Have you changed your cruising due to what's going on at the airports?

[rrraydon]

I have booked 3 cruises in the last 2 weeks and I made sure all of them are within driving distance to avoid the airport issues going on right now.

 

I have found some really awesome cruises I've wanted to book but decided against just because of flying. 😡 

[6rugrats]

The majority of flights aren’t cancelled nor are they delayed.

[SimplyMarvie]

Absolutely. We had wanted to do Alaska this summer, but cancelled and chose something closer to home because I wasn't sure we'd make it there (and if we did, that we'd make it back!) We're also going strictly carry-on for the cruise we are doing, so we have less worry about the long wait for luggage or losing pieces. 

[FlyerTalker]

Haven't changed any plans.  And won't.

 

The key is to properly plan your arrangements to mitigate potential issues.  Common behaviors that can be troublesome include:

 

Using cruiseline air to "save money"

Reliance on cruiseline "assurances" that someone else will solve any issues

Failure to have contingency plans

Arriving day of cruise

Booking short connections because "I don't want to sit around in an airport"

Failure to research airport layouts, resulting in confusion at unfamiliar locations

 

I could go on and on.

 

 

[FlyerTalker]

Just now, 6rugrats said:

The majority of flights aren’t cancelled nor are they delayed.

 

But it wouldn't make for sensational "reporting" if that was highlighted.

[FlyerTalker]

40 minutes ago, rrraydon said:

I have booked 3 cruises in the last 2 weeks and I made sure all of them are within driving distance to avoid the airport issues going on right now.

 

I would have thought that you would have not booked cruises, because you might get a flat tire while driving.  Or that someone might crash into your car.  Or you might run out of gas.  Or someone would steal your car while you were having lunch.

[SimplyMarvie]

26 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

I would have thought that you would have not booked cruises, because you might get a flat tire while driving.  Or that someone might crash into your car.  Or you might run out of gas.  Or someone would steal your car while you were having lunch.

 

Those are all problems I can fix -- I can call AAA, I can rent a different car, I can even change my own tire and get back on the road. If I'm stuck on the other side of an ocean waiting for a flight that keeps getting bumped/delayed, I'm SOL unless I am an extremely fast swimmer. (I am not an extremely fast swimmer.)

 

Alaska would have been, at the least, three separate flights to get to the port... possibly four. About 22 hours of total flight time with the most direct itinerary, and limited options to join the cruise later if we were held up in transit. In another world where the airlines were operating normally, we probably would have chanced it, and built a couple of days in on either end (we'd have to anyway... jetlag is a *****.) Unfortunately, that's not the world we're living in, and the stress of the flights was making me not enjoy the trip as much. We switched to something that is a direct flight, and where if we do need to meet the cruise in the first port, it's possible, a relatively inexpensive option and a quick 2 hour flight. Plus, no jetlag!

[FlyerTalker]

14 minutes ago, SimplyMarvie said:

Alaska would have been, at the least, three separate flights to get to the port... possibly four. About 22 hours of total flight time with the most direct itinerary, and limited options to join the cruise later if we were held up in transit.

 

Since I have no idea where you are coming from, it is difficult to make firm comments.  Suffice to say that there are at least 17 flights a day to Anchorage from Seattle on Alaska Airlines alone.  Plus a number of flights from other cities to ANC as well, so I wonder just how real those fears are.  And there are many many flights within the state of Alaska as well.  So not sure about those "limited options".

[SimplyMarvie]

8 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Since I have no idea where you are coming from, it is difficult to make firm comments.  Suffice to say that there are at least 17 flights a day to Anchorage from Seattle on Alaska Airlines alone.  Plus a number of flights from other cities to ANC as well, so I wonder just how real those fears are.  And there are many many flights within the state of Alaska as well.  So not sure about those "limited options".

 

Coming from a small EU capitol with no direct flights to the US. It would have been Riga to either Frankfurt or Amsterdam, across the pond to NYC, and then either direct to Seattle or with a stop-over on the way in O'Hare or Denver. The getting to Alaska part was really not a concern,  it was getting stuck either Amsterdam or Frankfurt, waiting on endless cancelled/delayed flights or dealing with lost baggage. 

[FlyerTalker]

40 minutes ago, SimplyMarvie said:

Coming from a small EU capitol with no direct flights to the US. It would have been Riga to either Frankfurt or Amsterdam, across the pond to NYC, and then either direct to Seattle or with a stop-over on the way in O'Hare or Denver. The getting to Alaska part was really not a concern,  it was getting stuck either Amsterdam or Frankfurt, waiting on endless cancelled/delayed flights or dealing with lost baggage. 

 

You make it unnecessarily difficult.

 

From FRA, you could fly non-stop to ANC on Condor.  Or, you could have a daily non-stop from FRA to SEA on Lufthansa.  Or from AMS, you could have a twice-daily non-stop on Delta to SEA.  No need to go through NYC, O'Hare or Denver.  And by building in a comfortable connect in AMS or FRA, you are in fine shape.

[thehowlingroad]

2 out of my 3 cruises this year were booked before we knew what the airports were going to look like, so I just booked direct flights that land the day before embarkation and will continue to hope for the best. We're prepared; we packed a carry-on with the basic essentials, made sure our Global Entry accounts are valid and active, and will be leaving the house an hour earlier than originally planned.

 

Our 3rd cruise is a short getaway that's 45 mins' drive from the house, and that was a major reason for booking that one in particular.

[SimplyMarvie]

12 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

You make it unnecessarily difficult.

 

From FRA, you could fly non-stop to ANC on Condor.  Or, you could have a daily non-stop from FRA to SEA on Lufthansa.  Or from AMS, you could have a twice-daily non-stop on Delta to SEA.  No need to go through NYC, O'Hare or Denver.  And by building in a comfortable connect in AMS or FRA, you are in fine shape.

 

We would have flown using a work-paid ticket, which comes with restrictions -- must use a US Flagged carrier, and must transit NYC. 

 

Either way, we all get to triage the level of risk we're OK with taking on... traveling with family, needing to get back to work on time, and already pretty done with travel stress, trying to do Alaska this summer was too much for us. We re-planned and are happy with that choice. We'll do Alaska next year, unless we can travel to Japan (*fingers crossed*)

[FlyerTalker]

3 hours ago, SimplyMarvie said:

We would have flown using a work-paid ticket, which comes with restrictions -- must use a US Flagged carrier, and must transit NYC.

 

Aha....and now we finally have it.  It's not the flying to Alaska that's the issue.  It's wanting to use a ticket paid for by your employer. 

[Ashland]

Living life on "what if's" then just stay home...but then again things happen at home too

[Z'Loth]

I booked my next cruise, which is occurring in September, 2022, last September before any of these airport issues were known. My mother and I were already planning on flying in on a Saturday for a Monday departure, giving us a day to explore Fort Lauderdale. My previous cruise which was in September 2018 had me flying in five days early. At that point, it was less about "flight delays" and more about "Gee, I have never been in Miami before, let me get some sightseeing in before my cruise."

 

[Ombud]

Sort of .... I have 2 cruises where I'm only taking Bart to the terminal but completed 4, have 4 pndg. 6 required flights. 1st time cruising from San Francisco 

[iancal]

Not changing our travel....hopefully

 

We are monitoring the situation in various airports. We may well change our favored routing.  We will not book until we have an understanding of how to book/route.  It may be that we do not book until a two or three weeks prior to blast off.

[vjmatty]

Not changing cruises but re-examining current flight to Rome in October to see if maybe arriving two days before the cruise is a better plan.  I am using reward flights in business, so choices are limited to keep at the 75K rate.  Right now I've got us on Turkish Air JFK-IST-FCO 9/29/22 arriving 10am the day before the cruise.  To get a business reward flight two days early, I'd have to fly LGA-YUL-ZRH-FCO 9/28/22, on air Canada and SWISS.  Not sure which is riskier, one day early with one stop or two days early with two stops.

 

Someday when I am retired and don't have to fit vacations into tiny little boxes I will give it a week leeway, or maybe even take a transatlantic sailing in both directions, rather than just the trip home.

[FlyerTalker]

1 hour ago, vjmatty said:

Not changing cruises but re-examining current flight to Rome in October to see if maybe arriving two days before the cruise is a better plan.  I am using reward flights in business, so choices are limited to keep at the 75K rate.  Right now I've got us on Turkish Air JFK-IST-FCO 9/29/22 arriving 10am the day before the cruise.  To get a business reward flight two days early, I'd have to fly LGA-YUL-ZRH-FCO 9/28/22, on air Canada and SWISS.  Not sure which is riskier, one day early with one stop or two days early with two stops.

 

Stick with what you have.

 

The airport issues are probably not going to be a problem at IST.  Seems you are on TK4, connecting to TK1861.  You have wide-body equipment for both legs, plus over 2:30 at IST.  Be sure to use the TK lounge -- one of the largest around, and with some great food options.

 

https://thepointsguy.com/reviews/turkish-airlines-business-lounge-istanbul/

 

https://onemileatatime.com/turkish-airlines-lounge-new-istanbul-airport-review/

 

https://liveandletsfly.com/turkish-airlines-business-lounge-istanbul-review/

 

 

[vjmatty]

38 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Stick with what you have.

 

The airport issues are probably not going to be a problem at IST.  Seems you are on TK4, connecting to TK1861.  You have wide-body equipment for both legs, plus over 2:30 at IST.  Be sure to use the TK lounge -- one of the largest around, and with some great food options.

 

https://thepointsguy.com/reviews/turkish-airlines-business-lounge-istanbul/

 

https://onemileatatime.com/turkish-airlines-lounge-new-istanbul-airport-review/

 

https://liveandletsfly.com/turkish-airlines-business-lounge-istanbul-review/

 

 

 

Ah yes, I have been to the TK lounge on several occasions, and to be honest it is one of the reasons I didn't want to switch.  TK flights have been a pretty decent experience so far as well... hubby and I joke that TK will join the EU before Turkey does.

 

Thanks for the advice FT,  I appreciate the time you take here helping others.  I don't know if you work in ATC or some other air related position, but you never disappoint.

[Twickenham]

15 minutes ago, vjmatty said:

 

Ah yes, I have been to the TK lounge on several occasions, and to be honest it is one of the reasons I didn't want to switch.  TK flights have been a pretty decent experience so far as well... hubby and I joke that TK will join the EU before Turkey does.

 

Thanks for the advice FT,  I appreciate the time you take here helping others.  I don't know if you work in ATC or some other air related position, but you never disappoint.

 

The TK lounge alone is reason to keep your current flights, although if I'm being honest I did slightly prefer the lounge at the old IST - a bit more insular...

 

The only advantage to the LX rooting is that if your ZRH-FCO flight were cancelled you do have the option of hopping on a train, but as YUL has had its own flight/luggage-handling issues I would just stick with TK.

 

Dang, now I'm going to be craving mint lemonade for the rest of the day... 

[vjmatty]

9 minutes ago, Twickenham said:

 

The TK lounge alone is reason to keep your current flights, although if I'm being honest I did slightly prefer the lounge at the old IST - a bit more insular...

 

The only advantage to the LX rooting is that if your ZRH-FCO flight were cancelled you do have the option of hopping on a train, but as YUL has had its own flight/luggage-handling issues I would just stick with TK.

 

Dang, now I'm going to be craving mint lemonade for the rest of the day... 

 

I don't remember the old IST lounge....was it in a different location?  I actually thought the YUL Maple Leaf was one of the best until I spent a few hours in the new IST lounge.  Of course I haven't been in either since 2017 or so.

 

Hadn't thought of the train once getting to Europe.... might have to leave luggage behind if there is a baggage delay, but I'd rather do some shopping in anticipation of a future insurance check than risk missing the cruise.

 

ETA: Or even spiked mint lemonade, given the top shelf alcohol they seem to be generous with....

 

 

Edited July 20, 2022 by vjmatty
Mint Lemonade!

[FlyerTalker]

2 hours ago, vjmatty said:

I don't remember the old IST lounge....was it in a different location? 

 

Yes....in the old airport.  🙂

[vjmatty]

2 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Yes....in the old airport.  🙂

Well that explains why I don’t remember it 😅