togo Posted July 2, 2022 Report Share Posted July 2, 2022 With all the flight cancellations, I am a bit concerned about missing a cruise date. Anyone have good ideas on how to approach this? Would our cruise be refundable if it wasn't our fault with an airline cancellation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YOLO Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 It could be if you have insurance that covers this, or if you booked through the Air2Sea program, or if your cruise qualifies for CWC (Cruise With Confidence) and are able to cancel the cruise more than 48 hours in advance. Otherwise I hope you didn't spend too much. We had CWC on the President's Cruise (Ovation - Friday June 24th) and my JetBlue flight (BOS->SEA Thursday) was cancelled on Wednesday afternoon. It was too late to cancel using the CWC, so we were able to purchase a Delta flight at double the cost of the JB flight. There wasn't much choice for us... Swar and WAAAYTOOO 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordell1 Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 22 minutes ago, togo said: With all the flight cancellations, I am a bit concerned about missing a cruise date. Anyone have good ideas on how to approach this? Would our cruise be refundable if it wasn't our fault with an airline cancellation? Experienced cruisers always fly in a day before. It greatly reduced the chances of flight issues causing you to miss your cruise. The piece of mind is worth the extra hotel cost. Neesa, Allen2, VirtKitty and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pattycruise Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 Essentially the answer is no. Basically you are responsible to get to your sailing. I’ve read where people on these forums have rented a car when their flights were cancelled and drove many hours to get to the port. if you booked your airfare via Air2Sea (Royals company) they work to get you there. If you have travel insurance you would need to see if cancelled flights causing a missed cruise is covered. if you are able to move your flight it’s best to fly in the day before and earlier in the day flights leave more options for later flights, assuming your airline offers them, should your flight get cancelled. I’ve stayed away from a great price on one airline that offers only one flight for the day and have gone with an airline that offers a slightly higher price, but more options to fly for the day. ChessE4 and GaryAA 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 Even flying in the day before, always take note of what other flights are available so you know your options just in case. luv2sail, JC Pats and VirtKitty 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pooch Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 After my brother’s issue with a weather related flight cancellation (trip ins gave him 90% back in FCC), I booked 2 days before for our next cruise. Day before didn’t help him. Early afternoon flight so we can get testing done in the morning. Rackham and Neesa 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 Funny you ask this. We had an awful experience at March break. We flew out a day early with what we thought was plenty of time to spare. Our flight got cancelled at the gate. Then the flight Delta rebooked us on also got cancelled later that afternoon. Now in a total panic, Delta told us there are no flights which would get us to Miami in time to catch our cruise the next day. We did not book through Air2Sea and this was group cruise that we did not want to miss. My TA saved the day. Literally. We had to rent a car from Detroit, drive to Pittsburgh, and catch a 6am flight next day to Miami. We almost missed our ship! Luggage never made it though but that was a small price to pay. Anyway, that experience a few months ago left me fearing for the worst now with the disaster that air travel is at the moment. I did something today that I never would have done. We have a sailing on Freedom 7/25 and booked to fly from DTW-MIA on 7/24 through Air2Sea this time. I have been tracking this flight and it has been cancelled 6 times in the last 14 days. Today, I double booked us for 7/24. If the original Air2Sea flight gets cancelled, I now have a back up fully refundable flight to Florida later that same day. Never would I have thought that air travel would be so unreliable that I would have to do this. ChessE4, fireclan, WAAAYTOOO and 5 others 4 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 This is crazy time for flights. Most conventional wisdom from before 2022 doesn't mean anything right now. Flying in the day before may not be enough right now. When considering travel insurance you must carefully review and understand coverage and limitations as not all airline issues can be covered by any or all policies. JC Pats, VirtKitty, Allen2 and 2 others 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregD Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 I agree, fly out at least a day early. Try to be on the first flight out in the morning. Have plans b-z as well. Travel insurance is highly recommended too, and do make sure to read the policy and understand it’s provisions and limitations before purchasing to make sure you are covered. Prepare to be flexible. I know I’m doing this for my trip next week. I’ve been monitoring the flights and working my way through the backup plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpeedNoodles Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 We're flying out two days early for our next cruise. JasonOasis, JLMoran, Swar and 5 others 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swar Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 As a Florida resident, I truly feel bad for all the people who have to fly in. Another added expense and stress factor to what should be a great experience. We have had to fly to three of our cruises and it has not been enjoyable, easy or cheap. We will not do out of State cruises for the foreseeable future, but I hope you guys keep coming to enjoy the vacations. Pattycruise, Baked Alaska, Neesa and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teddy Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 5 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said: We're flying out two days early for our next cruise. We decided to do the same for our cruise at the end of august. Swar and SpeedNoodles 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverk Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 I flew from Houston to ft Lauderdale on Friday. A tropical low came over Houston as we were scheduled to depart. United offered to fly us out the night before for no additional charge, but there weren't enough seats on the plane. So, we had bad weather, news full of flight delays, airline asking us to change our plans and a holiday weekend. Wasn't promising at all. The result: plane departed 20 minutes late. Landed 20 minutes late. Otherwise, it was an uneventful flight. So chalk on up for the good guys. It helps to take a direct flight first thing in the morning Pattycruise, Neesa and Swar 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonOasis Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 5 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said: We're flying out two days early for our next cruise. I know no one wants to think about this especially at the beginning of summer but if you have a cruise booked this upcoming holiday season (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years) please that SpeedNoodles advise. If you are flying you either need to leave 2 days before your cruise or if you can't leave 2 days in advance you must leave at least 1 day early but on the FIRST FLIGHT OUT. By now I'm sure everyone knows what industry I work in and I'm telling you this pilot and flight attendant shortage is not going to be fixed by the holidays. The flight attendant shortage should start to ease by late summer of 2023, as airlines are hiring flight attendants. However, flight attendant training can be up to 8 weeks long depending on the airline. Airlines don't do new hire training year around because the FAA requires all current flight attendants to go through recurrent training. The pilot shortage is going to last for a least another 3-4 years maybe even up to 5 years. To be a FAA licensed commercial pilot in the US is not easy or fast, it takes at least 3 years to go through all the training then on top of the training a new pilot must have at least 1500 hours of experience (most pilots gain this experience by becoming flight instructors). If In individual is extremely dedicated they can go from zero hours to the flight deck of a regional carrier in 3 years but the norm for most people is around 4 or 5 years. Last year was a good year for pilot schools, but thus far 2022 has been a great year for pilot schools as more people look to become pilots and most airlines have dropped the bachelor degree requirement. In my opinion the pilot shortage probably will not ease up until 2024 unless Congress raises the mandatory retirement age to 67, which for now seems highly unlikely. If you have a cruise planned during busy holiday travel periods either this year, or next year or if you are looking to book a cruise this year or next year during holiday travel periods and need to fly to the port it would be in your best interest to fly out 2 days in advance, because we (the industry) don't have the staffing and there is no easy way out of this mess for the airlines. luv2sail, JLMoran, SpeedNoodles and 6 others 6 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryCS62 Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 One reason I am perfectly happy to cruise out of Bayonne -- it's a 40 minute drive from my house. Was going to do one out of Baltimore last spring (Covid cancelled), but even though Baltimore is only about a 3.5 hr drive from home, we were still driving down the night before & staying over - not going to chance traffic, bad weather, etc for anything more than an hour away. Haven't flown in years -- last time, my almost 26 year old was going into middle school, so at least 15 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barjpoe Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 interesting info thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 Another issue with pilots is so many got furloughed during peak covid and their certifications expired. You need simulator time to get your certification back but there are only so many simulators available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 This article might be helpful: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2022/06/27/flight-attendant-shares-20-tips-minimize-air-travel-fiascos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pooch Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 12 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said: Funny you ask this. We had an awful experience at March break. We flew out a day early with what we thought was plenty of time to spare. Our flight got cancelled at the gate. Then the flight Delta rebooked us on also got cancelled later that afternoon. Now in a total panic, Delta told us there are no flights which would get us to Miami in time to catch our cruise the next day. We did not book through Air2Sea and this was group cruise that we did not want to miss. My TA saved the day. Literally. We had to rent a car from Detroit, drive to Pittsburgh, and catch a 6am flight next day to Miami. We almost missed our ship! Luggage never made it though but that was a small price to pay. Anyway, that experience a few months ago left me fearing for the worst now with the disaster that air travel is at the moment. I did something today that I never would have done. We have a sailing on Freedom 7/25 and booked to fly from DTW-MIA on 7/24 through Air2Sea this time. I have been tracking this flight and it has been cancelled 6 times in the last 14 days. Today, I double booked us for 7/24. If the original Air2Sea flight gets cancelled, I now have a back up fully refundable flight to Florida later that same day. Never would I have thought that air travel would be so unreliable that I would have to do this. Was that March flight the weekend of March 12-13? That was when my brother couldn’t get to the port! Wish his/my TA had been that helpful. She said she couldn’t help with flights . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 48 minutes ago, Pooch said: Was that March flight the weekend of March 12-13? It was! I did not want to bother my TA either. They don't get commission on flights and these flights (the one that was cancelled on March 12th) I had booked directly through Delta anyway. But it was a cruise with a group of friends, and she had heard from others that I was in trouble. She went out her way. It was beyond her job description. teddy, Neesa, Pattycruise and 3 others 3 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KalmKruiser Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 We live in the Dallas area and are sailing out of Rome in September on a Wednesday and are flying out the Saturday night before as reference. There's always a cheap hotel or airbnb option somewhere nearby. Baked Alaska 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 8 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said: We're flying out two days early for our next cruise. We're flying out three days early for our next one (10 more days!!). And honestly, it was dumb luck; I just knew I wanted to get over jet lag before boarding the ship, as well as one full day (plus whatever time we had the day we arrived) to explore Athens. At least if we're delayed by several hours, I just lose some Athens exploration time (and might have to find another hotel). cruisellama, SpeedNoodles, Baked Alaska and 2 others 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pooch Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 4 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said: It was! I did not want to bother my TA either. They don't get commission on flights and these flights (the one that was cancelled on March 12th) I had booked directly through Delta anyway. But it was a cruise with a group of friends, and she had heard from others that I was in trouble. She went out her way. It was beyond her job description. It was to be my brother’s first ever cruise on a lift & shift to Harmony. He & my nephew were flying out of providence Rhode Island. My family out of Hartford CT. We got out. They did not. Tried Boston, Hartford finally got a late flight out of Manchester NH. Drove couple hours there & it got canceled too. Absolutely nothing else for 2 days. WAAAYTOOO and Neesa 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisellama Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 Direct flights if possible. Get there a day or two early. Neesa 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisellama Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 4 hours ago, KalmKruiser said: We live in the Dallas area and are sailing out of Rome in September on a Wednesday and are flying out the Saturday night before as reference. There's always a cheap hotel or airbnb option somewhere nearby. You can get direct flights from DFW to FCO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barbeyg Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 We flew 2 days early cross-country to Seattle for our AK cruise in May, and I still fretted about whether we would make it there. Four of us, two elderly adults, and I had backup plans for alternate airports (that could include up to 6 hours of driving a rental car), and even splitting my husband up with one of the ladies, me with the other, if absolutely necessary. Seattle was a 40 hour drive for us, so there was no way we would make it if we didn’t have an alternate flight available. The stressor with the airlines this year by FAR outweighed any concern about the Covid pre-testing for the 4 of us. We were fortunate, and our flights went as scheduled. And going forward, we plan to drive to Ft Lauderdale for our cruises for at least the next year. The 11 hour drive beats wondering about whether a flight will be cancelled at the beginning of our vacation. I feel bad for anyone having to struggle with this. WAAAYTOOO, Neesa and JasonOasis 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimnKathy Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 We're from Memphis, TN and have struggled with air travel our last two cruise vacations. After our next cruise sailing out of Boston in October, we're sticking to driving 11 hours for Galveston, TX cruises only until the airlines can clearly demonstrate they'll honor their commitments to air travelers. It's getting truly ridiculous at this point. I told my wife I'll just pump up with 5-hour energy shots coming and going and we'll be fine...definitely a LOT less stressful than dealing with connecting flight hassles. barbeyg, JasonOasis and WAAAYTOOO 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MicDay Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 9 hours ago, teddy said: We decided to do the same for our cruise at the end of august. We too are flying in two days early for our September cruise. Just looked to drive to our port is 12 hours, not fun but doable teddy and YOLO 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pooch Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 Ohhh Memphis!! Can I get a pizza from Aldo’s & fried chicken from Gus’s?? PLEASE??? JimnKathy and YOLO 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YOLO Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 JetBlue canceled our outbound BOS -> SEA trip for the 2022 Ovation President's Cruise (6/24). We were scheduled to leave BOS at 7:18AM on 6/23, but the second leg of our flight out of JFK was cancelled just about 18 hours before departure. There were 6 of us on the same flight and our only choice was to rebook with Delta. Lucky for me (and two others) we kept our jetBlue return flight. That flight did fly direct from SEA->BOS on Friday, but the Delta return flight was cancelled. We got back Friday, but the other 3 had to spend for a hotel and endure a flight layover yesterday. We should have realized this weekend was a holiday. Next year's president's cruise is July 23rd, so we shouldn't have any problem by then - I hope. I agree with @barbeyg and for now we are going to cruise out of Boston's Black Falcon Cruise Terminal or Bayonne's Cape Liberty Cruise Port - we can easily drive there. The current status of flying is sad right now. We are going to cancel our 14N Ultimate Caribbean Cruise on the Rhapsody in Jan as we would have to fly round trip to Barbados. Sadly, we are also considering cancelling our B2B Norwegian Fjords cruise on the Anthem in May... Flying is bumming me out! WAAAYTOOO and barbeyg 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YOLO Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 Also a quick COVID note about last week's President's Cruise. There were no forced restrictions anywhere I went - not one. Even in the terminal, most people wore masks, but it was not required. After this 7 day cruise, I have seen quite a few FB group reports of people reporting testing positive after arriving home. Even 2 from our group! I thought (was hoping) we were further along than this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teddy Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 37 minutes ago, MicDay said: We too are flying in two days early for our September cruise. Just looked to drive to our port is 12 hours, not fun but doable We’d have to drive from Maine to Galveston with our oldest and his new wife. We love them dearly, but a drive of that distance with all four of us would be brutal…..on all of us. YOLO and SpeedNoodles 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teddy Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 21 minutes ago, YOLO said: for now we are going to cruise out of Boston's Black Falcon Cruise Terminal or Bayonne's Cape Liberty Cruise Port - we can easily drive there. Us too. Boston is two hours +/- and Cape Liberty is 5-6 hours depending on NY traffic We have a cruise out of Italy booked for October ‘23 and a southern Caribbean out of Canaveral in March ‘24. The Florida one is tough, but ultimately driveable by my wife and I swapping out, but we’re crossing our fingers on the Italy one….tough to drive to Italy. WAAAYTOOO and YOLO 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barbeyg Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 1 hour ago, YOLO said: Also a quick COVID note about last week's President's Cruise. There were no forced restrictions anywhere I went - not one. Even in the terminal, most people wore masks, but it was not required. After this 7 day cruise, I have seen quite a few FB group reports of people reporting testing positive after arriving home. Even 2 from our group! I thought (was hoping) we were further along than this. That’s tough. We figured this could be the case, after so many testing positive after our end of May cruise on Ovation. I was hoping this wave would be past us by now, but I guess that isn’t the case. YOLO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luv2sail Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 Are there any direct flights from a US city to Barcelona? Wondering if we should drive to that "mystery" city and then fly straight to Barcelona for our cruise next summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pattycruise Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 18 minutes ago, luv2sail said: Are there any direct flights from a US city to Barcelona? Wondering if we should drive to that "mystery" city and then fly straight to Barcelona for our cruise next summer. nyc luv2sail 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutToSea Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 23 hours ago, smokeybandit said: Even flying in the day before, always take note of what other flights are available so you know your options just in case. I reserve a rental car to drive from home as a backup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HillaryG Posted July 4, 2022 Report Share Posted July 4, 2022 We missed our cruise in April due to canceled flights flying in one day early to Miami. We used air2sea, which tried their best to get us on the ship, but never made it, so full credit/refund. For our rebooked cruise in August, decided to cruise out of New Jersey and flying in 2 days early and if flights get canceled its only a 4-5 hour drive. YOLO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KalmKruiser Posted July 4, 2022 Report Share Posted July 4, 2022 8 hours ago, cruisellama said: You can get direct flights from DFW to FCO. Yeah we were trying to save and found a good deal through turkish airlines so we just have quick layovers in instanbul, which is a pretty cool city and easy to find multiples avenues of transportation out of if there were to be an issue with the connecting flight to Rome. I haven't seen anything beyond the normal issues most airlines have with Turkish, although I am sure there are horror stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barbeyg Posted July 4, 2022 Report Share Posted July 4, 2022 The really bad part about these airline woes is that the shortage of pilots is projected to continue for up to 5 years. https://www.ktoo.org/2022/07/01/pilot-shortage-chaos-travel-years/ The airlines knew this was coming and didn’t prepare during Covid as they mismanaged their bailout money. Now the early retirement of pilots due to Covid has sped up the problem that was going to happen anyway. The ‘pilot universities’ some of the airlines have started are years late, and they are dangerously contemplating (and probably already are) putting pilots into service with much less flying time. I know the press tends to dramatize everything for effect/selling news, but I hesitate to fly even more wondering if the plane I’m stepping into has an untried pilot, or one with years of flying combat missions under their belt. If the airlines saw this coming years ago, then years ago they should have had their pilot universities up and running, instead of burying their heads in the sand over it. And it’s not just airlines. I was talking with our HR VP, and she told me the worker shortage we all see was already coming, Covid just sped it up by about 3-5 years. Baby boomers are retiring (many early) and there just aren’t enough workers to replace us. Not to mention that some generations behind us aren’t as willing to work themselves to death like we have. KristiZ, Pattycruise, cruisellama and 1 other 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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