Air2Sea problem

[Andy Wynn]

Cancelled Air2Sea flights. Can anybody offer advice?

Hi, I booked a cruise on Explorer of the seas departing 25th May 2024 from Venice going around the Med. Never been on a cruise before and as this was for my partners 50th birthday I thought it safest to book as a package through the Air2Sea programme flying from Heathrow with BA. Therefore I had no contact with BA, Air2Sea booked the flights and transfer. The flight was due to depart early in the morning on 25th to pick up the ship later in the afternoon. Got home from work on the 24th to find a message from Royal Caribbean to say our flight itinerary had changed, the BA flight had been cancelled and we were transferred onto a flight on the 26th May. This was obviously not going to work as the ship sailed on 25th, so I rang the emergency travel team as we only had a few hours before we needed to leave for the airport. After 3 hours on the phone to various people at Royal Caribbean it finally dawned on them that we would not make the sailing. They tried to find alternative flights but were unable to do so. The guy on the phone didn't seem that bothered so I asked what our options were, and the response was we can't find an alternative flight to get you to the ship. Obviously we ended up not going and have had numerous emails back and forth with the UK customer service team who are refusing to refund the nearly £5000 it cost. I have all the paperwork and emails to prove what happened but Royal Caribbean will not budge. I am thinking of taking all this to a solicitor, would appreciate any advice, am I wasting my time continuing to pursue Royal Caribbean?

[steverk]

Before hiring a solicitor, I'd at least try an email to Michael Bailey. I'm not sure it will help, but I'd give it a try.

[Andy Wynn]

Thanks, I'll give that a try.

[CruiseGus]

You should be able to collect from your Travel insurance.

Did Air2Sea not offer to fly you to one of the other ports to pick up the ship later in the itinerary?

[none20244]

Did you have trip insurance???

[Andy Wynn]

Air2Sea tried to find alternative flights but were unable to do so, my understanding was that this was to any of the ports that the ship was calling. I do have travel insurance but don't see why I should claim on that when I booked the holiday as a package and Royal Caribbean were unable to deliver that package or find any alternative. I would be more inclined to claim on my insurance if Royal Caribbean had shown some care or concern about the issue but their Emergency Travel Team attitude stunk and the subsequent attitude from their customer services is terrible.

[Crown&AnchorEsq]

Major bummer and sorry you missed your vacation.  Looking at the Air2Sea details, and specifically  the "assured arrival program" it looks like the only thing they promise is that they will work as hard as possible to connect you with the ship at the next place you can legally board.  If they tried that and were not successful then they satisfied their promise.  It does not look like a "or your money back" situation.  You can always talk to solicitor, UK laws might be a bit different.  I did always think that Air2Sea was a guarantee that you would board but it looks like that is not 100% the case.  Travel Insurance might be where you have to go and while not likely to make you feel as vindicated it will almost certainly be the easiest option.

[Zacharius]

14 minutes ago, Crown&AnchorEsq said:

I did always think that Air2Sea was a guarantee that you would board but it looks like that is not 100% the case. 

This is an incredibly important realization that everyone needs to have. Air2Sea does a great job of marketing speak to make it sound like a guarantee, but a true guarantee does not really exist. Air2Sea can't create new routes, can't create new planes, can't create new seats or kick people out of current seats. There aren't always airports, flights, or even laws that allow them to drop people close to every cruise port. 

Do they try the hardest they can? Maybe...I don't know, sometimes it seems like it and sometimes it doesn't. But there's definitely no 100% guarantee. 

[PhillyLady]

Sadly, the only lesson from all of this is to book a hotel and air at least three days before cruise departure, which is what I always do when I cruise in Europe.

If you had a travel agent, that person may have been able to scrounge up some different flights for you, and perhaps you could have cancelled the Air2 Sea flights, which are often low budget and poor connections.

Again, many of us Americans are not conversant with British legal requirements--I think they are more stringent regarding delivery of travel services. Did you use a credit card? You can try to contest the charge on your card as well.

I agree that negotiations with RC should still continue.  Can they offer you a different cruise date or a voucher for a future cruise?  This is when having a travel agent to help navigate would be helpful. 

Best wishes!

[Andy Wynn]

Thanks for your advice, yes I was under the impression that as it was booked as a package with Air2Sea there would be some peace of mind in case things went wrong. Unfortunately, as you've pointed out, this isn't the case. I am trying a chargeback on the card and failing that I will go through my insurance. I do agree with what you guys are saying in that it should be made clearer with Air2Sea there is no guarantee they will get you to the port on time. I suppose, at the end of the day, they are at the mercy of the airlines. What has really riled me was the attitude of the UK customer services, they gave the impression that they couldn't really care. The US customer services are probably better!

[FOB]

3 hours ago, Andy Wynn said:

What has really riled me was the attitude of the UK customer services, they gave the impression that they couldn't really care. The US customer services are probably better!

Andy, having had multiple conversations with RC customer services in the last 2 years and being from Scotland I would like to make it clear that the folk you spoke to were most likely the exact same as the US customer service reps as “Royal Caribbean operate global call centres” so the folk you spoke to are highly unlikely to understand anything about U.K. geography or know which alternate airports might have worked. I am really surprised that BA cancelled a flight with less than 24 hours notice though, so I would challenge RC as to when they knew about the change. 
 

I am sure someone on here will be able to give you the email for the CEO which seems to get action

[Zacharius]

19 minutes ago, FOB said:

 I am really surprised that BA cancelled a flight with less than 24 hours notice though, so I would challenge RC as to when they knew about the change. 

It definitely happens, but it's very odd what happened from what I can tell...G-TTNN appears to be the aircraft that was scheduled on OP's LHR-FCO flight, and the aircraft arrived on time the night before from Rome. While OP's flight was cancelled, and all other LHR-FCO appear to have gone off as planned, G-TTNN did end up leaving that morning on a flight to Athens, albeit about 40 minutes late. On the way back from Athens, it diverted to Amsterdam for a couple of hours...perhaps weather related? None of this answers why OP's flight was cancelled, though. Since then, G-TTNN has continued on its merry way around Europe without issue.