Live from the Joy 3/23/24: 60+ people missed the ship due to severe weather in Miami

[European_CruiseGirl]

As I haven’t seen a thread about this yet on CC: just to report the situation that occurred yesterday in Miami.
 

Miami experienced very bad weather this week on Friday and Saturday. Particularly Saturday was very bad with heavy rain and incredibly strong thunderstorms. On ”the other site” (which we cannot name here) people were yesterday writing about their situations being stuck on delayed flights to Miami. Some got to the port just around 4PM and were still able to board (sailaway was at 5PM) but at 4:10PM there were over 60 passengers at the port who were not let in anymore and had to watch the Joy sail away without them. Others didn’t even make it to port even at that time as flights experienced multiple delays yesterday.

 

All of the passengers I heard of had flights booked by NCL. This cruise seems to have very many first time NCL passengers cruising (out of which I assume many were first time cruisers altogether) who had grabbed the opportunity of booking air through NCL which they felt the safest option to do. Flights were supposed to be arriving around noon at the latest but were delayed by several hours.
 

NCL is trying to book people to fly to Belize which will be day 4 out of 7 of this cruise. Day 3 is Honduras and NCL says they have no options to fly people there. Some people are taking the Belize flights, others are throwing in the towel, some would be more than willing to fly to Belize but are not able to fly due to no passports (this is a closed loop cruise so BC was enough to cruise). 
 

An important reminder or two for us all:

 

1. Always fly a day or two before if you can. Flying NCL booked flights does not guarantee that the ship will wait for you. It won’t. Do not trust weather either. What are the chances of severe weather in Miami in March? Well, it happened.

 

2. Have a passport. Things happen and without a passport your options are limited. 
 

Take care everyone 🙏
 

Edited March 24 by European_CruiseGirl

[hallux]

I saw someone post on one of the other sites that they had a delayed flight to Miami.  I'll have to go see if they ever came back to report if they made it.

 

The news was saying there was a ground-stop at MIA, nothing can be done in that case, especially if your flight schedule was so tight that flying to FLL will make you too late for the ship.

 

This is why, when I booked my flights for this past January, I made sure that I wasn't even on the last flight from BWI to FLL - there were 5 more that same day and it was the day before the cruise...

[UKstages]

all good suggestions about passports and flying in the day before (although this was apparently a multi-day weather event that could have seen flight cancellations the day prior). but if there were sixty people who were known by NCL to have landed at the airport and who were either en route to the terminal or already in the terminal... gosh, i would have held the ship... what would that be? a two hour delay? 

 

i'm not the captain. i can't assess the potential to miss ports or arrival times or docking windows. i don't know if the berth in miami was needed for another ship, but still... sixty or more NCL-affiliated travelers are headed to the ship or already at the port? NCL would have to have held the ship two or three hours versus spending hundreds of hours of NCL employees' time rebooking flights and managing customer dissatisfaction. and i don't know any ship, except maybe the getaway last week with its mechanical problems, that couldn't make up three or four hours.

 

i would have held the ship.

 

but, hey, maybe that's just me.

 

i live on the edge.

[graphicguy]

Sounds like a "Murphy's Law" scenario.  

 

I had heard there was bad weather in Southern FL.  

 

I don't know what it would take to hold the ship.  Do you hold it for 5 passengers?  50?  500?  And, would the port allow it?  How long would you hold up the ship?  Was there another ship due in for that slip?

 

Regardless of who booked the flights, a ground stop doesn't discriminate.  First time cruise?  Veteran cruiser?  Does it really matter?

 

Personally, if I had driven to the port, boarded the ship, and heard it was being delayed because some first time cruisers hit bad weather and couldn't fly in, I'd say it was a tough bit of luck.

 

Moreover, as a veteran cruiser, if I was flying in the day of the cruise (which I've done before) and my flight was late, cancelled, regardless of reason, I'd understand that was the risk I took.  Same way with NCL arranged flights.  You get cheap flights, you take your chances,

 

Sorry they missed the boat.  But, no one can control the weather.

[PandaBear62]

29 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Sounds like a "Murphy's Law" scenario.  

 

I had heard there was bad weather in Southern FL.  

 

I don't know what it would take to hold the ship.  Do you hold it for 5 passengers?  50?  500?  And, would the port allow it?  How long would you hold up the ship?  Was there another ship due in for that slip?

 

Regardless of who booked the flights, a ground stop doesn't discriminate.  First time cruise?  Veteran cruiser?  Does it really matter?

 

Personally, if I had driven to the port, boarded the ship, and heard it was being delayed because some first time cruisers hit bad weather and couldn't fly in, I'd say it was a tough bit of luck.

 

Moreover, as a veteran cruiser, if I was flying in the day of the cruise (which I've done before) and my flight was late, cancelled, regardless of reason, I'd understand that was the risk I took.  Same way with NCL arranged flights.  You get cheap flights, you take your chances,

 

Sorry they missed the boat.  But, no one can control the weather.

I think that’s a little harsh. I think many first time cruisers choose the ships airfare not just for price, but because they think it’s a safer option (the cruise line is doing it so it must be better).

 

But I also would be okay with waiting for 60 people in bad weather, assuming “there for the grace of god go I”. 

[mjkacmom]

I’m guessing there were flight delays here in the nyc area, heave rain and winds all day yesterday.

[www3traveler]

1 hour ago, UKstages said:

all good suggestions about passports and flying in the day before (although this was apparently a multi-day weather event that could have seen flight cancellations the day prior). but if there were sixty people who were known by NCL to have landed at the airport and who were either en route to the terminal or already in the terminal... gosh, i would have held the ship... what would that be? a two hour delay? 

 

i'm not the captain. i can't assess the potential to miss ports or arrival times or docking windows. i don't know if the berth in miami was needed for another ship, but still... sixty or more NCL-affiliated travelers are headed to the ship or already at the port? NCL would have to have held the ship two or three hours versus spending hundreds of hours of NCL employees' time rebooking flights and managing customer dissatisfaction. and i don't know any ship, except maybe the getaway last week with its mechanical problems, that couldn't make up three or four hours.

 

i would have held the ship.

 

but, hey, maybe that's just me.

 

i live on the edge.

The Captain may not have had a choice.  The Port of Miami has a traffic control system (similar to Air Traffic Control at airports), you sail when they tell you to sail.  Given the weather along the whole East Coast, there might have been a window in which they could sail out safely.  As I understand it, the weather from New York City into the Caribbean Sea is not expected to improve for the next few days.

[Miss Ellsworth]

I happened to be watching the Miami port live camera feed on YouTube (for no other reason than that i saw it and thought "huh. I wonder what that is") at about that time yesterday. Maybe 5:00 or so. It was busy with cruise ships!

 

There was one the has cleared the channel into the ocean and was traveling north parallel to the shore, visible behind and between the buildings. That was a monster ship!

 

There was another that was in the channel and headed out - that was also decent sized

 

Three were at the pier when I started, but two moved into the channel in the first 10-15 minutes I had it on. I think one was Icon of the Seas and the other Carnival Magic? Couldn't read them well, and I was just kind of idly (but with strange fascination that this is even a thing) keeping an eye on it as I got ready to go out

 

Then there was one still at the pier, black between the water line and deck, maybe like HAL but I couldn't tell. That one hadn't moved when I left at about 530

 

I don't see how the terrible weather could affect only one of those ships. And maybe they can't just tell port control to let the next guy skip ahead in the departure line so they can wait for late pax. 

 

If they all had some level of ppl arriving late, there may have been no way to untangle the departures to accommodate

 

Although ... I forgot to turn the TV off, so the Livestream was still on when I got home at 9:00ish, and those docks were all completely empty as was the channel. So maybe they all could have waited 

 

ETA: It's about 12:30 pm today, and it looks like there may be seven of them docked. Busy port!

Edited March 24 by Miss Ellsworth

[graphicguy]

1 hour ago, PandaBear62 said:

I think that’s a little harsh. I think many first time cruisers choose the ships airfare not just for price, but because they think it’s a safer option (the cruise line is doing it so it must be better).

 

But I also would be okay with waiting for 60 people in bad weather, assuming “there for the grace of god go I”. 

Fair enough.

 

Please help me understand how NCL controls airline flights?  It is quite naive to think flights booked through NCL are affected by a cruise ship schedule, be you a new or veteran cruiser!

 

You want to control how, where, when you fly to/from the port?  Book it yourself!

 

If the cruise line charged the same as the airlines for flights, I’m not of the mind anyone would concede control of their flights.  Cheap flights are the ONLY reason I would think someone would cede control.  Cruiselines buy airline seats in bulk.  That’s how they offer “cheap fares”!

 

Harsh?  I dunno?  Certainly true!

 

Cruise lines won’t/can’t delay departures….same as airlines.  Have you not seen “pier runners”? There are port rules and requirements, downstream sailing requirements, etc

Edited March 24 by graphicguy

[PandaBear62]

1 minute ago, graphicguy said:

Fair enough.

 

Please help me understand how NCL controls airline flights?  It is quite naive to think flights booked through NCL are affected by a cruise ship schedule, be you a new or veteran cruiser!

 

You want to control how, where, when you fly to/from the port?  Book it yourself!

 

Harsh?  I dunno?  Certainly true!

 

I am having to assume you are being intentionally obtuse or like trying to bait posters. I never said NCL controls airline flights. I said that "I think many first time cruisers choose the ships airfare not just for price, but because they think it’s a safer option (the cruise line is doing it so it must be better).". Yes, those cruisers are wrong. But it doesn't mean I don't have empathy (a quality you appear to lack) for those people misunderstanding what booking your airfare through the cruise lines really means. And NCL certainly doesn't make it clear to cruisers that either.  NCL advertise that the reason you should book your excursions through them is that you'll never miss the boat....they promise they wait for even the tardiest of tours. It's not a stretch for a new cruiser to assume the same for airfare.

 

I 100% agree with you that I would never book airfare through a ship. In fact, I help many friends book cruises and I always advise them the same as well, and especially for NCL, because they seem to be the worst. (Eg, Princess allows you to choose your flight). So what you are saying is certainly true. The fact that you don't understand why it might be harsh just affirms what I said above.

 

.

[graphicguy]

1 minute ago, PandaBear62 said:

 

I am having to assume you are being intentionally obtuse or like trying to bait posters. I never said NCL controls airline flights. I said that "I think many first time cruisers choose the ships airfare not just for price, but because they think it’s a safer option (the cruise line is doing it so it must be better).". Yes, those cruisers are wrong. But it doesn't mean I don't have empathy (a quality you appear to lack) for those people misunderstanding what booking your airfare through the cruise lines really means. And NCL certainly doesn't make it clear to cruisers that either.  NCL advertise that the reason you should book your excursions through them is that you'll never miss the boat....they promise they wait for even the tardiest of tours. It's not a stretch for a new cruiser to assume the same for airfare.

 

I 100% agree with you that I would never book airfare through a ship. In fact, I help many friends book cruises and I always advise them the same as well, and especially for NCL, because they seem to be the worst. (Eg, Princess allows you to choose your flight). So what you are saying is certainly true. The fact that you don't understand why it might be harsh just affirms what I said above.

 

.

Thanks.  Appreciate the insults!!!

[Davechipp74]

I don't let the airline plan my cruise, I'm not going to let the cruise plan my flight.. 

[purpleally]

While I have empathy for those who missed the boat, anyone who flies in the day of a cruise are out of their mind!
also, if true they used ncl air it seem NCL Wundt have been better served waiting and sailing a couple of hours late than trying to figure out how to get them to catch up to the ship, put them up in hotels etc

[candygirl27540]

Isn't it true that the manifest must be closed within a certain amount of time? 2hours before sail away I believe. I have read of people being refused boarding because of this.

[swmichigan cruiser]

We are using NCL air for B2B cruises from Seattle to Alaska on the Bliss in September but we are flying in two days early. Might not be the best flight times but the price is pretty good.

[Two Wheels Only]

2 hours ago, Davechipp74 said:

I don't let the airline plan my cruise, I'm not going to let the cruise plan my flight.. 

 

I like that.

 

A ship being late and missing a flight isn't as bad as a flight being late and missing a ship. 😉

[davencl]

1 hour ago, candygirl27540 said:

Isn't it true that the manifest must be closed within a certain amount of time? 2hours before sail away I believe. I have read of people being refused boarding because of this.

That is what they imply but not the case.  We had a Mexican riviera cruise out of san diego and used NCL transport from LAX to port.  The transfer was the latest NCL would book.  We had to loop the airport twice to pick up, each loop took 1 hour(yes best to avoid LAX if possible).  Got to the ship 45 minutes before scheduled departure. Took 15 minutes to check in.  They left on time.  They started pulling up the gangway as those of us on the bus reached the end of the gangway on the ship. 🙂 That being my experience I would never count on this being the case.  I would always be sure I'm on the ship 2 hours before.

Edited March 24 by davencl

[PartyPlannerLady]

Oh well expensive lesson learned.

 

 
Never ler someone else (including a travel agent) make your vacation/travel plans.  Saving a few bucks is not worth the inherent risks involved.

Always fly to your cruise post city at least one day early.

Just becasue soemting is not require (in this case a passport) does not mena you should not have it.

 

[PartyPlannerLady]

7 hours ago, PandaBear62 said:

I think that’s a little harsh. I think many first time cruisers choose the ships airfare not just for price, but because they think it’s a safer option (the cruise line is doing it so it must be better).

 

 

As with many if not most assumptions, that is very poor,  The prior post was not harsh at all it was factual.

[PartyPlannerLady]

6 hours ago, PandaBear62 said:

 

I am having to assume you are being intentionally obtuse or like trying to bait posters. I never said NCL controls airline flights. I said that "I think many first time cruisers choose the ships airfare not just for price, but because they think it’s a safer option (the cruise line is doing it so it must be better).". Yes, those cruisers are wrong. But it doesn't mean I don't have empathy (a quality you appear to lack) for those people misunderstanding what booking your airfare through the cruise lines really means. And NCL certainly doesn't make it clear to cruisers that either.  NCL advertise that the reason you should book your excursions through them is that you'll never miss the boat....they promise they wait for even the tardiest of tours. It's not a stretch for a new cruiser to assume the same for airfare.

 

I 100% agree with you that I would never book airfare through a ship. In fact, I help many friends book cruises and I always advise them the same as well, and especially for NCL, because they seem to be the worst. (Eg, Princess allows you to choose your flight). So what you are saying is certainly true. The fact that you don't understand why it might be harsh just affirms what I said above.

 

.

 

 

Now THAT was a harsh post.  Pot meet kettle!  🙂

[normandes]

NCL could have flown them to Rotan Honduras, United has daily flights.

[hallux]

3 hours ago, davencl said:

san diego

Are you sure that wasn't San Pedro?  Does NCL even do cruises from San Diego?  OK, they do but not many.  You flew to LA for a cruise from SD?

Edited March 25 by hallux

[davencl]

7 minutes ago, hallux said:

Are you sure that wasn't San Pedro?  Does NCL even do cruises from San Diego?  OK, they do but not many.  You flew to LA for a cruise from SD?

Yes meant San Pedro...

[Yesimapirate]

So we're officially at the point where not only can NCL do no wrong for some but you can't even have empathy for people who have travel issues. 

 

We know that NCL air is nothing more than a travel agent booking the airfare and have no responsibility for flight issues.  But we also live in a society where car batteries have warnings on them that ylu shouldn't lick them.  I don't think it's wrong to suggest NCL could be a better job at the time of booking to clarify.   

 

And for those of you jumping on strangers who aren't even on this site about flying in the day of, realize that there was more than one day of bad weather.  Airlines are flying close to capacity,  especially to FL on spring break.   It may take 2 or 3 days for someone on a canceled flight to reach their destination.   Missing the ship doesn't make them stupid,  inexperienced or anything else.  It just means you don't know the whole story.   

 

Cut them a break.  Missing a vacation ypu spent months or years saving for can be heart breaking.   Let's try not to simply attack people and just understand how they feel.

 

And as I've said before,  a HUGE majority of the posts on the board are from the same handful of people.   New comers post once or twice and then disappear.   You aren't being helpful when you post things like many of the responses.   In fact,  you're killing the forum.

Edited March 25 by Yesimapirate

[Panhandle Couple]

9 hours ago, www3traveler said:

The Captain may not have had a choice.  The Port of Miami has a traffic control system (similar to Air Traffic Control at airports), you sail when they tell you to sail.  Given the weather along the whole East Coast, there might have been a window in which they could sail out safely.  As I understand it, the weather from New York City into the Caribbean Sea is not expected to improve for the next few days.

Add in...

The Porters are probably unionized, they have their set rules and work days.  If it was raining so hard all day, think they wanted to work an extra 2 hours OT in that rain?

 

What about the harbor pilot and boat?  Think they wanted to wait around extra hours in bad weather?

 

And the check in people, the luggage screeners, the cruise port staff....waiting an extra 2 hours could be paying 60+ people OT.  Assuming any of them would stay and then drive home in horrible weather.

 

The Joy probably has over 4400 for this cruise. 60 people is 1.5 % of that.  Even 120 people are 3%.  Do you start missing ports for the other 98% by delaying? Will they be happy if you do?