Ky Leigh Posted August 21, 2021 Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 Sooooo......I’m a pretty avid traveler but somewhat new to the cruise world. I have even been a Disney travel agent in the past. But... I planned a last minute trip for my husband and I on Serenade of the Seas out of Seattle to Alaska on Sept 20. Before intense research and seeing Matt’s many warnings against this, I had already scheduled our same day flight from Nashville on Alaskan Airlines. We are scheduled to leave Nashville at 7:15 am and arrive in Seattle at 10:15 am. We have a direct flight. Now I’m somewhat freaking out. I have looked for flights out on Sunday night before but......I am in a play that day with a matinee performance on Sunday afternoon and would be cutting it waaaaayyy close to get to the airport for the last direct flight out. I have gone to the lengths of contacting Royal to try to go on the next cruise to Alaska later that week so we could fly to Seattle a day early but they said that we couldn’t change our dates after the final payment date. Any thoughts or suggestions? I am kicking myself but don’t really know what else to do at this point but to pray and hope that a direct , early morning flight with no layovers will work out! I’m a huge planner and have let myself become pretty anxious about the whole situation! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pooch Posted August 21, 2021 Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 Got an understudy? USCG Teacher, Baked Alaska, Neesa and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baked Alaska Posted August 21, 2021 Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 10 minutes ago, Pooch said: Got an understudy? As I was reading this post in preview mode, that is EXACTLY what I was thinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianB Posted August 21, 2021 Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 With Cruise with Confidence you can cancel the cruise up to 48hrs prior to the sail date and receive a Future Cruise Credit. It would take time to process the credit and you would need to use it by the expiration date. You can book, and pay for, the next week’s cruise if there is availability and hopefully with the same or similar price. The problem is tying up the $$$ with the FCC spent on the cancelled cruise. Or…………..understudy! Neesa 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ky Leigh Posted August 21, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 No understudy. Just a small community theater. Haven’t gotten that famous....yet! I really hate to reschedule. I’m sure I would hate missing the ship worse! Don’t know what to do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted August 21, 2021 Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 What other connecting flight options are there if there are issues with the first flight? Getting in that early seems a bit safer than relying on an afternoon flight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted August 21, 2021 Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 25 minutes ago, BrianB said: With Cruise with Confidence you can cancel the cruise up to 48hrs prior to the sail date and receive a Future Cruise Credit. Sounds like this is exactly what you want to do. It's too late to cancel for a cash refund or change dates. Instead, you cancel under Cruise with Confidence and a 100% future cruise credit, which is basically a voucher worth whatever you paid for the cruise fare, will be issued. Make sure you get this processed before 48 hours before you are scheduled to sail. That or no show your play Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted August 21, 2021 Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 OK so there really aren't options on Alaska other than that flight. Fortunately September isn't a big deal weather wise for either location and that flight is likely the first of the day for that plane, so there wouldn't be any inbound delays. As much as I'd never want to fly in day of, you probably have little risk with that flight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royale Posted August 21, 2021 Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 Ships usually don't sail until the afternoon. It would be very unlucky to get so delayed you will miss the ship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgestang Posted August 21, 2021 Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 We just flew in to Nassau and got on ship same day. We had some headaches with out seat assignment going away when we went to check in that added stress....and the plane left 30 or so minutes late, but we ended up on the plane and on board without any major issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ky Leigh Posted August 21, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 I think we are going to have to try it! I am hoping that the early direct flight will work in our favor! I can’t skip out on my play! Some big agent might be passing through Glasgow, KY that day and discover me! If we do anything, we will just have to cancel and Reschedule later. From a money perspective, I couldn’t afford to cancel and rebook and pay for the one the next week. May need to reschedule for next spring if I get too scared....which I sort of am! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ky Leigh Posted August 21, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 Thank you all for your feedback!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aulayan Posted August 21, 2021 Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 What I did just a couple of hours ago is I finally caved and bought Travel Insurance. Between Covid, a Same Day Flight, and the smaller risk of Hurricanes, I decided that I needed to this just to be on the safe side. Baked Alaska, Fairlynew, Pattycruise and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pooch Posted August 21, 2021 Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 You always need travel insurance. USCG Teacher, teddy, Chadster and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teddy Posted August 21, 2021 Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 11 minutes ago, Pooch said: You always need travel insurance. Agreed. We never worried about it until we saw someone medevac’d from Labadee on a helicopter. Then we started thinking about that cost…that led to thinking about what if we had to cancel because we were too sick to go on a cruise (this was precovid). Then we started thinking of every scenario where we’d be out big bucks because of situations out of our control. We now get travel insurance that covers the “what if’s” we came up with that day WAAAYTOOO, USCG Teacher, Pooch and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ky Leigh Posted August 21, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 I have one more question for you guys! After much discussion, we are thinking it may be wise to go another time. My husband has some health issues and I’m just getting a little alarmed with the increase in cases of COVID. I just tried to call Royal but their offices are closed. Is the “cruise with confidence” option something you had to pay for at the time of booking. Since I booked after the final payment date, I didn’t pay for anything additional as far as cancellation, now I’m afraid we might not have that option if it was something extra to buy at the time. I’m feeling sort of dumb right now. I planned this on sort of a whim and that wasn’t smart!! Nevermind!! Just found the Cruise with Confidence info and another 24/7 phone number! On hold now!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ky Leigh Posted August 21, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 We did buy travel insurance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aulayan Posted August 21, 2021 Report Share Posted August 21, 2021 Cruise with Confidence is, I believe, baked in. Not anything you had to pay for. It will convert your cruise to FCC which right now has to be spent by April 30 2022 for a cruise before September 30th 2022. Ky Leigh 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ky Leigh Posted August 22, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2021 Thank you all for your advice. For several reasons, we used the Cruise with Confidence option to obtain cruise credit and will be planning our Alaskan adventure in the spring. I’ll definitely be teaching our for help and advice from you all then!! USCG Teacher 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pooch Posted August 22, 2021 Report Share Posted August 22, 2021 Break a leg! USCG Teacher 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianB Posted August 22, 2021 Report Share Posted August 22, 2021 “To cruise or not to cruise…that was the question. Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of schedule-conflicted cruises, or to make reservations against a sea of uncertainty, and, by cancelling, end them?”…my buddy Billy Shakespeare said that while considering a river cruise on the Thames back in the 1570’s. It gave him the idea for a play! Chadster, Baked Alaska, WAAAYTOOO and 4 others 3 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted August 22, 2021 Report Share Posted August 22, 2021 15 minutes ago, BrianB said: “To cruise or not to cruise…that was the question. Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of schedule-conflicted cruises, or to make reservations against a sea of uncertainty, and, by cancelling, end them?”…my buddy Billy Shakespeare said that while considering a river cruise on the Thames back in the 1570’s. It gave him the idea for a play! Oddly, the same IT system used back then is still in use today by RC teddy, Chadster, WAAAYTOOO and 4 others 6 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pattycruise Posted August 22, 2021 Report Share Posted August 22, 2021 1 hour ago, Ky Leigh said: Thank you all for your advice. For several reasons, we used the Cruise with Confidence option to obtain cruise credit and will be planning our Alaskan adventure in the spring. I’ll definitely be teaching our for help and advice from you all then!! I don’t recall seeing mention of using Air2Sea to book your flights. My understanding: There’s some sort of guarantee they’ll get you to the ship if your flights are delayed. In simpler times I could find them online and see what flights they would potentially book me on,-based on the cruise reservation I held- then I’d have an idea if I would have to book the day before or not. With the adjustment of cruises leaving later than typical (the ones I’ve looked at) it likely opens the travel window a bit for “day of” travel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted August 22, 2021 Report Share Posted August 22, 2021 1 hour ago, smokeybandit said: Oddly, the same IT system used back then is still in use today by RC Best post you’ve ever made ! (…and I love your posts…) BrianB 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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