel plans. 

 

Good points.  Rome is amazing.  It was the highlight of my trip and certainly should be viewed as just another embarkation point.

[Stockjock]

35 minutes ago, Stockjock said:

Good points.  Rome is amazing.  It was the highlight of my trip and certainly should be viewed as just another embarkation point.

Too late to edit.  The above should have read that Rome "...certainly should *not* be viewed as just another embarkation point."

[Tomtruck]

On 6/23/2021 at 10:19 PM, zekekelso said:

Looking at my first MSC cruise and just want to check something, as MSC seems to do things a bit different from what I’m used to. 
 

Considering a WMed cruise leaving Barcelona the day after American Thanksgiving. The only way to make this work (without being disowned) is a flight with a tight connection that gets in at 12:35 pm on my embarkation day. Not ideal. 
 

If something goes wrong, can I just get my butt to Marseilles and get on the ship there the next day? Obviously I’d rather not do this, but the trip won’t be ruined if I miss one night. 

Hi Zekekelso, 

Please could you let me know if you managed to board in time from Barcelona in the end? We are due to board with MSC cruises with a 11pm departure time and expect we can get to the port around 9pm given our flight times. I am wondering if MSC would still let us on at that time or if you had any issues? Any insight on your experience would be appreciated (or anyone else on this forum). Thank you 

[Hlitner]

I do think all the stars align to join the ship in Marseille (i.e. it is a MSC embarkation port, within the EU, etc) but agree that you would want to maintain good communications with MSC.  Certainly check in advance and get information (i.e. phone numbers, e-mails, etc) how to keep MSC in the loop.

 

You also would need to have a "Plan B" on how you will get to Marseille.  It is not as easy as you might think, especially at the last minute.  Train connections are not great, buses are not the nicest way to travel and could be booked, flying options are not good, etc.  Our preferred way to get between these places would be with a rental car, but these days, getting an international one-way drop is either not possible or very expensive.  Just a quick look at rental car options brings up prices in excess of $600 (because of the one-way fees).

 

By the way, we have done this drive as part of an extended driving trip (drove all the way to Nice), and it is not difficult.  In your situation we would book a rental car (well in advance) that we could cancel (without penalty).  

 

Hank

[pdmlynek]

37 minutes ago, Tomtruck said:

Hi Zekekelso, 

Please could you let me know if you managed to board in time from Barcelona in the end? We are due to board with MSC cruises with a 11pm departure time and expect we can get to the port around 9pm given our flight times. I am wondering if MSC would still let us on at that time or if you had any issues? Any insight on your experience would be appreciated (or anyone else on this forum). Thank you 

I agree. I know that cruisers who asked questioners tend to go away after the cruise, but it would be nice for them to return and give the rest of us some feed back. I, for example, have a similar issue. 

 

How did it work out for you, @zekekelso?