Adverse situations..how to prepare

[Fredr]

Hello,

 

This thread is not to ask a question but to inform people who enjoy cruises or are considering a cruise.

 

There will be situations such as medical evacuations, adverse weather conditions, or mechanical problems with your ship, that will delay the ship's arrival on the date and time stated in your cruise documents and other cruise literature. My point here is that you must have alternatives B and C readily available if there are such problems.

 

On our 10/22 Mercury sailing to Hawaii, there were two very serious medical emergencies that required the Mercury's return to Hilo. This delayed the Mercury's return to San Diego by one day. The Mercury's captain had no choice but to take the best care that he could of his passengers and crew. This is the Law of the Seas, and I for one, greatly appreciate both the Mercury's captain and Celebrity Cruise Line's for doing the right thing.

 

Several passengers were angry because they had to change their plans, and at a high cost, which is understandable. Hopefully, the following suggestions will be of help to you if something does happen (based on 26 cruises on all of the majors except NCL, and extensive travel).

 

Get travel insurance that includes reimbursement provisions for last minute changes to airline reservations and hotel reservations.

 

Have some familiarity with airports near the port city. While San Diego has only one airport, for example, within two hours of San Diego there are six airports which have direct flights or connections to just about everywhere. Galveston has two major airports that serve this port city. And Fort Lauderdale in addition to their airport, there is Miami and West Palm Beach.

 

For international travelers, plan to stay over two days after your cruise is scheduled back. This is much easier said than done but if possible stay over and fly home later. Renting a car and spending two nights in a hotel/motel should not break your travel budget.

 

The next suggestion is a controversial one (I am NOT a TA!). Work with a TA on your cruise arrangements, because if there is any difficulty you will have someone in your corner to help you. I understand that not all TAs are good but most are, and can be very helpful if problems surface.

 

Another suggestion that may seem from Mars...use an airline that is known for their willingness to help you if necessary. We were on a bus going from Vancouver BC to Seattle when it became obvious that we would not arrive at the Seattle Airport in time for a family of 5's flight to Salt Lake City. The father (who was sitting next to me) called the airline and within 15 minutes or so his family was on a later flight, at no charge.

 

And...remember a ship is not a building that floats and the captains of ships are not to be trifled with. Things will happen beyond their control and they are paid well to deal with these probelms as best thast they can. If you are like that attorney who objected to a Carnival captain's actions then maybe a cruise vacation is not for you.

 

Hope that this helps,

 

Fred

[fann1sh]

Thank you, Fred. On the Holland America board, this fall some of us followed the trials of another cruiser who, despite the fact she had insurance, didn't fit into a covered type of claim.

 

The thread makes educational reading, but specifically post 51 and 58 give invaluable advice on having a plan "B", with regard to air flights:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=843888&highlight=perfect+ending

[firefly333]

Thank you, Fred. On the Holland America board, this fall some of us followed the trials of another cruiser who, despite the fact she had insurance, didn't fit into a covered type of claim.

 

I ran into that myself. Had spent over $2000 for a week's vacation and my bf's father died and we were supposedly engaged, so I couldnt skip the funeral (or so I thought) and lost my share of the vacation because his father was not related to me by blood, so not my family.

 

People talk about insurance as if it will solve any problem.

 

I also was on a Ike cruise where we got dumped in NO and I spent about $200 on extra medication as I wasnt sure when we would get in and more on renting a car. I didnt have receipts for everything in Cozumel for getting the medication, what I had was in pesos and they gave me the change in pesos instead of dollars which are worth more, and I gave up no one spoke English.

 

I lost the contents of my car, because I didnt have homeowner's insurance (I rent and didnt have renters insurance). Car insurance doesnt cover the contents of your car and I never saw my car again.

 

You are never going to be covered for everything.

[Fredr]

Hello,

 

I agree that travel insurance does not cover everything ,and sadly that there are travel insurance companies that are not fair or honorable in any way. However, you are much better off with travel insurance than without it.

 

Thank you for contributing to this thread.

[JanineM]

Good points, Fred.

 

I think the bottom line is that people have to learn to roll with the punches.

 

In reading some of the posts on CC, there are a lot of people who expect to plan/anticipate every single moment of their cruise. Like any activity involving people or the weather, there are some things you cannot control. Planning ahead makes good sense. So does knowing that no one is "out to ruin your cruise". The cruise lines, the captain and the crew want you to have a good time!!!

[spongerob]

I am amazed at the number of people who travel internationally and don't have any earthly idea what they would do if something went wrong. Nor do they have the means to fend for themselves if they do get in trouble. Even little things, like having a passport, and a credit card for emergency expenses are considered unnecessary by some.

[Happy ks]

Good advice. I'm one who is always amazed at how many people don't take any of these scenarios into thought when they travel and expect to be taken care of by the cruise line.

 

We only buy the product the cruise line is efficient at and that is the cruise itself. Everything else we plan for ourselves. Plus, we never back ourselves into a "time corner" with flights that arrive within hours of the sailaway and we spend the night at our port town after disembarkation. We actually read the insurance policy and don't purchase blindly and we realize that travel sometimes has its quirks. We've been left cooling our heels a few times at airports, sometimes hours, sometimes a couple of days...so we know it can happen suddenly.

 

When I read the angry threads because something went wrong I don't always respond, but many others do with posts that could read "told you so" or "you should have come here first and learned about this". Experience is the best teacher and our experience has taught us to not ever panic or blow a fuse, things will work out, it's not the worst that can happen.

[kornkob]

Are you really surprised? Really?

 

In my experience when you deal with people one-on-one or in small groups, in their comfort zone, while not under stress, in locations they have control over/understand and in a general neutral state people are largely intelligent, thoughtful, generous, engaging and all around very interesting to be around.

 

 

However, start stressing any number of those factors--- larger groups, outside comfort zone, loss of control--- and generally people become stupid, intolerant, anti-social, irrational, bigoted jerks with a hair trigger panic button.

 

I am rarely surprised by the extremely idiotic behavior of people. I am, however, constantly amazed at the seemingly endless capacity for those people to rationalize their idiotic behavior after the fact.

[cruiserbryce]

get travel insurance if you feel its necassary and be flexible...not everything is within your control and things may happen...just role with the punches and deal with it as best you can

[BroncosFan2010]

Thank you for the great info! I knew most of that already, but it was great to send along to my parents, 1st time cruisers, so they can understand the importance of cruise insurance.

[RI-Sailor]

One thing I was really glad I had with me at the end of my cruise was...Prepackaged Breakfast Bars!!! The bus company was hours late and a small group of us was stranded under the tent at Cape Liberty on a chilly, wet day in May. The port is miles from the nearest donut or sandwich shop!! (I was also grateful for wearing socks...one of the other passengers had to dig hers out of the suitcase!).

[firefly333]

I think the bottom line is that people have to learn to roll with the punches.

 

In reading some of the posts on CC, there are a lot of people who expect to plan/anticipate every single moment of their cruise.!!!

 

When I came home from the Ike Conquest cruise, folks all lectured me a lot about how I just needed to learn to roll more with the punches. Sometimes you WILL be stressed out. I never understood why no one on CC has empathy hardly.

 

This guy here expected a Panama cruise and went to Western Caribbean and is being beaten up for coming here posting about being upset. I can do the Western from Galveston. I wouldnt have been happy to fly to Florida and find out as Im boarding Im not doing any of the ports I expected.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=892840

 

Sometimes folks come here to vent and get some sympathy too. You cant mentally prepare for everything and you do put a lot of thought into excursions and the ports usually before you go. In spite of all the folks telling me that I should have been prepared for a hurricane, heck if I thought there would be a hurricane wiping out my car, I wouldnt have gone on the darn cruise. lol.

[Fredr]

Hello,

 

Of course we have sympathy for misforune and I have lots of it. My point is that people who enjoy traveling and especially by cruise ship, should have some knowledge of what to do if the cruise does not go as expected. This includes obtaining travel insurance, knowing some alternate airports, and having another credit card that can be used if your regular card is inoperative or lost.

 

And my thread was written to benefit first time cruisers.

 

Happy Holidays to all,

 

Fred

[firefly333]

Hello,

 

Of course we have sympathy for misforune and I have lots of it. My point is that people who enjoy traveling and especially by cruise ship, should have some knowledge of what to do if the cruise does not go as expected. This includes obtaining travel insurance, knowing some alternate airports, and having another credit card that can be used if your regular card is inoperative or lost.

 

And my thread was written to benefit first time cruisers.

 

Happy Holidays to all,

 

Fred

 

Add to your list travelling with 800 #'s, all the main rental car companies and airlines and anyone else you might need. If I had had the 800# for the rental car company, I could have gotten thru to them much earlier and not been up until 2:30 am. We had to wait hours for the purser's desk to get these numbers when they announced sunday night at 5 pm our Ike cruise was going to New Orleans at 5 am. Having all the numbers like this would have made things much faster and easier for me.

[Happy ks]

When I came home from the Ike Conquest cruise, folks all lectured me a lot about how I just needed to learn to roll more with the punches. Sometimes you WILL be stressed out. I never understood why no one on CC has empathy hardly.

 

This guy here expected a Panama cruise and went to Western Caribbean and is being beaten up for coming here posting about being upset. I can do the Western from Galveston. I wouldnt have been happy to fly to Florida and find out as Im boarding Im not doing any of the ports I expected.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=892840

 

Sometimes folks come here to vent and get some sympathy too. You cant mentally prepare for everything and you do put a lot of thought into excursions and the ports usually before you go. In spite of all the folks telling me that I should have been prepared for a hurricane, heck if I thought there would be a hurricane wiping out my car, I wouldnt have gone on the darn cruise. lol.

 

 

This is exactly what this whole thread is about. When you travel, things can and do happen. A cruise line does not want to alienate its passengers and they do want future business. But the whole point is....mechanical problems sometimes crop up and it changes things. I think every cruise line has in its contract or agreement they reserve the right to change ports.

 

It happens, it's not wonderful news and I don't blame the author of that thread for being upset. I also don't think people were beating him/her up, just giving facts. I didn't read the whole thread, just the first page, so I don't know if posters started getting rude or not later....but that is human nature, some people think it's fine and dandy to be rude when they are anonymous :rolleyes: Very unfortunate that people can be so mean when they aren't face to face :(

[Donray]

Make sure you have credit cards with high limits, your passposrt, and time.

 

Things will some how work out.