Searching for Passengers left @ Port

[dan40]

Booking cruise line air is no guarantee of anything. They are only "acting as your agent" and take no responsibility for you making the sailing. They will usually wait as they know how many pax they have on any given flight. Unless there are only a few pax, then, like or not, the ship will sail without them. Sounds like they are applying the same rules to the bus transfer and that sucks. I would have bet that they would wait for 17 pax on their own bus. [and I would have lost] I wonder that the bus actually was in contact with the ship, seems hard to believe they would sail knowing EXACTLY how far out 17 more pax were.

 

I would be way beyond upset with the cruise line, the airline, the bus people, the Delta group, my mother-in-law, my 4th grade spuling techur, eveybody.

 

 

 

Dan

[golf43]

So sorry to hear that something like that happened. To be there at the pier and see your ship moving away. Gosh I think they should have had a smaller boat took you out to the ship.

 

I was on another cruise once when they held the ship because a flight was delayed. I think we waited at the pier an extra hour. If your bus driver was with Carnival, they should have called ahead to hold the ship for you.

[Vanessa L]

OK, I am WAY confused. She did not book air through Carnival which in this case is moot. She took a Carnival sponsored bus, that despite them being 40 minutes late, waited for them and others. I have been on ships that waited for passengers before, as much as an hour late sailing as a result. It seems to me that for this to be 100% in the OP's hands then the bus never should have waited for them in the first place, much less circled back around to pick up others who were also late. The OP said the last bus was at 2:00 but she didn't even get on this Carnival sponsored bus until 2:40???? I think the OP has a case here and I'll be interested to see how this plays out.

 

I feel for the OP when people say things like, "Oh, you should've just jumped out of the bus and taken a cab." Sorry, I've been in cities that I was new to and would never dream of just hopping off transportation I trusted to get me to the ship because it was ship sponsored, and pray that everything worked out ok. That suggestion is asinine in its statement anyway. If I booked transportation through the cruise company and their transportation caused me to miss my cruise you better bet I would be seeking restitution. Now, if it was independent I would have to just suck it up and learn the lesson. In this case, the OP is in the right.

 

OP, don't be bullied in this one. You are in the right and if Carnival truly blows this one off it is going to truly send a bad statement to those who trust a company to do the right thing.

 

OK, had to edit because now I am even more confused. I read the original thread where Tom of Tom-and-Cheryl replied that he's had a ship wait until 6:30 (I've not had one wait that long but clearly, it happens)???? But this ship couldn't wait 10 minutes for 17 people??? I dunno, this is really beginning to sound much more crappy on Carnival's part to me. For Carnival not to take responsibility for this one, the bus would have to have left them to begin with. The fact that they waited keeps the ball in Carnival's responsibility court, IMHO. Sigh.

[CruiseCentric]

Booking cruise line air is no guarantee of anything. They are only "acting as your agent" and take no responsibility for you making the sailing. They will usually wait as they know how many pax they have on any given flight. Unless there are only a few pax, then, like or not, the ship will sail without them. Sounds like they are applying the same rules to the bus transfer and that sucks. I would have bet that they would wait for 17 pax on their own bus. [and I would have lost] I wonder that the bus actually was in contact with the ship, seems hard to believe they would sail knowing EXACTLY how far out 17 more pax were.

 

I would be way beyond upset with the cruise line, the airline, the bus people, the Delta group, my mother-in-law, my 4th grade spuling techur, eveybody.

 

 

 

Dan

Here is the original thread with more details.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=510387

[cdnprincess]

Imagine how confused I am. I am still not getting the right answers on bus times. I am told 1:30, 2:00, 2:15 and 3:00 from different people who all work for Carnival!!! I will let you all know what happens, but from what I understand (and the calls I have made to Carnival's 1-800 #) I will not get much. Carnival is blaming American Airlines and vise versa. Thanks for your help. I will definately be visiting this site if I cruise again.

[Vanessa L]

Imagine how confused I am. I am still not getting the right answers on bus times. I am told 1:30, 2:00, 2:15 and 3:00 from different people who all work for Carnival!!! I will let you all know what happens, but from what I understand (and the calls I have made to Carnival's 1-800 #) I will not get much. Carnival is blaming American Airlines and vise versa. Thanks for your help. I will definately be visiting this site if I cruise again.

 

One lesson I've learned about big corporations is they are not going to accept blame no matter what. This is how they get to be big corporations, lol. In all seriousness, for them to blame the airlines on this one is utterly ridiculous. The only way they could blame the airlines is if the bus had left you stranded because your flight was late. The fact that the bus waited transferred responsibility to Carnival. This one is crystal clear though sadly, I agree with you that you won't see a cent from this. A very expensive lesson, IMHO. I've had a few of those so I feel for you.

[cdnprincess]

Booking cruise line air is no guarantee of anything. They are only "acting as your agent" and take no responsibility for you making the sailing. They will usually wait as they know how many pax they have on any given flight. Unless there are only a few pax, then, like or not, the ship will sail without them. Sounds like they are applying the same rules to the bus transfer and that sucks. I would have bet that they would wait for 17 pax on their own bus. [and I would have lost] I wonder that the bus actually was in contact with the ship, seems hard to believe they would sail knowing EXACTLY how far out 17 more pax were.

 

I would be way beyond upset with the cruise line, the airline, the bus people, the Delta group, my mother-in-law, my 4th grade spuling techur, eveybody.

 

 

 

Dan

 

 

LOL I will blame my bosses for making me take this trip because I was stressed and not a fun person at work. They really love me now!!!

I needed a laugh Thanks

[njs]

Well I guess the boards arent fixed, I posted but dont see it so will try again.

I would definitely fight for reimbursement - you were on their transfer and they knew you were coming. I cant believe they pulled out knowing you were there - And I would be very forceful about the fact that the rep and driver were in contact with carnival. Hope you can get your group of 17 together to fight it - might add a little more weight than 2. It must be up to the discretion of the captain as to whether or not they wait. On the Christmas Glory sailing (remember the bad storms in denver etc) a number of people missed embarkation because of delayed and cancelled flights. The met up with the cruise the next day in the Bahamas and the captain even waited for them there.

 

BTW were you flying from canada. You couldnt have chosen a worse weekend to fly out. My dh left from toronto on fri for Ireland (didnt arrive until sun am because of delayed and cancelled flights) Not the best wkend for travelling I guess

[mrdood]

LOL I will blame my bosses for making me take this trip because I was stressed and not a fun person at work. They really love me now!!!

I needed a laugh Thanks

 

...not a slam, but request for information, you seem so confused and unknowledgeable about the whole thing. Was the bus transportation arranged by Carnival or was it transportation that the TA purchased for you, because it could appear to be Carnival, but might not have been if the TA purchased it through a third party.

 

You noted the fun pass checking - what does that mean, did they just ask to see it or did they have a computer to check you in with???

[cdnprincess]

Well I guess the boards arent fixed, I posted but dont see it so will try again.

I would definitely fight for reimbursement - you were on their transfer and they knew you were coming. I cant believe they pulled out knowing you were there - And I would be very forceful about the fact that the rep and driver were in contact with carnival. Hope you can get your group of 17 together to fight it - might add a little more weight than 2. It must be up to the discretion of the captain as to whether or not they wait. On the Christmas Glory sailing (remember the bad storms in denver etc) a number of people missed embarkation because of delayed and cancelled flights. The met up with the cruise the next day in the Bahamas and the captain even waited for them there.

 

BTW were you flying from canada. You couldnt have chosen a worse weekend to fly out. My dh left from toronto on fri for Ireland (didnt arrive until sun am because of delayed and cancelled flights) Not the best wkend for travelling I guess

 

 

Yes I flew out of Toronto. I missed the storm by a couple of hours. The funny thing was we decided to do a connecting flight because Air Canada was arriving in Orlando too late, but because of the impending storm Air Canada flew out 2 hrs earlier than its scheduled flight time and arrived 1-1/2 hrs earlier than our flight.

[njs]

Yes I flew out of Toronto. I missed the storm by a couple of hours. The funny thing was we decided to do a connecting flight because Air Canada was arriving in Orlando too late, but because of the impending storm Air Canada flew out 2 hrs earlier than its scheduled flight time and arrived 1-1/2 hrs earlier than our flight.

 

Some times you just cant win. :rolleyes: Worse thing is, you had a chance to have fun in the sun and get away from this dreadful weather and it didnt work out. Hope you get something positive from it -dont let it discourage you from cruising carnival ~just chalk it up to a lesson learned about "day early" flights- as far as Im concerned, that's the only way to go

[njs]

...not a slam, but request for information, you seem so confused and unknowledgeable about the whole thing. Was the bus transportation arranged by Carnival or was it transportation that the TA purchased for you, because it could appear to be Carnival, but might not have been if the TA purchased it through a third party.

 

You noted the fun pass checking - what does that mean, did they just ask to see it or did they have a computer to check you in with???

 

I could be wrong but I think she was referring to the fun pass check-in online where you give the particulars of your flight schedule

[cdnprincess]

...not a slam, but request for information, you seem so confused and unknowledgeable about the whole thing. Was the bus transportation arranged by Carnival or was it transportation that the TA purchased for you, because it could appear to be Carnival, but might not have been if the TA purchased it through a third party.

 

You noted the fun pass checking - what does that mean, did they just ask to see it or did they have a computer to check you in with???

 

 

The bus was arranged by Carnival thru a company called Mears Transportation, but it was driven by a Carnival driver. I paid Carnival for the tranfer charges. Customer service is not blaming the bus for being late. they are blaming the airlines for being late in bringing us in. There were 3 airlines that were late (if you want to be specific, late means the bus was scheduled to leave at 3:00 at the latest) Passengers from AA and Air Tran were on the bus at 2:50, but the bus had to wait for Delta that borded at 3:30.

 

I thought everyone did the fun pass? I don't know what that is for, but I was told when I got my tickets to go onto the internet and fill it out. It has all the flight info and ship info, dates, times, airlines, everything, so there was no surprise as to what time we were arriving. Carnival had that info. I guess when you book the air with them they already have the info. What was filled out on the bus was the Sail and Sign card and the Bahamas customs paperwork, and they checked our passports at that time too. We were then given a boarding pass and told that it was to get us onto the ship and our keys would be waiting for us.

[cdnprincess]

Some times you just cant win. :rolleyes: Worse thing is, you had a chance to have fun in the sun and get away from this dreadful weather and it didnt work out. Hope you get something positive from it -dont let it discourage you from cruising carnival ~just chalk it up to a lesson learned about "day early" flights- as far as Im concerned, that's the only way to go

 

Thanks I did have fun in Orlando, I loved being a kid again!!

[Guest CRUZIN' SUZIN]

I originally posted that you should have taken a cab. Now that I have a clearer picture of what happened and where the port is in relations to the airport, I understand exactly why you opted to stick with the bus.

 

With that said, it sounds like there was a clear breakdown of communication somewhere. I can't imagine the Captain of the ship knowingly leaving 17 revenue generating passengers behind. That represented 17 booze buying, tipping-leaving, excursion taking, picture snapping walking wallets. And the Captain left them.:eek: Especially since he was going to Freeport which is so close to Florida. I am sure the final decision to wait or leave rests on the Captain of the ship. How was the weather forecast for that region?

 

Was there no smaller boat available to take you out to the Carnival ship? That is done quite often.

 

Interesting that Carnival wants to blame the airline. What responsiblity does the operator of the bus service have for this snafu. Most of these buses are sub-contracted out by Carnival or may not be anything more than a "gentlemen's agreement" to provide this service to the passengers when in reality there is no real legal link between Carnival and the bus service.

 

Anyway, I hope that one of these corporations step to the plate and take responsibility.

 

One good thing is that it was a short cruise and therefore not an entire week or more thrown down the tube.

 

Carnival is slipping in the Customer Service/Satisfaction department. :(

[serene56]

You can call Carnival with the same questions numerous times and get a different reply each time you ask.

But from reading here-- I dont think that bus driver should have picked you up- By picking you up he should have let someone know he has a us full of passengers- sounds like he didnt.

 

Was there a carnival rep at the gate? did you buy your transfers ahead of time or at the airport when you arrived?

[Guest CRUZIN' SUZIN]

The bus was arranged by Carnival thru a company called Mears Transportation, but it was driven by a Carnival driver. I paid Carnival for the tranfer charges. Customer service is not blaming the bus for being late. they are blaming the airlines for being late in bringing us in. There were 3 airlines that were late (if you want to be specific, late means the bus was scheduled to leave at 3:00 at the latest) Passengers from AA and Air Tran were on the bus at 2:50, but the bus had to wait for Delta that borded at 3:30.

 

I thought everyone did the fun pass? I don't know what that is for, but I was told when I got my tickets to go onto the internet and fill it out. It has all the flight info and ship info, dates, times, airlines, everything, so there was no surprise as to what time we were arriving. Carnival had that info. I guess when you book the air with them they already have the info. What was filled out on the bus was the Sail and Sign card and the Bahamas customs paperwork, and they checked our passports at that time too. We were then given a boarding pass and told that it was to get us onto the ship and our keys would be waiting for us.

 

I think the decision to wait for the Delta flight was what did the rest of you in. Whose made that decision? If Delta passengers couldn't get on the bus until 3:30, other arrangements should have been made for them. It was foolish to make those that arrived on time wait so long for those that did not arrive on time to the point will ALL missed the boat!:mad:

 

That is where the mess up comes in at. It is a case of Hot potato. Whose fault is it that the people that were not on Delta missed the ship? Not Delta. Not these people's airline. Not Carnival. IMHO, the fault lies with the bus dispatcher.

[cdnprincess]

You can call Carnival with the same questions numerous times and get a different reply each time you ask.

But from reading here-- I dont think that bus driver should have picked you up- By picking you up he should have let someone know he has a us full of passengers- sounds like he didnt.

 

Was there a carnival rep at the gate? did you buy your transfers ahead of time or at the airport when you arrived?

 

The transfers were purchased at the same time as the cruise Dec. 28th/06. Well ahead I think. We can hear the rep talking to someone on the phone and telling we are 15min out. She told us it was the ship but who knows if that was real. I would assume so, because another rep (there were 4 on the bus) was so upset the ship left she started to cry! I was told that since my transfer ticket was accepted and I was put on the bus by Carnival reps, they had a responsibility to get me there on time, but I can say that all I can and noone is listening.

[terri910]

This sort of thing is what cruising nightmares are made of....

[PaddleAddict]

I wonder if she sue Carnival? Sounds like a good case to me. If things transpired the way the OP says they did, Carnival really messed this one up.

[Iamthesea]

I am sure the final decision to wait or leave rests on the Captain of the ship.

I don't think this has been mentioned, but the Captain is not the person to make the decision to wait if the Port officials tell him the ship HAS to leave. There is a hefty fine to stay tied up to the dock after the time the ship is suppose to embark.

[njs]

The transfers were purchased at the same time as the cruise Dec. 28th/06. Well ahead I think. We can hear the rep talking to someone on the phone and telling we are 15min out. She told us it was the ship but who knows if that was real. I would assume so, because another rep (there were 4 on the bus) was so upset the ship left she started to cry! I was told that since my transfer ticket was accepted and I was put on the bus by Carnival reps, they had a responsibility to get me there on time, but I can say that all I can and noone is listening.

 

Unfortunately that is not true. I know b/c/ I have questioned the cruiseline about "getting you to the ship on time." Even when booking flights thru the cruiseline, if you ask, they will tell you it is their responsibility to get you to the ship --i.e. If you miss embarkation they have to get you to the next port, but never do they guarantee to hold the ship for you or provide reasonable flights with acceptable connections.(that's one of the sad truths that you never find out about until it happens to you:( )

[njs]

I don't think this has been mentioned, but the Captain is not the person to make the decision to wait if the Port officials tell him the ship HAS to leave. There is a hefty fine to stay tied up to the dock after the time the ship is suppose to embark.

 

I can see that happening a few hours later, but 15 minutes - wow, that's unreal

[mrdood]

I wonder if she sue Carnival? Sounds like a good case to me. If things transpired the way the OP says they did, Carnival really messed this one up.

 

Since she is from Canada and you would have to file suit in Miami, it would probably not be worth what they lost on the cruise.

 

She has never answered whether she had cruise insurance or not, so I would assume not...

[buddyjo143]

Since she is from Canada and you would have to file suit in Miami, it would probably not be worth what they lost on the cruise.

 

She has never answered whether she had cruise insurance or not, so I would assume not...

 

And here, again is one place where Carnival drops the ball and catches us in all these legal loopholes....

 

(btw mrdood, have you had your luggage replaced yet:rolleyes:)

 

Carnival sells you transfers to the airport, subcontracts the service out, has representatives in Carnival shirts on the bus to make sure you get to the port on time and then, when the bus is late, blames it on the airline!

 

Just Great!