RoadtoNowhere73

“CONCLUSION Instead of striking, American Airlines and the APFA will sit down next month and talk once again. The union has promised another strike request if progress is not made during the meeting, but the NMB does not appear ready right now to green-light a strike. The way these things usually work out is that the two sides will remain far apart, a strike is eventually authorized, the airline gives in a little bit, the union gives in more, and a deal is struck. That will happen here, eventually, but the pageantry of negotiations and outrage will continue.” well, here’s to hoping.

Hi Patty, Agreed. I've canceled my reserved rides. I anticipated a premium for the convenience of pre-order arrangements but was off the mark by quite a bit.

https://apnews.com/article/american-airlines-flight-attendants-negotiations-4775d0c71efc000df8bdd1c5ba68b8b3 I guess that settles it.

Our family is so excited about our upcoming OOTS cruise. I've pre-arranged two Uber rides so far, and each is literally double what I expected: Day 1: Home to local Airport = $52.89, and Miami Int'l to our South Beach Hotel night before our cruise = $61.66 Day 2: South Beach to RC cruise terminal = $XX Day 9: RC cruise terminal to Miami hotel = $XX Day 10: Miami hotel to Miami Int'l = $XX, and local airport to Home = $50 give/take This all adds up rather quickly! If any frequent RC Miami port travelers have any tips or recommendations, please share.

this is exactly what happened to me. and from now on, I'll do just that!

Thanks L2C2002. This helps. I do recall the original flight departure/arrival times changed with AA (by <30 min), where all other details remained the same, but I was not aware this prompted a seat assignment reset. Now I do. I'll stay on top of these airline details much more closely and diligently going forward.

Our December Oasis of the Seas cruise will be our family's first experience with RC, but our 4th cruise. We booked in August 2023 and took advantage of the Air2Sea reservation system at the same, arranging for roundtrip flights to/from our home city to the departing RC port in Miami. Here is my issue: At the time of online reservation via the website, I distinctly remember selecting seat assignments for my family, so we could sit together. I kept a folder of all email receipts (paid in full) confirming air travel details, but I never until today (over 3 mos later) thought to check for the one aspect of the flight rez that was missing: those seat assignments. So this morning I downloaded the AA app, entered my flight number, and low and behold not only were my seat assignments absent, but the number of available seats on my scheduled flight was significantly diminished as you might expect 3 months later. The AA app prompted me to select seats in order to continue viewing my already paid-for trip/could not proceed in app without it. I ended up selecting upcharge seats, purely for the desire to maintain my family being able to sit together on the outbound flight on the one row still available. For the return flight, there were still two rows at the back of the plane available and no upcharge. It seems these seat assignments are now confirmed, albeit this time properly with AA. I called A2S to ask what happened to my previously selected seat assignments. They forwarded me my flight rez receipts, again with no seat assignments confirmed, as a response. The agent then also suggested AA may cancel flights/make changes/have a practice of not honoring seat assignments unless paid for explicitly. I was a bit taken aback. I next called AA, to ask if I could cancel my upcharge seats, and they said no as these are non-refundable. The agent next suggested I should have always confirmed with the airline from day 1 what my seat assignments were, and that they have no record of my ever securing seat assignments previously, and won't comment on how or what A2S (or any 3rd party for that matter) may have promised, as they didn't make it themselves. So, it seems this is my fault. Fair enough. Lesson learned, seat assignments arranged through A2S aren't definitive, and I should just book my own flights through the airline directly (AA or otherwise) when cruising. It's just a shame that I participated in a process and assumed it was already taken care of. It wasn't. Not the end of the world to be sure, and I'm glad my family can still sit together on a long flight that's supposed to be a fun trip together (albeit now at an additional cost), but I can't help but feel I found a gap in the reservation process in my opinion.

I see OOTS on CruiseCompass hasn't had an update since 10/07/23. If anyone has a heads up on what theme parties might be occurring on this cruise please paste a link, we'd like to pack out suitcases accordingly

We signed up for the Blue Hole River Tubing excursion on our upcoming excursion, but arent finding many reviews. Can others who've done this weigh in on the bus ride? I understand it is 90 minutes each way. Was this in any way unsafe?

will look into it! Thanks

Hi Smokey, perhaps a rhetorical question: I wonder then, what other arrangements they've made for pending BL reservations between now and then. My rez remains active in my RC excursion queue (granted it's still a month away)

We're booked for Blue Lagoon when we stop in Nassau in December. Obviously, this tragic incident and comments by forum members on this thread about the questionable expertise of the ferry staff and that RC has pulled this excursion for Jan have me seriously reconsidering. Bummer. Hopefully, this forum has recent posts suggesting worthwhile Nassau excursion alternatives that inspire more confidence regarding safety.

Thanks all for the informed responses. I work in a hospital system with 13 different unions, and I thought I had a pretty good handle on collective bargaining (in healthcare, anyway), but it seems flight attendants (and this railway act) are nuances I'm not familiar with. I truly appreciate all the advice. I feel better.

This will be our family's first RC cruise, we're all super excited. Praying for good weather and looking forward to meeting good people.

Thanks Zacharius. I visited the union page and a strike has almost unanimous support from its dues members, so it seems it will happen, it's just a question of when they decide to do it. I like your idea of researching alternative flight options now so I can call ETT and pull that lever in a timely fashion. Here's to hoping it doesn't happen.